Under the Sea

Grammar Book
by: Christine Voong

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Under the Sea
Where
Grammar Can
Be Found All
Over

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 Table of Content

Title Page 2
Table of contents 3
Introduction 4
Section 1 Parts of Speech 5-14
Section 2 Phrases 15-16
Section 3 Clauses 16-19
Section 4 Sentences 19-25
Section 5 Paragraphs 25-28
Section 6 Essays 28- 30
Section 7 Capitalization 31- 33
Section 8 Punctuation 33-35
Section 9 Commonly Confused Words 35- 39
Glossary 40- 45
About the author 46
Work Cited 47
Dedication Back Cover 48

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Introduction

Why do we bother with grammar? How is it

important? Grammar is important because it help
improve our writing. As many know, writing is very
important when it comes to literature and for your
future. For instance, when writing a college application,
you want to demonstrate your skill level proving that you
are prepared for the challenge.
In this book, you will be able to better understand
the concept of grammar. You will learn different rules of
parts of speech and punctuation and different methods
for essay and sentence writing. This book also provides
several examples for reference, and to test your
knowledge there are several quizzes.
The power of writing can help you in many real-
world situations, so to better prepare for that LETS DO
SOME GRAMMAR!

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 GRAMMAR BOOK SECTION 1
PARTS OF SPEECH
NOUNS
A. Types of nouns:
1. Common Nouns: name a class of people, places, things, or idea.
Ex. Fish, ocean current, sand, burrows, anemone
2. Proper Nouns: give the name or title of a particular person, place, thing, or
idea (must be capitalized).
Ex. Goblin Shark, Pacific Ocean, Mariana trench
3. Compound Nouns: consist of words used together to form a single noun.
Ex. Jellyfish, starfish, seabed, seaweed
4. Concrete Nouns: refer to material things, to people, or to places.
Ex. Dorsal fin, gills, swim bladder, scales
5. Abstract Nouns: name ideas, quality, emotions or attitudes.
Ex. Agility, intelligence, aggression

B. Noun identifiers:
1. Noun endings:
Aggressiveness Adaption Scientist Memory Optimism
Development Minister Unity Difference Appearance
Neighborhood Architecture Attitude

2. Following a noun marker (NM): a, all, an, both, each, every, her, his, my,
our, several, some, that, their, these, this, those, one, two, three, etc.
Ex: The multiple coloration found in lobsters are considered extremely rare.
Ex: Several of the factors that can lead to the disappearing coral reefs are: oil
spills, human contamination, algae bloom, etc.

3. Plural form:
Ex: Shells, corals, kelps, sea snails, under water caves

4. Possessive form:
Ex: Boats propeller, divers gear, crabs shell, dolphins mother

5. Following a preposition:
Ex: The baby dolphin quickly swam alongside his mother and the pod.
Ex: The crab placed the anemones on its shell.
Ex: The parrot fish hungrily bit into the sponge.

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C. Functions (How nouns are used):
1. Subject (comes before the verb)
Ex: The sailfish swam after the school of anchovies.

Ex: After the group of sailfish spotted the school of anchovies they crowded them
towards the surface.

2. Direct Object (comes after the verb and answer what or whom)
Ex: Squids release ink at their pursuers whenever they feel threatened.
Ex: If attacked or threatened, octopuses and squids release ink at their enemies to
distraction and escape from them.

3. Indirect Object (answer to who or whom)

Ex: Seahorses lay their eggs in the males pouch to be protected until the eggs
hatch.
Ex: Seahorses have a mating procedure where the female lays the eggs in the
males pouch to incubate and protect the eggs until they hatch.

4. Adverbial Object (comes after the verb and answer when)

Ex: Divers dive evenings to see what happens during the dark.
Ex: Divers dive evenings to get a delightful viewing of the activity that occurs at
night.

5. Object of the Preposition (follows a preposition)

Ex: Isaac went to the fish market to buy the freshest seafood.
Ex: Jonathan Bird went to the Long Beach aquarium to explain the importance
of cooperation in the marine ecosystem.

6. Subject Complement (following a linking verb)

Ex: Edward John Smith was the captain of the Titanic.
Ex: Jonathan Bird is a YouTuber who dives to find and learn about the various
types of creatures that lives in the ocean.

7. Object Complement (follows a direct object and renames it)

Ex: The exploration group named Robert Lerado captain of the ship because of
his years of experience.
Ex: The research team accepted Sam Lee leader of the expedition due to his
outstanding findings.

8. Appositives (renames nouns, separated by commas)

Ex: Gulper eels, a deep-sea fish, are rarely seen by humans.
Ex: The gulper eel, a deep-sea fish, is also known as the pelican gulper or an
umbrella-mouth gulper due to its large mouth that resembles the beak of a pelican.

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 9. Adjectival (describes noun following it)
Ex: The flounder buried itself under the ocean floor.
Ex: Flounders burry themselves under the ocean floor to hide from predators and
preys.

10. Noun in Direct Address

Ex: Jon, where did you put the oxygen tanks?
Ex: Ceaser, are the underwater cameras charged and ready for the cave diving
exploration?

11. Object of the gerund (noun that follows a gerund)

Ex: Finding the rare vampire squid caused the marine biologist to jump for joy.
Ex: Diving at a ship wreck can lead to discoveries such as: why and how the ship
sank and what marine life have settled there.

12. Object of the participle (noun that follows a participle)

Ex: After the diving lesson, the group carefully swam down to collect scallops.
Ex: The researching team discovered a species of cuttlefish that contained toxin
in its body.

13. Object of the Infinitive (noun that follows an infinitive)

Ex: The team desperately wanted to find evidence that the giant squid existed in
the deep waters.
Ex: The research team wanted to discover the reason why the Bull Shark, who
usually lives in the ocean, decided to move into fresh water.
PRONOUNS

1. Personal:
Ex: Many sea creatures, such as the moray eel, are highly territorial and would strike
anything that gets too close to its waters.
Ex: If you want to be able to play with stingrays you can go to Stingray City, Grand
Cayman for that experience.

2. Relative:
Ex: Sperm whales is a species of whale that feeds on squid instead of krill and
microorganisms like other whales do.
Ex: A marine biologist is someone who study various types of sea creatures and
microorganisms.

3. Interrogative:
Ex: What other creatures lies in the unknown deep is uncertain as of this day.
Ex: A stingrays diet mainly consists of sea crustacean which includes crabs and shrimps.

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 4. Reflexive:
Ex: The decorating crab attached pebbles and seagrass to itself for better camouflage.
Ex: Seahorses attach themselves to seaweeds or corals to prevent themselves from being
swept away by the current.

5. Demonstrative:
Ex: There was a disease that caused the limbs of sea stars to come apart from its body.
Ex: Marine biologist particularly prefer to study these types of fish due to their unique
abilities.

6. Indefinite:
Ex: Another underwater camera was set up in the mid-night zone.
Ex: Only a small portion of the ocean have been explored, so many new species of fishes
are being discovered each year.
VERBS:
A. How verbs are identified:
1. Verb endings:
humming, hunted, swims

2. Tense:
1. Simple past: did swam, did hunted, did protected
2. Past: swam, hunted, protected
3. Past perfect: had swam, had hunted, had protected
4. Past progressive: was swimming, was hunting, was protecting
5. Simple present: swims, hunts, protects
6. Present: swim, hunt, protect
7. Present perfect: have swam, have hunted, has protected
8. Present progressive: is swimming, are hunting, is protecting
9. Present perfect progressive: have been swimming, has been hunting, have been
protecting
10. Future: will swim, will hunt, will protect
11. Future perfect: will have swam, will have hunted, will have protected

3. Forms:
a. Forms of to be: is swimming, was spearing, being hunted
b. Forms of to do: done diving, did hunting, doing research
c. Forms of to have: have mated, had covered, have swam

4. Types:
a. Auxiliary verbs (helping verbs):
Ex: must, need, have

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 b. Linking verbs (verbs that do not describe action, but connects the
subject of a sentence to other parts of the sentence):
Ex: is, was, are
c. Lexical verbs (main verbs):
Ex: swim, dive, hide
d. Dynamic verbs (indicated action):
Ex: play, chase, swim
e. Stative verbs (describes a condition):
Ex: like, hate, belong
f. Finitive verbs (indicated verb):
Ex: swim, play, hide
g. Nonfinitive verbs (infinitives or participles):
Ex: swimming, hunted, sleeping
h. Regular verbs (weak verbs):
Ex: alert, stay, create
i. Irregular verbs (strong verbs):
Ex: swim, bit, break
j. Transitive verbs (verbs followed by a direct object):
Ex: lived, changed, fished
k. Intransitive verbs (verbs that do not take direct objects):
Ex: was living, have changed, was fishing

5. Voice:
Active:
Ex: researching, eating, creating
Passive:
Ex: researched by, eaten by, created by

6. Verbal (VERBS FORMS NOT USED AS VERBS)

a. Gerund: researching, swimming, feeding
b. Participle: deserted, occupied, abandoned
c. Infinitive: to plunge, to strike, to migrate

IV. Adjectives
Adjectives modify, describe, limit, and identify nouns and pronouns.

1. Kinds:
1. Demonstrative (Demonstrating the pronouns/ nouns of the sentence
making it clear which pronoun/ noun is being talked about)
Ex: those divers, that fish, the shore

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 2. Common (is an adjective that is not capitalize)
Ex: colorful scales, powerful hurricane, shy octopus
3. Proper (An adjective that is capitalize and are often derived from proper
nouns)
Ex: Caribbean Island, Hawaiian waves, Galapagos Islands
2. Endings
-able -ible -ant -ent -ive -ing -ed -en
Ex: expandable, flexible, tolerant, different, aggressive, exciting, overwhelmed,
widened

3. Conversations (-ing, -ed):

Ex: hunt, chased, discover

4. Articles: (a word that combines with a noun)

They describe the nouns that follow it. (the, a, and an)
Ex: The ever so famous ship, the Titanic, sank on April 15, 1912 after an impact
with an iceberg.
Ex: The clownfish is one type of sea creature that can change genders when
necessary.
Ex: A marine biologist is a person who studies the organisms that exists in the
ocean or other bodies of water.

5. Comparatives/ Superlatives:
Comparative adjective is the comparison of an item, and superlative adjectives are
used to compare three or more nouns.
1. Comparative ex: larger, faster, stronger
2. Superlative ex: largest, fastest, strongest

Adverbs
Adverbs modify verbs, adjective, and other adverbs.
a. Endings:
-ly, -wards, -wise
Ex: Swiftly, afterwards, otherwise
b. Conversions
Conversation occurs when the suffix -ly, -wise, or -wards is added to the adjective
and/or noun.
Ex: swift + ly =swiftly, swimming + ly= swimmingly, after + wards = afterwards
c. Types
1. Manner: (How did they swam?)
Basic: The pursued school of fish swam speedily away from the pursuer.

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 Advance: To escape from the pursuers, the school of fish swam speedily towards
the reef where they will be safe.
2. Time: (When will we leave):
Basic: The group of divers left immediately out to shore after they have
prepared for the dive.
Advance: Due to the change of the tide, the divers immediately left for the
Muck dive to get a better glimpse of the marine life.
3. Place: (Where was she?)
Basic: The octopus willingly stayed in the cave to protect her eggs.
Advance: To protect her eggs, the octopus willingly stayed in the cave without
eating and sleeping until they hatch.
4. Degree: (how good is she)
Basic: The recent discovery of the new species of fish was exceptionally
fascinating.
Advance: Although the recent discovery of the new species of fish was
exceptionally fascinating, not much credit was given the discoverer.
5. Frequency: (How often do they migrate?)
Basic: Salmons make a yearly migration upstream to mate.
Advance: In order to mate, salmons make a challenging yearly migration from
the ocean to the rivers they were born.
d. Conjunctive:
(A conjunctive adverb is an adverb that connects two independent clauses.)
Ex: also, in other words, for example
e. Intensifiers:
(An adverb that modifies an adjective and intensify the meaning it conveys.)

Ex: swiftly, quietly, aggressively

f. Comparatives/ Superlatives:
Comparatives and superlative are adverbs that does not end with -ly.
Remove the e from the end of the word (if any) and change the ending to er for
comparative adverbs and to est for superlative adverbs.
Ex: Comparatives: faster, quicker, sneakier
Superlatives: fastest, quickest, sneakiest

VI. Conjunctions
A. Coordinating(FANBOYS): for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so
A conjunction is a word used to connect clauses or sentences or to coordinate words
in the same clause.
Basic: Divers put the oxygen tanks on their sides so they can fit into tight spaces of
underwater caves.

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 Advance: some underwater caves have narrow pathways, so divers attach the oxygen
tanks to their sides to be able to fit into tight spaces.
B. Correlative: either/or; neither/nor; not only/but also; both/ and; whether/or; as/so
Conjunctions connect two balanced clauses, phrases, or words.
Basic: Moray eels are a type of eel that is both aggressive and territorial.
Advance: Puffer fish are neither safe nor cuddly due to the spikes that erect
when threatened and the poison with no known treatment.

C. Subordinate: after, though as, as if, as long as, as thought, because, before, if, in order
that, provided that, since, so, so that, that, though, till, unless, when, where, whereas,
while subordinate conjunctions join a subordinate clause with the main clause.
Basic: As long as salmons reach their spawning ground, salmon will face any potential
danger.
Advance: The parrot fish would form a cocoon around itself before it sleeps to prevent
parasites from latching on to them.

D. Relative Pronouns: who (refers to people), which (refers to nonliving object or

animals), that (may refer to animals or nonliving objects) will begin with a relative
pronoun and will contain both a subject and a verb.
Basic: Some sea slug has a mating group which involves a group circle with all the
slugs mating at once.
Advance: Johnathan Bird is a You Tuber who makes videos that involves the
great world of the marine life.

Prepositions
Prepositions link nouns, pronouns, and phrases to other parts of the sentence. Prepositions
are NEVER followed by verbs. There are one- word prepositions and complex prepositions.
These are some common prepositions: aboard, about, above, according to, across from,
after, against, along, alongside, alongside of, along with, amid, among, apart from, around, as,
as far as, aside from, at, away from, back of, because of, before, behind, below, beneath,
beside, between, beyond, but (except), by, by means of, concerning, despite, down, down
from, except, excluding, for, from, from among, from between, from under, in, in addition to,
in behalf of, including, in front of, in place of, in regard to, inside, inside of, in spite of, instead
of, into, like, near, near to, notwithstanding, of, off, on, on account of, on behalf of, onto, on
top of, opposite, out, out of, outside, outside of, over, over to, owing to, past, prior to, to,
toward, under, underneath, until, unto, up, upon, up to, versus, with, within, without.

Ex: An underwater camera shot a video of an unknown organism floating in front of it,
the organism was later identified as a rare jellyfish.

Ex: In spite of all the dangers the salmons face, salmons travel up streams to the river
they were born at.
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 Ex: Beside the coral reef, the open water is also filled with marine life from the surface
to the bottom of the ocean floor.

1. Interjections: an abrupt remark, made especially as an aside or interruption.

Interjections list; absolutely, achoo, ack, ahh, aha, ahem, ahoy, agreed, alas, alright, alrighty,
alack, amen, anytime, argh, anyhoo, anyhow, as, if, attaboy, attagirl, aww, awful, bam, bah
humbug, behold, bingo, blah, bless you, boo, bravo, cheers, crud, darn, dang, doh, drat, duh,
eek, eh, gee, geepers, gee whiz, golly, goodness, goodness gracious, gosh, ha, hallelujah, hey,
hi, hmmm, huh, indeed, jeez, my gosh, no, now, nah, oops, ouch, phew, please, rats, shoot,
shucks, there, uggh, waa, what, woah, woops, wow, yay, yes, yikes.

Ex: Woah, look at the size of that shark!

Ex: Hey did you get all the equipment ready for the dive tomorrow?
Ex: Golly, look at all these fishes that lives in the midnight zone.

Key Associated terms to know for Parts of Speech:

1. Antecedents: (A thing or event that happens before or logically precedes
another)
Ex: The water is calm today, its a good time to go diving for scallops.

2. Complements: (Add to something that brings it out more or improves it)

Ex: The rainbow scales of the butterfly fish made it more outstanding than the
others in the ocean.

3. Objects: Direct and Indirect.

Direct- receives the action of a verb in a sentence.
Indirect- prepositional phrase in which the preposition is not stated but
understood.
Ex: The school of fish was caught by fishermen.

4. Modifiers- a person or a thing that makes partial or minor changes to

something
Ex: The parasite feed on its new host after attaching itself to its gills.

5. Transitions-the change from one state or condition to another.

Ex: Then, the sea turtle proceeded to dig a hole to bury her eggs in.

6. Expletives- an oath or swear word.

Ex: The leader of the expedition promised to provide new water proof cameras
for the upcoming trip.

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 7. Agreements-
Subject -verb: must agree with one another if one is singular so does the other
one
Noun- pronoun: noun is the antecedent of the pronoun and the noun and
pronoun must agree as to whether they are singular or plural.
Ex: To lay their eggs, sea turtles travel back to the beach where they hatched
from.

Interjection Quiz

1. __________are things or event that happens before or logically precedes another.

2. __________ are prepositional phrase in which the preposition is not stated but
understood.
3. __________ are antecedent of the pronoun and the noun and pronoun must agree as to
whether they are singular or plural.
4. __________ is the change from one state or condition to another.
5. __________ is a person or a thing that makes partial or minor changes to something.
6. __________ add to something that brings it out more or improves it.
7. __________ is an oath or swear word.
8. __________ must agree with one another if one is singular so does the other one.
9. __________ receives the action of a verb in a sentence.
10. ___________is an abrupt remark, made especially as an aside or interruption.

Answers:

1. Antecedents
2. Indirect object
3. Noun- pronoun
4. Transitions
5. Modifiers
6. Complement
7. Explement
8. Subject- verb
9. Direct object
10. Interjection

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 GRAMMAR BOOK SECTION 2
PHRASES

Phrases
A. Prepositional Phrase- is a phrase that contains a preposition that is a group of
words that begin with a noun, and is used as adjectives or an adverb.
Basic: Hoping to find new species of fish, the team ventured into the midnight zone.
Advance: Making up about 90% of the ocean not many is known about the aphotic zone,
so an expedition was organized to research what was under the twilight zone.

B. Appositive Phrase- A group of words that include all the words or phrases that
modify an appositive.
Basic: The cuttlefish, a Cephalopod, has the ability to change their colors and texture to
perfectly match their surroundings.
Advance: The cuttlefish, a Cephalopod, uses its pigment cells and circular muscles in
order to change the color and sculpture of their skin to camouflage.

C. Verbal: A group of words that begin with a verbal and ends with a noun.
1. Gerund word ending in ing used as a noun.
Basic: Swimming the migratory route is important for whales.
Advance: Swimming the migratory route each year is important for whales because
of food and breeding.

2. Participle word ending in ing or ed used as an adjective

Basic: Swimming in their mothers slip stream, baby dolphins are able to stay close
to their mothers.
Advance: Baby dolphins are able to stay safe and close to their mothers and pod by
swimming in the slip stream.

3. Infinitive verb preceded by the word to (to go, to jump) used as noun,
adjectives, or adverbs.
Basic: To avoid being attacked from a shark, a shark shield was worn by each diver.
Advance: A fishing rod was only allowed for sport fishing so the caught fish can be
released back into the water to prevent over fishing.

Phrases Quiz

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 1. A prepositional phrase contains a preposition that is a group of words that begin with
a _______.
2. A gerund word ends in ______ and us used as a noun.
3. A group of words that begin with a verbal and ends with a noun is a ______.
4. ___________ ending in ing or ed used as an adjective.
5. What phrase include words or phrases that modify an appositive?
6. What type of verbs can be used as an adverb?
Match the type of phrases to the sentences that contains it.
7. Appositive a. Swimming the distance is typical for a whale.
8. Infinitive b. Edward Smith, the captain of the Titanic, decided to sink with the ship.
9. Gerund c. The crew sailed into uncharted water in search of new land.
10. Proposition d. To avoid breaking the aquarium, mantas shrimps arent used for display

Answers:
1. Noun
2. ing
3. Verbal
4. Participle words
5. Appositive phrase
6. Infinitive verbs
7. B
8. D
9. A
10. C

GRAMMAR BOOK SECTION 3

CLAUSES

A. Independent Clause- can stand alone as a complete sentence, known as a simple

sentence.
Basic: Some types of fish swim in a group.

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 Advance: Many species of fish swim together in a group for safety in large
numbers.

B. Subordinate (Dependent) Clause- cannot stand alone as a complete sentence and

must begin with a subordinate conjunction.
Basic: As the tide changes, many small creatures are trapped in tide pools.
Advance: Whenever the fishing ship passes by, seagulls and pelicans usually wait
around hoping for an easy meal.

1. Noun clause: used as the noun in a sentence and may function as a subject, a
predicate noun, a direct object, an object of a preposition, an indirect object, or an
appositive
Basic: Planktons is a critical part of the food chain, which help sustain many
organisms.

Advance: Finding Nemo, a Pixar film, is about a protective clown fish in search
of his son with the help of a blue tangs fish.

2. Adjective Clause: Used to modify a noun in an independent clause.

Basic: The river is the place where salmons return to, to breed and lay eggs.

Advance: Corals and small openings in rocks are essentially important for minor
fishes who relies on them for protection and shelter.

3. Adverb Clause: Used to modify verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in an independent

clause, introduced by a subordinating conjunction and used to indicate time, place,
cause, purpose, result, condition, and/ or concession.
Basic: The North Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the worlds oceanic
division where the Titanic unfortunately sank. (place)
Advance: The mimic octopus cleverly shape its body to mimic poisonous sea
creatures to prevent itself from getting eaten. (purpose)

4. Relative Clauses: Dependent clause that begins with a relative pronoun.

Basic: The tide which are long-period waves are caused by the gravitational pull
of the sun and moon.

Advance: Any species sea creatures who are unable to skillfully find a way to
survive will most likely become vulnerable to extinction.

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 5. Elliptical Clause: Adverb clauses in which part of the clause is omitted.
Basic: When diving, divers need to be fully geared with oxygen tanks and a suit.

Advance: When filming under water, one must encase the camera with an air
tight container to prevent it from getting wet.

6. Essential Clauses: Clauses necessary to the meaning of the sentence.

Basic: The objects that is most interesting to barracudas are shiny and
glistening.

Advance: The Portuguese Man-of-War is a type of nematocyst that can deliver

an extremely painful sting.

7. Nonessential Clauses: Clauses that are NOT necessary to the meaning of the
sentence.
Basic: Groupers, a fish that usually swims alone, can grow up to five feet long.

Advance: The manatees, a kind and gentle creature, was often mistaken as a
mermaid during the time of Columbus voyage.

Clauses Quiz

1. An ___________ clause can stand alone as a complete sentence.

2. An ___________ clause is used to modify a noun in an independent clause.
3. What is a nonessential clause?
4. What can an adverb clause modify?
5. What are subordinate clauses?
6. Give an example of a sentence with an adjective clause.
Match the type of clauses to the usage.
7. Relative clause a. clauses necessary to the meaning of the sentence
8. Essential clause b. may function as a subject, direct object, or an appositive
9. Elliptical clause c. adverb clauses in which part of the clause is omitted
10. Noun clause d. dependent clause that begins with a relative pronoun

Answers:

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 1. Independent
2. Adjective
3. A nonessential clause are clauses that are not necessary for the meaning of the sentence.
4. An adverb clause can modify verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.
5. Subordinate clauses are clauses that cannot stand on its own as a complete sentence.
6. Answer may vary.
7. D
8. A
9. C
10. B

GRAMMAR BOOK SECTION 4

SENTENCES
Sentences
a. Sentence Parts
I. Subject
1. Complete subject is the simple subject, or the main word or words in a
subject, along with any of the modifiers that might describe the subject.

Basic: Many deep-sea creatures use bioluminescence to attract prey.

Advance: In order to deviously attract preys, many deep-sea creatures use
bioluminescence to lure them to their doom.

2. Simple Subject is the main word or words in a subject. It does not include
any of the modifiers that might describe the subject.

Basic: The parrot fish create a cocoon around itself when it sleeps.

Advance: To prevent any parasites from disturbing it, the parrot fish creates a
cocoon around itself when it sleeps.

3. Compound Subject consists of two or more simple subjects that share a

verb or verb phrase. These subjects are joined by a conjunction such as
and, or, or nor.

Basic: Sharks and remora share a symbiosis where the remora feed off of
parasites attached to the sharks and the shark protects them in return.

Advance: Fresh water crocodiles and salt water crocodiles share many
similar traits, but salt water crocodiles are able to venture into the sea.

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 II. Predicate
1. Complete predicate includes the verb or verb phrase but also all the
words that give more information about it.

Basic: The aggravated puffer fish inflated itself to drive of the pursuers.

Advance: Stingrays are cartilaginous fish which are closely related to sharks,
that have a barb it uses to pierce it enemies from above.

2. Simple predicate are sentences where the main verb in the predicate that
tells what the subject does.

Basic: An artificial reef was built to promote marine life.

Advance: Nudibranch reuses the toxin that it gains from eating poisonous
creatures such as the Portuguese Man-o-War.

3. Compound predicate is two or more verb or verb phrases that share the
same subject and are joined by a conjunction.

Basic: The cuttlefish can change its skin color and texture.
Advance: Mudskippers dig burrows in order to shelter and protect their eggs
and young ones.

b. Sentence Types
I. Declarative sentence is a sentence in the form of a statement.

Basic: The jellyfish bloom occurs when the population grows exponentially after
a certain time period.
Advance: Sailfish can maneuver with great speed due to their slenderness and
spear like body.

II. Interrogative sentence is a sentence that asks a question.

Basic: What is the ratio of lobster that have these rare multicolored genes?

Advance: Do you have the coordinates of the shark that we tagged several days
ago?

III. Imperative sentence gives a direct command.

Basic: Prepare all the diving materials we need for the observation tomorrow.

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 Advance: Quietly approach the crack so the fish wont be frightened as easily.

IV. Exclamatory sentence is a statement that also conveys excitement or emotion.

Basic: Im afraid the hurricane is going to greatly delay our diving trip.

Advance: During the deep-sea exploration, we have found over one-hundred new
species of fish!

Sentence Patterns
1. Simple Sentence: A sentence that is just one independent clause.
Basic: The fish that was thought to have gone extinct was recently rediscovered in an
unexplored part of the ocean.
Advance: Researchers are researching Bull sharks behaviors to figure out why they have
suddenly started moving into fresh water.

2. Compound Sentence: A sentence with multiple clauses, but no dependent clauses.

Basic: Salmons travel upstream into the river to mate, shortly afterward the fish would
die.
Advance: The Alligator Gar have many characteristics similar to those of an alligator,
they both have strong jaws lined with shape teeth.

3. Complex Sentence: A sentence with one independent clause and at least one
dependent clause.
Basic: A fish sometimes become stress while its being handles, it can die.
Advance: Whales and dolphins would migrate to warmer waters, to give birth and to find
food.

4. Complex- Compound Sentence: A sentence with multiple independent clauses and

at least one dependent clause.
Basic: During the trip, we decided to see the dolphins, we saw them swam aside the boat,
it was fun.
Advance: The Great Barrier Reef is a very lovely and breath-taking sight to see, it is a
lush and plentiful environment, but, it is dying.

5. Loose Sentence: A sentence that contains and independent clause plus a subordinate
clause (either a clause or a phrase).
Basic: Corals are not plant lives; they are made up of colonies of individual polyps.
Advance: The salmons upstream to spawn, despite the number of dangers they will face,
the fish will courageously reach their destination.

21
6. Periodic Sentence: A sentence in which the independent clauses parallel each other
by the sentence to create interest or generate suspense.
Basic: After five hours of biting and pushing, the other male sea turtles eventually gave
up on the female.
Advance: The thundering and rumbling of the storm forced many creatures to seek
shelter in crevasses in rocks.

7. Parallel Sentence: A sentence using the same pattern of words to show that two or
more words or ideas are of equal importance and to help the reader comprehend
what is being written
Basic: The baby dolphin is playing, swimming, and jumping happily in the sea.
Advance: On a clear and sunny day, the public was swimming, playing, and tanning on
the beach.

8. Balanced Sentence: A sentence where phrases or clause parallel each other by their
likeness of structure, meaning, or length.
Basic: Sea louses primarily feed on muscles, they would attach themselves onto hosts and
use them as a food supply.
Advance: The stone fish is said to be one of the most venomous fish in the sea, it can
cause swelling pain and even death if not treated.

9. Chiasmus: A sentence that includes a repetition of ideas (words, phrases, or clauses)

in inverted (reversed) order.
Basic: The flounder cleverly hid in the sand and the prey was captured quickly.
Advance: The sail fish intelligently chased the school of sardines towards the surface,
unable the escape, the school swam frantically in circles.

10. Asyndeton: A sentence that uses multiple conjunctions in close proximity to each
other between words, phrases, or clauses for a rhetorical purpose.
Basic: She ran beside the water, she swam in the sea, she laid in the sand.
Advance: It leaped into the air, it swam along the boats, it played in the water.

11. Polysyndeton: A sentence that uses multiple conjunctions in close proximity to each
other between words, phrases, or clauses for a rhetorical purpose.
Basic: Stingray eat crabs, and shrimps, and lobsters, and fishes.
Advance: The mudskipper is a unique fish that can live on land, and underground, and in
water.

12. Anaphora: A sentence that features the purposeful repetition of a word, words, or a
phrase at the beginning of the several successive clauses in order to place emphasis
and draw attention.

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 Basic: The day was bright and sunny, the day was full of laughter, the day was ruined by
a storm.
Advance: The whale swam smoothly in the water, the whale sang beautifully to the
fishes, the whale glanced gently at the crowd.

13. Epistrophe: A sentence featuring several phrases or clauses ending with the same
word or words.
Basic: It was the storm that brought them to shore, it was the storm that damaged the sea
bed.
Advance: It comes as a storm bringing a cycle of warm and cold temperature, it stays as a
storm heavily damaging anything in its path, and it leaves as a storm leaving a tragic
result.

c. Sentence Errors (Incomplete/Incorrect Types)

I. Fragment are a group of words that looks like sentences but isnt.

Incorrect: After the storm have passed. The coral reef was greatly damaged.

Correct: The coral reef was greatly damaged after the storm have passed.

II. Run-on/ Rambling sentences have two or more independent clauses.

Incorrect: Pelicans have a very large beak which has a pouch it can use the pouch
to easily scoop fish out of the water.

Correct: Pelicans have a very large beak which has a pouch. It can use the pouch
to easily scoop fish out of the water.

III. Fused Sentence is a sentence in which two sentences are run together.

Incorrect: The cone snail stores a venomous harpoon it is powerful enough to kill
a human.

Correct: The cone snail stores a venomous harpoon. It is powerful enough to kill a
human.

IV. Misplaced Modifiers is a word, phrase, or clause that is improperly

separated from the word it modifies / describes.

Incorrect: The animal nutritionist gave a squid to the orca that contained a vitamin
supplement.

23
 Correct: The animal nutritionist gave a squid that contained a vitamin supplement
to the orca.

V. Comma Splice occurs when two independent clauses are connected with only
a comma.

Incorrect: The male angler fish have a shorter lifespan than the females, the males
would attach themselves to the female to deliver their sperm even after death.

Correct: The male angler fish have a shorter lifespan than the females so the
males would attach themselves to the female to deliver their sperm even after
death.

VI. Double Negative is the nonstandard usage of two negatives used in the same
sentence so that they cancel each other and create a positive.

Incorrect: Frog fish doesnt have a peculiar evolution which enable them to not
walk on the sea bed.
Correct: Frog fish have a peculiar evolution which enable them to walk on the sea
bed.

Sentence Quiz:
1. ________ is the main word or words in a subject. It does not include any of the modifiers
that might describe the subject.
2. ________ occurs when two independent clauses are connected with only a comma.
3. ________ a sentence that uses multiple conjunctions in close proximity to each other
between words, phrases, or clauses for a rhetorical purpose.
4. ________ is a word, phrase, or clause that is improperly separated from the word it
modifies / describes.
5. ________ is a sentence in which two sentences are run together.
6. ________ a sentence that contains and independent clause plus a subordinate clause
7. ________ are sentences where the main verb in the predicate that tells what the subject
does.
8. ________are a group of words that looks like sentences but isnt.
9. ________ is a sentence in the form of a statement.
10. ________ feature several phrases or clauses ending with the same word or words.

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Answers:
1. Simple subject
2. Comma splice
3. Asyndeton
4. Misplaced modifiers
5. Fused sentence
6. Loose sentence
7. Simple predicate
8. Fragment
9. Declarative sentence
10. Epistrophe

GRAMMAR BOOK SECTION 5

PARAGRAPHS
1. Introductory Paragraphs (Introductions)
a. Hook/ lead
i. Anecdotal (Brief story to set the mood and intro the topic)
1. Ex. Sara adores spending her summers at the shores of The Great Barrier
Reef. She enjoys swimming in the waters and connecting with the nature
around her. Clear blue water, beautiful colorful corals, and many
interesting creatures; it is truly a sight to see. One summer as Sara was
swimming in the water, she noticed that there was something wrong with
the reef. The number of marine creatures have dropped and the corals
were losing color. Sara instantly knew that the reef was in danger.
ii. Query Based (Question that brings the reader to the topic)
1. Ex. What was the cause of the endangerment of the reef?
b. Thesis statement (the purpose of a piece of writing usually one sentence in length
and something that is arguable)
i. Assertion (claim)
1. Ex. At the age of 25 million- years- old The Great Barrier Reef was
declared dead.
ii. Fact (empirically verifiable)
1. Ex. Human threats such as, shipping accidents, oil spills, and over
fishing have taken a major effect on the reefs health.
iii. Opinion (personal position on a topic)
1. Ex. If it werent for inconsiderate human activities, the ocean and the
marine life would be in a healthier condition.
iv. Belief (social, religious, or political in nature an opinion held by
many to be a fact, though it is not necessarily)

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 1. Ex. It was widely believed that the oceans large mass would not be
affected by pollution.
v. Generalization (uses absolute or statistical pronouns: all, always,
every, never, none, most, half avoid using this type of thesis
statement)
1. Ex. Most of the damages received by the reef and the ocean are caused
by human activities.
vi. Document Based (cites a specific source and its position on a topic)
1. Ex. In the Great Barrier Reef, they stated and explained the factors that
have caused the reef to be sick.

vii. Theory (a statement that can be tested and potentially proven)

1. Ex. The endangerment of the ocean can lead to a mass extinction of
marine life.
2.Body Paragraphs (must have echoes of the thesis in each and present evidence to support
or expand on the thesis)
a. Topic Sentence (must specifically indicate the topic of the paragraph and focus
on one subject and area of evidence or support)
1. Ex. There are several types of pollution that can harm the reef in multiple
ways.
b. Evidence form Quotations (quotes should NEVER be used as individual sentence
quotes should be embedded within sentences)
1. Ex. According to marine biologists, Farm pollution is one of the key
drivers of the Reefs decline (WWF).
2. Ex. Farm pollution is one of the key drivers of the Reefs decline,
according to marine biologists (WWF).
3. Ex. One of the affecting factors, Farm pollution is one of the key drivers
of the Reefs decline, according to marine biologists (WWF).
4. Ex. One of the affecting factors, Farm pollution is one of the [appalling]
key drivers of the Reefs decline, (WWF).
5. Ex. One of the affecting factors, Farm pollution . . . [causes]. . . the
Reefs decline, (WWF).
c. Paraphrase (rewording of a quote into other words of the same length without
quotation marks, but still citing the source)
1. Original Quote - The Reef is highly vulnerable. In the past three decades, it has
lost half its coral cover, pollution has caused deadly starfish outbreaks, and global
warming has produced horrific coral bleaching (WWF).
2. Ex. Paraphrase The Reef is failing due to the large amount of pollution (WWF).
d. Summary (condensing larger quotes or sections)
1. Original Quote - The Reef is highly vulnerable. In the past three decades, it has
lost half its coral cover, pollution has caused deadly starfish outbreaks, and global
warming has produced horrific coral bleaching (WWF).

26
 2. Ex. Summary Pollution is harming the Reef.
e. Abstract examples (hypothetical, what if examples AVOID)
1. Ex. The Great Barrier Reef can be saved if we saw water and reduce pollution.
f. Concrete examples (actual, reference-able examples)
1. Ex. A observation was made in September 2016 that cleaner water assisted a
portion of the reef to recover from bleaching.
g. Closing sentences (must end the discussion of the topic within the paragraph
with a transition or culminating word -possibly an adverb- and should echo the
thesis of the essay)
1. Ex. Fortunately, the situation was taken to considerate and the pollution situation
is being handled.
3. Closing Paragraphs (conclusions should not be mere summarizes of the previous
paragraphs of you essay)
a. Consequences of Disregarding the Thesis (establishing the potential
consequences of disregarding the implications of the thesis)
1. Ex. If the ocean pollution continues there would be a mass extinction of marine life.
b. Statement(s) of Extension (extending the consequences of disregarding the
implication of the thesis)
1. Ex. As such, the destruction of the ocean is mainly linked to the carelessness of
humans.
c. Establishing the Significance of the Thesis
1. Ex. As a society, we can work together to reduce the amount of pollution, saving the
oceans and the creatures as well.
d. Final Sentence (connects to the book)
1. Ex. Given how pollution can greatly damage the reef and marine life, Saras favorite
vocation spot might not be as enjoyable anymore.

Paragraph Quiz:
Match the definition to the word(s)

1. anecdotal a. lead
2. query based b. a brief story to set the mood and intro the topic
3. thesis statement c. the purpose of a piece of writing
4. Hook d. question that brings the reader to the topic
5. assertion e. claim

Fill in the blank:

27
 6. A theory is a statement that can be _______.
7. An ________ is a brief story to set the mood and intro to the topic.
8. an abstract example are hypothetically _______ examples.
9. The final sentence should __________.
10. _______ examples should have reference-able examples.
Answers:
1. B
2. D
3. C
4. A
5. E
6. Tested
7. Anecdotal
8. what if
9. Connect to the hook
10. Concrete

GRAMMAR BOOK SECTION 6

ESSAY
a. Types
i. Persuasive(Argumentative)
A persuasive essay uses logic and reasoning to persuade the reader that one idea is
legitimate that the other. It should also convince the reader to favor or go against the
issue.
ii. Expository (Informative)
An expository essay explains a specific topic in a logical and straightforward manner. It
requires an analysis and FACTS about the subject that contains no opinions or
emotions.
1. Definition or Description
A description essay describes a thing, person, or event.
2. Process (How-To)
A process essay describes or states the steps of how to perform a task.
3. Compare and Contrast
A compare and contrast essay highlights the similarity and differences of a
topic. While writing ask these questions: How are they similar? and How are
they different?
28
 4. Cause and Effect
Cause and effect essays consults with the reason an event that happened and the
results of the event.
iii. Analytical/Critical
An analytical essay expresses the writers opinion or evaluation of a subject.
1. Evaluative
An evaluation essay report that contains evidence to justify ones opinion.
2. Interpretive
An interpretative essay is an examination and analyzation of an idea to develop
a possible definition.
iv. Narrative (tells a story)
A narrative shares the story of a personal experience which provides an opportunity
understand one-self better.
1. Personal Anecdote
Personal anecdote are personal stories used to draw the audience into the essay
and the topic.
v. Research Paper
Uses critical thinking, composition, and sources which shows evidence supporting the
claim or subject.

1. MLA Citation Format

MLA format is a way to cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities.
2. APA Citation Format
APA format is a way to cite sources within the social sciences.
vi. Timed
Timed essays are written on a limited time while trying to fulfill all requirements.
1. Document Based Question (DBQ)
2. A document based question essay are short-answer questions normally given as
a form of test where the questions are answered using a document.
3. Synthesis
Synthesis is a written discussion that depends on one or more sources.
4. Prompt Based
Prompt based is a format where the instructor gives writers a specific topic to
right about. Quotes and citation can be used to support a statement or claim in
the writing.

b. Strategies/planning tips/ steps

When writing, there are certain steps that are required for the written work to be successful.
i. Pre-writing /Prompt Analysis/ Outlining
1. Ask yourself what is the prompt asking?
2. Once you have an idea of what the question is you need to create a plan that will
structure your essay.
3. The introduction should three ideas/ examples you would like to explain.
4. The thesis must answer the question.

29
 5. End with a strong conclusion.
ii. Research/Evaluation of Source
1. Understand the prompt/ question before researching.
2. Look for reliable sources.
3. Make sure you cite the quotes from websites and journal articles correctly.
4. Cite the sources correctly at the end of the writing.

c. Work cited page

i. MLA Format
MLA format is a way to cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities.

ii. APA Format

APA format is a way to cite sources within the social sciences such as academic
documents, journal articles, and books.

Essay quiz
1. What are expository essays based on?
2. What is a timed essay?
3. What must be avoided while writing an expository essay?
4. What is the purpose of a persuasive essay?
5. An interpretive essay use examination and analyzation to __________.
6. Personal anecdotes are mainly used to_____________.
7. In an analytical essay, you must ___________.
8. A compare and contrast essay____________.
9. A cause and effect essay ____________.
10. When writing a research paper, you must ___________.

Answers:
1. They are based on facts and analyzation.
2. Essays written in a limited amount of time while achieving all given criteria.
3. Opinions and emotions must be avoided.
4. To persuade the audience to favor or go against a subject.
5. Develop a possible definition.
6. Interest the readers and to draw them in to the topic.
7. Express the writers opinion or evaluate the subject.
8. Highlights the similarities and differences between two subjects.
9. Consults with the reason an event happen and the results of the event.
10. Cite the source of the information used.

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 GRAMMAR BOOK SECTION 7
CAPITALIZATION
1. Capitalize the first words of a sentence.
Ex: Although sightings of the prehistoric Megalodon have been seen, there are no
evidence that it still exists.

2. Capitalize proper nouns (names of individuals, places, or ideas).

Ex: Johnathan Brid decides that his new diving adventure should take place near
the Galapagos Islands.

3. Capitalize important words in the titles of books, articles, and songs (nouns,
pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs).
Ex: In the book, Moby Dick, the captain has been hunting down a white whale
seeking revenge.

4. Capitalize religious figures, name of God(s), specific deities, and holy books.
Ex: Poseidon, the god of the sea, has the power to create destructive hurricanes
and vast earthquakes.

5. Capitalize directions that are names, such as North, South, East, and West when
used as sections of the country.
Ex: In fish markets of South Korea there are a variety of fresh sea foods such as
scallops, squids, and eels.

6. Capitalize days of the week, months of the year, and holidays.

Ex: It has been decided that the crew would go muck diving next Friday.

7. Capitalize seasons when used in a title.

Ex: John decides to write a book called, Summer Bummer, of how ones summer
vacation at the beach can be ruined due to the heavily polluted water caused by
humans.

8. Capitalize countries, nationalities, and specific languages.

Ex: Seafood makes up most of the Japanese diet, because they receive a plentiful
amount from the surrounding sea.

9. Capitalize periods and events.

Ex: The Megalodon existed during the Prehistoric era, it was one of the most
ferocious creatures in the sea with the size of 18 meters.

10. Capitalize languages.

Ex: La coquille Saint-Jacques is translated to scallop in English.

31
11. Capitalize names of national, political, racial, social, civic, and athletic groups.
Ex: The Mekong giant catfish is sacred to the Taiwanese culture, there are even
paintings of this symbolic fish ion the walls of Buddhist temples.

12. Capitalize trademarks.

Ex: The large crate of Bass that was caught is being shipped in to a factory to be
made into Gortons Crunchy Breaded Fish Fillets.

13. Capitalize the first word in a sentence that is a direct quote, even if the direct quote
comes in the middle of a sentence.
Ex: Jacques Yves Cousteau stated, The best way to observe a fish is to become a
fish.

14. Capitalize the first word of a sentence following a colon.

Ex: There are five well-known poisonous creatures in the sea: Stonefish, Lion
fish, Pufferfish, Stingrays, Boxfish, and Stargazer.

15. Capitalize The first word in each line of most poetry.

Ex: Deep blue depths
So vast and wide
Full of wonder and mysteries
Full of life and energy
Filled with beauty and joy

16. Capitalize the single-letter word, first person pronoun I.

Ex: Since I dont travel, I decided to visit the islands over the summer.

17. Capitalize salutations and closings in letters - first word only unless proper name is
used.
Dear Destiny,

Sincerely,
Dory

18. Capitalize initials, initialisms, and acronyms.

Ex: The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), are seeking ways to
protect monotonize the environment from human interactions.

19. Capitalize Buildings, Streets, Parks, Statues, Monuments.

Ex: Instead of fishing out in the ocean many decided to fish at Lincoln Park near
the neighborhood.

20. Capitalize the name of geographical places.

Ex: The Mariana Trench is the deepest and darkest part of the ocean where many
mysteries of the ocean remains.

32
 21. Capitalize continents, countries, districts, cities, towns.
Ex: The jellyfish bloom cased a despicable dilemma in Japan because the jellyfish
annoyingly surrounded the waters and made fishing nearly impossible.

22. Capitalize Government Terms

Ex: The Fish and Wildlife Service of the Federal Government are responsible of
protecting endangered and non-threated species and their habitat.

23. Capitalize when referring to an organized group.

Ex: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service made it their priority to protecting and
enhancing the wildlife, plants, and fish.

24. Capitalize the names and synonyms for flags of nations.

Ex: The national fish of Hawaii, the Humuhumunukunukuapuaa or Trigger fish,
can shot jets of water from its mouth to find any cleverly buried invertebrates.

25. Capitalize the first letter of hyphenated words at the beginning of a sentence.
Ex: Five hundred- year-old Ming was reported as the oldest mollusk ever
discovered.

GRAMMAR BOOK SECTION 8

PUNCTUATION
1. Square Brackets ( [] )- is a mark thats used to set a word or phrase aside from the rest of
the sentence or to add information to a quotation.
Ex: They [Sonia and Thomas] discovered an ancient artifact buried deeply under the sand, near a
shipwreck.

2. Parentheses ( () )- it is used when a writer wants to add detail to the information to a

sentence that will give greater detail to the information presented, although it is not
necessary.
Ex: A couple of researchers happened to capture a mermaid-like creature on camera on a
submarine expedition in Africa (March 6, 2013).

3. Period( .) - the period is placed at the end of declarative sentences, statements thought to
be a complete and after many abbreviations.
Ex: Mantis shrimps are not kept in aquariums due to the risk of having the aquarium walls
cracking from the intensity of their hits.

33
4. Comma (,) - is used to show a separation of ideas or elements within the structure of the
sentence.
Ex: Iceberg, rare albino whale, was recently spotted after four years after his last sighting in
2012.

5. Dash (-) separates words into parenthetical statement.

Ex: The day at the beach started beautifully it began to rain shortly afterward.
6. Hyphen (-)- signifies a break in a long word.
Ex: The audience was deeply amazed by the performance of the well-trained seals and
killer whales.

7. Colon (:) is used to separates two clauses and when introducing a quotation or list of
items.
Ex: During the trip to Hawaii, she brought many souvenirs: a shell necklace, a straw hat,
a floral-patterned shirt, and new snacks.

8. Semi colon (;) is used to separate major elements of a sentence or two independent
clauses.
Ex: The water was extremely clean and well nourished; there are an abundance of life
seen near the reef.

9. Question mark (?) is used to indicate an interrogative clause or phrase.

Ex: When and where did the Titanic sank?

10. Exclamation point/ mark (!) is used when a there is a sudden interjection to indicate a
strong feeling.
Ex: The performance performed by Shamu at Sea World was amazing!

11. Apostrophe () is used to indicate the omission of a letter or letters from a word, the
possessive case, or the plurals of lowercase letters.
Ex: The aftermath of storms arrival was the destruction of homes, trees, and the coral
reef.

34
12. Quotation marks ( ) represent a spoken language, title of an article, or when being
sarcastic.
Ex: She excitedly screamed, Look at the beautiful fish during the trip at the aquarium.

13. Ellipsis () omits words or word from a quote or a sentence.

EX: A marine biologist claimed, Nine percent of fish . . . [are] coral-dependent for food,
habitat, or both.

GRAMMAR BOOK SECTION 9

COMMONLY CONFUSED WORDS
1. Who/ whom- Who is used to replace he or she while whom refers to him or her.
Whom can also refer to the object of a verb or preposition.
Ex: To whom does the title of captain of the ship belong to?
Ex: Who oversaw the whale migration expedition in Antarctica?
2. Their/ There/ Theyre- There refers to a place or location, their refers to a group, and
there is a contraction of they are.
Ex: The team recorded all their founding while they were exploring the Mariana Trench.
Ex: There are multiple factors that can lead to the illness of the reef, such as: human
pollution, bleaching, warming water, and overfishing.
Ex: Theyre the ones who were foolish enough to post a video of themselves jumping
onto a Manatee as it was swimming close to pier.
3. Lie/ Lay- Lie can be assumed to be a horizontal resting position and lay is to place down.
Ex: Feeling ill from the boat ride, he decided to lay down and rest in his room.
Ex: She lay all the lovely shells and smooth stones she found on the table.
4. Laid/ Lain- Laid is the past participle of lay and lain is the past participle of lie.
Ex: He had lain on the boat for a long time after the exhausting diving adventure.
Ex: After diving for an hour, she laid all the lovely shells and smooth stones she found on
the table.
5. Affect/ effect- Affect is a verb meaning to influence. Effect is referring to after the
influence.
Ex: Human pollution have an extremely negative affect on the reefs, ocean, and marine
life.

35
 Ex: The effect of the pollution is the death of many breath-taking reefs and the extinction
of many fascinating marine creatures.
6. Accept/ except- Accept is consent or receive. Except is to not include.
Ex: The professor accepted the contribution offered by another research group interested
in the study of marine life.
Ex: The professor is willing to be assisted with the study, except he is to oversee the
entire research.
7. Should have/ Should of- Should have means something that would have been
beneficial to do. While should of is referring to shoulda or musta, which is
grammatically incorrect. It should be said as should have
Ex: The school of fish should of swam away from the surface to avoid being easily
targeted.
Ex: The school of fish should have swum away from the surface to avoid being easily
targeted.

8. Loath/ Loathe- Loath means to be unwilling or reluctant. Loathe is to feel disgust for or
intense dislike.
Ex: She had a loathe attitude towards the cloudy and unsanitariness of the ocean water.
Ex: Despite the unsanitariness of the water, she loathly entered to cool off from the
summer heat.

9. Infer/ imply- Infer means to deduce or conclude from evidence and reasoning. Imply
means strongly suggest the truth or existence of something.
Ex: Based on the examination of the inner ears of dead whales and dolphins, it was
inferred that the cause of the massive beaching was an effect of sonar testing.
Ex: Due to some sightings of a large shark-like body in the deep sea, it was implied that
the megalodon probably still exist.

10.Weary/ Wary- Weary means feeling or showing tiredness. Wary means feeling or
showing caution about possible dangers or problems.
Ex: After swimming for miles, the weary sea turtle finally arrived at the beach where it
was born at to lay her eggs.
Ex: The wary mimic octopus positioned itself to impersonate the shapes of poisonous sea
creatures to avoid being eaten.

36
11. Proceed/ precede- Proceed means begin or continue a course of action. Precede means
come before in time.
Ex: After gathering, the sea slugs proceeded with the mating ritual.
Ex: The male pufferfish allowed the female to precede into the mating circle that it had
beautifully made.

12. Discrete/ Discreet- Discrete means individually separate and distinct. Discreet means
careful and circumspect in ones speech or actions to avoid causing offense or to gain an
advantage.
Ex: The public stayed at a discrete distance from the water after hearing about the shark
attacks.
Ex: When examining an unknown specimen, scientists are discreet with word choses
such as mermaids or sea monsters.

13. Conscience/ conscious- Conscience is an inner feeling or voice viewed as acting a guide
to the rightness or wrongness of ones behavior. Conscious is to be aware of and
responding to ones surroundings.
Ex: Two foolish boys had a bad conscience that told them to mistreat the gentle creatures
that lives in the river.
Ex: Many creatures are conscious of their surroundings to avoid and portentous dangers.

14. Can/ may- Can means to be able to. May means expressing possibility.
Ex: Octopus contain no exterior or inner structure, so they can easily squeeze through
even the tightest space.
Ex: The fishing boat may have to remain in the port for a few more day due to the
possibility of a storm.

15. Of/ off- Of means to express the relationship between a part and a whole. Off is to run
away into the distance or to remove or separate.
Ex: Gooseneck barnacles are a type filtering creatures that usually grow from the side of
cliffs.
Ex: To avoid any damages to the reef, it has been decided that the ship should be left
alone off the coast.

37
16. By/ buy- By means to be close or next to, or up to and beyond. Buy is to obtain through
payment.
Ex: The whale carcass was dealt by the bacteria and small crustaceans dwelling on the
ocean floor.
Ex: Wanting to shoot some underwater photos, she decided to buy a water-proof camera.

17. To/too/two To is a preposition, too refer to a higher degree, and two is the second
number.
Ex: To survive, the smaller spices of fish must cleverly develop some sort of adaptation
or mutation.
Ex: Wanting to try new activities, he decided to ride and fish in the boat too.
Ex: There are two different types of tide; low tide is when the sea level drops and high
tide where the sea level rises.

18. A lot/ allot- A lot refers to more than needed. Allot means to distribute, give or assign.
Ex: A lot of large sea creatures would migrate to warmer waters to find food or give birth
such as the whale.
Ex: Before leaving for the expedition, the group was allotted with different assignments
to ensure safety in the submarine.

19. Allusion/ Illusion- Allusion is an indirect or implied reference to something or someone.

An illusion is a false idea or conception that deceives ones mind.
Ex: The inflation of a pufferfish is an allusion to its defense mechanism and its
unappetizing flesh.
Ex: The shape and color changing abilities of the cuttlefish enables them to create an
illusion that it is a piece of coral.

Punctuation/ Capitalization/ Confused words Quiz:

1. ___________ is used to separates two clauses and when introducing a quotation or list of
items.
2. ___________ the period is placed at the end of declarative sentences, statements thought
to be a complete and after many abbreviations.
3. ___________ signifies a break in a long word.

38
 4. ___________ is used to separate major elements of a sentence or two independent
clauses.
5. ___________ is used to show a separation of ideas or elements within the structure of the
sentence.
6. ___________ omits words or word from a quote or a sentence.

Correct any errors.

7. recently biologists discovered a bioluminescent sea turtles.
8. Too keep warm in the freezing water divers wear heavy dry suits
9. The mimic octopus, a shape changing cephalopod is constantly weary of any danger.
10. As a secondary method to escape predators cuttlefish eject ink similar to an octopus.

Answers:
1. Colon
2. Period
3. Hyphen
4. Semi colon
5. Comma
6. Ellipsis
7. Recently, biologists discovered bioluminescent sea turtles.
8. To keep warm in the freezing water, divers wear heavy dry suits.
9. The mimic octopus, a shape changing cephalopod, is constantly wary of any danger.
10. As a secondary method to escape predators, cuttlefish eject ink similar to an octopus.

39
Glossary

A
Abstract nouns- is a name of ideas, quality, emotions or attitudes
Adjectival- is a noun that describes a noun following it
Adjective clause- used to modify a noun in an independent clause
Adverb clause- used to modify verbs, adjective, and adverbs, in an independent clause
Adverbial object- comes after the verb and answers when
Analytical/ Critical essay- is an essay that expresses the writers opinion or evaluation about the
text.
Anaphora- a sentence that features the purposeful repetition of a word, words, or a phrase at the
beginning of several successive clauses in order to place emphasis and draw attention.
Anecdotal- is a brief story to set the mood and intro the topic
APA Format- is a format for academic documents such as journal articles and books.
Apostrophe () is used to indicate the omission of a letter or letters from a word.
Appositives is a noun that renames nouns, separated by a comma
Assertion- is a claim
Asyndeton- a sentence that leaves out conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses for a
rhetorical purpose.

Balanced sentence- a sentence where phrases or clauses parallel each other by virtue of their
likeness of structure, meaning, or length
Belief- is a social, religious, or political in nature- an opinion held by many to be a fact, though it
is not necessarily.
Body Paragraph- must have echoes of the thesis in each and present evidence to support or
expand on the thesis

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 C

Chiasmus- a sentence that includes a repetition of ideas in inverted order

Closing sentence- ends the discussion of the topic within the paragraph with a transitional or
culminating word
Colon (:) is used after a word introducing a quotation, an explanation, an example, or a series
Comma (,) - is used to show a separation of ideas or elements in a sentence
Common nouns- is the name of people, places, things or ideas.
Complete subject sentence- is a simple subject, or main word or words in a subject, along with
any of the modifiers that might describe the subject.
Complete predicate- includes the verb or verb phrase but also all the words that give more
information about it.
Complex- compound sentence- a sentence with multiple independent clauses and at least one
dependent clause.
Compound nouns- words used together to form a single noun
Compound predicate- is two or more verbs or verb phrases that share the same subject and are
joined by a conjunction
Compound sentence- a sentence with multiple independent clauses, but no dependent clauses
Compound subject sentence- consists of two or more simple subjects that share a verb-to- verb
phrase.
Coordinating conjunction- is a conjunction placed between words phrases, or clauses

Dash (-) separates words into parenthetical statement.

Direct object- comes after the verb and answer what or whom

Ellipsis () omits words or word from a quote or a sentence.

Elliptical clause- adverb clauses in which part of the clause is omitted
41
Epistrophe- a sentence featuring several phrases or clauses ending with the same word or words.
Essential clause- a clause necessary to the meaning of the sentence.
Exclamation point/ mark (!) is used when a person wants to express a sudden outcry or add
emphasis.

Gerund- a verb but that functions as a noun

Hyphen (-) signifies a break in a long word

Independent clause- a clause can stand alone as a complete sentence

Indirect object- is a noun that answers to who or to whom
Infinitive- is the basic form of a verb, without an inflection binding it to a particular subject or
tense.

Linking verb- is a verb that connects the subject of a sentence to the complement.
Loose sentence- a sentence that contains an independent clause plus a subordinate constriction

M
42
MLA Format- is a way to cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities.

Narrative essay- A narrative shares the story of a personal experience which provides an
opportunity understand one-self better.
Nonessential clause- a clause or phrase that is not necessary for the meaning of the sentence

Object of the gerund- a noun that follows a gerund

Object of the infinitive- a noun that follows an infinitive
Object of the participle- a noun that follows a participle
Object of the Preposition- is a noun that a follows a preposition
Opinion- is a personal belief on a topic.

Parallel structure- a sentence using the same pattern of words to show that two or more words or
ideas are of equal importance and to help the reader comprehend what is being written
Paraphrase- is rewording of a quote into ones own words of the without quotation marks
Parentheses( () )- it is used when a writer wants to add detail to the information to a sentence that
will give greater detail to the information presented, although it is not necessary.
Past- a tense expressing an action that has happened

Period( .) - is placed at the end of declarative sentences, statements thought to be a complete and
after many abbreviations.

43
Periodic sentence- a sentence in which the independent clause is given at the end of the sentence
to create interest or generate suspense
Persuasive essay- is an essay utilizing logic and reason to show that one idea is more legitimate
than another idea.
Phrase- is a small group of words standing together as a conceptual unit, typically forming a
component of a clause.
Polysyndeton- a sentence that uses multiple conjunctions near each other between words,
phrases, or clauses
Preposition- links nouns, pronouns, and phrases to other parts of the sentence.
Present- a tense expressing an action that is currently occurring
Present perfect- is say that an action happened at an unspecified time before now.
Present progressive- specifies continuing action and is formed with a to be verb.
Proper nouns- is the name or title of a person, place, object, or idea.

Query Based- is a question that brings the reader to the topic

Quotation marks ( ) represent a spoken language, title of an article, or when being
sarcastic.
Question mark (?) is used to indicate an interrogative clause or phrase.

Relative clause- is a dependent clause that begins with a relative pronoun

Research paper- Uses critical thinking, composition, and sources which shows evidence
supporting the claim or subject.

Semi colon (;) is used to separate major elements of a sentence or two independent clauses

44
Square Brackets ( [] )- is a mark thats used to set a word or phrase aside from the rest of the
sentence or to add information to a quotation.
Subject- the main topic of the sentence
Subject Complement- is a noun that follows a linking verb
Subordinate clause- a clause that begins with a subordinate conjunction
Subordinate conjunctions- a conjunction that connects words, phrases, or clauses

Thesis statements is the purpose of a piece of writing- usually one sentence in length- and
something that is arguable.
Timed writing essay- writing essays in a given amount of time Topic sentence- must specifically
indicate the topic of the paragraph and focus on one subject and area of evidence or support.

Verb-the action, and state of being of a subject.

45
About the Author

My name is Christine Voong and Im a student

attending Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet High
School. I enjoy drawing and spending time with my
younger sister. I am a person who is kind and caring
and works hard to reach their goals.
Despite taking English class for many years, my
grammar skills were unfortunately low. I wrote this
book to teach myself and others about grammar.
After completing this book, I felt as if I can
accomplish more with my writing and create a better
future for myself. With better writing comes a better
future.

46
Works Cite

About Education
http://grammar.about.com/od/fh/g/futperftense.htm
EnglishPage.com
http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/simplepresent.html

Guide to Grammar and Writing

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/tenses/present_progress
ive.htm

Library Online
http://libraryonline.com/?pID=48
Dictionary
http://www.dictionary.com
Merriam- Webster Dictionary
http://www.merriam-webster.com/

47
This book is dedicated to all the students hoping to build upon their
grammar skills.

48