Basic Grammar for Call Center Agent

Simple Subject = a noun or pronoun which tells who or what performs the action in a
sentence.
Examples:
Blueberry pie is my favorite dessert.
Loud music blared through the speakers.
The red Mercedes pulled up to the stoplight.
My grandfather’s violin is his favorite possession.

Simple Predicate = a verb or verb phrase that tells what subject is or does.
It doesn’t give any more information about the verb or verb phrase, which is why the
predicate is considered “simple.”

Examples:

Blue is my favorite color.

The hike was five miles long.
Miles was helping his dad in the garage.
The cake had been baking for almost an hour.

Complete Subject = the simple subject, or the main word or words in a subject,
along with any of the modifiers that might describe the subject.

Examples:

Long hikes help me to stay in shape.

My favorite green sweater got a stain on it.
The school choir is performing tomorrow night.
The baby’s toys were scattered along the floor.

Complete Predicate = a verb or verb phrase plus all the words that give more
information about it that tells what the subject is or does.

Examples:

The new tent is easy to assemble.

The two bikes are mine.
We have started painting the room.
Dad will take us to the park.

Root Word = a word that can be made into a new word by adding a prefix or a suffix.
Examples:

Modifiers = give description a description about a word or phrase such as how green
describes grass in the phrase green grass.

Modifiers may be single word (adjectives, adverbs, nouns, and verbs), phrases, or
clauses.

Examples:

The kind instructor just nodded. (Kind describes the instructor.)

She is wearing a pair of dangling earrings. (Dangling tells the type of earings.)
Mother served the freshly baked cupcakes. (Freshly baked describes the cupcakes.)
The child ate a cold dish of cereal for breakfast. (Cold describes the dish of cereal.)

Prepositional Phrase = includes a preposition, its object (noun or pronoun that

follows the preposition), and any modifiers of the object.

It functions as either adjective phrases or adverb phrases to modify other words in a

sentence. It answers Which one? What kind? How? Where? When? To what extent?
Common prepositional phrases include about, after, at, before, behind, by, during, for,
from, in, of, over, past, to, under, up, and with.

Example:

You can use the broom behind you to sweep the floor.
I adopted a black cat with white paws.
When you get to the sign, take a left.
We climbed up the hill to see the view.

Verb Phrase = consists of an auxiliary, or helping, verb and a main verb.

The helping verb always precedes the main verb.

The helping verb includes forms of be (such as am, is, are was were, being, been),
forms of have, has and had, forms of do, does, and did, forms of can (such as could,
will, would, and shall), forms of should (such as may, might, and must).

Examples:

We have gotten a lot of rainfall lately.

Lars might need some help with his car.
Jonah and Elsa must collect the nations for the charity.
You can call me when you need a ride.
Participial Phrase = includes the participle (either a present participle or past
participle), plus any modifiers and compliments.

Examples:

Searching the glove compartment, Evangeline looked for her sunglasses.

Excited about dinner, Harry ran the whole way home.

Infinitive Phrase = a verb form that typically begins with the word to.
It includes infinitive, plus any modifiers and compliments.

Infinitive and infinitive phrases can function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs in a

sentence. As nouns, they can act either as subjects, direct objects, predicate
nominatives.

Examples:

My favorite experience on the trip was to hang-glide.

Jay’s greatest aspiration was to climb Mt. McKinley.
Pablo is an important person to know.
Grizzly bears are impressive animals to see in the wild.