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Download BE YOUR OWN CONSULTANT: GRAMMAR helpful techniques for identifying & correcting
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BE YOUR OWN CONSULTANT: GRAMMAR The goal of this handout is to provide you with some helpful techniques for identifying & correcting common grammar mistakes. PARTICIPLES General Rule: These phrases are used to provide extra information about nouns. Rule Example Avoid dangling or misplaced participles by ensuring that participle phrases are next to the word they describe. WRONG: Being an Art History major, the Renaissance has always been fascinating. RIGHT: Being an Art History major, I have always been fascinated by the Renaissance. WRONG: I saw a cat in a tutu walking to campus today. RIGHT: Walking to campus today, I saw a cat in a tutu. Easy Explanation Search the paper for “-ing” and “-ed” verbs. If they’re used as a descriptive phrase, check to make sure there’s no possibility for confusion. ALSO RIGHT: I saw a cat in a tutu as I was walking to campus today. MODIFIERS General Rule: These words need to be next to the word they describe. Rule Avoid misplaced modifiers by making sure adverbs are next to the word they describe. Example I ate almost all the cookies. vs. I almost ate all the cookies. These sentences mean two different things. Only he told me that he wished me the best. He only told me that he wished me the best. He told only me that he wished me the best. He told me only that he wished me the best. He told me that he only wished me the best. He told me that he wished only me the best. Easy Explanation These are usually obvious when they’re blatantly incorrect. In that case, the sentence won’t make sense. Check instead for adverbs like “only” and “often,” which can affect meaning when they’re in the wrong place. PARALLEL STRUCTURE General Rule: Equivalent parts of a sentence should be the same part of speech or type or phrase. Rule Example Equivalent parts of a sentence should be the same part of speech. WRONG: An excellent paper requires spending adequate time and research. RIGHT: An excellent paper requires adequate planning and research. WRONG: I believe that I am a strong candidate due to my experience as a volunteer, student, and work in the library. Easy Explanation Cover up all but one unit of the list (do this for every unit in the list). If the list still makes sense, it’s parallel! RIGHT: I believe that I am a strong candidate due to my experience as a volunteer, student, and library employee. SPLIT INFINITIVES General Rule: Don’t put an adverb between “to” and a verb. Rule Example Don’t split an infinitive to include adverbs. RIGHT: To write effectively, be sure to consider your audience carefully. WRONG: To effectively write, be sure to carefully consider your audience. Easy Explanation Star Trek was wrong (even in season 4). It’s “To go boldly where no one has gone before.” TENSE OR VOICE SHIFT GENERAL RULE: Pick a tense, pick a voice, & stick with it. Rule Sentences should be written in either active or passive voice, as is appropriate to the discipline. Example RIGHT: The solution was pipetted onto a slide. WRONG: I pipetted the solution onto a slide. RIGHT: We walked to the store together, and I went inside. WRONG: We walked to the store together, and I go inside. Sentences should not shift in tense. Tense should also be disciplineappropriate. RIGHT: In Austin’s text, Emma joins Knightley on the picnic. WRONG: In Austin’s text, Emma joined Knightley on the picnic. Easy Explanation Want to know if a sentence is passive? Add “by zombies” after the verb. If the sentence still makes sense, then it’s passive. For literary present: every time you reread a passage, the plot happens again. It’s always happening, so it’s in the present tense. FRAGMENTS AND RUN-ONS General Rule: All independent clauses require punctuation. Rule Example Easy Explanation WRONG: All squares are rectangles but not all rectangles are squares. Sentences require a subject and a verb. When a sentence includes two independent clauses, it should be broken into two sentences or the clauses should be joined with a semicolon, a comma & coordinating conjunction, or a comma & a subordinating conjunction. If fragments are a common problem ALSO WRONG: All squares are rectangles, which is strange because. Not in the writing, just all rectangles are squares. go through & circle all your subjects & RIGHT: All squares are rectangles. Not all rectangles are squares. verbs. ALSO RIGHT: All squares are rectangles; not all rectangles are squares. STILL RIGHT: All squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares. SO MANY WAYS TO BE RIGHT: Although all squares are rectangles, not all rectangles are squares. ONE MORE: All squares are rectangles; however, not all rectangles are squares. If run-ons are a problem, see our punctuation sheet on semicolons & commas (particularly with coordinating conjunctions). Sources: Hale, Constance. Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wickedly Effective Prose. New York: Broadway Books, 2001. Kolln, Martha and Loretta Gray. Rhetorical Grammar: Grammatical Choices, Rhetorical Effects. 7th ed. New York: Longman, 2012. Strunk, William Jr., and E. B. White. The Elements of Style [Illustrated]. New York: Penguin: 2007. Sword, Helen. Stylish Academic Writing. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2012. Templer, Bill. “Pedagogies for Plainer Talk: Reclaiming the Commons of Discourse.” Reflections on English Language Teaching 7.1 (2008): 1-20. “The Top Twenty: A Quick Guide to Troubleshooting Your Writing.” Easy Writer. Bedford/St. Martin’s. n.d. Web. 10 November, 2014. “Top 20 Grammar Errors.” Writing Across the Curriculum. Georgia State University, 17 December 2012. Web. 10 November, 2014. “Top Twenty Errors in Undergraduate Writing.” Undergrad Program in Writing and Rhetoric. Stanford University, n.d. Web. 10 November, 2014.