Having only being in class for one of the two days, I thought I wouldn’t have enough to write about on my blog. I was wrong. Just from Thursdays class, I got so much information packed into my brain, it’s unreal. I feel like we have gotten into some serious grammar that I need to spend time with to figure out.
Most importantly, I learned that I forgot how great Schoolhouse Rock is. I used to watch it when I was younger. It is still exactly the same to me. What better way to learn about verbs than with a superhero? English teachers can tell us a lot about conjunctions; Trains and their conductors that sing are more entertaining. Who knew? I enjoyed that aspect of class.
I learned all about the most common errors that English teachers will find throughout their students work. I learned that a comma splice is a sentence, then a comma, followed by another sentence. An example would be: I went to the mall, Jon came to the mall with me. I also learned that a run on sentence is not just a long sentence. It is two sentences connected together with no form of punctuation in between them. An example of that would be: My cat is really tired my cat wants to go eat food. Run on sentences and comma splices are two common errors that I should expect to see in my future.
A way to get around run on sentences and comma splices is with the usage of a coordinating conjunction. They are: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. These words can be placed in the middle of the two sentences to create fluency and appropriate grammar.
I am still confused about a few things. Since I wasn’t there on Tuesday, I still don’t have the transitive, intransitive, linking verb situation down. I know that intransitive verbs stand by themselves and transitive verbs require direct objects. Linking verbs link a subject with a description of the subject. But it is still hard for me to figure out which one is which by looking at a sentence. Maybe I just need to spend some more time looking at sentences to figure it out but I am thinking that maybe there is a trick that I am unaware of that helps to decipher which verb type it is.
After reading your blog I realized that there was so much to talk about that I didn't even touch on. I was trying to decide what I should write about and was so lost. Now that I have read your blog I realized that I did learn a lot this week. I'm still wondering the same question you are. I think that it just comes with practice. I mean I realize that grammar is important because we are going to have to teach it as English teachers, but I also found out that it really isn't important in my every day life. I don't mean to say that grammar is not important, but knowing the different kinds of verbs doesn't really matter as long as I know how to write.
ReplyDeleteRachel, check out Kasia's blog. She explains the patterns pretty well. Also, check in our course pack, p.6. And finally, check out MORE NITTY GRITTY GRAMMAR, pp. 192-93 and p. 196.
ReplyDeleteWe'll also be practicing with the patterns throughout the semester. But not to worry: as Nikki said, knowing these patterns isn't essential. Just handy for truly understanding the grammar/syntax of conventions.
One thing that helps me with linking verbs is that they seem to always be followed by an adjective. I'm not sure if this is an actual rule, but it seems to work.
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