CHAPTER 1 Getting Started: Computers, Grammar, Sentences, and Paragraphs 1

Standard English: Who Needs It? 1

Writing with the Computer 3

No Worries 4

Writing Sentences 4

Editing Exercise 4

The Paragraph: An Overview 6

Introductory and Concluding Paragraphs 7

Introductions 7

Conclusions 9

Writing Paragraphs 11

CHAPTER 2 The Parts of Speech: A Review 12

The Noun 13

The Pronoun 13

The Verb 15

The Adjective 18

The Adverb 21

The Preposition 24

The Conjunction 26

The Interjection 28

A Word of Caution 29

Editing Exercises 29

Writing Sentences: The Parts of Speech 30

Review Test 2-A: Parts of Speech 32

Review Test 2-B: Parts of Speech 34

Writing Paragraphs: The Topic Sentence and Unity in the Paragraph 36

CHAPTER 3 Finding the Subject and the Verb in the Sentence 44

The Subject and the Verb 44

Finding the Verb 45

Action Verbs 46

Linking Verbs 47

Words Mistaken for the Verb 49

Finding the Subject 52

Subjects and Other Words in the Sentence 52

Simple and Complete Subjects 53

Compound Subjects 53

Subjects in Inverted Sentences 54

Subjects with Verbs in Active and Passive Voice 55

Subjects and Prepositional Phrases 57

Subjects and Verbs in Compound, Complex, and Compound-Complex Sentences 59

Editing Exercises 62

Writing Sentences: Identifying Subjects and Verbs 64

Review Test 3-A: Finding the Subject and the Verb in the Sentence 65

Review Test 3-B: Finding the Subject and the Verb in the Sentence 67

Writing Paragraphs: Coherence in the Paragraph Through Chronological Order 69

CHAPTER 4 Making the Subject and Verb Agree 72

Subject-Verb Agreement 72

Editing Exercises 83

Writing Sentences: Subject and Verb Agreement 84

Review Test 4-A: Making the Subject and Verb Agree 86

Review Test 4-B: Making the Subject and Verb Agree 88

Writing Paragraphs: Coherence in the Paragraph Through Spatial Order 90

CHAPTER 5 Common Errors Involving Verbs 93

Regular Verbs 94

Irregular Verbs 95

Suggestions for Using Irregular Verbs 96

Using the Correct Tense 101

A Few Suggestions for Using the Correct Tense 104

Shifts in Tense 106

Two Pairs of Irregular Verbs: Lie and Lay and Sit and Set 109

Lie and Lay 109

Sit and Set 110

Editing Exercises 113

Writing Sentences: The Correct Form of the Verb 115

Review Test 5-A: Common Errors Involving Verbs 116

Review Test 5-B: Common Errors Involving Verbs 118

Writing Paragraphs: Coherence in the Paragraph Through Order of Importance 120

CHAPTER 6 Using the Correct Form of the Pronoun 123

The Classes of Pronouns 124

Personal Pronouns 125

Subject Pronouns 125

Object Pronouns 128

Possessive Pronouns 131

Relative Pronouns 132

Who, Which, and That: Special Uses 133

Intensive and Reflexive Pronouns: Pronouns Ending in - self and - selves 134

Some Problems with Pronouns: Who and Whom 135

Editing Exercise 137

Writing Sentences: Using the Correct Form of the Pronoun 137

Review Test 6-A: Using the Correct Form of the Pronoun 139

Review Test 6-B: Using the Correct Form of the Pronoun 141

Writing Paragraphs: Coherence in the Paragraph by Using Transitional Words and Phrases 143

CHAPTER 7 Common Errors in Pronoun Agreement and Reference 148

Agreement in Number 149

Agreement in Person 154

Pronoun Reference 156

Avoiding Sexism in Pronoun Usage 158

Editing Exercises 159

Writing Sentences: Avoiding Common Errors

in Pronoun Usage 161

Review Test 7-A: Common Errors in Pronoun Agreement and Reference 162

Review Test 7-B: Common Errors in Pronoun Agreement and Reference 164

Writing Paragraphs: Developing a Paragraph by Using Examples 166

CHAPTER 8 Compound and Complex Sentences 170

Compound Sentences 171

Punctuating Compound Sentences 173

Complex Sentences 174

Compound-Complex Sentences 177

Three Kinds of Dependent Clauses 177

Editing Exercises 183

Writing Sentences: Using a Variety of Sentence Types 185

Review Test 8-A: Compound and Complex Sentences 186

Review Test 8-B: Compound and Complex Sentences 188

Writing Paragraphs: Developing a Paragraph by Comparison and Contrast 190

CHAPTER 9 Correcting Sentence Fragments,

Run-on Sentences, and Comma-Splices 193

Sentence Fragments 193

Phrases as Fragments 194

Dependent Clauses as Fragments 197

Run-on Sentences 200

Comma-Splices 201

Comma-Splices and Conjunctive Adverbs 203

Editing Exercise 205

Writing Sentences: Avoiding Fragments, Run-on Sentences, and Comma-Splices 206

Review Test 9-A: Correcting Sentence Fragments, Run-on Sentences, and Comma-Splices 207

Review Test 9-B: Correcting Sentence Fragments, Run-on Sentences, and Comma-Splices 209

Writing Paragraphs: Developing a Paragraph by Classification 211

CHAPTER 10 Confused Sentences 214

Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers 214

Illogical Comparisons 220

Confusing Adjectives and Adverbs 222

Using Adjectives after Linking Verbs 222

Using Adverbs to Modify Verbs 223

Parallel Structure 224

Editing Exercises 227

Writing Sentences: Avoiding Confused Sentences 229

Review Test 10-A: Confused Sentences 230

Review Test 10-B: Confused Sentences 232

Writing Paragraphs: Developing a Paragraph by Process and Analysis 234

CHAPTER 1 1 Punctuation 237

End Marks 237

The Period 238

The Question Mark 238

The Exclamation Point 239

Internal Punctuation 240

The Comma 240

Additional Uses of the Comma 245

Omitting Commas 249

The Semicolon 250

The Colon 251

Parentheses 253

The Dash 253

Quotation Marks 255

Italics 256

The Hyphen 258

The Apostrophe 259

Numbers 262

Editing Exercises 264

Writing Sentences: Using Correct Punctuation 265

Review Test 11-A: Punctuation 266

Review Test 11-B: Punctuation 268

Writing Paragraphs: Developing a Paragraph by Cause and Effect 271

CHAPTER 1 2 Capitalization 274

Capitalization 274

Editing Exercise 280

Writing Sentences: Using Correct Capitalization 281

Review Test 12-A: Capitalization 282

Review Test 12-B: Capitalization 284

APPENDIX A

A Checklist for the ESL Writer 286

Learning to Use Articles and Quantifiers 287

Articles ( a/an and the ) 287

Quantifiers 291

Detailed Contents xi

Problems with Verbs 294

The Twelve Verb Tenses 294

Tips for Choosing the Right Tense 298

Learning to Use Verb Phrases 303

Learning to Use Adjectives and Adverbs 304

Common Expressions 306

Using Used To 307

Using When and If 308

Using Since and For 308

Using - s and - es 308

Problems with Word Order and Unnecessary Words 309

Adjectives 309

Adverbs 310

Repetition of the Subject 310

Other Problems with Grammar, Spelling, and Punctuation 311

Additional Reference Books for ESL Students 311

APPENDIX  B

A Brief Guide for Avoiding Errors in Grammar and Usage 312

A Glossary of Usage 316

A Glossary of Grammatical Terms 321

Answers to Selected Exercises 329

Credits 334

Index 335

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