Grammar

Shifts in tense

• Be careful with shifts in tenses

  • The ocean contains rich minerals and vitamins t̶h̶a̶t̶ are

    washed down from rivers and streams.

  • Some superstitious people think that if a black cat

    c̶r̶o̶s̶s̶e̶d̶ ̶ crosses their path they will have bad luck.

  • When witch hysteria spread through the barrio, some

    women h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶b̶e̶e̶n̶ were accused of witchcraft.

• Remember Past, Present, & Future tense

Transitive Verb

• Transitive verbs should be followed by objects (nouns),
  not by prepositions

  • REQUESTED (FOR) a raise

    DEMANDED (FOR) improvements

    DISCUSSED (ABOUT) the issue

    CONSIDERED (AS) a troublemaker

    LABELLED (AS) a problem

    PAGING (FOR) Mr. Cruz

    ORDERED (FOR) three beers

    • A transitive verb is always followed by an object, the receiver of the action

      • They enjoyed the game

      • The union demanded f̶o̶r̶ an increase in wages for all employess

        • The union demanded that an increase in wages be given to all employees.

      • The victim was only seeking f̶o̶r̶ justice

      • Please page f̶o̶r̶ Mr. Pison

      • The partners are discussing a̶b̶o̶u̶t̶ the new location

• Be careful of what follows after a transitive verb

• When request is used as a noun, it can be followed by For
  “The Department’s request for more equipment is under consideration.”

Pronoun Reference

• Indefinite Reference

  • Indefinite reference happens when personal pronoun are NOT clearly referred to

  • Every personal pronoun should refer clearly to a definite antecedent

    • I don’t think THEY should show violence on TV

      > I don’t think violence should be shown on TV

  • Avoid the use of YOU to avoid confusion

    • History shows that you must respect the dignity of the individual if you want your nation to survive.

      > History shows that a nation’s survival depends upon respect for the dignity of the individual.

• Ambiguous Reference

  • happens if the pronoun may refer to more than one antecedent, and the reader does not know which antecedent is meant

    • If you put this sheet in your notebook, you can refer to it.

      > You can refer to this sheet easily if you put it in your notebook

    • Doreen told Maya that she was going to be a great movie star.

      > Doreen told Maya, “I’m going to be a great movie star.”

• Vague or General Reference

  • Happens when a pronoun refers to a general idea that may be clear to the writer but that is vague to the reader, often through the use of the pronouns

  • Which, This, That, & It

    • Vacation is fast approaching, which is good

      > It is good to realize that vacation is fast approaching

    • Pete started working in a national wild life preserve last year. This

      may be his life’s work.

      > Pete’s work in a national wild life preserve may be his life’s work.

• Agreement with Antecedent in Gender and Number

  • Pronouns must agree with their antecedent in gender and

    number.

    • Bert is inviting us to their house.

      > Bert is inviting us to his house.

    • Cathy will be late for the meeting with her brother

      because he is busy.

      > Cathy will be late for the meeting with her brother

      because she is busy.

    • Neither of the girls brought their umbrellas.

      > Neither of the girls brought her umbrella.

Sentence Fragments

• Fragments - incomplete sentences

• Frequently dependent clauses or long phrases that follow the main clause

• Some fragments are written as main clauses but lack a subject or main verb.

  • No subject

    Fragment: By paying too much attention to polls can make a

    political leader unwilling to make critical changes.

    > Revised: Paying too much attention to polls can make a

    political leader unwilling to make critical changes.

Parallelism

• Parallel structures mean emphasizing relationships of equivalence between

  units through the use of similar grammatical constructions to express related

  ideas.

• Parallelism often involves coordination.

• The coordinate units must have the same level of importance & must be of similar type.

• The coordinating conjunctions and, but, and or join constructions of equal

  grammatical value:

  • Pat wanted to see the West and to go horseback riding.

  • Everyone appreciates a thoughtful and generous supervisor.

  • My mother enjoys reading and going to the theater.

  • Ramon wondered whether he could repair the car.

Comma Splice

• when two independent sentences are joined solely by a comma

  • He is always boasting, no one seems to mind.

    >He is always boasting. No one seems to mind.

    >He is always boasting, but no one seems to mind.
    >He is always boasting; however, no one seems to mind.
    >Although he is always boasting, no one seems to

Run-on Sentence

• has two or more sentences without any punctuation or conjunction between them.

  • She hardly watched TV she preferred to read instead.

    >She hardly watched TV. She preferred to read instead.

    >She hardly watched TV; she preferred to read instead.

Faulty Coordination & Subordination

• Avoid joining a relative clause to its principal clause

  by or, and, or but.

  • He showed talent early in his career, but which disappeared gradually as he grew older.

    >Early in his career, he showed talent which disappeared gradually as he grew older.

• Avoid putting a coordinate idea in a subordinate form.

  • Prof. Joya was expansive and chatty, while Prof. Perez was uncommunicative and moody.

    >Prof. Joya was expansive and chatty, but Prof. Perez was uncommunicative and moody.

• Avoid putting the main idea of a sentence into a subordinate construction or a subordinate idea into a main clause.

  • She was getting bored when she decided to get a job.

    >Since was getting bored, she decided to get a job.

Excessive Subordination

• I liked the lovely sandals which were sent to me by a friend who lives in a country where people are well known for their handicrafts.

• Improved: I liked the lovely sandals sent to me by a friend whose compatriots are well known for their handicrafts.

Conciseness

• Reduce predication by reducing clauses to phrases or adjectives

  • Wordy: We agreed that we should start the work the next day.

    • Improved: We agreed to start the work the next day.

  • Wordy: The delegate who came from Batanes arrived late.

    • Improved: The Batanes delegate arrived late.

• Reduce predication by combining two short sentences into one.

  • Wordy: During the elections there were only two parties that

    contended with each other. The two parties presented their slates of

    candidates.

  • Improved: During the elections only two parties contended with each

    other and presented their slates of candidates.