College Writing

College Writing Study Guide

2.2 What is a Sentence? This may seem like an obvious question and one that you already know the answer to, but all of your studies of grammar depen d on a complete de�inition of a sentence . A sentence is the combination of a noun phrase and a verb phrase . Other terminology describes a sentence as the combination of a subject and a predicate or as an independent clause, but the idea remains the same: in order to have a complete sentence you need a doer and an action. 2.3 Nouns, Verbs, and Parts of Speech So if a sentence is a noun phrase and a verb phrase, what is a noun and a verb ? A noun is a person, place, thing, or event, and a verb is an action or a state of being. There are three types of nouns: com- mon nouns , proper nouns , and pronouns . A common noun is a generic name for the noun, and a proper noun is the speci�ic name for a noun. For example, “college” is a common noun, but “Harvard University” is a proper noun; notice that “Harvard University” is capitalized. Pronouns are essentially stand-ins for proper nouns: rather than say, “Jeff,” we say, “he.” The primary error writers make in- volving pronouns is in sentences like this: “When a patient enters the hospital, they might get an infection.” This sentence sounds like it’s correct, but it’s not. The “patient” is one person, but “they” refers to many people, so the noun and pronoun don’t agree. Though some people who identify as nonbinary prefer to use “they” as a singular pronoun, in most cases, “they” should be considered plural. Verbs are action words, and they change based on when the action took place. A verb in past tense indicates that the action took place in the past, a verb in future tense indicates that the action will take place, and the present tense indicates that the action is taking place currently. Learning the dif- ferent forms of the verbs is called conjugating verbs , and many native English speakers do this nat- urally. The most common error related to verb tense is tense switching, which occurs when the verb tense in one sentence differs from the verb tense in the second sentence even though both sentences refer to concurrent actions. The writing you do for this test will usually be in the present tense, so be sure all of your verbs are in that tense unless you’re deliberately referring to something in the past. The important takeaway is to remain consistent. There are two types of verbs: transitive and intransitive . A transitive verb requires a direct object, which is another noun that comes after the verb. For example, “carry” is a transitive verb because it requires a direct object: “I carry the �lag.” An intransitive verb doesn’t require a direct object. For example, “sneezed” is an intransitive verb in the past tense, and “I sneezed” is a complete sentence. The reason we refer to complete sentences as the combination of a noun phrase and a verb phrase is both sections of the sentences can be modi�ied . Modifying a noun or a verb means providing further details or changing the meaning of the elements of the sentence. For example, “In my uniform, I care- fully carry the waving American �lag,” still retains the same grammatical structure as “I carry the �lag,” but now there are modi�iers – “In my uniform” modi�ies the noun “I,” “waving American” modify the

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