English I Refresher: Comprehensive Course Overview (Weeks 1-12)

Course: Jan 2026 - English I Difficulty: Foundational Focus: Grammar, Mechanics, Basic Reading Comprehension, and Sentence Structure.

Part I: Core Grammar and Parts of Speech (Weeks 1-4)

1. Nouns, Pronouns, and Verbs

• Nouns: Words that name people, places, things, or ideas. (e.g., Engineer, University, Algorithm, Freedom).
  • Countable vs. Uncountable: "Apples" vs "Water". Uncountable nouns take singular verbs.
• Pronouns: Replace nouns to avoid repetition. (e.g., He, They, It). Ensure clear antecedent agreement (the noun the pronoun replaces must be obvious).
• Verbs: Express action or state of being.
  • Action vs. Linking: "She runs" vs. "She is fast."

2. Tenses and Time

• Simple Present: General truths, habits. ("The sun rises.")
• Present Continuous: Actions happening right now. ("I am studying.")
• Simple Past: Completed actions in the past. ("We finished the project.")
• Past Continuous: Actions ongoing in the past when interrupted. ("I was reading when she called.")
• Present Perfect: Past actions with a connection to the present. ("I have lived here for two years.")
• Future: Predictions or plans. ("It will rain tomorrow." / "I am going to call him.")

3. Modals and Auxiliary Verbs

• Auxiliaries (Helping Verbs): be, do, have. They help form tenses and questions.
• Modals: Express capability, possibility, permission, or obligation. (e.g., Can, Could, Should, Must, Might).
  • Must = Strong obligation.
  • Should = Recommendation/Advice.

Part II: Sentence Construction and Clauses (Weeks 5-8)

4. Subject-Verb Agreement

• Correct: The list of items is on the desk. (Not "are", because "list" is the subject).
• Tricky subjects: "Everyone," "Nobody," and "Each" always take singular verbs.

5. Clauses and Conjunctions

• Independent Clause: Forms a complete thought and can stand alone. (e.g., "The server crashed.")
• Dependent Clause: Cannot stand alone. Starts with subordinating conjunctions like because, since, although, if. (e.g., "Because the server crashed...")
• Coordinating Conjunctions (FANBOYS): For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So. Used to join two independent clauses. Use a comma before them!

6. Sentence Types

1. Simple: One independent clause. ("I like code.")
2. Compound: Two independent clauses joined by a conjunction or semicolon. ("I write code, and she tests it.")
3. Complex: One independent clause + one or more dependent clauses. ("Although it was late, we finished the sprint.")

Part III: Punctuation and Mechanics (Weeks 9-10)

7. The Comma, Semicolon, and Colon

• Comma (,):
  • Separates items in a list (Oxford comma recommended).
  • Separates an introductory phrase from the main clause. ("After the meeting, we left.")
  • Joins two independent clauses with a FANBOYS conjunction.
• Semicolon (;):
  • Joins two closely related independent clauses without a conjunction. ("The test passed; the code goes to production.")
• Colon (:):
  • Introduces a list, explanation, or quote. The text before the colon must be a complete sentence.

8. Voice: Active vs. Passive

• Active Voice: The subject performs the action. Clear and direct. ("The developer fixed the bug.")
• Passive Voice: The subject receives the action. Wordier, but useful if the actor is unknown or unimportant. ("The bug was fixed by the developer.")

Part IV: Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary (Weeks 11-12)

9. Finding the Main Idea

10. Inferencing and Context Clues

• Inference: Drawing a logical conclusion based on evidence in the text, rather than explicit statements.
• Context Clues: Using surrounding words to determine the meaning of an unknown vocabulary word.

11. Skimming and Scanning

• Skimming: Reading rapidly to get a general overview of the material.
• Scanning: Reading rapidly in order to find specific facts or keywords.