Determining meaning from context 5 doc

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.
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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
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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
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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.)
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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.
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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.
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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