LESSON 1

S-V AGREEMENT
 S-V AGREEMENT
• Subject-verb agreement is the grammatical rule
that the verb or verbs in a sentence must match
the number, person, and gender of the subject
• That means most English subject-verb
agreement is about quantity: if the subject is
singular, the verb must be singular; if the subject
is plural, the verb must be plural.
 1. When the subject of a sentence is composed of two or
more nouns or pronouns connected by and, use a plural
verb.

• She and her friends are at the fair.

• Lena and Marites fight over Rigor.

DRILL !
Give your own example.
 2. When two or more singular nouns or
pronouns are connected by or or nor, use a
singular verb.
• The book or the pen is in the drawer.
• Neither Carlos nor Jane breaks inside the restricted room.

DRILL !
Give your own example.
3. When a phrase comes between the subject and the
verb, the verb agrees with the subject of the
sentence, not with a noun or pronoun in the phrase.

•One of the boxes is open

•The people who listen to that music are few.
•The team captain, as well as his players, is anxious.

DRILL!
Give your own example.
 4. The words each, each one, either, neither,
everyone, everybody, anybody, anyone, nobody,
somebody, someone, and no one are singular and
require a singular verb.

•Each of these hot dogs is juicy.

•Everybody knows Mr. Jones.
•Either is correct.

DRILL!
Give your own example.
 5. Nouns such as civics, mathematics,
measles, and news require singular verbs

• Mathematics is one of the hardest subjects

in school.
• The news gives a very useful information.
•Note: The word dollars is a special case. When talking about
an amount of money, it requires a singular verb, but when
referring to the dollars themselves, a plural verb is required.

•Five dollars is a lot of money.

•Dollars are often used instead of rubles in Russia.
6. Non-count nouns take a singular verb.

•Education is the key to success.

•Diabetes affects many people around the world.
•The information obtained from the business
owners was relevant to include in the study.
•The research I found on the topic was
limited.
7. Collective nouns are words that imply more than one person
but are considered singular and take a singular verb. Some
examples are "group," "team," "committee," "family," and
"class."

• The group meets every week.

• The committee agrees on the quality of
the writing.
• The Adams family is the creepiest family
in town.
8. However, the plural verb is used if the focus
is on the individuals in the group. This is much
less common.

•The girls in the class join the dance contest.

•The boys in family get to eat candies after a
meal.
SENTENCE
STRUCTURE
 SIMPLE SENTENCE
• A simple sentence contains a subject and a verb, and it may also have an
object and modifiers. However, it contains only one independent clause.

Examples:
• She wrote.
• He texted me good night.
• We watch a movie.
 COMPOUND SENTENCE
• A compound sentence contains at least two independent clauses.
These two independent clauses can be combined with a comma and a
coordinating conjunction or with a semicolon.
Examples:
• She always attends to school, and yet she always gets failing
grades.
• Maria participates in class every time; she gets high grades.
• Ronaldo reviewed his lessons last night for their examination
today, but he reviewed the wrong subject.
 COMPLEX SENTENCE
• A complex sentence contains at least one independent clause and at least one
dependent clause. Dependent clauses can refer to the subject (who, which) the
sequence/time (since, while), or the causal elements (because, if) of the
independent clause.

Example:
•Although she is smart, she still studies harder every time. (Begins with
depended clause)
•A student might get suspension if he/she cheats on an examination. (Begins
with independent clause)
 COMPOUND-COMPLEX
SENTENCE
• A compound-complex sentence contains at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent
clause.

Example:
I woke up at six o’clock because I had to go to the gym, but I was too
tired to get out of the bed.
Jem woke up early in the morning, he prepared for the ballet class
but still couldn’t make it on time.
ANA WILL GET FIRED FROM HER JOB; SHE WILL LOSE HER LICENCE
UNLESS SHE BEHAVES ACCORDINGLY.
IF SHE WAKES UP EARLY, SHE WILL NOT GET STUCK IN THE
TRAFFIC JAM AND SHE WILL GET TO SCHOOL EARLY.
SENTENCE ORDER
AND WORD
PATTERN
 S-V-O
• Independent clause – is a group of words that contains a
subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought.
- is can stand alone in a
sentence
• Dependent clause – is the one that can not stand alone
in a complete sentence. It does not express a complete
thought.
The fight started when she grabbed my hair.
I wore the beige dress which is my favorite.
 SUBJECT
• Whatever or whoever is performing the action of the sentence.

Example:
Dolly made a cake for the party.
S
 PREDICATE
•Contains the verb (action) and can include further clarifying information.

Example:
Dolly made a cake for the party.
P
 DIRECT OBJECT
•The person, thing, or idea that receives an action.

Example:
Dolly made a cake for the party.
DO
 INDIRECT OBJECT
•The receiver of the direct object.

Example:
Dolly made a cake for the party.
IO
 The cat chews the fish.
S V DO

The curry gave Joyce a severe indigestion.

S V IO DO
FRAGMENTS
 SENTENCE FRAGMENTS
•A sentence fragment is a sentence that is missing either its subject or its
main verb.
Some sentence fragments occur as the result of simple typographical errors
or omission of words. They can often be avoided with careful proofreading.
Incorrect: Went to the store yesterday.
Incorrect: After the classes, the library. My life nowadays.

The first sentence above does not have a subject, and the second one does
not have a main verb.
RUN-ON
 RUN-ON
•A run-on sentence occurs when sentences or two or more independent
clauses (also known as complete sentences) are connected improperly.

Example: I love to write papers I would write one every day if I had the time.
 RUN-ON
•One common type of run-on sentence is a comma splice. A comma splice
occurs when two independent clauses are joined with just a comma.

Example of a comma splice: Participants could leave the study at any time, they
needed to indicate their preference.

Sentence 1: Participants could leave the study at any time.

Sentence 2: They needed to indicate their preference.
 RUN-ON
•Some comma splices occur when a writer attempts to use a transitional expression in
the middle of a sentence.

Example of a comma splice: The results of the study were inconclusive, therefore more
research needs to be done on the topic.

We are using comma if we are connecting to related clauses.

Sentence 1: The results of the study were inconclusive

Transitional expression (conjunctive adverb): therefore
Sentence 2: More research needs to be done on the topic
CORRECTING RUN-
ON SENTENCES
 CORRECTING RUN-ON
SENTENCES
1. Use a period. The easiest way to fix a run-on is to split the sentence into
smaller sentences using a period. This revision works especially well with
longer sentences. Check, however, to make sure that this solution does not
result in short, choppy sentences.

Revision example: I love to write papers. I would write one every day if I had the
time.
 CORRECTING RUN-ON
SENTENCES
1. Use a semicolon. Inserting a semicolon between independent clauses creates
a grammatically correct sentence. Using a semicolon is a stylistic choice that
establishes a close relationship between the two sentences.

Revision example: I love to write papers; I would write one every day if I had the
time.
 CORRECTING RUN-ON
SENTENCES
1. Use a comma and a coordinating conjunction. A comma, paired with a
coordinating conjunction (e.g., "and," "but," or "or"), corrects a run-on
sentence. This method emphasizes the relationship between the two clauses.

Revision example: I love to write papers, and I would write one every day if I had
the time.
 CORRECTING RUN-ON
SENTENCES
1. Use a subordinating conjunction. Turn one of the independent clauses into a
dependent clause. A subordinating conjunction (e.g., "because," "unless," and
"although") connects two clauses to create a complex sentence. This option
works to cement the relationship between the two parts of the sentence and
may improve the flow of the clauses.

Example: Because I love to write papers, I would write one every day if I had the
time.
• If the clauses are NOT closely related, the easiest way to fix it is to separate them
using period.
THE CLOUDS WERE DARK. I THOUGHT IT WOULD RAIN
• If the clauses are closely related to each other, we can use comma however it
should be followed by a subordinating conjunction.
THE CLOUDS WERE DARK, SO I THOUGHT IT WOULD RAIN
• If the clauses are closely related, use a semicolon to connect them. You can also
add a transitional devices or transitional expressions. (therefore, hence, however)
THE CLOUDS WERE DARDK; THEREFORE WE THOUGHT IT WOULD RAIN
• If one of the clauses provides background information or secondary information,
you can convert it into a dependent clause by using a subordinator or
conjuction.
BECAUSE THE CLOUDS WERE DARK, WE THOUGHT IT WOULD RAIN
WE THOUGHT IT WOULD RAIN, WHEN THE CLOUDS WERE DARK
PARALLELISM
 PARALLELISM
•Parallel Construction Basics
Parallel ideas must be presented in parallel grammatical form, which means that each part
of a sentence uses the same grammatical structure.
Meaning, in parallelism, we are using similar words, clauses, phrases, sentence structure, or
other grammatical elements to emphasize similar ideas in a sentence.

• YOU WILL FIND THE LIGHT BULBS IN THE CLOSET OR UNDER THE KITCHEN COUNTER
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE

• MIGUEL ENJOYS TAKING LONG WALKS IN THE FOREST, PLAYING WITH SMALL WOODLAND CREATURES,
AND TO DEVOUR WANDERING TOURISTS.
• PARALLEL SENTENCES’ IDEAS USUALLY ARE CONNECTED BY COORDINATE CONJUNCTION.
 PARALLELISM
Examples of Parallel construction
Incorrect: The films were enjoyable both to watch and for discussing.
Correct: The films were enjoyable both to watch and to discuss.

Incorrect: The teachers observed how active some students and inactive
some students can be depending on the subject.
Correct: The teachers observed how active some students can be and how
inactive some students can be depending on the subject.
MISPLACED AND
DANGLING
MODIFIER
 MISPLACED MODIFIER
•When a modifier is ambiguously or illogically modifying a word, we consider it a misplaced
modifier.
• This creates confusion and ambiguity because the modifier is
separated from the word it describes
BOGART WEARS HELMET WHILE RIDING A BIKE THAT’S BIG.
FELIZA FOUND HER FRIEND USING MAGIC.
He threw the ball to the girl made with orange rubber
Tommy saw his girlfriend with his best friend.
 DANGLING MODIFIERS
• When a modifier is not modifying a specific word, we call it a dangling modifier.
• Dangling modifier occurs when the intended subject of the modifier is missing from
the sentence, instead another subject appears in its place.
• HAVING READ THE BOOK, THE FILM WILL BE A HIT. (WHO READ THE BOOK?)
• HAVING LOST THE JOB, THE HOUSE HAD TO BE SOLD.
• HAVING LOST THE JOB, ANA HAD TO SELL THE HOUSE.
• JOGGING IN THE PARK, THE DOG BIT ME. (IT IS NOT THE DOG WHO WAS
JOGGING IN THE PARK)
PARAGRAPH
STRUCTURE
 WHAT IS A PARAGRAPH?
• A paragraph is an individual segment of writing that discusses a central idea,
typically with more than one sentence.
 PARTS OF PARAGRAPH
• Like other forms of writing, paragraphs follow a standard three-part structure
with a beginning, middle, and end. These parts are the topic sentence,
development and support, and conclusion.
• Topic Sentence – “paragraph leaders”
- introduces the main idea.
• Development sentences - elaborate and explain the idea with details too
specific for the topic sentence
• Support sentences - provide evidence, opinions, or other statements that
back up or confirm the paragraph’s main idea.
• CONCLUDING SENTENCE – last sentence of the paragraph. Bringing closure to
the paragraph.
 HOW MANY SENTENCES ARE IN
A PARAGRAPH?
• Most paragraphs contain three and five sentences.
• Different types of paragraphs have different numbers of
sentences.
• number of sentences in a paragraph can change based on the
style of the writer.
• When it comes to nonfiction writing, like research papers or
reports, most paragraphs have at least three sentences: a
topic sentence, a development/support sentence, and a
conclusion sentence.
 TYPES OF
PARAGRAPH
 EXPOSITORY

• Common in nonfiction and all types

of essays, expository paragraphs
revolve around explaining and
discussing a single point or idea.
 PERSUASIVE

• Just like expository paragraphs,

persuasive paragraphs focus on
discussing a single point;
however, they support opinions
instead of facts.
 NARRATIVE

• When telling a story, a narrative

paragraph explains an action or
event. Each new sentence furthers
or expands upon the action by
providing new information.
 DESCRIPTIVE

• Also common in storytelling,

descriptive paragraphs focus on
describing a single topic, such as a
person or an environment. Each new
sentence adds a new detail about that
topic.