Grammar Study Guide for the HESI Exam

Grammar Terms

This exam may ask you to identify different grammatical terms. Although it is not required for you to have extensive knowledge of English grammar, you should know the basics. You may be asked to identify specific parts of a sentence, a sentence’s purpose, and some basic punctuation rules.

Sentences

Strong writing does not exist without strong sentences. Just like a house needs a strong foundation, a writing piece needs strong sentences to create a clear and cohesive piece overall.

Put simply, a sentence is a complete thought beginning with a capital letter and ending in a period, an exclamation point, or a question mark. Every sentence must have a subject, who or what the sentence is about, and a predicate, what the subject is doing, thinking, etc.

Sentence Purposes

The sentence’s purpose is the reason it is written by the author. Ask yourself, what is the sentence trying to do?

There are four types of sentence purposes: declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory.

Declarative

A declarative sentence makes a statement. A declarative sentence always ends in a period. You are declaring something. Here are two examples:

The sunrise is at 7:22 tonight.
I really love swimming in the ocean.

Interrogative

An interrogative sentence is meant to ask a question. Think about the verb within the word: interrogate, meaning “to question.” The interrogative sentence always ends in a question mark. Look at these examples:

Will Alyssa be coming over for dinner tonight?
When is the next time Halley’s comet will be visible from Earth?

Imperative

An imperative sentence is meant to command. Again, look at the term itself for hints: the word imperative means “absolutely necessary.” Although the imperative sentence most often ends in a period, it sometimes ends in an exclamation point if the command or request is given with emotion or in a loud voice.

Please stop talking, Michael.
Stop it!

Exclamatory

An exclamatory sentence is meant to express strong emotion. The exclamatory sentence uses an exclamation mark to convey a strong reaction, whether it be surprise, anger, happiness, sadness, etc..

We’re going to Disneyland!
I never want to see you again!

Sentence Types

Just as there are different types of words, named the parts of speech, there are also various types of sentences. There are three main structural types of sentences: simple, compound, and complex.

Simple sentences are made up of one independent clause.

An ogre lives in the smelly swamp.

Remember, just because there are multiple verbs or more than one subject does not mean it is not a simple sentence. The type of sentence is based on the clauses, not the number of subjects or verbs. These are both simple sentences:

The dog walked.
The overgrown, hairy dog walked right in the open kitchen door.

Compound and Complex Sentences

Compound sentences are made up of two independent clauses, connected by a coordinating conjunction paired with a comma or a semicolon.

Remember, if there is a coordinating conjunction present linking independent clauses together, a comma always goes before it unless the clauses are short.

I went to the grocery store, but I forgot my wallet at home.
I went to the grocery store; I bought a gallon of milk and a carton of eggs.

Complex sentences are made up of one independent clause and at least one dependent clause.

After the sun wore me out at the beach, I went home to take a long nap.
I had to get a new car because I got in an accident on the highway.

Run-on Sentence

Run-on sentences are a common sentence error. Run-on sentences are most often made up of two independent clauses that have been combined without a coordinating conjunction or a semicolon.

Let’s look at an example of a run-on sentence.

I love my new car it is a bright red convertible.

There are two independent clauses here, without any punctuation or connecting words in between. There are a few ways to fix run-on sentences: add a conjunction and a comma, add a semicolon, or add a period and make the run-on into two sentences:

I love my new car; it is a bright red convertible.

I love my new car. It is a bright red convertible.

I love my new car, for it is a bright red convertible.

Sentence Fragment

Sentence fragments could almost be considered the opposite of run-on sentences. Fragments are incomplete sentences, missing either a subject or a verb or simply ending before the thought is complete.

Here are some examples of incomplete sentences:

During the car ride to school (Who did what?) After the party (What happened?)

If you are left with questions like this after reading a sentence, it is most likely a fragment.

Clauses

Clauses are even smaller than sentences; they are the parts that make up a sentence to ensure it is grammatically sound and complete. A clause is made up of a subject (who or what the sentence is about) and a verb (what the subject is doing).

Independent Clause

An independent clause is a complete sentence. It does not need anything else and can live on its own. However, that does not mean every sentence is just one independent clause. Multiple independent clauses, or independent clauses mixed with dependent clauses, can make up a sentence.

Here is an example of an independent clause:

Max plays soccer.

There is a subject present, Max, and a verb, plays. It is also possible to combine more than one independent clause, to create a more complex sentence, such as this one:

Max plays soccer and his brother comes with him.

Dependent Clause

Dependent clauses cannot be on their own; they must be combined with an independent clause in order to complete a sentence. Like the term suggests, they depend on something else to make them complete.

Dependent clauses almost always include a subordinating conjunction. Since subordinating conjunctions are meant to connect independent and dependent clauses, you can use them to help you spot a dependent clause. Some subordinating conjunctions are:

• since
• when
• if
• because
• after

Here are two examples of dependent clauses. Remember, these are not complete sentences.

When I was little
If there is a thunderstorm

Both of these dependent clauses need independent clauses to make them full sentences, like this:

When I was little, I had a pink doll.
We run inside if there is a thunderstorm.

Phrases

Phrases are combinations of words that make up a thought, but cannot stand on their own as a complete thought or complete sentence. Phrases add detail, make sentences more interesting, and add clarity to our writing, but they cannot exist on their own.

There are multiple types of phrases. Here are a few of the most common:

• noun phrase—a noun and any connected adjectives or articles, such as “a wild, yellow cat”

• verb phrase—a verb and any helping or linking verbs connected to it, such as “has been running”

• adjective phrase—multiple words that work together to describe a noun, such as “dress with holes in it”

• adverb phrase—multiple words that work together to describe a verb, such as “in a big hurry”

• prepositional phrase—the preposition combined with an article and a noun or pronoun, such as “in the dark”

Subjects

Subjects are what, or most often who, the sentence is about. Ask yourself, “Who or what is doing the action?*. Let’s look at a simple example.

Mary crochets a blanket.

Who is doing the action in this sentence? It is Mary; she is crocheting a blanket. This means Mary is the subject.

However, the subject will not always be this simple. Sometimes there are multiple nouns and/or multiple subjects in a sentence, and other times, the subject is a thing or concept rather than a person. In these sentences, the subjects are in italics:

The table is hand crafted by a local artist.

Maria and her grandmother love tending to their garden.

Here is the water bottle you forgot at my house.

Subject-Verb Agreement

Subject-verb agreement refers to the importance that the singularity or plurality of the subject matches the verb.

For instance, you wouldn’t write “The cat run.” The singular subject needs a matching verb: runs. This can be slightly confusing, as they are opposite. Here are two examples of correct subject-verb agreement.

The dogs chew on their bones.

The child flies the kite.

The only exception to the “opposite rule” is when it comes to personal pronouns. For instance, for both I and we, you would write run, even though one is plural and one is singular.

Usually, reading the sentence aloud to yourself can help you catch errors in subject-verb agreement.

Location of Subjects and Verbs

It is important to note that the subject and verb are not always next to each other. Although simple sentences will almost always have the two back-to-back, as sentences get more complex, the order of words can change. Let’s look at a sentence in which the subject and verb are not next to one another.

The student in the classroom raises his hand high.

In this sentence, student is the subject, but the verb, raises, does not come until later in the sentence.

Collective Nouns as Subjects

Collective nouns are singular grammatically, but refer to a group or multiple things. Team, class, flock, staff, and family are all examples of common collective nouns. However, the same rule of opposites applies here; the collective word works as a singular noun, so the verb must end in an -s.

The family drives across the country for their spring break trip.
The team wins the national championship!

Compound Subjects

There is also the possibility of a compound subject, as not every sentence is about just one person or thing. A compound subject is a subject made up of more than one person, thing, or idea, combined with and, or, or nor.

If the compound subject is joined by the word and, you can automatically make the verb singular, since the subject is acting as a plural. This means the verb will not end in -s.

The mom and her son walk to the park.

If the compound subject is joined by or or nor, the verb follows what some call the proximity rule. This means, the verb agrees with the subject closest to it.

Neither the mom nor her son wants to ride the ferris wheel.

In this sentence, the subject is made up of the mom and the son, combined using nor. Since the verb wants is closest to the son and the son is singular, the verb must end in -s. Here is an example of the other option, if the subject closest to the verb were plural.

Either the mom or her sons walk the dog every day.

Objects

The object of a sentence is the person, thing, or place receiving the action from the subject. The subject does the action to the object.

Direct Object

The direct object is the easier of the objects to identify and understand; it directly receives the action from the subject.

Devin washes the dishes.

In this sentence, Devin is the subject, washes is the verb, and the dishes is the object.

HESI HINT: Switch the sentence around to see if your identification of the direct object is correct. With this example sentence, you could ask this: Devin washes what? – the dishes.

Indirect Object

The indirect object is a bit trickier; it is the person, place, or thing that receives the direct object. Not every sentence with a direct object will have an indirect object, but an indirect object cannot exist without a direct object.

Let’s look at an example.

The college sent me an acceptance letter.

The subject here is the college and the verb is sent; it is a bit more challenging to identify the direct and indirect objects. Ask yourself, what did the college send? An acceptance letter, so that is the direct object. Who did the college send the acceptance letter to? Me. That is the indirect object.

Predicates

You know a verb is an action or a being word. Well, a predicate is just the verb, plus the other words that go with the verb.

Look at this sentence:

Harry wrote the letter neatly.

Wrote is the verb, and wrote the letter neatly is the predicate.

Predicate Adjective

A predicate adjective is just what it sounds like—it is an adjective that describes the subject of the sentence, paired with a linking verb.

The sky looks ominous.

In this sentence, the sky is the subject, looks is the linking verb, and ominous is the adjective. This makes looks ominous the predicate adjective.

Predicate Nominative

A predicate nominative is always a noun or a pronoun; it renames or informs more about the subject and is paired with a linking verb.

Alexa is the owner.

In this sentence, Alexa is the subject; owner renames Alexa and adds information about her. Is is the linking verb and the is the necessary article in this case. The predicate nominative here is is the owner.