Republic of the Philippines

CARLOS HILADO MEMORIAL STATE COLLEGE

Talisay City, Negros Occidental

Topic: Grammar Curriculum

Course/Program: MAT - English

I. Introduction

Grammar is defined as "the study of the classes of words, their inflections, their
functions and relations in the sentence." It is important for children to develop strong
grammar skills in order to effectively communicate with others, express their feelings, write
compelling papers, take standardized tests and prepare for a career.

Elementary grammar skills begin to develop as soon as a baby is old enough to

understand a word or a command. Instruct a baby to wave goodbye and he will. Eventually, the
baby will learn to say the word goodbye. Toddlers then begin to repeat words and phrases. By the
time your young child starts preschool, his grammar skills will be much stronger and he should be
able to form complete sentences.

Without proper grammar lessons, children may not understand the message a piece of
literature is trying to convey. Answering questions about a reading assignment will be more
difficult because sentence structure hasn't been mastered. Children may even write an essay that
is not clear to their audience.

II. Grammar Curriculum

A. The Eight Parts of Speech

a) Noun

b) Pronoun

c) Verb

d) Adjective

e) Adverb

f) Preposition

g) Conjunction

h) Interjections

B. Sentence Level

Sentence Parts and Word Functions

Verbs and Verbals
Clauses

Phases

A noun phrase comprises a noun (obviously) and any associated modifiers:

A prepositional phrase consists of a preposition, a noun or pronoun that serves as the object
of the preposition, and, more often than not, an adjective or two that modifies the object.
An appositive is a re-naming or amplification of a word that immediately precedes it.
 My favorite teacher, a fine chess player in her own right, has won several state-
level tournaments. [Noun phrase as appositive
An infinitive phrase consists of an infinitive — the root of the verb preceded by to — and any
modifiers or complements associated with it. Infinitive phrases can act as adjectives, adverbs,
and nouns.
 Her plan to subsidize child care won wide acceptance among urban politicians.
[modifies plan, functions as an adjective]
 She wanted to raise taxes. [noun-object of the sentence]
  To watch Uncle Billy tell this story is an eye-opening experience. [noun-subject of
the sentence]

 To know her is to love her. [noun, predicate nominative]

Diagramming Sentences

Basic Sentence Parts and Patterns

1. Simple subject and predicate Samson slept.

2. Understood subject (for commands, directives)

Sit!

3. Questions
4. Compound predicate
Where are you going? What were you reading this morning?

The cat howled and scratched ferociously.

5. Compound subject and compound predicate

Juanita and Celso worked hard and then rested.

Sentence Fragments
Run-on Sentences

A run-on sentence is a sentence with at least two independent clauses (complete thoughts) which are
forced together instead of being properly connected.

To correct these sentences, you have several options:

1) Separate clauses using punctuation.
2) Separate clauses using a conjunction.
3) Rearrange the sentence (you may add or remove words).
Run-on sentence: He put on some sunscreen, the sun was so extremely hot, and he wanted to go inside.
“He put on some sunscreen” 1st clause
“the sun was so extremely hot” 2nd clause
“he wanted to go inside” 3rd clause
Corrected sentence: He put on some sunscreen because the sun was extremely hot. He wanted to go inside.
Rules for Comma Usage

Articles and Determiners

Plurals and Possessives

Pronouns and Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

Placement of Modifiers
DANGLING MODIFIER: When we begin a sentence with a modifying word, phrase, or
clause, we must make sure the next thing that comes along can, in fact, be modified by that
modifier. When a modifier improperly modifies something, it is called a "dangling modifier." This
often happens with beginning participial phrases, making "dangling participles" an all too
common phenomenon. In the sentence below, we can't have a car changing its own oil.

Confusion Changing the oil every 3,000 miles, the car seemed to run better.

Repair Work Changing the oil every 3,000 miles, Fred found he could get much
better gas mileage.

Subject-Verb Agreement
Tense Sequence among Verbs, Infinitives, and Participles

Tense in
Purpose of Dependent Clause/
Independent Example(s)
Tense in Dependent Clause
Clause

To show same-time action, use the I am eager to go to the concert because I love
present tense the Wallflowers.

To show earlier action, use past

I know that I made the right choice.
Simple tense
Present

To show a period of time extending

from some point in the past to the They believe that they have elected the right
present, use the present perfect candidate.
tense.

Compound Nouns and Modifiers

Capitalization
Abbreviations
Punctuation Marks
Using Numbers, Making Lists
Writing Concise Sentences
Parallel Structures
This principle, that of parallel construction, requires that expressions of similar content and
function should be outwardly similar. The likeness of form enables the reader to recognize more readily
the likeness of content and function.

Faulty Parallelism
Corrected Version

Formerly, science was taught by the textbook

Formerly, science was taught by the textbook
method, while now the laboratory method is
method; now it is taught by the laboratory method.
employed.

III. Paragraph Level

Sentence Variety
Consistency of Tense and Pronoun Reference
Avoiding Primer Language
Primer style is characterized by too many short sentences. It is important to note
that there is nothing inherently wrong with short sentences. Too many of them in a small
 space, however, can remind readers of material they read in kindergarten or first grade: See
Dick. See Dick chase Jane. See Jane run.
For example, the two sentences:
 My sister is an engineer.
 My sister works for the state.

can be combined to read:

 My sister works as an engineer for the state.
 My sister, an engineer, works for the state.

Sentence-Combining Skills
Coherence and Transitions
Paragraph Development
References: http://www.time4learning.com/grammar-lessons.shtml
http//www.time4learning.com/grammar-lessons.shtml