| Grammar |
| Sentences | Fragments | Run-ons | Comma-splice | Parallelism |
| Apostrophes | Active/Passive Voice | Pronoun Antecedent | Homonyms | Irregular Verbs |
Sentences: In order for a group of words to be properly punctuated as a sentence, it must contain a subject, contain a verb, and express a complete thought.
Example: Brian rode his bicycle to school in order to squeeze some much needed exercise into his busy schedule.
This group of words, which is punctuated as a sentence, is a sentence because it contains a subject (Brian), it contains a verb (rode), and expresses a complete thought.
Refresher: A subject is the thing (be it a person, place or thing) that is doing something or being something in a sentence. A verb is a word that shows action or a state of being.
A fragment occurs when a group of words is punctuated like a sentence, but lacks something that is needed to make it a sentence. If the group of words lacks a subject or a verb or does not express a complete thought, it is a fragment.
Examples: After the bookstore closed.
When I meet you to study.
Both of these groups are fragments because they do not express a complete thought. More information is needed. In order to make these fragments complete sentences, add the information that is missing. (i.e.) After the bookstore closed, I went home. When I meet you to study, I'll come prepared.
In order to understand run-ons and comma-splices, it is best to first become familiar with independent and dependent clauses.
An independent clause is a group of words that could stand alone as a sentence. In other words, it has a subject, it has a verb, and it expresses a complete thought.
Conversely, a dependent clause could not stand alone as a sentence because it lacks either a subject, a verb, or a complete thought.
A run-on is a grammatical error that occurs when two or more independent clauses are joined without punctuation.
Example:
My television lost its signal I climbed on the roof to adjust the antenna.
This example of a run-on contains two independent clauses. The first independent clause is "My television lost its signal." The subject is television, the verb is lost, and it expresses a complete thought. The second independent clause is "I climbed on the roof to adjust the antenna." The subject is I, the verb is climbed, and it expresses a complete thought.
The best way to find run-ons in your writing is to examine each group of words you punctuated like a sentence and ask yourself whether or not you have an abrupt change of topics in one group of words. If you find one, try to seperate the groups into independent clauses. The most difficult part of run-ons is identifying where they are in your writing. Once you find them, fixing them is easy because there are four ways to fix a run-on.
Method 1: Make the two independent clauses two distinct sentences.
Example: My television lost its signal. I climbed on the roof to adjust the antenna.
Method 2: Add a comma and a coordinating conjunction. (A coordinating conjunction is a word used to connect words, phrases, and clauses. The coordinating conjuctions are for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. Perhaps your instructor has refered to them as FANBOYS.)
Example: My television lost its signal, so I climbed on the roof to adjust the antenna.
Method 3: Use a semicolon between the two independent clauses. (Only use this method if the two independent clauses share a close relationship with each other. Also, try not to overuse this method.)
Example: My television lost its signal; I climbed on the roof to adjust the antenna.
Method 4: Make one of the independent clauses a dependent clause.
Example: Because my television lost its signal, I climbed on the roof to adjust the antenna.
In this example, I changed the first independent clause to a dependent clause. It is now dependent because it doesn't express a complete thought. Imagine if someone you know walked up to you and said, "Because my television lost its signal." Comma Alert! Note that when the dependent clause comes before an independent clause, a comma is used to seperate them. This does not hold true when the independent clause comes before the dependent clause.
Method 4 example 2: I climbed on the roof to adjust the antenna because my television lost its signal. (There are no commas in this second example because the independent clause comes first.)
Last words on Run-ons:
Run-ons create confusion for readers, which is why you should eliminate them from your writing. When it comes to fixing run-ons, variety is the key. Try using different methods so your sentences don't all have the same rhythm.
A comma-splice is a type of run-on. It occurs when two independent clauses* are joined together with only a comma.
Example: My computer crashed, I lost all my music files.
If you get a paper back from your instructor indicating you have comma-splices (CS), you'll need to proofread future papers for this grammatical flaw.
To find comma-splices, locate the first comma in your paper. Cover up everthing to the right of the comma and determine if everything to the left of the comma is an independent clause. If it isn't, move on to your next comma. If everthing to the left is a dependent clause, determine whether what is to the right of the comma is an independent clause. If independent clauses are found on the left and right of the comma, you have a comma-splice.
Fixing Comma-splices:
To fix comma splices, use the same four methods indicated in the run-on section of this web page.
*To understand independent clauses, see the beginning of the run-on section above.
Parallelism, which occurs when words, phrases, and clauses are in the same grammatical form within a sentence, is a good thing in writing.
However, faulty parallelism creates problems for the reader. When you see the symbol // in the margin of your paper, it indicates that you have faulty parallelism. Your goal, then, is to make your writing parallel (to put elements of your sentence into the same grammatical form). Faulty parallelism tends to occur when you have items in a series. It also tends to occur with the word and. Think of the word and as an equal sign; what is on one side (grammatically), should be on the other side (grammatically).
Here are some examples of faulty parallelism and their corrected forms to better illustrate this concept:
Example: Being respectful and honesty are admirable qualities in a person.Though the above example may sound fine, it is actually an example of faulty parallelism because "being respectful" and "honesty" are not in the same grammatical form. The following two examples correct the problem.
Corrected Version 1: Being respectful and being honest are admirable qualities in a person.
Corrected Version 2: Respectfulness and honesty are admirable qualities in a person.
Example: My days off from school are filled with doing laundry, running errands, and phone calls.
"Doing laundry," "running errands," and "phone calls" are not all in the same grammatical form.
Corrected Version 1: My days off from school are filled with laundry, errands, and phone calls.
Corrected Version 2: My days off from school are filled with doing laundry, running errands, and making phone calls.
Example: To eat and playing are my daughter's favorite activities.
Corrected Version 1: To eat and to play are my daughter's favorite activities.
Corrected Version 2: Eating and playing are my daughter's favorite activities.
Remember, faulty parallelism usually occurs when there are three or more items in a series or when the word and connects two words, phrases, or clauses. Be sure to proofread for this grammatical flaw.
Apostrophes tend to give many students problems. Although there are a few other uses for the apostrophe, it is primarily used to form contractions and to show possession.
In a contraction (two words combined as one) the apostrophe almost always is used to show that a letter or letters have been omitted. For example, in the contraction don't, which means do not, the apostrophe stands in place of the o in not. Without the apostrophe in the correct place, you would have a spelling error.
Think of a contraction as the result of two words having a head-on collision. When the two words collide, letters are ejected. The apostrophe is placed in the contraction as a remembrance to those ejected letters.
The following is a list of common contractions and their meanings:
|
Contraction |
Meaning |
Contraction |
Meaning |
|
Aren't
Can't Couldn't Didn't Don't He's I'll I'm I've I'd Isn't Let's |
Are
not
Can not Could not Did not Do not He is I will I am I have I had, I would Is not Let us |
She's
She'll There's They're Wasn't We're Weren't We've Who's Won't Wouldn't You're |
She is
She will There is They are Was not We are Were not We have Who is Will not Would not You are |
The only anomaly appears to be the contraction won't, which means will not.
Please note that some instructors ask that you not use contractions in academic writing. It is important that you know how to use contractions correctly outside the academic arena.
Apostrophes Continued
Possessives are words used to show ownership or belonging. They, like contractions, are formed with the apostrophe. However, the apostrophe in possessive words does not stand for an omitted letter like it does in contractions. An example of a possession is found in the following sentence:
Example: Professor Peppard's house is simple.
The above sentence contains the possessive noun Peppard's. The 's in the word Peppard's indicates that the house belongs to Instructor Peppard. There are some basic rules for forming the possessive case of nouns:
Rule 1: To show possession to plural nouns ending in s, add only an apostrophe after the s.
Example: The graduates' hats were thrown everywhere after the president announced their graduation.
Whose hats were thrown about in the above example? In this case all the graduates hats were thrown about. Because graduates is a plural noun ending in s, all you need to do to show ownership is add an apostrophe (graduates').
Rule 2: To show possession for all other nouns, add 's. It does not matter whether the noun is singular or plural. Following are some examples of this rule put into use.
Example: The children's toys spilled across the once clean room.
Explanation: Although children is a plural noun, it does not end in "s." Therefore, to show possession, I have to use rule 2, which indicates I need to add an 's to the word.
Example: Chris's plot to pass English 1A by buying essays off the internet was thwarted by Mr. Peppard's use of the web site turnitin.com.
Explanation: "Chris" is a singular noun. To show possession, I need to apply rule 2, which indicates I need to add an 's to the word.
Example: Mary's little lamb followed her to school one day and made the children laugh and play.
Explanation: "Mary" is a singular noun. To show possession, I need to apply rule 2, which indicates I need to add an 's to the word.
Alert! Some words are possessive without the apostrophe. These words are known as possessive pronouns. The following is a list of possessive pronouns.
|
my, mine |
Remember, the possessive pronouns listed above do not take an apostrophe to show possession. They show possession all by themselves. Please do not confuse these with their contraction semi-look alikes.
Other Uses for the Apostrophe
1) To indicate
numbers that have been omitted.
Example: I graduated from the class of '95.
In this sentence the
apostrophe represents the 19 in 1995.
2) To indicate slang or informal speech is being used.
Example: I have been fixin' to build an electric car for some years now. Example: I love gangsta' rap!
3) To form the plural of some numbers or letters.
Example: I anticipate getting straight A's this semester.
This last use of the apostrophe is optional (some writers omit the apostrophe). Whether or not you choose to use the apostrophe in instances like this, stay consistent throughout your essay.
Voice refers to the ability of the verb to show whether a subject acts or receives the action named by the verb.
All simple sentences are either active or passive voice. Although both are grammatically correct, the active voice is often stylistically preferred. Most students tend to write in the passive voice, but most readers prefer to read sentences in the active voice.
Active Voice: When the subject of the sentence performs the action, the sentence is said to be in the active voice.
Example: Mary hurled the javelin.
Explanation: Because the subject (Mary) is performing the action (she is doing the hurling), the sentence is in the active voice.
Passive Voice: When the subject of the sentence receives the action, the sentence is said to be in the passive voice.
Example: The javelin was hurled by Mary.
Explanation: Because the subject (the javelin) is receiving the action (it is being hurled by Mary and is itself not doing the hurling), the sentence is in the passive voice.
Prefer the active voice to the passive voice because it is more direct, more precise, and more likely to hold a reader's attention.
Exceptions to giving preferential treatment to the active voice include situations when the doer of the action is unknown (my car was stolen by someone) and when you wish to emphasize the action rather than the doer of the action (the body was found on Mount Everest by the search team).
Example: Brian passed in all his homework on time.
Explanation: The pronoun "his" refers to Brian. Because "his" is both masculine (refers to a male) and indicates one person, it completely agrees with the antecedent "Brian."
Example: Students need to pass in their essays on time.
Explanation: "Their" refers to students. Because "their" is plural, it completely agrees with the antecedent "students." Note, gender is not a concern in this case.
A lack of agreement can cause confusion for individuals reading your paper.
Example: Everyone needs to break free from their limitations in life.
Explanation: The pronoun "their" is a plural pronoun. However, the antecedent "everyone" is actually singular because it refers to each one person. This sentence could be fixed: Everyone needs to break free from his or her limitations in life.
Example: Neither of the doctors had their license to practice medicine.
Explanation: The pronoun "their" is plural. However, it refers to the singular antecedent "neither."
Alert! The following indefinite pronouns are singular and take a singular pronoun to refer to them:
| "Body" words | "One"words | "Thing" words | Others |
|
nobody
somebody anybody everybody |
someone
no one one anyone |
something everything |
each neither either |
everyone
Notice, most of the words listed above have the word "body," "one," or "thing" in them. Those words should tip you off that the words are singular.
Accept: To receive Except: To exclude
Advise: To offer recommendations (V) Advice: a recommendation (N)
Affect: To produce an influence on (V) Effect: To cause (V)
Aid: Help Aide: Assistant
Allude: To make a reference to Elude: To stay away from
Allusion: An indirect reference Illusion: Something not as it appears
All ready: Completely prepared Already: Previously; before
Altogether: thoroughly, completely All together: Everything in one place
Ante: before Anti: against
Are: Present, plural tense of the verb to be Our: Possessive pronoun (plural of my)
Assent: Agree Ascent: Rise
Awhile: (Adverb used without for) A while: ([N] He stayed for a while)
Base: The bottom; foundation Bass: A deep tone; type of fish
Bear: To carry; The animal Bare: Naked
Capital: Main; city Capitol: The building in D.C.
Decent: Good Descent: Go down Dissent: to oppose
Desert: Dry land like the Mohabi Dessert: The after-dinner treat
Everyone: All people Every one: each one
Flew: (did fly) Flu: similar to a cold Flue: A chimney
Foreword: An introduction Forward: To move ahead
Farther: Refers to physical distance Father: Dad Further: Refers to extent or degree
Gorilla: The animal Guerrilla: War related
Hear: Listening with the ear Here: A location
Heard: A group of animals Heard: Did hear
Hoarse: harsh (as in throat) Horse: The animal
Its: Possessive pronoun It's: It is or It has
Knew: Did know New: Not used or old
Lead: A metal; to guide Led: (Did guide)
Loose: Not tight Lose: Not win
Maybe: Perhaps May be: May happen
Passed: Did pass Past: Previous time
Patience: Forbearance Patients: People who doctor's treat
Quiet: Silence Quite: Completely, very
Raise: To bring up; to build Raze: To level; to destroy Rays: Light beams
Serial: In a row Cereal: That breakfast food
Threw: Tossed Through: Penetrated; Completed
There: Location Their: Possessive Pronoun They're: They are
To: Toward Two: The Number 2 Too: Also
Your: Possessive pronoun (Your house) You're: You are
As you are well aware, many verbs in English are irregular. The following chart provides some common irregular verbs. It really does not take too much to learn those with which you are not already familiar.
The chart has three sections: the simple form of the verb (the verb in its present tense form), the past tense, and the past participle (the past tense used with one or more auxiliary verbs such as have).
| Simple Form | Past Tense | Past Participle |
|
arise
awake be bear beat bid (to command) bite choose cling come creep dive do draw drink drive fly forget forsake get give go grow hang (to suspend) have hide know lay lie light lose make prove ride ring rise run see seek shake shine (to glow) show shrink sing sink sit slay sling speak spring stink stride strike strive swim swing take teach tear think throw wake wear write |
arose
awoke or awaked was, were bore beat bade bit chose clung came crept dived or dove did drew drank drove flew forgot forsook got gave went grew hung had hid knew laid lay lighted or lit lost made proved rode rang rose ran saw sought shook shone showed shrank sang sank or sunk sat slew slung spoke sprang or sprung stank or stunk strode struck strove swam swung took taught tore thought threw woke or waked wore wrote |
arisen
awaked or awoken been borne or born beaten bidden bitten or bit chosen clung come crept dived done drawn drunk driven flown forgotten or forgot forsaken got or gotten given gone grown hung had hidden known laid lain lighted or lit lost made proved or proven ridden rung risen run seen sought shaken shone shown or showed shrunk sung sunk sat slain slung spoken sprung stunk stridden struck striven swum swung taken taught torn thought thrown waked or woken worn written |
