Parts of Speech A refresher should you need one!

Independent and Dependent Clauses

Verb Tense Consistency

Verbals

Sentence Structure

Appositives

Check out the Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Rio!

http://www.rio.maricopa.edu

Grammar Rules . . .Guaranteed to Improve Grades

Rule 1
Avoid all contractions in formal writing: every apostrophe in formal writing (excluding quoted material) should indicate possession.

* "James Joyce's story 'Araby' is about a boy who has a crush on his friend's sister."  This sentence is fine˜the two apostrophes indicate possession.  It is improper in formal essays to write, "The narrator of 'Araby' doesn't realize that he isn't truly in love with Mangan‚s sister until his romantic illusions about the bazaar are shattered."

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Rule 2
Never in formal writing use the words "you," "your," or "yours" except in a quotation of someone else's words. NEVER!

* In casual speech it is okay to say, "The first time you jump out of an airplane is always bound to scare you, no matter how brave you are."  In formal writing, though, the ambiguity about who this generalized "you" might be is unacceptable.  Literally, "you" refers to the reader˜the reader could be someone who would never consider jumping out of airplanes for fun, so the "you" would not apply to that reader at all.  Say instead, "The first time is scary for all skydivers, no matter how brave they are."

A reminder: NEVER USE "YOU" OR "YOUR"!!!

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Rule 3
Always make pronouns (including possessive pronouns their, her, his, etc.) agree in number and gender with their antecedents.  In particular, make sure the words "they," "their," and "them" refer to plural subjects.

* In conversation we might say, "If someone likes reading Aristotle for fun, they need their head examined."  But formal writing requires that "they" and "their" refer always to plural antecedents˜"someone" is singular.  Write instead, "People who read Aristotle for fun should have their heads examined," or, "The person who reads Aristotle for fun should have his or her head examined."

* This "his or her" thing is cumbersome and awkward but sometimes necessary in formal writing.  In the past it was correct to say "he," "him," or "his" when referring to a person whose gender was not specified, as in "Even the grumpiest reader is sure to have an occasional smile on his face when he reads Huck Finn."  Today, though, we recognize that the unspecified reader might be named Janelle or Melissa, so we write, "Even the grumpiest, most cynical and unhappy reader is sure to have a smile on his or her face when reading Huck Finn."  Or better yet, "Even the grumpiest, most cynical and unhappy readers are sure to have smiles on their faces when they read Huck Finn."  As you can see, the awkwardness of saying "his or her" or "he or she" can often be avoided by making the gender-nonspecific antecedent plural.

Note 1: Be wary of avoiding the gender issue with the neutral pronoun "one," as in "When one watches La Femme Nikita, one is always entertained."  Although grammatically correct˜and used sparingly, "one" may be preferable to "he or she"˜frequent use of "one" gives writing an undesirable stilted tone.

Note 2: In formal writing it is generally not acceptable to use slashes between 3rd person pronouns to indicate "either/or": instead of "he/she," "his/her," and "him/her" write "he or she," "his or her," and "him or her."

Always be sure "they" and "their" refer to plural antecedents.

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Rule 4
Avoid using "this," "that," "these," and "those" as pronouns.  Be wary using "it."

* The problem with using "this," "that," "these," "those," and "it" as pronouns is that sometimes the antecedents of these pronouns are not perfectly clear, forcing the reader to pause and figure out what "this," "that," "it," etc. refers to.  For example, if you write, "In A Streetcar Named Desire Blanche apparently wants people to perceive her as an innocent and charming Southern belle.  Ultimately, this is not true," there may be ambiguity over whether "this" refers to Blanche being an innocent and charming Southern belle or Blanche wanting to present herself as such.

We can't write without using the words "this" and "that."  But we can express ourselves most clearly by making "this" and "that" adjectives rather than pronouns, as in "Blanche apparently wants people to perceive her as an innocent and charming Southern belle.  Ultimately, this image of Blanche is proven false."  Instead of saying just "this is . . .," say specifically what "this" refers to.

Note: "This" and "that," "these" and "those" are most problematic as pronouns when they are the first word in a sentence. Avoid beginning sentences with these words used as pronouns.

Reminder: Never use "you" or "your" in formal writing!

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Rule 5
Avoid sentence fragments.  Although sentence fragments are sometimes effective in journalism and other informal writing, formal writing requires that all sentences have both subject and predicate (verb) and operate grammatically as independent clauses.

* Some sentence fragments are missing either subject or verb.

* Example: "Pro teams have only one mission.  To win at all costs."  There is no subject in the phrase, "to win at all costs."  The fragment should be a) given a subject, as in "Their mission is to win at all costs[.]," or b) combined with the preceding sentence, as in "Pro teams have only one mission˜to win at all costs[.]," or "Pro teams have only one mission, which is to win at all costs."

* Example: "Carol likes only certain types of men.  Guys with goatees, mainly."  There is no verb in "guys with goatees, mainly."  This fragment should be a) given a verb, as in "She likes guys with goatees, mainly[.]," or b) combined with the preceding sentence, as in "Carol likes only certain types of men, guys with goatees, mainly."

* Most sentence fragments are not complete sentences because they are dependent upon something in another sentence to make grammatical sense˜they are subordinate or dependent clauses.

Example: "The Lady Vols might win their seventh national championship in basketball this year. Because they always have great talent."  "Because they always have great talent" does not work as a free-standing sentence˜the "because" depends upon the preceding sentence to make grammatical sense.  Obviously, the fragment could be attached to the preceding sentence: "The Lady Vols might win their seventh national championship in basketball this year because they always have great talent."  The dependent clause could also be made independent by dropping the "subordinating" word "because," as in "The Lady Vols might win their seventh national championship in basketball this year.  They always have great talent."

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Rule 6
Avoid comma splices (Harbrace chapter 3). Separate two independent clauses in a compound sentence by:

1) breaking the two independent clauses into separate sentences,
2) connecting the two independent clauses with a semi-colon,
3) subordinating one of the independent clauses (making it a dependent clause), or
4) linking the independent clauses with a comma and a coordinating conjunction.
Definition:  An independent clause contains both subject and predicate (verb) and could stand alone as a complete sentence.

Example: The St. Louis Rams won the last Super Bowl, and they may be NFL champs again this season. Each half of this compound sentence contains an independent clause: "the St. Louis Rams won the last Super Bowl" and "they may be NFL champs again this season" could both stand separately as complete sentences.

Definition:  A subordinate clause contains both subject and predicate but cannot stand alone as a complete sentence; a subordinate clause is dependent upon another clause (an independent clause) to make grammatical sense˜alone, a dependent clause is a sentence fragment.

Example:The Atlanta Braves are a dominant team because they have strong pitching. "Because they have strong pitching" has both subject (they) and verb (have), but since it begins with the subordinating conjunction "because," this clause cannot stand alone as a sentence.

Coordinating conjunctions: When preceded by a comma, coordinating conjunctions can be used to connect related independent clauses in a compound sentence. Coordinating conjunctions are easy to remember by the acronym FANBOYS: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, and So.

Sample comma splice: Lydia aced her biology exam, she did not study for it.

Four methods of fixing comma splice:

1)  Separating independent clauses into separate sentences: Lydia aced her biology exam.  She did not study for the exam.

2)  Separating independent clauses with a semi-colon (and possibly adding a conjunctive adverb or transitional phrase) Lydia aced her biology exam; ironically, she did not study for it.

3)  Subordinating (making dependent) one of the independent clauses: Lydia aced her biology exam even though she did not study for it. Although she did not study for it, Lydia aced her biology exam.

4)  Linking the independent clauses with a comma and a coordinating conjunction [FANBOYS]: Lydia aced her biology exam, yet [or , but] she did not study for it.

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Rule 7
Avoid successions of short, choppy sentences.

Short, choppy sentences impede the smooth flow of ideas your writing aims to present.  Short sentences force your reader to go slowly.  Use short sentences to give emphasis to important points, but avoid making your reader slow down when you do not mean to.

Examples: Choppy: It is Friday.  The weather is nice.  I love it when Chip talks about grammar.  I wish this class were over.

Smoother: Today is Friday and the weather is nice.  Though I love it when Chip talks about grammar, I wish this class were over.

Even smoother: Especially since today is Friday and the weather is nice, and even though I love learning grammar, I do wish this class were over.

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Rule 8
Avoid excessively long, complicated sentences.

Overly complex sentences make it hard for the reader to keep up with your train of thought˜losing your reader is not good.  It's not that long sentences in themselves make weak writing: weakness comes about from excessive complexity, not necessarily from sentence length alone.

Example: Too complex:  Because Bob refused to take a hint, even after Robby wrote "Bob, take a shower" on the office chalkboard, it was rough working with Bob because he never bathed, even on Saturdays, and sometimes, either in management meetings or during shift changes, or other times when we would all have to be crowded together in the tiny office, the smell was so overpowering the rest of us almost gagged.

If you notice a tendency to overly long and complicated sentences in your writing, try breaking them into smaller, more direct sentences.  You might also question whether such long sentences include parenthetical information that your reader doesn't need to know in the first place.

Clearer: It was rough working with Bob because he never bathed.  Sometimes the smell was so overpowering we almost gagged.  Even after Robby wrote "Bob, take a shower" on the office chalkboard, Bob refused to take a hint.

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Rule 9
Make items in a sentence that are parallel in meaning and in grammatical function parallel in grammatical form.

Especially in series where two or more things or ideas are listed, grammatical parallelism makes for smooth, strong writing.

Items in a series that are not parallel:
a) Jodie likes jogging, swimming, hiking, and to eat˜not necessarily in that order.
b) High school athletics teach us discipline, teamwork, and about sportsmanship.

Note: "Grammatical form" often translates into "parts of speech."

* In sentence a) above, "jogging," "swimming," and "hiking" are all gerunds, or "-ing verbs" used as nouns, but "to eat" is an infinitive.  Changing "to eat" into "eating" would make the items grammatically parallel.
* In sentence b), "discipline" and "teamwork" are nouns, but "about sportsmanship" is a prepositional phrase.  Changing "about sportsmanship" to "sportsmanship" would make the items grammatically parallel.

In series or lists, keep prepositional phrases with prepositional phrases, infinitives with infinitives, gerunds with gerunds, nouns with nouns, etc.

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Source:  Chip Rogers. College of Charleston. http://members.home.net:80/chiprogers/index.html