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2. * While there is a lot to learn when it comes to grammar and mechanics, this presentation focuses on the most common mistakes and issues seen in first-year college writing.* Here youll find information covering voice and agreement, types of clauses, and correct comma usage.* Along with this presentation, youll also find helpful handouts on Bb that cover much of this material.* Lets get started with voice and agreement. 3. * When it comes to writing, voice describes the subjects relationship to the verb in a sentence:* Passive: The verb form when the subject namesthe receiver of the verbs action.Ex: The ball was kicked by John.* Active: The verb form when the subject namesthe performer of the verbs action.Ex: John kicked the ball.Although passive voice is technicallygrammatically correct, it is unnecessarily wordyand unclear. Use ACTIVE voice when writing.* 4. * It is important to ensure subjects and pronouns or subjects and antecedents agree in your sentences. Lets look at a few examples:* A police officer deals with a lot of challengingsituations, and they have to put up with manydifficult people. * In this example, a police officer is singular, but the writer uses the pronoun they, which is plural. * To revise, we must make them match, changing either the subject or the pronoun like this: Police officers deal with a lot of challenging situations, and they have to put up with many difficult people. * Lets practice* 5. * Correct the following error in agreement:A. People need to understand the consequences of their decisions, and you must think critically to do this. * WARNING:Along with not agreeing, this sentence usesthe second person POV. Remember, we want to writeour papers in THIRD PERSON POV (he, she, they, one,etc) 6. * A clause is any group of words that contains both a subject and a predicate. There are two kinds of clauses, and the distinction between them is very important:* Independent (Main) Clause: Very simply, this type ofclause is a sentence, a complete thought that can standon its own.EX: John bought a dog.* Dependent (Subordinate) Clause: This is not a completesentence. It requires additional information to be clear,making it dependent or subordinate to another partof the sentence.EX: Because he was lonelyLearn to recognize independent and dependent clauses.They play a large role in correct comma usage.* 7. AfterOnce* Although ProvidedAs RatherMost dependent/subordinate clausesAs ifThanbegin with something called a As long as Thansubordinating conjunction. Thesewords indicate that the clause requires As thoughThatadditional information to be complete.Here youll find a list of the mostBecauseThoughcommon subordinating conjunctions.Before SinceEven ifUnlessEven WhenNow: Lets practice!though WheneverIf WhereIf onlyWhereasIn order WhetherThat While 8. *A. Im taking severalclasses thissemester, butbowling is myfavorite course.Sentence B is the correctanswer. Although is asubordinating conjunction, and theclause Although I like historyB. Although I likewhen I watch it on TV cannot history when Istand on its own. It must bewatch it on T.V, mycombined with the independentclause that follows.history class is notmuch fun at all. C. I like ice cream. 9. * Commas are probably the most-hated punctuation mark, but with a few rules youll be able to use them easily and correctly. Were going to focus on identifying common errors and correcting those errors with proper comma usage. Lets look at two common mistakes with clauses: * Comma Splices: Comma splices combine two independent clauses with a comma, and incorrect way to coordinate ideas. EX: I had pizza for dinner yesterday, it made me sick* In this example both clauses are independent; they canstand on their own. In this case we CANNOT use only acomma to separate them. * Fused Sentences: Fused sentences combine two independent clauses without any punctuation at all. EX: I had pizza for dinner yesterday it made me sick. Recognizing comma splices and fused sentences is the first step in correct comma usage. There are three ways we can correct such errors. * 10. *A. I had pizza fordinner yesterday. Itmade me sick.1. Separate the clauses with B. I had pizza for a period.dinner yesterday; itmade me sick.2. Separate the clauses with a semicolon: ;C. I had pizza fordinner yesterday,3. Separate the clauses withand it made me a comma + a coordinating conjunction. sick. 11. *Semicolons function just like periods. Theyindicate a separation between twoForINDEPENDENT CLAUSES. However, semicolonsare most often used to separate two relatedideas or a specific contrast.AndFanboys are COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS.NorWhen combined with a comma, they serve toconnect to INDEPENDENT CLAUSES. Know your ButFanboys!OrWARNING: Be careful. These words dontalways function as coordinating conjunctions.Be sure to check for two independent clauses.YetWARNING: Beware of weakly connective wordsthat appear to be CCs: however, because,although, etc. The se are NOT Fanboys.SoNow: Lets practice! 12. * A. I bought a laptop recently but not a bag for it.B. My dog likes ice cream yet not her dog food.C. I went for a walk in the woods, and I* got bit by mosquitoes. 13. * The last comma rule well cover now is the use of commas with dependent/subordinate clauses (remember those?). There are two rules for this: * When the dependent/subordinate clause PRECEEDSthe independent clause, use a comma to separatethem.EX: Because he was feeling lonely, Bob adopted a dog. * In this example, because he was feeling lonely is a dependent clause. It starts with a subordinating conjunction and requires the second half of the sentence to be complete. Because it comes before the IC, we use a comma. * When the dependent/subordinate clause FOLLOWS theindependent clause, no comma is needed.EX: Bob adopted a dog because he was feeling lonely.* 14. * Lets practice:Identify whether the following A. Although Im not very examples require a good I like to play the comma: guitar. B. I didnt go to classtoday since I wasntfeeling very well. C. While I didnt have toomuch sleep last night Iwas too busy to take anap 15. *While spelling issues have been reduced thanks to SpellCheck, there are still many errors one can make that wont be caught by the software including commonly confused words and homonyms.* Homonyms are words that sound alike but are spelled differently and have different meanings.* The next slide contains several examples of the most common commonly confused words and homonyms.* 16. Its/ItsYour/YoureTheir/there/theyreTo/Too/TwoThan/ThenAccept/Except Affect/Effect Led/LeadBreath/BreatheLose/LoosePast/Passed* Since spellcheckers often miss such confused words, its important to proofread carefully for the easy-to- make mistakes.Lets practice 17. * Lets practice:Correct the following passage:A. People who drive toslow on the highwayare annoying becausetheyre inability to usethe gas pedal gets on We have several misused wordsmy nerves. Lets be here. To should be too;honest: its not that theyre should be their; hard. and its should be its. 18. *The following five examples have several of the commonerrors we have discussed. Identify the error and correct the sentence. Sentences may have more than one error. 19. Its not to late * This example has several errorsto get your * Its should be itstickets for the * to should be too* there should be theyrefestival but* Finally, this is compoundthere sellingsentence; notice the FANBOY (but). What comesout quickly. before and after the FANBOY are independent clauses, meaning we must add a comma to connect them. 20. I left the party * This is an example ofincorrect commaearly, becauseusage. Because I wasfeeling tired is aI was feeling dependent/subordinattired.e clause. Since itFOLLOWS theindependent clause, Ileft the party early,no comma is needed. 21. There is no way * There are two errors here.that the Cubs * First, this is a FUSEDsentence, meaning thewill win thewriter has combinedtwo independentWorld Seriesclauses without properthis year their punctuation.* Their should bejust too bad. theyre. 22. * There are three errorsWhile its nice tohere.* First, this sentencetalk to a friendincludes adependent/subordinateon the phoneclause: While its nice totalk to a friend on theits annoying ifphone. Since this clausePRECEEDS theindependent clause, athey call too comma is needed.* The first its should bemuch. its.* Finally, we have an errorhere in agreement. Afriend is singular, but thewriter uses the pluralpronoun they. 23. I went * While and is aFANBOY, in thisshoppingsentence it is NOTbeing used as such.yesterday, andWhat comes beforebought lots ofand after the andare NOT bothnew clothes.independent clauses.