Halfway Grammar Competition

We taught Legal Outreach students to believe that STUDYING hard is the key to success.

I am happy and sad.

A noun clause can serve as the subject of a sentence.

SENTENCE UNIT: Jerry was eating apple pie, he apparently liked it very much.

The secret of her success was constant practice.

Statistics indicate that women cast the deciding vote in most elections.

Bill experienced the thrills, and Ted enjoyed the adventures.

My grandfather’s dying wish was for me TO RUN in the New York City Marathon.

Going to Home Depot to buy salt to melt the snow.

That one day any child could grow up to become the president is a long cherished American belief.

VERBALS: A HUMILIATED enemy can be a dangerous enemy.

The FALLING rain kept me inside all day.

The club bought the coach a gift.

The carpenter removed the portion of the wood that was rotting.

A cheering mob of fans circled the famous rap star.

TRUE OR FALSE: A sentence must contain at least three words.

The shopping center looked crowded.

Books concerning serious topics should be read with care.

When I sent you a Valentine’s card, I hoped that you would send one back to me.

The man by the door is an undercover police officer.

While my brother slept, my sister worked.

The children ran through the dank, mysterious tunnel.

EXHAUSTED from the competition, the athletes embraced after the race.

An adverb can modify only two types of words.

The winner of the contest will be whoever knows the most about proper English grammar.

I got my hair cut, then I discovered that I left my wallet at home.

David retrieved his iphone charger from school.

The conjunctions “and,” “but,” and “or” are used to form complex sentences.

His greed became an obsession.

Because is a conjunctive adverb.

The children prefer SHARPENING their pencils to the monotony of focused work.

James bought his wife a mink coat.

SENTENCE TYPES: Walter loves visiting New York, but his wife hates it.

A compound sentence must have a compound subject and a compound predicate.

Whenever I meet a stranger who is especially perky, I am automatically suspicious.

Larry Wilmore, whose show I enjoy, is a very funny man.

The book that I just read challenged all my assumptions about life.

CLAUSES: Because the terrain was rocky, the climbers had a difficult time reaching the summit of the mountain.

PHRASES: The movie about the tragic heroine is quite inspiring.

A word that is formed by adding –ing to a verb and that functions as an adjective is a gerund.

Everything comes back into fashion if one waits long enough.

I love to sleep; however, I must wake up early in the morning every day.

If you throw water on burning gasoline, it will only spread the flames.

He gave his brother a ride to the pharmacy.

Thanks for your support, I appreciate it very much.

The judges on “American Idol” don’t respond to talent or authenticity.

After DISCOVERING how cold it was, I put on more clothes this morning.

The glassy surface of the lake reflected the night sky.

Spring and summer are the warmer seasons of the year.

A clause that most often answers the questions “how” or “why” is an adjective clause.

The New York Times is one of many newspapers in the city of New York.

She is the woman whose name must be on the envelope.

A clause that can usually be shifted to another part of the sentence is an adjective clause.

A compound sentence must contain a subordinate clause.

An appositive can only come in the middle of a sentence.

Because he had no cash, William paid by credit card.

The carpenter built us a cabinet for our stereo.

With pride and affection, the commencement speaker delivered a moving speech.

The thing that receives the action in a sentence is the indirect object.

The book under the bed was gathering dust.

You can wait for me here or return later.

A semicolon can do the work of a conjunction.

I enjoy reading a good book, but the DEMENTED words of Stephen King are disgusting.

SENTENCE PATTERNS: Bart and Lisa dressed for the party.

TO DELAY the operation would be making a serious error.

A run-on sentence refers to a sentence that has two fragments.

A complex sentence contains a subordinate clause.

A noun clause is sometimes removable.

Dan went with Grace to Allison’s house.

A cake with chocolate frosting is always tasty.

It feels like winter—cold, windy, and snowy.

PRODUCED on a small budget, the movie won many awards.

Giving up is not an appropriate way TO DEAL with difficult issues.

Harriet loves cooking and cleaning.

A home run and a walk at the bottom of the ninth inning.

He is majoring in music, however, he gets his best grades in physics.

Knowledge is of little value unless one makes use of it.

This machine will save much time.

Everyone appreciated the sweet-smelling flowers.

The Legal Outreach students returned to Saturday Writing Class after they enjoyed a week’s vacation.

An adverb can come before or after the verb it modifies.

The drivers were told to park their cars around the block.

A group of words that contains a subject and a verb but does not make sense on its own is a clause.

On the morning of my graduation, the sweet sensation of completing a difficult task.

Though our town has no hospital, there are several in the surrounding counties.

It is possible for a verb to come before its subject.

The Smith family always drives to family gatherings since airfare is costly.

An action verb comes before the direct object in a sentence.

Just when we thought all was lost, our team jumped ahead in the Grammar Competition.

ADMIRING the night sky can be fun, but it’s impossible in a big city like New York.