Download Grammar 1.0 Brief History 1.1 Which do you prefer? 1.2 Noam

Grammar
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Brief History
Parts of Speech
Sentence Structure
Subject-Verb Agreement
Fragments
Run-ons
Modifiers—Misplaced
and Dangling
8. Parallelism
9. Pronouns
10. Punctuation
1.1 Which do you
prefer?
1. Colourless green ideas
sleep furiously.
2. Furiously sleep ideas
green colourless.
1.0 Brief History
• We often think that grammar
has no history.
– Grammar as “prescriptive.”
– Grammar as “descriptive.”
• Who makes the rules?
• And why?
• The penalty of breaking them
is… what?
• The iron laws of grammar:
– The sentence should sound
right!
– It should have a subject and a
verb.
– Understand?
1.2 Noam Chomsky
says…
• …if you are a native English
speaker, or if you speak it
more or less fluently, your
brain is pretty much hardwired to speak correctly.
• You create, literally for the first
time anywhere, hundreds of
well-formed sentences
everyday.
• If I asked you to write ten
different sentences on ten
different topics you’d all
probably do just fine.
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1.3 McMurry says…
• The problem usually comes
when you try to connect
sentences together into
coherent paragraphs.
• Increasing complexity, then, of
sentence interaction is the
culprit.
• Nevertheless, we will dumbly
proceed as if we could
diagnose grammar problems
from the perspective of the
sentence.
2.0 Parts of Speech
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Noun: person, place, thing: “Dog”
Adjective: modifies noun: “Big”
Verb: shows action: “Runs”
Adverb: modifies verb: “Slowly”
Verbal: special verb forms
Preposition: relates noun to rest
of sentence: “With”
Conjunction: joins words or
groups of words: “But”
Determiner: focuses noun: “The”
Pronoun: replaces noun: “It”
Interjection: freestanding
assertion: “Yikes!”
2.1 Who Cares?
2.2 The Sentence
• The parts of speech are the
“bricks” you use to build up
sentences.
• You can live a perfectly
normal, healthy life without
ever knowing the difference
between a preposition and an
article.
• But good writers do
understand the difference, and
writers who want to improve
should too.
• Before we move on to see
how these parts of speech
combine to form sentences,
we should be precise about
what a “sentence” is:
A sentence is a string of words
concatenated according to a set
of rules that in a rough way
allows us to express what
might be considered a
complete thought.
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3.0 Sentence Structure:
The Subject
• A subject is a noun, pronoun,
or noun phrase that tells you
what the sentence is about.
The subject usually precedes
the main verb.
• Simple subject:
– A big dog that bites lives around
the block.
• Complete subject:
– A big dog that bites lives
around the block.
3.11 Verb Types
• Transitives “give” action from
one noun to another.
– She missed the target.
• Intransitives do not.
– Freddie fidgeted.
• Copulas (linking) verbs act
sort of like “=“ signs.
– Joe was sick
– I became violently bored
• Auxiliaries help form tenses or
shades of meaning.
– I was thinking about leaving.
– She used to get loaded every
night.
3.1 The Predicate
• The predicate is the part of the
sentence that contains the
verb and tells us something
about the subject.
• Simple predicate:
– The drunken boy suddenly fell
off the hay-wagon.
• Complete predicate:
– The drunken boy suddenly fell
off the hay-wagon.
• Verbs are linking (copulative),
intransitive or transitive. There
are also auxiliary verbs.
3.2 The Object
• The object is the noun-part of the
predicate that completes the
meaning of a transitive verb.
• Direct object
– The meteor struck Joe.
• Indirect object
– I sent Joe a get-well card.
• Object complement
– Joe considered the meteor a sign
of good luck.
• Subject complement
– His prognosis is bad.
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3.3 Five Basic
Sentence Patterns
Predicate
Camping sucks.
Sub
VI
A bear tore up our stuff.
Sub
VT
DO
My shirt was special.
Sub
LV SC
My mom gave it to me.
Sub
VT IO DO
Still, I
wish the bear well.
Sub
VT
DO OC
3.5 Other Clauses
• The adjective (relative) clause
modifies nouns and pronouns:
– The pig, which I respect a
great deal, will make many fine
hams.
• The adverb clause modifies
verbs, adjectives, clauses, or
other adverbs:
– He walked around as if he had
the world on a string.
– Because I grew weary of his
foolish remarks, I left.
• Noun clauses function like
complex nouns
– Whoever dropped the ball on
this one should be fired.
3.4 Clauses
• These basic patterns can be
expanded by adding additional
words, phrases, and clauses.
• The latter category is especially
important.
• A clause is group of words that
contains a subject and predicate.
• If it can stand alone as a sentence
it is an independent (main)
clause.
• If it cannot stand on its own it is a
dependent (subordinate) clause.
3.51 Sentence Types
• Simple sentence: one main or
independent clause.
– Mary chose Waterloo for its
Engineering program.
– The committee and the
department both agreed on
the principle and voted for
its adoption.
– The first student, chosen for
her ability, performed
superbly on the examination
and won the award.
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3.52 Types con’t
3.53 Still More Types
• Compound sentence: two or
more main clauses.
– I did not follow the
professor’s guide to
punctuation, and I am now a
sadder, but wiser writer.
– Good writing must be both
correct and strong: grammar
governs the rules of correct
usage; style dictates the
rules for strong sentences.
• Complex sentences: one main
clause and one or more
subordinate clauses.
– Mary won the award
because her answers were
more insightful.
– The person who makes that
decision will be here on
Friday.
– Although I never used the
semicolon before, I now
realize that I must master
this pearl of punctuation.
3.54 Still More Types
con’t
3.6 Phrases
• Compound-complex sentence:
two or more main clauses and
one or more subordinate
clauses.
– The student came to the place of
examination; he saw the
multitude of assembled
questions; he conquered all of
the verbals and clauses that
were put before him.
– The decision must be made
soon, but the committee that has
the power to decide will not meet
until Thursday.
• Phrases are groups of words
containing a noun and its
related words or a verbal and
its related words. It does not
have a subject or a predicate,
• A prepositional phrase
consists of preposition and its
object:
– Please ignore that man behind
the curtain.
– I fired him without hesitation.
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3.7 Verbals
• Verbals are another part of
speech. There are three kinds
of verbals
– Participles function as adjectives
• Watched pots never boil.
– Gerunds function as nouns and
end in ing
• Watching is something I
don’t do.
– Infinitives are base verb forms
that can act as nouns,
adjectives or adverbs
• To watch would be boring.
• Some people are eager to
watch.
3.9 Still More Phrases
• Appositive phrases are noun
phrases that modify other
nouns
– Homer Simpson, a cartoon
character, died today of
congestive heart failure
• Absolute phrases modify
entire clauses or sentences,
and usually consist of a
subject and a participle phrase
– I could not understand his
reluctance, my appeal having
been so persuasive.
3.8 Verbal Phrases
• Participle phrases act as
adjectives
– I shot an elephant wearing my
pajamas.
• Gerund phrases act as nouns
– Jill hates cooking.
• Infinitive phrases can act as
nouns, adjectives or adverbs
– Jill hates to cook.
– He had a suit to suit every
occasion.
– I was happy to see the last of
him.
4.0 Subject-Verb
Problems
• Singular subjects take singular
nouns
• Plural subjects take plural
nouns
• Agreement is straightforward
in all but a few cases
• Compound subjects
– We have decided that neither
insects nor rain are/is going to
interfere with our picnic.
Subject closest to the verb is
the determiner.
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4.1 Other S-V Issues
• Collective nouns
– The team is meeting.
– The team are getting fitted for
new uniforms.
The sense in which the noun is
meant is determinant.
• Units of time, money,
distance, etc.
– Five miles is too far to walk.
– Seventy degrees Fahrenheit
equals 20 degrees Celsius.
Usually treat as a single unit.
5.1 Other Clues
• A clause beginning with one of
the following words cannot be
independent:
– After, although, as, as if
– Because, before, even if
– If, in order that, since that
– Though, unless, until
– What, whatever, when
– Whether, which, whichever
– While, who, whom, whose
5.0 Sentence
Fragments
• Sentence fragments (incomplete
sentences) are quite common in
student writing. Usually they
occur like this:
• They shouted at each other. The
argument being over who would
pay. [no verb]
• There is no evidence for this
conclusion. Although, some
people argue the point anyway.
[Coordinating conjunction
signals a dependant clause]
6.0 Run-ons
• A run-on occurs when a
sentence carries on long after
it should have stopped.
• There are two main issues
here: the fused and the
spliced sentence.
Fused: I ran to the store it was
closed.
Spliced: I ran to the store, it was
closed.
In both cases, two independent
clauses are incorrectly joined
together.
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6.2 Another Source of
Run-ons…
6.1 Fixing Run-ons
• Add a semicolon:
– I ran to the store; it was
closed.
• Add a linking word:
– I ran to the store, but it was
closed.
• Create two sentences:
– I ran to the store. It was
closed.
• I find this one is more
common with university
students.
• I call it “joining independent
clauses using a prestige
conjunctive adverb.”
– There is no evidence for this
claim, therefore we must
discount it.
– He was a bad salesman,
however, we needed a good
centre-fielder on the company
ball team.
•
6.3 …And How to Fix
‘em
• Just punctuate properly.
–There is no evidence for
this claim; therefore, we
must discount it.
–He was a bad salesman.
However, we needed a
good centre-fielder on
the company ball team.
6.4 The “True” Run-on
• Another type of run-on is a
sentence that tries to do way
too much.
• Fix with the same techniques
described already, along with
careful editing.
– With regard to your question in
which you asked about the
possibility of extra time for the
assignment which you missed
because of illness, I will give you
an extension but you will need a
doctor’s note and should make
up all missed homework which
will be penalized for tardiness as
stated on the syllabus.
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7.0 Misplaced Modifiers
7.1 Dangling Modifiers
• Perhaps the most hilarious of all
grammar problems.
• Readers think that a modifier
modifies whatever it is closest to:
– We need to get that
photocopier fixed badly.
– I ran to school to see my
teacher in a jogging suit.
– I was able to find him in his
office with my map.
– I run only as far as the school.
– I only run as far as the
school.
– Only I run as far as the school.
– I run as far as the only school.
• These occur when there is no
appropriate word in the
sentence that the modifier
applies to:
– With enough preparation,
my teachers will see me at
my best.
– To be really good at
grammar, the rules must be
obeyed.
– Although lecturing
eloquently, his audience
was bored to tears.
8.0 Parallelism
Items in series must have the same
grammatical form. The following
sentences are not parallel:
• This program is easy to
understand and using it is not
difficult, either.
• Today’s computers are fast, highpowered, and compact in design.
• I support myself by bartending,
shooting pool, and I also play
piano.
• When I want to relax, there are
three things I enjoy: taking
solitary walks, a good book, and
classical music.
8.1 Parallelism
And now they are!
• This program is easy to
understand and use.
• Today’s computers are fast,
high-powered, and compact.
• I support myself by tending
bar, shooting pool, and
playing piano.
• When I want to relax, there
are three things I enjoy:
taking solitary walks, reading
good books, and listening to
classical music.
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9.0 Pronouns
Pronouns are words substituted
for nouns. Thanks to pronouns
we are spared a lot of really
repetitive and confusing text.
“Professor McMurry brought
in Professor McMurry’s
overheads, and the class
listened as Professor McMurry
proceeded to list Professor
McMurry’s favorite grammatical
errors, which evidently Professor
McMurry thought would be as
hilarious to the class as the
grammatical errors were to
Professor McMurry.”
9.2 Pronouns
Relative pronouns: who, that, which
(a) who refers to people; that and
which refer to the rest
• Students who need assistance
should contact the registrar.
(b) Cases of who
• (i) who is the subject form
– Who can say?
• (ii) whose is the possessive, not
who’s
– John, whose essay finally won
the prize, worked very hard on
his drafts.
• (iii) whom is the object form
– To whom did you give the
money?
9.1 Pronouns
The noun to which the pronoun
refers is called an antecedent.
• Problem: Ambiguous reference
• (a) the antecedent is not clear
– Unclear: Bob first met Ray when
he was a student.
– Clearer: Bob first met Ray when
Bob was a student.
– Bob first met Ray when Ray was
a student.
• (b) a demonstrative pronoun (this,
that, these, those) alone as the
subject of the sentence
– Unclear: The home team won
the game in the last minute.
This was not expected.
– Clearer: The home team won
the game in the last minute. This
late result was not expected
9.3 Pronouns
One used as a pronoun
• Awkward: Thus, one can see that
when one reflects on one’s writing
one notes that writing is difficult.
• Better: All writers know that writing
is difficult.
Gender of general reference nouns
• When a student comes to
Waterloo, he finds . . . .
• (a) pluralize when possible
– When students come to
Waterloo, they . .
• (b) use a formula like “he or she”
– When a student comes to
Waterloo, he or she...
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10.0 Punctuation
• Speech has its own form of
natural punctuation: breathing,
pause, rhythm. But written
texts are highly “unnatural”;
they need to have their
punctuation made explicit. The
period is relatively
unproblematic—it’s the one
we don’t have to worry about.
But the comma, the
semicolon, the colon, and
the dash are often used
improperly.
10.2 Comma
3. to coordinate independent clauses
in compound sentences
• I followed the rules for punctuation,
and my zest for living vanished.
4. to set off appositives (a noun or
noun equivalent placed beside
another noun to supplement its
meaning)
• The final act, which was unevenly
hilarious, was set on a garbage
scow.
5. to set off non-restrictive modifying
phrases or clauses
• The Conservatives, who supported
the Bill, should be condemned.
• The Conservatives who supported
the Bill should be condemned.
10.1 Comma: What For?
1. to punctuate a series or list of
three or more elements
– Grammar tests are exhilarating,
thrilling, yet peaceful
experiences.
2. to set off introductory sentence
elements
• (a) prepositional phrases
– If your intentions are really
good, I’ll never understand them.
• (b) participle phrases
– Entering the room, he found
himself generously ignored.
• (c) subordinate clauses
– Although I struggled with parts
of speech, I found great
satisfaction in mastering verbals.
10.3 Comma
6. to set off conjunctive adverbs
– You will find, however, that good
grammar is profitable in the end.
– Therefore, I have undertaken a
study of participles.
– I hate your ideas; however, I will
consider them thoroughly.
7. to set off disjunctive phrases
(sentence interrupters)
– Of course, I never dangle my
participles.
– Verbals, after all, are the most
difficult part of speech to identify.
– Yes, I do find all phone calls
obscene.
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10.4 Semicolon
1. to coordinate main clauses without
other connectives (i.e. coordinating
conjunctions)
– Hamlet leaps into the grave; he wrestles
with death, the dark foeman.
– Hamlet struggles with his courage;
Claudius grapples with his conscience;
Guildenstern slips on the steep slope of his
incomprehension.
2. to coordinate main clauses with a
conjunctive adverb
– Ophelia cannot take her place in the
action; instead, she dwindles into watery
madness.
– Hamlet leaps headlong into the grave; he
finds, however, only an empty skull.
3. to punctuate a list with internal
punctuation
– Three people remain on stage: Polonius,
that fatuous old man; Claudius, the cruel
king; Gertrude, his confused and troubled
queen.
10.5 Colon
1. to introduce a list (as above)
• Rule: do not separate verb
and object or complement with
a colon.
– The cast includes: a policeman,
a lawyer, and a teacher.
2. to coordinate main clauses
when the first anticipates the
following
– Hamlet sees only one solution:
he has to kill the king.
– Hamlet finds himself suspended
between two loyalties: he must
obey the ghost, his king and
father; he must also obey his
conscience, his last and only
hope for a rational solution.
10.6 Dash
• Use to show a break in
continuity:
Last night, as we drove back
from the dance together—where
were you anyway?
• Use for emphasis:
More than a book—it’s a great
doorstop!
• Use to set off parenthetical
material:
He felt the sting of a needle—or
was it merely that of an
insect?—before he fell into a
deep, dreamless sleep.
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