The adverb therefore should be used with caution, as it is often at the center of run-on sentences. Therefore is not conventionally considered a conjunction, so it cannot fuse two independent clauses into a single sentence the way conjunctions like and, but, and because can. For example, the ... Read more
Sentences
A sentence expresses a thing (the noun, or subject) performing an action (the verb, or predicate). A sentence should usually be composed of at least one independent clause, though there are times when sentence fragments are acceptable. Types of sentences Simple sentences A simple sentence is ... Read more
Phrases
A phrase is a group of words functioning as a syntactical unit. It's a broad term, comprising groups of words of many different types and functions. Phrases function as all parts of speech, as both subjects and predicates, as clauses, as idioms, and as figures of speech. This is by no means a ... Read more
Appositives
An appositive is a word or phrase that renames an earlier element in a sentence. Two elements that have this relationship are said to be in apposition. For example, in the following sentence, "the T.S.A. spokesman" is an appositive of "Mr. Fotenos" because the latter renames the former: Mr. ... Read more
Clauses
A clause is a group of words containing a subject (a noun or noun phrase) and a predicate (a verb, its qualifiers, and its object). Some sentences are made of single clauses. For example, This clause is a sentence. Others are made of multiple clauses. For instance, this sentence has three ... Read more
Restrictive and nonrestrictive
In grammar, a restrictive clause, word, or phrase provides crucial clarifying information about a previously named element. A nonrestrictive clause or phrase adds information that is not essential to the meaning of the sentence. Examples Let's identify the restrictive and nonrestrictive elements ... Read more
Objects
An object is the part of a sentence---usually a noun, noun phrase, or pronoun---that is affected by a verb's action. Objects may be direct objects or indirect objects. Direct objects A direct object is directly acted upon by the verb. For example, each of the underlined terms below is directly ... Read more
Subjects and predicates
Every sentence and clause must have two components: the subject and the predicate. The subject is the noun, pronoun, or noun phrase that performs the action of the sentence's main verb. The predicate includes the action (the verb) and all attributes of the action. In English, subjects almost ... Read more
Active voice vs. passive voice
If the subject of a clause acts, the clause is in the active voice. If the subject is acted upon, the clause is in the passive voice. For example, I kissed Sheila is in the active voice because the subject (I) acts (kissed) upon the object of the verb (Sheila). I was kissed by Sheila is in the ... Read more
Run-on sentences
A run-on sentence is not simply a sentence that is too long. Rather, it is a sentence in which two or more independent clauses are fused together without the proper punctuation or conjunctions needed to hold them together in a grammatically correct way. There are many types of run-ons. We'll cover ... Read more
