Tool 2: Prepositions (P) can never have “a,” “an,” or “the” before them.

1. Tool 1: A word is a preposition (P) if it is on the “preposition list.” A word is not a preposition (P)if it is on the “Never-a–Preposition List.”

2. Tool 2:Prepositions (P) can never have “a,” “an,” or “the” before them.

3. Tool 3:Ask the question “what?” or “whom?” after a preposition (P). If there is an answer, the answer is the object of the preposition (OP). Use your logic to decide what the answer is. If there is no answer (no object of the preposition [OP]), then the word that looks like a preposition (P) is not a preposition (P) in that sentence.

4. Tool 4: What a word is in a sentence depends on how it is used in that sentence. For example, to be a preposition (P) a word must use all the preposition (P) tools.

5. Tool 5: The object of the preposition (OP) stops at the end of the whole answer to “what?” or “whom?” asked after the preposition (P). Use your own logic to know what the whole answer is. Go as far as you can to include as much as you logically can in the whole answer. End the object of the preposition (OP) after the end of the whole answer to the question “what?” or “whom?” after the preposition (P).

6. Tool 6:There can be two prepositions (P) in a row. Ask “what?” or “whom?” after both together.

7. Tool 7: A prepositional phrase (PP) is two or more words that logically belong together. It starts with a preposition (P) and ends at the end of an object of the preposition (OP). Use your own sense of logic to see which words belong together and where the end of the object of the preposition (OP) is. The object of the preposition (OP) ends at the end of the answer to “what?” or “whom?” after the preposition (P). In your analysis, put a parenthesis around the whole PP.

8. Tool 8: If there are two or more prepositional phrases (PP) in a row, you can analyze them as separate prepositional phrases (PP), or you can analyze them as one inside the other. Do it the way that is most logical for you.

9. Tool 9: If you don’t know what infinitives (Inf) and dependent clauses (DC) are, you may analyze them at this time as prepositional phrases (PP), using all the prepositional phrase (PP) tools.

10. Tool 10: A connector (C) joins two or more of the same kind of item that comes before and after the connector (C).“and” is always a connector (C)“or” is always a connector (C)“but” is a connector (C) only when it means “however”“but” is not a connector (C) when it means “except for”

11. Tool 11: The parts that are connected by a connector (C) become a compound: compound preposition (cP), compound object of the preposition (cOP), compound prepositional phrase (cPP). Number the parts of the compound. Number parts only when they are in a compound, which is only when there is a connector (C) between them.

12. Tool 12:The two or more same items in a compound are always in a list. Everyitem in a compound list must make sense when it is read alone with the rest of the sentence. Make sure you know where the compound begins.

13. Tool 13:To find the subject (S) and verb (V) ask, “Who or what is, was, or will bedoing something?” The subject tells who or what is, was, or will be doing something. The subject (S) is the whole answer to “who or what?”

14. Tool 14: The verb (V) tells what the subject (S) is, was, or will be doing. To be a subject it must have a verb. To be a verb it must have a subject.

15. Tool 15: A subject (S) and its verb (V) must both be inside or both outside the same prepositional phrase PP. You will learn more about this pattern in Chapter 7 where you will learn about dependent clauses. No word inside a PP can be used with a word outside its PP. Words inside a PP can work only with words inside the same PP.

16. Tool 16: Verbs (V) that end in “ing” are called continuing verbs (CV). They must have a be verb with them. “Continuing” means the activity of the verb V is continuing over a period of time. The be helper verb (BH) and its continuing verb (CV) go together to make a whole verb: BH + CV = V. There are nine “be” verbs; most of them are be helperverbs (BH): am, is, are, was, were, will be, been, being, beNote: There are two other verbs (V) that act like be helper verbs (BH): get: get(s), got, will get (He got going quickly.) keep: keep(s), kept, will keep (She keeps working.)

17. Tool 17: Every “be” verb is always a verb. It is either a “be” helper verb (BH) with an “ing” continuing verb (CV) or it is a verb (V) by itself.

18. Tool 18: Every subject (S) has number: It is either singular (s: only one) or plural (p: more than one). The verb or helper verb (V or HV) must have the same number as its subject (S). This is called “number agreement.”

19. Tool 19: There can be only one subject (S) for each verb (V) and only one verb (V) for each subject (S)—unless there is a compound subject (cS) or compound verb (cV).

20. Tool 20: Put a connector (C) between subject-verb pairs. Put a comma before the connector (,C ).

21. Tool 21: Without a be verb helping it or a subject (S), a verb-like word ending in “ing” is not a verb (V) in that sentence. Remember, the be helper verb (BH) must appear to the left of the continuing verb (CV) it is helping. If a word ending in “ing” has no subject (S) and no be helper (BH) to the left of it in that sentence, it is called a continuing verbal (CVbl). Verbal (Vbl) means it is like a verb, but it is not a verb (V) in that sentence.A continuing verbal can be a subject (S) or an object of the preposition (OP). (This kind of verbal [Vbl] is called a gerund.)

22. Tool 22: A verb (V) can never be a description or describe the subject (S). A verb (V) is either a be verb or it tells what the subject is, was, did or will be doing. Ask, “Does this word describe the subject or does it tell what the subject is, was, did, or will be doing?” If it is a verb-like word that is describing the subject (S), then it is not a verb (V). It is a verbal (Vbl) in this sentence.

23. Tool 23: Subject and verb are normally in the order of subject first and then the verb after the subject (S-V). There can be words in between the subject and its verb.

24. Tool 24: There are some acceptable exceptions to Tool 23. Two are in this chapter. Four more are in Chapter 11.Tool 24a: Sometimes when “there” or “here” comes first, the order can be V-S or HV-S-V.Tool 24b: In a question the word order can be S-V, V-S, or HV-S-V.

25. Tool 25: The second kind of helper verb is the root helper verb (RH). The root helper verb goes with root verbs. Root Helper Verbscan could did do does might may must shall should will would

26. Tool 26:A root helper verb (RH) goes with a root verb (RV) to make a complete verb.

27. Tool 27: When there is no root helper verb and no subject, the word that looks like a root verb might be a root verbal (RVbl).

28. Tool 28:In a command or request, the subject (“you”) is usually invisible. There is one—and only one—invisible subject: you. It is used only for a command or request.

29. Tool 29:In a command or request, if you use a name or term for the person you are commanding or requesting something from, that name or term is not the subject. That name or term is called the addressing word (AW). Use commas to separate the addressing word (AW) from the rest of the command or request. The invisible “you” is still the subject.

30. Tool 30: A prestarted verb (PV) must have a have helper verb in front of it. Tool 30a: There are four have helper verbs (HH). They go with prestarted verbs (PV). A have helper (HH) and a prestarted verb (PV) make a complete verb (V). The four have helper verbs are “have, had, has, and will have.”

31. Tool 31:There are two kinds of verbs (V): regular verbs and irregular verbs. Tools 31a:Regular verbs: Both the simple past and prestarted forms end in “ed.”Tool 31b: Irregular verbs: The past and restarted forms usually do not end in “ed” and are usually different from each other.

32. Tool 32:A prestarted verbal (PVbl) is like a prestarted verb (PV), but it has no have helper verb (HH) and no subject (S).

33. Tool 33:A verb (V) is called “active” when the subject (S) does the verb (V).

34. Tool 34:A verb (V) is called “passive” when someone or something else is doing the verb (V) to the subject (S). In a passive verb (V), there must always be the prepositional phrase (PP) “by someone or something” that tells who or what is doing the verb (V) to the subject (S). This prepositional phrase (PP) is either actually written in the sentence or understood (and invisible). A passive verb is always a be helper verb (BH) plus a prestarted verb (PV). This is the only verb (V) used for a passive.

35. Tool 35:When three or four verbs (V) are in a row, any verb (V) that is between two other verbs (V) is both a helper verb (HH) and also a main verb (V).1. The middle verb is the helper verb (BH, HH, or RH) for the verb (CV, PV, or RV) that comes after it.2. The middle verb is the verb (PV or RV) for the helper verb (HH or RH) in front of it.

36. Tool 36:Some subjects (S) and verbs (V) can be combined into one word by leaving out one or more letters. An apostrophe (’) replaces any missing letter(s). These shortened words are called “contractions” (con = together; tract = pull; contraction = pulled together).

37. Tool 37:After the subject (S) and its verb (V), ask, “whom or what?” The whole answer is the subject-verb completer (SVC). It completes the thought in the subject (S) and the verb (V). Use your own sense of logic to decide what the whole answer is.

38. Tool 38:The first word of a subject-verb completer (SVC) is sometimes a verbal (Vbl). When it is a verbal (Vbl), it is either a continuing verbal (CVbl) for an action or a prestarted verbal (PVbl) for a description. Tool 38a: If the subject-verb completer (SVC) is a verbal (Vbl) that is a description, use the prestarted verbal(PVbl).Tool 38b: If the subject-verb completer (SVC) is a verbal (Vbl) that is an action, use the continuing verbal (CVbl).

39. Tool 39:The first words of a subject-verb completer (SVC) are usually not a subject (S) and a verb (V). They are usually just a subject-like word and a verbal (Vbl). Tool 39a: However, the subject-verb completer (SVC) can begin with subject-verb if the SVC starts with one of the following words. who whom whoever whomever what whatever which whicheverthat (by itself, not with another word, not as in “that book”. (Sometimes “that “can be invisible.)

40. Tool 40:A pronoun is a non-name word (I, you, he, it, they, etc.) that stands in for or refers to a naming word or words (for example, Warren, a reader, my college, the Olympic Games, etc.). These naming words are nouns. A noun or pronoun can be a subject (S), an object of the preposition (OP), or a subject-verb completer (SVC). Tool 40a: The noun that a pronoun stands in for or refers to is called the pronoun’s “referent.” It needs to be close behind the pronoun, and it needs to be clear that this is the pronoun’s referent.

41. Tool 41:A pronoun can be a subject (S), an object of the preposition (OP), or a subject-verb completer (SVC).Most pronouns have a different form for when they are a subject (S) or not a subject, an object of the preposition (OP), or a subject-verb completer (SVC). The different forms are called cases.

42. Tool 41a:Use the subjective case (SC) when a pronoun is the subject.Tool 41b:Use the objective case (OC) when a pronoun is not a subject (S) but is an object of the preposition (OP) or a subject-verb completer (SVC).Tool 41c:Some pronouns never change their form, so we cannot tell by looking at them whether they are a subject (S), object of the preposition (OP), or a subject-verb completer (SVC). To know what they are we have to see what they are doing in the sentence.

43. Tool 42:When the verb (V) is one of the “be” verbs, a pronoun SVC has the same case as the subject (S) because this SVC and this subject (S) are the same person or thing.

44. Tool 43: Every pronoun and its referent must be singular or they must both be plural for number agreement, as in Tool 18. Also, every pronoun that is a subject must have the same number as its verb for number agreement.

45. Tool 44:Clauses and phrases are two main parts or structures of a sentence.Tool 44a: A clause is two or more words that go together and it always has one (and only one) subject-verb pair in it. Use your logic to decide what words go together as the whole clause.

46. Tool 44b: A phrase (like a prepositional phrase (PP)) is two or more words that go together, but it never has a subject-verb pair in it. Use your logic to decide what words go together as the whole phrase.Tool 44c: A prepositional phrase (PP) can be inside a clause.

47. Tool 45:There are only three kinds of clauses: dependent clauses (DC), independent clauses (IC), and relative clauses (RC). Tool 45a:A dependent clause (DC) (also called a “subordinate clause”) always starts with a dependent word (DW).

48. Tool 45b:In an independent clause (IC), there is no DW in front of the subject (S) and verb (V). The subject(S) and verb (V) are an independent subject-verb (ISV). Tool 45c: There is only one difference between an independent clause (IC) and a dependent clause (DC). A dependent clause (DC) always starts with a dependent word (DW). An independent clause (IC) never starts with a dependent word (DW).

49. Tool 46: You can identify a dependent word (DW) by these three tests:1. It is on the “List of Dependent Words.”2. When you ask the question “what?” after it, there is an answer.3. The answer to “what?” after the dependent word (DW) includes a subject-verb pair.Tool 46a: The dependent word “if” is tricky.“If” can be used for something that isn’t true and also for something whose truth we aren’t certain about.

50. Tool 47:A dependent clause (DC) at the start of the sentence has a comma after it. A dependent clause (DC) in the middle of the sentence has a comma both before it and after it. A dependent clause (DC) at the end of the sentence has no comma before it.