English Grammar Cheat Sheet (Page 11 of 12) in pdf

2. Look at the following “sentences”; circle the letters of those you believe to be sentences and underline those

you believe to be fragments. For the sentences, above what you consider to be the subject of the sentence,

write “S”; above the verb, write “V.”

a. Wandering around the mall all afternoon.

b. The neighborhood cat sat on my porch.

c. She beat me at Wii tennis.

d. Because I tried to do too many things at once.

Grammar Activity #15: “Identifying Subjects and Verbs”

All sentences must have a subject (a noun or pronoun) and a predicate (verb) and express a complete thought. For the

sentences below, underline the subject once and the predicate twice. Remember these tips as you look for the subject

and predicate. When looking for the subject, ask yourself, “Who or what is this sentence about?” When looking for the

predicate, remember that it is a verb, and a verb is “what you do.”

1. Many aspects of daily life depend upon electricity.

2. Electricity is a basic part of the matter in the universe.

3. In the human body, electrical signals carry information to and from the brain.

4. Electrical signals tell the brain what the eyes see, what the ears hear, and what the fingers feel.

5. The brain, using electrical signals, tells muscles to move.

6. During the 1800s, people learned to use electricity to do work.

7. Soon inventors learned to generate electrical energy in large quantities.

8. Electricity has many practical applications.

9. Lighting, one practical application, has changed the way people live.

10. Without electricity, modern manufacturing would be impossible.

Grammar Activity #16: “Recognizing Subjects”

Once you have located the verbs in sentences, it’s easier to find the subjects—the words that tell who or what does the

action or the form of be in the verbs.

1. Use the time test to find the verb; change the sentence to another time.

a. Alicia swims a mile every lunch hour.

b. (last year) Alicia _____________ a mile every lunch hour.

To show the change in time, or tense, we changed the verb.

2. Once you have found the verb, you can locate the subject of the verb by asking yourself:

a. Who or what ________?

(verb)

b. Who or what _______ a mile at every lunch hour?

(verb)

c. The answer is ___________, so __________ is the subject of the verb ____________.

3. Use the two steps to identify the subject and verb in each of the following sentences.

a. Most people work in conventional occupations, like accounting, teaching, or retail sales.

§ (five years ago) Most people _________________ in conventional occupations, like

accounting, teaching or retail sales.

§ Who or what _________________?

(verb)

Verb =

Subject =

English Grammar Cheat Sheet Page 11