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Sentence Structure
6th Grade
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Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS):
6.10.D
(D) edit drafts using standard English conventions, including:
complete complex sentences with subject-verb agreement and avoidance of splices, run-ons, and fragments;
consistent, appropriate use of verb tenses;
conjunctive adverbs;
prepositions and prepositional phrases and their influence on subject-verb agreement;
pronouns, including relative;
subordinating conjunctions to form complex sentences and correlative conjunctions such as either/or and neither/nor;
capitalization of proper nouns, including abbreviations, initials, acronyms, and organizations;
punctuation marks, including commas in complex sentences, transitions, and introductory elements; and
correct spelling, including commonly confused terms such as its/it's, affect/effect, there/their/they're, and to/two/too;
6th Grade Writing - Sentence Structure Lesson
SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
SINGULAR
subjects —
SINGULAR
verbs
PLURAL
subjects —
PLURAL
verbs
Example:
Example:
OTHER SUBJECT-VERB RULES
Rule #1
—
Compound subjects that are connected by the coordinating conjunction
and
are considered
plural
.
Example:
Rule #2
—
For compound subjects that are connected by the coordinating conjunctions
or
and/or
nor
, the verb will agree with the subject
closest
to it.
Example:
Example:
Rule #3
—
Collective nouns
will usually act as
singular
nouns when used as the subject of a clause or sentence.
Example:
Rule #4.1
—
Some
indefinite pronouns
are always
singular
while others are always
plural
.
one,
anyone
,
anybody
,
anything
,
another
, either, neither, each, little, less, much
Example:
both, few, many, others, and several
Example:
Rule #4.2
—
Some
indefinite pronouns
can be either
singular
or
plural
depending on what they refer to.
all, any, more, most, none, and some
Example:
None
of the
pies
that Marisol baked last night
remain
after the party.
STRUCTURAL ERRORS
Be sure to avoid
structural errors
in your sentences when writing.
TYPES OF ERRORS
Error #1
—
Sentence fragments
are a type of structural error that results in an
incomplete
clause or sentence.
Example:
The exhausted girl
collapsed into bed after a long day.
Example:
The cat with the black mustache pattern on its face
is wearing a top hat for Halloween.
Example:
The dogs spent the whole night barking.
Ashley couldn't get any sleep
because the dogs spent the whole night barking.
Because the dogs spent the whole night barking,
Ashley couldn't get any sleep.
Error #2
—
A
run-on sentence
occurs when two independent clauses are in the same sentence, but there is no
punctuation
or
conjunctions
separating them.
Example:
The field trip to the botanical gardens was cancelled
. I
t was raining too hard outside.
The field trip to the botanical gardens was cancelled
since
it was raining too hard outside.
Error #3
—
A
comma splice
is a specific kind of
run-on sentence
where two independent clauses are connected by
only
a comma.
Example:
The weather for the day was warm and sunny
.
Claudia still refused to come out of her blanket fort.
The weather for the day was warm and sunny,
but
Claudia still refused to come out of her blanket fort.
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