English Grammar and Usage in Writing and Speaking: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.7.1 - Common Core: 7th Grade English Language Arts

A clause is a group of words that contains both a subject and predicate. A clause can function as a complete sentence or combine with other clauses to form compound or complex sentences.

A phrase is any group of words that function together in a sentence but lack a subject, a predicate, or both.

A simple sentence is made up of a single independent clause.

A compound sentence is made up of two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction such as and, but, or, or so.

A clause is a group of words that contains both a subject and predicate. A clause can function as a complete sentence or combine with other clauses to form compound or complex sentences.

A phrase is any group of words that function together in a sentence but lack a subject, a predicate, or both.

A simple sentence is made up of a single independent clause.

A compound sentence is made up of two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction such as and, but, or, or so.

A clause is a part of a sentence that includes a subject and a predicate (verb). An example of a clause is “I eat bananas”. This short sentence has a subject and a predicate (verb) so it is a complete thought. The subject is what’s “doing” the action of the sentence and the verb is the action that the subject completes.

A phrase is a group of two or more words that do not contain both a subject and a predicate (verb). A phrase is a group (or pairing) of words in English. A phrase can be short or long, but it does not include the subject-verb pairing that makes a clause. An example of a phrase is: During the night…this phrase does not contain a verb and subject.

A clause is a group of words that contains both a subject and predicate. A clause can be a complete sentence or combine with other clauses to form a compound or complex sentences.

The new secretary in the office… is the phrase in the provided sentence. A phrase is any group of words that function together in a sentence but lack a subject, a predicate, or both. This example is missing a predicate (verb) which can be found later in the sentence (making) as part of the clause.

A clause is a group of two or more words that do not contain both a subject and a predicate (verb). This underlined group of words contains the subject but does not have a predicate (verb).

An independent clause is a group of words that can stand on its own as a sentence: it has a subject, a verb, and is a complete thought. An example of an independent clause is: I was late to class. This short sentence contains a subject and verb so it can stand on its own.

A dependent clause is a group of words that also contains a subject and a verb, but it is not a complete thought. It cannot stand as its own sentence. An example of a dependent clause is: When I arrived to work… this sentence cannot stand on its own, it trails off leaving the reader wondering what happened. It has a subject and a verb but is not complete - it depends on there being another clause to complete the sentence.

This clause completes the sentence so it has all of the necessary pieces. It has a subject and predicate (verb) and can now stand on its own as a complete thought.

This combination of the sentence and phrase is the most logical and includes all parts (subject and predicate (verb)) to make a complete sentence.

This combination of the sentence and phrase is the most logical and includes all parts (subject and predicate (verb)) to make a complete sentence.

"Sarah saw palm trees and lizards on vacation in Florida." This sentence has a misplaced modifier. It wrongly suggests that the palm trees and lizards were on vacation.

"On vacation in Florida, Sarah saw palm trees and lizards. " This sentence does not have a misplaced modifier. This sentence correctly suggests that Sarah is on vacation in Florida.

"Trying to fall asleep, the bed felt uncomfortably lumpy." This sentence has a dangling modifier. It wrongly suggests that the bed was trying to fall asleep.

"Before doing pluming work, the water should be turned off." This sentence has a misplaced modifier. It wrongly suggests that the pluming is doing pluming work.

A modifier is a word or phrase that modifies, or describes, another word or phrase.

A misplaced modifier is a modifier that appears to modify the wrong word or phrase because it is too far from the word or phrase that it should modify.

"Molly created an all natural laundry detergent that could be used for washing clothes at the age of thirteen." has a misplaced modifier. Because the modifier at the age of thirteen is adjacent to washing clothes, this sentence wrongly suggests that the washing clothes should only be done at the age of thriteen.

A modifier is a word or phrase that modifies, or describes, another word or phrase.

A misplaced modifier is a modifier that appears to modify the wrong word or phrase because it is too far from the word or phrase that it should modify.

"Gorillas are able to learn and understand sign language like people." has a misplaced modifier because the modifier like people is adjacent to sign language, this sentence wrongly suggests that the sign language is like people.

When a sentence begins with a noun phrase + comma + another noun, there’s a good chance that it’s beginning with an appositive (noun used as a description) modifier. That is the case here: “a talented musician” is a description of the noun that comes after the comma, and the noun after the comma is the noun that performs the action in the verb (“John’s family proudly attended…”).

Whenever you’re using a modifier, it must logically describe the noun that comes next to it. Here “a talented musician” is singular, describing one musician. But John’s family is more than one person, so the modifier doesn’t work. But “a talented musician, John” does work since John could logically be one talented musician. That answer corrects the singular-vs-plural logical errors in two answer choices and is therefore correct.

Note that “they were talented musicians, John’s family…” is not a modifier, since “they were talented musicians” has both a noun (they) and a verb (were). That answer choice has its own grammatical error, then, in that, you cannot simply split two clauses with only a comma.

A modifier is a word or phrase that modifies or describes, another word or phrase. A misplaced modifier is a modifier that appears to modify the wrong word or phrase because it is too far from the word or phrase that it should modify. “He was a tall man with long arms weighing 200 pounds.” has a misplaced modifier. Because the modifier “weighing 200 pounds” is adjacent to the arms, this sentence wrongly suggests that the man’s arms are remarkably heavy.

A modifier is a word or phrase that modifies or describes, another word or phrase. A misplaced modifier is a modifier that appears to modify the wrong word or phrase because it is too far from the word or phrase that it should modify. “Mr. Griffin served breakfast to the students on paper plates.” has a misplaced modifier. Because the modifier “on paper plates” is adjacent to the students, this sentence wrongly suggests that students who were sitting on top of paper plates would be served breakfast.

“He gave sandwiches to all the girls in plastic bags.” This sentence has a misplaced modifier. It wrongly suggests that the girls were in plastic bags. “I saw the car looking through the window.” This sentence has a misplaced modifier. It wrongly suggests that the car was doing the looking. “The boys saw all lions and tigers on the field trip to the zoo.” This sentence has a misplaced modifier. It wrongly suggests that the lions and tigers were the ones on the field trip. “I passed the piping hot-coffee to the man next to me.” This sentence correctly places the modifier to suggest the coffee, not the man, was piping-hot.