All the fine organization and careful thinking in the world cannot overshadow poor grammar or confusing punctuation. Poor grammar will undermine your credibility as a writer more swiftly than any other single problem. Punctuation that misleads the reader can actually interfere with communication. Both can be caught and corrected through the all-important process of revision.
| I. | Below are sentences that represent some of the more common grammatical problems. Not all of them are wrong. Identify those which are wrong, and explain why. |
| 1._____A defense attorney has the responsibility of deciding whether or not his client should take the witness stand. 2. _____I want to drum some statistics into your heads which are concrete. 3. _____Because Biff now loved Susie better than Alice, he made her return her souvenir faceguard. 4. _____The peanut jars were empty, but Bobo was tired of nibbling them anyway. 5. _____Making children more responsive with severe handicaps takes exceptional patience. 6. _____Hull House was the center of Jane Addams’s work which she founded in 1889 in Chicago. 7. _____Running down the window pane, the raindrops looked sad. 8. _____Running down the window pane, I saw the sad drizzle. 9. _____Stanley writes leaflets, makes underground broadcasts, tape recordings and paints warnings on police station walls. 10. _____Melody was both habitually late to work and a sound sleeper on the job. 11._____Fido’s whole ambition in life was to eat, to play, and to sleep. 12._____Only one of the thousands of hairs on his head is grey. 13. _____Baseball, along with all other sports, strike Priscilla as utterly meaningless. 14. _____Tom or Jean need to speak with you today. 15. _____Each of them are equally certain of being right. | |
The Answers and The Rules
Numbers 1-4 involve PRONOUN REFERENCE and PRONOUN AND ANTECEDENT
AGREEMENT. (C indicates Correct, I indicates Incorrect)
| 1.__C__RULE: Pronouns and antecedents must agree in form: in person (first, second, third person), number (singular or plural), and gender (male or female).RULE: A pronoun must refer to a specific antecedent.2. __I__3. __I__4. __I__ |
| Numbers 5-8 involve DANGLING or MISPLACED MODIFIERS. |
| 5. __I__RULE: Modifying words, phrases, or clauses should usually be placed next to or very close to words they modify. RULE: A modifying phrase must clearly qualify the meaning of a particular word in the sentence.6. __I__7.__C__8. __I__ |
| Numbers 9-11 involve FAULTY PARALLEL STRUCTURE. |
| 9. __I__RULE: Sentence elements in a series should take the same grammatical form.10. __I__11.__C__ |
| Numbers 12-15 involve SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT. |
| 12.__C__RULE: A verb must agree in number with its subject. Each, Either, and Neither are considered singular subjects. If you are using Or, Either . . . Or, Neither . . . nor make the verb agree with the subject nearest to the verb.13. __I__14. __I__15. __I__ |
II. Improving Punctuation
Why do we need punctuation? Are commas and colons required only to give new writers a hard time? Punctuation allows us to clarify the meaning of words when voice or “body language” cues are removed. Punctuation tells the reader how to make sense of words alone. Poorly or wrongly used punctuation contributes to awkward writing and reader confusion.
For example, how would you speak these words:
I’m sorry I still love you
Notice the difference punctuation makes:
I’m sorry. I still love you.
I’m sorry I still love you!
When we speak, we emphasize certain words to make our meaning clear. When we write, however, we confuse the reader if we don’t punctuate well.
A. END PUNCTUATION (Period, question mark, exclamation points, and ellipsis)
Periods (.): Ordinary sentences end with periods.
Question Marks (?): Don’t forget to use a question mark when your sentence asks a question. Do you understand?
Exclamation Points (!): Reserve exclamation points for direct orders and commands, and for genuine exclamations. Use only one at a time!
B.JOINING AND LISTING PUNCTUATION
(Comma, Semicolon, Colon, and Dash)
When we start joining sentences–or parts of sentences–together, we need punctuation to insure smooth splicing.
SIMPLE SENTENCE + SIMPLE SENTENCE = COMPOUND SENTENCE
Betty loves bologna. + Bob won’t eat meat.
Betty loves bologna, but Bob won’t eat any meat.
1. The COMMA as a sentence joiner. A comma can join two simple sentences ONLY WHEN IT IS ACCOMPANIED BY A SIMPLE CONJUNCTION. These are joining words, such as:
or but yet nor
Example: Either you get this right, or you’ll be bathing in red ink all semester.
–COMMA SPLICE: one kind of run-on sentence.
If you SPLICE two sentences together with a comma and no conjunction, you’ve created a COMMA SPLICE.
COMMA SPLICE: We all go to violent movies now and then, not everyone tries to shoot the President.
COMMA SPLICE: Betsy likes roast beef, Bob won’t eat any meat.
COMMA SPLICES ARE EASY TO AVOID: simply put a CONJUNCTION after the comma, or else use a SEMICOLON without a conjunction. See below for a discussion of the semicolon.
| Example: | Betsy loves salami, but Bob eats only lettuce and rice. –or– Betsy loves salami; Bob eats only lettuce and rice. |
2. The SEMICOLON alone (that is, without the help of a conjunction) can join two simple sentences into a compound sentence.
Example: One of my teachers must come to class hungry; most of his examples seem to involve food.
[Notice that each half of this sentence could stand on its own as an independent sentence. The SEMICOLON simply joins the two independent sentences together.]
–CONJUNCTIVE ADVERBS: Some words often follow semicolons when they join sentences together.
| Some examples: | however besides in fact thus still for example |
| Don’t confuse these with simple conjunctions, which are used with commas. | |
| Wrong: Correct: | He receives the Star every morning, however, he uses it only in his hamster’s cage. He receives the Star every morning; however, he uses it only in his hamster’s cage. |
3. Any SERIES can be joined together with COMMAS to form a sentence or part of a sentence.
Example: He likes to run. He likes to jump. He likes to pretend he’s Superman.
SERIES: He likes to run, he likes to jump, and he likes to pretend he’s Superman.
SERIES: He likes to run, jump, and pretend he’s Superman.
Notice that in the first series example, simple sentences are joined with commas. The series rule overrides the joining rule.
4. A LIST or ADDED INFORMATION can be joined into a sentence with a COLON or a DASH. The colon is more formal.
| Examples: | He ate his usual dinner: hot dogs, creamed corn, pancakes, and melted marshmallows. Dear Jane Doe: (Opening a formal letter) He was that kind of guy–good-looking and fine. [By the way, when typing a dash, hit the hyphen key twice.] |
| Both the COLON and the DASH depart from the original stem of the sentence, but a second dash permits you to return to the original flow. | |
| Example: | He was that kind of guy–good-looking and fine–but inside he was eaten up with insecurity. |
DON’T USE COLONS where they don’t belong:
–After TO BE verbs like IS or ARE
Bad: His problems were: poverty, hunger, and disease.
(The IS or ARE itself provides all the introduction you need.)
–After prepositions:
Bad: He is a follower of : Marx, Lenin, and Jefferson.
–After words which require no pause:
Bad: I like: bananas. .
FINALLY: Don’t confuse COLONS and SEMICOLONS. COLONS indicate that you should PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT FOLLOWS. SEMICOLONS usually act more like PERIODS; they STOP whatever thought is in progress.
C. INTRODUCTORY AND CONCLUDING PHRASES AND CLAUSES
A simple sentence can be extended by introductory and concluding phrases and clauses. Usually if the introductory phrase is long or if an introductory clause is used, a comma is needed. The comma helps the reader find the beginning of the core sentence.
1. Simple sentence: We danced the night away.
2. With introductory clause added:
Because there was a strike at the bowling alley, WE DANCED THE NIGHT AWAY until we had no energy to spare.
Notice that concluding clauses normally aren’t separated from the sentence with a comma.
D. MISCELLANEOUS PUNCTUATION
1. Punctuation around quotation marks.
a. PERIODS AND COMMAS always go INSIDE the final quotation, whether or not they are part of the quoted segment.
The Dixie Hummingbirds sing “Another Day.”
“Wah, wah, wah,” he sang.
b. COLONS AND SEMICOLONS go OUTSIDE quotation marks.
“A man, a plan, a canal”: palindromes are fun.
“Madam, I’m Adam”: actually, he was australopithicous.
c. The placement of other punctuation depends on whether the punctuation mark is part of the quoted passage.
I heard him say, “Do you love me?”
Did he sing, “Norwegian Wood”?
NOTE: When a quoted passage ends with a question mark ( . . .?”) the whole sentence does not take an additional period, even if it is a statement.
| Example: | Bad: He asked, “Are you happy?”. .Good: He asked, “Are you happy?” |
| 2. Don’t forget the apostrophe for possessives and contractions. | |
| Example: | Don’t forget to bring your friend’s book. |
III. Miscellaneous Matters
Students frequently misuse these words. In their own small way, however, these individual words also contribute to awkward writing and can confuse the reader.
Tricky Words
| x “alot” a lot (2 separate words) | |
| x “eventhough” even though (2 separate words) | |
| affect | The failing grade didn’t affect me in the least. (Usually a verb) |
| effect | The effect of too many automobiles is pollution. (Usually a noun) |
| accept | I accept your proposal. (agree to) |
| except | The movie was terrific, except for the ending. (excluding) |
| already | The dog already ate the Kitten Chow. |
| all ready | The dogs were all ready to go into the show ring. |
| its | The cat was returned to its owner. (possessive) |
| it’s | It’s a shame you don’t love grammar reviews. (contraction of it is) |
| their | The dog scraped their Porsche. (possessive) |
| there | There isn’t any question (expletive) It’s over there by the door. (indication of location) |
| they’re | They’re getting rid of the Porsche, not dear Rex. (contraction of they are) |
| to | I’ll have to return it to Sears (an infinitive or a preposition) |
| too | It’s too late to study. (intensifier) |
| who’s | Who’s in the movie? (contraction of who is) |
| whose | Whose turtle is this, anyway? (possessive) |
| passed | We must have passed their house. (past participle of “to pass”) |
| past | This bill is past due. I often think of the past. |