1 JR Student Grammar Handbook

GRAMMAR
HANDBOOK
Name
Grade/Class
A Little Grammar Goes a Long Way
Foreword—and Forewarned
Learning about grammar will not magically transform you overnight into a best-
selling author, a creative genius, or even an honours student. But because a study of
grammar is an examination of the logical patterns of sentences and the conventions
of using language clearly and correctly, such a study is an important step on the way
to improving your written or spoken language. An improved knowledge of grammar
will raise your consciousness of the various ways in which a sentence may be put
together; that is, it will give you alternatives. You will be able to say more than “It
just doesn’t sound right!” You will know why a sentence doesn’t sound right—and
have some ideas about how to revise that sentence. This process will also help you
recognize and correct most of your own writing errors—or those of a friend. And it
will provide you with the vocabulary necessary for your teacher to talk to you about
improving your writing, or for you to make constructive suggestions to your peers.
Nonetheless, a study of grammar is a very small part of a very large process of

learning to read, write, and speak well. There are no shortcuts to good writing. In
fact, writing is one of the most difficult skills you will ever master. To learn to write
well, you must become more observant, more conscious, more thoughtful. You also
must read constantly, and you must write—and write and revise—and then write
some more. Unless you apply the principles of language that you learn in this book
to your own writing, you will be wasting your time. Knowledge of grammar is not an
end in itself; that is, 100% on a grammar test is not in itself useful.
Writing well, however, is both useful and tremendously satisfying. You have
undoubtedly experienced the frustration of not being able to say what you mean or
express what you feel—even to yourself. Overcoming that frustration, through
frequent practice, will boost your confidence and increase your fluency. Once you
take control of your writing, you will think more clearly, and you will gain the power
to inform, to engage, to persuade, and to move a reader. The best news of all is that
once you master the skill of writing well, you can never lose that skill. Writing
competence, although emphasized in the Language Arts classroom, will improve
your performance in other subject areas, and it will be an asset throughout your
personal, academic, and professional life.
Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Grammar Handbook i

Permission to reproduce student materials granted to purchasing school for individual classroom use only.
ii Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Grammar Handbook
Table of Contents—Grammar Handbook
Page
Unit One—Recognizing Verbs and Their Subjects
1. Getting There is Half the Fun......................................................................1

2. Recognizing the Verb ....................................................................................2
3. Recognizing the Subject ...............................................................................5
4. Recognizing Different Kinds of Subjects ..................................................8
Unit Two—Other Sentence Components
1. Sentence Pattern #1: Subject-Verb...........................................................11

2. Sentence Pattern #2: Subject-Verb-Object .............................................11
3. Sentence Pattern #3: Subject-Verb-Indirect Object-Object................12
4. Sentence Pattern #4: Subject-Verb-Adverb ............................................15
5. Sentence Pattern #5: Subject-Verb-Object-Adverb...............................17
6. Sentence Pattern #6: Subject-Linking Verb-Complement ..................18
7. Sentence Pattern #7: Subject-Linking Verb-Adjective ........................18
Unit Three—Correcting Errors in Usage
1. Correcting Errors in the Use of Verbs

• the principal parts of verbs.................................................................................... 20
• subject-verb agreement.......................................................................................... 23
• consistency in verb tenses ..................................................................................... 31
• choosing between commonly confused verbs ........................................................ 36
2. Correcting Errors in the Use of Pronouns
• making a pronoun agree with its antecedent ....................................................... 41
• consistency in subject............................................................................................. 42
• case of pronouns .....................................................................................................43
• possessive cases of pronouns ................................................................................. 45
• making nouns possessive....................................................................................... 47
3. Correcting Errors in the Use of Adjectives and Adverbs
• using adverbs and adjectives correctly .................................................................49
• comparative forms of adjectives and adverbs ....................................................... 51
• avoiding double negatives...................................................................................... 52
• clear placement of modifiers.................................................................................. 53
4. Achieving Grammatical Parallelism
• in a list .................................................................................................................... 56
• between ideas joined by coordinate conjunctions ................................................. 57
• between ideas joined by correlative conjunctions................................................. 57
• in definitions........................................................................................................... 57
Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Grammar Handbook iii

Page
Unit Four—The Sentence
1. Recognizing Phrases
• prepositional phrases ............................................................................................. 60
• verbal phrases ........................................................................................................60
2. Recognizing Clauses
• main clauses ........................................................................................................... 61
• subordinate clauses................................................................................................ 61
3. Recognizing Types of Sentences
• simple sentences.....................................................................................................65
• compound sentences............................................................................................... 66
• complex sentences ..................................................................................................66
• compound-complex sentences ................................................................................ 66
• loose sentences .......................................................................................................67
• periodic sentences ..................................................................................................67
Unit Five—Correcting Major Sentence Errors
1. Detecting and Correcting Sentence Fragments....................................68

2. Avoiding Run-on Sentences/Comma Splices..........................................72
Unit Six—Improving Mechanics
1. Spelling
• English As It Is spoken .......................................................................................... 75
• useful spelling rules ............................................................................................... 75
• commonly confused words ..................................................................................... 78
• commonly misspelled words .................................................................................. 84
• capitalization .......................................................................................................... 87
2. Punctuation
1. the comma .............................................................................................................. 90
2. the semicolon .......................................................................................................... 92
3. the colon.................................................................................................................. 93
4. the dash .................................................................................................................. 94
5. the hyphen .............................................................................................................. 95
6. the apostrophe ........................................................................................................97
7. the question mark ..................................................................................................98
8. quotation marks:
− when to use quotation marks.......................................................................... 99
− placement of punctuation in relation to quotation marks........................... 100
− when to include quotations ...........................................................................101
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Page
Unit Seven—Refining Style
1. Clarity and Simplicity ..............................................................................104

2. Appropriateness..........................................................................................109
3. Economy .......................................................................................................112
4. Variety...........................................................................................................116
5. Emphasis ......................................................................................................121
6. Subordination .............................................................................................127
7. Unity and Coherence .................................................................................130
Glossary/Index for Grammar Handbook ..........................................................136
Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Grammar Handbook v

vi Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Grammar Handbook
Unit One—Recognizing Verbs and Their Subjects
Getting There is Half the Fun
You can dash, saunter, stride, or swagger. You can sweep, hop, and slip. Or, if you prefer, try
skipping, mincing, or running. There are at least 100 ways of getting there on foot. All of
them are VERBS.
abscond elope meander shuffle stumble

amble file melt sidle swagger
bolt flee mince skip sweep
bounce float nip skulk tiptoe
bumble forge pace slide toddle
canter frolic parade slink totter
cavort gallop prance slip trail
chase gambol promenade slither traipse
clamber glide prowl slog tramp
clump hike ramble slouch tread
crawl hobble recoil slump trek
creep hop roam sneak trip
dance hunch run spring trot
dart inch rush sprint trudge
dash jog sail stagger vanquish
dawdle lag saunter stalk waddle
desert limp scamper stomp wander
dodge loiter scurry stride wiggle
drag lumber shamble stroll zigzag
drift march shrink strut
Verbs and their subjects are the most important elements of any sentence. In fact,
without a subject and a verb, a sentence does not exist. Everything else in a sentence
(adjectives, adverbs, objects, prepositions, conjunctions, and articles) is simply connecting or
modifying—giving more information about a verb or its subject (or about other words in the
sentence).
The boy runs. (subject and verb)

The tall boy runs. (subject and verb and adjective “tall”)
The boy runs quickly. (subject and verb and adverb “quickly”)
The boy runs the marathon. (subject and verb and object “marathon”)
The boy runs in the early morning. (subject and verb and prepositional phrase “in the
early morning”)
The boy in the Nikes runs. (subject and verb and prepositional phrase “in the
Nikes”)
A sentence may have more than one verb (and more than one subject).
The boy runs and jumps.

When he wakes, the boy runs.
The boy, who has a limp, runs.
The boy runs after he finishes his flyer route.
While the boy runs, he imagines himself an Olympic star and does not notice the
approaching car until it is too late.
Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Grammar Handbook 1

When you examine a sentence, either your own or one you are reading, always pick out the
verbs first.
Here is a sentence from Saturday Night magazine describing the variety of activities one can
pursue in West Edmonton Mall, a sentence that contains no less than fifty-four verbs:
One can sleep in West Ed, as well as eat, play, swim, shop, conference, get massaged, be
photographed, party, drink, rollercoast, dance, e-mail, golf, bungee jump, catch a
performance of a musical, slide, shoot, gamble, play bingo, race, sing karaoke, confess sins,
play video games, boat, film, call, repair a car, shoot billiards, watch TV, bank, marry, snack,
watch a movie, be healed, take home a snake, insure one’s house, copy, exercise, donate,
exchange currency, make travel arrangements, acquire art, bead a necklace, invest, fix a
watch, mail a letter, be caricatured, fax, beautify, suntan, enter virtual reality, bowl, skate,
and meditate.
Recognizing the Verb
Most verbs express action.
gallop tickle worship change memorize

jump throw invent write display
hide learn murder make grease
tranquilize pass stumble creep yell
wander slump paint begin frighten
waddle eat vote argue act
come teach lose crumble scratch
behead dictate lie hurl irritate
laugh create caress leave
cry break destroy wash
stink take kiss stall
operate crank drink shoot
The horse galloped across the meadow.

The students learned their lesson the first time they came late because the teacher yelled
at them.
He kissed his pet snake.
Some verbs express a state of mind or emotion.
envy despise hate grieve like

think worry rationalize ponder prefer
wonder contemplate worry remember admire
hope meditate forget formulate idolize
fear adore fret imagine daydream
love worship mourn blame respect
I envy girls with naturally curly hair.

He had formulated opinions about everything.
She mourned the death of her mother for years.
2 Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Grammar Handbook

Some verbs indicate possession.
have I have too many possessions.

own I own a Corvette.
possess I possess the secret of eternal life.
keep I keep all my eggs in one basket.
Some of the most common verbs express a state of being.
be (am, is, are, was, were) I am cool.

appear He appears guilty.
seem They seemed upset.
become She becomes more confident.
grow We grew wiser with age.
stay Men want to stay young.
remain Too many people remain static.
feel You are as young as you feel.
Verbs come in different forms, depending on
• whether the subject is singular or plural

• whether the action of the verb is taking place in the present, past, or future
• whether the verb is combined with other verbs known as auxiliary, or helping, verbs:
The common auxiliary (helping) verbs are am, are, is, was, were, been, has,
have, had, do, does, did, can, may, might, shall, will, could, should, would, ought to.
I am jumping.
She was jumping on a trampoline.
They might have known their father would be angry.
We would have come had you called.
He will be playing for the Oilers.
I could have lost my keys at the mall.
He should have earned his own way through college.
I do not know what to say.
They were kissing on the steps.
I can see that we have arrived just in time.
May I go to the library now that I have finished my assignment?
We didn’t find the concert very interesting.
He might have been spying for the KGB.
We ought to have remembered our teacher’s birthday. She has reminded us often enough.
Do you think she was hinting?
By four o’clock, he had had enough of children.
Verbs can sometimes be used in a compound manner (two or more verbs used
with a single subject).
We ran and played all afternoon.

They ate and left without paying the bill.
The sea rose and fell with a mesmerizing rhythm.
Too many people lie and cheat their way through life.

A sentence may have more than one verb (and more than one subject).
When I got up on Monday, I was upset to discover that it had snowed during the night
because I was tired of shoveling.
I don’t know why he pierced his eyebrow, but maybe he was bored.
Note: We can often recognize grammatical parts of speech even when we do not understand
the words’ meanings; we recognize the verbs because of certain clues such a sentence
placement and order, word endings, auxiliary verbs, adjacent adverbs (which often end in
“ly”), and so on.
Note the verbs in the following nonsense sentences.
Bargy imples as Ginchla frangulates.

When the darpy had bibulated, he rampled his blippy.
They will have grunged completely when I have only mapdoodled.
Grubdrugger often nadished imply when he was mimped.
A further note on verbs:
Verbs can be in the active voice or the passive voice.
A verb is said to be active when the subject performs the action of the verb.
The alligator nibbled his toes.

The tornado had flattened the town.
Dad mashed the potatoes.
Sandeep has turned in her report.
The prime minister is declaring an emergency.
A verb is said to be passive when the subject receives the action of the verb. (When
passive, the verb will always be accompanied by an auxiliary, some form of the verb “to be.”)
His toes were nibbled by the alligator.

The town had been flattened by the tornado.
The potatoes were mashed by Dad.
The report has been turned in by Sandeep.
An emergency is being declared by the prime minister.

Recognizing the Subject
Although we can define a verb as a word (or phrase) expressing an action, state of mind or
emotion, possession, or state of being, a more useful definition is that a verb is a word (or
phrase) that has a subject.
The subject of a sentence (or clause) is the word that answers the question
“Who?” or “What?” asked about the verb.
Examples:
1. The man eats watermelons.

The verb is “eats.”
Who eats?
The man eats.
“Man” is the subject.
2. Dr. Frankenstein created a monster.

The verb is “created.”
Who created?
Dr. Frankenstein created.
“Dr Frankenstein” is the subject.
3. Spiderman and Superman perform superhuman feats.

The verb is “perform.”
Who “perform”?
Spiderman and Superman perform.
“Spiderman and Superman” is the compound subject
4. Along the parade route came the marching band dressed like Martians.
The verb is “came.”
What came?
The band came.
“Band” is the subject.
5. None of the boys could pass the course.

The verb is “could pass.”
Who could pass?
None could pass.
“None” is the subject.
6. Eat your baked potato.

The verb is “eat.”
Who eat[s]?
You eat.
“You” is the implied subject.

7. Where did Megan put the books?
The verb is “did put.”
Who did put?
Megan did put.
“Megan” is the subject.
8. Doing your homework takes discipline.

The verb is “takes.”
What takes discipline?
Doing your homework takes discipline.
“Doing (your homework)” is the subject.
Finding the subject of a verb is an essential test of whether a verb is acting like a
verb. Many words that look like verbs and frequently act as verbs are not
necessarily acting as verbs in a particular context.
Depending on the context, the word “love,” for example, may be a verb or a noun or an
adjective:
verb: They love skateboarding.

noun: The love of their dog is essential to their happiness.
adjective: People seldom write love letters any more.
In the first sentence, we know that “love” is a verb because it has a subject. (Who loves? They
love. “They” is the subject.)
In the second sentence, “Who loves?” has no answer. Another clue is that “love” is preceded
by “the,” an article, suggesting that the word is a noun, or acting like a noun.
In the third sentence, “love” is an adjective because it modifies (gives more information
about) the noun “letters.”
Further examples:
The boys are skateboarding in the park. “Are skateboarding” here is the verb because it has a
subject. Who are skateboarding? The boys are skateboarding. “Boys” is the subject.
In the following sentence, however, “skateboarding” is not the verb but the subject:
Skateboarding requires constant practice. “Requires” is the verb. What requires practice?
“Skateboarding.” “Skateboarding” is the subject.
Don’t ice the puck. (verb)

I will ice the Hallowe’en cake with black and orange frosting. (verb)
I love ice cream. (adjective)
You are skating on thin ice. (noun)
He is mourning the death of his grandfather. (verb)

Traditional mourning clothes in western countries are black. (adjective)
Queen Victoria was in mourning for her husband Albert for many years. (noun)

Butter the bread. (verb)
I prefer butter on my bread to margarine. (noun)
My mother baked butter tarts. (adjective)
You must pin the tail on the donkey. (verb)

A pin prick can be painful. (adjective)
Scholars used to debate how many angels could be found on the head of a pin. (noun)
If you worry about the speech too much, you will only make yourself more nervous. (verb)
My chief worry is that you will never learn to use the apostrophe. (noun)
Over time, most of us develop worry lines on our foreheads. (adjective)
The point of these examples is that you often cannot tell what part of speech a word
is until you see how that word is functioning in a sentence.

Recognizing Different Kinds of Subjects
1. The most common kind of subject is a noun.
Note: In the following sentences, the verbs are underlined, the subjects are in (parentheses),
but all of the bold-faced words are nouns.
PERSON/ANIMAL (James Bond) was very popular ten years ago; today (people) are
more attracted to sharks, dinosaurs, space aliens, and giant apes.
PLACE/THING (Edmonton) recently has had a string of fires caused by arsonists.

(Garbage) accounts for half the weight of the Earth.
ABSTRACT (Hope) springs eternal in the human breast.

IDEA (Freedom) is difficult to define—and even more difficult to achieve.
QUALITY (Selfishness) too often determines our decisions.

(Hardness) is the principal quality of a diamond, but (rarity)
determines its monetary value.
EMOTION (Fear) undermines a person’s confidence.

(Love) of one’s country can lead to noble self-sacrifice and to war.
QUANTITY (One-third) of my income goes to pay the mortgage.

An (ounce) of kindness goes a long way.
EVENT A huge (celebration) was held for my grandparents’ fiftieth wedding

anniversary.
The (First World War) had a transforming effect on our values.
2. A second common kind of subject is a pronoun, a word used to substitute

for, or refer back to, a noun. (The noun to which a pronoun refers is known as
its antecedent.)
Note: the verbs are underlined in the following sentences, and the pronoun subjects are
bold-faced.
PERSONAL You must pay the bill or you will be sued.

PRONOUN He wolfed down his food.
(refers to I cannot imagine why she did not get an award.
particular They are coming on Thursday if we can accommodate them.
individuals)

POSSESSIVE Anton’s socks are in the middle of the floor. Mine are in the drawer
PRONOUN where they belong. Hers are still in the laundry.
(shows Whose locker was broken into? His was broken into.
ownership) Their mini-van has a television console.
RELATIVE Danielle was the only one who was there when I arrived.
PRONOUN The book that was on the desk is missing.
(shows the He was furious when he learned of her deceit, which is not
relationship surprising.
between clauses)
DEMONSTRATIVE That is obvious.

PRONOUN This is the last straw.
(points to These are my favourite shoes.
something) Those belong to our last boarder.
INDEFINITE None of the Academy Award winners was predictable.

PRONOUN Each of my teachers applies a different standard.
Nobody had the sense to sound the alarm.
Everyone likes to feel important.
Few noticed his absence. Several couldn’t remember his name.
Anything you do is fine with me. Nothing bothers me.
One must do one’s best.
3. A third type of subject is verbals, specifically the gerund and the

infinitive.
A gerund is a verb form ending in “ing” that acts like a noun—and thus may
function as the subject of a sentence.
Note: The verbs are underlined in the following sentences, and the gerund subjects are
bold-faced.
Swimming is my favourite form of exercise.

Procrastinating takes a great deal of energy.
Vote counting is greatly speeded up through the use of computers.
Worrying seldom solves a problem.
Name-calling can impede understanding.
Laughing has proven therapeutic for very ill people.
Not trying is worse than trying and failing.

Sometimes a gerund phrase (a gerund plus its objects and modifiers) is the subject of the
sentence.
Note: In the following examples, the verbs are underlined, and the gerund phrases are
bold-faced. (The gerunds themselves are in italics.)
Balancing on two legs is difficult for horses.

Treating children as intelligent makes them more confident.
Running three times around the track exhausted me.
Not wanting to jump off the high diving board prevented me from getting my
swimming certificate.
Blaming others for one’s own shortcomings is very tempting.
Hugging grizzly bears is not advised.
Not knowing what to do is no excuse for not trying to learn. In fact, admitting
ignorance may often be the first crucial step in learning.
An infinitive is the stem of a verb (to be, to run, to swim, to eat, to stall) and may
function as a noun; thus an infinitive or infinitive phrase may function as the
subject of a sentence.
Note: The verbs are underlined; the infinitive subjects are bold-faced and in italics,
and the infinitive phrases are bold-faced.
To eat is to live.
To err is human; to forgive, divine. (“Is” is implied in the second clause.)
To play tennis well requires years of practice.
To love someone demands both faith and trust.
Not to want to get up in the morning is natural for adolescents, who need ten hours of
sleep.
To be too honest sometimes can hurt others’ feelings.
To break the smoking habit is difficult.
4. A fourth type of subject is a whole clause, specifically a subordinate

noun clause. A noun clause contains a subject and verb, but it may not stand
alone as a sentence.
Note: In the following examples, the main verb of the sentence is underlined, and the
subordinate noun clause is bold-faced.
What I eat determines my physical and mental well-being.

Whom people know often secures them a job.
That I had been well-trained made all the difference.
Where she found the time or energy to work at the Food Bank was a mystery to
her friends.
Why we have to learn grammar puzzles me.
How they get the caramilk in the Caramilk bar has intrigued many people.

Unit Two: Other Sentence Components
Thus far, you have been concentrating on verbs and subjects, the fundamental components
of any sentence or clause. But sentences contain a number of other components.
Objects receive, directly or indirectly, the action of the verb.
Modifiers provide more information about the subjects or verbs; these modifiers are
adjectives and adverbs.
prepositions and conjunctions—link the various parts of a sentence together.
Various combinations of these components produce a number of typical sentence

patterns.
Sentence Pattern #1: The most basic sentence pattern is a subject-verb

sentence—S-V.
Remember: First identify The child dawdled.

the verb. Red ants bite.
Bacon sizzles.
The subject
will answer the question The hunger strike had ended.
“Who?” or “What?” before Mrs. Assingale complained.
the verb. (The subject does Morning dawned.
the action of the verb.) Power corrupts.
Sentence Pattern #2: Subject-Verb-Object—(S-V-O)
“O” stands for “Object.” An object will answer the question “Who?” or “What?” after the verb.
The object receives the action of the verb (unless the verb is in the passive voice—see the
section on passive voice, page 4).
Examples:
The judge rapped his gavel.

“Rapped” is the verb.
Who rapped? The judge rapped. “Judge” is the subject.
Rapped what? Rapped the gavel. “Gavel” is the object of the verb “rapped.”
Mouthwash sweetens breath.

“Sweetens” is the verb.
What sweetens? Mouthwash sweetens. “Mouthwash” is the subject.
Sweetens what? Sweetens breath. “Breath” is the object of the verb “sweetens.”

The princess kissed the frog.
“Kissed” is the verb.
Who kissed? The princess kissed. “Princess” is the subject.
Kissed whom? Kissed the frog. “Frog” is the object of the verb “kissed.”
The student council organized a dance and a pep rally.

“Organized” is the verb.
Who organized? The student council organized. “Student council” is the subject.
Organized what? Organized a dance and a pep rally. “ Dance and pep rally” are the
objects of the verb “organized.”
Further examples:
In the following S-V-O sentences, the verb is underlined, and the object is bold-faced:
The gourmet club grilled grasshoppers.

How did you save the damsel in distress? Did you use your sword?
Eat prunes. (“You” is the implied subject.) Prunes aid digestion.
90% of people in Edmonton recycle their garbage.
NATO dropped bombs.
Garfield loves lasagna. What do you love?
Parliament passed the Young Offenders’ Act. It has caused problems.
All people make mistakes. Mistakes promote learning and sometimes discovery.
Diddlywhoop was rimping the klunkles and the ramsies.
Sentence Pattern #3: Subject-Verb-Indirect Object-Object—(S-V-IO-O)
“IO” stands for “Indirect Object.” An indirect object is a noun or pronoun that receives
indirectly the action of a verb. It will be a word that answers the question “To whom?” or “To
what?” after the verb. The indirect object will always precede (come before) the object.
Examples:
The teacher gave John an A+.

V—gave
S—teacher (Who gave?)
O—A+ (Gave what?)
IO—John (Gave to whom?)
The girl presented the actress flowers.

V—presented
S—girl (who presented?)
O—flowers (presented what?)
IO—actress (presented to whom?)
The poet read the crowd a new poem.

V—read
S—poet (Who read?)
O—poem (read what?)
IO—crowd (read to whom?)

Further Examples:
Note: In the following S-V-IO-O sentences, the verb is underlined, the indirect object is
bold-faced, and (the object is in parentheses).
Give me your (money).

He handed the girl his quivering (heart) and a (bouquet) of red roses.
Dastardly Dan offered the security guard a large (bribe).
The teacher provided me a (list) of his most reliable students.
Brenda paid her landlady three months’ (rent).
I can promise you (that I will never skip school again).
His elderly neighbour bequeathed Tim his 1975 pink (Cadillac).
Give me (liberty) or give me (death).
Monica Lewinsky told the world her (secret).
Please note that if the word “to” actually comes before the person receiving the “gift,” then
that person is no longer an indirect object, but the object of the preposition “to.”
The teacher gave the apple to John. (“John” is object of the preposition “to.”)
The girl presented the flowers to the actress. (“Actress” is object of the preposition “to.”)
The poet read a new poem to the crowd. (“Crowd” is object of the preposition “to.”
NOTE: Objects of Prepositions
Verbs are not the only words that take objects. Prepositions also take objects.
A preposition is a word used to show the relation of a noun or pronoun to some other
word in the sentence. A preposition plus its object is called a prepositional phrase. A
phrase is a group of words that cannot stand alone; in other words, a phrase does not
have a subject and verb.
Examples of in the house over the rainbow

Prepositional beyond the horizon at the Fringe
Phrases according to Hoyle under the bed
(The preposition beneath the yum-yum tree around the block
is underlined.) without a cent with peanut butter and jelly
to the limit after the party
from the terrace through the crowd
as far as Calgary underneath the surface of the ocean
One word, “to”, is sometimes a preposition—as in “We went to the store”; however, “to” is
sometimes part of an infinitive—as in “I want to make a dress for graduation.” Therefore,
look carefully at phrases beginning with “to”; not all of them will be prepositional phrases.

Most Commonly Used Prepositions
aboard by means of among until

besides over except behind
of against till in spite of
about concerning around unto
between past for below
off ahead of to into
above contrary to as far as up
beyond per from beneath
on along toward like
according down at upon
but (meaning since in beside
“except”) alongside under near
on account of due to because of via
across through in place with
by amid underneath within
onto during before without
after throughout inside
A Further Note on Prepositional Phrases:
Prepositional phrases serve a modifying function in a sentence.
A modifier is a word or a phrase that gives more information about a noun or a verb.
Note: The word modifiers are bold-faced, and (the prepositional phrase modifiers are
in parentheses.) The verbs are underlined.
The sexy siren smiled sweetly (at seven sailors).

(With only three hours) sleep, he was bleary-eyed.
He played an exciting game (of Killer Tomatoes) (on his Super Neverendo).
Screaming and clawing, he fought his way (through the mob).
A vulture-like fog hovered (over the sleeping town).
Klondike Days comes (during the last two weeks) (in July).
Riding (on the bow) (of the ship), the young lovers (in Titanic) feel (on top) (of the world).
The smell (of freshly popped popcorn) wafted (through the family room).
Near-sighted Nigel sniveled (from dawn) (till dusk).
(Before Christmas), most children develop a bad case (of the “gimmies.”)
Steamy sweat dripped (from the gargantuan wrestler’s brow) (onto the mat).
There are two major types of modifier.
adjective (adjective phrase, adjective clause, participle): An adjective tells “which,”

“how many,” “what kind,” “what shape,” “what colour,” “what size,” and so on, about
a noun or pronoun.

Examples:
Adjective She had a pleasant smile.

He had a quick tongue.
Prepositional Adjective The girl with the pleasant smile served him.
Phrase The boy with the quick tongue was the class clown.
Adjective The girl who had a pleasant smile served him.

Clause Anyone who speaks too quickly is annoying.
Participial The girl, smiling pleasantly, served him.

Phrase Speaking quickly, the boy stumbled over his words.
adverb (adverb phrase, adverb clause): An adverb tells “where,” “when,” “why,”
“how,” “to what extent,” or “under what conditions” about the verb.
Examples:
adverb She smiled pleasantly.

He spoke quickly.
prepositional adverb She served him with a pleasant smile.

phrase He spoke with a quick tongue.
adverb He liked her because she had a pleasant smile.

clause Although he spoke quickly, he was not hard to understand.
NOTE: Although an adverb’s chief function is to modify (give more information about) a
verb, an adverb may also modify an adjective (She had a very seductive smile.) or
another adverb (He spoke extremely quickly.)
Sentence Pattern #4: Subject-Verb-Adverb—(S-V-Adv)
S V
#1—S-V The boy hit.
S V O
#2—S-V-O The boy hit the ball.
S V IO O
#3—S-V-IO-O The boy hit me the ball.
S V Adv
#4—S-V-Adv The boy hit savagely.
The boy hit (without thinking).
The boy hit (when he had the chance).

Adv S V
Nervously, the boy hit.
An adverb (“Adv”) answers the questions “where?, when?, why?, how?, to

what extent?” and “under what condition?” after the verb. Adverbs most
frequently come after the verb.
Examples:
The strobe lights flashed around the room.

V—flashed
S—lights (What flashed?)
Adv—around the room (Flashed where?)
The balloon exploded violently and without warning in his face.

V—exploded
S—balloon (What exploded?)
Adv— violently (Exploded how?)
without warning (Exploded when?)
in his face (Exploded where?)
He stayed home from school because he was sick.

V—stayed
S—he (Who stayed?)
Adv— home (Stayed where?)
from school (Stayed where?)
because he was sick (Stayed why?)
She trudged sadly up the stairs to her room.

V—trudged
S—she (Who trudged?)
Adv— sadly (trudged how?)
up the stairs (trudged where?)
to her room (trudged where?)
Further examples:
(The verbs in the main clauses are underlined; the adverbs and adverb phrases and
clauses are bold-faced.)
Because he didn’t want to embarrass himself, he ate slowly and carefully.

Amy found her lost diamond ring on the edge of the sink.
Before you sign, read a contract carefully.
I will call when I have time. But don’t wait by your phone.
The graduates from Miss Priss’s Grooming Academy swished down the aisle with
their noses in the air. For eight weeks, they had been instructed in table manners,
polite conversation, proper dating etiquette, grooming, and makeup.

Pay immediately.
Genuine balsamic vinegar is made only in Modena, Italy.
When a person is stung by a bee, his reaction may vary from mild itching to
severe shock.
Sentence Pattern #5: Subject-Verb-Object-Adverb—(S-V-O-Adv)
Recognizing this pattern should be easy for you because it is simply a combination of S-V-O
(subject-verb-object) and S-V-Adv (subject-verb-adverb).
Examples:
David slew Goliath (with a slingshot).

V—slew
S—David (Who slew?)
O—Goliath (Slew whom?)
Adv—with a slingshot (Slew how?)
Turn in the assignment (when you can).

V—turn in
S—implied “you” (Who turn in?)
O—assignment (Turn in what?)
Adv—when you can (Turn in when?)
She (gladly) gave the valentine (to Mike) (because he looked lonely).
V—gave
S—she (Who gave?)
O—the valentine (Gave what?)
Adv —because he looked lonely (Gave why?)
—gladly (Gave in what manner?)
—to Mike (Gave to whom?)
(When they arrived home), they discovered that their house had been vandalized.
V—discovered
S—they (Who discovered?)
O—that their house had been vandalized (Discovered what?)
Adv—when they arrived home (Discovered when?)
Further examples:
Note: The verbs in the main clauses are underlined; the objects are in italics; and the
adverbs and adverb phrases and clauses are bold-faced.
“South Park” offends many parents with its crude language.

To remove a perspiration stain, wash the stain thoroughly with soap and water.
Some people read dictionaries for fun. But then some people like anchovies on their
pizza.
If you learn a new word every day, you will develop an impressive vocabulary.

When a word ends in a hard “c” preceded by a vowel, add a “k” to maintain the
hard sound.
The Public and Catholic school systems are considering a joint school to save
construction costs.
Bang the drum slowly.
Two Final Sentence Patterns:
Sentence Pattern #6: Subject-Linking Verb-Complement—(S-LV-C)
Sentence Pattern #7: Subject-Linking Verb-Adjective—(S-LV-Adj)
A linking verb is a verb that does not express an action but which acts as a link
between the subject and the word following the verb. Linking verbs commonly
express a state of being.
In these last two patterns, both the subject and the noun, pronoun, or adjective that follow
the verb refer to the same thing:
S-LV-C Jack is my father. (Jack and father are both the same person.)
S-LV-C He is Jack.
S-LV-Adj Jack is happy. (“Happy” describes the subject.)
The most common linking verb is the verb TO BE.

I am a girl. We are jealous.
You are rich. You are crazy.
He is a tyrant. They are vicious.
She was innocent. You were good.
I have been mean. They are being stubborn.
Other Linking Verbs:

appear You appeared cold.
become He has become conceited.
feel I am feeling better.
grow You have grown more rotund.
look She looks sexy.
remain Boys remain children all their lives.
smell The donuts smell delicious.
sound He sounded hoarse over the phone.
stay How do you stay so slim?
make You make a very pretty sight in that dress.
taste Scope tastes awful.

Although most verbs take objects and are modified by adverbs, a linking verb is
always followed by a noun or pronoun (called a “complement”), or by an
adjective.
S LV C
I am a lady.
(noun)
S LV Adj
I am beautiful.
(adjective)
S LV C (pronoun)
It is I.
NOTE: Just to confuse you, some verbs may be used as both linking and action
verbs, depending on the context.
She tasted the soup. (S-V-O) (“Soup” and “she” are different entities)
The soup tasted good. (S-LV-Adj) (“Soup” and “good” are the same thing.)
They grew flowers. (S-V-O)

The flowers grew more beautiful. (S-V-Adj)
Quasimodo sounded the bell. (S-V-O)

The bell sounded harsh. (S-LV-Adj)
She made a double-chocolate cherry pound cake. (S-V-O)

She made a good nurse. (S-LV-C)
The doctor feels the patient’s pulse. (S-V-O)

The doctor feels confident. (S-LV-Adj)
That shade of blue became her. (S-V-O)

The players became more and more frustrated. (S-LV-Adj)
He stayed the course. (S-V-O)

My grandmother always stays the same. (S-LV-Adj)
I can smell cabbage. (S-V-O)

Cabbage can smell pungent. (S-LV-Adj)
I felt the clothes. (S-V-0)

I felt sick. (S-V-Adj)
Although the preceding seven patterns are the most common sentence patterns,
you can, of course, construct others by combining these patterns in various ways.

Unit Three—Correcting Errors in Usage
Correcting Errors in the Use of Verbs
The Principal Parts of Verbs
The principal parts of a verb are the different forms a verb may take.
Regular Verbs
PRESENT PAST PAST PRESENT

PARTICIPLE PARTICIPLE
change changed (have) changed (am) changing
collapse collapsed (have) collapsed (am) collapsing
educate educated (have) educated (am) educating
pick picked (have) picked (am) picking
vote voted (have) voted (am) voting
Since most verbs are regular verbs like the ones preceding, their principal parts are easy to
remember; they follow a fixed pattern.
I hesitate. I hesitated. I have hesitated. I am hesitating.

I learn. I learned. I have learned. I am learning.
I dance. I danced. I have danced. I am dancing.
I skip. I skipped. I have skipped. I am skipping.
I burp. I burped. I have burped. I am burping.
I walk. I walked. I have walked. I am walking.
The tricky verbs are the irregular verbs because the principal parts do not follow a
pattern and therefore must be memorized. (The present participle, however,
always ends in “ing” for both regular and irregular verbs.)
Irregular Verbs
The most used verb in the English language, the verb “to be,” is more “irregular”
than most.
Present Past Past Participle Present Participle

I am I was I have been I am being
you are you were you have ben you are being
he/she is he/she was he/she has been he/she is being
they are they were they have been they are being

The following is a sampling of other frequently used irregular verbs:
Present Past Past Participle Present Participle

bear bore borne bearing
beat beat beaten beating
become became become becoming
begin began begun beginning
bite bit bitten biting
blow blew blown blowing
bring brought brought bringing
burst burst burst bursting
catch caught caught catching
choose chose chosen choosing
come came come coming
creep crept crept creeping
cut cut cut cutting
dive dove dived diving
do did done doing
draw drew drawn drawing
drink drank drunk drinking
drive drove driven driving
eat ate eaten eating
fall fell fallen falling
feel felt felt feeling
fly flew flown flying
freeze froze frozen freezing
get got got (gotten) getting
give gave given giving
go went gone going
grow grew grown growing
hurt hurt hurt hurting
know knew known knowing
lay laid laid laying
lead led led leading
lie lay lain lying
lose lost lost losing
ride rode ridden riding
ring rang rung ringing
rise rose risen rising
run ran run running
say said said saying
see saw seen seeing
set set set setting
shake shook shaken shaking
shine shone shone shining
sing sang sung singing
sink sank sunk sinking
sit sat sat sitting
speak spoke spoken speaking
spring sprang sprung springing
steal stole stolen stealing
sting stung stung stinging
swear swore sworn swearing
swim swam swum swimming
swing swung swung swinging
take took taken taking

tear tore torn tearing
throw threw thrown throwing
understand understood understood understanding
wear wore worn wearing
write wrote written writing
Note: The preceding list is only a partial one. You need to know, therefore, that the
principle parts of irregular verbs are provided in a dictionary.
Never use “of” in place of the auxiliary “have.”
Because, in speech, we frequently use the contractions “could’ve,” “should’ve,” and “would’ve,”
which sound like “could of,” “should of,” and “would of,” we forget that the contractions
actually mean “could have,” “should have,” and “would have.”
Therefore, NEVER write “could of,” “should of,” or “would of.”

Subject-Verb Agreement
A verb must agree in number with its subject.
That is, a singular subject requires a singular verb form, and a plural subject
requires a plural verb form.
Most of the problems with subject-verb agreement occur with the present tense or with the
verb “to be” in the present (am, is, are) or past tense (was, were).
A singular verb in the present tense ends in “s”. The following subjects are all
singular and thus take singular verbs:
Note: In the remainder of the section on subject-verb agreement, the verbs in the main
clauses are underlined, and the subjects are bold-faced.
The boy eats lollipops.

One of the boys in the choir is named Katz Meow.
Hope requires patience.
Precision in writing demands careful word choice.
Morning arrives too early for most of us.
Along comes the band.
Where I hid the money is my business.
Swimming builds strong leg muscles.
Neither of my parents works.
An ounce of hot rum has cured many colds.
A man with the unusual name of Trout Guppy lives at The Pond, Haddenham.
A plural verb in the present tense does not end in “s.” The following subjects are
all plural and thus take plural verbs:
More women than men now enroll in law school.

Girls are often more obsessed with their weight than are boys.
Thousands of people gather for the First Night Celebration in Churchill Square.
Both of my parents work.
Precision and economy require careful editing.
Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolfman were hiding in our closet, we were sure.
Where I’m going and how I’m getting there are my business.
You can test whether a verb is singular or plural by putting “he/she” (singular) or “they”
(plural) in front of it.

Rules for Tricky Situations in Subject-Verb Agreement
When a subject is followed by (a phrase), the verb must still agree with the
subject: (Remember, the subject answers the question “Who?” or “What?” before the
verb.)
The performance was funny.

The performance (of the clowns) was funny.
The choir is singing.

The choir (of angels) is singing.
The angels are singing.

The angels (of the choir) are singing.
One was late.

One (of the boys in the class) was late.
One (of the boys in the class of grade eights) was late.
Not one (of the boys in the class of grade sevens) was late.
Two of the boys in grade nine were late.
The decision was overruled.

The decision (by the lower court) was overruled.
The decision (made by the lower court in the murder case) was overruled.
The decisions (of the lower courts) were overruled by the Supreme Court.
Her hopes (of going to university right after high school) were dashed.
Indefinite pronouns cause special problems.
The following indefinite pronouns take singular verbs:
anyone nobody
each none
either one
everybody somebody
everyone someone
neither
Each of the children grabs a balloon.

Neither of my parents goes to church.
None of the competitors has taken the drug test yet.
Everyone was invited to my sixteenth birthday.
One of the teachers usually brings his class candy hearts for Valentine’s Day.
Nobody loves me. Everybody hates me. I’m going to the garden to eat worms.

These indefinite pronouns, however, take a plural verb:
Several few both many
Several of the class were absent on the day they were to give their reports on bees.
A few of my friends have decided to shave their heads in protest against the dress code.
Many on the soccer team have the flu.
Both of my parents go to church regularly.
The following indefinite pronouns sometimes take a singular verb and sometimes
take a plural verb, depending on whether they refer to a quantity of something
(singular) or the number of something (plural):
Some all most
Singular (Quantity) Plural (Number)
Some of the money was stolen. Some of the rare coins were stolen.
All of the fruit looks ripe. All of the bananas look ripe.
Most of the book was interesting. Most of the chapters were interesting.
Subjects stating amounts are usually singular.
time: Eight o’’clock is the time of the party.

Five-thirty seems early enough to arrive for dinner.
Fifteen minutes doesn’t seem like much time for an interview.
money: Twenty dollars is too expensive for a pizza.

Fifty dollars goes a long way when you are careful.
measurement: Ten litres is more than enough wine.

Three miles is too far to walk to school.
weight: Three tonnes of cement is arriving tomorrow.
fractions: Three-quarters of the stolen money has been recovered.

Two-thirds of the class was sick on Monday.
Particularly tricky situations related to quantities are the following:
“A number” followed by a prepositional phrase takes a plural verb.
A number of children were absent on Friday because of chickenpox.

A number of problems remain to be solved.
A number of my foolish friends have dropped out of school.
A number of junior high schools now have dress codes.

“The number” followed by a phrase takes a singular verb.
The number of children enrolled in French Immersion has decreased.

The number of problems with violence on the playground is alarming.
The number of students who drop out of school has declined.
The number of schools with a dress code has caused media attention.
“Number” and “fewer” refer to quantities that can be counted.
Because I have a number of tee shirts with company logos, I feel like a walking
billboard.
Fewer students take home economics than in the 1980’s.
“Amount” and “less” refer to a mass (and take a singular verb).
The amount of prosperity in a nation depends on the number of educated citizens.

A certain amount of courage is needed to give a speech.
She has less confidence in math than her brother, but he has fewer awards.
Fewer than ten people have registered for the course.
Less money is required to fly to Europe than to fly to New York.
At times, however, the units of amount have an individual significance and thus
require a plural verb.
Four silver dollars were missing from the coin collection.

The three years of junior high school are passing very slowly.
There are sixty minutes in an hour, and twenty-four hours in a day.
The title of a book, article, story, movie, television show, work of art, etc. is
treated as singular.
Three Blind Mice does not have an elaborate plot.

Ten Ways to Improve Your Study Habits is an essential book for all students.
Romeo and Juliet captivates many young people.
South Park is an enormously popular television program.
Friends is becoming tiresome after all these years.
Some nouns, though plural in form, take a singular verb because they are
essentially singular in meaning.
Measles is a disease almost no child can escape.

Social Studies is my favourite subject in junior high school.
Bad news travels quickly.
Economics is known as “the dismal science.”

However, words like “pants,” “jeans,” “cords,” “khakis,” “overalls,” etc., and “scissors,”
“pliers,” “tweezers,” etc., though essentially singular in meaning, take a plural verb, unless
preceded by the phrase “a pair of.”
The scissors are on the counter where you left them.

A sharp pair of scissors is as dangerous as a knife.
Jeans are becoming more expensive than dress pants.
Her last pair of jeans was so tight that she couldn’t bend over.
Phrases such as the following DO NOT affect the number of the subject:
together with in addition to

as well as including
accompanied by combined with
along with
The teacher, as well as the students, was disappointed.

Mr. Technogeek, together with his two sons, has gone to buy a new computer.
Matt Damon, along with his friend Ben Affleck, was present at the Academy Awards.
David Smugtooth, in addition to Belinda Humblepie, was given a scholastic medal.
Literature, including works by authors as diverse as Shakespeare and Stephen King,
has always stimulated the human imagination.
“And,” however, creates a plural (compound) subject:
The teacher and the students were disappointed.

Mr. Technogeek and his two sons have gone to buy a new computer.
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck were present at the Academy Awards.
David and Belinda were given scholastic medals.
Reading and writing are my favourite diversions.
A carving knife and fork make practical wedding gifts.
Singular subjects joined by the following take a singular verb; plural

subjects take a plural verb:
or either…or
nor neither…nor
Singular Either my mother or my father is going to pick me up after school.

Subjects: One or the other was certain to be blamed for the theft of the Walkman.
Neither the teacher nor the principal knows what to do about John.
Plural Either the mosquitoes or the black flies are going to drive us from the lake.
Subjects: Neither the tomatoes nor the cucumbers were ripe on Friday.

Note, however, that when two subjects, one of which is singular and the other
plural, are joined by “or” or “nor,” the verb agrees with the nearest subject.
Either the judge or the lawyers are wrong.

Either the lawyers or the judge is wrong.
Better still: Either the judge is wrong or the lawyers are wrong.
Collective noun subjects may be treated as either singular or plural,

depending on whether you are talking about the whole (singular) or the
individual members (plural).
The jury is assembled. (singular)

The jury are arguing amongst themselves. (plural)
The team was the best in the country. (singular)

The team are talking over the new plays. (plural)
The family is the basic unit of society. (singular)

The family have agreed not to mention the issue again. (plural)
“Do,” “do not,” and “don’t” go with a plural subject but also with “I” and
“you.” “Does,” “does not,” and “doesn’t” go with a singular subject (except
for “I” and “you).”
I don’t like asparagus. My sisters do. He doesn’t like vegetables at all.

A few of the graduates don’t have their tickets yet.
Everyone doesn’t appreciate the same kind of music.
No one does his homework enthusiastically.
In kindergarten, most students don’t yet read.
Kimberly doesn’t mind helping with her brother’s homework in math.
You don’t have much choice in the matter.
He doesn’t have much choice in the matter.
They don’t have much choice in the matter.

Even when the subject comes after the verb, the verb must agree with the
subject.
Wrong: There’s only three boys in my Chemistry class.

Right: There are only three boys in my Chemistry class.
Wrong: Where’s your mother and father?

Right: Where are your mother and father?
Wrong: Down the aisle comes the bride and groom.

Right: Down the aisle come the bride and groom.
A verb must agree with its subject, not with a subject complement that may
follow it.
Purple potatoes are the hot new gourmet item. (Subject is plural.)
BUT A hot new gourmet item is purple potatoes. (Subject is singular.)
My most costly Christmas present was skis for Robert. (Subject is singular.)
BUT Skis for Robert were my most costly Christmas present. (Subject is plural.)
“Cooties” are a common infestation in elementary school. (Subject is plural.)

BUT A common infestation in elementary school is “cooties.” (Subject is singular.)
The most unfairly maligned group in society is garbage men. (Subject is

singular.)
BUT Garbage men are the most unfairly maligned group in society. (Subject is
plural.)
A verb in a clause introduced by the relative pronoun “who,” “which,” or

“that” agrees with the antecedent of that pronoun.
He is one of the boys (who are going).

He is the only one of the boys (who is going).
Not one of the boys who have signed up has paid his fees.

A special case in subject-verb agreement is the subjunctive. The
subjunctive of the verb “to be” (“were”) is used in contrary-to-fact
statements after “if” and “as though,” and in statements expressing a wish.
If I were you, I would save some money for college while there is still time.
If he were taller, he would be a champion basketball player.
I wish it were true that pigs could fly.
He boasted as though he were the only one who had ever got 100% in math.
If you were the prime minister, what would you have done about land mines?
He felt as though his stomach were going to explode.

Consistency In Verb Tense
There are three times expressed by verb tense (present, past and future) and three forms of
each (simple, progressive and perfect). Verbs change in form to show the time of their action.
1. PRESENT TENSES
a. Simple present tense is used to express action (or state of being) occurring now, at
the present time.
I work. She coughs.
b. Present progressive tense expresses a present action in progress. It uses a present

form of the verb to be (is, am, are) as an auxiliary and the present participle of the
verb.
He is working. We are feeling sad.
c. Present perfect tense uses “has” or “have” as an auxiliary and the past participle
of the verb. It expresses an action occurring at no definite time in the past, or an
action occurring in the past and continuing into the present.
He has worked for us many times.

He has worked for us for the past ten years.
I have felt unusually happy recently.
Shakespeare’s works have endured for centuries.
Mrs. Liu has been our teacher since grade seven.
We may have overlooked some vital clues.
2. PAST TENSES
a. Simple past tense is used to express action that occurred in the past but did
not continue.
I worked at Banff during the summer holidays while I was at university. I was
a waitress in the Fairholm Dining Room of the Banff Springs Hotel.
We finally paid the last installment on our house three years ago.
He left Scotland at eighteen, never to return.
Canadians invented pablum, the dental mirror, the goalie mask, the jolly
jumper, the paint roller, the green garbage bag, the snow blower, the zipper, and
the game Trivial Pursuit.
b. Past progressive tense is formed using “was” or “were” as an auxiliary verb, and
the present participle of the verb. It expresses an action which was in progress in the
past when another action took place.
She was walking down the path when the wind began to blow furiously.
The “boys in blue” were working overtime that day.

c. Past perfect tense is used to express action completed in the past before some
other past action. It is formed with “had” as an auxiliary.
He had finished all the grapes before I ate even one.
She already had made a million dollars by the time I graduated from law school.
We had hoped he would meet us when we arrived.
It hadn’t occurred to anyone to bring tent pegs.
By noon, he had had it with the children’s whining.
If she had applied herself, she could have been an honours student.
I wish that I had taken part in more extra-curricular activities when I was in
junior high school.
By the time our parents arrived home, we had hidden all signs of the party.
3. FUTURE TENSES
a. Simple future tense is used to express action at some time in the future. It is
formed with “shall” or “will’.
I shall work much harder on my math this term.
With practice, you will become a more fluent writer.
Our society eventually will consume itself off the face of the earth.
If you listen very quietly, you will hear the hooves of Santa’s reindeer on the
roof.
When will there be an end to poverty and injustice?
b. Future progressive tense expresses action which will be occurring at a particular

time in the future. It is formed by using “will be” as an auxiliary and adding the
present participle of the verb.
My mother will be running in a marathon next month.
c. Future perfect tense is used to express action that will be completed in the future
before some other future action or event. It is formed with the auxiliaries “shall
have” or “will have”.
I will have to work much harder on my math this semester before I will get my
credits.
By the time I’m thirty, I shall have traveled around the world at least once.
4. Verbs in the perfect tense can also be made progressive. They express action in
progress on a particular occasion or for a particular duration.
a. Present Perfect Progressive

We have been learning about ancient Greece this year.
b. Past Perfect Progressive

The Headless Horseman had been riding out every Hallowe’en.
c. Future Perfect Progressive

By March, I will have been teaching for 27 years.

Correcting shifts (unwarranted changes) in verb tense:
Shifts: He came to the river Styx and pays the man to ferry him across. (past tense
shifted to present tense)
Consistent: He came to the river Styx and paid the man to ferry him across.
(consistently past tense)
Shifts: Several myths have arisen around Albert Einstein, myths that made the great
man seem fallible like the rest of us. For example, it was rumoured that he
flunked math in school, that he has trouble remembering his own address or
telephone number, or that he forgets to wear socks. (shifts from present to past
and back to present)
Consistent: Several myths arose around Albert Einstein, myths that made the great man
seem fallible like the rest of us. For example, it was rumoured that he flunked
math in school, that he had trouble remembering his address or telephone
number, or that he forgot to wear socks. (consistently past tense)
Shifts: I heard a story about a particularly bumbling burglar in England. He was a

housebreaker who managed to get in the front door of a mansion, and he tiptoes
up the stairs. Once on the top floor, he creeps into the darkened master
bedroom, where he bumps heavily into a wardrobe, sending its door crashing
into a large wall mirror. The enormous crash naturally awakens the husband
and wife. When they demand to know what he was doing, the burglar pulls out
a small gun and advanced in a threatening manner. As he does so, however, he
managed to trip on the rug and fall against a corner of the bed, stunning himself
and cutting his hand on the shattered pistol, which turns out to be plastic. As the
wife sat on the demoralized and bleeding burglar, the husband calls the police.
When the officers arrive, the burglar was in tears. His self esteem had taken
quite a blow that night. Later, from jail, the remorseful fellow even writes a
letter of apology to the couple, asking their forgiveness for having disturbed
them. “Rather pathetic case, that,” said one of the policemen.
Consistent: I heard a story about a particularly bumbling burglar in England. He was a

housebreaker who managed to get in the front door of a mansion, and he
tiptoed up the stairs. Once on the top floor, he crept into the darkened master
bedroom, where he bumped heavily into a wardrobe, sending its door crashing
into a large wall mirror. The enormous crash naturally awakened the husband
and wife. When they demanded to know what he was doing, the burglar pulled
out a small gun and advanced in a threatening manner. As he did so, however,
he managed to trip on the rug and fall against a corner of the bed, stunning
himself and cutting his hand on the shattered pistol, which turned out to be
plastic. As the wife sat on the demoralized and bleeding burglar, the husband
called the police. When the officers arrived, the burglar was in tears. His self
esteem had taken quite a blow that night. Later, from jail, the remorseful fellow
even wrote a letter of apology to the couple, asking their forgiveness for having
disturbed them. “Rather pathetic case, that,” said one of the policemen.

Sometimes, however, changing verb tense is necessary.
• A change in verb tense is necessary when you are directly comparing past and present:
When I was thirteen, I thought my parents were too strict, but now that I am a mother
myself, I realize that they were simply trying to protect me. Now I impose the same
rules on my teenage daughter that my parents imposed on me.
Before he went to jail, he thought he was invulnerable, but now that he sees how foolish
he was, he gives talks to other young people about the long-term effects of drugs.
• A change in verb tense is necessary when you are making a general point about life, a
point made in the present tense, and then using a personal anecdote from the past to
illustrate
People are generally kind, I know, but when I remember that bully in grade four, I
invariably shudder. She was the meanest girl I had ever met, and for almost a year she
made my life a misery with her taunts about my weight. To my relief, she moved to
Calgary at the beginning of grade five. But I can still see her sneer, I still bear the
emotional scars of her cruelty, and I am still unable to fully trust others.
A child’s perception of time changes dramatically as he grows older. A child feels that
as time passes, everything will remain the same. As he grows older, however, he
realizes that things are continually changing. When I was five years old, my mother
used to give me a dime every week. Whenever we went to the store, I would buy an eight-
cent chocolate bar and two Double Bubbles. Naturally, as a child, I assumed that for the
rest of my life, my mother would keep on giving me dimes, and chocolate bars would cost
eight cents. Then one day when we went to the store, chocolate bars cost ten cents. When
I told my mother this, she said that prices were always changing, and she began giving
me fifteen cents a week. It was about that time I realized that not only prices were
changing, a realization that frightened me at first. But eventually I became accustomed to
change as I grew older, as most of us do. Now I realize that the only constant is change.
Use present tense when writing an analysis of literature or movies.
The best book I have read is To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. The story is told
from the perspective of a young girl named Scout, the daughter of a lawyer, Atticus Finch,
in a small town in the Southern United States. From Scout’s very earliest years, Atticus
has encouraged her to be kind to others and never to harm any innocent creature, not
even a mockingbird. Atticus himself lives his philosophy; he treats all people with
respect, even those who are unpopular in the community. He believes that to
understand another person, one “has to step inside his shoes and walk around in them.”
The movie “The Deep End of the Ocean” poses an interesting question: Are children
better off with their natural parents, even if they don’t remember them; or are they
better with their adoptive parents who have raised and loved them? In the movie, a
woman named Beth, who is played by Michelle Pfeiffer, has her three-year-old son Ben
snatched from her side in a crowded hotel lobby. Nine years later, when a neighbourhood
boy comes to her door offering to mow her lawn, she recognizes him as Ben. The boy,
however, because he was so young at the time he was kidnapped, does not recognize
Beth as his mother. His own mother, the woman who originally snatched him, has
recently died; and his adoptive father, who knows nothing about Ben’s origins, loves the
boy very much. When the police identify Ben by his fingerprints and return him to
Beth, the boy and his adoptive father are devastated. This situation really makes the

audience think. (Note the occasional changes to past tense, when past events are
compared with present events.)
Don Quixote is one of the most famous characters in all literature. You may know him,
indirectly, from the “Don Coyote” cartoon character, or you may have heard the
expression “tilting at windmills.” Don Quixote is the central character in Miguel de
Cervantes’ novel Don Quixote de la Mancha, written in 1605. Don Quixote has read so
many books about chivalry that his head becomes stuffed with knightly quests, damsels
in distress, and strange enchantments that he goes slightly mad; then one day he
decides to imitate his heroes, and he embarks upon a quest to rid the world of evil. His
faithful sidekick is Sancho Panza, a man who is as realistic as Don Quixote is idealistic.
Together they have many amusing and perilous adventures, the most famous of which is
Don Quixote’s battle with a windmill, a windmill he imagines is an evil giant. To “tilt at
windmills,” therefore, means to fight a highly idealistic battle against almost impossible
odds.

Choosing Between Commonly Confused Verbs:
Certain verbs cause particular problems in usage. The following list of words contains a
number of verbs (underlined) plus other words with which these verbs are commonly
confused. Each of the words is then used in a sentence to illustrate its meaning and to
distinguish it from other similar words. (The verbs are underlined.)
1. accept I cannot accept your proposal. (agree to)

except Everyone was present except Mary. (preposition—with the exception of)
2. advice What is your advice about choosing a high school? (noun—helpful opinion)
advise Can you advise me about my course choices? (give advice)
3. assure I can assure you that I will not be late again. (guarantee)
ensure He always ensures that the doors are locked. (makes certain)
insure Insure your house against fire. (buy insurance)
4. affect His speech affected me greatly. (had an impact on)

effect He effected a change in the policy. (brought about)
effect What was the effect of his announcement. (noun—impact)
5. alter Will you alter the instructions. (change)

altar He placed candles on the altar at the front of the church. (noun—table for
offerings)
6. ascend He ascended the cliff with great difficulty. (climbed up)

ascent He began his ascent of the mountain. (noun—upward journey)
assent He gave his assent to the mayor’s proposal. (noun—agreement)
assent He assented to the proposal. (agreed)
7. breath He could see his breath in the cold morning air. (noun—exhaled vapour)
breathe He felt as though he couldn’t breathe. (take in air)
8. bring Bring your homework to school on Thursday. (deliver here)

take Take this letter to your mother. (deliver there)
9. by He sat by the stream and dreamed. (preposition—beside)

buy Where did you buy your jeans? (purchase)
bye Say good-bye to your brother.
10. break He will break your heart. (shatter)

brake She braked the car suddenly. (brought to a stop)
brake He burned out the hand brake. (noun—mechanical device for stopping a vehicle)
11. bare Don’t bare your soul to everyone you meet. (expose; reveal)
bare His bare face was chafed from the cold. (adjective—naked, exposed)
bear She bears her troubles bravely. (carries; puts up with)
bear The grizzly bear growled. (noun—furry creature)
12. bury You must bury your feelings in public. (hide; put into the ground)
berry The berries on the cake looked mildewed. (noun—fruit)

13. bread He ate a slice of bread with peanut butter. (noun—food)
bred He bred quarter horses outside of Calgary. (past tense of the verb “breed”)
breed I breed champion poodles. (generate offspring)
breed He developed a new breed of rabbit. (noun—type)
14. close Close the door so that you don’t let in a draft. (shut)
clothes She had nothing but the clothes on her back. (noun—garments)
cloths He put the dish cloths in the dryer. (noun—pieces of fabric)
clothe Many gave donations to help clothe the poor for the cold winter ahead. (put
clothes on)
15. council The student council could not agree on a theme for the dance. (noun—governing
body)
counsel Counsel her about the need to budget. (Give advice.)
counsel He sought legal counsel. ( noun—advice or one who advises)
console He consoled her about the loss of her ring. (offered sympathy)
16. canvas The canvas in the tent had many holes. (noun—sturdy fabric)
canvass He canvassed the neighbourhood for the Kidney Foundation. (went door to door)
17. choose We cannot choose our family. (select)

chose He chose his words carefully. (selected; past tense of the verb “choose”)
18. cite He will cite an example. (refer to)

site The building site was littered with scrap lumber. (noun—location)
sight They sighted a lighthouse on the horizon. (saw)
sight The sight of the fawn was moving. (noun—vision)
19. decent A decent person will tell the truth under oath. (adjective—respectable)
descent The descent was easier than the trip up the mountain. (noun—downward trip)
descend They descended from the plane. (came down)
dissent Most leaders discourage dissent. (noun—disagreement)
20. dying The old man was dying from cancer. (ceasing to be alive)
dyeing She was dyeing the fabric a deep red. (adding colour)
21. desert Don’t desert your friends in their hour of need. (abandon)
desert A camel can survive longer than a human in the desert. (noun—sandy, arid
terrain)
dessert His favourite dessert was strawberry shortcake. (noun—sweet food)
22. flea Every dog will have fleas at some time. (noun—small insects)
flee I will flee from my tormentors. (run away)
23. hail In New York, you must hail a cab. (call to attract attention)
hail It hailed all afternoon, ruining the crops. (rained ice)
hale He appears very hale and hearty. (adjective—vigorous)
24. hear At eighty-five, he can hear better than most teenagers. (distinguish sounds)
here We are gathered here to form a new club. (adverb—in this place)
25. hanged He was hanged by the neck till he was dead. (used only to signify killing by rope
noose)
hung The clothes were hung in the closet. (used for objects—placed on hanger or hook)

26. immigrate Asham immigrated to Canada when he was fifteen. (come to/migrate to)
emigrate Helmut emigrated from Germany with his parents. (come from/migrate from)
27. know I know what you are doing. (comprehend)

no You have no right to ask me that question. (adjective—none)
now Now is the time to make your decision. (adverb—at this time)
knew They knew everything about snails. (past tense of know)
new She was wearing the new sweater she got for her birthday. (adjective—not used)
28. lead I will lead the march to the legislature to protest education cuts. (be in charge)
lead The lead in her pencil was dull. (noun—writing mineral)
led Lenin led the Russian revolution in 1917. (past tense of “lead”)
29. lesson I will teach you a lesson on verbs. (noun—instruction)

lessen You can lessen your pain by sleeping on a board. (make less)
30. learn Students learn more when a teacher has a sense of humour. (gain knowledge)
teach He could teach an earthworm to dance. (give knowledge)
31. lye Lye used to be a common substance for washing clothes. (noun—alkaline
substance)
lie She lied to her parents about what happened to the car. (told an untruth)
lie He will lie in bed all day if you let him. (“Lie” does not take an object—recline)
lay He lay in bed all day yesterday. (“Lay” is the past tense of “lie.”)
lay Lay the keys on the table. (“Lay” in the present tense always takes an object—e.g.
“keys” —put)
32. loose It is a good idea to wear loose clothes to an exam. (adjective—not tight)
lose You will lose your place if you don’t concentrate. (misplace)
33. mown Nothing is more wonderful than the smell of new-mown grass. (cut)
moan All of us moan about our problems. (complain)
34. medal Elvis Stojko won a gold medal in the world skating championship. (noun—
award)
meddle Felicity meddles in other people’s business. (interferes)
35. persecute Bullies often persecute those who appear vulnerable. (torment; harass)
prosecute The law will prosecute those who run red lights. (take to court)
36. proceed Proceed with caution. (go forward)

precede No one should precede the queen, not even her husband. (go before)
37. passed Because he studied, he passed his science test with ease. (got above 50%)
passed He nervously passed the spooky looking house. (moved beyond)
past His past is a mystery. (noun—what occurred earlier in life)
past Our past troubles are over with. (adjective—previous)
past They drove past the graveyard. (preposition—beyond)
past The man walked past once a day. (adverb—so as to pass by)
38. pear A pear is a sweet, succulent fruit. (noun—type of fruit)

pare Pare your toe nails before they become ingrown. (cut)
pair She wore a mismatched pair of socks, one white and one red. (noun—set of 2)
peer If you peer into a magnifying mirror, you can see your pores. (look closely)
peer A peer is a person’s equal. (or, in Britain, a person of noble birth—noun)
pier He sat on the end of the pier and fished. (noun—dock)

39. plain The parcel was wrapped in plain brown paper to disguise its contents. (noun—
unadorned)
plain Buffalo used to roam the plains of western Canada. (noun—prairies)
plane Plane the edge of the door so that it will open easily. (pare or trim)
plane The plane exploded in the sky off Newfoundland. (noun—flying vehicle)
40. poor He was too poor to afford new shoes. (adjective—lacking money)
pour She poured the coffee. (cause to flow)
pore The accountant will pore over the books. (study closely)
pore A blackhead is a pore blocked with dirt. (noun—minute skin opening)
41. rise Bread must rise in a warm place to activate the yeast. (“Rise” does not take an
object.” —increase in size)
raise Raise your glass and drink a toast to the groom. (“Raise” takes an object. —lift)
42. ring The priest would ring the village bell to signal someone had died. (cause to peal)
ring A grungy ring around the bathtub is not very appealing. (noun—loop or circle)
wring I will wring your neck if you do that one more time. (twist)
43. right She has a right to know who her birth mother is. (noun—entitlement)
right That is the right answer. (adjective—correct)
rite One of the rites of spring is putting on gum boots and splashing in puddles.
(noun—rituals)
write Can you write “misspelling” without misspelling it? (scribe)
-wright Shakespeare is the world’s most famous playwright. (noun—maker)
44. read I read the book today, the same book I read yesterday. (Both the present and the
past tense of “read” are spelled the same, but they are pronounced differently. —
interpret mentally)
red Santa has a nose as red as a cherry. (adjective—a colour)
reed A clarinet has a reed which must be moist to play properly. (noun—vibrating
part)
45. role She earned the leading role in the school play. (noun—part)
roll When he rolls the ball, the dog fetches it. (move by rotating on an axis)
roll I had only a roll and butter for lunch. (noun—bun)
roll My parents were proud when they saw my name on the honour roll.(noun—list)
46. rode Completely naked, Lady Godiva rode a white horse. (past tense of “ride” —sit on
and be carried by)
road The road was full of potholes after the spring thaw. (noun—route surface)
rowed The boatman rowed them across the River Styx into the Underworld. (use oars to
propel)
47. scent Can you scent spring in the air? (smell)

scent The scent of oranges always reminds me of Christmas. (noun—fragrance)
sent He sent the parcel by Greyhound. (to cause to move)
cent I haven’t got a cent to my name. (noun—penny)
48. sees She sees only what she wants to see. (perceive with the eyes)
seas The seas were choppy during their whole voyage. (noun—ocean)
seize The police seized several kilos of marijuana in a raid. (grabbed)

49. slew The princess slew the dragon and rescued the knight. (killed—past tense of
“slay”)
slough The slough was slimy and a breeding ground for mosquitoes. (noun—small body
of stagnant water)
50. scene One scene in Romeo and Juliet is very violent. (noun—portion of a play)
seen I have seen the world’s wonders. (present perfect tense of “see”)
51. so I have so many clothes I forget what I have. (adverb—very)

sew I will sew a new dress for graduation. (fasten with needle and thread)
sow A farmer must sow the seeds for his crops in early spring. (plant)
sow A sow is a female pig. (noun)
52. seem You seem to be taller than when I last saw you. (appear)
seam The seam in his jeans split at the back. (noun—point of fastening with thread)
53. sale The Bay is having a sale on Saturday. (noun—disposal of stock at a reduced
price)
sail My husband sailed his boat around Vancouver Island. (floated in a boat)
54. sit I sit down because I am tired. (rest on the buttocks)

set I set the basket down on the table. (“Set” takes an object. —put)
55. threw She threw the ball as far as she could. (tossed)
through Alice went through the looking glass to a magic land. (preposition—via)
through I am through with making excuses for you. (adjective—finished)
thorough You must be very thorough in checking your essays for errors. (adjective—
complete)
56. throne The king sat on his throne and sulked. (noun—royal chair)
thrown A woman was thrown from a balcony in Edmonton. (tossed)
57. tale A “ tall tale” is an exaggerated story. (noun—story)

tail The police tailed the thief till he led them to his home. (followed)
tail The tail of a cow is constantly flicking away flies. (noun—posterior appendage)
58. waive If you “waive your rights,” that means you give up those rights, usually by signing
a “waiver.”
wave She waved as she drove away. (move hand in greeting or farewell)
wave One wave after another struck the beach. (crest of water)
59. waist Scarlet O’Hara is rumoured to have had an eighteen-inch waist. (noun—
circumference above the hips)
waste Don’t waste your money on video games. (squander)
See the additional list of commonly confused words in the section on spelling (pages 80-84).

Correcting Errors in the Use of Pronouns
Just as a verb must agree with its subject, so a pronoun must agree with its
antecedent.
A pronoun is a word that refers to a noun (or another pronoun). The noun to which a
particular pronoun refers is its antecedent. (See the earlier section on pronouns, pages 8-9.)
A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number (singular or plural) and in
gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter).
Note: The pronouns are bold-faced, and the noun antecedents are underlined.
Mr. Singh did his best to calm the crowd.

Although one of the soccer players injured her ankle, she never said anything.
Neither of the girls achieved her purpose.
The nurses at the meeting expressed their opinions forcefully.
The unsinkable Titanic hit an iceberg during its maiden voyage.
The three-eyed floops beat the Wimblies at their own game.
A student must do his own homework, or he will never learn.
Even after many years of school, a child usually reflects the values of his parents.
NOTE: When, as in the last two examples, the antecedent could be either masculine or
feminine, it is conventional to use a masculine pronoun. Otherwise, one gets caught
up in an awkward series of “he/she’s” or “his/her’s.” This convention, however, is currently
subject to debate! To be safe, adjust your approach to the sensitivities of your audience. One
way around the problem is to use plural rather than singular pronouns when the gender is
unspecified.
Students must do their homework.

Children usually reflect the values of their parents.
Personal, Possessive, Reflexive, and Indefinite Pronouns:

SINGULAR PLURAL
FIRST PERSON I, me, my, mine, myself we, us, our, ours, ourselves
SECOND PERSON you, your, yours, yourself you, your, yours, yourselves
THIRD PERSON he, him, she, it, one, his, her, they, them, their, theirs,
hers, its, one’s, himself, themselves
herself, itself, oneself
INDEFINITE PRONOUNS any, anyone, each, every, all, both, few, several, some,
either, no one, nobody, most
somebody, everyone, someone

Consistency in Subject (and Point of View)
A major error is shifting the number and person of nouns and pronouns throughout a
composition. In using nouns and pronouns for general reference, you must be consistent and
not make unnecessary shifts from singular to plural, or from “we” to “you” or “one,” etc.
Shifts: Satchel Paige, the late great black pitcher formulated a number of rules for
staying young: He said that people should avoid fried meats, which “angry up
the blood.” He said, “If your stomach disputes you, lie down and pacify it with
cool thoughts.” Then a person should “keep the juices flowing by jangling around
gently as you move.” They should avoid running at all times. And finally, “Don’t
look back. Something may be gaining on you.”
Consistent: Satchel Paige, the late great black pitcher formulated a number of rules for
staying young. He advised that a person should avoid fried meats, which “angry
up the blood.” He said that when a person’’s stomach “disputes” him, he should
“lie down and pacify it with cool thoughts.” Then he should “keep the juices
flowing by jangling around gently as [he] move[s], but avoid running at all times.
Finally, he warned a person not to look back; “something [might] be gaining on
[him].” (This passage uses third person singular consistently.)
Or Satchel Paige, the late great black pitcher formulated a number of rules for
staying young. He advised that you avoid fried meats, which “angry up the
blood.” He said, “If your stomach disputes you, lie down and pacify it with cool
thoughts.” Then you should “keep the juices flowing by jangling around gently as
you move,” but avoid running at all times. And finally, “don’t look back.
Something may be gaining on you.”
Shifts: Effective oral communication depends on a person’s having something

thoughtful to say on a topic about which they are enthusiastic. It also depends on
your feeling secure, on your knowing that you are speaking in a non-
threatening atmosphere. Therefore, oral participation should never be forced on a
person. The purpose of oral work is the building of a person’’s confidence, not
their humiliation.
Rewritten to eliminate shifts in pronoun reference by consistently using

third person singular:
Effective oral communication depends on a person’s having something
thoughtful to say on a topic about which he is enthusiastic. It also depends on
his feeling secure, on his knowing that he is speaking in a non-threatening
atmosphere. Therefore, oral participation should never be forced on a person.
The purpose of oral work is the building of someone’s confidence, not his
humiliation.
Shifts: The course content and standards of an English class must be realistically
rigorous. If students obtain the marks to gain them entrance to high school, he
must be able to function successfully once he is there: you must be able to think,
read, and write at a fairly sophisticated level. Therefore, a teacher is doing a
student no favour to delude him with easy assignments or inflated grades.

Rewritten to eliminate shifts in pronoun reference by consistently using third person
plural.
The course content and standards of an English class must be realistically
rigorous. If students obtain the marks to gain them entrance to high school,
they must be able to function successfully once they are there: they must be
able to think, read, and write at a fairly sophisticated level. Therefore, a teacher
is doing students no favour to delude them with easy assignments or inflated
grades.
The demonstrative pronouns “this,” “that,” “these,” and “those,” when followed by
nouns such as “kind(s) of,” “sort(s) of,” and “type(s) of,” must agree in number with the
nouns.
I don’t like this (or that) sort of bagel.

I like these (or those) types of computers.
I like this (or that) type of computer.
This kind of person, because he thinks he is the centre of the universe, is always late for
appointments.
Those inconsiderate kinds of people, the ones who talk in movies or butt into lines,
make me angry.
That inconsiderate kind of person, the sort who talks in movies or butts into lines,
makes me angry.
Case of Pronouns
The form of a pronoun changes, depending on whether it is acting as a

subject or as an object of a verb or preposition. If a pronoun is the subject
(or subject complement) of a verb, then you must use the subjective case; if
the pronoun is the object of either a preposition or a verb, then you must
use the objective case of the pronoun.
Subjective Case Objective Case

I, we me, us
you, you you, you
he him
she her
it it
they them
who whom

Examples:
1. I like hot Mexican food.

“I” is the subject of the verb “like.” (subjective case)
2. Give me pizza or give me death.
“Me” is an indirect object of the verb “give.” (objective case)
3. Give the crabapples to me.
“Me” is object of the preposition “to.” (objective case)
4. It is I.
“I” is the subject completion after the verb “to be” (is). (subjective case)
5. They hit the ball.
“They” is subject of the verb “hit.” (subjective case)
6. The plane was met by them.
“Them” is object of the preposition “by.” (objective case)
7. The queen greeted her and Darcy.
“Her” is object of the verb “greeted.” (objective case)
8. Who came to dinner?
“Who” is subject of the verb “came.” (subjective case)
9. Whom did the ball hit?
“Whom” is object of the verb “did hit.” (objective case)
10. To whom should I address this letter?
“Whom” is object of the preposition “to.” (objective case)
11. We girls were anxious to meet some boys
“We girls” is subject of the verb “were.” (subjective case)
12. The boys followed us girls wherever we went.
“Us girls” is object of the verb “followed.” (objective case)
13. The boys gave us girls no peace.
“Us girls” is indirect object of the verb “gave.” (objective case)
14. The boys will do anything for us girls.
“Us girls” is object of the preposition “for.” (objective case)
15. Two students, Janine and I, went to the conference.
Because “students” is the subject, the appositive, “Janine and I,” takes the subjective
case.
16. They gave awards to two students, Janine and me.
“Me,” is object of the preposition “to.” (objective case)
Particularly tricky is determining the appropriate case for pronouns in

comparisons.
“Different,” for example, is usually followed by the preposition “from,” and a pronoun after
“from” must be in the objective case.
He is different from me. (“Me” is object of the preposition “from.”)

But sometimes “different” is followed by a clause introduced by “than” and the subjective
case of the pronoun.
She is different than we expected. (“We” is subject of the verb “expected.”)
“Like” and “unlike” are also prepositions and thus will be followed by a pronoun in the
objective case.
She is like me. (“Me” is object of the preposition “like.”)

Unlike him, she was always punctual. (“Him” is object of the preposition “unlike.”)
“Similar” and “dissimilar” are followed by “to,” a preposition, and thus by the objective case of
the pronoun.
Jennifer is similar to me. (“Me” is object of the preposition “to.”)
“As,” however, is a subordinate conjunction and will be followed by a clause – and the
subjective case of a pronoun.
She can run as fast as I can. (“I” is subject of the verb “can run.”)
He can type as well as she. ( “She” is subject of the implied verb “can type.”)
You are taller than I. (“I” is the subject of the implied verb “am.”)
You are as well qualified as he. ( “He” is subject of the implied verb “is.”)
Therefore, when you are comparing particular qualities, the comparative quality will be
followed by “than,” a subordinate conjunction introducing a clause. If that clause begins with
a pronoun, the pronoun must be in the subjective case.
He is grouchier than I am Or He is grouchier than I. (“Am” is implied.)

She is less generous than he is. She is less generous than he. (“Is” is implied.)
We are healthier than they are. We are healthier than they. (“Are” is implied.)
But: We understand him better than her. (implied: “better than we understand her”)
We understand him better than she. (implied: “better than she does”)
It’s all very confusing, isn’t it! But mastery of this concept will put you into an elite group.
Possessive Case of Pronouns
A possessive pronoun acts like an adjective; it modifies a noun or pronoun.

Possession indicates ownership; that an object or quality belongs to someone.
Possessive pronouns never have apostrophes. They are, by definition,

possessive.

Possessive Pronouns
my, mine our, ours

your, yours his, her, hers, its
their, theirs whose
Examples:
That is my chocolate cheesecake you are eating. Mine! Mine! All mine!
Where are your friends now that you need them?
Is that pair of smelly sweat socks yours?
The thief left his fingerprints everywhere.
Because Jatinder poured out her heart in her diary, she was furious when her nosy little
brother read it to his friends.
That lipstick on your collar is hers, I know it. Whose else could it be?
That mongrel that buried its bone in my mother’s flower bed is in big trouble.
Our teacher was late yesterday for our review class.
The house with the green shutters is ours.
The soldiers were lost in no-man’s land without their compass.
Theirs is the most ostentatious house I’ve ever seen.
Whose car is that parked across our driveway?
I know whose science notes those are.
NOTE: Do not confuse possessive pronouns with contractions.
Possessive Pronouns never have Contractions always have an

an apostrophe: apostrophe:
your, its you’re (you are), it’s (it is)
their, whose they’re (they are), who’s (who is)
I know where you left your skateboard. (possessive pronoun)

You’re making a big fuss about nothing. (contraction)
The Disney Corporation protected its copyright on the name “Fantasyland” by taking West
Edmonton Mall to court. (possessive pronoun)
It’s not surprising that Ravi won the science fair with his jet-propelled pencil. (contraction)
The Kosovars were driven from their homes. (possessive pronoun)

They’re now refugees in Albania and Macedonia. (contraction)
We found out whose sticky fingerprints were on the chocolate box. (possessive pronoun)
Who’s the person responsible for feeding pepper to the goldfish?

Making Nouns Possessive:
1. Singular possessives are formed by adding “ ’s” to the noun. A singular

possessive indicates only one owner.
store’s policy mother-in-law’s pound one month’s wages

team’s mascot cake couple’s children
everybody’s prediction prime minister’s office Canada’s laws
John’s pencil case principal’s leadership teacher’s pet
child’s toy mouse’s droppings television’s influence
house’s windows boat’s crew no one’s fault
school’s cheerleaders an hour’s work Halley’s comet
war’s casualties a dollar’s worth
clown’s face society’s values
2. Plural nouns which end in “s” show possession by adding an apostrophe

after the “s.” Plural possessives indicate more than one owner.
citizens’ rights thieves’ getaway car teenagers’ fashions

street lamps’ glow soldiers’ mess hall officers’ training program
the Joneses’ house ladies’ coats three dollars’ worth
cabinet ministers’ joint teachers’ pension fund the Beatles’ breakup
decision cars’ exhaust fumes award winners’ banquet
monkeys’ cage typewriters’ clack
farmers’ market five hours’ work
3. Words whose plurals are formed, not by adding “s,” but by changing
their form (or staying the same), indicate possession by adding “ ’s.”
Singular Plural Singular Plural

Possessive Possessive
child children child’s toys children’s toys
man men man’s cane men’s canes
woman women woman’s shoes women’s shoes
mouse mice mouse’s cheese mice’s cheese
deer deer deer’s tracks deer’s tracks
moose moose moose’s antlers moose’s antlers
foot feet foot’s callous feet’s odor
vertebra vertebrae vertebra’s break vertebrae’s function
person people person’s business people’s choice

4. Joint possession is indicated by placing the apostrophe only in the last
word in the series; individual possession is indicated by placing the
apostrophe in each item.
Joint Possession Individual Possession

Mary and Bill’s wedding Mary’s and Bill’s deaths
Proctor and Gamble’s products Home Depot’s and Revy’s sales figures
men and women’s coatroom men’s and women’s washrooms
5. Use the possessive case of a noun or pronoun before a gerund (a verbal

ending in “ing.”)
Michelle’s interrupting the teacher was rude. Her interrupting wasted valuable class time.
Do you mind my asking questions? (This has a different meaning from “Do you mind me asking
questions?”)
Your asking questions is welcome.
David’s hitting the ball through the gym window led to his suspension.
Her babbling on about her naturally curly hair drove us all crazy.
The Johnsons’ constant squabbling about money was upsetting for their children.
A teacher’s peering over students’ shoulders while they are writing is unsettling.
Their spitting on the school steps was disgusting.
Where did you hear about my having won the lottery?
Her husband’s refusing to ask for directions meant they drove around in circles for half an hour.
She objected to his having made the decision without consulting her.

Correcting Errors in Adjectives and Adverbs
Using Adverbs and Adjectives Correctly (Review the earlier section Distinguishing
Between Adjectives and Adverbs, pages 14-15.)
Remember, adverbs modify verbs (and sometimes adjectives or other adverbs) by

answering the questions how? why? where? when? to that extent? in what manner? about a
verb or verbal.
Adjectives modify nouns by answering the questions how many? what kind? which? about
a noun.
You need to be able to recognize the forms of adverbs and adjectives as well as know
when to use them.
Most adverbs end in “-ly”:
Adverbs: The dog barked loudly.

When he finally woke up on Saturday morning, Mark stretched lazily.
Running eagerly toward the exit, the children escaped into summer.
Nervously, she opened the creaking door of the crypt.
The teddy bear leaned lopsidedly on the dresser.
He scratched his head absent-mindedly.
Maliciously, she tore off all the labels on her brother’s video collection.
Adjectives: The dog gave a loud bark.

Mark is lazy, especially on Saturday, which he regards as his day of rest.
The eager children ran toward the exit to summer.
She put a nervous hand on the doorknob.
The teddy bear sported a lopsided grin.
He was so absent-minded that he sometimes forgot to wear socks.
Her malicious revenge on the bank was to put a dead fish in her safety deposit
box.
However, in several instances, adjective and adverb forms are the same.
Adjectives Adverbs
They rode a fast train. He typed fast.
It was a slow game. Go slow.
They fought a hard battle. He works hard.
The jeans were a tight fit. Hold tight.
Cleaning up was a long job. He laboured long into the night.
The firecracker went off with a loud She sang loud.
bang.
He hit a home run. He ran home.
She had a late appointment. He arrived late.
That is a low blow. Swing low.
He had a straight back. Go straight ahead.
That was a near miss. She lives near.
The test was easy. Go easy.

To further complicate matters, several adjectives end in “-ly.”
daily practice (weekly, monthly, yearly) kindly gentleman

friendly people lively child
wordly goods homely dog
early bird lovely wedding
miserly woman ugly baby
cowardly behaviour dastardly deeds
crumbly pie crust squiggly lines
deadly virus sickly plant
Remember, linking verbs are followed by adjectives, not adverbs.
Dinner tastes delicious.

I feel good today now that spring is in the air.
You smell sweet.
He acts tough but he is actually gentle.
He looked tired.
She appears bored.
They became agitated.
Also remember that adjectives do not modify other adjectives.
Wrong: He is a real good teacher. (adjective “real” modifying adjective “good”)

Right: He is a really good teacher. (adverb “really” modifying adjective “good”)
Note: “Good” and “well” present special problems.
“Well” may be used as either an adjective or an adverb.
As an adjective, “well” has three meanings.
1. “to be in good health”

He feels well enough to return to school.
He seems well now that his chemotherapy is over.
2. “to appear well-dressed or well-groomed”

He looks well in that suit.
3. “to be satisfactory.
All is well that ends well.
As an adverb, “well” means “to perform an act capably”

He played hockey well.
I hope to do well in my piano exam.
Because of all their practice, the students write well.
We worked well together on the project.
She held up well under questioning by the Gestapo.
They were well brought-up.
How well you did in your speech!
You are well-advised to admit your mistake.

I did not do very well on the math achievement test.
A well-read person has an advantage in life.
“Good” is always an adjective; it must never be used to modify a verb—but it

may follow a linking verb.
Wrong Wrong Wrong: He did good in Language Arts.
Right: He did well in Language Arts. (“Well” is an adverb modifying the verb “did.”)
He speaks good English. (“Good” is an adjective modifying the noun
“English.”)
Wrong: She speaks good.

Right: She speaks well.
Comparative Forms of Adjectives and Adverbs:
l. Most adjectives and adverbs with only one syllable form the comparative and
superlative forms by adding “-er” and “-est.”
Comparative Superlative
hard harder hardest
long longer longest
fast faster fastest
stiff stiffer stiffest
late later latest
cute cuter cutest
(dumb dumber dumbest !!!!!!!!!!)
Some exceptions are
good/well better best
bad/badly worse worst
many more most
Some adjectives of two syllables also follow this rule after changing the “y” to
“i” before adding “-er” or “-est.”
easy easier easiest
happy happier happiest
sturdy sturdier sturdiest
rowdy rowdier rowdiest
angry angrier angriest
cranky crankier crankiest
moody moodier moodiest
lively livelier liveliest
friendly friendlier friendliest
Note: Never put “more” or “most” in front of the preceding comparative and superlative
forms.
But some two-syllable adjectives change form by adding “more” or “most.”
eager more eager most eager
rotten more rotten most rotten
awful more awful most awful

Adjectives of more than two syllables and adverbs ending in “-ly” change form
by adding “more” and “most” (or “less” or “least”).
important more important most important
dangerous less dangerous least dangerous
easily more easily most easily
slowly less slowly least slowly
nearly more nearly most nearly
powerful more powerful most powerful
cowardly more cowardly most cowardly
The following adjectives usually do not take comparative forms because they
already represent the ultimate condition:
unique dead maximum infinite bottom square
first alive minimum best/worst top oval
last favourite pregnant eternal parallel
fatal perfect average permanent round
“Unique,” for example, means “one of a kind,” and therefore cannot be compared with
anything else. Similarly, an accident is either fatal or not fatal, and a woman is either
pregnant or not pregnant; there exists no middle ground! Avoid, therefore, saying things
such as “He is very unique” or “She was a little bit pregnant.”
Avoiding Double Negatives
Recently, the president of the United States, in an interview on national television, made the
following statement about the bombing of Yugoslavia: “Just because we can’t do everything
for everyone doesn’’t mean we shouldn’t do nothing for nobody.”
In this sentence, he got himself into usage difficulties—and confused his audience in the
process because of too many negatives: “doesn’t,” “shouldn’t,” “nothing,” and “nobody” in the
same construction.
What he should have said was “…doesn’t mean that we should do nothing for anyone.”
Words such as “nothing,” “no one,” “scarcely,” “hardly,” “never” are negatives, and they
should not be used together with the negative “not.” Instead, use positives such as
“anything,” “anyone,” or “ever.”
Don’t write: If you didn’t do nothing, then you don’t have nothing to worry about.
Do write: If you did nothing, then you have nothing to worry about.
Or: If you didn’t do anything, then you don’t have anything to worry about.
Don’t write: He couldn’t hardly see from his seat in the back row.
Do write: He could hardly see from his seat in the back row.
Or: He couldn’t see from his seat in the back row.
Don’t write: Haven’t you got nothing to tell me?

Do write: Haven’t you got anything to tell me?
Or: Have you got nothing to tell me?

Don’t write: My mother hasn’t never told a lie about nothing to no one.
Do write: My mother has never told a lie about anything to anyone.
Or: My mother hasn’t ever told a lie.
Don’t write: You don’t have no one to blame but yourself.

Do write: You don’t have anyone to blame but yourself.
Or: You have no one to blame but yourself.
Clear Placement of Modifiers
Modifiers, remember, provide more information about verbs and nouns. When this
information is put in the wrong place in a sentence, it can cause confusion—and sometimes
humour. Groucho Marx, for example, deliberately misplaced his modifiers for comic effect:
I once shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in there I’’ll never know.
Misplaced Modifiers
To avoid confusion, place modifiers (adjectives and adverbs, prepositional and

participial phrases, and subordinate clauses) as close as possible to what they
modify.
Misplaced: She was wearing a safari hat on her head, which she had bought in
Uganda. (This sentence is ambiguous, suggesting, as it does, that she
may have bought her head in Uganda.)
Clearer: On her head, she was wearing a safari hat, which she had bought in
Uganda.
Or: She was wearing on her head a safari hat, which she had bought in
Uganda.
In both corrections, the adjective clause “which she had bought in Uganda” is placed next to
“hat,” the noun that the clause modifies.
Confusing: Jennifer said during class the teacher was acting strangely. (Did she say
this during class, or was the teacher acting strangely during class?)
Clearer: During class, Jennifer said that the teacher was acting strangely.
Or: Jennifer said the teacher was acting strangely during class.
Both of these sentences clear up the ambiguity, but each, depending on where the
modifier is placed, has a very different meaning.

Misplaced: Darrin only eats vegetables. (This placement of “only” suggests that
Darrin does nothing else but eat vegetables—probably not the meaning
intended.)
Misplaced: Only Darrin eats vegetables. ( This placement of “only” suggests that no
one but Darrin eats vegetables.)
Clearer: Darrin eats only vegetables. (This placement of “only” suggests that
Darrin eats nothing else but vegetables.)
Confusing: Tell Janet when she comes home I want to speak to her. (This sentence
does not make clear what action, the telling or the speaking, is going to
transpire when Janet comes home.)
Clearer: When she comes home, tell Janet I want to speak to her.
Or: Tell Janet I want to speak to her when she comes home.
Misplaced: The principal decided to punish those students who skipped the last day of
school for very good reasons. (This sentence seems to suggests that the
students had good reasons for skipping!)
Clearer: The principal, for very good reasons, decided to punish those students who
skipped the last day of school.
Confusing: Every student cannot be an honours student. (This sentence seems to

suggest that no student can achieve honours.)
Clearer: Not every student can be an honours student.
Dangling Modifiers
A dangling modifier is a phrase (usually at the beginning of a sentence) that does not
modify the subject (the first word) of the subsequent clause.
Dangling: To become educated, good books must be read. (This sentence seems
to suggest that books are about to become educated.)
Clearer: To become educated, students must read good books.
Dangling: As a child, Mr. Davies found it easy to guide his son.
Clearer: When his son was a child, Mr. Davies found it easy to guide him.

Dangling: To earn her father’s approval, it is necessary for Julie to become a
doctor.
Clearer: To earn her father’s approval, Julie must become a doctor.
Dangling: While singing in the festival, Megan’s dog ran away. (a talented dog!)
Clearer: While Megan was singing in the festival, her dog ran away.
Dangling: Galloping down the road, a windmill comes into Don Quixote’’s view.
Clearer: As he gallops down the road, Don Quixote spies a windmill.

Achieving Grammatical Parallelism
To make phrasing “parallel” is to place ideas of equal importance in parallel

(equivalent) grammatical constructions.
Make parallel items in a list.
The seven deadly sins are avarice, envy, gluttony, lust, pride, sloth, and wrath. (seven
nouns)
Canadians invented frozen fish sticks, ginger ale, and baby pablum as well as five-pin
bowling, ice hockey, and synchronized swimming. (six adjective-noun combinations)
Jennifer likes to ski, to skate, and to bobsled. (three infinitives – verbals)
I know who I am, where I’ve come from, where I’m going, and how I’m going to get there.
(four noun clauses)
How to write a really bad essay:

Choose a topic about which you know nothing.
Leave the assignment until the very last minute.
Stay up really late, all night if you have to.
Avoid planning. Write whatever comes into your head.
Make the sentences as long as possible.
Omit any commas, or put a comma after every fourth word.
Put in as many big words as you can find in your thesaurus, even if you do not know their
meanings.
End with a statement such as “Last but not least.”
Avoid revising what you have written.
Have your younger brother proofread your paper at breakfast.
Spill a little orange juice on it to make sure the toast crumbs stick.
Scrunch up the finished essay in your backpack underneath your tomato sandwich.
Ask your teacher, as you turn in the essay, whether you have to have a title.
Lie back and relax for the rest of the period. Know you’ve earned whatever grade you get.
Men are four:

He who knows not and knows not he knows not, he is a fool—avoid him.
He who knows not and knows he knows not, he is innocent—teach him.
He who knows and knows not he knows, he is asleep—wake him.
He who knows and knows he knows, he is wise—follow him.
—Arabic proverb

Make parallel ideas joined by coordinate conjunctions (and, but, or, nor,
for, yet).
I learned how to read music and how to play the clarinet. (two noun clauses)
I know what I like but I don’’t know how to get it. (two main clauses)
Choose peas or carrots. (two nouns)
Slowly yet confidently, she made her way to the divers’ platform. (two adverbs)
Elderly people struggle with the embarrassment of losing their independence and
admitting their inability to do simple tasks they once took for granted. (two verbal
phrases)
Make parallel ideas joined by correlative conjunctions such as “not

only...but also,” “both…and,” “either…or,” “neither…nor,” “whether…or.”
He is not only tall but also muscular. (two adjectives)

You must decide not only where you are going to high school but also what courses you
are going to enroll in. (two noun clauses)
Either you must do as I say or you must risk the consequences. (two main clauses)
Both walking and jogging are healthy activities. (two gerunds)
Neither her sloppy table manners nor her vulgar language endeared Samantha to her
relatives. (two adjective-noun combinations)
When she saw Anne’s green hair, Murilla didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. (two
infinitives)
Make definitions parallel.
Because definitions use linking verbs such as “is” or “means,” the words before and after
these linking verbs must be equivalent – parallel – grammatically .
Charlie Brown said that “happiness is an ice cream bar in the freezer.”
(noun) (noun)
Happiness is climbing a mountain.

(noun) (gerund, equivalent to a noun)
A happy person is a person who knows what he wants.

(noun) (noun)
OR A happy person is one who knows what he wants.

(“One” is a pronoun equivalent to a noun.)

To eat is to take in nourishment.
(infinitive) (infinitive)
“Procrastinating” means postponing tasks that one should be doing now.

(gerund) (gerund)
“Impartial,” a word coined by Shakespeare, means “neutral” or “objective.”

(adjective) (adjective) (adjective)

Unit Four: The Sentence
A sentence is a group of words that may stand alone grammatically. A sentence

communicates a completed thought. Not all groups of words are sentences.
Usually, a sentence has a verb and a subject (plus their objects and modifiers).
We toasted (marshmallows).
(Junior high) students are (delightful).
In conversation or dialogue, however, we frequently take short cuts and imply the subject or
verb or both.
“I demolished your car.”

“Where?” (“…did you demolish my car” is implied; that is, the subject “you”
and the verb “did demolish” are suggested but not stated.)
“On the Whitemud.” (“I demolished your car…” is implied; that is, the subject
“I” and the verb “demolished” are suggested but not stated.)
The missing, but implied, words in the previous dialogue are known as an ellipsis.
A sentence is made up of sub-groups: individual words, phrases, and clauses.
An individual word does not seem to need further explanation!
Recognizing Phrases
A phrase is a group of words without a verb or subject and thus must be

connected with other words to form a sentence.
Phrases: in the graveyard

from the terrace
over the rainbow
without love
eaten by mosquitoes
beneath contempt
to be a queen
running the mile
carrying on
to cry wolf

Sentences: The thief hid (in the graveyard).
Gilda ran (from the terrace).
The main verbs Birds fly (over the rainbow).
are underlined. Man cannot live (without love).
Their subjects (Eaten by mosquitoes), we fled back to the city.
are bold-faced. People’s exploitation of children is (beneath contempt).
(To be a queen) is not easy.
Kofi won a medal (for running the mile).
(To cry wolf) means to sound a false alarm.
Two Kinds of Phrases:
1. A prepositional phrase consists of a preposition plus its object(s); it may

function as an adjective or as an adverb.
The man (in the top hat) slipped (on the banana peel).
“In the top hat” is an adjective phrase modifying the noun “man.”
“On the banana peel” is an adverb phrase modifying the verb “slipped.”
2. A verbal phrase is a group of words containing a verbal (a participle, a gerund,

or an infinitive) plus its object and/or modifiers. A verbal is a verb form that is not
acting as a verb (that is, it does not have a subject); it is acting as a noun, an adjective, or
adverb.
(Running the mile) requires stamina.

verbal phrase, acting as a noun—subject of the verb “requires”
I enjoy (running the mile).

verbal phrase, acting as a noun—object of the verb “enjoy”
The girl (waving her arms) is my cousin.

verbal phrase, acting as an adjective modifying the noun “girl”
She went home (to recuperate).

verbal phrase, acting as an adverb modifying the verb “went”
Remember, none of the preceding prepositional and verbal phrases, except in dialogue, can
stand alone; each acts as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb; each is only part of a sentence
and must be connected to a subject or verb.
Recognizing Clauses
A clause is a group of words containing a verb and its subject.
A clause may be a complete sentence in itself, or it may be part of a sentence containing more
than one clause.

Two kinds of clauses:
1. A main clause expresses a completed thought and by itself may be a sentence. That is, a
main clause is capable of standing alone grammatically. A main clause consists of a
verb, its subject, and related objects and word and phrase modifiers.
Note: In the following sentences, the main clause is underlined and (the subject and verb
are in parentheses).
I cry.
(He was daydreaming) about Disneyland.
While he was standing in the rain for three hours waiting for the bus, (Jarod
caught) cold.
Because the plane was late, (we didn’t get) home until three in the morning.
Lost time is never found again.
(We continued) the game when the weather cleared.
If you give me fifty dollars, (I will write) your essay for you.
(They didn’t know) why the Mumblies attacked.
(I can’t breathe).
(I can’t breathe) because I have a bag over my head.
Without electricity, (most) of us (would not be able) to function. (That is)
why we are nervous about the approaching Millennium.
(I have made) this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it
shorter.
(Life is) a big jigsaw puzzle with most of the pieces missing.
Some (people will give up) liberty to achieve safety, and (others will give
up) safety to achieve liberty. (This sentence has two main clauses.)
2. A subordinate clause expresses an incomplete thought and thus cannot stand

alone. It must be combined with a main clause to form a sentence.
Note: The subordinate clauses in the following sentences are bold-faced and underlined.
Because I have very big feet, I must pay more for shoes.
Anyone who wants tickets to the rock concert must line up before dawn.
I know that most people don’t like prunes, which are only dried plums.
Although he is nearly deaf, my dog usually comes when I call.
After they watched a movie, they went out for burgers.
The town where I live instituted a ten o’clock curfew for teenagers because the
town council believed that young people were responsible for recent
vandalism.
It is strange how much you have to know before you know how little you
know.
It is better that ten guilty men escape than that one innocent man suffer.
If a man has good corn, or wood, or boards, or pigs to sell, or can make
better chairs or knives, or church organs, than anybody else can, you will
find a hard-beaten road to his house, though it be in the woods.
Give what you can afford to charity.

Young people would do better in school if they did not hold part-time jobs, but
they are eager to earn money for expensive electronic gadgets.
Because a subordinate clause usually begins with a subordinate conjunction, the most
effective way of recognizing subordinate clauses is to recognize subordinate conjunctions.
Subordinate conjunctions:
A conjunction is a word that connects. A subordinate conjunction connects a subordinate

clause to a main clause, and shows the logical relationship between the two.
A subordinate conjunction may indicate:

1. a time connection
when as soon as till after
until while by the time as long as
since before whenever
3. place
where, wherever
3. reason or cause
because since as
in as much as why how
4. condition
although though if
unless whether...or provided that
5. purpose
in order that
so that
6. comparison
that as if
as though than
Note: Relative pronouns can also introduce subordinate clauses.

who which
whom what
whose that
Subordinate clauses act just like adverbs (modifying verbs), adjectives (modifying
nouns), and nouns (acting as subjects, objects, or subject complements).
Subordinate adverb clauses are usually introduced by such subordinate conjunctions as:
as when if in order that

than after whenever so that
although wherever since whether
as if where unless no matter how
while because until (not until) before

examples of subordinate adverb clauses:
Although the train was late, we still arrived in plenty of time.

(tells under what conditions they arrived)
Because children are self-centred, they do not see the pain of others.
(tells why children do not see)
You must practise subordination so that you can become a more fluent writer.
(tells why you must practise)
The class will return from Europe when Spring Break is over.
(tells when the class will return)
(Not until we grow up) do we appreciate our parents.

(tells when we will appreciate)
Subordinate adjective clauses are usually introduced by such words as:
who/whom after that where

which why when
examples of subordinate adjective clauses:
The principal is the person who sets the tone of a school.

(modifies person)
The place where I was born has not yet been made into a shrine.
(modifies noun “place”)
The time when I lived in Germany was the most memorable time of my life.
(modifies noun “time”)
The look that the Gorgons gave him turned him to stone.
(modifies noun “look”)
Ashley, whom I recommended, got the scholarship.

(modifies noun “Ashley”)
To Kill a Mockingbird, which was published forty years ago, is still an excellent book
about growing up.
(modifies noun “To Kill a Mockingbird”)
Subordinate noun clauses are usually introduced by such words as:
that who/whom/ why whatever

if whoever which what
whether when how
where which

examples of subordinate noun clauses:
I know what you like, but why you like it is a mystery.

(object of verb “know”) (subject of verb “is”)
Where he finds time I’ll never know.

(object of verb “know”)
Invite whomever you like.

(object of verb “invite”)
She is very eclectic in what she enjoys.

(object of preposition “in”)
Do whatever you want.

(object of verb “do”)

Recognizing Types of Sentences
The major types of sentences are formed by combining main and subordinate clauses in
various ways.
1. A simple sentence contains only one main clause and no subordinate clauses.
I am.
I am a girl.
I am an intelligent and humble girl with red hair and a fair complexion.
He exercised.
He exercised vigorously
To lose weight, Pooh exercised vigorously.
Before breakfast Pooh exercised vigorously in the garden.
For two hours before breakfast and one hour before dinner, Pooh exercised vigorously
despite the rain.
Singing entertains.
Singing requires perfect pitch and a good ear.
Loud singing can irritate others around us.
I learned to sing in school from a wonderful teacher named Miss Lang.
My singing improved dramatically with her inspiring instruction.
Sing! (“You” is implied.)
By age six, little Rubric Paradigm, with his little tweed pants and his sensible little
brown shoes, seemed middle-aged, flabby, and dull. I expected any day now to see him
carrying a briefcase.
As you may have observed in the preceding examples, a simple sentence may vary
considerably in length and detail. Nonetheless, as long as a sentence has only one
subject and one verb, it is a simple sentence.
In fact, if a sentence has one subject and two (or more) verbs or two (or more) subjects and
one verb, it is still a simple sentence.
Much to the dismay of our parents, we giggled and belched. (one subject with a
compound verb)
David and Goliath fought a battle. (a compound subject with one verb)
Tom, Dick, and Harry ate quickly and left the table. (a compound subject with a
compound verb)

2. A compound sentence has two or more main clauses (two or more simple
sentences) and no subordinate clauses; the main clauses are joined by coordinate
conjunctions (and, but, or, nor, for, yet), or by semicolons (;).
Elton John likes flamboyant glasses, and he also enjoys outlandish hats.
Classrooms are overcrowded, but schools lack the money to reduce class sizes.
There are four reasons why people marry: they are seeking emotional commitment; they are
seeking financial security; and they are seeking social or religious acceptance.
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.
3. A complex sentence has one main clause and one or more subordinate
clauses.
When we came home, we could smell smoke.

Sharon, who was my best friend all through school, moved to Manitoba, where she and
her husband bought a farm.
At one time there was a bylaw in Michigan that proclaimed hanging men’s and women’s
underwear side by side on a clothesline illegal.
Although you may lead a horse to water, you cannot make him drink.
Naturally, most people don’t appreciate how loud and obnoxious their snoring is.
Wayne Gretzky, who retired last spring, won the Hart Trophy nine times as the NHL’s
most valuable player.
4. A compound-complex sentence has more than one main clause and one or
more subordinate clauses.
If you are like most students, you are impatient when you cannot see the immediate
usefulness of what you are asked to learn, and you sometimes suspect your teachers of
tormenting you for no reason.
While it is true that Old English would appear as strange to your eye as any foreign
language, there are a number of basic words you could recognize: “hus” means house; “hrof”
means roof; “faeder” means father; and “dohtor” means daughter.
The movie October Moon, whose plot illustrates the power of persistence, focuses on
some high school boys from a poor West Virginia mining town in the 1950’s who develop a
very capable rocket, and they go on to win a national science fair.
If you lend, either you lose the money, or you lose the friend.

Two further ways of categorizing sentences:
A loose sentence has the main clause (the main idea) at the beginning and
additional information (modifiers/subordinate elements) at the end. In casual
conversation, we normally speak in loose sentences.
He killed time at the mall, wandering aimlessly from store to store, stopping occasionally
to chat with an acquaintance or to nurse a coke in the food court.
I dislike designer jeans because so much of their cost is simply the price of status
attached to a famous label.
The book is very entertaining, recounting the story of a young boy who turns into a fish.
A periodic sentence is one whose main clause (main idea) is not complete
until the end of the sentence—at the period. In other words, a periodic sentence
is the reverse of a loose sentence. Periodic sentences, more common in formal writing,
are a means of achieving emphasis.
Wandering aimlessly from store to store, stopping occasionally to chat with an

acquaintance or to nurse a coke, he killed time at the mall.
Because so much of their cost is simply the price of status attached to a label, I dislike
designer jeans.
Recounting the story of a young boy who turns into a fish, the book is very entertaining.
OR
The book, which recounts the story of a young boy who turns into a fish, is very
entertaining.

Unit Five: Correcting Major Sentence Errors
Detecting and Correcting Sentence Fragments
One of the most common writing errors is the sentence fragment or

incomplete sentence. Because a fragment is only part of a sentence, it
cannot stand alone. Although sometimes sentence fragments are acceptable—for
example, in dialogue or for emphasis or in elliptical constructions—most students
use fragments unintentionally. A sentence fragment is a phrase (prepositional or
verbal) or a subordinate clause used by itself, used, that is, without a main clause.
1. the phrase fragment
As you may remember, a phrase is a group of words not containing a verb and its
subject; the two kinds of phrase are prepositional and verbal.
Examples of phrase fragments:
a) fragment: On the school steps I saw Alice. Waiting for her mother to pick her up.
(verbal phrase fragment)
correction: On the school steps I saw Alice, waiting for her mother to pick her up.
b)fragment: The new cottage is on the north side of the lake. At the edge of a group of
pine trees. (prepositional phrase
fragment)
correction: The new cottage is on the north side of the lake at the edge of a group of
pine trees.
c) fragment: My parents finally gave me permission. To go with Ryan to Jasper.

(verbal phrase fragment)
correction: My parents finally gave me permission to go with Ryan to Jasper.
d) fragment: Shakespeare’s plays are frequently very violent. An example being the duel
scene in Romeo and Juliet. (verbal fragment)
correction: Shakespeare’s plays are frequently very violent; one example is the duel
scene in Romeo and Juliet.

2. the subordinate clause fragment
Examples of subordinate clause fragments:
a) fragment: I was grateful for the Heritage Scholarship. Which enabled me to go to

college.
correction: I was grateful for the Heritage Scholarship, which enabled me to go to

college.
b) fragment: Angela had narrowly escaped death. Although she didn’t know it at the
time.
correction: Although Angela didn’t know it at the time, she had narrowly escaped
death.
c) fragment: I had trouble allowing my daughter more freedom. Because I still

regarded her as my baby.
correction: Because I still regarded her as my baby, I had trouble allowing my

daughter more freedom.
d) fragment: You will have to come early. So that you will have time to put on your
make-up.
correction: So that you will have time to put on your make-up, you will have to come
early.
e) fragment: My father was born in East Overshoe. A little country town where
everyone knows eveyone else.
correction: My father was born in East Overshoe, a little country town where
everyone knows everyone else.
f) fragment: He had several challenges. Such as where he was going to hide the
money, how he was going to dispose of his disguise, and whom he was
going to trust as an accomplice.
correction: His challenges included hiding the money, disposing of his disguise, and
finding an accomplice he could trust.
g) fragment: The word “chauvinism” is derived from the name of Nicolas Chauvin.
Who was well-known for his devoted enthusiasm for Napoleon.
Consequently, his name representing blind and exaggerated patriotism.
correction: The word “chauvinism” is derived from the name of Nicolas Chauvin, a
man well known for his devoted enthusiasm for Napoleon. Consequently,
his name has come to represent blind and exaggerated patriotism.
Or: The word “chauvinism,” derived from the name of Nicolas Chauvin, an
enthusiastic devotee of Napoleon, suggests a blind and exaggerated
patriotism

Or: The word “chauvinism,” which means a blind and exaggerated
patriotism, was derived from the name of Nicolas Chauvin, an
enthusiastic supporter of Napoleon.
You should observe that the correction of sentence fragments frequently takes fewer, not
more, words.
One added note with respect to incomplete sentences:
What we consider “correct” English depends on the situation. For example, what is
acceptable in a friendly letter is not necessarily acceptable in a business letter. What is
allowable in casual conversation is not appropriate for a graduation speech.
Appropriateness of language is governed by the situation.
Informal Advertising Fiction Formal

Conversation Exposition
incomplete sentences incomplete sentences incomplete sentences incomplete sentences
expected and accepted for effect accepted in dialogue not accepted, except
accepted in rare cases for
special effects
In advertising, incomplete sentences are very common. Advertisers use these sentence
fragments to achieve economy, to be catchy, and to achieve emphasis.
Examples:
GROWLS. LIONS, TIGERS, AND BEARS ARE FAMOUS FOR THEIRS. BUT NOTHING’S SCARIER THAN
THE GROWL FROM YOUR SIX‐YEAR‐OLD’S TUMMY WHEN HE IS WAITING FOR DINNER. LUCKILY,
OUR NEW MICROWAVE IS BIG ENOUGH TO FIT FOUR WHOLE DINNER PLATES. WHICH MEANS
NO MORE ZAPPING ONE PLATE AT A TIME. NO MORE HUNGRY SIX‐YEAR‐OLDS. NO MORE
RUMBLING STOMACHS.
New stay-on lipcolour. The greatest innovation since the kiss. Won’t budge. Won’t
smudge. Stays on you, and only you. And feels right, too. Just like true love,
colour endures.
Our computer will allow each individual member of your family to choose how they interact
with the computer. So your children can pursue their interests. While you pursue yours. All on
the very same personal computer. When you want to get on the Internet, it’s a snap. Because
everything you need is built right in. Including a data/fax modem and all the necessary
software. Isn’t technology incredible?

Another place where incomplete sentences are common is in dialogue, which
naturally imitates the short cuts we commonly take in conversation.
After some delay, the door grudgingly turned on its hinges a very little way, and allowed
Mr. Jerry Cruncher to squeeze himself into court.
“What’s on?” he asked, in a whisper, of the man he found himself next to.
“Nothing yet.”
“What’s coming on?”
“The treason case.”
“The quartering one, eh?”
“Ah!” returned the man, with a relish. “He’ll be drawn on a hurdle to be half hanged, and
then he’ll be taken down and sliced before his own face, and then his insides will be taken out
and burned while he looks on, and then his head will be chopped off, and he’ll be cut into
quarters. That’s the sentence.”
“If he’s found guilty,” Jerry added.
“Oh! They’ll find him guilty,” said the other. “Don’t you be afraid of that.”
—from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities.
Sometimes, poetry appears to be written in incomplete sentences because each line

begins with a capital letter but doesn’t necessarily end with a period; in fact, sometimes the
end of a sentence does not come for several lines – as in the following excerpt from a student
poem:
Getting up early,
In my Dr. Seuss pajamas,
Watching Road Runner
Snuggled in a quilt,
Sprinting upstairs,
Shaking my older brothers out of bed,
Helping Dad fix my favourite breakfast
Of Honeycombs and bananas and milk:
This is I remember.
When I was three.
The first nine lines of the preceding excerpt are one complete sentence; the last line,
however, is an incomplete sentence—used for emphasis.

Avoiding Run-On Sentences/Comma Splices
A run-on sentence (or comma splice) results when two (or more) main clauses are
run together with no punctuation or are joined only with a comma.
Examples of run-on sentences/comma splices:
That’s my grandfather, he’s even older than Mick Jagger.

The choice of a car is difficult, there is such a variety on the market.
Star Wars, even after twenty years, is an extremely popular movie, it may even beat
Titanic at the box office.
I was lucky to have parents who exposed me to different facets of life, for instance, they
enrolled me in soccer lessons, ballet classes, and computer courses.
Golgotha is the place outside Jerusalem where Christ was crucified, it means “skull.”
Five ways to correct a run-on sentence:
1. Change the two clauses to a single clause.

My grandfather is even older than Mick Jagger.
The variety on the market makes the choice of a car difficult.
Star Wars, still popular after twenty years, may even beat Titanic at the box office.
I was lucky to have parents who exposed me to different facets of life such as piano
lessons, soccer classes, and computer courses.
Golgotha, the place outside Jerusalem where Christ was crucified, means “skull.”
2. Replace the comma with a period, and begin a new sentence.

That’s my grandfather. He’s even older than Mick Jagger.
The choice of a car is difficult. There is such a variety on the market.
Star Wars, even after twenty years, is an extremely popular movie. It may even beat
3. Change one of the main clauses into a subordinate clause or a phrase.

Because there is such a variety on the market, the choice of a car is difficult.
Star Wars, even after twenty years, is such a popular movie that it may even beat
Luckily, my parents exposed me to different facets of life by enrolling me in piano
lessons, soccer classes, and computer courses.
Golgotha, meaning “skull,” is the place outside Jerusalem where Christ was crucified.
4. Join the two clauses with a co-ordinate conjunction.

Co-ordinate conjunctions are words used to join equal grammatical parts, including main
clauses: “and,” “but,” “or,” “nor,” “for,” and “yet.”
The choice of a car is difficult, for there is such a variety on the market.
Star Wars, even after twenty years, is an extremely popular movie, and it may even beat

5. Substitute a semi-colon for the comma.
That’s my grandfather; he’s even older than Mick Jagger.
The choice of a car is difficult; there is such a variety on the market.
Star Wars, even after twenty years, is an extremely popular movie; it may even beat
I was lucky to have parents who exposed me to different facets of life; for instance, they
enrolled me in piano lessons, soccer classes, and computer courses.
Golgotha is the place outside Jerusalem where Christ was crucified; it means “skull.”
Note: Also use a semi-colon between main clauses joined by the following
conjunctive adverbs:
for example that is accordingly nevertheless

furthermore therefore consequently in fact
instead still finally thus
for instance besides moreover in short
otherwise however also next
hence then in addition
Examples:
Tension rose rapidly during yesterday’s meeting on improving traffic flow on 114th
Street; nevertheless, most of the council members remained calm.
His mother really babies him; for example, she cuts up his grapefruit, irons his
underwear, and goes with him to the dentist—even though he’s twenty-three!
Young people frequently try to please others; consequently, they seldom please
themselves.
When lexicographer G. H. McKnight did a comprehensive study of how words are used, he
discovered that just forty-three words account for fully half of all the words in common
use; in fact, just nine of those words account for fully one-quarter of all words in almost
any sample of written English: and, be, have, it, of, the, to, will, and you.
Another lexicographer, Stuart Flexner, suggests that the average well-read person has a
vocabulary of about 20,000 words; however, he uses only about 1,500 to 2,000 of those in
a normal week’s conversation.

Unit Six: Improving Mechanics
The term “mechanics” refers to the nitty-gritty of writing: correctness.

• correctness in spelling
• correctness in punctuation
• correctness in sentence structure
• correctness in word usage
“Mechanics” refers to all those horrible picky details that students associate with the English
Teacher and her dreaded red pen. Usually, weaknesses in mechanics are what people are
thinking about when they refer to a “literacy crisis.” Mechanical errors are what the
businessman bemoans in his secretary. Certainly, mechanical errors are what will stand out
and potentially undermine you in important letters and reports that you write.
But some perspective is needed. Mechanical correctness is important; it is not, however, of

greater importance than other facets of writing. That is why on the marking keys which
teachers use to evaluate your writing, the category “Mechanics” is given a weighting no
greater than that of any of the other categories: organization, thought, detail, and style.
Mechanical errors are like pimples: neither indicates that a person lacks an incisive mind or
a charming personality. But they are unsightly. Teenagers spend millions on dermatologists
and cleansing creams to get rid of their “zits.” For much the same reason, you should expend
energy eliminating your writing blemishes. Just as you take pride in the face you present to
the world, so should you take pride in the writing you present to the world. Clear, correct
writing makes a good impression—not just on English teachers, but on all teachers, on
parents, on prospective employers—even on lovers with whom you correspond from afar.
If you are not already convinced of the importance of paying attention to correctness—
particularly in spelling—consider these two unfortunate situations, both involving tattoos:
In the first case, a man in Michigan is suing a tattoo parlour for $25,000 for having
misspelled “villain” as “VILLIAN” in large letters on his arm, a mistake he didn’t realize
until his friends began to make fun of him. Now he has a long scar on his forearm from
having the tattooed misspelling surgically removed. In the second instance, a biker who
wanted “Harley-Davidson” tattooed in large letters on his back ended up with HAIRY-
DAVIDSON instead. Needless to say, the biker was not pleased. Therefore, as another tattoo
artist warns, “Think before you ink.”

Spelling
ENGLISH AS IT IS SPOKEN
Now be careful to get these right,

Death and wreath; weight and height.
Toe and shoe; laughter and daughter.
Player and prayer; skater and water.
Rush and bush; brother and bother.
Bowl and scowl; rover and cover.
Master and taster; sever and lever.
Bear and ear, sewer and sewer.
Tear and tear, lover and over
Both and cloth; comb, tomb, or bomb.
Bough and bought; cough or enough.
Hiccough—There I give up.
—Anonymous
As you can see from the preceding poem, spelling in English is difficult. One reason for this
difficulty is that English is derived from so many other languages and incorporates not only
roots from those languages but also whole words.
incognito deus ex machina pot pourri

fiancé cummerbund post mortem
hooligan coup d’etat placebo
sabotage bravo graffiti
hacienda doppelganger bagel
hara-kiri pianissimo guru
guerilla igloo kiwi
Also, one sound may have many spellings.
The “sh” sound appears in the following words—all with different spellings:
SHoe SCHedule
oCEan SUgar
conSCious anXIous
attenTIon tenSIon
To complicate matters further, one spelling may have many sounds.
thrOUGH cOUGH
dOUGH hiccOUGH
rOUGH thOUGHt
plOUGH
Because of these complexities in English, you must MEMORIZE the spelling of many words
—or be prepared to look them up each time you need them. (And, as you have
undoubtedly discovered, looking up words you can’t spell is often challenging.)

Nonetheless, here are some useful spelling rules:
a) “I” before “e” except after “c”—except when it’s “eigh” as in “neighbour” and “weigh”
(or “veil” and “vein”)
“Weird,” “seize,” “neither,” “leisure,” “height,” and “their” are frequently used exceptions
to the rule.
b) Adding a prefix to a word seldom alters the spelling of the original word.
dis/appeared im/modest mis/taken

dis/appointed im/partial non/conformist
dis/satisfied in/convenient non/negotiable
dis/similar ir/rational over/run
il/legal ir/relevant un/necessary
il/logical mis/shapen un/popular
im/mobile
c) When adding a suffix to a word ending in “e”:
• keep the final “e” if the first letter of the suffix is a consonant:
achievement
ninety Note: “Truly” is an exception, as are
sincerely “acknowledgment” and “judgment.”
involvement
likeness
• drop the “e” if the first letter of the suffix is a vowel:
achievable dining shining

combining dispensable liking
• however, keep the final “e” if the final “e” is preceded by c, e, g, or o and the
suffix begins with a or o :
outrageous courageous
changeable noticeable
manageable canoeing
agreeable
d) When adding a suffix to a two-syllable word ending in a consonant:
• if the accent falls on the final syllable and the suffix begins with a vowel, double
the final consonant.
controlling referral omitted

occurred/occurrence repellant
• if the accent falls on the first syllable, do not double the consonant.
creditor profited ordering Note: “kidnapping” and “kidnapped”

are exceptions.

e) When adding a suffix to a single-syllable word:
• Double the consonant when the consonant is preceded by a short vowel.
clipper matted netted

hitter fanned
running clotted
f) When a word ends in a hard “c” (sounds like “keh”) and is preceded by a vowel, add a
“k” to keep the hard sound.
colicky picnicker panicking trafficked
g) Forming plurals of words which do not follow the standard rule of adding “s”:
• Words ending in “y” (if the “y” is preceded by a consonant) change the “y” to “i”
before adding a suffix (unless the suffix begins with “i”).
cities ladies trying
cries replies carrying
flies tries studying
easier happiness
plentiful satisfied
h) A final “y” with a vowel before it remains unchanged when a suffix is added.
stays or stayed
monkeys
employs or employment
valleys
plays or playful
• Words ending in “ch,” “x,” “o,” or “s” form their plurals by adding “es.”
bosses passes
catches potatoes
canoes taxes
foxes tomatoes
heroes watches
misses
• Latin or Greek words ending in “um” or “on” form their plurals by replacing the
last two letters with an “a.”
criterion criteria
curriculum curricula
datum data
erratum errata An exception is “ultimatums.”
medium media
memorandum memoranda
phenomenon phenomena

• Hyphenated compound words usually form their plurals by adding an “s” to the
most important word, usually the first one.
justices-of-the-peace sons-in-law
writers-in-residence
In addition to learning and applying these spelling rules, consider some of the following
helpful hints:
1. Always proofread your writing for spelling errors.
− When proofreading your own work, read the composition backwards to pick up
spelling errors.
− When you have the least glimmer of a doubt about the spelling of a word, check a
dictionary. No self-respecting writer is ever more than arm’s length from a
dictionary.
− Enlist a mother, an uncle, a sister, a friend to double-check your composition for

spelling errors. (To my shame, I suspect that even though this writing handbook has
been checked and checked and checked again, some errors still lurk in its pages.)
− When using a word processor, you can, of course, use a spell-check program. The
author of one of my computer books for “Dummies” refers to the spell checker as the
electronic Mrs. Bradshaw, in honour of his grade four English teacher, “a goddess in
the annals of proper English spelling.” Know, however, that, unlike the flesh and
blood Mrs. Bradshaw, these electronic spell checkers will not necessarily
detect homonym errors (when two words sound the same but are spelled
differently—such as “their” and “there” or “bear” and “bare”). Do not assume,
therefore, that simply because your computer has given you its seal of approval that
you don’t have to check your paper with human eyes. (See lists of commonly confused
words on pages 36-40 and pages 80-83.)
2. When you are learning to spell homonyms—or other confusing pairs—try to remember
them in meaningful phrases.
coarse sandpaper science course

write a letter the right way
too much to the limit two lovers
loose tooth lose the attitude
accept my apology no one here except us chickens
Check this section for some of the most common homonym confusions.

3. Buy a spelling dictionary in a mite-sized model so that you can carry it everywhere.
Because such dictionaries do not have word meanings, only spellings, they are speedy to
use. There is even a “Bad Speller’s” version, one allowing you to look up a word the way
you imagine it is spelled—and the dictionary will then tell you the correct spelling.
Note also the list of most commonly misspelled words on in this section of the
guidebook (pages 85-87).
4. Keep a list of your own spelling errors (corrected, of course), particularly those errors
you make consistently. Study those words. Poor spelling is not an incurable disease.
5. Develop memory tricks.
a) Write the problem parts of words in capital letters.

embaRRaSSing
aCCoMModate
reCoMMendation
oCCuRREnce
b) Make up reminder sentences.

The superintenDENT has a DENT in his car.
There are few ARC lamps in the ARCtic.
When the times are CHANGEable, we must CHANGE with them.
6. Never write “alot.” The average teacher has seen this particular error about 5,000
times and is likely to view it as unforgivable. “A lot” is something to build a house on—
and is always TWO WORDS. Just to be safe, avoid the phrase altogether.
7. Be observant when you read or when you take notes from the board. Look at how
words are spelled. Unfortunately, being a good reader involves a skill that is opposite to
the skill needed by a good speller. A good reader sees the parts as a whole; the good
speller needs to break down the whole into parts.
8. Don’t despair: 95% of adults—including many of your teachers—cannot spell

“sacrilegious” or “ophthalmologist” or “embarrassed.” I learned only recently that
“acknowledgment” has no “e” after the “g,” and I have to look up “license” or “sheriff”
every time I use them. That many illustrious people have spelling flaws, however, is no
excuse for you!
Commonly Confused Words (See also the earlier list of confused verbs.)
aisle (noun) I like to sit on the aisle at the theatre.

isle (noun) Lake Isle is located not far from Edmonton.
angel (noun) An angel is usually portrayed with wings and a halo.

angle (noun) A right angle is ninety degrees.
arc (noun) The arc of the rainbow stretched across the sky.
ark (noun) Noah took two of each of the animals on the ark.
author (noun) The author autographed her book.

Arthur (noun) Arthur is no longer a very common name.

bases (noun) The runner ran around the bases in record time.
basis (noun) The basis of life is the gene.
bath (noun) She took a bath before work every morning.

bathe (verb) If you want to be clean, you must bathe daily.
cereal (noun) The most popular breakfast cereal is corn flakes.

serial (adjective) Most people are horrified by the thought of a serial killer.
chord (noun) He struck the wrong chord on the piano.

cord noun) Many people loaded up with a cord of wood before the
Millennium.
coarse (adjective) Coarse sandpaper is too rough for this job.

course (noun) He was looking forward to his drama course.
coma (noun) After the accident, Michael was in a coma for a week.
comma (noun) The comma is the most frequently used mark of punctuation.
costume (noun) Her Hallowe’en costume was very imaginative

custom (noun) Kissing under the mistletoe is a strange custom.
dairy (noun) A dairy processes milk products.

diary (noun) Reading someone else’s private diary is unforgivable.
dual (adjective) Some driver training cars and all airplanes have dual
controls.
duel (noun) Hamlet ends with a duel in which nearly everyone dies.
corps (noun) His army corps distinguished itself during World War II.
corpse (noun) The police found the corpse in the basement, a knife in his
heart.
faze (verb) Celebrity didn’t seem to faze her in the least.

phase (noun) Their child’s adolescence is a phase no parent looks forward
to.
foreword (noun) A foreword comes at the beginning of a book.

forward (adverb The band marched forward in a scraggly line.
and noun) The forward passed the puck back to one of the defensemen.
formally (adverb) He dressed formally for the New Year’s party.

formerly (adverb) Prince Charles was formerly married to Princess Diana.
forth (adverb) He went forth into the world to sell vacuum cleaners.
fourth (adjective) She is the fourth child in a family of seven.
foul (adjective) McGwire hit a foul ball along the right field stands.
fowl (noun) Chicken and turkey are different kinds of fowl.
human (adjective) It is human nature to seek a purpose in life.

humane (adjective) Most of us believe in the humane treatment of animals.

hear (verb) Can you hear the Klondike Days fireworks from your house?
here (adverb) People from all over the world bring their customs here to
Canada.
heard (verb) I don’t think you have heard a word I’ve said.
herd (noun) They were milling about in the lobby like a herd of cattle.
hole (noun) The mouse came in through a hole under the steps.
whole (adjective) I don’t want the whole world to know.
its (possessive pronoun) The elephant raised its trunk and trumpeted one last time.
it’s (contraction of “it is”) It’s not surprising that she was angry at her friend.
later (adverb) We arrived later than we had hoped.

latter (adjective) Civility declined in the latter part of the century.
medal (noun) Ben Jonson lost his gold medal because he failed the drug
test.
meddle (verb) Felicity likes to meddle in other people’s business.
metal (noun) Not all metal is magnetic.

mettle (noun) She has the strong mettle for the job.
moral (adjective) His moral code was very strict.

morale (noun) Letters from home always boosted the morale of the
peacekeeping troops.
peace (noun) He enjoyed the peace and quiet when the house was empty.
piece (noun) I have given you the largest piece of chocolate cake.
personal (adjective) Students respect a teacher who takes a personal interest in

them.
personnel (noun) The personnel of a company are its most valuable resource.
quiet (adjective) Be quiet because your mother is still sleeping.

quite (adverb) I didn’t quite understand your explanation.
quit (verb) The “patch” can help some people quit smoking.
rain (noun) The sudden rain ruined their picnic.

rein (noun) He slipped the reins over the horse’s head.
reign (noun or verb) The longest reign in British history was Queen Victoria’s; she
reigned for sixty-four years.
shone (verb) The policeman shone the flashlight in his eyes.

shown (verb) I have already shown you how to format your essay.
speak (verb) Speak clearly so that everyone can understand you.

speech (noun) His dull speech put everyone to sleep.
stake (noun) To kill a vampire, you must drive a stake through his heart.
steak (noun) We had steak and baked potato for dinner.

stationary (adjective) A palace guard must remain stationary for long periods of
time.
stationery (noun) She used her best stationery to write thank-you letters.
steal (verb) Use a steel lock so that no one can steal your bike.
steel (noun or adjective) Steel studs are now frequently used for framing a house
instead of wooden ones.
straight (adjective) He walked a straight line.

strait (noun) A strait is a narrow channel of water.
suit (verb and The haircut suits you.

noun) Mr. Persnickety’s new suit was double-breasted.
suite (noun) He lived in a two-bedroom suite on Saskatchewan Drive.
tail (noun or verb) The dog chased its tail. The police tailed the car thief.
tale (noun) Jack and the Beanstalk is a famous fairy tale about the
advantages of simple-mindedness.
their (possessive pronoun) They parked their car in their neighbour’s driveway by
mistake.
there (adverb) Sit there and wait for the principal.
they’re (contraction) They’re not expected to come home until tomorrow.
though (conjunction) Though Daisy sang off-key, no one minded.

thorough (adjective) An engineer must be very thorough in his calculations.
through (preposition) She kicked the ball through the goal posts.
to (preposition) She went to the mall after school.

to (part of the infinitive) He likes to play basketball.
two (adjective) I have two brothers and two sisters and two cats.
too (adverb) She was too embarrassed to show her face again.
trail (noun) The trail through the woods was overgrown with moss.
trial (noun) The O.J. Simpson homicide trial captivated the public.
vain (adjective) He is vain about his appearance.

vane (noun) The weather vane was shaped like a galloping horse.
vein (noun) The nurse stuck a needle in the vein of his arm.
vary (verb) To keep people’s interest, you need to vary your sentences.
very (adverb) A successful liar must have a very good memory.
wander (verb) If you are going to wander downtown after dark, take a
whistle.
wonder (verb) Most of us wonder about what lies after death.
weak (adjective) She felt very weak from not having eaten breakfast.
week (noun) I have an appointment with the dentist next week.

weather (noun) Canada is famous for the extremes in its weather.
whether (conjunction) We all wonder whether a Scot wears underwear beneath his
kilt.
who’s (contraction) Who’s that over there by the door?

whose I know whose book you borrowed.
(possessive pronoun)

Commonly Misspelled Words
a lot census ecstasy

a part (belonging) coincidence edible
absence college effect
accidentally colourful eighth
accommodate commitment elicit
accumulate committee eligible
accustomed competitive embarrassed
achievement compromise emphasis (emphasize)
acknowledgment concede enemies
acquaintance conceit English
acquiesce condemn enhance
acquire condescending entrepreneurs
addressed condominium enumerate
affect/effect connoisseur environment
affecting conscience essentially
aggravate conscientious even though
aggressive conscious exaggerated
agreeable consensus excellence
all right consequences excellent
allotted coolly excerpt
allusion council (group) exciting
amateur counsel (advisor) existence
ambiguity courageous exonerate
ambivalent course/coarse experience
analogous courteous explanation
analysis criticism exquisite
apart (separate) criticizes extension
apologizes customer exuberant
appall cynic(ism) eyeing
apparatus deceive facsimile
apparent deductible fantasies
apparently defenseless fascinate
appreciable defiance feat
architecture definite February
argument definitely feminine
ascend descend(ent) fiery
athletic desert (place/leave) financier
attendance despair flourish
auxiliary desperately fluorescent
awkwardness dessert (food) forbidden
bankruptcy develops foresee
beginning dining foreshadow
believe disappeared foreword/forward
benefit disappointed forfeit
boulevard disapproval forth
buses discipline forty
business dissatisfied foul
calendar dissent/descent fourth
capital dissolved fulfilling/fulfillment
carriage does gauge
cemetery each other genuinely

government literature pronunciation
graffiti loneliness psychiatrist
grammar loose psychological
grievance lose/losing publicly
gruesome maintenance pursues (pursuit)
guarantee manliness questionnaire
harass marriage quiet
height memento quite
heroes merely rarefy
hors d’oeuvre minuscule receive
ignorant mischievous recommend
illicit misspell referred
illusion naive reinforce
immature necessary relevant
immediately neutral relieve
immigrate/ noticeable reminiscence
immigration obsession renaissance
impasse occasion(al) renowned
impeccable occur/occurred/ rescind
imperceptible occurring responsibility
in fact occurrence restaurant
in front ominous rhythm
inappropriate omit/omitted sacrifice
inconsequential openness sacrilegious
indecisiveness optimistic sadness
independent optimistic satellite
indestructible original satisfies
indispensable ourselves/themselves savagery
inevitable parallel schedule
infallible past/passed scissors
infuriate pastime seize
initially perhaps self-conscious
innocuous perseverance separate
insistence persistence shown
interpret(ation) persistent siege
interrupt(ion) persuasion similar
irrelevant pessimistic similarity/ similarly
itinerary phenomenon solely
jeopardize physique soliloquy/ soliloquies
joyfulness plagued soul
judgment possess(es) souvenir
knowledge possessive sponsor
laboratory potatoes spontaneity
led/misled prairie spontaneous
leisure preceding stationary (still)
lenient prejudiced (adjective) stationery (paper)
liable prerogative strength
liaison presence stubbornness
library principal subtlety (noun)
license principle subtly (adverb)
lien privilege succeed/success
lieutenant proceed(ings) succumb
liquefy professor suing

superintendent tragedy vicious
supersede tries/cries visible
suppress(es) truly warrior
surprise undoubtedly Wednesday
surreptitious unkempt weight
surveillance unmanageable weird
susceptible unnamed whether
tariff unnatural wholly
temperamental until whose
tendency unwieldy wield
theatre usage woman/women
then/than vacillate yield
threshold vacuum/vacuous
tomorrow vengeance

Capitalization
Capitalize proper names.
Tom (et al) William Shakespeare God/Jehovah

Zeus Achilles Queen Elizabeth
Prince Charles Prime Minister Chretien Dr. Jack Kevorkian is known as
Rolls Royce Trivial Pursuit “Dr. Death.”
Aunt Martha Grandfather Connor
but: “Monotheism” is the belief in a single god.

When I came home, Mother was furious.
My mother is a saint.
Capitalize the names of places.
Ottawa Rocky Mountains Pacific Ocean

Sahara Desert Edmonton Muttart Conservatory
Whistler Mountain Highlands Junior High School Jasper Avenue
Saskatchewan River North America Wall Street
the Middle East Northwest Territories Buchanan Boulevard
Kosovo Gretzky Way
Capitalize dates and special events or awards.
Monday, January, etc. Year of the Child Academy Awards

Christmas Eve Stanley Cup Winter Olympics
Fringe Festival Ramadan Heritage Festival
The Stampede Grey Cup Hanukkah
Capitalize historical events, periods, and documents.
Confederation the Renaissance the Middle Ages

the Elizabethan Era World War II the Great Depression
the Millennium the Cold War the Industrial Revolution
the Treaty of Versailles the Magna Carta

Capitalize races, religions, regions, nationalities, and languages.
English French Indian the Orient

Metis Hindu Mormon Russian
Muslim Hebrew Canadian American
Alberta the South the Maritimes Christian
Capitalize the names of organizations, businesses, trade names, and

government bodies.
Air Canada Westin Hotel University of Alberta

Sears Boy Scouts Human Rights Commission
General Motors Liberal Party House of Commons
United Nations Future Shop CBC Radio
Coca Cola Tide Toys ‘R Us
Capitalize the beginning of a sentence, the beginning of direct quotations,

the beginning of a line of poetry.
Technological progress sometimes outstrips moral progress.

“Use the word ‘juxtaposition’ correctly,” the teacher said, “or don’t use it at all.”
“My mother asked, “Will you do the dishes tonight?”
A bunch of the boys were whooping it up in the Malamute saloon;
The kid that handles the music-box was hitting a jag-time tune;
Back of the bar, in a solo game, sat Dangerous Dan McGrew,
And watching his luck was his light-o’-love, the lady that’s known as Lou.
—Robert Service
Capitalize the main words in titles.
The Grapes of Wrath is set during the Depression.

My essay title is “Jogging is for Wimps.”
I cried all the way through The Diary of Anne Frank.
The Bible and the Koran are both sacred books.
Did you see Phantom of the Opera at the Jubilee?
Saturday Night magazine has changed its format.

Capitalize the names of specific courses.
Biology 10 Language Arts

Music Appreciation 101 French Immersion
Advanced Basket Weaving
But don’t capitalize generic subjects.
I like math because it is so logical.

I intend to study chemistry in university even though my mother wants me to study law.
All students have to take a social studies course because one of the main purposes of
public education is to prepare students to be knowledgeable citizens in a democracy.
English, however, is always, always, always capitalized (as are French, Ukrainian,
Japanese, Spanish, German, Mandarin, and so on—because they are all names of
languages).

Punctuation
1. The Comma
The comma is the most widely used mark of punctuation because it has such a wide variety
of uses:
Use a comma to separate main clauses joined by coordinate conjunctions

such as “and,” “but,” “or,” “nor,” “for,” and “yet.”
He couldn’t make it in time for dinner, but he did arrive just as dessert was being served.
The principal wasn’t prepared to meet with the protestors, nor was he prepared to take
their grievances to the staff council.
Use a comma to separate an introductory word, phrase, or clause from the

main clause.
No matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t prove their case against him.
Sarah, I want you to come here this instant.
Oh well, I suppose I can take math again next summer.
As a matter of fact, I have to leave today.
Because of his numerous escape attempts, he was put in solitary confinement.
Although I have never liked broccoli, I know it is good for me.
Use a comma to separate items in a series, including before the “and.”
I like apples, oranges, and kumquats.

I know who you are, where you’ve come from, and what your plans are.
My favorite children’s books are Where the Wild Things Are, The Lion, the Witch, and the
Wardrobe, Charlotte’s Web, and Alice in Wonderland.
I have come to detest slang expressions such as “right on,” “cool,” “uptight,” and
“awesome.” But the very worst is “whatever.”
Tarzan is noted for swinging through trees, wearing leopard skin, and saying, “Me
Tarzan. You Jane.”

Use a comma to set off expressions that interrupt.
We have, therefore, two alternative courses of action.

What I want you to understand, my friends, is that I intend to rid this country of
corruption and violence.
Brandon, in spite of all the things you have said about him, is still my best friend.
Tom, Tom, the piper’s son, stole a pig and away did run.
Princess Diana, Prince Charles’ former wife, was killed in a car accident.
Use a comma to set off a speaker’s direct words in dialogue.
Patrick Henry said, “Give me liberty, or give me death.”

“You don’t love me any more,” she cried melodramatically.
“With this hand,” he said, “I will supplant some of your teeth.”
“Shut up,” he explained.
Indirect speech, however, uses neither a comma nor quotation marks; indirect speech is
preceded by words such as “that” or “whether”:
She said that she would be home by midnight.

He asked whether I had ever used a computer before.
The teacher suggested that I try using more short sentences to build tension.
Dr. Martel explained that the infection was not contagious.
Use a comma to enclose places and dates which explain preceding places
and dates.
I come from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, but I have lived in Edmonton for thirty-five years.
They were married on June 3, 1991, and honeymooned in Niagara Falls.
The last soccer practice will be held on Thursday, May 27, 2000.
Use a comma to separate two or more adjectives when the adjectives

modify the noun equally.
Your essay is precise, economical, and lively.

Looming to my right was a tall, ugly building.

When, however, the first adjective modifies not only the noun but also the second
adjective, no comma is used between them.
On the next balmy day, get out your cross-country skis.

They insisted on charging a high monthly rental for the equipment.
He was reunited with his long-lost younger sister.
More generally, the comma is used to provide the natural pauses within a sentence.
To test your placement of commas, read aloud what you have written and listen to determine
whether the pauses sound comfortable. If you find yourself pausing too often, you perhaps
have too many commas. If you find yourself running out of breath, you perhaps need more.
Sometimes, however, the sense of a sentence depends on the placement of commas.

Clearly, the following sentences need commas. Can you put them in?
Instead of fifty five came.

When he finished eating the waitress May brought the bill.
There were hundreds of sandwiches—ham ham and egg egg and cottage cheese cheese
cheese and pickle and pickle.
One fancy use of the comma is to indicate that a word has been left out.
My daughter likes sports; my son, reading. (The comma stands for the implied word
“likes” in the second clause.)
Only last year he was enthusiastic and full of energy; today, apathetic and tired. (The
comma in the second clause implies the omitted words “he is.”)
2. The Semicolon
The semicolon is a sophisticated and slightly formal mark of punctuation, but it is essential
at times to correct comma splices. (See the section on comma splices.)
Use the semicolon between two main clauses not joined by a coordinate
conjunction (“and,” “but,” “or,” “nor,” “for,” and “yet”).
The semicolon is a much stronger mark of punctuation than the comma; in fact, it is
almost as strong as the period.
One tragedy is not getting what we want; another tragedy is getting it.
Word meanings often depend on their context; the word “bear” in one sentence, for
example, may not mean the same as the word “bear” in another sentence.

Use the semicolon between two main clauses joined by a conjunctive
adverb such as “however,” “moreover,” “therefore,” “in fact,” and so on.
I wanted to get tickets to the Rolling Stones concert; however, they were all gone by the
time I called.
To join two main clauses with a comma is called a comma splice; therefore, you need to
learn to use the semicolon.
Taking out one’s anger on a punching bag apparently does little to make people less
aggressive or angry; in fact, it intensifies aggressiveness.
Use the semicolon to separate listed items which themselves contain

commas.
Her best friends were Debbie Rankin, her sorority sister; John Rankin, Debbie’s brother;
and James White, the president of the class.
The lake is useful as a source of electrical energy, pouring its waters through the mighty
turbines; as a reservoir, holding back the floods from the swollen rivers; and as a place of
recreation, providing bathing, boating, and fishing.
The rented cabin, which had been advertised as being modern, had no lights or running
water; the beach, instead of being sandy, was a mass of rough rocks and broken bottles;
and the dock had been washed out by last winter’s storms.
3. The Colon
Never use a colon directly after a verb. The colon is always used to indicate something
is to follow.
Use the colon to introduce a longer quotation (more than one sentence, or
more than two lines of poetry).
Even though Shakespeare’s Richard III is a very wicked king, he develops a conscience
shortly before his death.
My conscience hath a thousand several tongues,

And every tongue brings in a several tale,
And every tongue condemns me for a villain.
…There is no creature loves me;
And if I die, no soul will pity me:
Nay, wherefore should they, since that I, myself,
Find in myself no pity to myself?

Use the colon to introduce a list except when the list begins with such words as
“are,” “were,” or “such as.”
An effective style has five characteristics: clarity, economy, appropriateness, variety, and
emphasis. (or The five characteristics of an effective style are clarity, economy...)
He had several major problems connected with grad: he had no date for the dance; he had
no money to buy a suit; and he wasn’t sure if he had enough credits to graduate.
Four major thinkers have shaped 20th Century perceptions: Karl Marx, Charles Darwin,
Sigmund Freud, and Albert Einstein.
Use the colon to introduce a statement that explains a previous statement.
These seat covers are the most durable kind: they are reinforced with double stitching
and covered with heavy plastic coating.
Many student writing errors are careless ones: students don’t proofread their final draft.
My mother gave me only one piece of advice: Never eat a banana on the street.
Use the colon to make a single word or statement stand out.
Casanova had one thing on his mind: seduction.

This much can be said: a principal is a lonely person.
4. The Dash
Though the dash should be used sparingly, it is still a vital mark of punctuation, particularly
in less formal writing.
Use the dash to indicate a sudden break in thought.
We shall need—let’s see, what shall we need?

He had got off scot-free—or so he thought.
No more argument or I’ll—

Use the dash to set off abrupt interruptions.
He was running—would you believe it—for President.

I always fall asleep—I just can’t help myself—in Somerville’s English class.
This story—if it can be called a story—is about my dog.
History begins when people begin to think of the passage of time in terms not of natural
processes—the cycle of the seasons, the human life-span—but of a series of specific events
in which people are consciously involved and which they can consciously influence.
Use the dash to prepare the reader for a climax (or anticlimax).
Hitler believes absolutely in what he says—at the moment.

Away with all this talk. Let’s have action—now!
5. The Hyphen
Use a hyphen to divide a word at the end of a line. The hyphen is always
placed at the end of the line, never at the beginning of the next one.
One-syllable words should never be divided.

Divisions should always come between syllables. (ab/o/rig/i/ne), chlo/ro/phyl)
Try to avoid dividing a word after one letter.
Use a hyphen to separate compound numbers.
seventy-five
ninety-nine
one hundred and sixty-four
Use a hyphen when two (or more) words are joined to form a single-word
adjective.
two-thirds majority after-school meeting

well-known writer door-to-door salesman
hard-working student second-storey room
end-over-end kick know-it-all expression
one-of-a-kind item bluish-green dress
bases-loaded home run half-empty glass

far-fetched theory thirteen-year-old student
long-lost friend not-to-be-missed moment
The hyphen is used in the preceding cases only if the adjective precedes (comes
before) the noun; if it comes after the noun, the hyphen is omitted.
The writer was well known. The staff had a meeting after school.
The ball was kicked end over end. The moment was not to be missed.
His glass is half empty. His theory is far fetched.
The student is thirteen years old.
Use the hyphen to separate prefixes from roots if two vowels or a small
letter and a capital will otherwise run together.
re-election un-American
semi-independent micro-organism
re-enlist anti-Semetism
Use the hyphen to avoid ambiguity.
He re-covered the chesterfield with velvet. (as opposed to: He recovered the VCR after
the robbery.)
Her re-creation of the setting was excellent. (as opposed to: Fishing provides peaceful
recreation.)
Use the hyphen with prefixes “ex-” “(meaning “former”), “self-,” and “all-.”
ex-wife ex-premier
self-made man self-adhesive
all-powerful all-Canadian championship

6. The Apostrophe
Although this little devil—the apostrophe—one day may go the way of the dodo bird, your
English teacher will still expect you to use it and use it correctly. If you do, she will regard
you as one of the elite.
When to use the apostrophe: (See also the earlier section on possessives, pages 45-
48.)
Use the apostrophe to indicate that a letter has been left out —in
contractions.
doesn’t they’re couldn’t

it’s gov’t one of ‘em
‘tis should’ve who’s
ne’er-do-well she’ll what’s
cat o’ nine tails grand ol’ man
Use the apostrophe to indicate possession (ownership).
Singular Possessives Plural Possessives
one boy’s glove boys’ locker room

a week’s wages two days’ rest
woman’s hat women’s rights
man’s basic nature men’s room
lady’s smile ladies’ tea party
audience’s applause fans’ cheers
Mr. Jones’ mustache the Joneses’ house
my mother-in-law’s pie the Supreme Court justices’ opinion
Ted and Jane’s house
Ted’s and Jane’s bicycles
mouse’s cheese mice’s cheese
Adam’s rib
Laertes’ father the Joneses’ dog
sun’s rays stars’ brilliance
school’s rules principals’ meeting
smoking’s dangerous effects candles’ light
child’s crib children’s books
book’s theme the Grimm Brothers’ fairy tales
Macbeth’s theme
dawn’s splendor

NOTE: Possessive pronouns never take apostrophes.
That one is yours.

The dog buried its bone.
Whose skates are these? They’re hers.
That car is his; this one is ours.
Theirs was an empty victory.
Use the apostrophe to form the plurals of letters, figures, and words-used-
as-words.
There are four “s’s” in “Mississippi.”

He was always rolling 7’s and 11’s.
She uses too many “and’s” in her writing.
Watch your “p’s” and “q’s.”
7. The Question Mark
Do not use a question mark in indirect questions.
She wants to know what the assignment is.

He asked that they pay close attention.
They were puzzled about how the burglar got in.
He asked whether they would attend the closing ceremony.
Use a question mark at the end of direct questions.
She asked, “Do you know what the assignment is?”

Do you think we will run out of gas?
Will you attend the closing ceremony?
Polite requests, phrased as questions, may be followed by either a period or

a question mark.
Would you mind closing the door. Or Would you mind closing the door?
Will you please help me with this zipper?

A question mark should be placed inside quotation marks when the
quotation is a question. Otherwise, it should be placed outside the quotation
marks.
Mr. Brown asked, “Did you snitch my alpine hat?”

Did you say, “Meet me at three”?
8. Quotation Marks
When To Use Quotation Marks:
Use quotation marks for dialogue, and a new paragraph for each new speaker.
Friends lunching at Pablo Picasso’s home in the south of France commented on the fact
that their host had none of his own pictures on the walls. “Why is that, Pablo?” one of them asked.
“Don’t you like them?”
“On the contrary,” replied the painter, “I like them very much. It’s just that I can’t afford
them.”
Use quotation marks to designate the titles of shorter works: essays, short
stories, poems, articles, and chapter headings.
“How the Animals and Birds Got Their Names,” by Charlie Mack, is an aboriginal legend
about how the world developed after the Great Flood.
Even though I am an adult, I still enjoy Shel Silverstein’s poem “My Hobby” about the
childhood joys of “spitting from the twenty-sixth floor.”
Use quotation marks to indicate foreign expressions (unless you use italics).
Job training has gradually become the “raison d’être” of universities.

Job training has gradually become the raison d’être of universities.
Use quotation marks for slang expressions in formal writing.
Students need constant “feedback” about their progress from their teachers.

Use quotation marks for words or phrases used in a special limited way (not
the usual way).
Environmentalists worry that we have become so accustomed to “fouling our own nest”
that we no longer notice the mess.
Use quotation marks for words (letters, numbers, etc.) being referred to as
words (letters, numbers, etc.).
“Murmuring” is the most popular word in the English language.

Students frequently leave out an “m” in “recommendation.”
My favourite name is “Megan.”
Decrease the number of “and’s” and “but’s” in your writing.
“K” is one of the harshest-sounding letters.
Even some eye doctors cannot spell “ophthalmologist.”
Despite what some teachers may have told you, you may begin a sentence with “because,”
“but,” or “and.”
Use quotation marks for the direct words quoted from any other source (an
interview, a book, a song lyric, a newspaper article, etc.); even so much as a phrase
must be acknowledged with quotation marks. Otherwise you may be accused of
plagiarizing.
Very few people can manage Rudyard Kipling’s virtue of “keep[ing their] head[s] when all
about [them] are losing theirs.”
Napoleon said that “ ‘impossible’ is a word found only in the dictionary of fools.”
Placement of Punctuation in Relation to Quotation Marks:
The comma and period always go inside the quotation marks.
“I hope you like artichokes,” he said, “because I have run out of asparagus.”
When you write, avoid clichés such as “harsh reality,” “since the beginning of time,” and
“last but not least.”

The semicolon, colon, question mark, exclamation point, and dash come
outside the quotation marks—unless the question mark, exclamation point, or dash
is part of the quotation itself.
Was Thoreau right when he said that “most men lead lives of quiet desperation”?
Juliet asked, “Wherefore art thou Romeo?”
Instead of asking themselves “What does my life mean?” people ask, “How do they get the
caramel in the Caramilk Bar?”
Use single quotation marks for a quotation within a quotation.
“Tell me,” the teacher asked, “who spoke the ‘to be or not to be’ soliloquy?”
She said, “The expression I hate most is ‘whatever’.”
Note: “Quotation(s)” is a noun and “quote” is a verb. Do not use “quote” as a noun.
Examples:
When you quote the direct words of someone else, you must use quotation marks.
People frequently quote from the Bible. (verb)
Quotations from the Bible are common in literature. (noun)
I have included several quotations in my essay to support my ideas. (noun)
One of my favourite quotations is Hart Crane’s statement that “one must be drenched in
words, literally soaked in them, to have the right ones form themselves into the proper
pattern at the right moment.”
When to include quotations:
Use quotations when something is particularly well-said or interesting and

therefore its inclusion will add vividness to your writing.
Poet e.e. cummings’ description of spring as “mudluscious” and “puddle-wonderful” is the

most vivid I have ever read.
And Viscount Grey’s comment, at the beginning of World War I is the saddest: “The lamps
are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.”
Use quotations when an issue is controversial, and you need to provide

supporting evidence for your generalizations.
Hitler’s political philosophy was that of the schoolyard bully. He saw society, like nature,
as “a mighty struggle between strength and weakness. . . where only force rules.”

Use quotations when your objective is to present what a variety of
different sources have to say on a given issue, as is frequently the case when
writing a balanced newspaper or magazine article.
Because technology has had such powerful and varied effects on our lives, people have
very mixed reactions to it. Some people, imagining a lifetime of leisure, rejoice that “one
machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men!” But a Chinese epigram says that “No
machine can do the work of one extraordinary man.” And John Kennedy believed that
“man is still the most extraordinary computer of all.”
Integrating quotations smoothly and correctly into your writing:
Generally speaking, use quotations as a supplement to your own writing, not as a

substitute for it. That is, do not use quotations to pad your essay or to avoid doing your
own thinking and composition.
If including a longer quotation (more than two sentences or more than two lines of
poetry), set the quotation apart by indenting the quotation at both margins and by single-
spacing. In this situation, you need not use quotation marks.
Mahatma Gandhi’s interpretation of civil disobedience was that:

Only those who are otherwise willing to obey the law...could have the right to
practise civil disobedience against unjust laws. It was quite different from the
behavior of outlaws, for it was to be practised openly and after ample notice. It
was not likely, therefore, to foster the habit of law-breaking or to create an
atmosphere of anarchy. And it was to be resorted to only when all other peaceful
means, such as petitions, had failed to right the wrong.
Most of the time, however, keep quotations as short as possible—a phrase or a single
sentence.
You may quote less than a complete thought as long as you do not change the
intent of the quotation and as long as you complete the grammatical construction
with your own words.
Both democratic and Communist countries have signed the United Nations charter,
agreeing to promote “higher standards of living, full employment, and conditions of
economic and social progress and development.”
In William Stafford’s poem “Fifteen,” the young speaker admires the “pulsing gleam, the
shiny flanks” of a motorcycle he finds overturned by the side of the road. For a moment,
he imagines himself “find[ing] the end of the road” to romantic adventure on that bike—
until a little further on he discovers the bruised reality of the rider with “blood on his
hand…[and] pale.”
Note: If a quotation is smoothly integrated, it is almost impossible to tell where your essay
leaves off and the quotation begins. This is the effect for which to strive.

You may leave out part of a quotation, again as long as you do not alter the intent
of what remains, and as long as what remains is grammatically complete. You
indicate that you have left out part of a quotation (a word, a phrase, a sentence, or a
whole paragraph) by using an ellipsis: three dots (...).
Original: We had thought that Snowball’s rebellion was caused by vanity and ambition.
But we were wrong, comrades. Do you know what the real reason was? Snowball was in
league with Farmer Jones from the very start! He was Jones’s secret agent all the time. It
has all been proven by documents which he left behind him and which we have only just
discovered.
—George Orwell
Quotation: In George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm, Squealer accuses Snowball of having
been “in league with Farmer Jones” all along. Squealer says this betrayal has “been
proven by documents…left behind and…only just discovered.”
You may make minor grammatical changes in a quotation in order to integrate the
quotation smoothly into your own sentence structure. Put square parentheses [ ] around
the changes you make.
Despite what Squealer says, “Snowball “[has not been] in league with Farmer Jones” at
all. (Here the change is in verb tense from past—“was”—to the present—“has been”;
and from positive to negative—“has not been”—to fit the conventions and argument
of the essay.)

Unit Seven: Refining Style
Conversation overheard between two students:
Marcie: Who’dya get for English this year?

Kevin: Mrs. Persnickety.
Marcie: Oh, you poor sucker! I had her last year. She always gave me C’s on
my essays because she didn’t like my style.
Kevin: Yeah, that’s always the way—you can’t be creative or anything. You
have to write in the style your teacher likes.
Now, while it is true that experienced writers eventually develop their own style, their own
unique way of saying things, beginning writers would do well to conform to the style their
teachers “like.” Contrary to rumour, what teachers like in student style does not vary wildly
from classroom to classroom. The majority of teachers agree on common characteristics of an
effective style: clarity, appropriateness, economy, variety, and emphasis. And these
characteristics in no way inhibit a unique voice.
Characteristics of an Effective Style:
1. Clarity and Simplicity
Expressing your ideas clearly must be your primary objective. Do not assume that
you must be fancy or obscure to impress your reader. Until you gain experience and
confidence in writing, strive for a direct, natural, simple style.
Choose words that say precisely what you mean:
a) Be sensitive to subtle differences in word denotations such as are found, for

example, between “empathy” and “sympathy,” or between “sympathy and “pity.”
b) Choose words that have appropriate connotations: distinguish among

“politician,” “statesman,” “leader,” and “demagogue”; or among “stingy,” “thrifty,” and
“economical.”
Notice the differences between these following pairs, for example:
She loves me: She loves me not:

Angela is careful with her money. Angela is cheap.
Danielle keeps secrets well. Danielle can’t keep her mouth shut..
Brett has a vivid imagination. Brett is a big liar.
The student smiled at me. The student smirked at me.
Jill is confident. Jill is conceited.
He is a famous statesman. He is a notorious political hack.
The media provide persuasive information. The media spread propaganda.
I need plenty of sleep. I am lazy.
The room was painted a vivid red. The room was painted a gaudy red.
The principal investigated the incident. The principal went snooping around.

We are allies. We are conspirators.
My science teacher is well-educated. My science teacher is a know-it-all.
c) Use specific, concrete language:
Vague: It was a time of very nice weather.

Specific: The sun shone all week.
Vague: Stephen has negative feelings about his disability around the other
students.
Specific: Stephen blushes when he notices the other students staring at the brace
on his leg.
Vague: Taylor was bored with her grandfather’s dull stories about his hard life.
Specific: Taylor fidgeted whenever she had to listen to her grandfather’s stories
about growing up on a wheat farm in Saskatchewan and having to feed
the chickens or walk three miles to school in a blizzard.
Avoid words which obscure meaning.
A writer’s diction (choice of words) should be as plain and simple as is consistent with a clear
and effective treatment of the subject. Often, when students try to write what they imagine
is “fancy” English, they simply sound affected. Use words with which you feel comfortable.
Naturalness is an asset in writing.
a) Avoid showing off with “big” words when simple words will do the job. Do not write
“predecease” when you mean “die before,” or “I have endeavored to obtain the required
information” when all you need is “I have tried to find out what you want to know.” Here
is a list of some “big” words that can easily be replaced by more humble ones:
Big Words Humble Words Big Words Humble Words
accumulate gather initial first

acquaint tell locality place
additional added maintenance upkeep
anticipate foresee materialize appear
approximately about modification change
assistance aid objective aim
commence begin obligation debt
commitment promise optimum best
construct build participate take part
contribute give proceed go
demonstrate show purchase buy
encounter meet reimburse pay
endeavor try subsequent next/later
equivalent equal transmit send

b) Avoid vague, general words, words that lack precision such as “nice,” “good,” “bad.”
Here, for example, are some alternatives for “nice”:
pleasant generous polite gracious warm-hearted

friendly honest fair magnanimous charming
decent unselfish well-mannered helpful sympathetic
amiable trustworthy outgoing accepting welcoming
good-natured altruistic gregarious warm sensitive
kind courteous lively cooperative compassionate
Mike is an altruistic person who, although he is not wealthy, always gives what he can to help
those in need.
My teacher is a fair marker.
Terry, a naturally gregarious person, is always the first one to welcome a newcomer to the
group.
c) Avoid jargon. Don’t say, “He was maladjusted to his peer group.” Say, “He couldn’t
seem to make friends with people his own age.” A dentist who asks her patient the
following question, for example, is unlikely to get anything but a dazed response:
Have you noticed any temporomandibular joint dysfunction or malocculusions?
d) Avoid euphemisms. Don’t write, “He passed away.” Say, “He died.” Call a prostitute a
“prostitute,” not “a lady of the night.” The company didn’t “declare people redundant” or
“downsize”; it fired people.
e) Avoid mixing metaphors: “He pulled up his socks, put his shoulder to the wheel, and
his nose to the grindstone.” I advise students: “One metaphor per customer!”
The following quotation from Logan Pearsall Smith maintains a consistent metaphor:
What things there are to write, if one could only write them! My mind is full of gleaming
thought; gay moods, and mysterious, moth-like meditations hover in my imagination,
fanning their painted wings. But always the rarest, those streaked with azure and the
deepest crimson, flutter away beyond my reach.
Write clear sentences.
a) Use simple sentences for important ideas. Often, such sentences are clearer and
more emphatic.
As a child, I always had more crayons than my brother. To me, crayons were just as
good as paper money, if not better. After all, what can you draw with a five-dollar bill?
Yes, sir, my collection by far outdid my brother’s puny shredded bits of wax and paper.
Why, I’ll bet mine was the biggest and brightest set in the entire known house. Crayons
were my everything.

I had Singapore Sunset, Chocolate Fudge Brown, Deep Forest Green, Gold, Silver,
colours that you only see when you squeeze your eyes tight, and, oh yes, even ones that
God himself hadn’t invented yet. With my box, I could colour almost anything, anywhere
and anytime. He couldn’t, though. He had only black, dark green, brown, blue—really
drab tints. He could not compete with my dazzling works of art.
—student sample
b) Make the precise relationship between ideas clear.
Not clear: People are insecure, and they often act defensively.
Better: Because people are insecure, they often act defensively. (makes more
precise the cause and effect relationship between the two ideas)
Not clear: Come early, and I will give you a ride.

Better: If you come early, I will give you a ride. (reveals the conditional
relationship between the two)
Not clear: I washed the dishes. He scrubbed the floor.

Better: After I washed the dishes, he scrubbed the floor. (indicates a sequential
time relationship)
Or: While I washed the dishes, he scrubbed the floor. (indicates a
simultaneous time relationship)
c) Place modifiers carefully to avoid ambiguity. Place modifiers next to the words
they modify.
Not clear: Shirley dumped the food right into the garbage can on top of her tray.
Better: Shirley dumped the food on top of her tray right into the garbage can.
Not clear: He only had a face a mother could love.

Better: He had a face only a mother could love.
Not clear: The woman gave the beggar soup full of pity for the man’s plight.
Better: The woman, full of pity for the beggar’s plight, gave the man soup.
Not clear: The fire was extinguished before much damage was done by the
firemen.
Better: The firemen extinguished the fire before it did much damage.
d) Use clear pronoun references to avoid ambiguity.
Not Clear: After Essex’s head was chopped off, he put it in a basket.
Better: After chopping off Essex’s head, the executioner put it in a basket.
Not Clear: In the movie The Dead Poets’ Society, it says that students should “seize
the day.”
Better: The teacher in the movie The Dead Poets’ Society encourages his
students to “seize the day.”
Not Clear: His father told John that he would soon need to shave.
Better: His father said that John would soon need to shave.

“This” is a particularly troublesome pronoun, particularly when it comes at the beginning of
a sentence.
Cassandra, only fifteen, is both attracted to David and repelled by him. This suggests she
does not yet know what her values are.
Since the first sentence contains several possible referents for “this,” the antecedent of “this”
is unclear. To avoid the ambiguity, follow “this” by a noun that makes the reference
clear.
These mixed feelings suggest she does not yet know what her values are.
e) Use clear punctuation.
Not Clear: After all he had done what was expected.

Better: After all, he had done what was expected.
Not Clear: He slaughtered the cow and his mother-in-law packaged the meat for
freezing.
Better: He slaughtered the cow, and his mother-in-law packaged the meat for
freezing.
Not Clear: Thou shalt go thou shalt return

Never by war shalt thou perish.
Better: Thou shalt go; thou shalt return; Notice how the meaning
Never by war shalt thou perish. changes with the change
in punctuation—a
OR Thou shalt go; thou shalt return difference between life and
Never; by war thou shalt perish. death.
f) Avoid the passive voice when no clear agent (doer) of the action exists; instead, use
the active voice, one making clear who is doing the action.
Not clear: The questionnaire was sent out to all the schools. (Who has sent the
questionnaire is not clear.)
Better: The superintendent sent the questionnaire to all the schools. ( The
active verb “sent” has a clear agent: “the superintendent.”)
Not clear: It is decided that the boys will build a fire. (Who has decided is
unclear.)
Better: The boys decide to build a fire
(See additional notes on the passive verb in the section on verbs, page 4.)

2. Appropriateness
“Appropriate” means “suited to” or “proper for” a particular purpose, occasion, or audience.
Just as you will change your style of clothes depending on the occasion, so you must adjust
your writing or speaking style for a particular audience, occasion, or purpose. What is
appropriate style in casual conversation may not be appropriate style in writing. Or what is
appropriate style in a friendly letter or an informal essay may not be appropriate style in a
business letter or a social studies term paper. For this reason, a locker room speech will
differ in style from a graduation speech; or a children’s story, from an adult’s story; or an
advertisement, from a scientific treatise.
Three levels of appropriateness:
a. Casual style is appropriate in letters to friends, in diaries and journals, in composing

notes tacked to the refrigerator, in graffiti scrawled on washroom walls. In casual style,
anything goes: “I’ll meetcha later. Stay cool.”
b. Informal style is appropriate for dialogue in stories, for making notes, for writing a
personal essay with a conversational tone. The writing should be essentially correct, but
you may use:
• contractions: don’t, it’s, should’ve
• abbreviations: TV, Phys. Ed., Sci. Fi.
• some slang: uptight, hassle, psyched out
• conversational beginnings: “Well, anyway, as I was saying. . .”
• chatty digressions: “It took me around an hour to get my act together. Y’know
how it is: shaving the stray hairs lurking in the peach fuzz, checking for B.O.,
changing my shirt three times to get just the right knock-‘em-dead look. . .”
• the personal pronouns: I, we, and you
The following paragraphs provide an example of “informal style.” The casual tone is set
in the first sentence with the word “kids” and the use of the contraction “don’t.” Other
infomalities are slang words such as “awesome,” “cool,” and “humungous” and the
conversational tone of the personal pronouns “I” and “you” or words like “trashy” or
“wedgie” and abbreviations like “TV.”
Like most kids, I don’t remember much from junior high. It whizzed past me like the
spitballs so often thrown behind frustrated teachers’ backs. The only classes I do recall
are my grade eight and nine social studies. On the first day of school in grade eight, I
wandered sluggishly into my new social room. It was not plain like the other rooms in the
school. It was awesome. “Instead, a humungous poster of Lenin blanketed one wall
accompanied by newspaper articles and editorial cartoons. On the teacher’s desk were
cool bumper stickers reading “Ban all nuclear bomb testing” and “Greenpeace.” In the
corner beside the desk was a picket sign that read “Teachers on Strike! We demand better
students!” I was just getting used to the room when in walked the teacher.
The kids in the class were acting like typical grade eights: noisy, restless, and rude.
Without a word, the new teacher seized an old dented-up baseball bat from behind his
desk and slammed a nearby table. The class went silent, and that was the first time I met
Mr. Smith. I think all kids have that one special teacher who makes a difference, the one
who actually penetrates your thick skull and implants something in your brain. For me, it
was Mr. Smith.

I look back with embarrassment on my earlier years. The years before Mr. Smith. I
recall a level of selfishness that I find quite repulsive now. I would pout when money
wasn’t handed out, and I would demand that the inhuman conditions I lived under be
lifted so that I could stay up later and come home whenever I wished. I was not willing to
read anything besides trashy horror novels and comic books. I had no respect for anything
new or different, anything that might shatter my shallow views of the world. I thought I
knew everything and could do anything. My friends and I formed a little clique which
became responsible for a variety of foolish deeds. At school we would extort money, food,
cassette tapes, and cigarettes. The penalty for failing to give us something was verbal
harassment, a wedgee, or a good snowballing. In winter we pounded cars with snowballs,
and in summer we threw crabapples and eggs. I was totally oblivious to the rest of the
world. I was ignorant, self-centered, and foolish.
The first time I realized how immature I was was in Mr. Smith’s class. I learned
much more than social studies. Instead of doing work sheets and monotonous material
from the text, we had discussions. Discussions! In a grade eight class! In most of my other
classes, attempts at discussions were futile; however, in Mr. Smith’s class, we would all
listen intently and actually offer our own opinions. We went through discussions ranging
from poverty to politics, from the environment to communism, from nuclear war to music.
Once Mr. Smith played an ancient copy of John Lennon’s “Imagine” on his rickety old
turntable and then went through the lyrics and explained the controversy behind them.
When he discussed human rights and told us about horrible conditions in other
countries, he put everything into a new perspective. Because he would address both sides
of an issue, he let us come to our own conclusions. In this process, he made me aware of
the world and myself. It was as though I was being awakened from a daze every time I
entered his classroom. I started to think about things besides going to the mall and
watching T.V. I started to read newspapers and actual literature. I read George Orwell,
J.D. Salinger, and Thomas More instead of Stephen King and Dare Devil.
Mr. Smith was the spark plug that ignited my maturity. He has since retired. I like to
imagine he’s grown long hair and moved to Vancouver to join Greenpeace. I kind of want
to thank him, but I suspect just teaching was thanks enough for him.
—student sample
c. Formal style is appropriate for research papers, reports, movie and book reviews,
business letters, résumés, literary analysis and criticism, social studies and science
papers. “Formal” does not imply stiffness; it does, however, mean perfectly correct
grammar, spelling, punctuation, and format. Formal style may also observe certain
conventions:
• avoidance of “I” (and in most situations “you”—unless you are giving directions)
• avoidance of contractions
• avoidance of abbreviations
• avoidance of slang, colloquialisms
• avoidance of obsolete or archaic words

Although the following paragraph is written in “formal style,” it uses clear, simple
language and is free of the pretentiousness that students too often confuse with
formality.
An “ideal” is a principle or value, in the sense that the church sets ideals or guides
such as the Ten Commandments for people to follow. An ideal is a standard against which
behavior or achievements are measured; one ideal of art, for example, is the concept of
artistic unity: that all details work together to reinforce a central idea. Or an ideal may be
an image of perfection or model to be imitated, in the sense that we hold up Mother
Theresa as a model of selflessness. An ideal may be widely held by a society—such as the
ideal of tolerance or human rights; or it may be representative of individual aspirations—
such as Ulysses’ vision of the ideal as an endless pursuit of knowledge.
Appropriateness is a matter not only of language usage, but also of tone. “Tone” is the
implied attitude of a writer (or speaker) toward his subject matter and his audience. Again,
an appropriate tone is dependent on purpose, occasion, and audience. Every adolescent is
familiar with the varied tones in which “Oh, Mother!” can be expressed—and probably
equally familiar with the directive “Don’t use that tone with me, young lady!” That is, tone
conveys our feelings, and even when our words may be inoffensive, our tone has the power to
insult or wound. Saying “Would you mind shutting the door?” conveys a very different
attitude than “Shut that door!” and is likely to produce a different response.
Essentially, tone should be reasonably consistent (not shifting, for example, back and forth
between seriousness and whimsy), but it must vary with the circumstances. A sarcastic tone
is inappropriate when writing a business letter or when offering condolences. A humourous
tone would be offensive when discussing the Holocaust. A formal tone is inappropriate in a
dialogue between two eleven-year-olds. A casual tone is inappropriate in an architect’s
report. A condescending tone is never appropriate. At best, an inappropriate tone will
produce humour when none is intended; at worst, it will offend the reader or audience and
thus be counter-productive. The following examples illustrate such unwanted effects:
• Old Willie Shakespeare’s Hamlet was a real uptight guy who couldn’’t seem to get his
act together after his old man kicked the bucket. He was always mooning around the
castle mouthing off at his Mom because she had tied the knot with some jerk named
Claudius.
• To Who It May Concern:
I just thought I’d drop you a line and ask if maybe I could apply for that job of English
teacher I saw in last night’s Journal. I went to university a few years back and took
education but I never got hired. I been working as a scumtuckler since then but it’s
hard work and none too regular so I thought I’d give teaching another shot. I like
poetry and all that stuff, you know, and think teaching’ll be kind of fun.
In the first example, the student wrote satire when what was required was serious critical
analysis; in the second, the job applicant, needless to say, returned to scumtuckling.

3. Economy
Economical writing says as much as possible in the fewest words. Therefore, one goal of
revision is the pruning of unnecessary words. The following passage, for example, could be
cut by two-thirds:
In my opinion, I have to say that a clutter of too many words is the disease of writing
in this country. The secret of really good writing is for the writer to strip down each
and every single sentence to its very cleanest components of which it is made up. He
should remove every extra word that isn’t needed or useful. He should prune and cut
out every single word that actually serves little or no function or purpose. These
extra words only serve to weaken the very strength of a sentence written by a weak,
incompetent writer who is inexperienced in writing.
Different varieties of wordiness:
a. Emptiness—An empty sentence is one that says nothing; one that argues in a circle,
saying, in effect, that “a rose is a rose is a rose...”; or which states the obvious.
The basketball team won by scoring more baskets.

The reason that I like the Edmonton Eskimos is that they are my favourite team.
I found the book interesting because it had so many interesting events which I found
fascinating.
A bully is a person who bullies others.
People frequently go to school to learn.
b. Padding—A padded composition injects extra words for the sole purpose of filling space.
The teacher said that she wanted a 500-word essay, and I only have 498... What’ll I do?...
Well, I can add an “It” to the first sentence...and a “that” to the third...That should satisfy
her.
Contrary to rumour, however, teachers—or any other readers—do not weigh or measure
an essay; they read it—and are of course too clever to be fooled either by padding or by
that other popular student device for filling space: extra-large handwriting or
print.
Examples:
• In my opinion, I think women, especially those of the female gender, should revolt in a
revolution so that they can get more rights for women because women don’t have many
human rights now at the present historical point in time. Of course, this is just what I
think, but every person is entitled to his or her own opinion and views on this subject and
can reach their own conclusion on the topic of women’s rights.
• When the boys ran away, the reason for their running was that they were scared and
frightened. Considering that they had always been brought up and raised since the time
they were little children in a very sheltered, secure, safe, and protected environment,
where there weren’t any threats to their well-being, these feelings of insecurity were new
feelings and emotions for them to feel that they hadn’t experienced before then at all.

You should note, however, that not all padding is deliberate; some is the result of
sloppy revision. An anonymous letter writer said that he was sorry his letter was longer
than usual; that he hadn’t had “time to write a short letter.” Pruning takes time.
Also, not all repetition is bad; used selectively, for emphasis, repetition can be a
powerful device.
We shall not flag or fail. We shall fight in France; we shall fight on the sea and
oceans; we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air...we
shall fight on the beaches; we shall fight on the landing grounds; we shall fight in the
fields and in the streets; we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.
—Winston Churchill
The previous passage is much less effective when the repetition is eliminated.
We shall fight with confidence and strength on the sea, beaches, landing grounds,
fields, streets, and hills without surrendering.
Similarly, when Ralph Klein first ran for election as premier, his slogan was “He listens.
He cares,” not “he listens and cares.”
c. Overloading—An overloaded sentence is one carrying too many ideas, mixing important
with unimportant, relevant with irrelevant. It lacks clear focus.
The Canadian government is still allowing hunters to kill baby seals, because the demand
for their skins is so great, and when I watched the TV program and watched the hunters
shooting baby seals from a helicopter, I got sick to my stomach because I am a fairly
sensitive person and I don’t like violence, and TV is becoming far too violent, especially
police shows.
This sentence is so overloaded that, by the end, both the writer and the reader have lost
track of the initial subject.
Techniques for Reducing Wordiness:
Avoid redundancies.
Instead of beginning a sentence with “In my opinion, I think...” just say “In my opinion” or “I
think”—but not both. Better yet, just state your opinion without any preamble.
Redundancies More Economical

− feelings and emotions feelings
− trailing behind in the first quarter trailing in the first quarter
− courageous and brave brave
− false illusions illusions
− childishly immature immature
− retreat back/proceed forward retreat/proceed
− remember back to when... remember when...
− two twins twins
− combined together combined
− important essentials essentials

− naive and innocent naive
− goals and dreams goals
− fellow classmates classmates
− completely unanimous unanimous
− ten in number ten
− yellow in colour yellow
− visible to the eye/audible to the ear visible/audible
− round in shape/tall in height round/tall
− first priority priority
− seven P.M. in the evening seven P.M.
− in the month of February in February
− in the near vicinity near
− the book which was written by the author the book by
Reduce a clause to a phrase.
Wordy: The man who was wearing the striped vest attracted attention.
Better: The man in the striped vest attracted attention.
Wordy: Because he arrived late, he found himself locked out.

Better: Arriving late, he found himself locked out.
Reduce a clause or a phrase to a single word.
Wordy: Bill, who is my cousin, came to visit us when he was on holiday last
summer.
Better: Bill, my cousin, visited us last summer during his holiday.
Wordy: The students welcomed the new teacher, who had a sense of humour and
encouraged them, because they felt humiliated by their previous teacher.
Better: The students, humiliated by their previous teacher, welcomed the new
teacher’s humour and encouragement.
Combine sentences.
Wordy: Most parents are thankful their kids crave candy. They are thankful their kids
do not crave alcohol or drugs. They prefer their kids to rot their teeth rather
than their brains.
Better: Most parents are thankful their kids crave candy, which will rot their teeth,
instead of alcohol or drugs, which will rot their brains.
Or: Most parents are thankful their kids are only rotting their teeth with candy
instead of rotting their brains with alcohol or drugs.

Wordy: Many people think of archeological expeditions as fascinating treasure hunts to
uncover the glories of the past. They think of discoveries like King Tut’s tomb
or the Dead Sea Scrolls. However, such rare discoveries mislead them.
Better: Because of rare discoveries like King Tut’s tomb or the Dead Sea Scrolls, many
people mistakenly believe archeological expeditions are fascinating treasure
hunts for past glories.
Eliminate “There is (are)” and “It is” whenever possible.
Wordy: There are three main reasons for student failure, and these are ignorance,
laziness, and procrastination.
Better: Three main reasons for student failure are ignorance, laziness, and
procrastination.
Wordy: There was a man peeking in my window.

Better: A man peeked in my window.
Wordy: It is during the last act that the detective usually solves the mystery.
Better: In the last act, the detective usually solves the mystery.
Integrate examples smoothly and succinctly.
Wordy: One example to illustrate the point is that he constantly thinks of death.
Better: For example, he constantly thinks of death.
Wordy: My grandfather chops wood constantly. He has a woodpile that should last him
ten years. This reveals that he needs to keep busy. This also illustrates that he
does not want to admit he is growing old.
Better: My grandfather’s chopping enough wood to last him about ten years reveals
both his need to keep busy and his unwillingness to admit he is growing old.
Or: To keep busy, and to avoid admitting he is growing old, my grandfather
constantly chops wood, building a pile big enough to last him about ten years.
Wordy: Many of our modern musical instruments date back thousands of years. One
example is the clarinet. It was first developed in ancient Egypt. Another
example is the trumpet. It was also developed in Egypt around the same time
as the clarinet. A third example is the oboe.
Better: Many of our modern musical instruments, such as the clarinet, the oboe, and
the trumpet, were developed in Egypt thousands of years ago.
Choose precise verbs.
Wordy: He stopped at the door, not certain he should enter.

Better: He hesitated at the door.
Wordy: He was a clumsy person without much coordination.

Better: He stumbled and bumped his way through life.

Wordy: The crowd was not very happy with the referee’s call.
Better: The crowd hissed the referee’s call.
4. Variety
a. Vary your diction.
If you do not already own one, buy a thesaurus. Then you will have a source for
alternatives to overworked (and imprecise) words such as “good.”
Choose precise words.
Dull and Imprecise More Vivid

He is a good host. He is a gracious host.
He is a good Liberal. He is a staunch Liberal.
He is a good son. He is a dutiful son.
He has a good business. He has a lucrative business.
He is a good teacher. He is a competent teacher.
He is a good liar. He is a facile liar.
He is a good man. He is a principled man.
He is a good leader. He is a humane leader.
He has a good record. He has an unblemished record.
At the same time, be warned: Not all words listed as synonyms in a thesaurus can be
used interchangeably. As you can see from the preceding synonyms for “good,” the
appropriate word depends on the context. The connotations of synonyms can vary widely.
You would not say, for example, that a well-behaved child was a “competent” child, nor
would you call your good friend “lucrative.” No “mom” wants to be perceived as merely a
“female parent,” for example. Nor does a “thrifty” man want to be considered “cheap.”
And most of us want to be considered “young,” not “infantile” or “immature” or “juvenile.”
We want to be “normal,” not “average” or “mediocre.” We seek to be “unique” or
“individual” but not “weird” or “odd.”
Avoid clichés—trite, oft-repeated expressions.
last but not least each and every

the more the merrier in this day and age
hungry as a bear slowly but surely
life is not a bowl of cherries it goes without saying
life has its ups and downs deep down inside
make the world a better place in which to live in today’s society/today’s world
put your nose to the grindstone in life/ as we go through life
beating around the bush lifestyle
fond memories bottom line
if I had to do it over the exact opposite
to the bitter end live life to the fullest
many and varied mixed feelings

few and far between goal-oriented
first and foremost self-esteem
necessary evil be there for me
mixed blessing be his own person
sadder but wiser input
tired but happy in actual fact
poor but proud surf the net
sigh of relief crack of dawn
every walk of life acid test
like a duck out of water tower of strength
do your own thing life is what you make it
in the long run achieve your full potential
harsh reality two sides to every question
since the beginning of time male chauvinism
more than meets the eye strong as an ox
weaker sex/the fair sex from the bottom of my heart
downsize stakeholder groups
feedback special interest groups
victim of the week doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know
silent majority
Such clichés make your writing appear stale. Also avoid overused words such as words
“very,” “nice,” “positive,” “negative,” “good,” and “bad.”
b. Vary your sentences.
Vary sentence beginnings.
Begin occasionally with a subordinate clause.
Usual order: He came to the party even though he was reluctant.

Variation: Although he was reluctant, he came to the party.
Usual order: Miss Nesbitt seldom punished Tim for his misdeeds because she found
him amusing.
Variation: Because she found him amusing, Miss Nesbitt seldom punished Tim for
his misdeeds.
Begin occasionally with a phrase.
Usual order: The murderer’s greatest torment came from the depths of his own guilty
conscience.
Variation: From the depths of his guilty conscience came the murderer’s greatest
torment.
Usual order: We cowered under the bridge, terrified by the approaching footsteps.
Variation: Terrified by the approaching footsteps, we cowered under the bridge.

Begin occasionally with a transition word or phrase.
Not long after…

Therefore…
For a while…
Not only was he…
Consequently…
After... (See the extensive list of such words in the transition section later in the
guidebook, pages 135-137.)
Quite often, simple and unexpected experiences are more moving and memorable than
those experiences which are supposed to be significant. In particular, I cherish the
memory of a simple gesture of kindness that I once observed during an otherwise
mechanical day at school. Instead of paying attention to the drone of a lesson on figures
of speech, I glanced out the window. There I saw a blind man trying to cross the road. He
must have stood at the edge of the curb for five minutes. During that time, not one
motorist even slowed his wicked machine for this helpless old man. Then suddenly, the
most unlikely of knights appeared, a motorcyclist who fit the stereotypical appearance of
a rugged “biker” as if he were out of a book: black leather pants and studded jacket, beer-
belly, heavy beard, dark glasses, no helmet. But unlike the respectable people in their
sedans and mini-vans, the biker stopped his roaring beast beside the old man. This
rugged and mean-looking biker dismounted from his bike, and gently taking the blind
man’s outstretched hand, guided him across the seemingly impassable street. For as
long as I live, I will remember this kind gesture because it occurred at the most unlikely
time with the most unlikely of characters.
—student sample
Begin with a word you want to emphasize.
Usual order: The rain began suddenly.

More emphatic: Suddenly the rain began.
Usual order: Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is an idiotic movie.

More emphatic: “Idiotic” is the only word for the movie Attack of the Killer
Tomatoes.
Vary sentence structure.
The sentence type most overworked by students is the compound sentence (main
clauses joined by “and,” “but,” “for,” “yet,” “so,” “or,” etc.) Nothing is wrong with a compound
sentence—unless this structure is repeated frequently. In revision, therefore, you need to
concentrate on including some complex and simple sentences as well. None of the sentence
types can be used indiscriminately or exclusively. Each must be chosen because it suits the
ideas presented and the overall style and sound of the composition (see section in Handbook
on sentence types, pages 66-68).
a) Short simple sentences are clear and emphatic.
• They are useful when you want an idea to stand out.
− His father had died when he was three and his mother when he was ten. His
only sister had moved back to Pakistan with her husband, and his girlfriend
had broken their engagement a week ago. He was alone.
− I came. I saw. I conquered

• A string of short simple sentences may also be useful in building suspense.
The clock strikes twelve. In the flickering light, a wild-haired man bends
intently over his work. Occasionally, he emits a low moan, sometimes a sharp
curse. Hopelessness is in his every gesture. But he continues his task. An hour
passes. Then two. In a sudden outburst, he throws a tangle of wires and metal
fragments to the floor. He slumps over, a defeated man. Great sobs wrack his
frame. Mattel’s some-assembly-required-super-safe-needs-only-two-double A-
batteries miniature electric chair would never be finished in time for Christmas
morning.
Every sentence in the previous paragraph is a simple sentence; nevertheless, the

sentence length varies. Without such variation, your prose will sound juvenile.
William Shakespeare wrote a play. The play is Romeo and Juliet. It is about
two young lovers. The lovers’ families are feuding. They will not let the young
lovers marry. Romeo and Juliet are heartbroken. They come up with a plan.
The plan backfires. The lovers both die. It is very sad. See the audience cry.
b) Complex (and compound-complex) sentences are useful to show the

relationship between a more important idea (main clause) and a less important
idea (subordinate clause).
Weak connection: I could not understand math, and so I seldom did my homework,
and the teacher became very frustrated.
Better: Because I could not understand math, I seldom did my
homework, which frustrated the teacher.
Weak connection: John was normally a calm man, but occasionally he got angry,
and then he lost all control.
Better: Although John was normally a calm man, when he got angry, he
lost all control.
Weak connection: Robert Redford is best known as an excellent actor, and he is also
a skilled director.
Better: Robert Redford, although he is best known as an excellent actor,
is also a skilled director.
c) Compound sentences are useful when you want two ideas to stand as equal in
importance.
− Give me liberty, or give me death. —Patrick Henry

− Society produces rogues, and education makes one rogue cleverer than another.
—Oscar Wilde
− I don’t care what you think. I like being me, and I’m not going to change.

Vary sentence length.
Although professional writers, who have developed their own styles, tend to favor one
sentence type over another, virtually all vary their sentence length. In the last century,
writers made more frequent use of long sentences than do today’s writers. Nevertheless,
writers past or present have broken the monotony of their prose by variations in the length of
sentences.
Once you have written your rough draft and are ready for revision, read your composition
aloud—to hear the sound of your prose. When read aloud, monotonous sentence structure
will sound monotonous; awkwardness will sound awkward. The following two examples are
taken from separate sections in Joseph Conrad’s short story “Youth.” Although Conrad grew
up speaking Polish and did not learn English until he was an adult, he was a superb stylist.
Notice the variation in the sentence length, variation designed to suit the content.
This first example describes the frantic attempts of a crew of seamen to put out a fire in the
hold of their ship. Note how the short sentences complement the excitement of their activity.
We tried everything. We made an attempt to dig down to the fire. No good, of

course. No man could remain more than a minute below. Mahon, who went first,
fainted there, and the man who went to fetch him out did likewise. We lugged them
out on deck. Then I leaped down to show how easily it could be done...
This second example, from the same story, is the older man’s nostalgic recollection of the
brief glamour of his youth aboard that ship. Note the very different sentence
structure—particularly the length of sentences—designed to re-create the romantic
glow of memory. Read the two passages aloud, and you will see the dramatic effect that
sentence structure and length have on the mood and tone of writing.
Oh the glamour of youth! Oh the fire of it, more dazzling than the flames of the
burning ship, throwing a magic light on the wide earth, leaping audaciously to the
sky, presently to be quenched by time, more cruel, more pitiless, more bitter than
the sea—and like the flames of the burning ship surrounded by an impenetrable
night... I remember my youth and the feeling that will never come back any more—
the feeling that I could last forever, outlast the sea, the earth, and all men; the
deceitful feeling that lures us on to joys, to perils, to love, to vain effort—to death;
the triumphant conviction of strength, the heat of life in the handful of dust, the
glow in the heart that with every year grows dim, grows cold, grows small, and
expires—and expires, too soon, too soon—before life itself.

5. Emphasis
a. Make your diction emphatic.
Wherever possible, substitute concrete words for abstract words, or use specific
details to illustrate abstractions.
The cartoonist Albert Schultz illustrates this principle when he fills his book about that
most abstract of all conditions, happiness, with concrete examples such as “happiness is
a warm puppy” or “happiness is having a candy bar in the freezer.”
Concrete language creates the vivid imagery of poetry: thus e. e. cummings does
not talk of spring as beautiful or invigorating; he describes it as “mudluscious” and
“puddle-wonderful.”
Even in a book as dry-sounding as The Lessons of History, Will Durant chooses vivid
language to illustrate the precariousness of existence.
At any moment a comet may come too close to the earth and set our little globe
turning topsy-turvy in a hectic course, or choke its men and fleas with fumes or
heat; or a fragment of the smiling sun may slip off tangentially—and fall upon us in
a wild embrace ending all grief and pain.
In a famous writing guidebook The Elements of Style, the authors, E.B. White and
William Strunk suggest to the writer that his “reader is in serious trouble most of the
time, a man floundering in a swamp, and that it is the duty of anyone attempting to
write English to drain this swamp quickly and get his man up on dry ground, or at least
throw him a rope.”
The rope to which White refers is concreteness.
Use concrete details to illustrate generalizations.
“Specific” and “general” are relative terms; that is, “food” is general, “meat” is specific,
“chicken” is more specific still, and “chicken cordon bleu” is very specific indeed. Specific
words not only make writing clearer; they also add personality.
Consider what this student does with the lacklustre statement “I was feeding the birds”:
I was throwing corn kernels at a flurry of feathers and webbed feet.
Or what this student does with “When I grew up, life became duller”:
I remember when sand was magic stuff from which to build glimmering castles
surrounded by watery turquoise moats. Now sand gets under my nails, sticks to
my suntan oil, and makes the sheets scratchy.

Specific detail also makes writing more convincing; that is, specific detail provides
the support for generalizations; such detail also lends personality to writing.
The following student composition illustrates the lively effect of even very ordinary
detail:
Patterns surround us at every turn: patterns in society, patterns in nature. But

the most important patterns are those of the individual, the patterns he cherishes
as uniquely his own.
Take, for example, the patterns of habit. If I don’t lie down in bed with two
pillows, one hard and one soft, with the hard pillow placed directly on top of the soft
at a forty-five degree angle, slumber is impossible. This is a pattern that has
ensured many a pleasant night’s sleep; a pattern, which, if broken, has devastating
consequences. Sometimes, in alien surroundings, I have been deprived of my two
pillows. The result was a short-tempered, obnoxious insomniac. Now I have learned
to carry my two pillows wherever I go.
Another pattern I value is the guaranteed consistency of my brown bag lunch.
It gives me a great sense of security to know that each day when I awaken from my
two-pillow slumber that my lunch awaits on the kitchen table. Not just any lunch,
but a nutritionally balanced source of energy packed with tender loving care by that
most selfless of persons: Mummy. It gives me a great deal of security to know that I
need not look inside to fathom the contents of the bag. It will always contain a ham
sandwich (cracked wheat, both sides buttered), two sliced and peeled carrots, an
orange (rind pre-cut for ease of removal), and two chocolate chip cookies, each one
fresh in its own little plastic envelope. This hearty meal is guaranteed to keep me
fit and ensure the proper operation of the digestive tract. It also lets me know
Mummy is there.
I did, however, once have a very frightening and disturbing experience with my
lunch. One day I looked inside and found, not ham, but lettuce, cheese, and tomato
on white bread; and not chocolate chip cookies, but cake. In a fit of panic, I
immediately called Mummy to see if my fears of mid-life crisis were to be
confirmed. When I asked her in a jerky voice if everything was all right, she replied,
“Yes, I just thought I might give you a little change, a little treat to show you that I
appreciate you.” I thanked her for the thought, thanked her to refrain in future
from changing my lunch; and as I hung up the phone, thanked God for the pattern I
value most—the pattern of maternal love.
In the following example, the student writer reveals why it is better to show than to
tell by illustrating her feelings of disappointment on the Christmas morning when she
first learned there is no Santa Claus:
I looked at my advent calendar sitting behind the television. All the cardboard
doors were open revealing nothing but chocolate crumbs. That’s exactly how I felt:
like a hollow plastic tray that once held rich, dark chocolate but now was empty.
My glance shifted toward the Christmas tree, and I noticed it was no longer the
bright earthy green of the previous night. Some of the mini-lights were burnt out, a
few wooden ornaments had fallen to the floor, and most of the candy canes were
broken. Dad was crumpling up used wrapping paper, and Nancy was licking
caramel off her last Christmas Turtle. Even the poinsettia was drooping. I looked
with disgust at the footprints on the rug, the half-nibbled carrot, the cookie crumbs
left on the plate, even the bold printing on Santa’’s note—all planned to perfection
to capture my Kodak smile on Christmas morning. My smile was closer to over-
exposed film: all dark and no glossy finish. The day had lost its magic.

The following essay illustrates how even that clichéd topic “What Did I Do on My
Holidays” can spring to life with vivid detail:
Wise men know that the most valuable experiences in life—whether beauty,
joy, love, hope, or faith— “are not found by seeking.” Because such experiences
often come unannounced, they are seized only by those who are paying attention,
those who recognize the significant when they see it.
All of us, periodically, experience times when one leaden day drains into the
next. Over spring break, my family and I went sailing for a week in the Gulf and
San Juan Islands. This was the holiday we had looked forward to for months.
However, the bleakness of an Edmonton winter, like an albatross, followed us to the
coast, and the first three days of our voyage were grey and drizzly cold. The boat
was more cramped than we had imagined. The “head” did not work reliably. At
night we slept fitfully, huddled in clammy sleeping bags; and during the day, we ate
soggy tuna sandwiches as we putt-putted from one island to the next without any
wind to fill the sails with excitement. By the third morning, all of us were impatient
and testy. The great adventure had fallen flat. Someone even began to complain
that we were missing the Academy Awards on television.
Then a flash of silver broke the grey water beneath the bow . Then another.
And another. The guests were a group of doll porpoises, perhaps ten or twelve, a
phalanx on either side, playing. Diving and surfacing and leaping, soundless and
sleek, they raced our boat. For twenty minutes the magical race continued, the
porpoises surging ahead, then waiting for us to catch up before surging ahead
again, free and alive. I lay stomach-down out in the bowsprit, my nose inches from
these joyful creatures from another world, my glasses bleary with spray, and my
heart racing right along with them in a universe without motors or time. Then as
suddenly as they had appeared, they were gone, leaving hardly a ripple on the slate
of the sea.
I am a city girl born and bred. I take comfort in my microwaves and central
heating and lights at the push of a button and toilets that flush dependably. But for
twenty minutes on a slatey ocean, I had come closer to the heart of life than any
Sea World or National Geographic special could ever reproduce. Those porpoises
came from nowhere like a gift, a gift that can never be possessed, but that leaves an
enduring imprint on the memory, not simply the holiday memory, but the more
primal memory of creatures who long ago emerged from the sea.
b. Make your sentence structure emphatic.
Use the active voice of the verb.
The “active voice” means that the subject of the sentence is doing the action in the
sentence (The teacher gave a test.). The “passive voice” means that the subject of the
sentence is receiving the action (The test was given by the teacher.). (See the earlier
section on the active and passive voice, page 4.)
Weak: The sound of happy children was heard. (passive)

Emphatic: Children screamed and laughed. (active)
Weak: The cars were brought to a shrieking halt. (passive)

Emphatic: Cars shrieked to a halt. (active)

Use repetition for emphasis.
In the following example, Thomas Wolfe, in his short story “The Lost Boy,” emphasizes a
child’s sense of permanence:
And here, the boy thought, is Grover with his paper bag. Here is old Grover, almost
twelve years old. Here is the month of April, 1904. Here is the courthouse bell and
three o’clock. Here is Grover on the Square that never changes. Here is Grover,
caught upon this point of time.
The repetition of the simple sentence structure, of the word “here,” and of the name
“Grover” reinforces the child’s sense of permanence.
Use parallel structure for emphasis.
“Parallel structure” means that ideas of equal importance are placed in parallel
(similar) grammatical structures. The previous example about Grover uses parallel
sentence structure. The following examples use both repetition and parallelism: ( See
also the earlier section on parallel structures, pages 56-58.)
I didn’t like the swimming pool, I didn’t like swimming, and I didn’t like the
swimming instructor, and after all these years, I still don’t.
—James Thurber
Each day the crises multiply. Each day their solution grows more difficult. Each
day we draw nearer the hour of danger as weapons spread and hostile forces grow.
—John Kennedy
He was an effective teacher because he could relate to his students as individuals:

he could talk sports with the jocks; academics, with the intellects; parties, with the
party-animals; even religion, with the churchgoers.
Groucho Marx said the two cats on a mat is not a story; however, a cat and a dog on
a mat is a story.
Use balanced sentences for emphasis.
A sentence is “balanced” when identical or similar grammatical structure is used

to express contrasting elements.
Unbalanced: It is human to err, but to forgive is divine.

Balanced: To err is human; to forgive, divine.

Balanced: I know what I like, but I don’t like what I know.
He is a success as a businessman, but he is a failure as a parent.
He does what he wants, not what he is told.
Very often a change of self is needed more than a change of
scene.
Repetition, balance, and parallelism work very closely together—for a powerful

effect.
Use short sentences for emphasis.
A short sentence, particularly one coming in the midst or at the end of a number of longer
sentences, makes an idea stand out.
I remember the first time I noticed the tunnel. I rarely ventured into that
corner of the basement, away from the security and comfort provided by the carpet.
But this time, it was a necessity. My prized Batmobile had strayed way off
course and had slid under the folding doors of the firewood closet, the very heart of
the mysterious corner. I was desperate.
Arrange ideas in order of climax.
To arrange ideas in “order of climax” means to arrange them from the least important
idea to the most important.
We must end crime, poverty, and war.

When angry, count four; when very angry, stamp your feet.
“My task is, by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel, and,
above all, to make you see.” —Joseph Conrad
Adolescents are tormented by zits, by clumsiness, and by fear.
Resist the urge, however, to write the cliché “last but not least.”
Gain emphasis by placement of words.
Place important words at the beginning.
Unemphatic: I have never seen a more stupid movie.

Emphatic: Never have I seen a more stupid movie.
Unemphatic: What matters is that you use detail in your writing.

Emphatic: Detail in writing is what matters.

Place important ideas at the end.
Unemphatic: My main interest is girls, though I like hanging out with the guys now
and then.
Emphatic: Though I like hanging out with the guys now and then, my main interest
is girls.
Unemphatic: Give me truth rather than love, fame, or money.

Emphatic: Rather than money or fame or love, give me truth.
Place important words out of their normal order.
Unemphatic: He loves his country above all other lands.

Emphatic: His country he loves above all other lands.
Unemphatic: I dare not trust her.

Emphatic: Trust her I dare not.
Unemphatic: I will never forgive him.

Emphatic: Never will I forgive him.
(This last device should be used sparingly—for special occasions.)
Use periodic sentence structure.
A “periodic sentence” is one which, by putting the main idea last, holds the reader
in suspense: (See the earlier section on periodic and loose sentences, page 68.)
Unemphatic: Practise daily if you want to become a good writer. (loose)

Emphatic: If you want to become a good writer, practise daily. (periodic)
Unemphatic: The history of English words is the history of our civilization in many
ways. (loose)
Emphatic: The history of English words is, in many ways, the history of our
civilization. (periodic)
Make your statements positive by, whenever possible, avoiding the word “not” or
the prefix “un.”
Instead of: say:
Shame and guilt are not the same Shame differs from guilt.
He was not very often punctual. He usually came late.
She did not think the study of math valuable. She thought the study of math a waste
of time.
Don’t do anything to hurt yourself. Look after yourself.
not accepted rejected
does not succeed fails

does not agree disagrees
unexciting dull
not restricted free
do not let in any outsiders exclude any outsiders
not open-minded narrow-minded
does not pay attention to ignores
not guilty innocent
unafraid courageous
not strong weak
not flexible rigid
not honest dishonest
unimportant trivial
did not remember forgot
6. Subordination (See also the earlier sections, pages 63-65 and 108.)
Perhaps no technique is more important in improving your style than subordination.

Improved subordination will make your writing clearer, more varied, more fluent, and more
economical.
Review: The most basic sentence consists of no more than a subject (doer of an action)
and a verb (action).
The rain fell.
However, to this basic sentence (or main clause), we may add modifiers: words, phrases,
and subordinate clauses that provide more information about the subject and verb. All of
these modifiers are said to be “subordinate.” That is, they are less important than, and
controlled by, the main clause.
The rain fell mercilessly. (How did the rain fall?)

The rain fell on the tin roof. (Where did the rain fall?)
The cold rain fell. (What kind of rain fell?)
A record rain fell. (How much rain fell?)
Before lunch, the rain fell. (When did the rain fall?)
The rain fell for three hours. (How long did the rain fall?)
Although the forecast had been for sunny weather, the rain fell. (Under what
conditions did the rain fall?)
The rain fell, ruining the picnic. (What was the effect of the rain’s falling?)
As though to warn us of our lack of control, the rain fell. (Why did the rain fall?)
These modifiers, of course, may be put together with the main clause in various
combinations.
Before lunch, the cold rain fell mercilessly on the tin roof.
Although the forecast had been for sunny weather, the rain fell before lunch, ruining the
picnic.
Learning to subordinate and combine less important ideas is crucial if you wish to
move to a more sophisticated and fluent style.

Subordination, by allowing the combination of related ideas, makes precise
the relationship between those ideas.
Instead of: David did not want the other students to hear his conversation with
Jennifer. He looked around. He wanted to see whether any of them were
watching. Then he spoke.
More precise: Not wanting the other students to hear his conversation with Jennifer,
David, before he spoke, looked around to see whether any of them were
watching.
Instead of: She needed more money. She wanted to buy a new bike. She applied for
a job at Biggie Burgers. Some of her friends worked there.
More precise: Because she needed money to buy a new bike, she applied for a job at
Biggie Burgers, where some of her friends worked.
Instead of: The teacher enjoys Andrew’s stories. She likes his use of detail. This
detail is vivid. She is critical of his spelling weaknesses. The frequent
homonym errors are especially irritating.
More precise: Although the teacher enjoys Andrew’s lively detail in his stories, she is
critical of his spelling, especially his frequent homonym errors.
As is apparent in the previous example, effective subordination can also reduce

wordiness. (Instead of 29 words, the revised sentence uses only 21.)
Whenever possible, therefore, try to:
• reduce a phrase to a word:
Instead of: The man with red hair called me over.

Better: The red-haired man called me over.
• reduce a subordinate clause to a word or a phrase:
Instead of: The girl who had given me help would not accept any payment
Better: The helpful girl would not accept any payment.
Instead of: When we arrived home, we found the door unlocked.

Better: Arriving home, we found the door unlocked.
• reduce a main clause to a phrase or a subordinate clause:
Instead of: They were annoyed, but they didn’t say anything.
Better: Though annoyed, they didn’t say anything.
Instead of: He discovered some mouse droppings, and he bought a mousetrap.

Better: After he discovered some mouse droppings, he bought a mousetrap.

Improved subordination also adds variety and emphasis to writing. A series
of simple sentences or compound sentences becomes monotonous.
Tedious: Skipping class is frightening. Skipping class creates a rush of adrenaline. At the
same time, skipping class is fun. It adds excitement. Otherwise life is dull. It is
also a highly effective emotional release. Afterwards, a person feels more
relaxed. He feels more prepared. He knows he can cope with future tense
situations. Skipping may be wrong, but it is also satisfying.
Improved: While skipping class can be frightening, it can also give an adrenaline rush of
excitement to an otherwise dull life, thus providing a highly effective emotional
release. Afterwards, a person feels more relaxed, more prepared to cope with
tense situations. Although skipping may be wrong, it is satisfying.
Subordination is also essential for revealing the relative importance of

ideas.
In the following compound sentence, because two main clauses are joined by the coordinate
conjunction “and,” the writer implies that the two clauses are of equal importance:
He was convicted of murder, and he was sentenced to death.
If, however, the writer wants to emphasize the death sentence, he can reconstruct the
sentence to subordinate the conviction.
Following his murder conviction, he was sentenced to death.

Convicted of murder, he was sentenced to death.
Having been found guilty of murder, he was sentenced to death.
He was sentenced to death for murder.
He was sentenced to death because he had been convicted of murder.
In all of these sentences, “he was sentenced to death” is the main clause, and by implication,
the most important idea; everything else is subordinate.
The following series of simple sentences also implies that all the ideas are of equal
importance:
Marcie feels free. She does not feel controlled. Gender stereotypes do not limit her.
She dreams. For example, she dreams about becoming a doctor. She dreams about
becoming an astronaut. She dreams about starting her own company.
If the writer wants to stress Marcie’s feeling of freedom, then the writer must subordinate
the other ideas.
Not controlled by gender stereotypes, Marcie feels free to dream of becoming a doctor,
an astronaut, or an entrepreneur.

If, however, the writer wants to stress Marcie’s dreams, then he will subordinate the first
idea.
Because she does not feel controlled by gender stereotypes, she dreams of becoming a
doctor, an astronaut, or an entrepreneur.
Or the writer may wish to stress that Marcie does not feel controlled.
Free to dream of becoming a doctor, an astronaut, or an entrepreneur, Marcie does not

feel controlled by gender stereotypes.
The point is that ideas may be expressed in a variety of ways. The trick for a beginning
writer is to know that alternatives exist, what those alternatives are, and what effect those
alternatives produce. Writing well means making informed choices.
7. Achieving Unity and Coherence
Transitional devices help to unify a piece of writing by serving as links tying a

composition together. They also act as guideposts for the reader, indicating to him the
direction the composition is going. In addition, they reveal the logical relationship
between one idea and another. Without these transitional devices, a composition will
have a jerky sound; without them, the train of thought will be difficult to follow.
To some extent, smooth movement from one idea to the next will occur as a result of
careful organization; that is, if you have arranged your ideas in a logical order, they will
naturally flow one into the next. But in addition to careful organization, you need to use a
variety of transitional techniques.
Repeat key words or details.
The following student essay uses repetition to maintain unity:
My clock angrily buzzed the six a.m. wakeup. I pressed off the alarm and lay
still for a moment. Perhaps I’d doze for another forty-five minutes and skip my
usual morning walk. I had really enjoyed my walks during my summer at my
granddad’’s farm. Still, I conjured up all sorts of reasons to stay under my cozy
comforter.
But the sky looked clear, and the sun would be up in twenty minutes. And my
cocker spaniel, Wink, counted on these early walks. Slipping out from under the
comforter, I donned my walking gear and went downstairs, where, as usual, Wink
was waiting by the door, wagging his tail.
Out the door, then down the road—I wanted to see if the full moon was still up.
And it was – near the western horizon—whiter than the night before, its features
more pronounced.
I strode past the Turners’ farm, turned left across the top of the hill, walked a
quarter of a mile or so, then stopped and looked westward. The moon was still
there, and under it a soft morning mist lay over the valley. Closer by, I made out
the black fences of the Wilsons’ horse farm, then the woods and—just there where
the pasture begins—six deer at attention, their ears radar-cupped in my direction.

At that very moment, behind me, a brown cow mooed, pleading to be milked. And a
rooster crowed far off to the north,
The scene of moon and mist and deer and cow and sound—frozen for me as long
as I could hold it—reminded me that some things never change; that moon and
mist and animals, yes, even such simple things as milk and eggs, have been around
for thousands of years, and will be here for thousands more.
Wink nudged my leg and I walked on, the scene etched on my senses. And so
perfect was it that I decided not to take my usual route, back by the house and up to
the bridge, but rather to make another turn around the square, to try to catch that
scene again.
Just fifteen minutes had passed when I stood once again on the hill’s edge
looking westward. The moon had set. The mist was fast dispersing. The deer had
left the field for the woods. The cows, being milked, no longer mooed. And the
rooster was silent.
Despite Wink’s protests, I stood unmoving. I was filled with two realizations,
more than enough to begin any day. If I had not forced myself to get up, to push at
the pain of leaving my warm bed, I would have missed that perfect moment; never
again would all the ingredients mix together so beautifully, so perfectly. That I
knew.
And I also realized that though everything had changed, that though wise men
say the only constant is change, there is something that will outlast change. And
that something is hope, not for a specific, not for a certain way or means, but hope
that is very deep, very basic, very private, and within us all. And though it is
always there, for me on that morning, it had been stirred alive by a setting white
moon, a soft-edged misty valley, six watching deer, and the sounds of animals
starting their day.
Unity is maintained in the preceding essay by the repetition of details, most notably, of
references to the dog Wink and to the moon, the mist, the deer, the cow, and the rooster—
and even the warm bed.
Use pronouns. A pronoun, by definition, is a word referring back to some other

word (its antecedent); because it refers back, the pronoun naturally offers an implicit
connection between itself and its antecedent.
For about the first week of school, my sour mood continued. My head hurt as I
contemplated the deluge of students, all of them hulking strangers, and all of
them, I was convinced, potential truants and cretins. I read my beginning-of-the-
year riot act with particular relish, daring them to invite my wrath, warning them
they’d have to be responsible for their own learning this year. I wasn’t going to
have time to hold their hands and wipe their noses. And I certainly wasn’t going to
buy a box of Kleenex every couple of weeks to keep on my desk. My mother hen
days were over.
Then somewhere around the Monday of the second week, I began to actually
distinguish familiar faces in the milling hallway throng. Some of the faces smiled.
Then one young man not only smiled but also said, “Hello, Mrs. Somerville” in that
soft way that some students do, and in spite of myself, I smiled back. Next another
student told me about her shoulder problems because of her competitive swimming
and listened while I complained about mine, aching from too many years of lugging
a heavy book bag. On Tuesday, I referred to my prejudice against kids in baseball
caps, glaring all the while at the half-dozen examples hunkered down in front of

me. In unison, they whipped off their caps and grinned. At lunchtime, one of the
caps waved at me good-naturedly from halfway down the hall. I could feel myself
beginning to soften. Still I marched into class with a ruthlessly picky quiz designed
to trap those miscreants who had not done their homework. They would be sorry.
But gleefully, they turned the punishment into a game, vying with each other to
call out the answers.
Nonetheless, I mustered the backbone on Wednesday to ream out a young
man whose response to questions thus far had been to shrug and sink sneering into
his desk. I knew I’d found a worthy outlet for my frustration this time. I fired
questions at him mercilessly for the rest of the period. To my chagrin, he stopped
shrugging and actually answered a few, one of them correctly. Still, when he
approached me at the end of the class, I was ready to do battle. With a sly grin, he
said, “You can’t fool me, Mrs. Somerville, I know you like me.” And, of course, from
that moment, I did.
What is a teacher supposed to do? Young people, often without even trying,
can sometimes be so disarming. You’re all wound up and ready to hit one of them,
and they say something like that. Once you like them, however, it’s all over.
They’ve got you. And before you know it, you’re sitting up till midnight marking
their darned papers and worrying about them and phoning home to see where
they were on Thursday and waking up seeing their faces and helping them find a
grad quotation and lending them pens and buying Kleenex again. Then you get
their first personal essays, and read about one boy’s father’s suicide and another’s
experience with loneliness as an immigrant and a third’s pride in being a Metis,
burying smooth stones in homage to the “Forgotten Gods.” You marvel at these
fragile bits of their lives handed to you with such trust. A colleague said to me the
other day: “Teaching would be a lot easier if we didn’t care.” In so few words, she
summed up every teacher’s dilemma.
Thus, you may fume at the unfairness of your load and rail at society’s lack of
respect; you may brood about Bill Ranford’s bi-weekly pay cheque being more than
you will make in two years. You may fantasize about retiring in the Bahamas. But
as soon as you get to know those darn kids, they’ve gotcha. It’s not fair.
Use parallel grammatical structures and repetition.
Our society tends to idealize progress: progress brings economic blessings,

raises our standard of living, and gives us leisure time to enjoy other favoured
activities. Most people pursue progress. Most people measure their personal success
against its yardstick. Most people never question that measure. However, there are
pockets of resistance where progress is firmly blocked and its absence roundly
cheered. Because Abe lived in just such a community, he became caught between
the pressure to advance and the need to maintain the status quo. Abe’s choice was
most difficult; the birth pangs of civilization, most painful.
The farm had been Abe’s entire world until now. For thirty-eight years, the
parameters of the fields with their golden crops and their sturdy cattle had held
him close without closing him in. Routines of feeding, watering, and currying the
various animals gave a monotonous security that alternately comforted and
frustrated him. Six days a week, for fifty-two weeks of the year, Abe tended his
crops and his animals, while his wife did the household chores and raised the
children. On the seventh day, the family attended church and visited relatives on
nearby farms, enjoying the close companionship found in small, closed
communities. One day drifted into another as night follows day—until Singer came
to the farm.
—excerpt from student story

Use formal transition words and expressions.
If your purpose is: Use these words and phrases:
1. to add ideas and both. . . and

also not only. . . but also
again furthermore
too in addition
indeed moreover
besides likewise
in fact similarly
as well in the same manner
further in particular
especially
2. to indicate a contrast but however

although notwithstanding
by contrast instead
conversely yet
on the contrary whereas
on the other hand while
still otherwise
admittedly certainly
the fact remains to be sure
even so granted
3. to show reason, accordingly therefore

result, purpose, as thereby
cause, effect because as a result
consequently for this reason
for inasmuch as
hence in order that
since thus
that from what has been said
so that
4. to indicate an for example in particular

example for instance specifically
indeed thus
in fact as an illustration
namely a case in point
that is typically
as is apparent in... this is exemplified by

5. to indicate briefly in other words

repetition of an that is in fact
idea indeed as I said
as mentioned previously as indicated earlier
clearly, then from what has been said
obviously, then
6. to indicate order first second

third to begin with
initially at the outset
in the first place finally
ultimately by the end of the story/poem
most important still more significant
next then (and other indications of time
sequence)
7. to indicate to the right near

space relation in the distance in the middle
not far to the left on the top
straight ahead alongside
up above beside
toward the west from behind
over next to/adjacent to
under around the side
beneath from within/ from without
8. to indicate time after thereafter

next whereupon
soon meanwhile
later then
finally ultimately
since before
till subsequently
until formerly
when previously
whenever presently
while shortly
shortly thereafter henceforth
once as soon as
as long as now
one moment...the next immediately
suddenly earlier
to begin with
9. to indicate although fortunately/unfortunately

qualification nevertheless but still
notwithstanding despite this
though nonetheless
except that insofar as
regardless

10. to indicate as though as soon as

condition if until
lest as if
unless providing that
given that

Glossary/Index for Grammar Handbook
Language Useful for Talking about Language Pages
Active Voice (Verb): A verb is said to be in the “active voice” when its 4
subject is doing (rather than receiving) the action of
the verb.
Adjective: An adjective is a word that modifies (gives more 14–15
information about) a noun.
Adjective clause: An adjective clause is a subordinate clause that 63
modifies a noun.
Adverb: An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an 15
adjective, or another verb
Adverb clause: An adverb clause is a subordinate clause that 62
modifies a verb.
Ambiguity: An ambiguity is a statement that is not clear
because it may be interpreted in more than one
way; for example, “Tell him when he arrives I want
to speak to him.” (See section on misplaced
modifiers.)
Antecedent: The antecedent of a pronoun is the noun (or 8
pronoun) to which it refers. “antecedent” literally
means “going before.”
Apostrophe: An apostrophe is used in possessive nouns and 45–48,
contractions. 97–98
Appropriate: “Appropriate” means suitable for an occasion, 109–111
reader, or audience.
Article: Three articles exist: “a,” “an,” and “the.” These
articles go before nouns. “Bring me a book” means
something different than “bring me the book.”
Auxiliary verb: An auxiliary verb is a verb that goes with the main 3
verb to change its tense or condition.
Case of pronouns: The case of pronouns refers to their function—as 43–46
subjects, objects, or possessives (subjective case,
objective case, possessive case).
Clause: A clause consists, at the very least, of a subject and 60–64
a verb. Main clauses can stand alone as
grammatically complete sentences; subordinate
clauses cannot stand alone.
Cliché: A cliché is an overused expression such as “live life 116–117
to the fullest” or “last but not least.” Clichés should
be avoided.
Colon: A colon is a mark of punctuation (:). 93–94
Comma: A comma is a park of punctuation (,). 90–92

Comma splice: A comma splice is joining two main clauses with 72–73
only a comma.
Comparative forms: Comparative forms of adjective and adverbs 51–52
indicate the relative qualities of things being
compared: positive, comparative, and superlative;
for example, good, better, best
Complement: A subject complement is a noun equal to the subject 18–19
and comes after a linking verb. A complement is
sometimes known as a predicate noun.
Compound: A compound is composed of more than one word 3
joined by “and.”
Conjunction: A conjunction joins words, phrases, or clauses 62, 64, 66
together (coordinate conjunctions, subordinate
conjunctions, correlative conjunctions, and
conjunctive adverbs).
Conjunctive adverb: A conjunctive adverb joins main clauses or 93
sentences.
Connotation: The connotations of words are the emotional 104
meanings that have become attached to words
through use so that even words that technically
mean the same thing can have very different
effects; for example, the difference between “wise
man” and “wise guy.”
Contraction: A contraction is a shortened form of two words 97
combined.
Coordinate A coordinate conjunction joins words, phrases, or 57
conjunction: main clauses.
Correlative Correlative conjunctions always come in pairs: “not 57
conjunctions: only…but also,” “both…and,” “either…or,”
“neither…nor.” They are used to link alternatives
or equal elements.
Dangling modifier: A dangling modifier is a phrase that does not 54–55
modify the subject of the subsequent clause.
Dash: A dash is a mark of punctuation (–). 94–95
Definite article: The definite article is “the.”
Demonstrative The demonstrative pronouns are “this,” “that,” 9
pronoun: “those,” and “these;” they point to particular items
to distinguish these items from others.
Denotation: The denotation of a word is the dictionary meaning 104
(or meanings).
Economy: “Economy in writing” means succinctness: using as 112–116
few words as possible to express a particular idea.
Emphasis: “Emphasis in writing” means making particular 121–127
ideas or words stand out.

Formal style: See pages 111–112.
Gerund: A gerund is a form of the verb that acts as a noun. 9–10
Homonyms: Homonyms are words that sound the same but are 79–83
spelled differently.
Hyphen: A hyphen is a mark of punctuation. 95–96
Indefinite article: The indefinite articles are “a” and “an.”
Indefinite pronoun: An indefinite pronoun refers to a person or thing 9
that is not clearly or presently identifiable; for
example, anyone, no one.
Indirect object: An indirect object, as the name suggests, receives 12–13
indirectly the action of a verb. See explanation and
examples on pages 12–13.
Infinitive: An infinitive is the root of a verb, and always 10
contains the word “to” in fron: “to be,” “to run,” “to
snicker,” and so on. An infinitive is a verbal that
may act as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb.
Informal style: See explanation on pages 110–111.
Interrogative Interrogative pronouns are those pronouns used to
pronouns: ask a question: “whom,” “whom,” “whoever,”
“whomever.”
Intransitive verb: A verb is said to be intransitive when it does not act
upon a direct object. (The girl ate quickly.) (See also
“Transitive Verb.”)
Jargon: “Jargon” is inflated or obscure language peculiar to 106
a vocation or activity.
Linking verb: A linking verb joins (links) a subject and a subject 18–19
complement or adjective. The most common linking
verb is the verb “to be.”
Loose sentence: A loose sentence is one in which the main clause 67
comes at the beginning of the sentence.
Main clause: A main clause is an independent clause; that is, it is 61
a complete sentence, one that can stand alone
grammatically.
Modifiers: Modifiers are words, phrases, or subordinate 11
clauses that give more information, usually about a
noun or verb, but sometimes about other adjectives
or adverbs. All modifiers act as adjectives
(modifying nouns) or adverbs (modifying verbs,
adjectives, or other adverbs).
Noun: A noun is a part of speech referring to a person, 8
place, animal, thing, abstract idea, quality, or
emotion—and is frequently preceded by an article.

Noun clause: A noun clause is a subordinate clause that 10, 65
functions just like a noun in a sentence: it can
function as a subject, object, or complement.
Object: An object is the receiver of the action of a verb, or it 11–12
comes after a preposition.
Parallelism: Parallelism is grammatical equivalence. 56–58
Participle: A participle is a verbal (ending in “ing” or “ed”) that 14
acts as an adjective.
Passive Voice (Verb): A verb is said to be in the “passive voice” when its 4
subject is receiving rather than doing the action of
the verb.
Periodic sentence: A periodic sentence is one whose main clause (idea) 67, 126
is not complete until the end of the sentence; until
the period.
Personal pronoun: A personal pronoun refers to a person or object and 8
shows the gender (male, female, or neuter), number
(singular or plural), and person (first, second, or
third) of those antecedents.
Phrase: A phrase is a group of two or more words that does 60–61
not contain a subject and verb and thus may not
stand alone grammatically. The two main types of
phrases are prepositional and verbal.
Possession: Possession indicates ownership by a noun or 45–48
pronoun.
Possessive pronoun: Possessive pronouns indicate ownership: pronouns 9, 45–46
such as my, his, theirs, etc.
Predicate: The predicate of a sentence consists of the verb plus
its modifiers and objects.
Preposition: A preposition is a word that links a phrase to a 13–14
noun or a verb.
Prepositional A prepositional phrase consists of a preposition plus 13–14, 60
phrase: its object and acts as an adjective or an adverb.
Principal parts of the See explanation and illustration on pages 20–22.
verb:
Pronoun: A pronoun is a word which stands for a noun or 8–9
another pronoun, known as its antecedent.
Proper noun: A proper noun is the name of a person, place, or
thing. Proper nouns are capitalized: Sandy, Ottawa,
Eaton’s, etc.
Question mark: See pages 99–100.
Quotation marks: See pages 100–104.

Reflexive pronoun: Reflexive pronouns are formed by adding “self” or
“selves” to the personal pronouns; they add extra
emphasis to the subject of a sentence: for example, I
did that myself. They had only themselves to
blame.
Run-on sentence: A run-on sentence is one in which two (or more) 72–73
main clauses are run together without appropriate
punctuation (semicolons) or conjunctions. See
Comma Splice.
Semicolon: See pages 93–94.
Sentence fragment: A sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence, one 68–71
lacking a subject and/or verb.
Shifts in verb tense: To shift verb tense is to move inappropriately from 33–35
past tense to present tense within a given
composition and so on.
Spelling rules: See pages 33–35.
Subject-verb Subject-verb agreement means that singular 23–30
agreement: subjects are paired with singular verbs, and plural
subjects are paired with plural verbs.
Subordinate clause: A subordinate clause is one beginning with a 62–64, 127–130
subordinate conjunction and cannot stand alone
grammatically, but must be joined to a main clause.
Subordinate clauses may function as adjectives,
adverbs, or nouns.
Subordinate A subordinate conjunction introduces, or joins, a 62–64
conjunction: subordinate clause to the main clause (see list).
Transitive verb: A transitive verb is one that takes a direct object:
The girl played the piano. (In the sentence “the girl
played,” however, the verb is intransitive. Linking
verbs are always intransitive.
Verb: A verb (along with its subject) is the most crucial 1–4
component in any sentence. Verbs express actions
and states of mind, emotion, or being.
Verb tense: The tense of a verb indicates whether an action is 31–32
taking place in the past, present, or future.
Verbal: A verbal is a form of the verb that is not functioning 9–10
as a verb in a given context; instead, a verbal is
functioning as a noun, adjective, or adverb. The
three kinds of verbals are gerunds, participles, and
infinitives.

Commonly Misspelled Words
a lot cemetery does

a part (belonging) census each other
absence coincidence ecstasy
accidentally college edible
accommodate colourful effect
accumulate commitment eighth
accustomed committee elicit
achievement competitive eligible
acknowledgment compromise embarrassed
acquaintance concede emphasis (emphasize)
acquiesce conceit enemies
acquire condemn English
addressed condescending enhance
affect/effect condominium entrepreneurs
affecting connoisseur enumerate
aggravate conscience environment
aggressive conscientious essentially
agreeable conscious even though
all right consensus exaggerated
allotted consequences excellence
allusion coolly excellent
amateur council (group) excerpt
ambiguity counsel (advisor) exciting
ambivalent courageous existence
analogous course/coarse exonerate
analysis courteous experience
apart (separate) criticism explanation
apologizes criticizes exquisite
appall customer extension
apparatus cynic(ism) exuberant
apparent deceive eyeing
apparently deductible facsimile
appreciable defenseless fantasies
architecture defiance fascinate
argument definite feat
ascend definitely February
athletic descend(ent) feminine
attendance desert (place/leave) fiery
auxiliary despair financier
awkwardness desperately flourish
bankruptcy dessert (food) fluorescent
beginning develops forbidden
believe dining foresee
benefit disappeared foreshadow
boulevard disappointed foreword/forward
buses disapproval forfeit
business discipline forth
calendar dissatisfied forty
capital dissent/descent foul
carriage dissolved fourth

fulfilling/fulfillment lieutenant professor
gauge liquefy pronunciation
genuinely literature psychiatrist
government loneliness psychological
graffiti loose publicly
grammar lose/losing pursues (pursuit)
grievance maintenance questionnaire
gruesome manliness quiet
guarantee marriage quite
harass memento rarefy
height merely receive
heroes minuscule recommend
hors d’oeuvre mischievous referred
ignorant misspell reinforce
illicit naive relevant
illusion necessary relieve
immature neutral reminiscence
immediately noticeable renaissance
immigrate/immigration obsession renowned
impasse occasion(al) rescind
impeccable occur/occurred/occurring responsibility
imperceptible occurrence restaurant
in fact ominous rhythm
in front omit/omitted sacrifice
inappropriate openness sacrilegious
inconsequential optimistic sadness
indecisiveness optimistic satellite
independent original satisfies
indestructible ourselves/themselves savagery
indispensable parallel schedule
inevitable past/passed scissors
infallible pastime seize
infuriate perhaps self-conscious
initially perseverance separate
innocuous persistence shown
insistence persistent siege
interpret(ation) persuasion similar
interrupt(ion) pessimistic similarity/ similarly
irrelevant phenomenon solely
itinerary physique soliloquy/ soliloquies
jeopardize plagued soul
joyfulness possess(es) souvenir
judgment possessive sponsor
knowledge potatoes spontaneity
laboratory prairie spontaneous
led/misled preceding stationary (still)
leisure prejudiced (adjective) stationery (paper)
lenient prerogative strength
liable presence stubbornness
liaison principal subtlety (noun)
library principle subtly (adverb)
license privilege succeed/success
lien proceed(ings) succumb

suing tomorrow vengeance
superintendent tragedy vicious
supersede tries/cries visible
suppress(es) truly warrior
surprise undoubtedly Wednesday
surreptitious unkempt weight
surveillance unmanageable weird
susceptible unnamed whether
tariff unnatural wholly
temperamental until whose
tendency unwieldy wield
theatre usage woman/women
then/than vacillate yield
threshold vacuum/vacuous


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GRAMMAR

Nonetheless, a study of grammar is a very small part of a very large process of

Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Grammar Handbook i

Unit One—Recognizing Verbs and Their Subjects

1. Getting There is Half the Fun......................................................................1

Unit Two—Other Sentence Components

1. Sentence Pattern #1: Subject-Verb...........................................................11

Unit Three—Correcting Errors in Usage

1. Correcting Errors in the Use of Verbs

Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Grammar Handbook iii

Unit Five—Correcting Major Sentence Errors

1. Detecting and Correcting Sentence Fragments....................................68

Unit Six—Improving Mechanics

iv Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Grammar Handbook

1. Clarity and Simplicity ..............................................................................104

Glossary/Index for Grammar Handbook ..........................................................136

Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Grammar Handbook v

Getting There is Half the Fun

abscond elope meander shuffle stumble

The boy runs. (subject and verb)

The boy runs and jumps.

Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Grammar Handbook 1

Recognizing the Verb

Most verbs express action.

gallop tickle worship change memorize

The horse galloped across the meadow.

Some verbs express a state of mind or emotion.

envy despise hate grieve like

I envy girls with naturally curly hair.

2 Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Grammar Handbook

have I have too many possessions.

Some of the most common verbs express a state of being.

be (am, is, are, was, were) I am cool.

Verbs come in different forms, depending on

• whether the subject is singular or plural

We ran and played all afternoon.

Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Grammar Handbook 3

Note the verbs in the following nonsense sentences.

Bargy imples as Ginchla frangulates.

A further note on verbs:

Verbs can be in the active voice or the passive voice.

The alligator nibbled his toes.

His toes were nibbled by the alligator.

4 Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Grammar Handbook

1. The man eats watermelons.

2. Dr. Frankenstein created a monster.

3. Spiderman and Superman perform superhuman feats.

5. None of the boys could pass the course.

6. Eat your baked potato.

Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Grammar Handbook 5

8. Doing your homework takes discipline.

verb: They love skateboarding.

Don’t ice the puck. (verb)

He is mourning the death of his grandfather. (verb)

6 Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Grammar Handbook

You must pin the tail on the donkey. (verb)

Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Grammar Handbook 7

1. The most common kind of subject is a noun.

PLACE/THING (Edmonton) recently has had a string of fires caused by arsonists.

ABSTRACT (Hope) springs eternal in the human breast.

QUALITY (Selfishness) too often determines our decisions.

EMOTION (Fear) undermines a person’s confidence.

QUANTITY (One-third) of my income goes to pay the mortgage.