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AMSCO SCHOOL PUBLICATIONS, INC.315 Hudson Street, New York, N.Y. 10013AMSCO Contributing EditorsAuditi ChakravartyDirector of Language ArtsAmsco School Publications, Inc.Bonnie BoehmeEditor Nesbitt Graphics, Inc.This book has been adapted from the following Amsco publications:Building Power in WritingBy Henry I. ChristEnglish Alive: Complete EditionBy Harold LevineText and cover design: Nesbitt Graphics, Inc.Composition: Nesbitt Graphics, Inc.When ordering this book please specify:Either R 798 W or GRAMMAR AND USAGE FOR BETTER WRITINGPlease visit our Web site at www.amscopub.comISBN 1-56765-117-8NYC Item 56765-117-7Copyright © 2004 by Amsco School Publications, Inc. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from thepublisher. Printed in the United States of America.1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 08 07 06 05 04 ContentsIntroduction: How to Use This Book viiPart ONEParts of Speech 1The Subject 3The Predicate 7Verbs 10Action and Linking Verbs 13Helping Verbs and Verb Phrases 16Verbs in Contractions 19Nouns 22Common and Proper Nouns 24Plural Nouns 27Possessive Nouns 34Compound Subjects 38Compound Verbs 41Nouns as Direct Objects 45Nouns as Indirect Objects 48Pronouns and Antecedents 52Personal Pronouns 55Pronouns in Contractions 58Review of Verbs, Nouns, and Pronouns 61Adjectives 68Predicate Adjectives and Predicate Nouns 72Adverbs 79Forming Adverbs from Adjectives 84Recognizing Adverbs and Adjectives 86iii Review of Adjectives and Adverbs 89Prepositions 94Prepositional Phrases 98Conjunctions 102Interjections 108Review of Prepositions, Conjunctions, and Interjections 111Part TWOSentence Composition 115Characteristics of Good Sentences 116Comparing Sentences 117Writing Sentences 120Revising Sentences 121Clear, Forceful Sentences 123Conciseness (Economy) 123Clarity and Specificity 126Varying Sentences 132Unity 145Part THREECommon Usage Errors 149Problems with Sentence Structure 150Simple Sentences 150Compound Sentences 151Complex Sentences 152Sentence Fragments 155Run-on Sentences 164Problems with Nouns 171Plurals of Nouns 171Possessives of Nouns 172Problems with Verbs 175Using the Correct Tense 175Principal Parts of Verbs 177Agreement of Subject and Verb 181Troublesome Verb Pairs 185Problems with Modifiers 189Adjectives and Adverbs Confused 189Double Negatives 190Other Errors 191iv CONTENTS Problems with Pronouns 193Personal Pronouns 193Indefinite Pronouns 196Possessive Pronouns 198Problems with Punctuation 201End Punctuation 201The Comma 202Quotation Marks 209Punctuating Titles 210Problems with Capitalization 214In Letters 214In Quotations 214First Words 214Proper Nouns and Proper Adjectives 215Problems with Spelling 221Frequently Misspelled Words 221Words Often Confused 223Seven Helpful Spelling Rules 224Contractions 230Part FOURBasic Paragraph Composition 231The Paragraph 232A Note About Paragraph Length 233Unity in the Paragraph 235The Topic Sentence 239The Clincher Sentence 242Developing a Paragraph with Reasons 244Arranging the Reasons 245Arranging the Reasons—Another Look 248Developing a Paragraph with Examples 249Varying Sentence Beginnings 253Index 259CONTENTS v INTRODUCTION viiHow To Use This BookGrammar and Usage for Better Writing is a basic workbook that can provide a founda-tion for further study in English grammar and usage. It will benefit students who are learn-ing the essentials for the first time as well as those who wish to review concepts they havepreviously learned. The premise of this book is that understanding how language worksenables us to use it more effectively. This skill can enhance our personal communications,schoolwork, and professional lives.The workbook is organized into four major parts. The parts in turn consist of brieflessons, each with explanations, examples, and practice to ensure that students understandthe concepts being introduced. The book is structured sequentially, with the most basicelements—the parts of a sentence—introduced in Part One, followed by the compositionof sentences in Part Two. Part Three focuses on some common problems that people en-counter when using English, and it places more emphasis on applying the rules. Studentswho are new to grammar study should begin with Part One and work through each sectionin order; more advanced students who already know the parts of speech may want to startwith Part Two and use the first section for reference.Once writers learn the parts of sentences and how they work together to determine themeaning and effect of a sentence, they can begin to understand what good writing is allabout. Part Four is designed to help students make the transition from crafting sentences todeveloping good paragraphs, the foundation for most kinds of writing. It serves as an in-troduction to further study of rhetoric and composition.Study the rules, review the examples, and look for more examples of good writing inbooks, newspapers, magazines, Web sites, and other available sources. Complete the exer-cises to practice what you have learned, but also remember to apply the rules wheneveryou speak and write. The more you use what you learn in this book, the better and morenatural your use of the English language will be. In the end, you will be a stronger, moreeffective speaker and writer. You’re on your way—good luck!Introduction In a sentence, a word may play one of eight parts. It may be either1. a noun, 5. an adverb,2. a pronoun, 6. a preposition,3. a verb, 7. a conjunction, or4. an adjective, 8. an interjection.These eight parts are known as the parts of speech.We use the parts of speech to build sentences. For example, if we put together the nounsunburn and the verb itches, we can make the following statement:Sunburn itches.N.V.We can expand this statement by adding the adjective my:My sunburn itches.ADJ.N.V.We can also add the adverb painfully:My sunburn itches painfully.ADJ.N.V.ADV.If we should want to ask a question, we can begin with a verb. Here is a question madeup of the verb is, the noun sunburn, and the adjective painful.Is sunburn painful?V.N.ADJ.1Part ONEParts of Speech Of course, we can expand this question. For example, we can add the adverb usually.Is sunburn usually painful?V.N.ADV.ADJ.The system that our language uses to put parts of speechtogether into sentences is known as grammar.The first two lessons focus on the two basic parts of any sentence: the subject and thepredicate.2 PARTS OF SPEECH