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by Lesley J. Ward and GeraldineWoods
.JBICENTENNIAL.D:I
~1807~
~ ~WILEY~ ~ 2007 ~ • r
John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Table of Contents
About This Book ............................................................................................... 1 How to Use This Book ..................................................................................... 2 What You Are Not to Read .............................................................................. 2 Foolish Assumptions ............................... _ ...................................................... 2 How This Book Is Organised ........................................................................... 3
Part I: The Parts of Speech and Parts of the Sentence ...................... 3 Part 11: Avoiding Common Errors ......................................................... 3 Part Ill: No Garage, But Plenty of Mechanics ..................................... .4 Part IV: Polishing Without Wax - the Finer Points of Grammar ...... .4 Part V: Rules Even Your Great-Aunt's Grammar Teacher
Didn't Know ......................................................................................... 4 Part VI: The Part of Tens ....................................................................... 5
Icons Used in This Book .................................................................................. 5 Where to Go from Here .................................................................................... 5
Part J: The Parts of Speech and Parts of the Sentence ...... 7
Chapter 1: I Already Know How to Talk. Why Should I Study Grammar? .................................. 9
Living Better with Better Grammar ............................................................. 10 Deciding Which Grammar to Learn ............................................................. 11 Distinguishing between the Three Englishes ............................................. 11
Wanna get something to eat? Friendspeak ........................................ 12 Do you feel like getting a sandwich? Conversational English ......... 13 Will you accompany me to the dining room? Formal English ........ 13
Using the Right English at the Right Time .................................................. 14
Chapter 2: Verbs: The Heart of the Sentence ..................... 17 Linking Verbs: The Giant Equals Sign .......................................................... 17
More linking verbs ................................................................................ 19 Savouring sensory verbs ..................................................................... 20
Completing Linking Verb Sentences Correctly ........................................... 22 Placing the Proper Pronoun in the Proper Place ....................................... 23 Lights! Camera! Action Verb! ......................................................................... 25 Getting by with a Little Help from My Verbs .............................................. 26 Pop the Question: Locating the Verb ........................................................... 27 To Be or Not to Be: Infinitives ....................................................................... 28
English Grammar For Dummies ________________ _
Chapter 3: Relax! Understanding Verb Tense . ................... . 33 Simplifying Matters: The Simple Tenses ..................................................... 34
Present tense ........................................................................................ 34 Past tense .............................................................................................. 35 Future tense .......................................................................................... 36
Using the Tenses Correctly ........................................................................... 37 Present and present progressive ........................................................ 38 Past and past progressive ................................................................... 38 Future and future progressive ................................................... ; ........ 39
Perfecting Grammar: The Perfect Tenses .................................................. .40 Present perfect and present perfect progressive ............................ .41 Past perfect and past perfect progressive ....................................... .41 Future perfect and future perfect progressive ................................ .42
Using the Present Perfect Tense Correctly ............................................... .43 Present Participles ......................................................................................... 44 It's All Highly Irregular ................................................................................... 45
To be ...................................................................................................... 45 Irregular past tenses and past participles ....................................... .47
Chapter 4: Who's Doing What? Finding the Subject .............. . 51 Who's Driving? or Why the Subject Is Important ...................................... .51
Teaming up: subject-verb pairs ......................................................... 52 Two for the price of one ...................................................................... 52
Pop the Question: Locating the Subject-Verb Pair .................................... 53 What's a Nice Subject Like You Doing in a Place Like This?
Unusual Word Order .................................................................................. 54 Find That Subject! Detecting an Implied You .............................................. 55 Striking Out on Their Own: Non-finite Verbs .............................................. 56 Masquerading as Subjects: Here and There ............................................... 57 Subjects Aren't Just a Singular Sensation: Forming
the Plural of Nouns ..................................................................................... 58 Regular plurals ...................................................................................... 58 The les and Ys have it .......................................................................... 59 No knifes here: irregular plurals ......................................................... 60 The brother-in-law rule: hyphenated plurals .................................... 61
When the Subject Is a Number ............................. : ....................................... 61
Chapter 5: Having It All: The Complete Sentence ................ . 63 Completing Sentences: The Essential Subjects and Verbs ....................... 63 Complete Thoughts, Complete Sentences .................................................. 65 Taking an Incomplete: Fragment Sentences ............................................... 67 Could This Really Be the End? Understanding Endmarks ........................ 69
Chapter 6: Handling Complements . ............................ . 73 Being on the Receiving End: Direct Objects ............................................... 74 One Step Removed: Indirect Objects ........................................................... 75 No Bias Here: Objective Complements ........................................................ 77 Finishing the Equation: Linking-Verb Complements .................................. 78
• ___________________ Table of Contents XI
Pop the Question: Locating the Complement ............................................ 79 Pop the Question: Finding the Indirect Object ........................................... 80 Pronouns as Objects and Subject Complements ....................................... 81
Part 11: AflOidinfJ Common Errors ................................... 83
Chapter 7: Getting Hitched: Marrying Sentences ................ . 85 Matchmaking: Combining Sentences Legally ............................................. 85
Connecting with co-ordinate conjunctions ....................................... 86 Pausing to place commas ................................................................... 87 Attaching thoughts: semicolons ......................................................... 89
Boss and Employee: Joining Ideas of Unequal Ranks ................................ 91 Choosing subordinate conjunctions .................................................. 92 Steering clear of fragments ................................................................. 94
Employing Pronouns to Combine Sentences .............................................. 96
Chapter 8: Do You Feel Bad or Badly? The Lowdown on Adjectives and Adverbs ................................... . 99
Adding Adjectives ........................................................................................ 100 Adjectives describing nouns ............................................................. 100 Adjectives describing pronouns ....................................................... 101 Attaching adjectives to linking verbs .............................................. 101 Pop the question: identifying adjectives ......................................... 102
Stalking the Common Adverb ..................................................................... 103 Pop the question: finding the adverb .............................................. 104 Adverbs describing adjectives and other adverbs ........................ 105
Distinguishing Between Adjectives and Adverbs .................................... 106 Sorting adjectives from adverbs: the -ly test ................................. 106 Sorting out adjective/adverb pairs .................................................. 107
Avoiding Common Mistakes with Adjectives and Adverbs .................... 111 Placing even ........................................................................................ 111 Placing almost .............................. ;; ..................................................... 112 Placing only ......................................................................................... 113
Chapter 9: Prepositions, Interjections and Articles ............. . 115 Proposing Relationships: Prepositions ..................................................... 115
The objects of my affection: prepositional phrases and their objects ............................................................................. 116
Are you talking to I? Prepositions and pronouns ........................... 118 A good part of speech to end a sentence with? ............................. 120
Interjections Are Easy! .......................................... " ....................................... 121 Articles: Not Just for Magazines Any More ............................................... 121
Chapter 10: Everyone Brought Their Homework: Pronouns ...... . 125 Pairing Pronouns with Nouns ..................................................................... 125 Deciding between Singular and Plural Pronouns ..................................... 127 Using Possessive Pronouns ........................................................................ 128
--XII English Grammar For Dummies ________________ _
Positioning Pronoun-Antecedent Pairs .................................................... 130 More Pronoun Problems ............................................................................. 132
Using troublesome singular pronouns properly ............................ 132 Sexist language .................................................................................. 134
Chapter 11: Just Nod Your Head: About Agreement .. ........... . 137 Writing Singular and Plural Verbs .............................................................. 137
The unchangeables ............................................................................ 138 The changeables ................................................................................. 138
Easier Than Marriage Counselling: Making Subjects and Verbs Agree ........................................................................................ 141
Choosing Verbs for Two Subjects .............................................................. 142 The Question of Questions ......................................................................... 143
Present tense questions .................................................................... 143 Past tense questions .......................................................................... 144 Future tense questions ...................................................................... 145
Negative Statements and Subject-Verb Agreement ................................. 145 The Distractions: Prepositional Phrases and Other
Irrelevant Words ...............................................................•....................... 146 Can't We All Just Get Along? Agreement with Difficult Subjects ............ 147
Five puzzling pronouns as subjects ................................................. 148 Here and there you find problems ................................................... 148 The Ones, the Things and the Bodies .............................................. 149 Each and every mistake is painfuL ................................................. 149 I want to be alone: either and neither without their partners ...... 150 Politics, statistics and other irregular subjects ............................. 151
Part 111: No Garat}.e, but PlentlJ of Mechanics cccccccccccc .. 153
Chapter 12: Apostrophes .................................... . 155 The Pen of My Aunt or My Aunt's Pen? Using Apostrophes
to Show Possession .................................................................................. 155 Ownership for singles ........................................................................ 156 Because Bill Gates doesn't own everything:
plural possessives ....... ; ................................................................. 157 Possession with Company Names ............................................................ .160 Ownership with Hyphenated Words .......................................................... 162 Possessives of Nouns that End in s .................................................•......... 162 Common Apostrophe Errors with Pronouns ............................................ 164 Shortened Words for Busy People: Contractions .................................... 165
Common contraction mistakes ......................................................... 167 Contractions you ne'er use except in poetry and novels ............. 169
Using Apostrophes with Symbols, Abbreviations and Numbers ........... 169
...... _____________________ Table of Contents XIII
Chapter 13: Quotations: More Rules than Revenue & Customs ... . 171 Scare Quotes ................................................................................................. 171 Brackets ......................................................................................................... 172 Quotations .................................................................................................... 175
Quotations great and small ............................................................... 175 Punctuating quotations ..................................................................... 176
Speech ........................................................................................................... 179 Indirect speech ................................................................................... 179 Direct speech ...................................................................................... 179 Who said that? Identifying speaker changes .................................. 188
Punctuating Titles: When to Use Quotation Marks ................................. 190
Chapter 14: The Pause That Refreshes: Commas ..... ........... . 193 Distinguishing Items: Commas in Lists ...................................................... 193 Separating Adjectives .................................................................................. 195 You Talkin' to Me? Direct Address ............................................................. 198 Using Commas in Addresses and Dates .................................................... 199
Addressing addresses ........................................................................ 199 Punctuating dates ............................................................................... 200
Flying Solo: Introductory Words ................................................................ 201
Chapter 15: Adding Information: Semicolons, Dashes and Colons ......................................... . 203
Gluing Complete Thoughts Together: Semicolons .................................. 203 Using semicolons with false joiners ................................................. 204 Separating items in a list with semicolons ...................................... 206
Creating a Stopping Point: Colons ............................................................. 208 Introducing lists .................................................................................. 208 Joining explanations .......................................................................... 210
Giving Additional Information - Dashes .................................................... 211
Chapter 16: CAPITAL LETTERS . ............................... . 215 Capitalising (or Not) References to People .............................................. 216
Addressing the chief dogcatcher and other officials .................... 216 Writing about family relationships ................................................... 217 Capitalising the deity ......................................................................... 218
Capitalising Geography: Directions, Places and Languages ................... 219 Directions and areas of a country .................................................... 219 Capitalising geographic features ... ; .................................................. 219 Tackling race and ethnicity ............................................................... 220
Marking Seasons and Other Times ............................................................ 221 Schooling: Courses, Years and Subjects .................................................... 221 Writing Capitals in Book and Other Titles ................................................ 222 Concerning Historical Capitals: Events and Eras ..................................... 224 If U Cn Rd Ths, U Cn Abbreviate ................................................................ 225 Giving the Last Word to the Poet ............................................................... 227
xif! English Grammar For Dummies _______________ _
Part IV: PolishinfJ without Wax -The Finer Points of Grammar ...................................... 229
Chapter 17: Pronouns and Their Cases ........................ . 231 Me Like Tarzan: Choosing Subject Pronouns ........................................... 231
Compounding interest: pairs of subjects ........................................ 232 Attracting appositives .......................................................... ; ........... 233 Picking pronouns for comparisons .................................................. 235 Connecting pronouns to linking verbs ............................................ 236
Using Pronouns as Direct and Indirect Objects ....................................... 237 Choosing objects for prepositions ................................................... 238 Seeing double causes problems ....................................................... 239
Pronouns of Possession: No Exorcist Needed .......................................... 240 Dealing with Pronouns and -ing Nouns .................................................... 241
Chapter 18: Fine-Tuning Verbs .. .............................. . 243 Giving Voice to Verbs ................................................................................... 243 Making the Better Choice? Active or Passive Voice ................................ 244 Putting It in Order: Sequence of Tenses .................................................... 24 7
Case 1 - Simultaneous events: main verbs ..................................... 247 Case 2 - Simultaneous events: -ing participles .............................. 247 Case 3 - Events at two different times in the past ......................... 248 Case 4 - More than two past events, all at different times ........... 250 Case 5 - Two events in the future .................................................... 251 Case 6 - Different times, different verb forms ................................ 252
Mix and Match: Combining the Past and Present .................................... 254 Habits: Using the present tense ....................................................... 255 Eternal truths: Statements that are always in
the present tense ............................................................................ 255 News from the front ........................................................................... 256
Chapter 19: Saying What You Want to Say: Descriptive Words and Phrases .............................. . 259
Ruining a Perfectly Good Sentence: Misplaced Descriptions ................. 259 Keeping Your Audience Hanging: Danglers ............................................... 261 Avoiding Confusing Descriptions .............................................................. 263
Chapter 20: Good, Better, Best: Comparisons . .................. . 265 Ending It with -er or Giving It More ........................................................... 265 Breaking the Rules: Irregular Comparisons .............................................. 270 Never More Perfect: Using Words That You Can't Compare .................. ~71 Leaving Your Audience in Suspense: Incomplete Comparisons ............ 273 Spock was Better than any First Officer in Star Fleet:
Illogical Comparisons .............................................................................. 275 Two for the Price of One: Double Comparisons ....................................... 277
___________________ Table of Contents Xfl
Chapter 21: Keeping Your Balance ............................ . 279 Constructing Balanced Sentences ............................................................ 279 Shifting Grammar into Gear: Avoiding Stalled Sentences ....................... 282
Steering clear of a tense situation .................................................... 282 Knowing the right person .................................................................. 283
Seeing Double: Conjunction Pairs .............................................................. 285
Part V: Rules Er/en Your Great·Aunt's Grammar Teacher Didn't KnouJ ................................... 289
Chapter 22: The Last Word on Verbs .......................... . 291 Getting a Feel for Everyday Verbs: The Indicative Mood ........................ 291 Commanding Your Verbs: The Imperative Mood ..................................... 292 Discovering the Possibilities: The Subjunctive Mood ............................. 293
Using subjunctives with 'were' ......................................................... 293 Using subjunctives with 'had' ........................................................... 294 Using subjunctives with commands, wishes and requests .......... 296
I Can't Help But Think This Rule Is Crazy: Deleting Double Negatives ...................................................................................... 298
Can't Hardly Understand This Rule: Yet Another Double Negative ....... 299
Chapter 23: The Last Word on Pronouns ....................... . 301 Knowing the Difference Between Who/Whoever
and Whom/Whomever ............................................................................ 301 Trick 1: Horse and carriage ............................................................... 302 Trick 2: Getting rhythm ...................................................................... 303
Studying Improper Antecedents ................................................................ 304 Matching Verbs to Pronouns in Complicated Sentences ........................ 305 This, That and the Other: Clarifying Vague Pronoun References .......... 307 Its or Their? Selecting Pronouns for Collective Nouns .......................... 309 Pronouns, Inc.: Using Pronouns with Company Names .......................... 311
Chapter 24: The Last Word on Sentence Structure .............. . 313 Understanding the Basics of Clause and Effect.~ ...................................... 313
Getting the goods on main and subordinate clauses .................... 315 Knowing the three legal jobs for subordinate clauses .................. 317 Untangling main clauses and subordinate clauses ........................ 318 Deciding when to untangle clauses .. ~ .............................................. 320 Putting your subordinate clauses in the right place ..................... 321 Choosing the content for your subordinate clauses ..................... 321
Playing Truant .............................................................................................. 322 Appreciating gerunds ........................................................................ 322 Working with infinitives ....................... ; ............................................. 323 Participating with a participle .......................................................... 324
Spicing Up Boring Sentences ...................................................................... 325
English Grammar For Dummies ________________ _
Chapter 25: The Last Word on Punctuation . .................... . 327 Making Your Point Clear with Commas ..................................................... 327
Essential or extra? Your commas tell the tale ................................ 328 Do your commas have appositive influence? ................................. 330 Punctuating independently ............................................................... 332
Saving Time with Ellipsis ............................................................................. 333 Indicating missing words in quotations .......................................... 334 Showing hesitation ............................................................................. 335
H-y-p-h-e-n-a-t-i-n-g Made Easy .................................................................... 335 Understanding the great divide ........................................................ 336 Using hyphens for compound words ............................................... 337 Placing hyphens in numbers ............................................................. 337 The well-placed hyphen .................................................................... 338
Slashing Your Sentences ............................................................................ 339
Part (,IJ: The Part of Tens ........... acac.ac.acac .... ac.ac .... ac .... ac341
Chapter 26: Ten Ways :rwe to Improve Your Proofreading . ....... . 343 Read Uke a Professional Proofreader ....................................................... 343 Read Backwards ........................................................................................... 344 Wait a While .................................................................................................. 344 Read It Aloud ................................................................................................ 344 Delete Half the Commas .............................................................................. 345 Swap with a Friend ....................................................................................... 345 Let the Computer Help ................................................................................ 345 Check the Sentence Length ......................................................................... 346 The Usual Suspects ...................................................................................... 346 Draw up a Checklist ..................................................................................... 346
Chapter 27: Ten Ways to Learn Better Grammar ................ . 347 Read Good Books ......................................................................................... 34 7 Watch Good Television ................................................................................ 348 Read the Newspaper ............................................. , ...................................... 348 Flip through Magazines ............................................................................... 348 Visit Nerd Hangouts ..................................................................................... 349 Check Out Strunk and White ...................................................................... 349 Listen to Authorities .................................................................................... 349 Review Manuals of Style .............................................................................. 350 Surf the Internet ........................................................................................... 350 Build Your Own Reference Ubrary ............................................................ 350
Index
• SlJmbols • , (apostrophe)
abbreviations, 169-170 contractions, 165-169 numbers, 169-170 possession, 129, 155-164, 169-170,240 pronouns, 129, 164-165,240 symbols, 169-170
[ ] (brackets), 172-175 : (colon)
defined,208 emoticons, 208 quotations, 176-178, 181-182 to combine sentences, 89, 210-211 to introduce lists, 208-210 to separate items in a list, 206-208
, (comma) in addresses (geographic), 199-200 adjectives, 195-198 appositives, 330-332 clauses, separating main and
subordinate, 321 conjunctions, 332-333 in dates, 200-201 defined, 193 descriptions, 328-329 direct address, 198 interjections, 121 introductory words, 201-202 in lists of items, 193-195,206-208 proofreading, 345 quotation marks, 174 to combine sentences, 86-89 usage, 327
- or - (dashes), 211-214, 336 ... (ellipsis), 70, 178-179,333-335 ! (exclamation point), 69, 70, 121
- (hyphens) compound words, 335, 337 to divide words, 336-337 hyphenated plurals, 61 in numbers, 337-338 placement in descriptions, 338-339 possessive words, 162
() (parentheses), 173-174 . (period), 69, 70, 121, 226 ? (question mark), 69, 70 " " (quotations)
combining sentences, 187-188 defined, 175 direct speech, 180-188 ellipsis, 334-335 indirect speech, 179 interruptions, 183-185 punctuating, 176-179 putting speaker first, 180-182 putting speaker last, 182 questions within questions, 186-187 single quotation marks, 171-172, 175-178 for speech, 176-190 speech within speech, 185-186 for titles, 190-192
, , (scare quotes), 171-172, 175 ; (semicolon)
fillsejoiners, 204-206 quotations, 187 to combine sentences, 89-90, 203-204 to separate items in a list, 206-208
/ (slash mark), 339
a, 121-123 abbreviations
apostrophes, 169-170 capitalisation, 225-227
352 English Grammar For Dummies --'-_______________ _
accusative case, 25 acronyms, capitalisation, 226-227 action verbs, 18, 25, 74-76 active verbs, 243-246 address, direct, 198 addresses, geographic, 199-200 adjectival phrases, 118, 317, 318 adjectives
versus adverbs, 106-111 adverbs to describe, 103, 105-106 avoiding mistakes with, 111-113 as complement, 77, 78 defined,100 to describe nouns, 100-101 to describe pronouns, 101 descriptive lists, commas to separate,
195-198 and gerunds, 322-323 infinitives, 323 and linking verbs, 22-23, 101-102 locating, 102-103 participles as, 324-325 and prepositional phrases, 118 subordinate clauses to describe, 317-318 words that are both adverbs and, 110-111
adverbial phrases, 118,317,318 adverbs
versus adjectives, 106-111 avoiding mistakes with, 111-113 to describe adjectives, 103, 105-106 to describe verbs, 103-108 grammar rules for, 71 infinitives, 323 locating, 104-105 as misidentified subject, 57-58 and prepositional phrases, 118 questions answered by, 104-105 subordinate clauses to describe, 317-318 words that are both adjectives and,
110-111 advice/advise, 326 affect/effect, 62 afternoon (p.m.), capitalisation, 221 agreement, 137. See also subject-verb
agreement all, 148
almost, 112-113,264 also, 205 a.m., 221 among/between, 119 an, 121-123 analysis/analyses, 139 and
to combine sentences, 86, 87, 89, 92 to complete sentences, 68-69 punctuation, 195,204,332 in sentences with two subjects, 142
Anglo-Saxons, 49 another, 196 antecedents, 130-132,304-305 any, 148 anybody, 135, 149,283-284 anyone, 149 anything, 149 apostrophes (')
abbreviations, 169-170 contractions, 165-169 numbers, 169-170 possession, 129, 155-164, 169-170,240 pronouns, 129, 164-165,240 symbols, 169-170
appositives, 233-234, 330-332 appositives and commas, 330-332 areas of a country, capitalisation, 219 articles, 121-123, 222-224 aspect, 33, 42 attributive adjectives, 102 authorities, listening to, grammar
improvement, 349 auxiliary verbs, 26, 28, 43
• 8· bad, 270 balanced sentences and parallel
construction, 279-282 bare infinitive, 28 because, 93, 204 because of, 21 become, 18-19 being verbs, 17. See also linking verbs besides, 205 best, 270
-----------_____ Index 353 better, 270 between you and 1, 239 between/among, 119 books
manual of style, 228, 349, 350 reading, for grammar improvement,
347-348 title capitalisation, 222-224
both/and, 285-286 brackets ([ ]), 172-175 Burchfield, R.w. (Fowlers Modern English
Usage), 350 business letters, 14,225,346 but
to combine sentences, 86, 87, 89 to complete sentences, 68-69 punctuation, 204, 332-333
but also/not only, 285-286
-c-capital letters
abbreviations, 225-227 areas of a country, 219 book titles, 222-224 after colons, 210 country names, 219-220 deity names and God, 218 directions (geographic), 219 ethnicity, 220 family relationship titles, 217-218 geographic features, 219-220 historic events and eras, 224-225 numbers in sentences, 61 officials, 216 poetry, 227-228 proofreading and sentence length, 346 race, 220 . references to people, 216-218 school-related terms, 221-222 seasons, 221 time, 221 titles, 216, 222-224 to begin sentence, 61
capitalisation. See capital letters cases, pronouns in, 25 checklist for proofreading; 346
The Chicago Manual of Style, 228 classic books, and grammar improvement,
347-348 clauses. See also subordinate clauses
commas, 329 contentfo~321-322 co-ordinate conjunctions, 86-87 independent, 91-94, 314-316,321 main clauses, 315-322
collective nouns, pronouns for, 309-310 colons (:)
to combine sentences, 89, 210-211 defined, 208 emoticons, 208 to introduce lists, 208-210 quotations, 176-178, 181-182 to separate items in a list, 206-208
combining sentences. See sentences, combining
comma splice, 87 commands, subjunctive mood, 296-298 commas (,)
in addresses (geographic), 199-200 adjectives, 195-198 appositives, 330-332 clauses, separating main and
subordinate, 321 to combine sentences, 86-89 conjunctions, 332-333 in dates, 200-201 defined, 193 descriptions, 328-329 direct address, 198 interjections, 121 introductory words, 201-202 in lists of items, 193-195,206-208 proofreading, 345 quotation marks, 174 usage, 327
company names, 160-161, 311-312 comparative grammar, 11 comparisons
double, 277 -er, 265, 267-269 -est, 267-269 illogical, 275-276 incomplete, 273-275
35 I, English Grammar For Dummies ________________ _
comparisons (continued) irregular, 270-271 pronounsfo~235-236 words without comparison form, 271-273
complements action verbs, 74-76 direct objects, 74-75 gerunds, 322 indirect objects, 75-76, 80 linking verbs, 78 locating, 79 object pronouns, 81 objective, 77 pronouns as, 236-237 subject pmnouns, 81
complete predicate, 28 complete sentences, 63-67, 89, 314-315 compound plural possessives, 159-160 compound subjects, 232-233 compound words and hyphens, 335, 337 computer software, 15,345 confusing descriptors, 263-264 conjunctions
and commas, 332-333 co-ordinate, 86-87 defined,68 parallel construction, 285-288 and sentence fragments, 68 subordinate, 92-93
consequently, 205 content for clauses, 321-322 continual/continually, 109-110 continuous/continuously, 109-110 contractions, 165-169 conversational English, 11, 13,81,89 co-ordinate conjunctions, 86-87 copulative verb, 17. See also linking verbs correlatives, 285 could of/could've, 167-168 country names, capitalisation, 219-220 courses at school, capitalisation, 221-222
dangling modifiers, 261-263 dashes (- or -),211-214,336 dates and commas, 200-201
datum/data, 139 defining clauses, 329 definite articles, 122 deity names, capitalisation of, 218 dependent clauses, 315. See also
subordinate clauses descriptions. See also adjectives; adverbs
commas and, 328-329 confusing, 263-264 dangling modifiers, 261-263 and hyphens, 338-339 misplaced, 259-261, 264
descriptive grammar, 11 dictionaries, sample entry explanation,
266-267 did,144 different times, verb tense for, 252-253 direct address, 198 direct objects, 74-76, 237-240 direct speech. See also speech
combining sentences, 187-188 defined, 180 interruptions, 183-185 questions within questions, 186-187 quotations, 180-188 speaker first, 180-182 speaker last, 182 speech within speech, 185-186
directions (geographic), capitalisation, 219 displayed quotations, 175-176 dividing words, hyphens, 336-337 do, 143-145 does, 143-145 done, 253 double comparisons, 277 double negatives, verbs, 298-300 due to, 21
-E-each, 149-150 ear for English, 303-304 east/East, 219 The Economist Style Guide, 228, 350 -ed,35,40,44,47,56 effect/affect, 62 either/or, 142, 150-151,285-287
________________ Index 355 The Elements of Style (Strunk and
White),349 ellipsis ( ... ), 70, 178-179, 333-335 else, 275-276 em rule (-), 212 e-mail, 13, 14, 208, 225, 346 emoticons, 208 en rule (-), 212 endmarks, 69-71 English language. See also specific topics
conversational, 11, 13,81,89 correct usage, 14-16 ear for, 303-304 in everyday life, 11-16 formal, 11, 13-14,21 friends peak, 11, 12,81 grammar improvement, 347-350 history of language, 49 patterns in, 75-76, 325-326 rules for use, 71
equally, 272-273 -er, 265, 267-269 eras, capitalisation, 224-225 essential clauses, 329-330 -est, 267-269 eternal truths and present tense, 255-256 ethnicity, capitalisation, 220 even, 111-112,264 every, 149-150 everybody, 132-133,149,283-284 everyon~ 132-133, 135, 149 everything, 149 exclamation marks (1), 69, 70, 121 eyes for proofreading, 345
-F-false joiners, 90, 204-206 family relationship titles, capitalisation,
217-218 farther, 113 fewer, 271 finite verbs, 56-57 first person, 283-284 for, 332 formal English, 11, 13-14,21. See also
specific topics
Fowler, H.W (Fowler's Modern English Usage),350
fragments, sentence, 63, 67-69 friendly letters, 13 friendspeak, 11, 12, 81 full stop (period), 69, 70, 121,226 functional grammar, 11 further, 113 future tense
future perfect, 40, 42, 46, 138, 140-141, 251-252
future perfect progressive, 42, 140-141 future progressive, 36, 37, 39-40 irregular verb to be, 45 as simple tense, 34 for simultaneous events, 247-248 two future events, 251-252
-6-gender in language, 136 geographic features, capitalisation,
219-220 gerund phrase, 323 gerunds, 241-242,322-323 God, capitalisation of, 218 good, 108-109,270 good books, grammar improvement,
347-348 grammar. See also specific topics
advantages of learning, 10 comparative, 11 conversational English, 11, 13,81,89 defined,9 ear for, 303-304 formal English, 11, 13-14,21 friends peak, 11, 12,81 improvement, 347-350 reasons to study, 9-16 slang, 12, 172 types of everyday English, 11-16 types of grammar, 11
grammar check software, 15 grammar schools, 9 grammarians, 71
356 English Grammar For Dummies ---------------------------
-H-habits, present tense, 255 have/ha~ 40-42,294-295 he, 232,283-284 helping (auxiliary) verbs, 26, 28, 43 her, 118, 232, 238 here, 57-58, 148-149 hers, 164 hesitation, and ellipsis, 335 him, 118, 232, 238 his, 164 historic events, capitalisation, 224-225 historical grammar, 11 historical present tense, 39 historic/historical, 312 homonyms, 15, 128,300 however, 205-206 hyphens (-)
compound words, 335, 337 to divide words, 336-337 hyphenated plurals, 61 in numbers, 337 placement in descriptions, 338-339 possessive words, 162
-1-I, 55, 232, 283-284 if, 67,296 illogical comparisons, 275-276 imperative mood, 292-293 implied subjects, 55-56, 64 incomplete comparisons, 273-275 incomplete sentences, 67-69 indeed,205 indefinite article, 122 independent clauses
to combine with subordinates, 91, 92-93 defined, 91 joining with subordinate clauses, 315-316 sentence placement, 314-316, 321
indicative mood, 291-292 indirect objects, 75-76,80,237-238 indirect speech, 179 infinitive phrases, 324
infinitives dangling modifiers, 263 to express different times, 253 irregular verbs as, 47 present perfect tense, 253 sentence placement, 323-324 split infinitives, 30, 264 types of verbs, 28, 30-31
informal English, 11, 12-13, 81, 89 -ing
dangling modifiers, 262 to express different times, 252 to express simultaneous events, 247-278 nouns (gerunds), 241-242 present verb tense, 35-37, 40. <11, 56 verb tense for simultaneous events,
247-248 interjections, 121 international dates, 201 Internet, grammar improvement, 350 interruptions and quotations, 183-185 introductory words and commas 201-202 irregardless, 95 ' irregular comparisons, 270-271 irregular plural possessives, 158-159 irregular plurals, 60 irregular verbs
it
defined, 35 past tenses and participles, 4, 40, 47-48,
56 to be, singular and plural, 45-46
as object pronoun, 118, 237 as subject pronoun, 232, 238 versus they, 308 as third person, 283-284
its, 164, 309-311 it's, 164-165
joined sentences. See sentences, combining
just, 264
________________ Index 357
• L • less/more, 267,268,269,271 letters (mail), 13, 14, 225, 346 licence/license, 326 lie/lay, 295 linking verbs
versus action verbs, 18, 25 adjectives, 101-102 common, 22 complements, 78 defined,17 and nouns, 23, 101-102 object pronouns, 25 pronouns, 23-25,236-237 sensory verbs, 20, 22 sentence completion, 22-23 states of being, 19 and subject, 101-102 subject-verb pairs, 52 to be, 17-19
listening, grammar improvement, 349 lists
colon to introduce, 208-210 commas to separate items in, 193-195,
206-208 locations within a country, capitalisation,
219-220 lower case letters, 215 -ly test, adjectives versus adverbs, 106-108
magazines, grammar improvement, 348-349
main clauses, 315-322 manuals of style, 228, 349, 350 m~ 55, 118,232,238 mine, 164 misplaced descriptors, 259-261, 264 missing words, and ellipsis, 334-335 money, as singular, 142 moods
imperative, 292-293 indicative, 291-292 subjunctive, 296-298
more than two comparison of items, 269 non-simultaneous past events, 250-251
more/less, 267, 268, 269 moreover, 205 morning (a.m.), capitalisation, 221 most, 148 most/least, 267, 268, 269, 271 must, 297 myself, 55
names ofbooks,222-224 of companies, 160-161,311-312 of deities and Gods, 218 of geographic areas and features, 219-220 of people, 216-218
negative statements, 145-146 neither/nor, 150-151,285-287 nerd hangouts, grammar improvement, 349 nevertheless, 205 New Hart's Rules: the handbook of style for
writers and editors, 228 newspapers, grammar improvement, 348 nobody, 149 nominative case, 25, 232 non-defining clauses, 329 none, 148 non-essential clauses, 329-330 non-finite verbs, 56-57 non-infinite clauses, 325 non-restrictive clauses, 329 non-simultaneous past events, verb tense,
248-253 non-standard usage, 9 nor
to combine sentences, 86, 87 nor/neither pair, 150-151,285-287 punctuation, 322 semicolons, 204 in sentence fragments, 68-69
north/North,219 not, 106-107 not only/but also, 285-286 nothing, 149
358 English Grammar For Dummies ________________ _
noun clauses, 318 nouns. See also pronouns; subject(s)
adjectives, 100-103 adverbs, 105 as antecedent, 131-132 appositives, 233-234, 330-332 articles, 121-123,222-224 clause placement, 321 collective, 309-310 as complement, 78 compound possessives, 159-160 defined, 51 gerunds, 241-242, 322-323 -ing nouns, 241-242 irregular plural possessives, 158-159 irregular plurals, 60 and linking verbs, 23, 101-102 objective complement as, 77 objects of prepositions, 115 pairing with pronouns, 125-127 plural, 58-61, 138-140, 158-160 possession, 158-160, 162-163 possessive forms that end in s, 162-163 prepositions and prepositional phrases,
115,116 sentence placement, 23, 25 as subject, 51 subject complement as, 78 subordinate clauses to describe, 317 y-endings, plurals, 59-60
numbers apostrophes, 169-170 capital letters, 61 hyphens in, 337-338
-0-object pronouns
appositives, 234 in clauses, 320 comparisons, 235 defined, 81, 118 linking verbs, 25 pronouns, 234-235, 237-239 reversibility rule, 237 usage, 119-120,237-240
objective (accusative) case, 25
objective complements, 77 objects
direct objects, 74-76,237-240 and gerunds, 322 indirect objects, 75-76, 80, 237-238 of the preposition, 116-118 subordinate clauses as, 318
officials, capitalisation, 216 often, 263-264 one, 149 ongoing events, present tense, 2f 6-257 only, 113, 264 or
to combine sentences, 86-87 either/or, 142, 150-151,285-287 punctuation, 332 semicolons, 204 in sentence fragments, 68-69 whether/or, 67, 285-286
other, 196, 275-276 ours, 164 ownership. See possession Oxford commas, 194
-p-paragraphs
capitalisation in, 217, 222, 225 dashes in, 213 dividing words in, 336, 338-339 quotations in, 189-190, 192
parallel construction and balanced sentences, 279-282 conjunction pairs, 285-288 person, 283-284 tense, 282-283 voice, active and passive, 243-246
parentheses 0, 173-174 parentheSis/parentheses, 139 participial clauses, 325 participles
defined, 324 past, 40, 44, 47-48, 56 present, 35-37,40, 44, 56,247-248 sentence placement, 324-325
________________ Index 359 parts of speech. See also adjectives;
adverbs; conjunctions; nouns; prepositions; pronouns; verbCs)
descriptive grammar, 11 interjections, 121
passive verb, 243-246 past participles, 40, 44, 47-48, 56 past tense
combining past and present, 254-257 defined,33-34,35 irregular forms, 45, 47-48 non-simultaneous events, 248-251 passive, 243-246 past perfect, 40, 41, 44, 46, 138,250 past perfect progressive, 40, 41-42 past progreSSive, 35, 36, 38-39 questions in, 144 as simple tense, 34, 35-36 for simultaneous events, 247-248
perfect, 272 perfect progressive tense, 40, 41-42 perfect tense. See also present perfect
tense defined, 34 future perfect progressive tense, 42,
140-141 future perfect tense, 40, 42, 46, 138,
140-141,251-252 irregular verbs, 47 past perfect progressive tense, 40, 41-42 past perfect tense, 40, 41, 44, 46, 138, 250 perfect progressive tense, 40, 41-42 plain form, 40 progressive form, 40
periods C.), 69, 70, 121, 226 person, 283-284 phenomenon/phenomena, 139 plurals
classical, 139 compound possessives, 159-160 hyphenated, 61 irregular plurals, 60 irregular possessives, 158-159 irregular verbs, 45-46 nouns, 58-61, 138-140, 158-160 plural-only words, 152 possessives, 129, 157-160
present perfect tense, 140-141 progressive tenses, 140 pronouns, 127-129 regular forms, 58-59 subjects, 58-61 subject-verb agreement, 137-141 verb to be, 45-46
p.m., 221 poetic contractions, 169 poetry, capitalisation, 227-228 political correctness, 134 possession
apostrophes, 129, 155-164, 169-170,240 company names, 160-161 compound plural possessives, 159-160 hyphenated words, 162 irregular plural possessives, 158-159 nouns, 158-160, 162-163 nouns that end in s, 162-163 plural, 129, 157-160 pronouns, 128-130, 164,240-241 singular forms, 129, 156-157
possessive pronouns, 128-130,240-241 practice/practise, 326 predicate, 28. See also independent
clauses; subordinate clauses predicative adjectives, 102 prepositional phrases
conjunctions, 285 defined, 146 noun relationships, 115-118 and objects, 116-118 parallel construction, 281-282 subject-verb agreement, 146-149
prepositions choice of objects for, 238-239 defined, 116 direct objects, 74-76, 237-240 ending a sentence, 120-121 indirect objects, 75-76,80,237-238 list of common, 116 objects of, 116-118 and pronouns, 118-120
present participles, 35-37, 40, 44, 56, 247-248
present perfect progressive tense, 40, 41
360 English Grammar For Dummies _____ ---,-__________ _
present perfect tense defined, 40, 41 infinitives, 253 irregular verb forms, 46, 47 present perfect progressive, 40, 41 singular and plural, 140-141 usage, 43-44
present tense. See also present perfect tense
combining past and present, 254-257 eternal truths, 255-256 habits, 255 irregular verb to be, 45 ongoing events, 256-257 present progressive, 34, 36, 38, 41 simple present, 33-35, 138-139 for simultaneous events, 247-248 subject-verb agreement, 143-144
progressive tense defined, 40 future, 36, 37, 39-40 future perfect, 42, 140-141 past, 35,36, 38-39 past perfect, 40, 41-42 perfect, 40, 41-42 present, 34, 36, 38,41 present perfect, 40, 41 present perfect progressive, 40, 41 progressive, 34, 38-42, 140 singular or plural, 140
pronoun connection, 96-98 pronouns. See also nouns; object
pronouns; subject(s) and adjectives, 101 antecedents, 130-132,304-305 apostrophes, 164-165 appositives, 233-234, 330-332 cases of, 25 clause placement, 321 clauses, separating main and
subordinate, 320 for collective nouns, 309-310 to combine sentences, 96-98 with company names, 311-312 for comparisons, 235-236 as complements, 78, 236-237 compound subjects, 232-233
defined, 125 as direct objects, 237-240 gerunds, 241-242 as indirect objects, 237-238 and -ing nouns, 241-242 linking verbs, 23-25, 236-237 matching to verbs in sentences, 305-306 object pronouns, 234-235, 237-239 plural, 127-129 possessive, 128-130, 164,240-241 and prepositions, 118-120 relative pronouns, 97 sexist language, 134-136 singular, 127-129, 132-134 as subject, 51 subject pronouns, 24, 81, 231-232, 238 subordinate clauses to describe, 317 this, that, and which, 307-309 verbs, agreement with, 23-25, 305-306 whoever/whomever, 301-304 who/whom, 301-304
proofreading, 343-346 punctuation. See also colons; commas;
hyphens; quotations; semicolons for addresses (geographic), 199-200 brackets, 172-175 dashes, 211-214,336 dates, 200-201 for direct address, 198 ellipses, 70,178-179,333-335 endmarks,69-71 parentheses, 173-174 periods, 69, 70, 121, 226 question marks, 69, 70 slash marks, 339
-0--question mark (?), 69, 70 questions
answered by adverbs, 104-105 formation, subject-verb agreement,
143-145 as incomplete sentence, 66 past tense, 144 within questions, quotations, 186-187
________________ Index 361
quotations (" ") combining sentences, 187-188 defined, 175 direct speech, 180-188 ellipsis, 334-335 indirect speech, 179 interruptions, 183-185 punctuating, 176-179 putting speaker first, 180-182 putting speaker last, 182 questions within questions, 186-187 single quotation marks, 171-172, 175-178 for speech, 176-190 speech within speech, 185-186 for titles, 190-192
race, capitalisation of, 220 raise/rise, 292 reading techniques, proofreading, 344-345 reference libraries, grammar
improvement, 350 references to people, capitalisation,
216-218 relative pronouns, 97 requests, subjunctive mood, 296-298 restrictive clauses, 329 reversibility rule, 237 rise/raise, 292 round brackets (parentheses), 173-174 run-on sentences, 85, 86, 87, 183-185
S-AV-DO patterns, 75 S-AV-IO-DO patterns, 76 scare quotes (' '), 171-172, 175 school-related terms, capitalisation,
221-222 seasons, capitalisation, 221 second person, 283-284 semicolons (;)
to combine sentences, 89-90, 203-204 false joiners, 204-206 quotations, 187 to separate items in a list, 206-208
sensory verbs, 20, 22 sentence(s). See also comparisons;
sentences, combining balanced, and parallel construction,
279-282 capital letters to begin, 61 clause placement, 314-316, 321 complete, 63-67,89,314-315 descriptive grammar, 11 ending with prepositions, 120-121 endmarks, 69-71 fragments, 63, 67-69, 91, 94 gerunds, 322-323 here and there as subject, 57-58 incomplete, 67-69 infinitives, 323-324 interjections, 121 linking verbs in, 18-25 main clauses, 315-322 matching verbs to pronouns in, 305-306 negative statements, 145-146 participles, 324-325 patterns of, 75-76,325-326 prepositions in, 115-121 proofreading and sentence length, 346 run-on sentences, 85, 86, 87, 183-185 S-AV-DO pattern, 75 S-AV-IO-DO pattern, 76 subject-verb pairs in, 63-67 subordinate clauses, 315-322
sentence fragments, 63, 67-69, 91, 94 sentences, combining
colons, 210-211 commas, 86-89 co-ordinate conjunctions, 86:...87 direct speech and quotations, 187-188 false jOiners, 90, 204-206 independent clauses, 91-94 past and present verb tense in, 254-257 pronouns, 96-98 punctuation, 86-90, 203-204, 210-211 run-on sentences, 85, 86, 87 semicolons, 89-90, 203-204 sentence fragments, 91, 94 subordinate clauses, 91-93 subordinate conjunctions, 92-93
sequences of verb tense, 247-253
362 English Grammar For Dummies ________ ...,..--_______ _
serial commas, 194 setting aside materials, proofreading, 344 se~stlanguage,pronouns, 134-136 shall, 36-37 she, 232,283-284 should,297 should of/should've, 167-168 SI units, capitalisation, 226 simple predicate, 28 simple verb tense, 34-37, 138-139 simultaneous events, verb tense, 247-248 since, 204 single quotation marks, 171-172, 175-178 singular
possessive nouns, 156-157 possessive pronouns, 129 progressive tenses, 140 pronouns, 127-129, 132-134 subject-verb agreement, 137-141 verb to be, 45-46
slang, 12, 172 slash marks Cl), 339 so, 86,87,204,332 software, computer, 15, 345 some, 148 somebody, 149 someone, 149 something, 149 south/South,219 speakers
changes and quotations, 188-190 direct speech and quotations, 180-188 indirect speech, 179 putting speaker first, 180-182 putting speaker last, 182
speech. See also direct speech conversational English, 11, 13,81,89 direct, 179-188 friendspeak, 11, 12,81 identifying speaker changes, 188-190 indirect, 179 slang, 12, 172 within speech, 185-186
spell check software, 15 split infinitives, 30, 264 square brackets ([ ]), 172-175 standard usage, 9
state abbreviations, U.S., 226 statement, as incomplete sentence, 66 Strunk, William Jr. (The Elements
of Style), 349 style, manuals of, 228, 349, 350 subject(s). See also independent clauses;
nouns; pronouns; subordinate clauses adjectives to describe, 101-102 balanced sentences, 281 compound subjects, 232-233 defined,28,51 finite verbs, 56-57 implied subjects, 55-56, 64 irregular, 151-152 linking verbs, 101-102 locating, 51-62, 243 misidentified,57-58 non-finite verbs, 56-57 nouns and possessive pronouns, 240-241 numbers, 61 person usage, 283-284 plural nouns, 58-61 S-AV-DO patterns, 75 S-AV-IO-DO patterns, 76 subject-verb pairs, 52-55 two, and verb agreement, 142-143
subject (nominative) case, 25 subject complement, 78 subject pronouns, 24, 81, 231-232, 238 subjects (school), capitalisation, 221-222 subject-verb agreement
clauses, separating main and subordinate, 320-321
defined, 137, 141 difficulties with, 147-152 negative statements, 145-146 plural elements, 137-141 prepOSitional phrases, 146-147, 148 pronouns, 305-306 question formation, 143-145 of singular elements, 137-141 verbs and two subjects, 142-143
subject-verb pairs clauses, separating main and
subordinate, 318-321 in complete sentences, 63-67
_____________ ---Index 363 defined,52 locating, 53-54 prepositional phrases, 118 word order, 54-55
subjunctive mood, 293-298 subordinate clauses
clauses, separating main and subordinate, 318-321
to combine sentences, 91, 92-93 contentfo~321-322 defined, 315 joining with independent clauses, 316 purposefo~317-318 relative pronouns, 97 sentence placement, 314-316, 321
supposed, 28 syllables, dividing words, 336-337 symbols, apostrophes for, 169-170
ere technology, software, 15, 345 television, grammar improvement, 348 tense, 26. See also verb tense text messages, 67, 225 that, 96-97, 196,307-309 the, 121-122 the reason being is that, 95 their, 128, 133-136,309-311 theirs, 164-165 them, 118, 133-136,232,238 then, 205 there, 57-58, 127, 148-149 therefore, 205 these, 196 the~ 133-136,232,283-284,308 they're/their, 128 third person, 283-284 this, 196,307-309 those, 196 thus, 205 time. See also verb tense
capitalisation, 221 dates and commas, 200-201 as singular, 142
The Times Style and Usage Guide, 228, 350
titles of books, capitalisation, 222-224 family relationships, capitalisation,
217-218 quotations, 190-192
to be as auxiliary verb, 26, 28, 43 as infinitive, 28 irregular verbs, 45-46 as linking verb, 17, 19, 22 verb tenses, singular and plural, 45-46
to-infinitive, 28 two events
future events, 251-252 past events, non-simultaneous, 248-250
two items, comparison of, 269 two subjects
and pronouns, 232-233 and verb agreement, 142-143
eUe unique, 271-272 upper case letters, 215. See also capital
letters us, 118, 232, 238 usage, defined, 9. See also specific topics use/used, 28
e(le verb(s). See also linking verbs; participles;
subject-verb agreement; subject-verb pairs; to be
action verbs, 18,25, 74-76 active, 243-246 and adverbs, 103-108 auxiliary verbs, 26, 28, 43 clauses, separating main and
subordinate, 320-321 double negatives, 298-300 finite verbs, 56-57 gerunds, 241-242 helping verbs, 26, 28, 43 infinitives, 28, 30-31 irregular, 35, 45-48 locating, 27-28, 79
English Grammar For Dummies ________________ _
verb(s) (continued) mood, 291-298 non-finite verbs, 56-57 passive, 243-246 past participles, 40, 44, 47-48, 56 present participles, 35-37, 40, 44, 56,
247-248 pronoun agreement, 23-25 pronoun matching in sentences, 305-306 S-AV-DO patterns, 75 S-AV-IO-DO patterns, 76 sensory verbs, 20, 22 subordinate clauses to describe, 317-318 two-subject agreement, 142-143
verb tense. See also future tense; past tense; perfect tense; present tense; progressive tense
auxiliary (helping) verbs, 26, 28, 43 combiriations of, 254-257 event sequences, 247-253 historical present, 39 irregular verb to be, 45-46 parallel construction, 282-283 perfect, 34, 40-44 simple, 34-37, 138-139
verb-infinitive rule, 297 voice, active and passive verbs, 243-246 vowels
article choice, 122-123 in word, and plural spellings, 59-60
·W· waiting, proofreading, 344 we, 232, 283-284 well, 108-109 were, 293-294 west/West, 219 'when, 97 where, 97 whether/or, 67,285-286 which, 96-97,307-309 while, 92-93
White, E.B. (The Elements of Style), 349 whoever/whomever, 81, 232, 238, 301-304 who's, 157 whose, 97, 157 who/whom
clauses, separating main and subordinate, 320
to combine sentences, 96-97 as object, 238 as object pronoun, 118 as pronouns, 232, 301-304
will, 36-37, 39, 40-42, 144 wishes, subjunctive mood, 296-298 words. See also specific words
compound,335,337 dividing, 336-337
worst, 270 would of/would've, 167-169 writing. See also specific topics
formal English, 11, 13-14,21 grammar improvement, 347-350 improvement, 347-350 informal English, 11, 12-13, 81, 89 slang, 12, 172
years at school, capitalisation, 221-222 y-endings, plurals, 59-60 yet, 86,87,332 you
as implied subject, 55-56 as object pronoun, 118 as second person, 283-284 as subject pronoun, 232, 238 subject-verb agreement, 140
yours, 164 your/you're, 167
