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Comma Errors, Spelling/Typographical Errors and Grammar Errors · 3) To indicate certain plurals of...
Transcript of Comma Errors, Spelling/Typographical Errors and Grammar Errors · 3) To indicate certain plurals of...
Comma Errors, Spelling/Typographical Errors and Grammar Errors
Introductory Clauses• Introductoryclausesaredependentclausesthatprovidebackgroundinformationor"setthestage"forthemainpartofthesentence,theindependentclause.
• Clue: Introductoryclausesstartwithadverbslikeafter,although,as,because,before,if,since,though,until,when,etc.
▫ Iftheywanttowin,athletesmustexerciseeveryday.(introductorydependentclause,mainclause)
▫ Becausehekeptbarkinginsistently,wethrewtheballforSmokey.(introductorydependentclause,mainclause)
Introductory Phrases
• Introductoryphrasessetthestageforthemainactionofthesentence,buttheyarenotcompleteclauses.
• Commonintroductoryphrasesincludeprepositionalphrases,appositivephrases,participialphrases,infinitivephrases,andabsolutephrases.
▫ Tostayinshapeforcompetition,athletesmustexerciseeveryday.(introductoryinfinitivephrase,mainclause)
▫ Barkinginsistently,Smokeygotustothrowhisballforhim.(introductoryparticipialphrase,mainclause)
▫ Aftertheadjustmentforinflation,realwageshavedecreasedwhilecorporateprofitshavegrown.(introductoryprepositionalphrases,mainclause)
Introductory Words• Introductorywordslikehowever,still,furthermore,andmeanwhile createcontinuityfromonesentencetothenext.
▫ Thecoachesreviewedthegamestrategy.Meanwhile, theathletestrainedontheNautilusequipment.
▫ Mostoftheevidenceseemedconvincing.Still, thecredibilityofsomewitnesseswasinquestion.
When to Use a Comma:afteranintroductoryclause.(Doestheintroductoryelementhaveasubjectandverbofitsown?)
afteralongintroductoryprepositionalphraseormorethanoneintroductoryprepositionalphrase.(Aretheremorethanfivewordsbeforethemainclause?)
afterintroductoryverbalphrases,someappositivephrases,orabsolutephrases.
ifthereisadistinctpause.(Whenyoureadthesentencealoud,doyoufindyourvoicepausingamomentaftertheintroductoryelement?)
toavoidconfusion.(Mightareaderhavetoreadthesentencemorethanoncetomakesenseofit?)
When NOT to Use a Comma:afterabriefprepositionalphrase.(Ex:JackandJillwentup,thehill. Thereshouldbenocomma.)
toseparatethesubjectfromthepredicate.(Ex:TheprofessorofmyJapaneseclass,gaveaquizyesterday. Thereshouldbenocomma.)
afterbutorandinacompoundsentence.(Ex:They went downtown, but, they did not stay long. Thecommashouldonlybeinfrontofthebut.)
beforeandwhenitisjoiningtwosubjects,twoobjects,ortwoverbs.(Ex:Samwenttothestoretobuyeggs,andmilk.Thereshouldbenocomma.)
“Isthereacommabeforetheword‘and’attheendofaseries?”
• Ifyou’rewritingforanewspaperormagazine,NO.Newspapersandmagazineswanttosavespacewheneverpossible.
� Thereportersawflood,fireandfamine.
• Ifyou'rewritingaletterorapaperforschool,theanswerisusuallyYES.
� Thereportersawflood,fire,andfamine.
üDONOTrelysolelyonspellchecker!ItDOESNOTcatcheverything!
ü “Spellcheckwillnotfinedwordswitcharemissusedbuttspelledrite”.
ü Spellcheckerwillnotfindthefollowingerrors:
üPropernames,suchas“Smith”or“Jones”.
ü Improperuseofhomonyms,suchastheir/there,to/too/two,oraffect/effect.
üErrorsrelatedtospecializedwordsnotincludedintheirlexicon.
üTypographicalfauxpas.
Typographical Errors
Readaloud.Readingapaperaloudencouragesyoutoreadeverylittleword.
Printyourpaper.Ithelpscatchtyposandspellingerrorswhenyoureadfromaprinteddocument.
Isolateeachlinewithastraightedge(blankpieceofpaper)andpointtoeachwordwithapencilorpen.
Avoid Typos
Alwaysreadthroughyourwritingslowly.Ifyoureadatanormalspeed,youwon'tgiveyoureyessufficienttimetospoterrors
Readfromtheendratherthanthebeginningofalinesothatyoucan’tgetcaughtupinwhatyou’resaying.
Askanotherpersontoreadyourpaper.He/shemaycatchmistakesyoumissed.
Putasideyourpaperforsometimeandthencomebacktoitandproofreaditonceagain.
Subject/Verb Agreement• Ifyoursubjectissingular,yourverbmustalsobesingular.Ifyoursubjectisplural,yourverbmustalsobeplural.
"Theboyeatsthepie.""Thepeopleeatthepie.“
• Tofixsubject/verbagreementerrors:
� Isolatethemainverbineachsentence.� Thenmatchthatverbtoitssubjectandmakesuretheyagreeinnumber.
• Thetrickistomakethenumbersagree(i.e.onethingIS/twothingsARE).
Apostrophes
• Theapostrophehasthreeuses:
* toformpossessivesofnouns* toshowtheomissionofletters* toindicatecertainpluralsoflowercaseletters.
• ApostrophesareNOT usedforpossessivepronounsorfornounplurals,includingacronyms.
1) To form possessives of nouns
• Toseeifyouneedtomakeapossessive,turnthephrasearoundandmakeitan"ofthe..."phrase.▫ theboy'shat=thehatoftheboythreedays'▫ journey=journeyofthreedays
• Ifthenounafter"of"isabuilding,anobject,orapieceoffurniture,thennoapostropheisneeded!▫ roomofthehotel=hotelroom▫ doorofthecar=cardoor▫ legofthetable=tableleg
2) To show the omission of letters
• Contractionshaveoneormoreletters/numbersmissing,thusshowinganexampleofthistypeofomission:
don't=donotI'm=Iamhe'll=hewill'60=1960
3) To indicate certain plurals of lowercase letters
• Heretheruleappearstobemoretypographicalthangrammatical(E.g."threeps"versus"threep's”)
• Toformthepluralofalowercaseletter,place's aftertheletter.
• Thereisnoneedforapostrophesindicatingapluraloncapitalizedletters,numbers,andsymbols(thoughkeepinmindthatsomeeditors,teachers,andprofessorsstillpreferthem).
� The1960swereatimeofgreatsocialunrest.� TherearetwoG4scurrentlyusedinthewritingclassroom.
Apostrophes
• Don'tuseapostrophesforpossessivepronounsorfornounplurals.▫ possessivepronounsalreadyshowpossession-- theydon'tneedanapostrophe(EX:His,her,its,my,yours,ours areallpossessivepronouns)
WRONG CORRECT
1)His’book Hisbook2)Afriendofyours’ Afriendofyours3)Shewaitedfor3hours’togetaticket. Shewaitedfor3hourstogetaticket.4)Thegroupmadeit’sdecision. Thegroupmadeitsdecision***It’sisacontractionfor“ITIS”.ItisNOTthesamethingasits.
Itsisapossessivepronounmeaning“BELONGINGTOIT”.
Sentence Fragments
• ThreeMainFragmentTypes:
1) aphraseorclausethatisdisconnectedfromanindependentclause(sentence)
2) amainclausethatlackseitherasubjectoraverb
3) aclausethatcontainsacompletesentencebutcannotstandalonebecauseofamisplacedorunnecessaryword
Sentence Fragments• Whenaphraseorclauseisdisconnectedfromanindependentclause,usetheproperpunctuationtoconnectthem.
• Example:
▫ Incorrect: TheUniversityhasresourcestohelpyouwithwriting.Suchasgrammarhandbooks,dictionaries,anddocumentationstylebooks.
▫ Correct: TheUniversityhasresourcestohelpyouwithwriting,suchasgrammarhandbooks,dictionaries,anddocumentationstylebooks.
Sentence Fragments
• Whenafragmentlackseitherasubjectoraverb,addtheappropriateelementtomakeitasentence.
• Example:
▫ Incorrect:Anappointmentwithadoctor.
▫ Correct:Anappointmentwithadoctorcanhelpimproveyourhealth.
Sentence Fragments• Whenthefragmentcontainsacompletesentencebutcannotstandalonebecauseofamisplacedorunnecessaryword,removethewordthatpreventsthefragmentfrombeingasentence.
• Example:
▫ Incorrect:Bypayingtoomuchattentiontogrammarandpunctuationcancauseyoutooverlookhigherorderconcernslikethesisdevelopment.
▫ Correct:(getridofBy)Payingtoomuchattentiontogrammarandpunctuationcancauseyoutooverlookhigherorderconcernslikethesisdevelopment.
Run-on SentencesA blend of two or more complete sentences into one without proper punctuation and/or linking word.
DaVinci was a great painter, he was also an inventor.
How you can fix this run-on sentence: 1) DaVinci was a great painter. He was also an
inventor.2) DaVinci was a great painter; he was also an inventor.3) DaVinci was a great painter, and he was also an
inventor.
To Fix Run-On Sentences:
• Place a period between the two complete thoughts.
• Place a semi-colon between the two complete thoughts.
• Place a comma and a linking word between the two complete thoughts.
Pronoun Errors• Errors that occur when pronouns do not agree in
number with the nouns to which they refer.
• If the noun is singular, the pronoun must be singular.
• If the noun is plural, the pronoun must be plural as well.
Incorrect: Everybody must bring their own lunch.
Correct: Everybody must bring his or her own lunch.
Useful WebPages
• http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
• http://www.drgrammar.org/errors.shtml
• http://garbl.home.comcast.net/~garbl/writing/
• http://www.powa.org/
• http://www2.actden.com/Writ_Den/Tips/paragrap/