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Lynda: Grammar Foundations

Overview of Writing Mechanics


 Parts of Speech:
o Nouns
o Pronouns
o Verbs
o Adjectives
o Adverbs
o Prepositions
o Conjunctions
o Interjections
 Sentence Structures
o Simple
o Complex
o Compound
 Punctuation Marks:
o Major:
 Comma
 Semicolon
 Apostrophe
 Period
o Minor:
 Colon
 Question mark
 Exclamation mark
 Quotation marks
 Parentheses
 Hyphen
 Dash

Parts of Speech
Nouns
 Person, place, thing, idea
 Who/what the sentence is about (can also be where/when)
 Likely to be the subject of a sentence
 Common nouns: nonspecific or generic nouns
 Concrete nouns: things we can touch, see, hear, taste, smell
o Ex. The employees like the new exercise facilities.
 Abstract nouns: things we can’t touch, see, hear, taste, smell
o Ex. Compassion is necessary for empathy
 Proper nouns: name of a specific person, place or thing; always capitalized
o Ex. Mike and Faye like to meet at Scott’s Gym
 Capitalizing Proper Nouns: test by replacing the proper noun with a proper name
o If a pronoun replaces a name, capitalize
Ex. Tell Mom that I will be home late; vs
Tell my mom that I will be home late
o Locations: north, south, east, west
 Not capitalized if used as directions
Ex. We headed east.
 Capitalize if used as specific location
Ex. I live in the East.
 Collective Nouns: Refers to a group
o Determining whether the collective noun is singular or plural depends on context
o Ex. The audience expressed (its/their) agreement with prolonged applause.
 “Audience” is a singular collective noun in this context– one group
applauding together (group doing something as one)
o After the adjournment, the audience went (its/their) separate ways.
 “Audience” is a plural collective noun in this context – multiple people
going different directions (group of individuals each doing something diff)
 Can be revised as: “The audience members …” This is definitely plural.
Verbs
 Shows action or state of being
 A complete sentence must have a verb
 Associated with verbs: tense, number, passive, active, helper, object, regular, irregular,
participles, gerunds, infinitives
o Most common encountered and with difficulty: types, agreement of number
tense, regular/irregular
 Types of Verbs:
o Action: shows action; you can visualize something being done
o State-of-being: links the subject to the rest of the sentence (is, am, were, was,
are, be)
 Can help action verbs: I am going to town.
 Agreement of number: The verb and subject must agree; if subject is plural, verb is
plural. This requires correctly identifying the subject.
o Ex. The cat (run/runs) around the house.
o Ex. The stream beyond the hills (flow/flows) gently.
 Nouns – stream, hills
 Subject – stream (singular), therefore verb must be singular
 Verb tense
o Past – They waited
o Present – They wait
o Future (always take a help verb “will”)– They will wait
o Present Perfect – action began in the past and finished recently or has some
relationship to the present
Ex. They have waited
o Past Perfect – Action began and completed in the past
Ex. They had waited
o Future Perfect – Action completed with respect to the future
Ex. They will have waited
 Regular vs. Irregular Verbs
o Regular Verb: Past and future tense forms are identical and are formed with -d
or -ed.
Ex. Talk – talk, talked, will have talked
o Irregular Verb: Past, present and future forms vary; future tense verb will always
need helper verbs
Ex. go – went – will have gone
see – saw – will have seen
Articles
 A, an, the
 All are adjectives because they modify nouns and pronouns
 Indefinite articles: A, an; modify a general noun or pronoun
Ex. I would like to read a book.
o An: used before words beginning with vowels (a, e, i, o, some u’s, silent h)
o A: used before words beginning with consonants (u’s that begin with y sound
and y)
 Definite Article: The; refers to a specific noun.
o The guidelines:
 Geographic locations: most countries aren’t preceded with “the”
 Bodies of water: some are preceded with “the”
 Languages and nationalities: not prefaced with “the” unless referring to
an entire population
Ex. I am Japanese vs. The Japanese use chopsticks
 Tip: Identify if what is being discussed has an emphasis on a part of the
group or the whole group
 Examples emphasizing part of the group:
Most of the participants arrived early.
Several of the managers joined the organization.
A few of the examples were mentioned.
 Examples emphasizing the whole group:
Most participants arrived early.
Several managers joined the organization.
A few examples were mentioned.
Conjunctions
 Connects or joins words, phrases, and clauses.
 Coordinating Conjunctions: and, nor, but, or, yet, so, for
o Connects ideas, shows the reader other relationships, shows a change of
direction, shows cause-effect,
o A comma should be used before the coordinating conjunction if it connects two
complete sentences.
 Ex. The meeting was cancelled for today, but it was rescheduled for
Friday.
Sentence 1: The meeting was cancelled for today.
Sentence 2: It was rescheduled for Friday.
 Ex. Expensive but high quality.
Expensive is not a stand alone sentence, and neither is high quality.
 Subordinating Conjunctions: connects parts of a sentence that are not equal
o Common subordinating conjunctions: when, while, after, if, though, because
o Ex. While you were at your meeting, the package arrived.
After the sales presentation, we need to have a conference call.
 These are complex sentences that connect two clauses (underlined); one
is independent (stand alone) and the other is dependent (it can’t stand
alone)
 If the dependent clause comes at the beginning of the sentence, it is set
off with a comma
 Exception: if the subordinating conjunction is because and the
dependent clause is at the end, you can use a comma if the main
clause is a negative idea.
Ex. I am not going, because it is raining. (As it is raining, I am not
going)
I am not going because it’s raining. (There is ambiguity: without
the comma it could mean that the rain is not the reason for not
going, as in: I am not going because it’s raining. I am not going,
because I dislike the host)
 Complex Sentence: independent clause + subordinating conjunction +
dependent clause
 Correlative Conjunctions: either, or; both, and; neither, nor; not only, but also
o Ex. I will attend not only Thursday’s meeting but also Friday’s meeting. (No other
punctuation necessary)
 Conjunctive Adverbs: joins two independent clauses, showing strong connection or
transition
o Common conjunctive adverbs: consequently, otherwise, therefore, however
o Ex. The new building has 12,000 square feet. Everyone will have a separate
office.
The new building has 12,000 square feet; therefore, everyone will have a
separate office.
 The two sentences are complete, but they sound choppy and show no
connection
 Punctuation required – [complete sentence]; [conjunctive adverb],
[complete sentence]
o Therefore and however may be used as transition words without being
conjunctions
o Ex. The employees, however, will like the new facilities.
 The clauses on either ends of ‘however’ are not complete, therefore
comma is needed on both sides of ‘however’
 A semicolon is only used if the clauses on both sides of the semicolon are
complete
Prepositions
 Connects or links one part of a sentence to another part, and shows a relationship
between those parts
 Common prepositions: on, in, for, to, through, between, above
 Ex. The report is on the desk.
‘on’ connects the report and the desk and shows a spatial relationship
 Prepositional phrase: preposition + object
o The bird flew in the window.
o The committee sent its report to all the members of management
 Potential errors when using prepositions:
o Please give the book to Ric and I; Please give the book to Ric and me.
“Me” is the objective case pronoun. If ‘to’ needs an object, then it needs the
pronoun from the objective case group.
o Making certain your subject and verb agree in number.
 Ex. The rock collection around the house, on the porch, and under the
tables is/are massive.
 Subject: The rock collection - singular
 The sentence’s subject will never be in a prepositional phrase.
Prepositional phrases: ‘around the house’, ‘on the porch’, ‘and
under the tables’
o Understanding the different meanings that prepositions have
 Ex. Please wait on/for me.
If we’re carpooling, Please wait for me.
If you’re helping me while I’m sick in bed, Please wait on me.
 Agree to – I agree to your demands.
Agree with – I don’t agree with your decisions.
Agree on – We agree on the issue.
o Sentences should not end with a preposition – this rule should be used as a
guideline.
 Sentences that should end in a preposition:
This is an example I hadn’t thought of.  I had not thought of that
example.
This is a situation I will not put up with.  I will not tolerate that
situation.
o Sometimes, rewriting a sentence so they don’t end with a preposition will result
in an awkward sentence.
My neighbor is a person whom I can’t compete with.  My neighbor is a person
with whom I can’t compete.  I can’t compete with my neighbor.
 Some prepositions may need to be at the end of a sentence.
“ … there is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about,
and that is not being talked about.” Oscar Wilde
Clauses and Phrases
 Phrase vs. Clause
o Phrases: a group of words that doesn’t need both a subject and a verb
 Types of phrases: noun, verb, adjective, adverbial, prepositional
 Punctuating phrases: use a comma after a long opening phrase (four or
more words)
o Clauses: A group of words with a subject and a verb;
 Dependent clauses: relies on another clause; a weaker clause
 Are introduced by subordinating conjunctions.
Ex. After I submitted the Brown report.
Subject = I; Verb = submitted; not a complete thought
Can correct this but removing ‘after’.
 Independent clauses: can stand alone
Ex. I decided to review the upcoming projects after I submitted the
Brown report.
Subject = I; Verb = decided
 If the dependent clause follows the independent clause, no comma is
needed. If the depended clause precedes the independent clause, a
comma is needed.
 Errors using clauses and phrases: incomplete sentences, run-on sentences, comma
splice
o Incomplete Sentence: not having both a subject and verb, or having an
incomplete thought.
o Run-on Sentence:
 May occur with compound sentences
 Ex. I submitted the Brown report I then decided to review the upcoming
projects.
Each clause is a complete thought.
o Comma Splice: splicing two complete sentences together with a a comma.
 May occur with compound sentences
 Ex. I submitted the Brown report, I then decided to review the upcoming
projects.
 Correcting a comma splice:
 using a semicolon
I submitted the Brown report; I then decided to review the
upcoming projects.
 adding a comma + coordinating conjunction
I submitted the Brown report, and I then decided to review the
upcoming projects.
 Separate each complete clause into their own sentence.
I submitted the Brown report. I then decided to review the
upcoming projects.
 Changing the ideas into a simple sentence with a plural verb
I submitted the Brown report and then decided to review the
upcoming projects.
Restrictive and non-restrictive clauses
 Restrictive/essential clause: a group of words with a subject and a verb that is essential
to understanding the complete meaning of a sentence.
o Ex. The lady who is wearing the red dress is the winner.
 Unless the lady is the only one in the group, we don’t know which lady it
is without the underlined clause
o Punctuation: no commas necessary
 Non-restrictive/nonessential clause: a group of words with a subject and a verb that
can be removed from the sentence and the rest of the sentence will still make sense.
o Ex. Ms. Carson who is wearing the red dress is the winner.
 We know that Ms. Carson is the winner without the underlined clause
o Punctuation: commas surround the clause:
Ex. Ms. Carson, who is wearing the red dress, is the winner.
 Identifying an inanimate object: use a relative pronoun to introduce the clause
o “That”: introduces a restrictive clause
 Ex. The report that/which Carol wrote was accepted.
o “Which”: introduces a non-restrictive clause
 Ex. Our awards banquet, that/which lasted three hours, was successful
Sentence Structures
 Sentence must have a subject and a verb to be complete.
o Ex. Karen, run! Or Run!
 Simple sentence: one independent clause containing a group of words that can stand
alone
o The chairs need to be cleaned.
 Compound sentence: two complete, independent clauses.
o The chairs need to be cleaned and the tables need to be repaired.
 Both clauses are independent and connected with “and”, a coordinating
conjunction.
 Complex sentence: two clauses: one independent and one independent
o Even though the chairs need to be cleaned, the tables will be repaired first.
 Compound-complex sentence: three clauses: one dependent, two independent
o Even though the chairs need to be cleaned, the tables will be repaired first; and
then the desks will be repainted.
 Good writing needs a variety of the different sentence structures
Common Problems
Making sentences parallel
 Parallel: words, clauses or phrases in the same form or pattern
 Parallel structure focuses on verbals: gerunds, participles, infinitives
 Gerunds: verb ending in -ing but functions as a noun. It is treated as a noun.
o Sleeping is necessary. Bob received his award for volunteering.
 Participle: verb used as an adjective, commonly ending in -ing or -ed. It is treated as an
adjective to describe nouns.
o Frustrated, Pete asked for further directions. The sparkling decorations were
arranged.
 Infinitive: (To + verb). Acts a a noun, adjective or adverb.
o To contribute was my goal. (noun)
o We must work to achieve. (adverb, to describe work)
o I have a report to prepare before tomorrow. (adjective, to describe report)
 Parallelism: whichever verbals you use, the same verbal form must be used consistently
in that sentence.
o Jen likes to exercise and then eating at her favourite restaurant. (lacks
parallelism)
 Jen likes to exercise and then to eat at her favourite restaurant.
(consistent infinitives)
 Jen like exercising and then eating at her favourite restaurant. (consistent
gerunds)
o Air travel is safe, convenient, and it is fast. (All adjectives should be parallel)
 Air travel is safe, convenient and fast.
o Our company offers retirement programs, flexible working hours, and it has an
onsite child care center.
 Our company offers retirement, flexible working hours, and has an onsite
child care center
Possession
 Determine if possessive or plural
 If possessive, is it plural or singular? (Boy’s vs Boys’)
 Possessive and irregular plurals
o Baby’s vs babies’
o Child’s vs. children’s
 Singular and joint ownership
o Colin and Marla’s (joint ownership) vs. Carla’s and Marla’s (singular ownership)
 Possessive pronouns: never use the apostrophe
o Whose (possessive) vs. Who’s (Who is)
Passive and Active Voice
 Active voice: the subject of the sentence is doing the action; stronger and impactful
o The CEO made the announcement. (The subject/CEO is doing the action)
 Passive voice: the subject of the sentence is receiving the action or is being acted upon.
o The announcement was made by the CEO. (The subject/announcement is
receiving the action)
 The use of active or passive voice depends on context, writer’s emphasis, and
formality/informality
o Active voice is often perceived to be stronger and more impactful
o Passive voice can be more positive in tone
o Passive can be used when the doer is unknown, unimportant or does not want to
be identified, so the focus should be on the action.
o Passive voice is used in formal reports to avoid using pronouns
Using sound-alikes
 Same pronunciations (ex. There vs. their vs. They’re)
o Allot vs. A lot
o Cite vs. Site vs. Sight
o Every one vs. Everyone
o It’s vs. Its
o Principal vs. Principle
o Stationary vs. Stationery
o You’re vs. Your
 Similar pronunciations (ex. Allude vs. Elude)
 Look and sound different (ex. Disinterested vs. Uninterested)
 Incorrect pronunciations (ex. Suppose vs. Supposed)
Using look-alikes
 Accept vs. Except
 Advice vs. Advise
 Affect vs. Effect
 Assure vs. Ensure
 Lose vs. Loose
 Farther (in distance) vs. Further (in depth)
 Respectfully (with respect) vs. Respectively (corresponding order)
 Other confusing words:
o Fewer (countable) vs. Less (not countable)
o Number (countable) vs. Amount (not countable)
Unpacking word meanings
 Set, sit, sat
Comma Rules
 Common uses: numbers, dates, location, meaning, direct address
o Indianapolis, Indiana, is the home of…
o I know Sally vs I know, Sally (direct address)
 Set off appositives:
o Appositive: one or more words that renames or explains a noun or pronoun it
follows
o Ex. Ms. Benner, our new supervisor, expects to meet us every Friday.
 Replaced words:
o Ex. Four new stores were opened last year; two, the previous year.
 The comma after ‘two’ replaces ‘new stores’
 In contrasting expressions:
o Ex. Our CEO reported that more fringe benefits, not increased pay, was ranked
as the employees’ top request.
 ‘not’ contrasts ‘benefits with pay’
 Serial lists
o The serial/Oxford/Harvard comma; the last comma in a series
o Not everyone agrees on the necessity of this comma
o If there is no chance the reader combining the last two items together, the
comma can probably be omitted. If in doubt, use it for clarity.
o Ex. Pencils, markers, paper clips, and staples have been recorded.
Pencils, markers, paper clips and staples have been recorded.
 Paper clips and staples don’t go together as one item so leaving out the
comma would not create confusion.
o Ex. Go to the stock cabinet and count the red, green, white, and yellow pencils.
Go to the stock cabinet and count the red, green, white and yellow pencils.
 The serial comma is necessary as it differentiates between a yellow pencil
and green pencil, and a yellow and green pencil.
 Clarity
o To help avoid misunderstanding.
o Ex. Whatever meeting issues happened happened before I arrived.
Whatever meeting issues happened, happened before I arrived.
 Without the comma between the two identical words, the sentence is
hard to understand.
o Ex. Ever since he has attended meetings regularly.
Ever since, he has attended meetings regularly.
 Without the comma, the sentence reads like a sentence fragment, an
incomplete sentence.
Advanced Grammar
Commas
 Two complete sentences with a coordinating conjunction – a comma is placed before
the coordinating conjunction
o Ex. The meeting will start late, but it will still last two hours.
o Exception: if the two independent clauses are brief; in doubt add the comma
Ex. I ran and Matt drove.
 Use a comma to separate a series of three or more items.
Ex. We will attend the sessions on teamwork, on transparent communications, and on
leadership styles.
o Serial/Oxford comma: if in doubt, use it to provide clarity.
 Use a comma to set off introductory phrases or clauses
Ex. Because he was trying to get the amendment passed, he called al the team leaders.
o Exception: comma can be omitted if the introductory element is brief and the
meaning is still clear.
Ex. While in the store I bought three loaves of bread.
 Use a comma to set off parenthetical elements or appositives.
Ex. Highway 33, which was repaved last week, has four rest stops.
o Parenthetical elements or appositives are non-essential or non-restrictive words
or clauses that can be removed without changing the sentence’s meaning.
o Ex. My boss Fred will retire next year.
 ‘Fred’ can be considered parenthetical, assuming the writer has one boss.
But if the writer has more than one boss, the Fred should be surrounded
by commas.
Ex. My sister, Larizza, is the youngest of the three sisters.
o Generally, short appositives don’t need to be set off with commas.
 Use a comma to separate two or more elements in:
o Dates: The conference on May 12, 205, was held in California.
 If the day is not included, no commas are required.
Ex. Our new branch will open in May 2018.
o Addresses: We will be in Santa Barbara, California, for three days
 If the state name is part of a possessive or compound structure, the
second comma is not used.
Ex. Santa Barbara, California’s conference will last three days.
o Titles:
 The comma between a name and suffix is no longer necessary by most
writers. Ex. George Brown Jr.
 No commas are used in international military format. Ex. George
Washington became president on 4 February 1789.
 Use commas with nouns of direct address
Ex. I will arrive, Paula, some time in the afternoon.
vs. I told Paula that I would arrive some time in the afternoon.
o Direct address commas shouldn’t be confused with the appositive.
 Use commas to separate coordinate adjectives.
(Adjectives are equal and coordinate if the comma can be replaced by the word ‘and’
and still make sense)
Ex. The report was well written, visually appealing and mechanically correct.
o Consider that not all adjectives are equal.
Ex. The short October meeting will be to plan the project.
(The short and October doesn’t make sense)
 Use commas with direct quotes
Ex. The news article quoted our CEO as saying, “Within the next five years, we will be
the premiere health care facility.”
o Use a colon to set off quoted information that is either formal or long, more than
a sentence.
Ex. Our CEO said this about our five-year plans: “We want to accomplish three
goals. The first goal is to grow our revenue e 25% next year. Our second goal will
be to expand staffing … “
 Use a comma to set off contrasting elements; those beginning with which, but, and not.
Ex. She was promoted for her work ethic, not for how long she had worked for the
company.
o Some writers will leave out the comma that sets of a contrasting phrase
beginning with but.
Ex. We were eager but also anxious.
o Be sure to recognize the different purposes that ‘but’ serves:
 To contrast between elements:
The new equipment is necessary but very confusing to use.
 As a preposition between two independent clauses:
The new equipment is necessary, but it won’t arrive until next month.
 Use commas with interjections or exclamations: yes, no, oh, wow.
Ex. Yes, I plan to update my progrograms tomorrow.
The office can handle, well, four hundred applications per day.
It’s cold, indeed.
o Exception: if the interjection comes at the beginning at the start of the sentence,
it can be followed by an exclamation mark to show that the writer is excited or
irritated.

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