Grammar

Grammatical Features of Writing

Clauses

• The clause is the basic unit of meaning in spoken and written English

• Clauses can be independent (main idea) or dependent

• Clauses can be joined together to form compound and complex sentences

• Sentences can be sequenced to form paragraphs

• Paragraphs can be sequenced to form texts

• Clauses are made up of groups of words, which work together to form a message;

  • Element 1 - verb or verb group (ie what's happening?)

  • Element 2 - noun or noun group (ie who or what are taking part?)

  • Element 3 - adverbials (circumstances surrounding the activity - when, where, how etc)

Sentence Patterns

Pattern 1 - verb group only (Stop! Look out!)

Pattern 2 - noun group, verb group, noun group (The class visited the museum.)

Pattern 3 - noun group, verb group, noun group that relate (Koalas are marsupials.)

Pattern 4 - verb group, noun group, complement (Are you excited?)

Pattern 5 - auxiliary verb, noun group, verb, noun group (Has the school considered budget issues?)

Verb Groups

There are four main types of verbs;

• action words, eg jogged, swam, climbed

• saying words, eg shouted, asked, whispered, replies

• sensing words, eg loved, wanted to know, thought

• relating words, eg is, had, became, is made up of, included, means

Noun Groups

Types of nouns;

• living, eg koalas, the dog, trees

• non-living, eg cars, water, geometry

• human, eg the nominees, he, my teacher

• non-human, eg pine tree, peas, dogs

• named (proper nouns), eg Mrs Smith, Sydney Opera House, Boggabri

• unnamed (common nouns), eg librarian, location, actor

• particular, eg my book, that bike, those people

• general, eg books, a bike, a person

• everyday, eg rain, cattle, ball

• technical, eg precipitation, herbivores, sphere

• concrete, eg lake, train, ruler

• abstract, eg environment, transportation, measurement

• literal, eg the sun, a cockroach, a volcano

• metaphorical, eg the golden disc of light, a disgusting creature, a terrifying inferno