Grammar, Usage, and Sentence Craft
Key sentence structures, common errors, and punctuation rules from the lesson.
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Questions Covered in This Set
10 cards to master
What is an independent clause?
A subject + verb that expresses a complete thought and can stand alone (e.g., 'The glacier retreated.').
What is a dependent (subordinate) clause?
A subject-verb group beginning with a subordinator (because, although, when, if, which, who) that cannot stand alone.
What does FANBOYS stand for?
For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So — the seven coordinating conjunctions.
What is a comma splice, and what are the four fixes?
Two independent clauses joined by only a comma. Fix with: a period, a semicolon, a comma + FANBOYS, or subordination.
Why is 'The box of samples were delivered' wrong?
The verb must agree with the subject (box, singular), not the nearest noun (samples): 'The box of samples was delivered.'
What is a dangling modifier?
An opening phrase that doesn't describe the subject that follows: 'Walking to school, the rain soaked my backpack.' Fix: make the subject the one doing the action.
What is faulty parallelism?
Items in a series that don't share grammatical form: 'hiking, to swim, and bike rides' → 'hiking, swimming, and biking.'
When do you use commas around a clause like 'who lives in Ohio'?
Use commas when the information is nonessential (extra); omit commas when the clause is essential to identify the noun.
What are the four sentence types?
Simple (1 IC), compound (2 IC joined by comma + FANBOYS), complex (IC + DC), compound-complex (2+ IC and 1+ DC).
What does a colon do?
After a complete sentence, it introduces a list, explanation, or quotation: 'She had one goal: finish.'
