English grammar for the utterly confused

Description

Presents easy-to-understand grammar instruction designed to develop writing and speaking skills, and contains lessons on basic parts of speech, correct usage of pronouns and verbs, sentence structure, punctuation and capitalization, and common usage problems. Abstract: Presents easy-to-understand grammar instruction designed to develop writing and speaking skills, and contains lessons on basic parts of speech, correct usage of pronouns and verbs, sentence structure, punctuation and capitalization, and common usage problems Content: Copyright Contents PART 1 Welcome to Grammarland CHAPTER 1 Parts of Speech Adjectives Adverbs Conjunctions Interjections Nouns Prepositions Pronouns Verbs It's a Wrap Test Yourself CHAPTER 2 Using Pronouns Correctly Overview of Pronoun Case Using the Nominative Case Using the Objective Case Using the Possessive Case Three Other Rules for Using Pronouns Use Correct Pronoun Reference The Generic Masculine Pronoun Using Who, Which, That It's a Wrap Test Yourself CHAPTER 3 Using Verbs Correctly Overview of Verb Functions The Six Verb Tenses Regular and Irregular Verbs. How to Use TensesActive and Passive Voice It's a Wrap Test Yourself PART 2 Usage and Abusage CHAPTER 4 Using Adjectives and Adverbs Correctly Is It an Adjective or an Adverb? Positive, Comparative, and Superlative Degrees of Comparison Comparing with Adjectives and Adverbs Using Predicate Adjectives after Linking Verbs Double Negatives It's a Wrap Test Yourself CHAPTER 5 Agreement:Matching Sentence Parts Like Peas in a Pod A Singular Subject Must Have a Singular Verb A Plural Subject Must Have a Plural Verb Collective Nouns and Indefinite Pronouns. Special Problems in AgreementAgreement of Pronouns and Antecedents It's a Wrap Test Yourself CHAPTER 6 The 25 Most Common Usage Problems Top Trouble Spots in Writing Most Common Grammar and Usage Errors Most Common Sentence Errors Most Common Spelling Errors Most Common Punctuation Errors Most Common Capitalization Errors Most Common Proofreading Errors Improve Your Writing, One Step at a Time It's a Wrap Test Yourself PART 3 Sentence Sense CHAPTER 7 Phrases and Clauses Overview of Phrases Prepositional Phrases Appositives and Appositive Phrases Verbal Phrases. Infinitive PhrasesOverview of Clauses Dependent Clauses It's a Wrap Test Yourself CHAPTER 8 Writing Correct and Complete Sentences What is a Sentence? The Four Different Sentence Functions The Four Different Sentence Types Choosing Sentence Types Sentence Errors: Run-on Sentences and Comma Splices Sentence Errors: Fragments It's a Wrap Test Yourself CHAPTER 9 Sentence Coordination and Subordination Coordinating Sentence Parts Subordinating Sentence Parts Coordination versus Subordination Parallel Structure It's a Wrap Test Yourself PART 4 A Writer's Tools. CHAPTER 10 PunctuationApostrophes Brackets Colons Commas Dashes Ellipsis Exclamation Marks Hyphens Parentheses Periods Question Marks Quotation Marks Semicolons Slashes It's a Wrap Test Yourself CHAPTER 11 Capitalization and Abbreviations Avoiding Capital Offenses: The Rules of Capitalization Capitalize Names and Titles Capitalize Names of Places and Events Capitalize Names of Languages and Religions Capitalize Proper Adjectives and Product Names Capitalize Names of Organizations, Institutions, Courses, and Famous Buildings Capitalize Names of Days, Months, and Holidays.