Basic English Grammar For Dummies US (For Dummies PDFDrive com Basic English Grammar For Dummies® Published by John Wiley Sons, Inc , 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ Basic English Grammar For Dummies US (For Dummies PDFDrive com Basic English Grammar For Dummies® Published by John Wiley Sons, Inc , 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ
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ISBN 978-1-119-06349-0 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-119-06348-3 (ebk) Basic English Grammar For Dummies Visit www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/basicenglishgrammar to view this book's cheat sheet Table of Contents Cover Introduction About This Book Foolish Assumptions Icons Used in This Book Beyond the Book Where to Go From Here Part I: Getting Started with Basic English Grammar Chapter 1: Getting a Grip on Grammar Getting to Know the Elements of Proper English Building Language, Block by Block: Parts of Speech Making Sentences Small but Important: Punctuating, Capitalizing, and Spelling Facing Everyday Writing Tasks Chapter 2: Language in Action Adjusting Language to Suit Your Audience Getting Help from Spelling and Grammar Checkers Recognizing Your Grammar Profile Part II: The Parts of Speech Chapter 3: People to See, Places to Go, Things to Remember: Recognizing Nouns Identifying Nouns Sorting Out Singular and Plural Nouns Attaching “This,” “These,” and Other Words to Nouns Chapter 4: Practicing Pronouns Replacing Nouns with Pronouns Solving the Case of Pronouns Forming Possessive Pronouns Chapter 5: Doing and Being Words: Verbs Searching Out Verbs Asking Questions to Find the Verb Telling Time with Verbs Recognizing Forms of Some Important Verbs Getting Assistance from Helping Verbs Chapter 6: Describing with Adjectives and Adverbs Adding Detail with Adjectives Writing Well with Adverbs Choosing between Adjectives and Adverbs Placing “a” and “an” in the Proper Place Making Comparisons with Adjectives and Adverbs Chapter 7: Little Things Mean a Lot: Prepositions Recognizing Prepositions Identifying Objects of Prepositions Choosing Pronouns as Objects of Prepositions Placing Prepositional Phrases in the Proper Place Chapter 8: Joining and Commenting: Conjunctions and Interjections Linking Ideas with Conjunctions Identifying Interjections Part III: Creating Correct Sentences Chapter 9: Making Progress: Verbs Ending in –ing Keeping Time with –ing Verb Forms Choosing between Simple and Progressive Tenses Some Help with Spelling –ing Verb Forms Chapter 10: Revisiting the Past: The Perfect Tenses Building a Bridge between the Present and the Past: Present Perfect Tense Placing Events in Order with Past Perfect Tense Breaking the Rules: Irregular Past Forms Glancing at the Future Perfect Tense Chapter 11: Searching for Subjects Locating the Subject of a Sentence Matching Subjects and Verbs Properly Dealing with Tricky Subjects Chapter 12: Adding Meaning with Complements Surveying Complements Choosing the Proper Complement Pronoun Chapter 13: Finishing the Job: Writing Complete Sentences Halfway Is Not Enough: Expressing a Complete Thought Cooking Up a Complete Sentence: The Essential Subject–Verb Pair Ending Sentences with Proper Punctuation Changing the Rules for Texting Part IV: Punctuation and Capitalization Chapter 14: Small Punctuation Mark, Big Trouble: Apostrophes Possessed: Using Apostrophes to Show Ownership Shortening Words with Apostrophes Avoiding Common Apostrophe Mistakes Chapter 15: Pausing for a Rest: Commas The Sound of Silence: Why Commas Matter Making a List with Commas Placing Commas before Conjunctions Placing Commas after Introductory Words Talking to People: Commas in Direct Address Chapter 16: Who Said What: Quotation Marks Telling the Truth with Quotation Marks Quoting or Paraphrasing: Which Is Better? Identifying the Source of a Quotation Adding Punctuation to Quotations Identifying Titles with Quotation Marks Chapter 17: Big or Small? When to Write Capital Letters Knowing the (Capital) ABCs of Capital Letters Setting Up Sentences with Capital Letters Naming Names Mr Mayor or mr mayor: Capitalizing Titles Mom or mom? Capitalizing Family Relationships Capitalizing Creative Works Capitalizing Abbreviations Part V: Grammar in Action Chapter 18: Writing with Electronic Media The Unbreakable Rule: Communicating Clearly in Texts, Instant Messages, and Tweets Writing Proper Emails Writing for Websites and Social Media Chapter 19: Presentation Slides and Bulleted Lists Ladies and Gentlemen, May I Present … Slides! Writing Bullet Points Chapter 20: Writing at School and on the Job A Is for Accomplished: Writing at School Get to Work: Writing on the Job Part VI: Common Errors Chapter 21: Spelling Your Way to Perfection Following the Rules of English Spelling Mastering Spelling Demons Checking the Dictionary for Spelling Help Chapter 22: Tricky Word Traps Same Sounds, Different Spelling: Sorting Out Word Pairs Together or Apart? One-and Two-Word Expressions Staying Away from Improper Expressions Chapter 23: Avoiding Common Mistakes Writing Clear Descriptions Writing Clear Pronouns No! No! Understanding Double Negatives Part VII: The Part of Tens Chapter 24: Ten Easy Ways to Improve Your Writing Skills Listening Reading Writing Rewriting Recognizing Your Weak Spots Asking for Help Proofreading Making Friends with a Dictionary Using Spelling and Grammar Checkers Solving Puzzles and Playing Games Chapter 25: Ten Mistakes to Avoid Substituting “Me” for “I” Switching Verb Tenses Adding Apostrophes to Plurals Confusing “An” and “A” Forgetting Endmarks Pairing “You” with the Wrong Verb Connecting Sentences with a Comma Omitting Capital Letters Using Half a Verb Being Unclear About the Author Cheat Sheet Advertisement Page Connect with Dummies End User License Agreement this issue.) In every other sort of writing, though, an endmark must always appear Pairing “You” with the Wrong Verb The English language is not always logical The word you, for example, may be either singular or plural You refer to one person as you and to more than one person as you How strange! Even more strange is the fact that the verb that pairs with you is always plural Take a look: you is = wrong you are = correct you was = wrong you were = correct This mistake is very easy to fix Simply remember to pair you with a plural verb form, all the time Connecting Sentences with a Comma A comma, a little curved hook below the line, is a useful punctuation mark A comma signals a pause It often helps the reader understand the meaning of a sentence A comma cannot do every job, however It cannot link one complete sentence to another: Don painted the house, it looks great = wrong Don painted the house It looks great = correct Don painted the house, and it looks great = also correct When you place a comma between two ideas, say each one separately Can each one stand alone as a complete sentence? If so, do not try to connect these ideas with a comma Make two separate sentences or add a joining word such as and, but, and similar words (For more information on commas, turn to Chapter 15.) Omitting Capital Letters Every name needs a capital letter So does the pronoun I, which refers to the speaker or writer Also, all sentences begin with capital letters If you omit a capital letter in one of these spots, your writing suffers: betty and bill = wrong Betty and Bill = correct i am = wrong I am = correct the bus is coming = wrong The bus is coming = correct For more information on capital letters, refer to Chapter 17 Using Half a Verb When you express action or being, you use a verb Some verb forms are made of two words If you leave out half the verb, you have made an error: Peter traveling to California = wrong Peter is traveling to California = correct The race begun already = wrong The race has begun already = correct To see many examples of two-word verb forms, read Chapter 10 Being Unclear When you speak or write, you know what you want to say Your thoughts are clear — to you! Unfortunately, many people have difficulty knowing how much information is actually expressed and how much remains inside their heads Look at this example: heads Look at this example: Marty fought with his brother, and his hand hurt for three days The person who wrote this sentence knows whose hand hurt for three days Do you? It may be Marty’s hand It may be his brother’s hand The sentence is unclear Now read this sentence: Marty fought with his brother, whose hand hurt for three days Now you know that the brother’s hand hurt This sentence has a different meaning, but it is also clear: Marty’s hand hurt for three days after he fought with his brother To be sure that your intended meaning comes through, pretend that you are a stranger Reread your work Do you understand everything? If not, make the necessary changes About the Author Geraldine Woods was an English teacher for four decades She learned grammar from very strict teachers when she was in elementary school, which, when she attended, was called grammar school She is the author of nearly 50 books, including English Grammar For Dummies (2nd Edition), English Grammar Workbook For Dummies (2nd Edition), 1001 English Grammar Questions For Dummies, Grammar Essentials For Dummies, Wiley AP English Language and Composition, Wiley AP English Literature and Composition, Research Papers For Dummies, and College Admission Essays For Dummies, all published by Wiley She is also the author of Punctuation, Simplified and Applied, published by Webster’s New World She blogs on grammar and language at www.grammarianinthecity.com Dedication To two wonderful ladies in my family: Elizabeth and Candice Author’s Acknowledgements I thank Iona Everson and Catherine Conley, fine editors, for their cheerful and attentive help I am also grateful to Sophia Seidner of Queen Literary, who takes good care of me I am always grateful to Harry Woods and Tom Woods, just for being themselves Publisher’s Acknowledgements We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments at http://dummies.custhelp.com For other comments, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S at (001) 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002 Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following: Acquisitions, Editorial, and Vertical Websites Project Editor: Iona Everson Commissioning Editor: Annie Knight Production Editor: Kinson Raja Copy Editor: Kerry Laundon Technical Editor: Catherine Conley To access the cheat sheet specifically for this book, go to www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/basicenglishgrammar Find out "HOW" at Dummies.com Take Dummies with you everywhere you go! Go to our Website Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Watch us on YouTube Join us on LinkedIn Pin us on Pinterest Circle us on google+ Subscribe to our newsletter Create your own Dummies book cover Shop Online WILEY END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT Go to www.wiley.com/go/eula to access Wiley’s ebook EULA ... ISBN 978-1-119-06347-6 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-06349-0 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-119-06348-3 (ebk) Basic English Grammar For Dummies Visit www .dummies. com/cheatsheet/basicenglishgrammar to view this book's cheat sheet Table of Contents... (Mine do all the time, and most of the time their grammar is atrocious!) You have to know the rules of Standard English before you decide that it is okay to break them As you read Basic English Grammar For Dummies, keep track of the rules... Part I Getting Started with Basic English Grammar For Dummies can help you get started with lots of subjects Visit www .dummies. com to learn more and do more with For Dummies In this part … Identify the elements of proper English