Grammar and Style Idiot’s Guides 1st edition by Mark Peters ISBN 1615644506 9781615644506

Introduction

Part 1: Introduction to Grammar and Style

1 Rules and Conventions

Brushing Up on Three Key Concepts

Understanding Grammar

Morphology: Words

Practice

Syntax: Word Order

Choosing a Usage Level

Adhering to Conventions

Appreciating the Purpose of Rules and Conventions

Place the Subject First

Watch Where You Place Phrases and Clauses

Avoid Awkward Shifts in Verb Tense

Avoid Dangling Modifiers

Beware of Misplaced and Omitted Commas

Use Parallel Constructions

Practice

2 Beyond the Rules: Writing with Style

Defining Style

Some Different Styles

Style Guidelines

Sharpen Your Style

Enhance Your Prose with Literary Devices

Paint a Picture with Figurative Language

Tune In to the Sounds of Language

Practice

Consult Style Guides

Part 2: Grammar Basics

3 Brushing Up on Parts of Speech

Meeting the Actors: Nouns and Pronouns

The Lead Actors: Nouns

The Supporting Cast: Pronouns

Differences in Noun and Pronoun Behavior

Changing Case

Practice

Taking Action with Verbs

Action Verbs

Linking Verbs

Helping Verbs

Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

Infinitives

Practice

Getting Descriptive with Adjectives and Adverbs

Adjectives and Articles

Adverbs

Practice

Making the Right Connections with Conjunctions

Coordinating Conjunctions

Subordinating Conjunctions

Correlative Conjunctions

Practice

Building Relationships with Prepositions

Practice

Dealing with Interjections: Yay!

Blurring the Lines That Define Parts of Speech

4 Recognizing the Parts of a Sentence

What Exactly Is a Sentence?

Part 1: Subject

Part 2: Predicate

Sentences with Compound Subjects and Verbs

Identifying the Subject

Practice

Completing Actions with Complements

Direct and Indirect Objects

Object Complements

Subject Complements

Practice

Accentuating Sentences with Phrases

Verb Phrases

Prepositional

Appositives

Verbals

Practice

Grasping the Basics of Clauses

Independent Clauses

Dependent (Subordinate) Clauses

Practice

Common Sentence Structures

Simple Sentence

Compound Sentence

Complex Sentence

Compound-Complex Sentence

Practice

Part 3: Using the Parts of Speech to Build Sentences

5 Using Nouns and Pronouns as Subjects

Starting a Sentence with a Noun

Starting with a Singular Subject

Starting with a Plural Subject

Inserting the Subject in a Question

Omitting the Subject in a Command

Using a Verbal as a Subject

Practice

Using a Pronoun Instead of a Noun

Subjective Pronouns

Antecedent-Pronoun Agreement

Clarifying the Antecedent-Pronoun Connection

Dealing with Reflexive Actions and Pronouns

Practice

Using Expletive Expressions Sparingly

Practice

Sorting Out Who, Which, and That

Knowing When to Use Who or Whom

Practice

6 Taking Action with Verbs

Recognizing Verb Forms

Forming the Infinitive

Regular Verb Forms

Irregular Verb Forms

Telling Time with Tenses

Tensing Up with the Verb To Be

Keeping It Simple

Recognizing the Perfect Tenses

Recognizing the Progressive Tenses

Noting the Perfect Progressive Tenses

Sticking to Your Timeline

Sorting Out Lie and Lay

Practice

Making Sure Your Nouns and Verbs Agree

Dealing with Compound Subjects

Accounting for Collective Nouns

Recognizing Singular Indefinite Pronouns

Maintaining Agreement with Amounts and Number of…

Practice

Setting the Right Mood

Practice

Choosing a Voice

Practice

7 Describing Words: Adjectives and Adverbs

Adjectives: Describing Words

Types of Adjectives

Common

Proper

Compound

Practice

Indefinite

Practice

How to Use Adjectives

Adjectives and To Be

Finding the Right Adjective

Forming Comparisons: Fast, Faster, Fastest

Practice

When Not to Use Adjectives

Articles: Little Words with Big Jobs

Definite Articles

Indefinite Articles

Adverbs: Describing Verbs, Adjectives, and Other Adverbs

Transforming Adjectives into Adverbs

Using Adverbs to Describe Action

Using Adverbs to Describe Adjectives and Other Adverbs

Recognizing Adverbs That Moonlight as Conjunctions

8 Wrapping Up Action with Complements

Linking to a Subject Complement

Complementing a Direct Object: The Object Complement

Practice

Taking Action on Nouns with Verb Complements

Infinitives as Verb Complements

Gerunds as Verb Complements

Noun Phrases as Verb Complements

Practice

9 Using Phrases

What a Phrase Is (and Isn’t)

The Difference Between a Phrase and a Clause

Practice

Forming Prepositional Phrases

Prepositional Phrases as Adjectives

Prepositional Phrases as Adverbs

Using Verbs as Adjectives, Adverbs, and Nouns

Using Participles to Describe

Transforming a Verb into a Noun: Gerunds

Getting More Mileage Out of Infinitives

Elaborating on Nouns with Appositives

Rearranging Phrases to Clarify and Emphasize

10 Adding Clauses

Recognizing the Two Main Clause Types

Independent Clauses

Practice

Dependent Clauses

Noun Clauses

Adjective Clauses

Adverb Clauses

Practice

Rearranging Clauses to Clarify and Emphasize

Part 4: Writing with Style

11 The Seven Cs of Good Writing

Clear

Compelling

Humor

Fresh Language

Headings and Transitions

Consistent

Grammar

Pronouns

Diction

Format

Thesis Statement and Argument

Assignment Directions or Guidelines

Concise

Convincing

Use Concrete Facts

Write Clean, Error-Free Prose

Don’t Overstate Your Case

Complete

Correct

Grammar

Facts

Format

Purpose

Consulting Style Guides for More Direction

Steering Clear of Plagiarism

Quoting

Make Quotations Blend In

Paraphrasing

Practice

Summarizing

Citing Your Work

Take So-Called Plagiarism Checkers with a Grain of Salt

12 Choosing the Right Words: Diction

Word Books: The Dictionary and Thesaurus

Different Types of Dictionaries

Using a Thesaurus

Finding the Right Word

Checking a Word’s Meaning as You Read

Denotation vs. Connotation

The Dangers of Careless Thesaurus Use

Avoiding the Double Negative

Vague or Stale Language

Steering Clear of Clichés

Avoiding Euphemisms—Most of the Time

Slang

Jargon: Language Gets Professional

Eggcorns: Mistakes That Make Sense

13 Maintaining Parallel Structure

Grasping the Concept of Parallel Structure

Writing a Series

Parallelism and Prepositional Phrases

Practice

Parallelism and Résumés

Using Coordinating Conjunctions

Comparing and Contrasting Items

Using Correlative Conjunctions

Practice

14 Varying Sentence Structure

Rearranging Words and Phrases: Syntax

Combining Short Sentences

Using a Conjunction

Using a Semicolon

Using a Colon

Using a Pronoun

Giving Long Sentences a Break

Trimming the Fat

Varying Sentence Types

Varying Sentence Beginnings

The Virtues of Variety

15 Avoiding and Fixing Common Errors

Repairing Broken Sentences

Defragmenting a Fragmented Sentence

The Positive Side of Sentence Fragments

Practice

Repairing a Run-On Sentence

Fixing a Comma Splice

Practice

Clarifying the Relationship Between Ideas

Coordination

Subordination

Practice

Clarifying Pronoun References

Fixing Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers

Avoiding Shifts in Subject and Verb Forms

16 Avoiding Sexism, Bias, and Other No-No’s

Maintaining Sex and Gender Equality

Choosing Sexless Nouns

Dealing with the He/She Dilemma

Practice

Calling People What They Want to Be Called

Avoiding Racial and Ethnic Bias

Steering Clear of Ageism

The Right Words for Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation

Avoiding Bias Against People with Medical Conditions and Disabilities

Practice

Sticking with Facts, Figures, and Specifics

Maintaining an Objective Viewpoint

Never Say Never: Avoiding Generalizations and Absolutes

Support Any Claims with Evidence

Be Careful When Making Value Judgments

Practice

Part 5: Fine-Tuning the Mechanics

17 Basic Punctuation

Putting an End to Your Sentences

The End, Period.

Ending with a Question Mark?

End Already! The Exclamation Point

Practice

Knowing When to Use Commas

Separating Items in a Series

Separating Two or More Adjectives

Joining Two Independent Clauses

Setting Off Nonessential Clauses and Phrases

Pausing After an Introductory Element

Pausing for Interruptions in a Sentence

Other Uses for Commas

Using a Semicolon to Join Items

Joining Independent Clauses

Practice

Separating Items in a Series

Brushing Up on Colon Usage

Introducing a List

Introducing a Formal Statement or Long Quotation

Separating Independent Clauses

More Uses for Colons

18 Quotation Marks and Apostrophes

Enclosing Text in Quotation Marks

Quoting a Person’s Exact Words

Punctuating Around Quotation Marks

Formatting a Running Dialogue

Dealing with Long Quotations: Block Quotes

Dealing with Quotations Inside Quotations

Enclosing Titles in Quotes

Flagging Slang and Technical Terms

Using Apostrophes

Forming Possessives

Plural Nouns Ending in s

Indefinite Pronouns

Dual Possession

Practice

Time- and Money-Related Words

Converting Some Singulars into Plurals

Forming Contractions

19 Hyphens, Dashes, Parentheses, and Brackets

Putting Hyphens to Good Use

Breaking a Word at the End of a Line

Hyphenating Compound Numbers

Practice

Setting Off a Prefix … or Not

Hyphenating Compound Adjectives

Making Good Use of the Dash

Choosing an Em or En Dash

Indicating a Range of Numbers

Introducing a Clarifying Statement

Enclosing Incidental (Nonessential) Text in Parentheses

Commas, Dashes, or Parentheses?

Periods: In or Out?

Practice

Making Sure the Text Is Incidental

Using Brackets [Rarely, If Ever]

20 Spelling Rules, Tips, and Tricks

Spelling Phonetically: A Challenge in English

Brushing Up on Spelling Rules

Vowel Sounds

The “i before e except after c” Rule

Doubling a Consonant

Practice

Hard and Soft Consonants

The N Sound

Plurals

Words Ending in Y

Practice

Irregular Plural Words

When Plural and Singular Are the Same

When F Becomes V

Attaching Prefixes and Suffixes

Prefixes

Suffixes

Infixes

21 Capitalization, Abbreviations, and Numbers

Capitalization

Capitalizing the First Word of Sentences and Quotations

An Independent Clause Following a Colon

Capitalizing Proper Nouns and Adjectives

Nationalities, Races, and Religions

Specific Places, Things, or Events

Capitalizing I

Other First-Person Pronouns Are Not Capitalized

Capitalizing Titles

Personal Titles Are Sometimes Capitalized

Words Referring to God

Abbreviations

Practice

Numbers, Dates, and Time

Appendixes

A Glossary

B Resources

    Index