20 Minutes Of Grammer

A Twenty-Minute Lesson in Grammar

Fragments

A sentence consists of a subject and a predicate. Period. The subject announces what the sentence is about and the predicate tells us something about the subject.
Subject Predicate
I like bacon.
Hulk Hogan was a great body slammer.
The book is on the shelf.

Fragments are incomplete sentences because they lack a subject or a predicate.
Like: “And then went to Michigan.”
To fix them: Incorporate the fragment into an adjoining, and related sentence.
Like: “I went to Ohio State, and then went to Mighican. Football rules!”

Run-ons
Jamming together two or more sentences or independent ideas.

I do not recall what kind of wrestler he was all I remember is the Hulkster had a red face and blonde hair and always fought Rowdy Roddy Piper.

If you have sentences that are very long and your name is not A) James Joyce or B) William Faulkner then: Woah. Slow down and put some periods in there.

Comma splices
Run-ons, now with commas!

The concept of nature depends on the concept of human “culture,” the problem is that “culture” is itself shaped by “nature.”

Overwriting
Using more words than you need to. Remember, don’t write beyond your capabilities. Complex ideas are best present in clear language. These are some of the most valuable lessons I’ve been taught by two of my favorite professors.
Balancing the budget by Friday is an impossibility without some kind of extra help.
Boo.
Balancing the budget by Friday will be difficult without extra help.
Yea.
Eliminate redundancies. Ie: Cooperate together, close proximity, basic essentials, true fact (Hacker, 137)
Don’t repeat the same word in a sentence. The ball player was the best player ever to play.
Cut out inflated phrases.
Along the lines of = like
As a matter of fact = in fact
At the present time = now, currently, presently
Because of the fact that = because

Also, always delete “really.”



Active verbs
Passive: The coolant pumps were destroyed by a surge of power
Active: A surge of power destroyed the coolant pumps.
Do this by limiting your To Be verbs; ie; be am is was were being been.

Homonyms
Know I really have to know a lot to do well on my history test.
No I am going to study until I have no time left.

Affect Changing the way you eat will affect your health.
Effect I can’t see what effect these new laws will have on me.

Accept My insurance will accept the charges for the accident.
Except I like all vegetables, except for asparagus.

To We went to the store.
Too I am going, too. I have too much sand in my mouth.
Two There are two birds and they are looking at me.

There You can put the dinner in the trash. You’ve ruined everything.
Their Their house was full of people, so they remained outside.
They’re They’re just walking around barefoot right now.

Your Your dog is bigger than my dog.
You’re You’re going to have to keep him on a leash.

Whose Whose scarf is this?
Who’s Who’s going to the movie with us?

Than I am tanner than her.
Then We were both on the beach, but then she went inside.

Apostrophes.

The ‘ mark, as in “Jeff’s class” marks a possessive. Ie: The teacher’s lounge. The driver’s side. The children’s money. It marks ownership, even if it is loosely implied.
They also mark contractions. Don’t, can’t, won’t, should’ve, It’s, etc.
They are NOT used to make a word plural.
There are a few exceptions: It’s = It is.

Semi-colons.

You get one. In your entire career. Use it wisely. Otherwise, try to avoid them. The semi-colon is a strange misunderstood piece of punctuation and it is best to keep your distance.

The English language is complicated. There is so much more to writing than mere grammatical rules. However, you must know them before your can break them.