Download pdf - Basic Grammar, Writing, Revising, and Editing

8/3/2019 Basic Grammar, Writing, Revising, and Editing

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Basic Grammar, Writing, Revising, and Editing

Grammar

y Noun : name persons, places or things, including ideas, activities,qualities, conditions, and materials

o E.g. Emily, discipline, grandfather, snowy Pr ope r Noun : names a unique person, place or thing and begins

with a capital letter.y Common nouns dont begin with a capital lettery Ve rb s : express action, process, or states of being

o E.g. Run, wish, seemsy Adj ectives : modify a noun answer the questions :

Which, What kind, or How many?o E.g. Tha t rock may contain a fossil. Lacrosse is played by

two teams.y Ad ve rb s : modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs answer the

questions : How, When, Where, Why, Under what circumstances, Towhat extent?

o E.g. revise your paper l a te r . The old man spoke ve ry softly.

Co rrect Sentences

y Watch out for sentence fragments! This is a group of words that iscapitalized and punctuated like a complete sentence but is not one.

o E.g. The mayor called a news conference last week. Toannounce new programs for crime prevention.

Co mma Splices

y Comma splices are commas incorrectly inserted into a sentence.o E.g. A shark is all cartilage, it does not have a bone in its

body. This is wrong because there are two main clauses.y You can correct this by making two sentences or inserting a semi-

colon or inserting the world and.


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y Instead of a period for run-on sentences. When it would beappropriate to use two sentences you can use a semicolon instead.

o E.g. This is my husbands first marriage; its the first for me.

Co lo n Use

y Use a colon before a list, the words the following and as follows usually signal the need for a colon.

o E.g. The students demanded the following : an expandedcafeteria menu, improved janitorial services, and bettercomputer labs.

A p o str o phe Use

y Using an apostrophe to show that a noun is possessivey Add s to singular nouns not ending in s

o E.g. parentsy Add s to singular nouns ending in s

o E.g. businesssy Add only an apostrophe to plural nouns ending in s

o E.g. boys

y Contractions : o E.g. Its, wasnt

Stay Co nsistent in P ers o n and N u mber

y First Person : I, We : focuses attention on writer or speakery Second Person : You : focuses attention on the reader or listenery Third Person : He, She, It, They, Everyone : focuses attention on the

subject that is being talked about or on the subject that is beingwritten

y Dont shift from singular to pluraly Stay consistent in verb tense (past, present, future)

Ex amples


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y Street crimes has made many people afraid to leave their homes atnight.

y Administrators often make more money than professors, but only aprofessor has frequent contact with students.

y On the first day of school, my kindergarten teacher welcomed meand showed me where my seat is.

y At the beginning of Shirley Jacksons short story, Mr. Johnsonleaves his house in love with the world. He wanted to make othersfeel as good as he did.

Co nciseness

y Prune your sentence of deadwood.o In fact, the television station which was situation in the local

area, had won a great many awards as a result of its havingbeen involved in the coverage of all kinds of controversialissues. The local station won awards due to coverage of controversial issues.

y Eliminate unnecessary wordsy Reduce wordy phrasesy Focus on main ideas

o I am sending you this announcement to let you all know thatthe office will be closed Monday. The office will be closedMonday.

Other Tips

y Use a variety of sentence lengthsy Increase your vocabularyy Use appropriate language for your audiencey Use precise language (no jargon, slang)y Use gender-neutral language