basic grammar, writing, revising, and editing
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8/3/2019 Basic Grammar, Writing, Revising, and Editing
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Basic Grammar, Writing, Revising, and Editing
Grammar
y Noun : name persons, places or things, including ideas, activities,qualities, conditions, and materials
o E.g. Emily, discipline, grandfather, snowy Pr ope r Noun : names a unique person, place or thing and begins
with a capital letter.y Common nouns dont begin with a capital lettery Ve rb s : express action, process, or states of being
o E.g. Run, wish, seemsy Adj ectives : modify a noun answer the questions :
Which, What kind, or How many?o E.g. Tha t rock may contain a fossil. Lacrosse is played by
two teams.y Ad ve rb s : modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs answer the
questions : How, When, Where, Why, Under what circumstances, Towhat extent?
o E.g. revise your paper l a te r . The old man spoke ve ry softly.
Co rrect Sentences
y Watch out for sentence fragments! This is a group of words that iscapitalized and punctuated like a complete sentence but is not one.
o E.g. The mayor called a news conference last week. Toannounce new programs for crime prevention.
Co mma Splices
y Comma splices are commas incorrectly inserted into a sentence.o E.g. A shark is all cartilage, it does not have a bone in its
body. This is wrong because there are two main clauses.y You can correct this by making two sentences or inserting a semi-
colon or inserting the world and.
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y Instead of a period for run-on sentences. When it would beappropriate to use two sentences you can use a semicolon instead.
o E.g. This is my husbands first marriage; its the first for me.
Co lo n Use
y Use a colon before a list, the words the following and as follows usually signal the need for a colon.
o E.g. The students demanded the following : an expandedcafeteria menu, improved janitorial services, and bettercomputer labs.
A p o str o phe Use
y Using an apostrophe to show that a noun is possessivey Add s to singular nouns not ending in s
o E.g. parentsy Add s to singular nouns ending in s
o E.g. businesssy Add only an apostrophe to plural nouns ending in s
o E.g. boys
y Contractions : o E.g. Its, wasnt
Stay Co nsistent in P ers o n and N u mber
y First Person : I, We : focuses attention on writer or speakery Second Person : You : focuses attention on the reader or listenery Third Person : He, She, It, They, Everyone : focuses attention on the
subject that is being talked about or on the subject that is beingwritten
y Dont shift from singular to pluraly Stay consistent in verb tense (past, present, future)
Ex amples
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y Street crimes has made many people afraid to leave their homes atnight.
y Administrators often make more money than professors, but only aprofessor has frequent contact with students.
y On the first day of school, my kindergarten teacher welcomed meand showed me where my seat is.
y At the beginning of Shirley Jacksons short story, Mr. Johnsonleaves his house in love with the world. He wanted to make othersfeel as good as he did.
Co nciseness
y Prune your sentence of deadwood.o In fact, the television station which was situation in the local
area, had won a great many awards as a result of its havingbeen involved in the coverage of all kinds of controversialissues. The local station won awards due to coverage of controversial issues.
y Eliminate unnecessary wordsy Reduce wordy phrasesy Focus on main ideas
o I am sending you this announcement to let you all know thatthe office will be closed Monday. The office will be closedMonday.
Other Tips
y Use a variety of sentence lengthsy Increase your vocabularyy Use appropriate language for your audiencey Use precise language (no jargon, slang)y Use gender-neutral language