Transcript Young - The Writer's Tool Kit

Section A: Verb Basics
Section B: Pronoun Basics
Section C: Parallel Structure
Section D: Using Modifiers Effectively
Chapter
The Writer’s Handbook:
Grammar for Writing
Section A: Verb Basics
 Verbs tell time:
 In English, verbs indicate whether an event happened in
the past, is happening in the present, or will happen in
the future.
 Verb parts (or verb forms) are developed from the
base form of the verb, often referred to as the
infinitive.
 For example: to go, to see, to be, to say, to translate,
and so on . . .
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Verbs in Past Time
 When using verbs in past time, do not use a helper verb
with the past form; however, use a helper verb with the
past participle.
 This rule applies to all verbs, but focus on irregular verbs
as their past tense and past participle forms are different
from each other. For example:
Mary took the lead after Bob had spoken about the issues.
Verbs are regular or irregular.
 Verbs are categorized as regular or irregular based on
how their past parts are formed.
 When using regular verbs in past time, add –ed to the
base to form the past and past participle; all verbs
formed differently are considered irregular.
For example:
Base
walk
speak
write
Past
walked
spoke
wrote
Past Participle
had walked (regular)
had spoken (irregular)
had written (regular)
Third Person Singular: The –S Form
 In simple present tense, apply the –s form correctly to
third person singular verbs.
 For example:
Marty buys a paper every day as he walks to the train
station.
Can you think of a few more examples?
Use Verb Tense Consistently
 Keep verbs in a consistent tense; in other words, do not
shift verb tense unnecessarily.
For example:
Incorrect: Alisha says that they went to the meeting at
11 a.m.
Revised: Alisha said that they went to the meeting at
11 a.m.
Can you think of more examples?
Section B: Pronoun Basics
 A pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun or
another pronoun.
For example:
 Tony walked Tony’s dog to Tony’s grandmother’s
house in Tony’s neighborhood.
 Tony walked his dog to his grandmother’s house in his
neighborhood.
Case and Point of View
 Pronouns have cases rather than tenses.
 The basic pronoun cases are:
 Subjective
 Objective
 Possessive
 Reflexive
Pronoun Case
 Pronoun case is determined by the pronoun’s function
in a sentence.
 Subjective case pronouns function as subjects of
verbs.
 Objective case pronouns function as objects.
 Possessive case pronouns show possession.
 Reflexive case pronouns reflect back to subjective
case pronouns.
Pronouns and their Antecedents
 Pronouns must agree with their antecedents.
 Antecedents are words to which a pronoun refers.
 In the following example, managers is the antecedent of
they and their:
All managers said that they would submit their monthly
progress reports on time.
Pronoun Viewpoint
 Pronouns must have a consistent point of view (or
viewpoint).
 Viewpoint emanates from a subjective case pronoun.
 When a writer establishes a point of view, the point of
view should remain consistent.
For example:
Incorrect: I like to jog because it’s good for you.
Revised: I like to jog because it’s good for me.
Pronouns and Gender Bias
 When speaking from a point of view, do not express
gender bias; keep your writing gender neutral.
 To make your writing flow better, take out pronoun references
when writing from a singular perspective. For example:
A manager should give his or her employees opportunities
to share responsibility.
Revised: A manager should give employees opportunities
to share responsibility.
 When possible, write from a plural perspective. For
example:
We should give our employees opportunities to share
responsibility.
 Use the “you” point of view to communicate directly
and personally to your readers. For example:
(You) Give your employees opportunities to share
responsibility.
Section C: Parallel Structure
 Parallel structure:
 Relates to putting similar sentence elements in the same
form.
 Creates flow and consistency.
 Makes your writing readable and your ideas stand out.
Parallelism: Words
 Present lists of items in the same grammatical form.
Incorrect:
Charley’s favorite activities are golfing, to fish, and
going swimming.
Revised:
Charley’s favorite activities are golfing, fishing, and
swimming.
Revised:
Charley’s favorite activities are to golf, fish, and swim.
Parallelism: Phrases
 When related phrases appear, they should be put in
the same form.
Incorrect:
Meeting activities included screening new applicants and a
review of department policies.
Revised:
Meeting activities included screening new applicants and
reviewing department policies.
Parallelism: Clauses
 Sentences often consist of two or more clauses: focus
on focus on keeping the verbs in the same tense and
voice.
Incorrect:
He caught the flight to Denver, but then his flight to Dallas
was missed.
Revised:
He caught the flight to Denver, but then he missed his
flight to Dallas.
Correlative Conjunctions
 Correlative conjunctions come in pairs:
 not . . . but
 not only . . . but also
 either . . . or
 neither . . . nor
 both . . . and
Incorrect:
We will not only trade for your account but also are providing
monthly reports.
Parallel:
We not only will trade for your account but also will provide
monthly reports.
Section D: Using Modifiers
Effectively
 A modifier is a word or group of words that describes a
noun or a verb.
 Adjectives modify nouns and pronouns.
 Adverbs (which often end in ly) modify verbs,
adjectives, and other adverbs.
Modifiers for Action and State of
Being
 Modify nouns and pronouns with adjectives; modify
verbs with adverbs.
Here are examples of adjectives modifying nouns:
The new conference room has pretty, comfortable
chairs.
Here are examples of adverbs modifying verbs:
The computer runs well.
Go forward cautiously forward.
Using Comparative and Superlative
Degrees to Compare
 When using adjectives or adverbs to compare, use a
prefix OR a suffix to show the degree of comparison
(but do not use both).
 When you compare two items, use the comparative
form of the modifier by adding the suffix –er or by
prefixing more or less.
 When comparing three or more items, use the
superlative form of the modifier by adding the suffix
–est or by prefixing most or least.
Here are some examples:
Incorrect:
Correct:
The project is going more better today than
yesterday.
The project is going better today than yesterday.
Incorrect:
Correct:
Correct:
I am more hungrier than I thought I was.
I am hungrier than I thought I was.
I am more hungry than I thought I was.
Can you think of a few more examples?
Place Modifiers Close to the Word or
Words They Modify
 Placing modifiers close to the word or words they
modify keeps meaning clear.
Confusing:
The applicant was the best candidate arriving late to the
interview.
Clear:
The applicant arriving late to the interview was the best
candidate.
Can you think of more examples?
 Remember, the best way to improve your grammar
skills is to identify your own language patterns that are
different from Standard English.
 Once you identify a pattern, come up with some
examples, translate them into Standard English, and
repeat the Standard phrase until you feel comfortable.
 Improving language skills is mostly a matter of
focused practice . . . but when you change one
pattern, you eliminate a whole series of errors!
Work through the following chapters in your Writer’s
Handbook:
Verbs
Pronouns
Modifiers