Grammar Series 1: Sentence Structure

Like most languages, English strings words together into sentences in order to communicate ideas. But many people find it difficult to construct English sentences correctly. This program will teach you the basic principles that govern how English sentences are constructed, and how to put these principles to use when you create your own sentences!

Before you begin studying, let us make a few recommendations. First, have a notebook and pen ready so you’re prepared to take notes. You’ll probably want to use the many on-screen graphics to take notes for yourself – when you’re done, you’ll have a notebook on English grammar that you can refer back to again and again.

Secondly, don’t forget to take advantage of your “pause” button while viewing the program. This will allow you to try to complete the exercises in this study guide before you view the answers on-screen.

Finally, don’t try to absorb too much at one time. By viewing the program over a number of short sessions (instead of all at once), you’ll stay “fresher” and retain more of what you learn. And don’t forget: you can review the entire program, or specific sections, as many times as you need to!

Now you can eliminate embarrassing mistakes from your speaking and writing forever. Let Video Aided Instruction be your guide!

—– Exercises —–

Lesson 1 – What Is a Sentence?
Exercise 1
Directions: Read the following groups of words. None of them have been given final punctuation marks. For each one, decide whether it is a declarative sentence, an interrogative sentence, an exclamatory sentence, an imperative sentence, or a sentence fragment. Then punctuate each appropriately. Don’t punctu-ate a sentence fragment.

1. When will tomorrow morning’s band rehearsal begin
2. Always read the safety instructions before using a new power tool
3. Having spent over two hours working on her dance routine
4. The local wildlife refuge is home to over seventy species of birds
5. That was a fabulous party

Lesson 2 – Parts of a Sentence
Exercise 2
Directions: Read the following groups of words. In each one, find the subject and the predicate. Underline the complete subject, and put a second underline beneath the simple subject. Then circle the complete predicate, and underline the verb.

1. Fifty-three officers received medals at the Police Department awards ceremony.
2. Bored with the grown-up conversation, little Amy fell asleep under the kitchen table.
3. The number of businesses in this country has increased every year for the past decade.
4. According to scientists, birds and dinosaurs are biologically related.
5. All day and all night unceasingly fell the rain.

Lesson 3 – Four Types of Sentence Structures
Exercise 3
Directions: Read the following sentences. For each one, decide whether it is a simple sentence, a com-pound sentence, a complex sentence, a compound-complex sentence, or a run-on sentence.

1. Jazz is the greatest American musical form, and Duke Ellington is its greatest genius.
2. Although young women want to participate in sports as much as young men, women’s sports often don’t receive equal funding from colleges.
3. The tallest mountain in Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro is the subject of a stunning new IMAX documentary film.
4. The author Mark Twain was fascinated by technology, he was the first writer ever to deliver a typed manuscript to his publisher.
5. When I visited California last summer, I spent one week in San Francisco, and I visited the nearby Napa Valley with my cousin