Preparation for the EOCT: Revising and Editing

But I Stink at Grammar!

Grammar Review

Commas Capitalization Run-ons and Fragments Apostrophes Hyphens Pronouns Spelling Misused/Confused Words Ordering Sentences

Commas Use commas:

to separate dates, cities and states, and introductory words

before a coordinating conjunction(FANBOYS)

in a list before or after a direct quotation before or after a direct address after an introductory clause in a

sentence

“Gotta keep ‘em separated!” Cities & States:

Harrison High School is located in Kennesaw, Georgia.

Dates: The high school’s first homecoming queen was

crowned on Friday, October 17, 1995.

Direct Address: Hoyas, show your school spirit by wearing green and

blue on Fridays!

Introductory Words: Of course, it’s a free country; you can wear whatever

color you want.

FANBOYS

(For, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)

Conjunctions: Jack stayed after school for tutoring on

Wednesday, but Jill did not.

* Remember, there are many more conjunctions not included in this acronym!

“They keep going and going…”

Lists: Most juniors at Harrison study American

Literature, American History, math, and science.

“What he said!”

Quotations: Everyone at the pep rally cheered, “Go

Hoyas!”

“I’m proud to introduce…”

Introductory clauses: Because Susie is my friend, I offered to

give her a ride home after school today.

With high-fives and shouts of joy, the Hoyas celebrated their team’s winning touchdown.

Capitalization

Proper Nouns

Titles (most words)

First word of sentence

Direction as a location

ALL CAPS

Write out the following sentences, capitalizing words whenever necessary: sandra set out on a trip to the west

to visit john steinbeck’s home town and see some of the places he mentions in of mice and men. she booked her trip through the literary travel corporation in st. louis, missouri.

Run-ons and Fragments Run-on sentence

a sentence that continues without any defined breaks using a comma and conjunction or ending punctuation

often, multiple sentences that are not separated

Fragment a part of a sentence lacking either the subject or

a verb incomplete – cannot stand alone as a sentence

“Stop that run-on!”

Rewrite the following sentence. The teacher stood up to walk to the front

of the room and a student placed his bag where the teacher was to stand and the teacher tripped on the bag and fell on her face the class laughed and the boy felt bad.

“Hmmm…it needs something.”

Expand each fragment to make it a complete sentence:

Which was found on the floor.

As the students were packing to leave.

Apostrophes

To show possession To write contractions To add ‘s’ to numbers or letters

“That’s mine!”

Rewrite the following sentences using apostrophes to show possession:

1. That homework belongs to Jim.

2. That iPod now belongs to Ms. Wallace, because you had it out during class.

“I love the 80’s!”

Answer the following questions using ‘s:

1. What is your favorite decade?

2. What grades do you hate making in school?

Hyphens #1: Compound preceding adjectives

Combine words into an adjective before a noun The brown-eyed girl vs. The girl is brown eyed. Hot-water bottle vs. hot water bottle (see

difference?) Age descriptors, too! (seven-year-old…)

#2: Prefixes Before the root word Re-read ex-boyfriend pre-screen

bicycle #3: Numbers 21-99 written out

Twenty-one forty-two ninety-nine

Add hyphens in the following: My noise canceling headphones

were not for long term use.

My ex boyfriend and I are no longer together because he was not super romantic.

My five year old daughter can’t wait to be six years old.

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement Pronoun: a word that may be used to

replace another noun I, you, he, she, it, we, they (subjective) me, you, him, her, it, us, them (objective) my, your, his, her, its, our, their (possessive)

Antecedent: a noun that the pronoun has replaced (usually appears earlier) Ex.: Janie looked frantically for her vocabulary

homework, praying that she had not lost it.

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement Pronouns and their antecedents must

agree in both number and gender.

Fill in the blank with the appropriate pronoun and underline the antecedent: Erica’s boyfriend gave ___ a mum for

homecoming. I hope that the football team wins ___

game on Friday.

Vague Reference Pronouns Every pronoun you write should refer

clearly and unmistakably to ONE PARTICULAR noun (the antecedent). Ex: After buying the new vocabulary book, Kara

put it safely in her backpack.

Unfortunately, it is very easy to create a sentence that uses a pronoun WITHOUT a clear, unmistakable noun antecedent. Ex: After putting the new vocabulary book in her

backpack, Kara lost it.

Correcting Vague References Underline the vague reference

pronoun in each sentence. Then, rewrite the sentence to correct the problem.

NOTE: There is more than one way to do this!

1. After putting the new vocabulary book in her backpack, Kara lost it.

2. Even though Barry was quite smart, he made poor use of it in school.

Spelling

YOU CANNOT USE THE DICTIONARY ON THE TEST!

YOU WILL HAVE TO GUESS ON SPELLING

IF YOU ARE NOT SURE.

Memorize!

Commonly Confused Words: Then, than* Effect, affect * Lay, lie * Principle, principal Accept, except Complement, compliment Allusion, illusion Already, all ready Conscious, conscience Write, right A lot, alot

Then vs. Than Then

At that time: Meet me during

lunch, I'll talk to you then.

Immediately following: First I will go to Ms.

Wallace’s class, then I will go to Ms. Poyner’s.

In addition: The team scored a

touchdown and then a field goal too.

In that case: If you need to make

up the test, then stay after class for tutoring.

Than For comparison:

She has much better grammar than I.

Practice choosing “affect” or “effect”

Effect (noun) meaning: consequence, outcome, appearance

Affect (verb) meaning: transform, change

Try substituting the word “effect” with consequenceWhat is the effect of not doing your homework? (consequence – noun/thing) Try substituting the word “affect’ with transform How will doing your homework affect your grade?

(transform – verb/action)

Practice choosing “then” or “than”

Circle the word that is grammatically correct for each sentence: Ian ate lunch and (then/than) went to

English class.

Cy Woods played a much better ballgame (then/than) Cy Springs last week.

If you’re not going to take notes in class, (then/than) don’t expect to do well on the test.

Lay or Lie

Lay or Lie? Present tense –

You “lay” down a thing

Past tense – The thing “laid” down I laid down my book on

the table and it still lays there today.

Past Participle– You “have laid” down a

thing

Present tense – You “lie” down

Past tense of “lie” is…lay Last week, you “lay”

down. I hoped he would lay still

last night, but today he still won’t lie still.

Past participle – You “have lain” down

Ordering Sentences

Rewrite the following paragraph, putting the sentences in a more logical order: She has to attend a student council

meeting after school. Today, the club is going to be making their float for the homecoming parade. She missed the last two meetings because of choir practice. Her team is responsible for painting the main banner. The float has a Hollywood theme.

THE ENDTHE END……or is it???or is it???