lesson 5 grammar and mechanics guide to improve your

Lesson 5

Grammar and Mechanics Guide to Improve Your Writing Skills

Henan University of Technology

Transfer Abroad Undergraduate Programme

Learning Objectives

1. Sentence structure: Sentence Fragments; Run-on (fused) sentences; Comma-splice sentences

2. Verb Tenses; Verb Voice; Parallelism; Verb agreement; Subjects joined by and

3. Use of Pronouns

4. Punctuation: Comas; Semicolons; Colons; Apostrophe and Other Punctuation

5. Capitalization rules

6. Number usage

Avoid Sentence Fragments

• A fragment is an incomplete sentence.

• A complete sentence includes:

• A subject (a noun or pronoun that interacts with a verb)

• A verb (a word expressing action or describing a condition)

• Makes sense

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One of the most serious errors a writer can make is punctuating a fragment as if it were a complete sentence.

• FRAGMENTED

• IMPORVED


TIPS

Fragments often can be identified by the words that introduce them—words such as:

although, as, because, even, except, for example, if, instead of, since, so, such as, that, which, and when.

Avoid Run-on Sentences

A sentence with two independent clauses must be joined by a coordinating conjunction (and, or, nor, but) or by a semicolon (;).

• RUN-ON

Rachel considered an internship she also thought about graduate school.

• IMPROVED

Rachel considered an internship, and she also thought about graduate school. OrRachel considered an internship; she also thought about graduate school.

Avoid Comma-splice Sentences

A comma splice results when a writer joins (splices together) two independent clauses—without using a coordinating conjunction and, or, nor, but).

COMMA-SPLICE

IMPROVED

Disney World operates in Orlando, EuroDisneyserves Paris.

Disney World operates in Orlando, and EuroDisneyserves Paris. OrDisney World operates in Orlando; EuroDisneyserves Paris.

Use Present-tense, Past-tense, and Past-participle Verb Forms Correctly

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Verb Voice

• Use active-voice verbs for clear expression

We lost money.

• Use passive-voice verbs to de-emphasize the performer or to be tactful.

Money was lost. (by us)

Use Active Voice for Directness, and Clarity

Use Passive Voice to Emphasize the Action

Use Parallelism to Achieve Balance

Subject-Verb Agreement

• Subjects are nouns or pronouns that control verbs.

Our study of annual budgets, five-year plans, and sales proposals is (not are) progressing on schedule. (The true subject is study.)

The budgeted item, despite additions proposed yesterday, remains (not remain) as submitted. (The true subject is item.)

A vendor’s evaluation of the prospects for a sale, together with plans for follow-up action, is (not are) what we need. (The true subject is evaluation.)

Subjects Joined by AND

• Subjects joined by and require plural verbs.

The CEO and one of his assistants have (not has) ordered a limo.

Considerable time and money were (not was) spent on remodeling.

Exercising in the gym and jogging every day are (not is) how he keeps fit.

Pronouns

Pronouns are substitutes for nouns. Every business writer must know the following pronoun cases.

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Punctuation: Comas

• Use commas to separate three or more items (words, phrases, or short clauses) in a series.

Downward communication delivers job instructions, procedures, and appraisals.

In preparing your résumé, try to keep it brief, make it easy to read, and include only job-related information.

The new ice cream flavors include chocolate, cappuccino, and almond amaretto.

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Punctuation: Comas

• Use commas to separate introductory clauses and certain phrases from independent clauses

If you recognize introductory clauses, you will have no trouble placing the comma.

(A comma separates the introductory dependent clause from the main clause.)

• Use a comma before the coordinating conjunction in a compound sentence . The most common coordinating conjunctions are and, or, nor, and but.

The investment sounded too good to be true, and many investors were dubious about it.

(Use a comma before the coordinating conjunction and in a compound sentence.)

Punctuation: Comas

• Use commas appropriately in dates, addresses, geographical names, degrees, and long numbers.

September 30, 1993, is his birthday. (For dates use commas before and after the year.)

Send the application to James Kirby, 20045 45th Avenue, Lynnwood, WA 98036, as soon as possible. (For addresses use commas to separate all units except the two-letter state (in US) abbreviation and the zip code.)

Punctuation: Comas

• Use commas appropriately in dates, addresses, geographical names, degrees, and long numbers.

Lisa expects to move from Los Angeles, California, to Sonoma, Arizona, next fall. (For geographical areas use commas to enclose the second element.)

Karen Munson, CPA, and Richard B. Larsen, PhD, were the speakers. (Use commas to enclose professional designations and academic degrees following names.)

The latest census figures show the city’s population to be 342,000. (In figures use commas to separate every three digits, counting from the right.)

Punctuation: Semicolons, Colons

• Use a semicolon to join closely related independent clauses.

Learning history is easy; learning its lessons is almost impossible.

(A semicolon joins two independent clauses.)

• Use a colon after a complete thought that introduces a list of items. Words such as these, the following, and as follows may introduce the list.

The following cities are on the tour: Louisville, Memphis, and New Orleans.

Punctuation: Semicolons, Colons

• Use a colon to introduce long quotations and a coma to introduce short quotation.

The Asian consultant bluntly said: “Americans tend to be too impatient, and too informal for Asian tastes. To succeed in trade with Pacific Rim countries, Americans must become more willing to adapt to native cultures.”

Punctuation: Apostrophe

• If an ownership word does not end in an s sound, add an apostrophe and s, whether the word is singular or plural.

We hope to show a profit in one year’s time.

(Add ’s because the ownership word year is singular and does not end in s.)

The children’s teacher allowed free time on the computer.

(Add ’s because the ownership word children, although it is plural, does not end in s.)

Punctuation: Apostrophe

• If an ownership word does end in an s sound and is singular, add an apostrophe and s.

The witness’s testimony was critical.

(Add ’s because the ownership word witness is singular and ends in an s.)

The boss’s cell phone rang during the meeting.

(Add ’s because the ownership word boss is singular and ends in an s.)

Both investors’ portfolios showed diversification.

(Add only an apostrophe because the ownership word investors is plural and ends in s.)

Other Punctuation

• Use one period to end a statement, command, indirect question, or polite request. Never use two periods.

Matt worked at Bio Tech, Inc. (Statement. Use only one period.)

Deliver it before 5 p.m. (Command. Use only one period.)

Stacy asked whether she could use the car next weekend. (Indirectquestion)

Will you please send me an employment application. (Polite request)

• Tip. Polite requests often sound like questions. To determine the punctuation, apply the action test. If the request prompts an action, use a period. If it prompts a verbal response, use a question mark.

Other Punctuation

• Use a question mark after a direct question and after statements with questions appended.

Are they hiring at Bio Tech, Inc.?

Most of their training is in-house, isn’t it?

Other Punctuation

• Use a dash to (a) set off parenthetical elements containinginternal commas, (b) emphasize a sentence interruption, or (c) separate an introductory list from a summarizing statement.

a)Three top students—Gene Engle, Donna Hersh, and Mika Sato—won awards.

b) Executives at Apple—despite rampant rumors in the stock market—remained quiet regarding dividend earnings.

c) Japan, Taiwan, and Turkey—these were areas hit by recent earthquakes.

Other Punctuation

• Use parentheses to set off nonessential sentence elements, such as explanations, directions, questions, and references.

Researchers find that the office grapevine (see Chapter 1 for more discussion) carries surprisingly accurate information.

Only two dates (February 15 and March 1) are suitable for the meeting.

Other Punctuation

• Use quotation marks to (a) enclose the exact words of aspeaker; (b) enclose the titles of articles, chapters, or other short works; and (c) enclose specific definitions of words or expressions.

a) “If you make your job important,” said the consultant, “it’s quite likely to return the favor.”

b) In The Wall Street Journal, I saw an article titled “Communication for Global Markets.”

Capitalization Rules

1. Capitalize the specific names of persons, places, institutions, buildings, religions, holidays, months, organizations, laws, races, languages, and so forth. Do not capitalize seasons, and do not capitalize common nouns that make general references.

Proper Nouns Common Nouns

Michelle Deluca the manufacturer’s repEverglades National Park the wilderness parkCollege of the Redwoods the community collegeEmpire State Building the downtown buildingEnvironmental Protection Agency the federal agencyPersian, Armenian, Hindi modern foreign languagesAnnual Spring Festival in the spring

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2. Capitalize only specific academic courses and degrees.

Professor Donna Howard, PhD, will teach Accounting 121 next spring.

James Barker, who holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees, teaches marketing.

Jessica enrolled in classes in management, English, and business law.


3. Capitalize courtesy, professional, religious, government, family, and business titles when they precede names.

Mr. Jameson, Mrs. Alvarez, and Ms. Robinson (Courtesy titles)

Professor Andrews, Dr. Lee (Professional titles)Rabbi Cohen, Pastor Williams, Pope Benedict (Religious titles)

Senator Tom Harrison, Mayor Jackson (Government titles)

Uncle Edward, Mother Teresa, Cousin Vinney (Family titles)

Vice President Morris, Budget Director Lopez (Business titles)


4. Capitalize the main words in titles, subject lines, and headings.

Main words are all words except (a) the articles a, an, and the; (b) the conjunctions and, but, or, and nor; (c) prepositions containing two or three letters (e.g., of, for, in, on, by); (d) the word to in infinitives (such as to work, to write, and to talk); and (e) the word as—unless any of these words are the first or last words in the title, subject line, or heading.

I enjoyed the book A Customer Is More Than a Name. (Book title)

Team Meeting to Discuss Deadlines Rescheduled for Friday (Subject line)

We liked the article titled “Advice From a Pro: How to Say It With Pictures.” (Article)


5. Capitalize names of geographic locations. Capitalize north, south, east, west, and their derivatives only when they represent specific geographical regions.

from the Pacific Northwest heading northwest on the highway

living in the West west of the city

Midwesterners, Southerners western Oregon, southern Ohio

peace in the Middle East a location east of the middle of the city


6. Capitalize the main words in the specific names of departments, divisions, or committees within business organizations. Do not capitalize generalreferences.

All forms are available from our Department of Human Resources.

The Consumer Electronics Division launched an upbeat marketing campaign.

We volunteered for the Employee Social Responsibility Committee.

You might send an application to their personnel department.


7. Capitalize product names only when they refer to trademarked items. Do not capitalize the common names following manufacturers’ names.

Dell laptop computer Skippy peanut butter NordicTrack treadmillCanon color copierPanasonic plasma television Big Mac sandwich


8. Capitalize most nouns followed by numbers or letters (except in page, paragraph, line, and verse references).

Room 14 Exhibit A Flight 12, Gate 43

Figure 2.1 Plan No. 1 Model Z2010

Number Usage

• Use word form to express (a) numbers ten and under and (b) numbers beginning sentences.

We answered six telephone calls for the four sales reps.

Fifteen customers responded to our three cell phone ads today.

A total of 155 smartphones were awarded as prizes. (Avoid beginning the sentence with a long number such as one hundred fifty-five.)

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Number Usage

• Use figures to express most references to numbers 11 and over.

Over 150 people from 53 companies attended the two-day workshop.

A four-ounce serving of Haagen-Dazs ice cream contains 300 calories.

Number Usage

• Use figures to express money, dates, clock time, decimals, and percentages.

One item costs only $1.95; most, however, were priced between $10 and $35. (Omit the decimals and zeros in even sums of money.)

We scheduled a meeting for May 12.(Notice that we do NOT write May 12th.)

We expect deliveries at 10:15 a.m. and again at 4 p.m. (Use lowercase a.m. and p.m.)

All packages must be ready by 4 o’clock.(Do NOT write 4:00 o’clock.)

When U.S. sales dropped 4.7 percent, net income fell 9.8 percent. (In contextual material use the word percent instead of the symbol %.)

Number Usage

• Use a combination of words and figures to express sums of 1 million and over. Use words for small fractions.

Orion lost $62.9 million in the latest fiscal year on revenues of $584 million. (Use a combination of words and figures for sums of 1 million and over.)

Only one half of the registered voters turned out. (Use words for small fractions.)

lesson 5 grammar and mechanics guide to improve your

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