6th Grade Grammar Notes

Subjects and PredicatesA subject is a noun or pronoun in a sentence.

A simple subject is one word.

A complete subject includes all the words in a subject:

Example of a simple subject:

The cat chases the mouse.

Example of a complete subject:

The fat cat in the kitchen chases the mouse.

Compound Subjects and Predicates

A compound subject contains two subjects connected with a conjunction. Example:

The dog and cat chased the mouse.

A compound predicate contains two predicates connected with a conjunction. Example:

The cat chased the mouse down and pounced on him.

Compound SentencesA compound sentence contains two independent

clauses joined by a comma and a conjunction. Example:

St. Anthony School students like their new ipads, and they use them every day.

Jeremy uses his ipad to check his email, but he doesn’t use the calculator app.

These coordinating conjunctions connect independent clauses to form compound sentences:

for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so (fanboys)

PhraseA phrase is a group of words lacking a subject or

predicate (or both). Examples:

the amazing Spiderman (noun phrase, no predicate)

have eaten lunch (verb phrase, no subject)

in six months (prepositional phrase, no subject or predicate)

ClausesAn independent clause has a subject and a verb

and can stand alone as a complete sentence. Example:

Halloween is my favorite day of the year.

A dependent clause has a subject and a verb but cannot stand alone as a sentence. Example:

Because Halloween is my favorite day of the year,

These words create adverb (dependent) clauses: when, where, while, as, since, if, although, whereas, unless, because (www.asia.wub)

Sentence FragmentsA sentence fragment is missing either the

subject or the predicate and does not contain a complete thought. Example:

Ran for president. (missing the subject)

Sarah, seeing that the coast was clear, (missing the predicate)

Run-on SentenceA run-on sentence incorrectly joins together

sentences. Examples:

He recognizes his chance he makes the most of it.

As he ran through the doorway, the dog saw the meat on the table and took two big leaps jumping on the table he grabbed the goods and galloped away grinning.

Use a period, a comma and a conjunction, or an adverb to create a complex sentence.

Complex SentencesA complex sentence has one independent clause

and one dependent clause. Example:

(dependent clause) Because there are only four more days left in the first quarter, (independent clause) students are working hard to turn in all assignments.

Students are working hard to turn in all assignments because there are only four more days left in the first quarter. (No comma if the dependent clause comes after the independent clause)

Compound-Complex Sentences

A compound-complex sentence has two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause. Example:

If you are an Eagle scout, and you have good grades, it should be easy to get an academic scholarship to the school of your choice.

Research shows that people who spend more time helping others are generally happier, so do something nice for yourself and think about someone else’s problems instead of your own!