9th Grade English: Identifying Parts of Speech and Learning Grammar

9th Grade Grammar Help

Fragments

Fragments are groups of words that are not proper sentences because they don't express a complete thought. Fragments are usually subordinate clauses, meaning they cannot stand on their own. They are typically easy to discover when you read them out loud, because they will sound incomplete and won't make sense. Some examples of fragments are provided below:

After realizing his mistake.

Waiting for the bell to ring.

Attempting to break free.

Run-Ons

In contrast to subordinate clauses, independent clauses are able to stand alone. Basically, they are simple sentences. However, if you combine two independent clauses, you may create a run-on sentence.

The term run-on is used to highlight the fact that a part of the sentence should have been halted with terminal punctuation, such as a period. Using a comma between two independent clauses does not correct the mistake unless it is used with a conjunction (and, but, so, yet, etc.). Check out the examples of run-ons and correctly using independent clauses below:

The sun is hot today, turn on the fan.

We're going to the beach later, you should join us.

I don't know how to use this gadget properly, it came without the instruction manual.

Here are the same sentences, this time with the correct use of independent clauses:

The sun is hot today, so turn on the fan.

We're going to the beach later, and you should join us.

I don't know how to use this gadget properly. It came without the instruction manual.

Participial Phrases

Participial phrases are short groups of words that go at the beginning or end of the sentence. Their purpose is to give more active information about the main subject of the sentence. They should always be set off with a comma. The two types of participial phrases are present and past. Present participial phrases use verbs ending in '-ing'. Past participial phrases use verbs ending in '-ed'. For each example below, the participial phrase is in bold and the subject it is referring to is italicized.

Present Participial Phrases

Putting on a big smile, the actor approached the microphone to give his acceptance speech.

Peter always goes to sleep with a sly grin on his face, thinking he has everyone fooled.

Past Participial Phrases

Convinced he had studied enough, Robert eagerly awaited the day of the test.

The young boy quickly lowered his head, embarrassed about his awful behavior.