Verb Types and Complex Sentences

This week, I learned all about the three different sentence patterns:
1) S-Vi (subject followed by an intransitive verb)
           She ran.
2) S-Vt-O (subject followed by a transitive verb and direct object)
           She ate food.
3) S-LV-SC (subject followed by a linking verb and subject complement)
           She felt stuffed.

An “S-Vi” sentence is the simplest kind, but the “S-Vt-O” is the type of sentence that I seem to see most frequently.

I also learned how to identify the differences between a simple sentence, complex sentence, and a simple verb and COMPLEX VERB; I HAD AN IDEA of what these were before but was not able to explain it sufficiently. A complex sentence is a sentence that has two sentences put together that each could be complete sentences on their own. There is a comma and a coordinating conjunction in between each “mini-sentence.” (Eg: He ran, and she rode her bike.) A simple sentence, obviously, is just one. (Eg: He ran.) A complex verb is when there are two or more verbs aka actions in the sentence. (Eg: He ran and rode his bike.) But a simple verb only has one verb. (Eg: He rode his bike.)

I really enjoyed learning the cool acronym to help remember all of the coordinating conjunctions that are used in a complex sentence. FANBOYS – For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So.

However, I felt like there was a little confusion in our class and in the world in general about when to use a comma and a coordinating conjunction. I’m not sure why so many people have problems with it because it was always seemed rather obvious to me. I think that I was just taught it in the simplest way possible—if each part of the sentence could be a complete sentence on its own, you add a comma and coordinating conjunction between them. Otherwise, you don’t. It’s as simple as that!

QUESTION: I’m still not entirely sure when a verb is a linking verb and when there is a subject complement. Is it when you are describing something, and the subject complement is a description or feeling? Is it then a linking verb as soon as there is a subject complement/if there is a subject complement then the verb is automatically a linking verb? Or are there some limitations on it?

Verbs, Verbs, and More Verbs! Adjectives! Nouns! Adverbs!

This week I learned about sentence breakdown, as well as nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. For me, the biggest fact I learned is that adverbs don’t just describe verbs! They can describe verbs. OR ADJECTIVES! OR OTHER ADVERBS! For example, one could say, “Bob is way too excited.” Of course, this adverb describing an adverb pattern probably isn’t something that you would want to use in a formal paper; it seems to appear more in common speech.

I also learned the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs. Verbs are transitive when there is an object in the sentence/the sentence follows typical sentence structure (subject→verb→object). An intransitive verb is when the verb has no object (Eg: Emily runs).

QUESTION: I really don’t have any questions relating to concepts that we’ve learned this week. Being the brilliant person that I am, I actually already knew most of it. The only question I have, I guess, is how the heck am I supposed to teach this? I love learning it because I’m a total grammar nerd, but obviously the average student is not. I do know that it’s important to stress using these different techniques within students’ writings, so that they can see some real-life applications, but to what extent should we teach them more or less everything that we have learned in the past week?

Apostrophes? What Are Those?

So far in my English 326 class, we have learned about apostrophes. Coming into this class, I was fairly confident in my grammar abilities, particularly with the usage of apostrophes. Although I was already well versed in when to use an apostrophe and when to not use one, I couldn’t explain the rules; it was more just “it feels right to put one here.” After talking about apostrophes in class, I feel a lot BETTER, MORE CONFIDENT, MORE SELF-ASSURED now that I have the rules nailed down for me and have an actual list of them. I also learned why you use ’s at the end of words (Eg: I do’s). It is for clarification purposes. (Eg: You wouldn’t want to say “I dos.”)

I don’t have any particular questions about using apostrophes, but I am a little unsure about grammar changing over time and the different house styles that we discussed in class. We have a list of rules, but it seems like they are very subjective. Are the “new” apostrophe rules correct? I understand that grammar changes over time and has different trends, but how do you know which one is really correct? Are either of the lists (new and old rules) okay to use as long as you keep the rules consistent throughout? It certainly seems that way when it comes to newspaper/magazine house style, in which they choose whichever styles of rules they want to use and keep it consistent throughout the publication.