INDEPENDENT AND DEPENDENT CLAUSES A clause is a group of words that has a subject and a predicate (clauses can have direct and indirect objects, too). A clause that expresses a complete thought is called an independent clause; it can stand on its own as a sentence. A dependent clause, on the other hand, cannot stand alone because it expresses an incomplete thought. When a dependent clause stands alone, the result is a sentence fragment. Independent clause: It rained. Dependent clause: Because it rained. Notice how the dependent clause is incomplete; it requires an additional thought to make a complete sentence. The independent thought, however, can stand alone. What makes the dependent clause above dependent is the word because. Because is one of many subor- dinating conjunctions like the following: SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS: after before that when although if though where as, as if once unless wherever because since until while When a clause has a subordinating conjunction, it must be connected to an independent clause to become a complete thought: Because it rained, the game was cancelled. dependent clause independent clause I was so hungry that I ate a whole pizza. independent clause dependent clause A sentence with both a dependent and independent clause is called a complex sentence. Both of the sen- tences above are complex sentences. When two independent clauses are combined, the result is a compound sentence like the following: It rained, so the game was cancelled. The most common way to join two independent clauses is with a comma and a coordinating con- junction: and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet. Independent clauses can also be joined with a semi-colon if the ideas in the sentences are closely related. – STRUCTURE: GRAMMAR AND STYLE– 56 I was starving, so I ate a whole pizza. The dog needs to be fed daily, but the fish only needs to be fed every other day. He is from Australia; she is from New Zealand. PHRASES AND MODIFIERS Sentences are often “filled out” by phrases and modifiers. Phrases are groups of words that do not have both a subject and predicate. Modifiers are words and phrases that qualify or describe people, places, things and actions. The most common phrases are prepositional phrases, which consist of a preposition and a noun or pronoun (e.g., in the kitchen). Modifiers include adjectives (e.g., dark, stormy) and adverbs (e.g., slowly, care- fully). In the examples below, the prepositional phrases are underlined and the modifiers are in bold: I gave Xiomara a beautiful, hand-made gift f or her sixteenth birthday. Yesterday I ate a large pizza w ith mushrooms and anchovies. O n Frida y, it rained all day, so the baseball game was cancelled by the league. Practice 2 For the following sentences, please: A. Place brackets “[ ]” around any dependent clauses. B. Underline any prepositional phrases. C. Circle any modifiers. PREPOSITIONS are extremely important. They help us understand how objects relate to each other in space and time. But they can also be one of the most difficult aspects of a foreign language to learn. Here are the more com- mon prepositions. See page 83 for notes about the most common prepositional idioms. about beside inside through above besides into throughout across between like till after beyond near to against by of toward around down off under at during on until before except out up behind for outside upon below from over with beneath in since without Prepositions: A Short List – STRUCTURE: GRAMMAR AND STYLE– 57 A word’s part of speech determines its function and form. The word quiet, for example, can be either a verb or an adjective; it changes to quietly when it is an adverb. Be sure you know the different parts of speech and the job each part of speech performs in a sentence. The following table offers a quick reference guide for the main parts of speech. PART OF SPEECH FUNCTION EXAMPLES noun names a person, place, thing, or concept girl, Eleanor, street, Walsh Avenue, calculator, happiness pronoun takes the place of a noun so that noun I, you, he, she, us, they, this, that, themselves, does not have to be repeated somebody, who, which verb describes an action, occurrence, or jump, becomes, is, seemed, clamoring state of being helping verb combines with other verbs (main verbs) forms of be, do and have; can, could, may, might, (also called to create verb phrases that help indicate must, shall, should, will, would auxiliary verb) tenses adjective describes nouns and pronouns; red, small, glorious, unexpected; that (e.g., can also identify or quantify that car); several (e.g., several dogs) adverb describes verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, slowly, happily, always, very, yesterday or entire clauses preposition expresses the relationship in time or space in, on, around, above, between, underneath, between words in a sentence beside, with, upon (see list on page 83). 1. Since interest rates have dropped considerably in the last month, it would be wise to refinance the mortgage on your new home. 2. I finally reached Tom in his office, and he said he would ship the redesigned brochures by express mail. 3. When I mailed the 200-page manuscript to my editor, I didn’t realize that the pages were completely out of order. 4. Whether you are ready or not, the chemistry test is tomorrow at 9:00 in Room 213. 5. The seven-foot-tall ostrich is the fastest two-legged animal on Earth. Parts of Speech – STRUCTURE: GRAMMAR AND STYLE– 58 The hunter approached the white-tailed deer silently, noun verb adjective noun adverb but the deer had sensed him and escaped into the woods. helping verb pronoun verb preposition noun Verbs Verbs are the agents of action in a sentence. They are the “heart” of a sentence because they express the action or state of being of the subject: It rains a lot in Seattle. (action) I feel really good about this deal. (state of being) The poor cat is starving. (state of being) Chester smiled broadly. (action) Verbs have five basic forms: 1. Infinitive base: the base form of the verb plus the word to. to go to be to desire to arrange To indicate tenses of regular verbs (when the action of the verb did occur, is occurring, or will occur), we use the base form of the verb and add the appropriate tense endings. 2. Present tense: the verb form that expresses what is happening now. I am glad you are here. Chester smiles a lot. The present tense of regular verbs is formed as follows: SINGULAR PLURAL first person (I/we) base form (dream) base form (dream) second person (you) base form (dream) base form (dream) third person (he/she/it, they) base form + -s/-es (dreams) base form (dream) 3. Present participle: the verb form that describes what is happening now. It ends in -ing and is accom- panied by a helping verb such as is. Chester is smiling again. They ar e watching the stock market very carefully. NOTE: Words that end in -ing don’t always function as verbs. Sometimes they act as nouns and are called gerunds. They can also function as adjectives (called participial phrases). Present participle (verb): He is eat ing the plastic fruit! Gerund (noun): That plastic fruit is not for eat ing! Participial phrase (adjective): The slee ping baby awoke when the phone rang. (You will learn more about gerunds later in this chapter.) – STRUCTURE: GRAMMAR AND STYLE– 59 4. Past tense: the verb form that expresses what happened in the past. It r ained four inches yesterday. The cat f elt better after it ate. 5. Past participle: the verb form that describes an action that happened in the past and is used with a helping verb, such as has, have, or had. It had rained for days. Chester has not smiled for days. REGULAR V ERBS Regular verbs follow a standard set of rules for forming the present participle, past tense, and past participle forms. The present participle is formed by adding -ing. The past and past participle are formed by adding -ed. If the verb ends with the letter e, just add d. If the verb ends with the letter y, for the past tense, change the y to an i and add -ed. Here are some examples: PRESENT PRESENT PARTICIPLE PAST PAST PARTICIPLE connect connecting connected connected exercise exercising exercised exercised follow following followed followed multiply multiplying multiplied multiplied notice noticing noticed noticed solve solving solved solved wash washing washed washed Some verbs in the English language have the same present, past, and past participle form. Here is a partial list of those verbs followed by several examples: SAME PRESENT, PAST, AND PAST PARTICIPLE FORM: bet hit set bid hurt shut burst put spread cost quit upset cut read Present: I bet that he will be late. Past: Yesterday I bet $20 that he would be late. Past participle: Yesterday I had bet $20 that he would be late. Present: That antique lamp cost Jude over $500. Past: That antique lamp cost Jude over $500. Past participle: That antique lamp had cost Jude over $500. – STRUCTURE: GRAMMAR AND STYLE– 60 IRREGULAR VERBS About 150 verbs in the English language are irregular. They don’t follow the standard rules for changing tense. We can divide these verbs into three categories: ■ irregular verbs with the same past and past participle forms ■ irregular verbs with three distinct forms ■ irregular verbs with the same present and past participle forms. The table below lists the most common irregular verbs. – STRUCTURE: GRAMMAR AND STYLE– 61 Present Past Past Participle Same past and past participle forms: bite bit bit dig dug dug bleed bled bled hear heard heard hold held held light lit lit meet met met pay paid paid say said said sell sold sold tell told told shine shone shone shoot shot shot sit sat sat spin spun spun spit spat spat swear swore swore tear tore tore creep crept crept deal dealt dealt keep kept kept kneel knelt knelt leave left left mean meant meant send sent sent sleep slept slept spend spent spent bring brought brought Present Past Past Participle buy bought bought catch caught caught fight fought fought teach taught taught think thought thought feed fed fed flee fled fled find found found grind ground ground Three distinct forms: begin began begun ring rang rung sing sang sung spring sprang sprung do did done go went gone am was been is was been see saw seen drink drank drunk shrink shrank shrunk sink sank sunk stink stank stunk swear swore sworn tear tore torn wear wore worn blow blew blown draw drew drawn fly flew flown . Jude over $50 0. Past: That antique lamp cost Jude over $50 0. Past participle: That antique lamp had cost Jude over $50 0. – STRUCTURE: GRAMMAR AND STYLE– 60 IRREGULAR VERBS About 150 verbs in. GRAMMAR AND STYLE– 56 I was starving, so I ate a whole pizza. The dog needs to be fed daily, but the fish only needs to be fed every other day. He is from Australia; she is from New Zealand. PHRASES. test is tomorrow at 9:00 in Room 213. 5. The seven-foot-tall ostrich is the fastest two-legged animal on Earth. Parts of Speech – STRUCTURE: GRAMMAR AND STYLE– 58 The hunter approached the white-tailed