Grammatically Correct: The writer's essential guide to punctuation ...

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ight of way passerby rights of way passersby PROBLEM WORDS Compounds ending inful usually take the s at the end: handfuls, mouthfuls. Some, however, can go either way: spoonsful or spoonfuls, bucketsful or bucketfuls. If there is no clear principal noun, the plural applies to the entire compound: hand-me-downs, pick-me-ups, will-o'-the-wisps. WORDS ENDING IN A SIB~ANT SOUND- S, SH, SOFT CH, X OR Z-ADD ES lens lenses fox foxes bass basses topaz topazes rash rashes the jones family the joneses speech speeches the Katz family the Katzes match matches the March family the Marches Note that these plurals do not take an apostrophe. For more on this, see the discussion under "Apostrophe" on page 199. In a few cases, the final z or s must be or may optionally be doubled before the es: for example, quiz--quizzes, bus-buses or busses. WORDS ENDING IN IS CHANGE TOES basis bases crisis crises hypothesis hypotheses thesis theses parenthesis parentheses WORDS ENDING IN A CONSONANT FOLLOWED BY Y CHANGE TOlES twenty twenties harpy patty family brandy harpies patties families brandies If the y is preceded by a vowel, it usually does not change: for 43
GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT example, galleys, donkeys. Money, however, may become monies or moneys. Note that proper names always keep the y: the Kennedys, the Applebys, the Emmys, the Tonys. WITH WORDS ENDING IN FOR FE, SOME CHANGE TO VES, OTHERS ADDS A number may go either way. chief roof knife life leaf hoof scarf dwarf chiefs roofs knives lives leaves hoofs or hooves scarfs or scarves dwarfs or dwarves Note though that the plural of still life is still lifes, not lives; and the hockey team is the Toronto Maple Leafs. While dwarf can go either way, the astronomical term is white dwarfs, not dwarves. WITH WORDS ENDING IN 0, SOME ADDS, OTHERS ADD ES A number may go either way. portfolio stereo contralto potato tomato ghetto banjo zero portfolios stereos contraltos potatoes tomatoes ghettos or ghettoes banjos or banjoes zeros or zeroes The general rule is that the e is included if the o is preceded by a consonant and not included if the o is preceded by a vowel, but there are enough exceptions that it's best to check. (Be aware that dictionaries may differ.) 44
Page 2 and 3: The WRITER'S ESSENTIAL GUIDE to pun
Page 4 and 5: C R E D T S American Psychological
Page 6 and 7: The En Dash 162 2-Em and 3-Em Dashe
Page 8 and 9: Readers may wish to know when to sa
Page 10 and 11: P A R T 0 N E Spelling In this age
Page 12 and 13: Misspellings COMMONLY :MISPELLED WO
Page 14 and 15: SPELLING Haemorrhage and manoeuvre
Page 16 and 17: SPELLING may spell these words the
Page 18 and 19: SPELLING Did you spot the errors in
Page 20 and 21: The car comes with duel airbags. Th
Page 22 and 23: SPELLING it doesn't, the ending wil
Page 24 and 25: SPELLING Philbert knew he would hav
Page 26 and 27: SPELLING effect these might have on
Page 28 and 29: SPELLING EIAE, OE For words origina
Page 30 and 31: SPELLING alternate spellings is the
Page 32 and 33: Hyphenation I worked with [William
Page 34 and 35: a dead on guess/a dead pan manner d
Page 36 and 37: SPELLING If one part of a compound
Page 38 and 39: SPELLING tively) unique constructio
Page 40 and 41: SPELLING With a fraction that inclu
Page 42 and 43: Frequently Misused Words Homonyms (
Page 44 and 45: PROBLEM WORDS common usages for eac
Page 46 and 47: PROBLEM WORDS Parents are assured t
Page 48 and 49: PROBLEM WORDS things that make a re
Page 50 and 51: PROBLEM WORDS fairness, some words
Page 54 and 55: SOME WORDS OF ITALIAN ORIGIN THAT E
Page 56 and 57: PROBLEM WORDS HEBREW WORDS ADD IM (
Page 58 and 59: COUNTER- DE- DIS- DYS- E- Opposite
Page 60 and 61: PROBLEM WORDS construction (uncommu
Page 62 and 63: P A R T T H R E E Punctuation The w
Page 64 and 65: Basic Sentence Structure In order t
Page 66 and 67: The storekeeper/looked at the money
Page 68 and 69: SENTENCE FRAGl\1ENT PUNCTUATION A s
Page 70 and 71: PUNCTUATION The commas in the follo
Page 72 and 73: In Part II of the exam, answer ques
Page 74 and 75: PUNCTUATION Exception If both the i
Page 76 and 77: PUNCTUATION If no comma appeared af
Page 78 and 79: PUNCTUATION She waited impatiently
Page 80 and 81: PUNCTUATION SETTING OFF PARENTHETIC
Page 82 and 83: PUNCTUATION Exception If a parenthe
Page 84 and 85: PUNCTUATION Zelda apparently has on
Page 86 and 87: For example, compare the following
Page 88 and 89: PUNCTUATION Ensure that the power s
Page 90 and 91: PUNCTUATION The panel consisted of
Page 92 and 93: She wore a pale green dress. [pale
Page 94 and 95: PUNCTUATION Do not set a quoted ele
Page 96 and 97: Semicolon (;) It was her prose that
Page 98 and 99: PUNCTUATION Put semicolons between
Page 100 and 101: PUNCTUATION USE SEMICOLONS IF COMMA
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PUNCTUATION this disk; and the revi
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PUNCTUATION intentions, but on its
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Colon(:) The colon acts as a signal
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PUNCTUATION Only one thing would sa
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PUNCTUATION reconcile the last sent
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PUNCTUATION Aside from the impact o
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PUNCTUATION • With regard to capi
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DON)T INCLUDE A PERIOD FORA GRAMMAT
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PUNCTUATION If you are not obliged
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PUNCTUATION GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES Opti
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Here are the topics that will be co
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PUNCTUATION Of course St John River
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PUNCTUATION Muriel said, "Once I wa
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INDICATING UNCERTAINTY PUNCTUATION
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'Are you guilty?' said Winston. PUN
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DRAWING ATTENTION TO A POINT PUNCTU
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Hyphen(-) This section looks at the
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No a-do i-vy i-dea tax-i a-bout e-n
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Consider the following sets of word
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PUNCTUATION This sentence is fine i
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PUNCTUATION DO NOT USE A HYPHEN WHE
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The salesman was fast-talking. The
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PUNCTUATION 'So he is, to be sure,'
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Slash(/) The slash (also known as t
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PUNCTUATION The tent offers suitabl
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PUNCTUATION Dalgliesh said: " 'Now
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• Working in digressions • Maki
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PUNCTUATION if you ask me, but that
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PUNCTUATION BETTER: A validity coef
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PUNCTUATION • It is permissible t
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Dashes Dashes come in several sizes
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PUNCTUATION Several of the neighbor
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PUNCTUATION but I am sure that you
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And when I found the door was shut,
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"How was I supposed to-" she sputte
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PUNCTUATION the discussions of the
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PUNCTUATION a quote. Another use is
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PUNCTUATION or editorial comment, i
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PUNCTUATION words italics mine, ita
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PUNCTUATION By Mrs Hurst and Miss B
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"Aces drawn after a deuce are high?
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PUNCTUATION 'Oh, but I think,' said
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PUNCTUATION it would look as if the
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it in quotation marks to alert the
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PUNCTUATION 6s and the closing ones
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PUNCTUATION Perhaps it would be bet
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ORIGINAL QuoTATION: Dear Theo, PUNC
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PUNCTUATION 'No, dear. Not Homer, t
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PUNCTUATION came to his room, inser
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Apostrophe(') The apostrophe often
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PUNCTUATION In other cases, the con
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the people's choice the alumni's lo
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Achilles' heel Euripides' plays Gra
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\ PUNCTUATION of the term itself. W
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P A R T F 0 U R Grammar The very me
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Agreement Between Subject and Verb
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Problem Category 1: The Subject, th
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GRAMMAR but that would slightly alt
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Pat, like the others, was determine
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DISTRACTING PREDICATE NOUNS GRAMMAR
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the components are included my cous
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Headquarters~ waiting for an answer
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GRAMMAR A generation ago, no one in
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GRAMMAR realize that there is more
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GRAMMAR that constitute a multimedi
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Achieving Parallel Structure The ve
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GRAMMAR The bankruptcy proceedings
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GRAMMAR It may be necessary to eith
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GRAMMAR action will follow; for exa
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GRAMMAR Rebecca seizing life with h
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GRAMMAR Dangling modifiers occur wh
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GRAMMAR The suspect's condition was
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The following sentences contain squ
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GRAMMAR that represents the entity
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GRAMMAR should be obvious that you
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GRAMMAR 4. Old King Cole was a merr
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GRAMMAR WHEN DO YOU USE WHO AND WHE
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GRAMMAR of spider; hence, it is not
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GRAMMAR • Its is the possessive o
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GRAMMAR Although the termjree-jorma
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AGREEMENT BETWEEN PRONOUN AND ANTEC
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GRAMMAR • Collective nouns are th
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GRAMMAR person plural. Many readers
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Bugbears and Betes Noires: Some Gra
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GRAMMAR Virtually every modern styl
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GRAMMAR Overdoing this type of sent
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P A R Y F I V E Style A sentence or
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Ann's Conscience, which up till thi
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STYLE • Question marks and exclam
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STYLE In some cases, if a person or
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STYLE with a consonant sound, prece
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ALLCAPSANDSMALLCAPS STYLE If your w
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Italics Italic type serves to make
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Come the crucial seventh, the Filmm
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use, to take them down into the mar
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STYLE all. If you are expected to u
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STYLE woman with a pretty figure ..
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STYLE PASSIVE: The letter received
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STYLE car is traded in every jour y
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STYLE not unintentionally distract
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STYLE BETIER: The following are sug
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STYLE Would any writer describe a p
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STYLE Many modern readers would not
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STYLE The clinician can play an imp
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STYLE Obviously you cannot use this
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Writing With Finesse BEN . ... But
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STYLE ensure randorrmess), and calc
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inwardleaning heads, smoking steadi
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STYLE behind altering them can be d
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STYLE of these types of help while
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STYLE First paragraph: Introductory
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STYLE all situations. Therefore, re
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STYLE tation. Although it is prefer
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STYLE the accent phonetically at al
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During my first tournament, my moth
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STYLE jump out at you: illogical co
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sentence with, 262-263; subordinati
Page 336 and 337:
ending in y, 43-44, 197, 199-200; o
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