Have you seen how children write when theyre first learning? They write in short little sentences that
sound rather robotic:
My name is Anna. I am five years old. I am a girl.
I have a mother. I have a father. I have a brother.
I have a cat. I like hot dogs.
When they get a little older, they learn to connect some of those sentences so its not so choppy:
My name is Anna, and I am five years old. I am a girl.
I have a mother, a father, a brother, and a cat. I like
hot dogs.
Notice the use of and; thats the magic key to not sounding like a robot. And is a conjunction;
conjunctions are one of the things we use to connect ideas to create a smoothly flowing sentence
which is clearly understandable to the reader.
Conjunctions are great things, but you can have too much of a good thing. When conjunctions are
overused, you have run-on sentences.
Uses of Conjunctions
Conjunctions connect thoughts, ideas, actions, nouns, clauses, etc.
Martha went to the market and bought fresh vegetables.
In this sentence, the conjunction and connects the two things Martha did.
Martha went to the market, and I went to the hardware store.
Here, and connects two sentences, preventing the choppiness which would arise if we used
too many short sentences.
Coordinating Conjunctions
The coordinating conjunctions are conjunctions that join two independent clauses, or two
nouns, or two verbs, etc. You can remember the coordinating conjunctions with the acronym
FANBOYS.
F or , A nd , N or , B ut , O r , Y et , S o,
Run and hide!
The coordinating conjunction connects the two verbs.
We didnt have much money, but we were happy.
Here are two contrasting states of being: not having much money, and being happy.
We didnt have much money or much food.
I had chocolate cake, and Michael had carrot cake.
Note the commas before the coordinating conjunctions which separate two independent
clauses.
Correlative Conjunctions
Correlative conjunctions are pairs of conjunctions that work together. Some examples
areeither/or, neither/nor and not only/but.
Not only am I finished studying for English, but Im also finished my history essay.
I am finished both my English essay and my history essay.
Make sure that you use both conjunctions when writing. Sometimes when we speak, we get a
little lazy; dont leave a clause unfinished or else youll have a problem with faulty parallelism.
You could use either.
This is alright for conversation because youll have something in front of you to point to, giving
you a visual clue.
You could use either the spoon.
This is an unfinished sentence; there is a problem with faulty parallelism here.
You could use either the spoon or the fork.
This sentence is perfect because it lists both things to be used.
Subordinating Conjunctions
Subordinating conjunctions show a relationship between an independent and a dependent
clause; some of the relationships can be cause-and-effect, and contrast. Some examples of
subordinating conjunctions are because, since, as, although, though, while, and whereas.
I can stay out until the clock strikes twelve.
Here, the subordinating conjunction is connecting the two ideas: I can stay out and the clock
strikes twelve.
He can leave the house as long as he has cleaned his room.
The teacher said that he was amazingly creative.
The subordinating conjunction doesnt need to go in the middle of the sentence. It must be
part of the dependent clause, but it doesnt matter whether the clause is the first or second on
in the sentence.
Conjunctive Adverbs
Conjunctive adverbs are adverbs which join two clauses; some examples of are also,besides,
accordingly, finally, subsequently, therefore, thus, meanwhile, moreover, nonetheless, instead,
however, indeed, hence, consequently, similarly and still. Conjunctive adverbs frequently (but
not necessarily) have a semi-colon before them. As theyre conjunctions (i.e. words that join
two thoughts or ideas), its best not to use them at the beginning of a sentence.
Please close the outer door; otherwise , the cold air comes in.
First feed the horses; next , please feed the chickens.
Conjunctive adverbs can also put a little break in the sentence, providing emphasis.
The new building will, furthermore , provide storage facilities as well as meeting space.
The commas are used around the conjunctive adverb for emphasis. If the interruption in the
sentence should be weaker, just leave out the commas.
The new building will furthermore provide storage facilities as well as meeting space.
emphasis, its an informal means of doing so. You can use it in creative or personal writing,
but its not recommended for formal writing.
Many people fear crashing in an airplane. But riding in a car is actually more dangerous.
Beginning the second sentence with the conjunction but is not a good idea. It would be better
to connect the sentences with a comma and but.
Many people fear crashing in an airplane , but riding in a car is actually more dangerous.
And when using the subjunctive, be sure to use it properly.
We can take out the and at the beginning of the sentence; it serves no purpose.
N.B. While the subject is a matter of debate, beginning a sentence with words like however
and on the other hand is frequently frowned upon. It may be safer to connect the sentences
with a semi-colon.
I like the blue shirt ; however , the red one is nice, too.
Conjunctions List
Coordinating Conjunctions
for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so
Correlative Conjunctions
both/and, either/or, neither/nor, not only/but, whether/or
Some Subordinating Conjunctions
after, although, as, as if, as long as, as much as, as soon as, as though, because, before, by
the time, even if, even though, if, in order that, in case, in the event that, inasmuch, just in
case, lest , now that, once, only, only if, provided that, since, so, supposing, that, than, that,
though, till (or til), unless, until, when, whenever, where, whereas, wherever, whether or not,
while
DEFINITIONS OF
BASIC SENTENCE PARTS
Here'salittlerhymebyDavidB.Tower&BenjaminF.Tweedthatteachersused
indaysgonebytohelpstudentslearnthepartsofspeech.(Weincludeithereinresponse
topopulardemand.Whythesongleavesoutpronounsisamystery.Awriterfrom
Richland,Washington,suggests"APRONOUNreplacesanynoun:/he,she,it,andyouare
found.)Ithasbeensettomusic,butwe'llleavethatuptoyoutodiscoverorcreatefor
yourself:
Sentence Parts:
Function and Usage Notes
Absolute
Phrases
Adjectives
Adverbs
Determiners/
Articles
Clauses
Complements
Coordinated
Adjectives
Conjunctions
Directand
Indirect
Objects
Interjections
Nouns
Phrases
Predicates
Prepositions
Pronouns
Subjects
VerbsandVerbals
(Infinitives,Participles,Gerunds)
ADJECTIVES
Definition
Adjectivesarewordsthatdescribeormodifyanotherpersonorthinginthesentence.
TheArticlesa,an,andtheareadjectives.
thetallprofessor
thelugubriouslieutenant
asolidcommitment
amonth'spay
asixyearoldchild
theunhappiest,richestman
Anabundanceofadjectiveslikethiswouldbeuncommonincontemporaryprose.Whetherwe
havelostsomethingornotisleftuptoyou.
Position of Adjectives
UnlikeAdverbs,whichoftenseemcapableofpoppingupalmostanywhereinasentence,
adjectivesnearlyalwaysappearimmediatelybeforethenounornounphrasethattheymodify.
Sometimestheyappearinastringofadjectives,andwhentheydo,theyappearinasetorder
accordingtocategory.(SeeBelow.)Whenindefinitepronounssuchassomething,someone,
anybodyaremodifiedbyanadjective,theadjectivecomesafterthepronoun:
Anyone capable of doing something
Something wicked this way comes.
horrible to someone
nice should
be
punished.
And there are certain adjectives that, in combination with certain words, are always
"postpositive"(comingafterthethingtheymodify):
The president elect, heir apparent to the Glitzy fortune, lives in New York proper.
See,also,thenoteonaadjectives,below,forthepositionofsuchwordsas"ablaze,aloof,
aghast."
Degrees of Adjectives
Adjectivescanexpressdegreesofmodification:
Gladysisarichwoman,butJosieisricherthanGladys,andSadieistherichestwomanin
town.
Positive
Comparative
Superlative
rich
richer
richest
lovely
lovelier
loveliest
beautiful
more beautiful
most beautiful
Certainadjectiveshaveirregularformsinthecomparativeandsuperlativedegrees:
Irregular Comparative and Superlative
Forms
good
better
best
bad
worse
worst
little
less
least
much
many
some
more
most
far
further
furthest
Becarefulnottoformcomparativesorsuperlativesofadjectiveswhichalreadyexpressan
extreme of comparison unique, for instance although it probably is possible to form
comparativeformsofmostadjectives:somethingcanbemoreperfect,andsomeonecanhave
afullerfigure.Peoplewhoarguethatonewomancannotbemorepregnantthananotherhave
neverbeenninemonthspregnantwithtwins.
AccordingtoBryanGarner,"complete"isoneofthoseadjectivesthatdoesnotadmitof
comparativedegrees.Wecouldsay,however,"morenearlycomplete."IamsurethatIhavenot
beenconsistentinmyapplicationofthisprincipleintheGuide(Icanhearmyself,now,saying
somethinglike"lessadequate"or"morepreferable"or"lessfatal").OtheradjectivesthatGarner
wouldincludeinthislistareasfollows:
absolute
impossible
principal
adequate
inevitable
stationary
chief
irrevocable
sufficient
complete
main
unanimous
devoid
manifest
unavoidable
entire
minor
unbroken
fatal
paramount
unique
final
perpetual
universal
ideal
preferable
whole
Becareful,also,nottousemorealongwithacomparativeadjectiveformedwithernorto
usemostalongwithasuperlativeadjectiveformedwithest(e.g.,donotwritethatsomething
ismoreheavierormostheaviest).
Theasasconstructionisusedtocreateacomparisonexpressingequality:
Heisasfoolishasheislarge.
Sheisasbrightashermother.
Wewerealotmorecarefulthistime.
Heworksalotlesscarefullythantheotherjewelerintown.
Welikehisworksomuchbetter.
You'llgetyourwatchbackallthefaster.
Thesameprocesscanbeusedtodownplaythedegree:
Theweatherthisweekhasbeensomewhatbetter.
Heapproacheshisschoolworkalittlelessindustriouslythanhisbrotherdoes.
Andsometimesasetphrase,usuallyaninformalnounphrase,isusedforthispurpose:
Hearrivedawholelotsoonerthanweexpected.
That'saheckofalotbetter.
Iftheintensifierveryaccompaniesthesuperlative,adeterminerisalsorequired:
Sheiswearingherveryfinestoutfitfortheinterview.
They'redoingtheverybesttheycan.
Occasionally,thecomparativeorsuperlativeformappearswithadeterminerandthething
beingmodifiedisunderstood:
OfallthewinesproducedinConnecticut,Ilikethisonethemost.
Thequickeryoufinishthisproject,thebetter.
Ofthetwobrothers,heisbyfarthefaster.
Wedo,however,definitelyuselesswhenreferringtostatisticalornumerical
expressions:
It'slessthantwentymilestoDallas.
He'slessthansixfeettall.
Youressayshouldbeathousandwordsorless.
Wespentlessthanfortydollarsonourtrip.
Thetownspentlessthanfourpercentofitsbudgetonsnowremoval.
Taller than I / me ??
When making a comparison with "than" do we end with a subject form or
object form, "taller than I/she" or "taller than me/her." The correct
response is "taller than I/she." We are looking for the subject form: "He is
taller than I am/she is tall." (Except we leave out the verb in the second
clause, "am" or "is.") Some good writers, however, will argue that the
word "than" should be allowed to function as a preposition. If we can say
"He is tall like me/her," then (if "than" could be prepositional like like) we
should be able to say, "He is taller than me/her." It's an interesting
argument, but for now, anyway in formal, academic prose, use the
subject form in such comparisons.
Wealsowanttobecarefulinasentencesuchas"Ilikehimbetterthanshe/her."
The"she"wouldmeanthatyoulikethispersonbetterthanshelikeshim;the"her"
wouldmeanthatyoulikethismalepersonbetterthanyoulikethatfemaleperson.
(Toavoidambiguityandtheslipperyuseofthan,wecouldwrite"Ilikehimbetter
thanshedoes"or"IlikehimbetterthanIlikeher.")
traffic deaths" would be acceptable. Even in the U.S., however, you will
commonly hear "over" in numerical expressions of age, time, or height:
"His sister is over forty; she's over six feet tall. We've been waiting well
over two hours for her."
Determinersarticlesandotherlimiters.SeeDeterminers
II.
Observationpostdeterminersandlimiteradjectives(e.g.,arealhero,aperfectidiot)
andadjectivessubjecttosubjectivemeasure(e.g.,beautiful,interesting)
III.
SizeandShapeadjectivessubjecttoobjectivemeasure(e.g.,wealthy,large,round)
IV.
Ageadjectivesdenotingage(e.g.,young,old,new,ancient)
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
Coloradjectivesdenotingcolor(e.g.,red,black,pale)
Origindenominaladjectivesdenotingsourceofnoun(e.g.,French,American,
Canadian)
Materialdenominaladjectivesdenotingwhatsomethingismadeof(e.g.,woolen,
metallic,wooden)
Qualifierfinallimiter,oftenregardedaspartofthenoun(e.g.,rockingchair,hunting
cabin,passengercar,bookcover)
Itwouldbefolly,ofcourse,torunmorethantwoorthree(atthemost)adjectivestogether.
Furthermore,whenadjectivesbelongtothesameclass,theybecomewhatwecallcoordinated
adjectives,andyouwillwanttoputacommabetweenthem:theinexpensive,comfortableshoes.
Theruleforinsertingthecommaworks thisway:ifyoucouldhaveinsertedaconjunction
andorbutbetweenthetwoadjectives,useacomma.Wecouldsaytheseare"inexpensive
butcomfortableshoes,"sowewoulduseacommabetweenthem(whenthe"but"isn'tthere).
Whenyouhavethreecoordinatedadjectives,separatethemallwithcommas,butdon'tinserta
commabetweenthelastadjectiveandthenoun(inspiteofthetemptationtodosobecauseyou
oftenpausethere):a popular, respected, and good looking student
RULES FOR
COMMA USAGE
Useacommatoseparatetheelementsinaseries(threeormorethings),includingthelasttwo.
"Hehittheball,droppedthebat,andrantofirstbase."Youmayhavelearnedthatthecomma
beforethe"and"isunnecessary,whichisfineifyou'reincontrolofthings.However,thereare
situationsinwhich,ifyoudon'tusethiscomma(especiallywhenthelistiscomplexorlengthy),
theselasttwoitemsinthelistwilltrytoglomtogether(likemacaroniandcheese).Usinga
commabetweenalltheitemsinaseries,includingthelasttwo,avoidsthisproblem.Thislast
commatheonebetweentheword"and"andtheprecedingwordisoftencalledtheserial
commaortheOxfordcomma.Innewspaperwriting,incidentally,youwillseldomfindaserial
comma,butthatisnotnecessarilyasignthatitshouldbeomittedinacademicprose.
Use a comma + a little conjunction(and, but, for, nor, yet, or, so)to connect
twoin
dependentclauses,asin"Hehittheballwell,butherantowardthirdbase."
Contending that the coordinating conjunction is adequate separation, some
writerswillleaveoutthecommainasentencewithshort,balancedindependentclauses(suchas
weseeintheexamplejustgiven).Ifthereiseveranydoubt,however,usethecomma,asitis
alwayscorrectinthissituation.
One of the most frequent errors in comma usage is the placement of a commaaftera
coordinating conjunction. We cannot say that the comma will always come before the
conjunctionandneverafter,butitwouldbearareevent,indeed,thatweneedtofollow a
coordinatingconjunctionwithacomma.Whenspeaking,wedosometimespauseafterthelittle
conjunction,butthereisseldomagoodreasontoputacommathere.
Useacommatosetoffintroductoryelements,asin"Runningtowardthirdbase,hesuddenly
realizedhowstupidhelooked."
Itispermissibletoomitthecommaafterabriefintroductoryelementiftheomission
doesnotresultinconfusionorhesitancyinreading.Ifthereiseveranydoubt,usethecomma,as
itisalwayscorrect.Ifyouwouldlikesomeadditionalguidelinesonusingacommaafter
introductoryelements,clickHERE.
Useacommatosetoffparentheticalelements,asin"TheFoundersBridge,whichspansthe
ConnecticutRiver,isfallingdown."By"parentheticalelement,"wemeanapartofasentence
thatcanberemovedwithoutchangingtheessentialmeaningofthatsentence.Theparenthetical
elementissometimescalled"addedinformation."Thisisthemostdifficultruleinpunctuation
becauseitissometimesunclearwhatis"added"or"parenthetical"andwhatisessentialtothe
meaningofasentence.
Appositivesarealmostalwaystreatedasparentheticalelements.
Calhoun'sambition,tobecomeagoalieinprofessionalsoccer,iswithinhisreach.
Eleanor,hiswifeofthirtyyears,suddenlydecidedtoopenherownbusiness.
Sometimestheappositiveandtheworditidentifiesaresocloselyrelatedthatthecommacanbe
omitted,asin"HiswifeEleanorsuddenlydecidedtoopenherownbusiness."Wecouldargue
thatthename"Eleanor"isnotessentialtothemeaningofthesentence(assuminghehasonlyone
wife),andthatwouldsuggestthatwecanputcommasbothbeforeandafterthename(andthat
would,indeed,becorrect).But"hiswife"and"Eleanor"aresoclosethatwecanregardthe
entirephraseasoneunitandleaveoutthecommas.Withthephraseturnedaround,however,we
haveamoredefiniteparentheticalelementandthecommasarenecessary:"Eleanor,hiswife,
suddenlydecidedtoopenherownbusiness."Consider,also,thedifferencebetween"College
PresidentIraRubenzahlvotedtorescindthewithdrawalpolicy"(inwhichweneedthename"Ira
Rubenzahl"orthesentencedoesn'tmakesense)and"IraRubenzahl,thecollegepresident,voted
to rescind the withdrawal policy" (in which the sentence makes sense without his title, the
appositive,andwetreattheappositiveasaparentheticalelement,withapairofcommas).
Aspointedoutabove(Rule#3),anadverbialclausethatbeginsasentenceis
setoffwithacomma:
AlthoughQueasybreathhadspentseveralyearsinAntarctica,hestill
bundledupwarmlyinthebriskautumnsofOhio.
BecauseTashondahadlearnedtostudybyherself,shewasableto
passtheentranceexam.
Whenanadverbialclausecomeslateroninthesentence,however,the
writermustdetermineiftheclauseisessentialtothemeaningofthe
sentenceornot.A"becauseclause"canbeparticularlytroublesomeinthis
regard.Inmostsentences,a"becauseclause"isessentialtothemeaningof
thesentence,anditwillnotbesetoffwithacomma:
TheOkieshadtoleavetheirfarmsinthemidwestbecausethe
droughtconditionshadruinedtheirfarms.
Sometimes,though,the"becauseclause"mustbesetoffwithacommato
avoidmisreading:
IknewthatPresidentNixonwouldresignthatmorning,becausemy
sisterinlawworkedintheWhiteHouseandshecalledmewiththe
news.
Withoutthatcomma,thesentencesaysthatNixon'sresignationwasthefault
ofmysisterinlaw.Nixondidnotresignbecausemysisterinlawworked
intheWhiteHouse,sowesetoffthatclausetomakethemeaningclearly
parenthetical.
Whenaparentheticalelementaninterjection,adverbialmodifier,orevenanadverbial
clause follows a coordinating conjunction used to connect two independent clauses, we
donotputacommainfrontoftheparentheticalelement.
TheRedSoxwereleadingtheleagueattheendofMay,butofcourse,theyalwaysdowell
inthespring.[nocommaafter"but"]
TheYankeesdidn'tdosowellintheearlygoing,butfrankly,everyoneexpectsthemtowin
theseason.[nocommaafter"but"]
TheTigersspentmuchoftheseasonatthebottomoftheleague,andeventhoughthey
pickedupseveralpromisingrookies,theyexpecttobethereagainnextyear.[nocomma
after"and"]
Whenbothacity'snameandthatcity'sstateorcountry'snamearementionedtogether,the
stateorcountry'snameistreatedasaparentheticalelement.
WevisitedHartford,Connecticut,lastsummer.
Paris,France,issometimescalled"TheCityofLights."
Whenthestatebecomesapossessiveform,thisruleisnolongerfollowed:
Hartford,Connecticut'sinvestmentintheinsuranceindustryiswellknown.
Also,whenthestateorcountry'snamebecomespartofacompoundstructure,thesecondcomma
isdropped:
Heublein,aHartford,Connecticutbasedcompany,ismovingtoanotherstate.
Theiryearsoftrainingnowforgotten,thesoldiersbrokeranks.
Yes,itisalwaysamatter,ofcourse,ofpreparationandattitude.
I'mtellingyou,Juanita,Icouldn'tbemoresurprised.(ItoldJuanitaIcouldn'tbemore
surprised.[nocommas])
Use a commato separate coordinate adjectives. You could think of this as "That tall,
distinguished,goodlookingfellow"rule(asopposedto"thelittleoldlady").Ifyoucanput
anandorabutbetweentheadjectives,acommawillprobablybelongthere.Forinstance,you
couldsay,"Heisatallanddistinguishedfellow"or"Iliveinaveryoldandrundownhouse."So
youwouldwrite,"Heisatall,distinguishedman"and"Iliveinaveryold,rundownhouse."
Butyouwouldprobablynotsay,"Sheisalittleandoldlady,"or"Iliveinalittleandpurple
house,"socommaswouldnotappearbetweenlittleandoldorbetweenlittleandpurple.
And what does a comma do, a comma does nothing but make easy a thing that if
you like it enough is easy enough without the comma. A long complicated sentence
should force itself upon you, make you know yourself knowing it and the comma,
well at the most a comma is a poor period that lets you stop and take a breath but
if you want to take a breath you ought to know yourself that you want to take a
breath. It is not like stopping altogether has something to do with going on, but
taking a breath well you are always taking a breath and why emphasize one breath
rather than another breath. Anyway that is the way I felt about it and I felt that
about it very very strongly. And so I almost never used a comma. The longer, the
more complicated the sentence the greater the number of the same kinds of words
I had following one after another, the more the very more I had of them the more I
felt the passionate need of their taking care of themselves by themselves and not
helping them, and thereby enfeebling them by putting in a comma.
So that is the way I felt about punctuation in prose, in poetry it is a little different but
more so
Gertrude Stein
from Lectures in America
Useacommatosetoffquotedelements.Becausewedon'tusequotedmaterialallthetime,
evenwhenwriting,thisisprobablythemostdifficultruletorememberincommausage.Itisa
goodideatofindapagefromanarticlethatusesseveralquotations,photocopythatpage,and
keepitinfrontofyouasamodelwhenyou'rewriting.Generally,useacommatoseparate
quotedmaterialfromtherestofthesentencethatexplainsorintroducesthequotation:
Summing up this argument, Peter Coveney writes, "The purpose and strength of the
romanticimageofthechildhadbeenabovealltoestablisharelationbetweenchildhood
andadultconsciousness."
Ifanattributionofaquotedelementcomesinthemiddleofthequotation,twocommaswillbe
required.Butbecarefulnottocreateacommaspliceinsodoing.
"Thequestionis,"saidAlice,"whetheryoucanmakewordsmeansomanythings."
"Ishouldliketobuyanegg,please,"shesaidtimidly."Howdoyousellthem?"
Becarefulnottousecommastosetoffquotedelementsintroducedbythewordthatorquoted
elementsthatareembeddedinalargerstructure:
PeterCoveneywritesthat"[t]hepurposeandstrengthof..."
Weoftensay"Sorry"whenwedon'treallymeanit.
And,insteadofacomma,useacolontosetoffexplanatoryorintroductorylanguagefroma
quotedelementthatiseitherveryformalorlong(especiallyifit'slongerthanonesentence):
Peter Coveney had this to say about the nineteenthcentury's use of children
infiction:"Thepurposeandstrengthof...."
Usecommastosetoffphrasesthatexpresscontrast.
Somesaytheworldwillendinice,notfire.
Itwashermoney,nothercharmorpersonalitythatfirstattractedhim.
Thepuppieswerecute,butverymessy.
(Somewriterswillleaveoutthecommathatsetsoffacontrastingphrasebeginningwithbut.)
Useacommatoavoidconfusion.Thisisoftenamatterofconsistentlyapplyingrule#3.
Formosttheyearisalreadyfinished.
Formost,theyearisalreadyfinished.
Outsidethelawnwasclutteredwithhundredsofbrokenbranches.
Outside,thelawnwasclutteredwithhundredsofbrokenbranches.
I have spent most of the day putting in a comma and the
rest of the day taking it out.
Oscar Wilde
GrammarEnglish'sFamousRuleofPunctuation:Neveruseonlyonecommabetweena
subjectanditsverb."Believingcompletelyandpositivelyinoneselfisessentialforsuccess."
[Although readers might pause after the word "oneself," there is no reason to put a
commathere.]
TypographicalReasons:Betweenacityandastate[Hartford,Connecticut],adateandtheyear
[June15,1997],anameandatitlewhenthetitlecomesafterthename[BobDowney,Professor
ofEnglish],inlongnumbers[5,456,783and$14,682],etc.Althoughyouwilloftenseeacomma
betweenanameandsuffixBobDowney,Jr.,RichardHarrison,IIIthiscommaisno
longerregardedasnecessarybymostcopyeditors,andsomeindividualssuchasMartin
LutherKingJr.neverusedacommathereatall.
Notethatweuseacommaorasetofcommastomaketheyearparentheticalwhenthe
dateofthemonthisincluded:
July4,1776,isregardedasthebirthdateofAmericanliberty.
Withoutthedateitself,however,thecommadisappears:
July1776wasoneofthemosteventfulmonthsinourhistory.
Ininternationalormilitaryformat,nocommasareused:
TheDeclarationofIndependencewassignedon4July1776.
Concentratingontheproperuseofcommasisnotmereformforform'ssake.Indeed,it
causeswriterstoreviewtheirunderstandingofstructureandtoconsidercarefullyhowtheir
sentencesarecrafted.
CAPITALIZATION
Capitalize this!
1.Thefirstwordofeverysentence.
2.Thefirstpersonsingularpronoun,I.
3.Thefirst,last,andimportantwordsinatitle.(Theconcept"importantwords"usuallydoesnot
includearticles,shortprepositions(whichmeansyoumightwanttocapitalize"towards"or
"between,"say),the"to"ofaninfinitive,andcoordinatingconjunctions.Thisisnottruein
APAReferencelists(wherewecapitalizeonlythefirstword),norisitnecessarilytruefortitles
inotherlanguages.Also,onbookjackets,aestheticconsiderationswillsometimesoverridethe
rules.)
4.Propernouns
o
Specific persons and things: George W. Bush, the White House, General Motors
Corporation.
Specificgeographicallocations:Hartford,Connecticut,Africa,ForestParkZoo,Lake
Erie,theNortheast,theSouthend.However,wedonotcapitalizecompassdirections
orlocationsthataren'tbeingusedasnames:thenorthsideofthecity;we'releaving
theNorthwestandheadingsouththiswinter.Whenwecombinepropernouns,we
capitalizeattributivewordswhentheyprecedeplacenames,asinLakesErieand
Ontario,buttheoppositehappenswhentheorderisreversed:theAppalachianand
Adirondackmountains.Whenatermisuseddescriptively,asopposedtobeingan
actualpartofapropernoun,donotcapitalizeit,asin"TheCaliforniadesertsdonot
getashotastheSaharaDesert."
Names of celestial bodies: Mars, Saturn, the Milky Way. Do not, however,
capitalizeearth,moon,sun,exceptwhenthosenamesappearinacontextinwhich
other(capitalized)celestialbodiesarementioned."Ilikeithereonearth,"but"Itis
furtherfromEarthtoMarsthanitisfromMercurytotheSun.
Namesofnewspapersandjournals.Donot,however,capitalizethewordthe,even
whenitispartofthenewspaper'stitle:theHartfordCourant.
Days of the week, months, holidays. Donot, however, capitalize the names of
seasons(spring,summer,fall,autumn,winter)."Nextwinter,we'retravelingsouth;
byspring,we'llbebackupnorth."
Historicalevents:WorldWarI,theRenaissance,theCrusades.
Races,nationalities,languages:Swedes,Swedish,AfricanAmerican,Jewish,French,
NativeAmerican.(Mostwritersdonotcapitalizewhites,blacks.)
Namesofreligionsandreligiousterms:God,Christ,Allah,Buddha,Christianity,
Christians,Judaism,Jews,Islam,Muslims.
Namesofcourses:Economics,Biology101.(However,wewouldwrite:"I'mtaking
coursesinbiologyandearthsciencethissummer.")
Brandnames:Tide,Maytag,Chevrolet.
5.Namesofrelationshipsonlywhentheyareapartoforasubstituteforaperson'sname.(Often
thismeansthatwhenthereisamodifier,suchasapossessivepronoun,infrontofsuchaword,
wedonotcapitalizeit.)
o
Let'sgovisitGrandmothertoday.Let'sgovisitmygrandmothertoday.
IrememberUncleArthur.IremembermyUncleArthur.Myuncleisunforgettable.
This also means that we don't normally capitalize the name of a "vocative" or term of
endearment:
o
Canyougetthepaperforme,hon?
Dropthegun,sweetie.Ididn'tmeanit.
Capitalization in E-Mail
Forsomereason,somewritersfeelthatemailshouldduplicatethelookandfeelof
ancienttelegraphmessages,andtheircapitalsgothewayofthewindmillortheygoto
the opposite extreme and capitalize EVERYTHING. That's nonsense. Proper and
restrained capitalization simply makes things easier to read (unless something is
capitalizedinerror,andthenitslowsthingsdown).Withoutthelittletailsandleaderswe
getinanicemixtureofupperandlowercasetext,wordslosetheirfamiliartouchand
feel.TextwritteninALLCAPSisextremelydifficulttoreadandsomepeopleregardit
asunseemlyandrude,likeSHOUTINGatsomeonecloseathand.Restrainyouruseof
ALLCAPSinemailtosolitarywordsthatneedfurtheremphasis(or,betteryet,use
italicsorunderliningforthatpurpose,ifyouremailclientprovidesforthattreatment).
Collective Adjectives
Whenthedefinitearticle,the,iscombinedwithanadjectivedescribingaclassorgroupof
people,theresultingphrasecanactasanoun:thepoor,therich,theoppressed,thehomeless,the
lonely,theunlettered,theunwashed,thegathered,thedeardeparted.Thedifferencebetween
aCollectiveNoun(whichisusuallyregardedassingularbutwhichcanbepluralincertain
contexts)andacollectiveadjectiveisthatthelatterisalwayspluralandrequiresapluralverb:
Theruralpoorhavebeenignoredbythemedia.
TherichofConnecticutareresponsible.
Theelderlyarebeginningtodemandtheirrights.
Theyoungatheartarealwaysajoytobearound.
family
flock
group
heap
herd
jury
kind
lot
[the]
number
public
staf
team
Thus, if we're talking about eggs, we could say "A dozenisprobably not
enough." But if we're talking partying with our friends, we could say, "A
dozenarecomingoverthisafternoon."Thejurydeliversitsverdict.[But]Thejury
cameinandtooktheirseats.WecouldsaytheTokyoStringQuartetisoneofthebest
stringensemblesintheworld,butwecouldsaytheBeatlesweresomeofthemost
famoussingersinhistory.Generally,bandnamesandmusicalgroupstakesingularor
plural verbs depending on the form of their names: "The Mamas and the
Papaswereoneofthebestgroupsofthe70s"and"Metallicaismyfavoriteband."
Note that "the number" is a singular collective noun. "The numberof
applicantsissteadilyincreasing.""Anumber,"ontheotherhand,isapluralform:
"Thereareseveralstudentsinthelobby.Anumber
areheretoseethepresident."
Collective nouns arecount nounswhich means they, themselves, can be
pluralized: a university has several athleticteamsandclasses. And the
immigrantfamilieskeptwatchovertheirherdsandflocks.
Thewordfollowingthephraseoneofthe(asanobjectoftheprepositionof)will
alwaysbeplural.
Oneofthereasonswedothisisthatitrainsalotinspring.
Oneofthestudentsinthisroomisresponsible.
Notice, though, that the verb ("is") agrees with one, which is
singular, and not with the object of the preposition, which is always
plural.
Whenafamilyname(apropernoun)ispluralized,wealmostalwayssimplyadd
an"s."SowegotovisittheSmiths,theKennedys,theGrays,etc.Whenafamily
nameendsins,x,ch,sh,orz,however,weformthepluralbyaddedes,asinthe
Marches, the Joneses, the Maddoxes, the Bushes, the Rodriguezes. Donotform a
family name plural by using an apostrophe; that device is reserved for creating
possessiveforms.
Whenapropernounendsinan"s"withahard"z"sound,wedon'taddany
ending to form the plural: "The Chambers are coming to dinner" (not the
Chamberses); "The Hodges used to live here" (not the Hodgeses). There are
exceptionseventothis:wesay"TheJonesesarecomingover,"andwe'dprobably
write"TheStevensesarecoming,too."Amodestproposal:womenwhoselastnames
endin"s"(pronounced"z")shouldmarryandtakethenamesofmenwhoselast
namesdonotendwiththatsound,andeventuallythisproblemwilldisappear.
Thenames of companies and other organizationsare usually regarded as
singular,regardlessoftheirending:"GeneralMotorshasannounceditsfalllineupof
newvehicles."Trytoavoidtheinconsistencythatisalmostinevitablewhenyouthink
of corporate entities as a group of individuals: "General
Motorshasannouncedtheirfall lineup of new vehicles." But note that some
inconsistencyisacceptableinallbutthemostformalwriting:"Fordhasannouncedits
breakupwithFirestoneTires.TheircarswillnolongerusetiresbuiltbyFirestone."
Somewriterswilluseapluralverbwhenapluralconstructionsuchas"Associates"is
partofthecompany'stitleorwhenthetitleconsistsofaseriesofnames:"Upton,
Vernon, and Gridleyaremoving to new law offices next week" or "Shadrach,
Meshach,Abednego&Associateshavewonalltheircasesthisyear."Singularverbs
andpronounswouldbecorrectinthosesentences,also.
Thenamesofsportsteams,ontheotherhand,aretreatedasplurals,regardless
oftheformofthatname.Wewouldwritethat"TheYankeeshavesignedanewthird
baseman"and"TheYankeesareagreatorganization"(evenifwe'reRedSoxfans)
andthat"Fortwoyearsinarow,theUtahJazzhaveattemptedtodraftabigman."
Whenwerefertoateambythecityinwhichitresides,however,weusethesingular,
asin"DallashasattemptedtosecuretheservicesoftwoassistantcoachesthatGreen
Bayhopestokeep."(ThisisdecidedlynotaBritishpractice.IntheUK,thecityor
countrynamesbywhichBritishnewspapersrefertosoccerteams,forexample,are
usedaspluralsapracticethatseemsoddandinconsistenttoAmericanears:"A
minute's silence will precede the game at Le Stadium today, when
ToulouseplayMunster,andtomorrowatLansdowneRoad,whenLeinsterattemptto
reachtheirfirstEuropeanfinalbybeatingPerpignan"[reportintheonlineLondon
Times].)
In a rare dictum-making mood, William Safire (in No Uncertain Terms, 2003) declares that
pluralized names like Packers and Yankees should take plural verbs (obviously), but that team
names like the Jazz, the Heat, the Lightning, the Connecticut Sun should take singular verbs.
This dictum seems to prevail in Safire's own New York Times: "The [Miami] Heat, typical of its
resilience at home, was far from through. " But just about everywhere else in the world of sports
reporting, this is not the case. Even in the Times, an AP report asserts that "The Heat, down 2-0
in the East Conference semifinal series, have won 16 straight home games." TheBoston
Globe says that "the [New England] Revolution are reestablishing their reputation for
resourcefulness and spirited play." and "the Heat were in it in the first half." The Hartford
Courant writes that "When the Connecticut Sun play an exhibition game tonight in Houston,
coach Mike Thibault will have two more players." Finally, NBA Media Ventures writes that "The
Utah Jazz were expected to follow the rebuilding mode ." [All quotations are from May 10th
and 20th, 2004, online sources.)
JeffreygotfourA'sonhislastreportcard.
Towandalearnedveryquicklytomindherp'sandq's.
Youhavefifteenand'sinthatlastparagraph.
Noticethatwedonotuseanapostrophestocreatethepluralofawordinitself.For
instance,wewouldrefertothe"insandouts"ofamystery,the"yesesandnos"ofa
vote (NYPLWriter's Guide to Style and Usage), and we assume that Theodore
Bernsteinknew whathewastalkingaboutin hisbookDos,Don'ts& Maybes of
EnglishUsage.Wewouldalsowrite"Theshortstopmadetwospectacularoutsinthat
inning."Butwhenwerefertoawordasaword,wefirstitalicizeitIpointedout
theuseofthewordoutinthatsentence.andifnecessary,wepluralizeitbyadding
the unitalicized apostrophe s "In his essay on prepositions, Jose used an
astonishing three dozenout's." This practice is not universally followed, and in
newspapers, you would find our example sentence written without italics or
apostrophe:"Youhavefifteenandsinthatlastparagraph."
Some abbreviations have embedded plural forms, and there are often
inconsistencies in creating the plurals of these words. The speed of an internal
combustionengineismeasuredin"revolutionsperminute"orrpm(lowercase)and
the efficiency of an automobile is reported in "milesper gallon" ormpg(no "s"
endings).Ontheotherhand,baseballplayerslovetoaccumulate"runsbattedin,"a
statisticthatisusuallyreportedasRBIs(althoughitwouldnotbeterriblyunusualto
hearthatsomeonegot100RBIlastyearandsomebaseballcommentatorswilltalk
about"ribbies,"too).Also,theU.S.militaryprovides"mealsreadytoeat"andthose
rationsareusuallydescribedasMREs(notMRE).Whenanabbreviationcanbeused
torefertoasingularthingarunbattedin,amealreadytoeat,aprisonerofwar
it'ssurelyagoodideatoformthepluralbyadding"s"totheabbreviation:RBIs,
MREs, POWs. (Notice that no apostrophe is involved in the formation of these
plurals.Whetherabbreviationsliketheseareformedwithupperorlowercaseletters
isamatterofgreatmystery;onlyyourdictionaryeditorknowsforsure.)
Notice, furthermore, that we donotusean apostrophe tocreate pluralsinthe
following:
The1890sinEuropearewidelyregardedasyearsofsocialdecadence.
Ihaveprepared1099sfortheentirestaff.
RosaandherbrotherhaveidenticalIQs,andtheybothhavePhDsfromHarvard.
Shehasover400URLs*inherbookmarkfile.
Myfavoritebreakfastiscerealwithfruit,milk,orangejuice,andtoast.
Sometimes,too,apluralsubjectcanbelinkedtosingularpredicate:
Mistakesinparallelismaretheonlyproblemhere.
Insuchsituations,rememberthatthenumber(singularorplural)ofthesubject,not
thepredicate,determinesthenumberoftheverb.SeethesectiononSubjectVerb
Agreementforfurtherhelp.
Aspecialsituationexistswhenasubjectseemsnottoagreewithitspredicate.For
instance,whenwewanteachstudenttoseehisorhercounselor(andeachstudentis
assignedtoonlyonecounselor),butwewanttoavoidthat"hisorher"constructionby
pluralizing,dowesay"Studentsmustseetheircounselors"or"Studentsmustsee
theircounselor"?Thesingularcounselorisnecesssarytoavoidtheimplicationthat
students have more than one counselor apiece. Do we say "Many sons dislike
theirfatherorfathers"?Wedon'tmeantosuggestthatthesonshavemorethanone
father,soweusethesingularfather.TheodoreBernstein,inDos,Don'tsandMaybes
ofEnglishUsage,saysthat"Idiomaticallythenounapplyingtomorethanoneperson
remainsinthesingularwhen(a)itrepresentsaqualityorthingpossessedincommon
("The audience'scuriositywas aroused"); or (b) it is an abstraction ("The judges
appliedtheirreasontotheproblem"),or(c)itisafigurativeword("Alltenchildren
hadasweettooth")(203).Sometimesgoodsensewillhavetoguideyou.Wemight
wanttosay"Puzzled,thechildrenscratchedtheirhead"toavoidtheimageofmulti
headedchildren,but"Theaudiencerosetotheirfoot"isplainlyridiculousandabout
totipover.
In "The boys moved their car/cars," the plural would indicate that each boy
owned a car, the singular thatthe boys (together) owned one car(which is quite
possible).Itisalsopossiblethateachboyownedmorethanonecar.Bepreparedfor
suchsituations,andconsidercarefullytheimplicationsofusingeitherthesingularor
theplural.Youmighthavetoavoidtheproblembygoingtheoppositedirectionof
pluralizing:movingthingstothesingularandtalkingaboutwhateachboydid.
Adjectival Opposites
Theoppositeorthenegativeaspectofanadjectivecanbeformedinanumberofways.One
way, of course, is to find an adjective to mean the opposite an antonym. The opposite
ofbeautifulisugly,theoppositeoftallisshort.Athesauruscanhelpyoufindanappropriate
opposite.Anotherwaytoformtheoppositeofanadjectiveiswithanumberofprefixes.The
opposite offortunateisunfortunate, the opposite ofprudentisimprudent, the opposite
ofconsiderateisinconsiderate, the opposite ofhonorableisdishonorable, the opposite
ofalcoholicisnonalcoholic,theoppositeofbeingproperlyfiledismisfiled.Ifyouarenotsure
ofthespellingofadjectivesmodifiedinthiswaybyprefixes(orwhichistheappropriateprefix),
youwillhavetoconsultadictionary,astherulesfortheselectionofaprefixarecomplexand
too shifty to be trusted. The meaning itself can be tricky; for instance, flammable and
inflammablemeanthesamething.
Athirdmeansforcreatingtheoppositeofanadjectiveistocombineitwithlessorleastto
createacomparisonwhichpointsintheoppositedirection.Interestingshadesofmeaningand
tonebecomeavailablewiththisusage.Itiskindertosaythat"Thisistheleastbeautifulcityin
thestate."thanitistosaythat"Thisistheugliestcityinthestate."(Italsohasaslightly
different meaning.) A candidate for a job can still beworthyand yet be "less worthyof
consideration"thananothercandidate.It'sprobablynotagoodideatousethisconstructionwith
anadjectivethatisalreadyanegative:"Heislessunluckythanhisbrother,"althoughthatisnot
the same thing as saying he is luckier than his brother. Use the comparativelesswhen the
comparisonisbetweentwothingsorpeople;usethesuperlativeleastwhenthecomparisonis
amongmanythingsorpeople.
Mymotherislesspatientthanmyfather.
Ofallthenewsitcoms,thisismyleastfavoriteshow.
COMPOUND WORDS
Definition
In English, words, particularly adjectives and nouns, are combined into compound
structuresinavarietyofways.Andoncetheyareformed,theysometimesmetamorphoseover
time.Acommonpatternisthattwowordsfirefly,saywillbejoinedbyahyphenfora
timefireflyandthenbejoinedintoonewordfirefly.Inthisrespect,alanguagelike
German,inwhichwordsarehappilyandimmediatelylinkedonetotheother,mightseemto
haveanadvantage.ThereisonlyonesurewaytoknowhowtospellcompoundsinEnglish:use
anauthoritativedictionary.
Howawordmodifiedbyanadjective"alittle
school,""theyellow
butter"isdifferentfrom
a compound word " ahigh school," "thepeanut butter" is a nice and philosophical
question.Itclearlyhassomethingtodowiththedegreetowhichtheprecedingwordchangesthe
essentialcharacterofthenoun,thedegreetowhichthemodifierandthenounareinseparable.If
youwerediagrammingasentencewithacompoundword,youwouldprobablykeepthewords
together,onthesamehorizontalline.
Modifying compounds areoften hyphenatedtoavoid confusion.The New YorkPublic
Library'sWriter'sGuidepointsoutthatanoldfurnituresalesmanclearlydealsinoldfurniture,
butanoldfurnituresalesmanwouldbeanoldman.Weprobablywouldnothavethesame
ambiguity,however,aboutausedcardealer.Whencompoundedmodifiersprecedeanoun,they
areoftenhyphenated:parttimeteacher,fiftyyardwidefield,fireresistantcurtains,highspeed
chase. When those same modifying words come after the noun, however, they are not
hyphenated:afieldfiftyyardswide,curtainsthatarefireresistant,etc.Thesecondrateopera
companygaveaperformancethatwasfirstrate.
Comparativeandsuperlativeformsofadjectivesarehyphenatedwhencompoundedwith
othermodifiers:thehighestpricedcar,theshortertermloan.Butthisisnotalwaysthecase:the
mosttalentedyoungster.Adverbs,wordsendinginly,arenothyphenatedwhencompounded
withothermodifiers:ahighlyratedbank,apartiallyrefundedticket,publiclyheldsecurities.
Sometimeshyphenatedmodifierslosetheirhyphenswhentheybecomecompoundnouns:
Acleardecisionmakingprocesswasevidentintheirdecisionmaking.Thebluishgreywas
slowlydisappearingfromthebluishgreysky.Thisisnotalwaysso,however:yourhighrise
apartmentbuildingisalsoknownasahighrise.
Whenmodifyingapersonwithhisorherage,thecompoundedphraseishyphenated:my
sixyearoldson.However,whentheagecomesaftertheperson,wedon'tuseahyphen.Myson
issixyearsold.Heis,however,asixyearold.
firstsergeants
sergeantsmajor
sergeantsfirstclass
colonelgenerals[Russian]
lieutenantgenerals
lieutenantcolonels
apprentice,journeyman,andmastermechanics
deputylibrarians
deputyassistantsecretariesofstate
Thepossessiveofahyphenatedcompoundiscreatedbyattachinganapostrophestothe
endofthecompounditself:mydaughterinlaw'scar,afriendofmine'scar.Tocreatethe
possessiveofpluralizedandcompoundedforms,awriteriswisetoavoidtheapostrophesform
andusean"of"phrase(the"postgenitive")instead:themeetingofthedaughtersinlaw,the
scheduleofhalfmoons.Otherwise,thepossessiveformbecomesdownrightweird:the
daughtersinlaw'smeeting,friendsofmine'scars.
Oneofthemostdifficultdecisionstomakeaboutpossessivesandpluralsofcompound
wordsoccurswhenyoucan'tdecidewhetherthefirstnouninacompoundstructureisactingasa
nounthatoughttobeshowingpossessionoraswhatiscalledanattributivenoun,essentiallyan
adjective.Inotherwords,dowewritethatIamgoingtoawritersconferenceortoawriters'
conference?TheChicagoStyleManualsuggeststhatifsingularnounscanactasattributive
nounscitygovernment,taxreliefthenpluralnounsshouldbeabletoactasattributive
nouns:consumersgroup,teachersunion.Thisprincipleisnotuniversallyendorsed,however,
andwritersmustremembertobeconsistentwithinadocument.
Thissectiondoesnotspeaktothematterofcompoundednounssuchas"ProfessorVilla's
andProfessorDarling'sclasseshavebeenfilled."SeethesectiononPossessivesforadditional
help.
Exceptions include
compounds in which the second element is capitalized or a number:
anti-Semitic, pre-1998, post-Freudian
compounds which need hyphens to avoid confusion
un-ionized (as distinguished from unionized), co-op
compounds in which a vowel would be repeated (especially to avoid
confusion)
co-op, semi-independent, anti-intellectual (but reestablish,
reedit)
compounds consisting of more than one word
non-English-speaking, pre-Civil War
compounds that would be difficult to read without a hyphen
pro-life, pro-choice, co-edited
Also,whenwecombinecompoundnouns,wewoulduseahyphenwiththefirst,butnotthelast:
whenunderandoverdevelopednationsgettogether....
Spelling
Thefollowingtablepresentsaminidictionaryofcompoundmodifiersandnouns.Perhaps
thebestuseofaverypartialinventorylikethisistosuggestthekindsofwordsthatawriter
wouldbewiseeithertomemorizeortobeatleastwaryof.Itissometimesenoughtoknowwhen
weshouldgetthedictionaryofftheshelf.
2-year education
one-week vacation
A-frame
African American
Air Force
all-city tournament
attorney general
blood pressure
blue-green dress
bull's-eye
database
daughter-in-law
English-speaking person
ex-wife
first-rate accommodations
football
grandmother
grant-in-aid
great-aunt
half sister
high-level officials
I-beam
Italian-American
Italian-American club
jack-in-the-box
lifelike
light year
mayor-elect
salesperson
secretary-treasurer
stockbroker
T-square
threefold
up-to-the-minute
V-formation
vice president
well-made clothes
worldwide inflation
X-ray
NoticethatAfricanAmericancontainsnohyphen,butItalianAmericandoes.Thereareno
hardandfastrulesaboutthis,andsocialconventionschange.(ThereisnohypheninFrench
Canadian.)Somegroupshaveinsistedthattheydonotwanttobeknownas"hyphenated
Americans"andresist,therefore,theuseofahyphen,preferringthattheword"American"be
usedasanadjective.SomeresourcesevensuggestthatatermlikeItalianAmericanshouldbe
usedonlywhentheindividualthusreferredtohasparentsoftwodifferentnationalities.That's
probablyastretch,butawritermustbeawarethatsensibilitiescanbearousedwhenusing
nationalitiesofanydescription.Consistencywithinadocumentisalsoimportant.
Suspended Compounds*
Withaseriesofnearlyidenticalcompounds,wesometimesdelaythefinaltermofthe
finaltermuntilthelastinstance,allowingthehyphentoactasakindofplaceholder,asin
Thethirdandfourthgradeteachersmetwiththeparents.
Bothfullandparttimeemployeeswillgetraisesthisyear.
Wedon'tseemany3,4,and5yearoldchildrenaroundhere.
Becarefulnottooverusethisfeatureofthehyphen;readershavetowaituntilthatfinal
instancetoknowwhatyou'retalkingabout,andthatcanbeannoying.
POSSESSIVE FORMS
skip to PluralNounForms.
Forming Possessives
ShowingpossessioninEnglishisarelativelyeasymatter(believeitornot).Byaddingan
apostropheandanswecanmanagetotransformmostsingularnounsintotheirpossessive
form:
thecar'sfrontseat
Charles'scar
Bartkowski'sbook
ahardday'swork
SomewriterswillsaythatthesafterCharles'isnotnecessaryandthataddingonlythe
apostrophe(Charles'car)willsufficetoshowpossession.Consistencyisthekeyhere:ifyou
choosenottoaddthesafteranounthatalreadyendsins,dosoconsistentlythroughoutyour
text.WilliamStrunk'sElementsofStylerecommendsaddingthe's.(Infact,oddlyenough,it's
RuleNumberOneinStrunk's"ElementaryRulesofUsage.")Youwillfindthatsomenouns,
especiallypropernouns,especiallywhenthereareothersandzsoundsinvolved,turninto
clumsybeastswhenyouaddanothers:"That'soldMrs.Chambers'sestate."Inthatcase,you're
betteroffwith"Mrs.Chambers'estate."
Thereisanotherwayaroundthisproblemofklunkypossessives:usingthe"ofphrase"to
showpossession.Forinstance,wewouldprobablysaythe"constitutionofIllinois,"asopposed
to"Illinois'(orIllinois's??)constitution."
ToanswerthatquestionaboutIllinois,youshouldknowthatmostwordsthatendinan
unpronounced"s"formtheirpossessivebyaddinganapostrophe+s.Sowewouldwriteabout
"Illinois'snextgovernor"and"Arkansas'sformergovernor"and"theMarineCorps'spolicy."
However,manynonEnglishwordsthatendwithasilent"s"or"x"willformtheirpossessives
withonlyanapostrophe.Sowewouldwrite"AlexanderDumas'firstnovel"and"thisbordeaux'
bouquet."AccordingtotheNewYorkPublicLibrary'sGuidetoStyleandUsage,thereare
"certainexpressionsthatendinsorthessoundthattraditionallyrequireanapostropheonly:for
appearance'sake,forconscience'sake,forgoodness'sake"(268).Incidentally,the
NYPLGuidealsosuggeststhatwhenawordendsinadoubles,we'rebetteroffwritingits
possessivewithonlyanapostrophe:theboss'memo,thewitness'statement.Manywritersinsist,
however,thatweactuallyhearan"es"soundattachedtothepossessiveformsofthesewords,so
anapostrophesisappropriate:boss'smemo,witness'sstatement.Ifthelookofthethrees'sina
rowdoesn'tbotheryou,usethatconstruction.
Whenwewantthepossessiveofapluralizedfamilyname,wepluralizefirstandthen
simplymakethenamepossessivewiththeuseofanapostrophe.Thus,wemighttravelin
theSmiths'carwhenwevisittheJoneses(membersoftheJonesfamily)attheJoneses'home.
Whenthelastnameendsinahard"z"sound,weusuallydon'taddan"s"orthe"es"andsimply
addtheapostrophe:"theChambers'newbaby."
Many writers consider it bad form to use apostrophe -s possessives with pieces of
furniture and buildings or inanimate objects in general. Instead of "the desk's edge"
(according to many authorities), we should write "the edge of the desk" and instead
of "the hotel's windows" we should write "the windows of the hotel." In fact, we
would probably avoid the possessive altogether and use the noun as an attributive:
"the hotel windows." This rule (if, in fact, it is one) is no longer universally endorsed.
We would not say "the radio of that car" instead of "that car's radio" (or the "car
radio") and we would not write "the desire of my heart" instead of "my heart's
desire." Writing "the edge of the ski" would probably be an improvement over "the
ski's edge," however.
For expressions of time and measurement, the possessive is shown with an
apostrophe -s: "one dollar's worth," "two dollars' worth," "a hard day's night," "two
years' experience," "an evening's entertainment," and "two weeks' notice" (the title
Rememberthatpersonalpronounscreatespecialproblemsintheformationofpossessives.
SeethechartofNounandPronounCases.
PatriotsquarterbackDrewBledsoethrewthreetouchdownpasses.(pluralasmodifier)
ThePatriots'[new]quarterback,DrewBledsoe,threwthreetouchdownpasses.(possessive
asmodifier]
ThePepins'houseisthebigblueoneonthecorner.
Thelions'usualsourceofwaterhasdriedup.
Thegases'odorsmixedandbecamenauseating.
Thewitches'broomswerehiddeninthecorner.
Thebabies'bedswereallinarow.
Withnounswhosepluralsareirregular(seePlurals),however,youwillneedtoaddan
apostrophefollowedbyanstocreatethepossessiveform.
Sheplansonopeningawomen'sclothingboutique.
Children'sprogrammingisnotahighpriority.
Thegeese'sfoodsupplywasendangered.
(Butwithwordsthatdonotchangetheirformwhenpluralized,youwillhavetoaddansores.)
Theseaweedwasdestroyedbythefishes'overfeeding.
Compound Possessives
Whenyouareshowingpossessionwithcompoundednouns,theapostrophe'splacement
dependsonwhetherthenounsareactingseparatelyortogether.
Miguel'sandCecilia'snewcarsareintheparkinglot.
Thismeansthateachofthemhasatleastonenewcarandthattheirownershipisaseparate
matter.
MiguelandCecilia'snewcarsareintheparkinglot.
ThisconstructiontellsusthatMiguelandCeciliashareownershipofthesecars.The
possessive(indicatedby's)belongstotheentirephrase,notjusttoCecilia.
Anotherexample:
LewisandClark'sexpectationswereverymuchthesame.
Thisconstructiontellsusthatthetwogentlemenheldonesetofexpectationsincommon.
Lewis'sandClark'sexpectationswerealtogetherdifferent.
Thismeansthattheexpectationsofthetwomenweredifferent(ratherobviousfromwhat
thesentencesays,too).Wesignifyseparateownershipbywritingbothofthecompounded
propernounsinthepossessiveform.
Whenoneofthepossessorsinacompoundpossessiveisapersonalpronoun,wehavetoput
bothpossessorsinthepossessiveformorweendupwithsomethingsilly:"Billandmycarhad
tobetowedlastnight."
Bill'sandmycarhadtobetowedlastnight.
Giorgio'sandherfatherwasnotaroundmuchduringtheirchildhood.
Ifthissecondsentenceseemsunsatisfactory,youmighthavetodosomerewritingsoyouendup
talkingabouttheirfather,instead,orreverttousingbothnames:"GiorgioandIsabel'sfather
wasn'taroundmuch...."(andthen"Giorgio"willlosetheapostrophe+s).
WemustgetJoeBidwell,thefamilyattorney'ssignature.
Createsuchconstructionswithcaution,however,asyoumightendupwritingsomethingthat
lookssilly:
Iwreckedmybestfriend,Bob'scar.
You'refrequentlybetteroffusingthe"ofgenitive"form,writingsomethinglike"Wemustget
thesignatureofJoeBidwell,thefamilyattorney"and"Iwreckedthecarofmybestfriend,Bob."
Double Possessives
Dowesay"afriendofmyuncle"or"afriendofmyuncle's"?Inspiteofthefactthat"a
friendofmyuncle's"seemstooverworkthenotionofpossessiveness,thatisusuallywhatwesay
andwrite.Thedoublepossessiveconstructionissometimescalledthe"postgenitive"or
"offollowedbyapossessivecaseoranabsolutepossessivepronoun"(fromtheOxfordEnglish
Dictionary,whichlikestoshowoff).Thedoublepossessivehasbeenaroundsincethefifteenth
century,andiswidelyaccepted.It'sextremelyhelpful,forinstance,indistinguishingbetween"a
pictureofmyfather"(inwhichweseetheoldman)and"apictureofmyfather's"(whichhe
owns).Nativespeakerswillnotehowmuchmorenaturalitistosay"He'safanofhers"than
"he'safanofher."
Generally,whatfollowsthe"of"inadoublepossessivewillbedefiniteandhuman,not
otherwise,sowewouldsay"afriendofmyuncle's"butnot"afriendofthemuseum's
[museum,instead]."Whatprecedesthe"of"isusuallyindefinite(afriend,notthebestfriend),
unlessit'sprecededbythedemonstrativesthisorthat,asin"thisfriendofmyfather's."
AdjectivesthatarereallyParticiples,verbformswithingandedendings,canbe
troublesomeforsomestudents.Itisonethingtobeafrightenedchild;itisanaltogetherdifferent
mattertobeafrighteningchild.Doyouwanttogouptoyourprofessorafterclassandsaythat
youareconfusedorthatyouareconfusing?Generally,theedendingmeansthatthenounso
described("you")hasapassiverelationshipwithsomethingsomething(thesubjectmatter,the
presentation)hasbewilderedyouandyouareconfused.Theingendingmeansthatthenoun
describedhasamoreactiveroleyouarenotmakinganysensesoyouareconfusing(to
others,includingyourprofessor).
Theedendingmodifiersareoftenaccompaniedbyprepositions(thesearenottheonly
choices):
Wewereamazedatallthecircusanimals.
Wewereamusedbytheclowns.
Wewereannoyedbytheelephants.
Wewereboredbytheringmaster.
Wewereconfusedbythenoise.
Weweredisappointedbythemotorcycledaredevils.
Weweredisappointedintheirperformance.
Wewereembarrassedbymybrother.
Wewereexhaustedfromalltheexcitement.
Wewereexcitedbytheliontamer.
Wewereexcitedaboutthehighwireact,too.
Wewerefrightenedbythelions.
Wewereintroducedtotheringmaster.
Wewereinterestedinthetent.
Wewereirritatedbytheheat.
Wewereopposedtoleavingearly.
Weweresatisfiedwiththecircus.
Wewereshockedatthelevelofnoiseunderthebigtent.
Weweresurprisedbythefans'response.
Weweresurprisedattheirindifference.
Weweretiredofallthelightsafterawhile.
Wewereworriedaboutthetrafficleavingtheparkinglot.
A- Adjectives
Themostcommonofthesocalledaadjectivesareablaze,afloat,afraid,aghast,alert,
alike,alive,alone,aloof,ashamed,asleep,averse,awake,aware.Theseadjectiveswillprimarily
showupaspredicateadjectives(i.e.,theycomeafteralinkingverb).
Thechildrenwereashamed.
Theprofessorremainedaloof.
Thetreeswereablaze.
Occasionally,however,youwillfindaadjectivesbeforethewordtheymodify:thealertpatient,
thealoofphysician.Mostofthem,whenfoundbeforethewordtheymodify,arethemselves
modified:thenearlyawakestudent,theterriblyalonescholar.Andaadjectivesaresometimes
modifiedby"verymuch":verymuchafraid,verymuchalone,verymuchashamed,etc.
ADVERBS
Definition
Adverbsarewordsthatmodify
averb(Hedroveslowly.Howdidhedrive?)
anadjective(Hedroveaveryfastcar.Howfastwashiscar?)
anotheradverb(Shemovedquiteslowlydowntheaisle.Howslowlydidshemove?)
Aswewillsee,adverbsoftentellwhen,where,why,orunderwhatconditionssomething
happensorhappened.Adverbsfrequentlyendinly;however,manywordsandphrasesnot
endinginlyserveanadverbialfunctionandanlyendingisnotaguaranteethatawordisan
adverb.Thewordslovely,lonely,motherly,friendly,neighborly,forinstance,areadjectives:
Thatlovelywomanlivesinafriendlyneighborhood.
Whenthisclassisover,we'regoingtothemovies.
Whenagroupofwordsnotcontainingasubjectandverbactsasanadverb,itiscalled
anadverbialphrase.Prepositionalphrasesfrequentlyhaveadverbialfunctions(tellingplace
andtime,modifyingtheverb):
Hewenttothemovies.
Sheworksonholidays.
TheylivedinCanadaduringthewar.
AndInfinitivephrasescanactasadverbs(usuallytellingwhy):
Shehurriedtothemainlandtoseeherbrother.
Thesenatorrantocatchthebus.
Butthereareotherkindsofadverbialphrases:
Hecallshismotherasoftenaspossible.
Adverbscanmodifyadjectives,butanadjectivecannotmodifyan
adverb.Thuswewouldsaythat"thestudentsshowedareallywonderful
attitude"andthat"thestudentsshowedawonderfullycasualattitude"andthat"myprofessor
isreallytall,butnot"Heranrealfast."
Likeadjectives,adverbscanhavecomparativeandsuperlativeformstoshowdegree.
Walkfasterifyouwanttokeepupwithme.
Thestudentwhoreadsfastestwillfinishfirst.
Weoftenusemoreandmost,lessandleasttoshowdegreewithadverbs:
Withsneakerson,shecouldmovemorequicklyamongthepatients.
TheflowerswerethemostbeautifullyarrangedcreationsI'veeverseen.
Sheworkedlessconfidentlyafterheraccident.
ThatwastheleastskillfullydoneperformanceI'veseeninyears.
Theasasconstructioncanbeusedtocreateadverbsthatexpresssamenessorequality:
"Hecan'trunasfastashissister."
Ahandfulofadverbshavetwoforms,onethatendsinlyandonethatdoesn't.Incertain
cases,thetwoformshavedifferentmeanings:
Hearrivedlate.
Lately,hecouldn'tseemtobeontimeforanything.
Inmostcases,however,theformwithoutthelyendingshouldbereservedforcasualsituations:
ShecertainlydrivesslowinthatoldBuickofhers.
Hedidwrongbyher.
Hespokesharp,quick,andtothepoint.
Adverbsoftenfunctionasintensifiers,conveyingagreaterorlesseremphasistosomething.
Intensifiersaresaidtohavethreedifferentfunctions:theycanemphasize,amplify,ordowntone.
Herearesomeexamples:
Emphasizers:
o
Ireallydon'tbelievehim.
Heliterallywreckedhismother'scar.
Shesimplyignoredme.
They'regoingtobelate,forsure.
Amplifiers:
o
Theteachercompletelyrejectedherproposal.
Iabsolutelyrefusetoattendanymorefacultymeetings.
Theyheartilyendorsedthenewrestaurant.
Isowantedtogowiththem.
Weknowthiscitywell.
Downtoners:
o
Ikindoflikethiscollege.
Joesortoffeltbetrayedbyhissister.
Hismothermildlydisapprovedhisactions.
Wecanimproveonthistosomeextent.
Thebossalmostquitafterthat.
Theschoolwasallbutruinedbythestorm.
Adverbs(aswellasadjectives)intheirvariousdegreescanbeaccompaniedby
premodifiers:
Sherunsveryfast.
We'regoingtorunoutofmaterialallthefaster
Thisissueisaddressedinthesectionondegreesinadjectives.
uninflectedordinalnumber(first,second,third,fourth,fifth,etc.).First(notfirstly),it'sunclear
whattheadverbismodifying.Second(notsecondly),it'sunnecessary.Third(notthirdly),after
yougetbeyond"secondly,"itstartstosoundsilly.Adverbsthatnumberinthismannerare
treatedasdisjuncts(seebelow.)
Kinds of Adverbs
Adverbs of Manner
She moved slowly and spoke quietly.
Adverbs of Place
She has lived on the island all her life.
She still lives there now.
Adverbs of Frequency
She takes the boat to the mainland every day.
She often goes by herself.
Adverbs of Time
She tries to get back before dark.
It's starting to get dark now.
She finished her tea first.
She left early.
Adverbs of Purpose
She drives her boat slowly to avoid hitting the rocks.
She shops in several stores to get the best buys.
Positions of Adverbs
Oneofthehallmarksofadverbsistheirabilitytomovearoundinasentence.Adverbsof
mannerareparticularlyflexibleinthisregard.
Solemnlytheministeraddressedhercongregation.
Theministersolemnlyaddressedhercongregation.
Theministeraddressedhercongregationsolemnly.
Thefollowingadverbsoffrequencyappearinvariouspointsinthesesentences:
Beforethemainverb:Inevergetupbeforenineo'clock.
Betweentheauxiliaryverbandthemainverb:Ihaverarelywrittentomybrotherwithouta
goodreason.
Beforetheverbusedto:Ialwaysusedtoseehimathissummerhome.
Indefiniteadverbsoftimecanappeareitherbeforetheverborbetweentheauxiliaryandthe
mainverb:
Hefinallyshowedupforbattingpractice.
Shehasrecentlyretired.
Order of Adverbs
Thereisabasicorderinwhichadverbswillappearwhenthereismorethanone.Itis
similartoTheRoyalOrderofAdjectives,butitisevenmoreflexible.
Manner
Place
Frequency
Time
Purpose
Beth
swims
enthusiastically
in the
pool
every
morning
before
dawn
to keep in
shape.
Dad
walks
impatiently
into
town
every
afternoon
before
supper
to get a
newspaper.
in her
room
every
morning
before
lunch.
Tashond
a naps
Dadtakesabriskwalkbeforebreakfasteverydayofhislife.
Asecondprinciple:amongsimilaradverbialphrasesofkind(manner,place,frequency,etc.),the
morespecificadverbialphrasecomesfirst:
MygrandmotherwasborninasodhouseontheplainsofnorthernNebraska.
ShepromisedtomeethimforlunchnextTuesday.
Bringinganadverbialmodifiertothebeginningofthesentencecanplacespecialemphasison
thatmodifier.Thisisparticularlyusefulwithadverbsofmanner:
Slowly,eversocarefully,Jessefilledthecoffeecupuptothebrim,evenabovethebrim.
Occasionally,butonlyoccasionally,oneoftheselemonswillgetbytheinspectors.
TheyreportedthatGiuseppeBalle,aEuropeanrockstar,haddiedonthesixo'clocknews.
Clearly,itwouldbebettertomovetheunderlinedmodifiertoapositionimmediatelyafter"they
reported"oreventothebeginningofthesentencesothepoormandoesn'tdieontelevision.
Misplacementcanalsooccurwithverysimplemodifiers,suchasonlyandbarely:
Sheonlygrewtobefourfeettall.
Itwouldbebetterif"Shegrewtobeonlyfourfeettall."
Frankly,Martha,Idon'tgiveahoot.
Fortunately,noonewashurt.
Conjuncts,ontheotherhand,serveaconnectorfunctionwithintheflowofthetext,signalinga
transitionbetweenideas.
Iftheystartsmokingthoseawfulcigars,thenI'mnotstaying.
We'vetoldthelandlordaboutthisceilingagainandagain,andyethe'sdonenothingtofix
it.
Attheextremeedgeofthiscategory,wehavethepurelyconjunctivedeviceknownasthe
conjunctiveadverb(oftencalledtheadverbialconjunction):
Josehasspentyearspreparingforthisevent;nevertheless,he'sthemostnervousperson
here.
Ilovethisschool;however,Idon'tthinkIcanaffordthetuition.
Isthatmusicloudenough?
Theseshoesarenotbigenough.
Inaroomfulofelderlypeople,youmustremembertospeakloudlyenough.
(Notice,though,thatwhenenoughfunctionsasanadjective,itcancomebeforethenoun:
Didshegiveusenoughtime?
Theadverbenoughisoftenfollowedbyaninfinitive:
Shedidn'trunfastenoughtowin.
Theadverbtoocomesbeforeadjectivesandotheradverbs:
Sherantoofast.
Sheworkstooquickly.
Iftoocomesaftertheadverbitisprobablyadisjunct(meaningalso)andisusuallysetoffwitha
comma:
Yasminworkshard.Sheworksquickly,too.
Theadverbtooisoftenfollowedbyaninfinitive:
Sherunstoo
slowlytoenterthisrace.
Anothercommonconstructionwiththeadverbtooistoofollowedbyaprepositionalphrase
for+theobjectoftheprepositionfollowedbyaninfinitive:
Thismilkistoo
hotforababytodrink.
Relative Adverbs
Adjectivalclausesaresometimesintroducedbywhatarecalledtherelative
adverbs:where,when,andwhy.Althoughtheentireclauseisadjectivalandwillmodifyanoun,
therelativeworditselffulfillsanadverbialfunction(modifyingaverbwithinitsownclause).
Therelativeadverbwherewillbeginaclausethatmodifiesanounofplace:
My entire family now worships in the church where my great grandfather used to be minister.
Therelativepronoun"where"modifiestheverb"usedtobe"(whichmakesitadverbial),butthe
entireclause("wheremygreatgrandfatherusedtobeminister")modifiestheword"church."
Awhenclausewillmodifynounsoftime:
My favorite month is always February, when we celebrate Valentine's Day and Presidents' Day.
Andawhyclausewillmodifythenounreason:
Do you know the reason why Isabel isn't in class today?
Wesometimesleaveouttherelativeadverbinsuchclauses,andmanywritersprefer"that"
to"why"inaclausereferringto"reason":
DoyouknowthereasonwhyIsabelisn'tinclasstoday?
Ialwayslookforwardtothedaywhenwebeginoursummervacation.
Iknowthereasonthatmenlikemotorcycles.
Asuccessfulathleticteamisoftenagoodteamscholastically.
Investingallourmoneyinsnowmobileswasprobablynotasoundideafinancially.
Youwillsometimeshearaphraselike"scholasticallyspeaking"or"financiallyspeaking"in
thesecircumstances,buttheword"speaking"isseldomnecessary.
Afocusadverbindicatesthatwhatisbeingcommunicatedislimitedtothepartthatis
focused;afocusadverbwilltendeithertolimitthesenseofthesentence("HegotanAjustfor
attendingtheclass.")ortoactasanadditive("HegotanAinadditiontobeingpublished."
Althoughnegativeconstructionslikethewords"not"and"never"areusuallyfound
embeddedwithinaverbstring"Hehasneverbeenmuchhelptohismother."theyare
technicallynotpartoftheverb;theyare,indeed,adverbs.However,asocallednegative
adverbcreatesanegativemeaninginasentencewithouttheuseoftheusual
no/not/neither/nor/neverconstructions:
Heseldomvisits.
Shehardlyeatsanythingsincetheaccident.
Afterherlongandtediouslectures,rarelywasanyoneawake.
CONJUNCTIONS
Definition
Somewordsaresatisfiedspendinganeveningathome,alone,eatingicecreamrightoutof
thebox,watchingSeinfeldrerunsonTV,orreadingagoodbook.Othersaren'thappyunless
they'reoutonthetown,mixingitupwithotherwords;they'rejoinersandtheyjustcan'thelp
themselves.Aconjunctionisajoiner,awordthatconnects(conjoins)partsofasentence.
Coordinating Conjunctions
Thesimple,littleconjunctionsarecalledcoordinatingconjunctions(youcanclickonthe
wordstoseespecificdescriptionsofeachone):
Coordinating Conjunctions
and
but
or
yet
for
nor
so
(Itmayhelpyouremembertheseconjunctionsbyrecallingthattheyallhavefewerthan
fourletters.Also,remembertheacronymFANBOYS:ForAndNorButOrYetSo.Becareful
ofthewordsthenandnow;neitherisacoordinatingconjunction,sowhatwesayabout
coordinatingconjunctions'rolesinasentenceandpunctuationdoesnotapplytothosetwo
words.)Whenacoordinatingconjunctionconnectstwoindependentclauses,itisoften(butnot
always)accompaniedbyacomma:
UlysseswantstoplayforUConn,buthehashadtroublemeetingtheacademic
requirements.
Whenthetwoindependentclausesconnectedbyacoordinatingconjunctionarenicelybalanced
orbrief,manywriterswillomitthecomma:
Ulysseshasagreatjumpshotbutheisn'tquickonhisfeet.
Thecommaisalwayscorrectwhenusedtoseparatetwoindependentclausesconnectedbya
coordinatingconjunction.SeePunctuationBetweenTwoIndependentClausesforfurther
help.
Acommaisalsocorrectwhenandisusedtoattachthelastitemofaseriallist,althoughmany
writers(especiallyinnewspapers)willomitthatfinalcomma:
Ulyssesspenthissummerstudyingbasicmath,writing,andreadingcomprehension.
Whenacoordinatingconjunctionisusedtoconnectalltheelementsinaseries,acommaisnot
used:
PresbyteriansandMethodistsandBaptistsaretheprevalentProtestantcongregationsin
Oklahoma.
Acommaisalsousedwithbutwhenexpressingacontrast:
Thisisausefulrule,butdifficulttoremember.
Inmostoftheirotherrolesasjoiners(otherthanjoiningindependentclauses,thatis),
coordinatingconjunctionscanjointwosentenceelementswithoutthehelpofacomma.
HemingwayandFitzgeraldareamongtheAmericanexpatriatesofthebetweenthewars
era.
HemingwaywasrenownedforhisclearstyleandhisinsightsintoAmericannotionsof
maleidentity.
ItishardtosaywhetherHemingwayorFitzgeraldisthemoreinterestingculturaliconof
hisday.
AlthoughHemingwayissometimesdisparagedforhisunpleasantportrayalof
womenandforhisglorificationofmachismo,wenonethelessfindsomesympathetic,even
heroic,femalefiguresinhisnovelsandshortstories.
Thesameistruewiththeconjunctionbut.Asentencebeginning
withandorbutwilltendtodrawattentiontoitselfanditstransitionalfunction.
Writersshouldexaminesuchsentenceswithtwoquestionsinmind:(1)would
thesentenceandparagraphfunctionjustaswellwithouttheinitialconjunction?
(2)shouldthesentenceinquestionbeconnectedtotheprevioussentence?Ifthe
initialconjunctionstillseemsappropriate,useit.
Amongthecoordinatingconjunctions,themostcommon,ofcourse,areand,but,andor.It
mightbehelpfultoexploretheusesofthesethreelittlewords.Theexamplesbelowbynomeans
exhaustthepossiblemeaningsoftheseconjunctions.
AND
a. Tosuggestthatoneideaischronologicallysequentialtoanother:"Tashondasentinher
applicationsandwaitedbythephoneforaresponse."
b. Tosuggestthatoneideaistheresultofanother:"Willieheardtheweather
reportandpromptlyboardeduphishouse."
c. Tosuggestthatoneideaisincontrasttoanother(frequentlyreplacedbybutinthisusage):
"JuanitaisbrilliantandShalimarhasapleasantpersonality.
d. Tosuggestanelementofsurprise(sometimesreplacedbyyetinthisusage):"Hartfordisa
richcityandsuffersfrommanysymptomsofurbanblight."
e. Tosuggestthatoneclauseisdependentuponanother,conditionally(usuallythefirstclause
isanimperative):"Useyourcreditcardsfrequentlyandyou'llsoonfindyourselfdeepin
debt."
f.
Tosuggestakindof"comment"onthefirstclause:"Charliebecameaddictedtogambling
andthatsurprisednoonewhoknewhim."
BUT
a. Tosuggestacontrastthatisunexpectedinlightofthefirstclause:"Joeylostafortunein
thestockmarket,buthestillseemsabletolivequitecomfortably."
b. Tosuggestinanaffirmativesensewhatthefirstpartofthesentenceimpliedinanegative
way(sometimesreplacedbyonthecontrary):"Theclubneverinvestedfoolishly,butused
theservicesofasageinvestmentcounselor."
c. Toconnecttwoideaswiththemeaningof"withtheexceptionof"(andthenthesecond
wordtakesoverassubject):"EverybodybutGoldenbreathistryingoutfortheteam."
OR
a. Tosuggestthatonlyonepossibilitycanberealized,excludingoneortheother:"Youcan
studyhardforthisexamoryoucanfail."
b. Tosuggesttheinclusivecombinationofalternatives:"Wecanbroilchickenonthegrill
tonight,orwecanjusteatleftovers.
c. Tosuggestarefinementofthefirstclause:"SmithCollegeisthepremierallwomen's
collegeinthecountry,orsoitseemstomostSmithCollegealumnae."
d. Tosuggestarestatementor"correction"ofthefirstpartofthesentence:"Thereareno
rattlesnakesinthiscanyon,orsoourguidetellsus."
e. Tosuggestanegativecondition:"TheNewHampshirestatemottoistherathergrim"Live
freeordie."
f.
Tosuggestanegativealternativewithouttheuseofanimperative(seeuseofandabove):
"Theymustapprovehispoliticalstyleortheywouldn'tkeepelectinghimmayor."
The Others . . .
TheconjunctionNORisnotextinct,butitisnotusednearlyasoftenastheother
conjunctions,soitmightfeelabitoddwhennordoescomeupinconversationorwriting.Its
mostcommonuseisasthelittlebrotherinthecorrelativepair,neithernor(seebelow):
Heisneithersanenorbrilliant.
ThatisneitherwhatIsaidnorwhatImeant.
>Itcanbeusedwithothernegativeexpressions:
ThatisnotwhatImeanttosay,norshouldyouinterpretmystatementasanadmissionof
guilt.
Itispossibletousenorwithoutaprecedingnegativeelement,butitisunusualand,toanextent,
ratherstuffy:
George'shandshakeisasgoodasanywrittencontract,norhasheeverproven
untrustworthy.
ThewordYETfunctionssometimesasanadverbandhasseveralmeanings:inaddition
("yetanothercauseoftrouble"or"asimpleyetnoblewoman"),even("yetmoreexpensive"),
still("heisyetanovice"),eventually("theymayyetwin"),andsosoonasnow("he'snothere
yet").Italsofunctionsasacoordinatingconjunctionmeaningsomethinglike"nevertheless"or
"but."Thewordyetseemstocarryanelementofdistinctivenessthatbutcanseldomregister.
Johnplaysbasketballwell,yethisfavoritesportisbadminton.
Thevisitorscomplainedloudlyabouttheheat,yettheycontinuedtoplaygolfeveryday.
Insentencessuchasthesecondone,above,thepronounsubjectofthesecondclause("they,"in
thiscase)isoftenleftout.Whenthathappens,thecommaprecedingtheconjunctionmightalso
disappear:"Thevisitorscomplainedloudlyyetcontinuedtoplaygolfeveryday."
Yetissometimescombinedwithotherconjunctions,butorand.Itwouldnotbeunusualto
seeandyetinsentencesliketheonesabove.Thisusageisacceptable.
ThewordFORismostoftenusedasapreposition,ofcourse,butitdoesserve,onrare
occasions,asacoordinatingconjunction.Somepeopleregardtheconjunctionforasrather
highfalutinandliterary,anditdoestendtoaddabitofweightinesstothetext.Beginninga
sentencewiththeconjunction"for"isprobablynotagoodidea,exceptwhenyou'resinging"For
he'sajollygoodfellow."For"hasserioussequentialimplicationsandinitsusetheorderof
thoughtsismoreimportantthanitis,say,withbecauseorsince.Itsfunctionistointroducethe
reasonfortheprecedingclause:
Johnthoughthehadagoodchancetogetthejob,forhisfatherwasonthecompany'sboard
oftrustees.
Mostofthevisitorswerehappyjustsittingaroundintheshade,forithadbeenalong,
dustyjourneyonthetrain.
BecarefuloftheconjunctionSO.Sometimesitcanconnecttwoindependentclausesalong
withacomma,butsometimesitcan't.Forinstance,inthissentence,
SotoisnottheonlyOlympicathleteinhisfamily,soarehisbrother,sister,andhisUncle
Chet.
wherethewordsomeans"aswell"or"inaddition,"mostcarefulwriterswoulduseasemicolon
betweenthetwoindependentclauses.Inthefollowingsentence,wheresoisactinglikeaminor
league"therefore,"theconjunctionandthecommaareadequatetothetask:
Sotohasalwaysbeennervousinlargegatherings,soitisnosurprisethatheavoidscrowds
ofhisadoringfans.
Sometimes,atthebeginningofasentence,sowillactasakindofsummingupdeviceor
transition,andwhenitdoes,itisoftensetofffromtherestofthesentencewithacomma:
So,thesheriffperemptorilyremovedthechildfromthecustodyofhisparents.
He'stallerandsomewhatmorehandsomethanme.
Justbecauseyoulooklikehimdoesn'tmeanyoucanplaybetter
thanhim.
He'stallerandsomewhatmorehandsomethanI[amhandsome].
Youcanplaybetterthanhe[canplay].
by a comma. Too many students think that then works the same way:
"Caesar invaded Gaul, then he turned his attention to England." You can
tell the difference between then and a coordinating conjunction by trying
to move the word around in the sentence. We can write "he then turned
his attention to England"; "he turned his attention, then, to England"; he
turned his attention to England then." The word can move around within
the clause. Try that with a conjunction, and you will quickly see that the
conjunction cannot move around. "Caesar invaded Gaul, and then he
turned his attention to England." The word and is stuck exactly there and
cannot move like then, which is more like an adverbial conjunction (or
conjunctive adverb see below) than a coordinating conjunction. Our
original sentence in this paragraph "Caesar invaded Gaul, then he
turned his attention to England" is a commasplice, a faulty sentence
construction in which a comma tries to hold together two independent
clauses all by itself: the comma needs a coordinating conjunction to help
out, and the wordthen simply doesn't work that way.
Subordinating Conjunctions
ASubordinatingConjunction(sometimescalledadependentwordorsubordinator)
comesatthebeginningofaSubordinate(orDependent)Clauseandestablishesthe
relationshipbetweenthedependentclauseandtherestofthesentence.Italsoturnstheclause
intosomethingthatdependsontherestofthesentenceforitsmeaning.
Hetooktothestageasthoughhehadbeenpreparingforthismomentallhislife.
Becausehelovedacting,herefusedtogiveuphisdreamofbeinginthemovies.
Unlessweactnow,allislost.
Noticethatsomeofthesubordinatingconjunctionsinthetablebelowafter,before,since
arealsoprepositions,butassubordinatorstheyarebeingusedtointroduceaclauseandto
subordinatethefollowingclausetotheindependentelementinthesentence.
if
if only
in order that
now that
once
rather than
though
till
unless
until
when
whenever
because
before
even if
even though
since
so that
than
that
where
whereas
wherever
while
LikeAsItoldyouearlier,thelecturehasbeenpostponed.
Itlookslikeasifit'sgoingtosnowthisafternoon.
Johnsonkeptlookingoutthewindowlikeasthoughhehadsomeone
waitingforhim.
In formal, academic text, it's a good idea to reserve the use of like for
situations in which similarities are being pointed out:
Thiscommunitycollegeislikeatwoyearliberalartscollege.
However, when you are listing things that have similarities, such as is
probably more suitable:
Thecollegehasseveralhighlyregardedneighbors,likesuchastheMark
TwainHouse,St.FrancisHospital,theConnecticutHistoricalSociety,
andtheUConnLawSchool.
Omitting That
The word that is used as a conjunction to connect a subordinate clause
Isabelknew[that]shewasabouttobefired.
Shedefinitelyfelt[that]herfellowemployeeshadn'tsupportedher.
Ihope[that]shedoesn'tblameme.
Theproblemis,thatproductioninherdepartmenthasdropped.
Remember,thatwedidn'thavetheseproblemsbeforeshestarted
workinghere.
As a general rule, if the sentence feels just as good without the that, if no
ambiguity results from its omission, if the sentence is more efficient or
elegant without it, then we can safely omit the that.Theodore Bernstein
lists three conditions in which we should maintain the conjunction that:
Whenatimeelementintervenesbetweentheverbandtheclause:"The
bosssaidyesterdaythatproductioninthisdepartmentwasdownfifty
percent."(Noticethepositionof"yesterday.")
Whentheverboftheclauseislongdelayed:"Ourannualreport
revealedthatsomelossessustainedbythisdepartmentinthethirdquarter
oflastyearwereworsethanpreviouslythought."(Noticethedistance
betweenthesubject"losses"anditsverb,"were.")
Whenasecondthatcanclearupwhosaidordidwhat:"TheCEOsaid
thatIsabel'sdepartmentwasslackingoffandthatproductiondropped
precipitouslyinthefourthquarter."(DidtheCEOsaythatproduction
droppedorwasthedroparesultofwhathesaidaboutIsabel's
department?Thesecondthatmakesthesentenceclear.)
Becauseemailnowplayssuchahugeroleinourcommunications
industry.
Becauseemailnowplayssuchahugeroleinourcommunications
industry,thepostalservicewouldverymuchliketoseeittaxedinsome
manner.
Correlative Conjunctions
Someconjunctionscombinewithotherwordstoformwhatarecalledcorrelative
conjunctions.Theyalwaystravelinpairs,joiningvarioussentenceelementsthatshouldbe
treatedasgrammaticallyequal.
Sheledtheteamnotonlyinstatisticsbutalsobyvirtueofherenthusiasm.
Poloniussaid,"Neitheraborrowernoralenderbe."
Whetheryouwinthisraceorloseitdoesn'tmatteraslongasyoudoyourbest.
Correlativeconjunctionssometimescreateproblemsinparallelform.ClickHEREforhelpwith
thoseproblems.Hereisabrieflistofcommoncorrelativeconjunctions.
PARALLEL FORM
MOSTOFTHEDESCRIPTIONSANDEXAMPLESINTHISSECTIONaretakenfromWilliam
Strunk'svenerableElementsofStyle,whichismaintainedonlinebytheBartlebyProjectat
ColumbiaUniversity:
This principle, that of parallel construction, requires that expressions of similar content and
function should be outwardly similar. The likeness of form enables the reader to recognize more
readily the likeness of content and function. Familiar instances from the Bible are the Ten
Commandments, the Beatitudes, and the petitions of the Lord's Prayer.
Students should also visit the section on SentenceVariety, which has material on
the repetition of phrases and structures. Click HERE to visit a page containing
the biblical passages mentioned above. Also in this Guide is a definition of the
ideaofacollege, a lovely example of parallel form. Students are also familiar
with AbrahamLincoln'sGettysburgAddress, which abounds with examples of
parallel form. Clicking on the title above will allow you to read this famous
speech and view a brief "slide-show" demonstration of the parallel structures
within Lincoln's famous text. (TheLibraryofCongress maintains a site at which
you can inspect two diferent drafts of the Gettysburg Address in Lincoln's own
handwriting.)
Unskillfulwritersoftenviolatethisprinciple,fromamistakenbeliefthattheyshould
constantlyvarytheformoftheirexpressions.Itistruethatinrepeatingastatementinorderto
emphasizeitwritersmayhaveneedtovaryitsform.Butapartfromthis,writersshouldfollow
carefullytheprincipleofparallelconstruction.
Faulty Parallelism
Corrected Version
Thelefthandversiongivestheimpressionthatthewriterisundecidedortimid;heseemsunable
orafraidtochooseoneformofexpressionandholdtoit.Therighthandversionshowsthatthe
writerhasatleastmadehischoiceandabidedbyit.
Bythisprinciple,anarticleoraprepositionapplyingtoallthemembersofaseriesmust
eitherbeusedonlybeforethefirsttermorelseberepeatedbeforeeachterm.
Faulty Parallelism
Corrected Version
In spring, summer, or in
winter
Correlativeexpressions(both,and;not,but;notonly,butalso;either,or;first,second,
third;andthelike)shouldbefollowedbythesamegrammaticalconstruction.Manyviolationsof
thisrulecanbecorrectedbyrearrangingthesentence.
Faulty Parallelism
Corrected Version
Whenmakingcomparisons,thethingsyoucompareshouldbecouchedinparallel
structureswheneverthatispossibleandappropriate.
Faulty Parallelism
Corrected Version
both . . . and
not only . . . but
also
not . . . but
either . . . or
neither . . . nor
whether . . . or
as . . . as
Conjunctive Adverbs
Theconjunctiveadverbssuchashowever,moreover,nevertheless,consequently,asa
resultareusedtocreatecomplexrelationshipsbetweenideas.Refertothesection
onCoherence:TransitionsBetweenIdeasforanextensivelistofconjunctiveadverbs
categorizedaccordingtotheirvarioususesandforsomeadviceontheirapplicationwithin
sentences(includingpunctuationissues).
ARTICLES, DETERMINERS,
AND QUANTIFIERS
Definition
Articles,determiners,andquantifiersarethoselittlewordsthatprecedeandmodify
nouns:
the teacher, a college, a bit
of honey, that person, those people, whatever purpose, either way, your choice
Sometimesthesewordswilltellthereaderorlistenerwhetherwe'rereferringtoaspecific
orgeneralthing(thegarageoutback;Ahorse!Ahorse!Mykingdomforahorse!);sometimes
theytellhowmuchorhowmany(lotsoftrees,severalbooks,agreatdealofconfusion).The
choiceoftheproperarticleordeterminertoprecedeanounornounphraseisusuallynota
problemforwriterswhohavegrownupspeakingEnglish,norisitaseriousproblemfornon
nativewriterswhosefirstlanguageisaromancelanguagesuchasSpanish.Forotherwriters,
though,thiscanbeaconsiderableobstacleonthewaytotheirmasteryofEnglish.Infact,some
studentsfromeasternEuropeancountrieswheretheirnativelanguagehaseithernoarticlesor
analtogetherdifferentsystemofchoosingarticlesanddeterminersfindthatthese"little
words"cancreateproblemslongaftereveryotheraspectofEnglishhasbeenmastered.
Determinersaresaidto"mark"nouns.Thatistosay,youknowadeterminerwillbe
followedbyanoun.Somecategoriesofdeterminersarelimited(thereareonlythreearticles,a
handfulofpossessivepronouns,etc.),butthepossessivenounsareaslimitlessasnouns
themselves.Thislimitednatureofmostdeterminercategories,however,explainswhy
determinersaregroupedapartfromadjectiveseventhoughbothserveamodifyingfunction.We
canimaginethatthelanguagewillnevertireofinventingnewadjectives;thedeterminers(except
forthosepossessivenouns),ontheotherhand,arewellestablished,andthisclassofwordsisnot
goingtogrowinnumber.Thesecategoriesofdeterminersareasfollows:thearticles(an,a,the
seebelow;possessivenouns(Joe's,thepriest's,mymother's);possessivepronouns,(his,your,
their,whose,etc.);numbers(one,two,etc.);indefinitepronouns(few,more,each,every,either,
all,both,some,any,etc.);anddemonstrativepronouns.Thedemonstratives(this,that,these,
those,such)arediscussedinthesectiononDemonstrativePronouns.Noticethatthepossessive
nounsdifferfromtheotherdeterminersinthatthey,themselves,areoftenaccompaniedbyother
determiners:"mymother'srug,""thepriests'scollar,""adog'slife."
many trees
a few trees
few trees
several trees
a couple of trees
none of the trees
The following quantifiers will work with non-count nouns:
Muchofthesnowhasalreadymelted.
Howmuchsnowfellyesterday?
Notmuch.
Notethatthequantifier"mostofthe"mustincludethedefinitearticlethewhenitmodifies
aspecificnoun,whetherit'sacountoranoncountnoun:"mostoftheinstructorsatthiscollege
haveadoctorate";"mostofthewaterhasevaporated."Withageneralpluralnoun,however
(whenyouarenotreferringtoaspecificentity),the"ofthe"isdropped:
Mostcollegeshavetheirownadmissionspolicy.
Moststudentsapplytoseveralcolleges.
Anindefinitearticleissometimesusedinconjunctionwiththequantifiermany,thus
joiningapluralquantifierwithasingularnoun(whichthentakesasingularverb):
Manyayoungmanhasfalleninlovewithhergoldenhair.
ManyanapplehasfallenbyOctober.
Thisconstructionlendsitselftoasomewhatliteraryeffect(somewouldsayastuffyorarchaic
effect)andisbestusedsparingly,ifatall.
Predeterminers
Thepredeterminersoccurpriortootherdeterminers(asyouwouldprobably
guessfromtheirname).Thisclassofwordsincludesmultipliers(double,twice,
four/fivetimes....);fractionalexpressions(onethird,threequarters,etc.);the
wordsboth,half,andall;andintensifierssuchasquite,rather,andsuch.
Themultipliersprecedepluralcountandmassnounsandoccurwithsingular
countnounsdenotingnumberoramount:
Thisvanholdsthreetimes
thepassengersasthatsportscar.
Mywifeismakingdouble
my/twicemysalary.
Thistimeweaddedfivetimes
theamountofwater.
Infractionalexpressions,wehaveasimilarconstruction,buthereitcanbe
replacedwith"of"construction.
Charliefinishedinonefourth[of]thetimehisbrothertook.
Twofifthsoftherespondentsreportedthathalfthemedicationwassufficient.
Theintensifiersoccurinthisconstructionprimarilyincasualspeechandwriting
andaremorecommoninBritishEnglishthantheyareinAmericanEnglish.The
intensifier"what"isoftenfoundinstylisticfragments:"Wevisitedmybrotherinhis
dormroom.Whatamess!"
Thisroomisratheramess,isn'tit?
Theticketholdersmadequiteafusswhentheycouldn'tgetin.
Whatanidiotheturnedouttobe.
Ourvacationwassuchagrandexperience.
Half,both,andallcanoccurwithsingularandpluralcount
nouns;halfandallcanoccurwithmassnouns.Therearealso"ofconstructions"with
thesewords("all[of]thegrain,""half[of]hissalary");the"ofconstruction"
isrequiredwithpersonalpronouns("bothofthem,""allofit").Thefollowingchart
(fromQuirkandGreenbaum)nicelydescribestheusesofthesethreepredeterminers:
The Articles
The three articles a, an, the are a kind of adjective. The is called
the definite articlebecause it usually precedes a specific or previously
mentioned noun; a and an are calledindefinite articles because they are
used to refer to something in a less specific manner (an unspecified count
noun). These words are also listed among the noun
markers or determinersbecause they are almost invariably followed by a
noun (or something else acting as a noun).
Theisusedwithspecificnouns.Theisrequiredwhenthenounitrefersto
representssomethingthatisoneofakind:
The moon circles the earth.
Theisrequiredwhenthenounitreferstorepresentssomethingintheabstract:
The United States has encouraged the use of the private automobile as opposed to the use of
public transit.
Theisrequiredwhenthenounitreferstorepresentssomethingnamedearlierinthe
text.(Seebelow..)
Nownamesomethingsthatarepartoftheroomitself.
floor, wall, ceiling, windows, door, chalkboard
Youcanimaginetherebeingmorethanoneofeverythingyou'venamedsofar
althoughyoumighthavetohavemorethanoneroomtohavemorethanoneflooror
ceiling.TheseareallCOUNTNOUNS,thingsthatyoucancount.
Usage Notes:
Countnounscanbepluralizedwhenappropriate.SeethesectiononPluralsforhelpwith
theproperformationofnounplurals.
Wecanuseexpressionssuchas
a. manybottles
b. fewbottles
c. afewbottles
Thesenouns,bothsingularandplural,canbeprecededbytheappropriatedefiniteand
indefinitearticlesthewithbothsingularandplural,aoranwithsingularcountnouns.
Singularcountnounscanbeprecededbythisandthatandbyevery,each,
either,andneither.
Pluralcountnounscanbeprecededbytheseandthoseandbysome,any,enough,and
thezeroarticle.Thephrasenumberofisaccompaniedbycountnouns.
Countnounscannotbeprecededbymuch.Thephraseamountofisalsoasuresignthatyou
arenotdealingwithacountnoun.
water
milk
wine
beer
cake
sugar
rice
meat
cheese
flour
reading
boating
smoking
dancing
soccer
hockey
weather
heat
sunshine
electricity
biology
history
mathematics
economics
poetry
Chinese
Spanish
English
luggage
equipment
furniture
experience
applause
photography
traffic
harm
publicity
homework
advice
Usage Notes:
Aretherecategoriesofthingsinthethirdandfourthcolumnsaswell?ClickHEREfor
categorieswesee.
Generally,thesenounscannotbepluralized.Thenoncountnounsofthesecondcolumn
(foodstuff)arepluralizedwhenweusethewordtoexpressa"type":
a. Therearenewwinesbeingintroducedeveryday.
b. ThewatersoftheAtlanticaremuchwarmerthistimeofyear.
c. TheDutcharefamousfortheircheeses.
d. Thespringrainscameearly.
Wecanuseexpressionssuchas
a. muchharm
b. littleharm
c. alittleharm
Itisappropriatetoprecedethesenounswithadefiniteorindefinitearticle.
a. thesunshine
b. anexperience
c. awine
Buttheyfrequentlyappearwithzeroarticle:
d. Smokingisbadforyou.
e. Poetryisbeautiful.
f.
Sugarissweet.
g. Experienceisthebestteacher.
Thesenounscanbeprecededbysome,any,enough,this,that,andmuch.
Becausetheyarenotcountable,thesenounscannotbeprecededbythese,those,every,
each,either,andneither.
conduct
courage
leisure
knowledge
safety
shopping
justice
chaos
progress
speed
experience
time
friendship
trouble
work
culture
virtue
taste
evil
liberty
democracy
death
grief
piety
Usage Notes:
Becausetheyrefertoideas,concepts,itisdifficulttoseehowabstractnounscanbe
pluralized.Infact,manyofthemcannotbe.Theabstractnounsinthefirsttwocolumns
(above)cannotbepluralized;theabstractnounsinthesecondtwocolumnscanbe.The
sectionbelowdiscusseswhathappenstoanabstractnounwhenitispluralized.
a. Thegriefsofthenationaretoomuchtobear.
b. Theeditorstooklibertieswithourprose.
c. Sheformedmanyfriendshipsatcollege.
Intermsofquantifiersandwordsthatprecedethesewords,whatwesayaboutthenon
countnouns,above,canbesaidaboutabstractnouns.
beingacountnountoamassnoun.Consider,forexample,the
nounexperiences.WhenIsay
I had many horrifying experiences as a pilot.
I'mreferringtospecific,countablemomentsinmylifeasapilot.WhenI
say,
This position requires experience.
I'musingthewordinanabstractway;itisnotsomethingyoucancount;
it'smorelikeanidea,ageneralthingthatpeopleneedtohaveinorderto
applyforthisjob.
IfIwrite
The talks will take place in Degnan Hall.
thesetalksarecountableeventsorlectures.IfIsay
I hate it when a meeting is nothing but talk.
thewordtalkisnowuncountable;I'mreferringtothegeneral,abstract
ideaofidlechatter.Evilsreferstospecificsinspride,envy,sloth,and
everyone'sfavorite,gluttonywhereasevilreferstoageneralnotionof
beingbadorungodly.
Onemoreexample:"IlovetheworksofBeethoven"meansthatI
likehissymphonies,hisstringquartets,hisconcertiandsonatas,his
choralpiecesallverycountablethings,works."Ihatework"means
thatIfindtheveryideaoflabor,inageneralway,quiteunappealing.
Noticethatthepluralformmeanssomethingquitedifferentfromthe
singularformofthisword;they'reobviouslyrelated,butthey're
different.Whatistherelationship
betweenplasticandplastics,woodandwoods,iceand
[Italian]ices,hairandhairs?
Further,asnotedearlier,almostallmassnounscanbecomecount
nounswhentheyareusedinaclassificatorysense:
a. TheyservedsomeniceBrazilianwines.
b. Thereweresomerealbeautiesinthatrosegarden.
c. Wehadsomeseriousdifficultiesinthisproject.
Butsomethingscannotbemadecountableorplural:
wecannothavefurnitures,informations,knowledges,softnesses,or
chaoses.Whenindoubt,consultagooddictionary.
.
Weuseabeforesingularcountnounsthatbeginwith
consonants(acow,abarn,asheep);weuseanbeforesingular
countnounsthatbeginwithvowelsorvowellikesounds(anapple,anurbanblight,
anopendoor).Wordsthatbeginwithanhsoundoftenrequireana(as
inahorse,ahistorybook,ahotel),butifanhwordbeginswithanactualvowel
sound,useanan(asinanhour,anhonor).Wewouldsayausefuldeviceandaunion
matterbecausetheuofthosewordsactuallysoundslikeyoo(asopposed,say,to
theuofanuglyincident).ThesameistrueofaEuropeananda
Euro(becauseofthat
consonantal"Yoo"sound).Wewouldsayaonceinalifetimeexperienceoraone
timeherobecausethewordsonceandonebeginwithawsound(asiftheywere
spelledwuntzandwon).
MerriamWebster'sDictionarysaysthatwecanuseanbeforeanhwordthat
beginswithanunstressedsyllable.Thus,wemightsayanhisTORicalmoment,but
wewouldsayaHIStorybook.Manywriterswouldcallthatanaffectationandprefer
thatwesayahistorical,butapparently,thischoiceisamatterofpersonaltaste.
Forhelponusingarticleswithabbreviationsandacronyms(aoranFBIagent?),
seethesectiononAbbreviations.
Firstandsubsequentreference:Whenwefirstrefertosomethinginwritten
text,weoftenuseanindefinitearticletomodifyit.
A newspaper has an obligation to seek out and tell the truth.
Inasubsequentreferencetothisnewspaper,however,wewillusethedefinitearticle:
There are situations, however, when the newspaper must determine whether the public's safety
is jeopardized by knowing the truth.
Anotherexample:
"I'dlikeaglassoforangejuice,please,"Johnsaid.
"Iputtheglassofjuiceonthecounteralready,"Sheilareplied.
Exception:
Whenamodifierappearsbetweenthearticleandthenoun,thesubsequentarticlewill
continuetobeindefinite:
"I'dlikeabigglassoforangejuice,please,"Johnsaid.
"Iputabigglassofjuiceonthecounteralready,"Sheilareplied.
Genericreference:Wecanrefertosomethinginagenericwaybyusinganyof
thethreearticles.Wecandothesamethingbyomittingthearticlealtogether.
Abeaglemakesagreathuntingdogandfamilycompanion.
Anairedaleissometimesaratherskittishanimal.
Thegoldenretrieverisamarvelouspetforchildren.
Irishsettersarenotthehighlyintelligentanimalstheyusedtobe.
Thedifferencebetweenthegenericindefinitepronounandthenormalindefinite
pronounisthatthelatterreferstoanyofthatclass("Iwanttobuyabeagle,andany
oldbeaglewilldo.")whereastheformer(seebeaglesentence)referstoallmembers
ofthatclass.
Propernouns:Weusethedefinitearticlewithcertainkindsofpropernouns:
Geographicalplaces:theSound,theSeaofJapan,theMississippi,theWest,theSmokies,
theSahara(butoftennotwhenthemainpartofthepropernounseemstobemodifiedbyan
earlierattributivenounoradjective:WewentswimmingattheOceanPark)
Pluralizednames(geographic,family,teams):theNetherlands,theBahamas,the
Hamptons,theJohnsons,theNewEnglandPatriots
Publicinstitutions/facilities/groups:theWadsworthAtheneum,theSheraton,theHouse,the
PresbyterianChurch
Newspapers:theHartfordCourant,theTimes
Nounsfollowedbyaprepositionalphrasebeginningwith"of":theleaderofthegang,the
presidentofourclub
Abstractnouns:Abstractnounsthenamesofthingsthatarenottangibleare
sometimesusedwitharticles,sometimesnot:
Thestormupsetmypeaceofmind.Hewasmissingjustonething:peaceofmind.
Injusticewaswidespreadwithinthejudicialsystemitself.Heimploredthejudgeto
correcttheinjustice.
Herbodywasrackedwithgrief.Itwasagriefhehadneverfeltbefore.
Zeroarticles:Severalkindsofnounsneverusearticles.Wedonotusearticles
withthenamesoflanguages("HewaslearningChinese."[Butwhentheword
Chinesereferstothepeople,thedefinitearticlemightcomeintoplay:"TheChinese
arehopingtogetthenextOlympics."]),thenamesofsports("Sheplaysbadminton
andbasketball."),andacademicsubjects("She'stakingeconomicsandmath.Her
majorisReligiousStudies.")
Whentheyaregeneric,noncountnounsandsometimespluralcountnounsare
usedwithoutarticles."Welikewinewithourdinner.WeadoreBaroquemusic.We
userosesformanypurposes."Butifan"ofphrase"comesafterthenoun,weusean
article:"WeadorethemusicoftheBaroque."Also,whenagenericnounisused
withoutanarticleandthenreferredtoinasubsequentreference,itwillhavebecome
specificandwillrequireadefinitearticle:"TheDataCenterinstalledcomputersinthe
LearningCenterthissummer.Thecomputers,unfortunately,don'twork."
Commoncountnounsareusedwithoutarticlesincertainspecialsituations:
idiomatic
expressions
using be andg
o
with seasons
with
institutions
He's in church/college/jail/class.
with meals
with diseases
with time of
day
THE GARDEN
OF PHRASES
AbsolutePhrases || AppositivePhrases || GerundPhrases || InfinitivePhrases ||
NounPhrases || ParticipialPhrases || PrepositionalPhrases
Aphraseisagroupofrelatedwordsthatdoesnotincludeasubjectandverb.(Ifthegroup
ofrelatedwordsdoescontainasubjectandverb,itisconsideredaclause.)Thereareseveral
differentkindsofphrases.Understandinghowtheyareconstructedandhowtheyfunctionwithin
asentencecanbolsterawriter'sconfidenceinwritingsentencesthataresoundinstructureand
variousinform.
NOUN PHRASE
Anounphrasecomprisesanoun(obviously)andanyassociatedmodifiers:
Thelongandwindingroad
Anounphrase
anyassociatedmodifiers
Themodifiersthataccompanyanouncantakeanynumberofformsandcombinationof
forms:adjectives,ofcourse("thetallandbrilliantprofessor");aparticipialphrase("theroad
followingtheedgeofthefrozenlake");aninfinitivephrase("thefirstmantowalkonthe
moon");amodifyingclause("thepresentationthathehadmadethedaybefore");and
prepositionalphrases("thebuildingnexttothelodge,overbythehighway").[Seebelowfor
definitionsofparticipial,infinitive,andprepositionalphrases.]Usually,anounphrasewillbeall
ofapiece,allthewordsthatcomposeitbeingcontiguouswiththenounitself.Itispossible,
however,foranounphrasetobebroken,tobecomewhatwecalldiscontinuous.Sometimespart
ofthenounphraseisdelayeduntiltheendofthesentencesothatthatportionofthephrase
(usuallymodifyingphrasesparticipialorprepositional)canreceiveendweightorfocus.In
ourfirstexample,forinstance(nounphraseindarkred),
Severalaccidentshavebeenreportedinvolvingpassengersfallingfromtrains.
wecouldhaveputtheentirenounphrasetogether:"Severalaccidentsinvolvingpassengers
fallingfromtrainshavebeenreportedrecently."Shiftingthemodifyingphrasesofthered
coloredpartofthephrasetotheendputsadditionalemphasisonthatpart.Herearesomeother
examples:
ArumorcirculatedamongthestaffthathewasbeingpromotedtoVicePresident.(instead
of"ArumorthathewasbeingpromotedtoVicePresidentcirculatedamongthestaff.")
Thetimehadcometostopspendingmoneyfoolishlyandtoputsomethingawayforthe
future.(insteadof"Thetimetostopspendingmoneyfoolishlyandtoputsomethingaway
forthefuturehadcome.")
Thatharddrivewasfaultythatyousoldme.(insteadof"Thatharddrivethatyousold
mewasfaulty.")
Whatbusinessisitofyours?(insteadof"Whatbusinessofyoursisit?")
Clearly,thereisnothinginherentlywrongwithadiscontinuousnounphrase.Oneverygood
reasonforadiscontinuousnounphraseistoachieveabalancebetweenasubjectandits
predicate:
ThestoryistoldthathewasonceasoldierinFrenchForeignLegion.
Withoutthediscontinuousnounphraseinthesentenceabove,weendupwithatwelveword
subject,alinkingverb,andaonewordpredicatesortoflopsided.
Authority: A Grammar of Contemporary English by Randolph Quirk, Sidney Greenbaum, Geoffrey Leech, and Jan
Svartvik. Longman Group: London. 1978.
Onethingyouwanttowatchoutforwithnounphrasesisthelongcompoundnounphrase.*
Thisissometimescalledthe"stackednounphrase"or"packednounphrase."Itiscommon
tofindonenounmodifyinganother:studentbody,bookcover,watercommission.Butwhenwe
createalongstringofsuchattributivenounsormodifiers,wecreatedifficulties:
Peoplewhoauthorwebpageshavebecomeawareofwhatisnowknownastheuniform
resourcelocatorprotocolproblem.
Thedifficultywehavehereisknowingwhatismodifyingwhat.Also,thereaderkeeps
expectingthestringtoend,sotheenergyofthesentence(andourattention)dwindlesintoa
seriesoffalseendings.Suchphrasesareaparticulartemptationintechnicalwriting.Usually,the
solutiontoanoverlyextendedcompoundnounphraseistotakethelastnounoftheseriesand
liberateitfromtherestofthestring(puttingitatthebeginningofthesentence)andthentoturn
atleastoneofthemodifyingnounsintoaprepositionalphrase:
Theproblemwiththeprotocolofuniformresourcelocatorsisnowrecognizedbypeople
whoauthorwebpagesas....
(Thisisonesituationinwhichmakingasentencelongerisprobablyanadvantage.)
Avocativeanaddressedperson'snameorsubstitutenameisoftenasinglewordbut
sometimestakestheformofanounphrase.Avocativeisalwaystreatedasaparenthetical
elementandisthussetofffromtherestofthesentencewithacommaorapairofcommas(ifit
appearswithintheflowofasentence).Whenvocativesarepropernouns(usuallythecase),they
arealsoreferredtoas"nounsofaddress."Vocativesarelikeadverbs:theycanpopupalmost
anywhereinthesentence.Donot,however,getintothehabitofthrowingcommasatpeople's
names;unlessthenamereferstosomeonewhoisactuallybeingaddressed,itisnotavocative
andwillnotnecessarilybeparenthetical:
HetoldJorgetoturntheboataround.
Jorge,turntheboataround
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE
Aprepositionalphraseconsistsofapreposition,anounorpronounthatservesastheobjectof
thepreposition,and,moreoftenthannot,anadjectiveortwothatmodifiestheobject.Ernest
Hemingwayapparentlyfellinlovewiththerhythmsofhisprepositionalphrasesatthebeginning
ofhisshortstory"HillsLikeWhiteElephants":
The hills across the valley of the Ebro were long and white. On this side there was no shade
and no trees and the station was between two lines of rails in the sun. Close against the side of
the station there was the warm shadow of the buildingand a curtain, made of strings of bamboo
beads, hung across the open door into the bar, to keep out flies. The American and the girl with
him sat at a table in the shade, outside the building. It was very hot and the express from
Barcelona would come in forty minutes. It stopped at this junction for two minutes and went
on to Madrid.
Prepositionalphrasesusuallytellwhenorwhere:"infortyminutes,""inthesun,againstthe
side,etc."Prepositionalphrasescanperformotherfunctions,however:ExceptJo,thechildren
wereremarkablyliketheirfather.
Aprepositionalphraseatthebeginningofasentenceconstitutesanintroductorymodifier,
whichisusuallyasignalforacomma.However,unlessanintroductoryprepositionalphraseis
unusuallylong,weseldomneedtofollowitwithacomma.
Youmayhavelearnedthatendingasentencewithaprepositionisaseriousbreachof
grammaticaletiquette.Itdoesn'ttakeagrammariantospotasentenceendingpreposition,sothis
isaneasyruletogetcaughtupon(!).Althoughitisofteneasytoremedytheoffending
preposition,sometimesitisn't,andrepaireffortssometimesresultinaclumsysentence.Based
onshakyhistoricalprecedent,theruleitselfisalatecomertotherulesofwriting.Thosewho
disliketherulearefondofrecallingChurchill'srejoinder:<"ThatisnonsenseupwithwhichI
shallnotput."Weshouldalsorememberthechild'scomplaint(attributedtoE.B.White):"What
didyoubringthatbookthatIdon'tliketobereadtooutofupfor?"
APPOSITIVE PHRASE
Anappositiveisarenamingoramplificationofawordthatimmediatelyprecedesit.
(Anappositive,thenistheoppositeofanoppositive.)Frequentlyanotherkindofphrasewill
serveinapposition.
Myfavoriteteacher,afinechessplayerinherownright,haswonseveralstatelevel
tournaments.[Nounphraseasappositive]
Thebestexercise,walkingbriskly,isalsotheleastexpensive.[Gerundphraseas
appositive]
Tashonda'sgoalinlife,tobecomeanoccupationaltherapist,iswithinhergraspthisyear,
atlast.[Infinitivephraseasappositive]
ABSOLUTE PHRASE
Usually(butnotalways,asweshallsee),anabsolutephrase(alsocalledanominativeabsolute)
isagroupofwordsconsistingofanounorpronounandaparticipleaswellasany
relatedmodifiers.Absolutephrasesdonotdirectlyconnecttoormodifyanyspecificwordinthe
restofthesentence;instead,theymodifytheentiresentence,addinginformation.Theyare
alwaystreatedasparentheticalelementsandaresetofffromtherestofthesentencewitha
commaorapairofcommas(sometimesbyadashorpairofdashes).Noticethatabsolute
phrasescontainasubject(whichisoftenmodifiedbyaparticiple),butnotatruefiniteverb.
Theirreputationaswinnerssecuredbyvictory,theNewYorkLibertychargedintothe
semifinals.
Theseasonnearlyfinished,RebeccaLoboandSophieWitherspoonemergedastrue
leaders.
Thetwosuperstarssignedautographsintothenight,theirfacesbeaminghappily.
Whentheparticipleofanabsolutephraseisaformoftobe,suchasbeingorhavingbeen,the
participleisoftenleftoutbutunderstood.
Theseason[being]over,theyweremobbedbyfansinTimesSquare.
[Havingbeen]Starsalltheiradultlives,theyseemedusedtotheattention.
Anotherkindofabsolutephraseisfoundafteramodifiednoun;itaddsafocusingdetailorpoint
offocustotheideaofthemainclause.Thiskindofabsolutephrasecantaketheformofa
prepositionalphrase,anadjectivephrase,oranounphrase.
Theoldfirefighterstoodoverthesmokingruins,hissensesalerttoanysignofanother
flareup.
Hissubordinates,theirfacessweatstreakedandsmudgedwithash,leanedheavily
againstthefiretruck.
Theyknewalltoowellhowalltheirhardworkcouldbeundoneinaninstant.
Itisnotunusualfortheinformationsuppliedintheabsolutephrasetobethemostimportant
elementinthesentence.Infact,indescriptiveprose,thetellingdetailswilloftenbewrappedinto
asentenceintheformofanabsolutephrase:
CoachNykeshastrolledontothecourt,herarmsakimboandalargesilverwhistle
clenchedbetweenherteeth.
Thenewrecruitsstoodinonecornerofthegym,theiruniformsstiffandillfitting,their
facesbetrayingtheiranxiety.
Anounphrasecanalsoexistasanabsolutephrase:
Yourbestfriends,wherearetheynow,whenyouneedthem?
AndthentherewasmybestfriendSallythedeargirlwhohascertainlyfallenon
hardtimes.
ItmightbeusefultoreviewthematerialonMisplacedModifiersbecauseitisimportant
nottoconfuseanabsolutephrasewithamisplacedmodifier.
INFINITIVE PHRASE
Aninfinitivephraseconsistsofaninfinitivetherootoftheverbprecededbytoandany
modifiersorcomplementsassociatedwithit.Infinitivephrasescanactasadjectives,adverbs,
andnouns.
Herplantosubsidizechildcarewonwideacceptanceamongurbanpoliticians.
[modifiesplan,functionsasanadjective]
Shewantedtoraisetaxes.[nounobjectofthesentence]
TowatchUncleBillytellthisstoryisaneyeopeningexperience.[nounsubjectofthe
sentence]
Toknowheristoloveher.[noun,predicatenominative]
Juanwenttocollegetostudyveterinarymedicine.[tellsuswhyhewent,soit'sanadverb]
GERUND PHRASE
Gerunds,verbalsthatendiningandthatactasnouns,frequentlyareassociatedwithmodifiers
andcomplementsinagerundphrase.Thesephrasesfunctionasunitsandcandoanythingthata
nouncando.Noticethatotherphrases,especiallyprepositionalphrases,arefrequentlypartof
thegerundphrase.
Crammingfortestsisnotagoodstudystrategy.[gerundphraseassubject]
Johnenjoyedswimminginthelakeafterdark.[gerundphraseasobject]
I'mreallynotinterestedinstudyingbiochemistryfortherestofmylife.[gerundphrase
asobjectoftheprepositionin]
Reviewingthegeneralusesofgerundsandinfinitivesmightnotbeabadidea.
ClickHERE.
PARTICIPIAL PHRASE
Presentparticiples,verbalsendingining,andpastparticiples,verbalsthatendined(for
regularverbs)orotherforms(forirregularverbs),arecombinedwithcomplementsand
modifiersandbecomepartofimportantphrasalstructures.Participialphrasesalwaysact
asadjectives.Whentheybeginasentence,theyareoftensetoffbyacomma(as
anintroductorymodifier);otherwise,participialphraseswillbesetoffbycommasifthey
areparentheticalelements.
Thestonesteps,havingbeenworndownbygenerationsofstudents,neededtobe
replaced.[modifies"steps"]
Workingaroundtheclock,thefirefightersfinallyputoutthelastoftheCaliforniabrush
fires.[modifies"firefighters"]
Thepond,frozenoversinceearlyDecember,isnowsafeforiceskating.[modifies
"pond"]
Thereisalistofsuchwordsinthetablebelow.Whenyouplaceyourmouse
cursoroverawordorpairofrelatedwords(suchaseither/neither),youwillseeinthe
righthandframeanimagedescribingthekindsofwordsthatwordcanmodify.
Zeroarticle(seetablebelow)meanseitherthatnoarticlewouldbeappropriatewith
thatkindofnounorthatthatkindofnouncanbeused(inthatcontext)withoutan
article.
Ifyouwouldliketoseetheseimageslistedononepage,clickHERE.
Noticethatthereisadifferencebetweena"stressed"someoranyandan
"unstressed"someorany.ConsiderthewordsinALLCAPSasshoutedwordsand
youwillhearthedifferencebetweenthesetwo:
ThatisSOMEcaryou'vegotthere!
Idon'twanttohearANYexcuse!
As opposed to. . .
Wehavesomecarsleftinthelot.
Isn'tthereanyfurnitureinthelivingroom?
Intermsofthewordstheyusuallymodify,theunstressedsomeandanydonotmodify
singularcountnouns.
INTERJECTIONS
Interjectionsarewordsorphrasesusedtoexclaimorprotestorcommand.Theysometimes
standbythemselves,buttheyareoftencontainedwithinlargerstructures.
Wow!Iwonthelottery!
Oh,Idon'tknowaboutthat.
Idon'tknowwhattheheckyou'retalkingabout.
No,youshouldn'thavedonethat.
Mostmildinterjectionsaretreatedasparentheticalelementsandsetofffromtherestof
thesentencewithacommaorsetofcommas.Iftheinterjectionismoreforceful,however,itis
followedwithanexclamationmark.Interjectionsarerarelyusedinformaloracademicwriting.
Interjections List
meaning
example
ah
expressing pleasure
expressing realization
expressing resignation
expressing surprise
alas
dear
expressing pity
expressing surprise
expressing enquiry
expressing surprise
"Eh! Really?"
inviting agreement
er
expressing hesitation
hello, hullo
expressing greeting
expressing surprise
calling attention
eh
hey
hi
expressing greeting
hmm
expressing hesitation,
doubt or disagreement
oh, o
expressing surprise
expressing pain
expressing pleading
ouch
expressing pain
uh
expressing hesitation
uh-huh
expressing agreement
um, umm
expressing hesitation
"85 divided by 5
is...um...17."
well
expressing surprise
"Well I never!"
introducing a remark
NOUNS
In love with nouns? We also have
sections on
Pluralformsofnouns
Possessiveformsofnouns
Anexerciseinrecognizingnouns
Countversusnoncountnouns
Anexerciseincategorizingcountand
noncountnouns
Raindropsonrosesandwhiskersonkittens
Brightcopperkettlesandwarmwoolenmittens
Brownpaperpackagestiedupwithstrings
Theseareafewofmyfavoritenouns
Creamcoloredponiesandcrispapplestreudels
Doorbellsandsleighbellsandschnitzelwithnoodles
Wildgeesethatflywiththemoonontheirwings
Theseareafewofmyfavoritenouns
Girlsinwhitedresseswithbluesatinsashes
Snowflakesthatstayonmynoseandeyelashes
Silverwhitewintersthatmeltintosprings
Theseareafewofmyfavoritenouns
Compoundnouns(andadjectives)
Whenthedogbites
Whenthebeestings
WhenI'mfeelingsad
Isimplyremembermyfavoritenouns
AndthenIdon'tfeelsobad.
Apologies to Oscar Hammerstein II,
lyricist of "My Favorite Things"
from The Sound of Music
Definition
Anounisthenameofaperson,place,thing,oridea.Whateverexists,weassume,canbe
named,andthatnameisanoun.Apropernoun,whichnamesaspecificperson,place,orthing
(Carlos,QueenMarguerite,MiddleEast,Jerusalem,Malaysia,Presbyterianism,God,Spanish,
Buddhism,theRepublicanParty),isalmostalwayscapitalized.Apropernounusedasan
addressedperson'snameiscalledanounofaddress.Commonnounsnameeverythingelse,
thingsthatusuallyarenotcapitalized.
Agroupofrelatedwordscanactasasinglenounlikeentitywithinasentence.ANoun
Clausecontainsasubjectandverbandcandoanythingthatanouncando:
What he does for this town is a blessing.
ANounPhrase,frequentlyanounaccompaniedbymodifiers,isagroupofrelatedwordsacting
asanoun:theoildepletionallowance;theabnormal,hideouslyenlargednose.
ThereisaseparatesectiononwordcombinationsthatbecomeCompoundNounssuch
asdaughterinlaw,halfmoon,andstickinthemud.
Categories of Nouns
Nounscanbeclassifiedfurtherascountnouns,whichnameanythingthatcanbecounted
(fourbooks,twocontinents,afewdishes,a
dozenbuildings);mass
nouns(ornoncountnouns),whichname
somethingthatcan'tbecounted
(water,air,energy,blood);andcollective
nouns,whichcantakeasingular
formbutarecomposedofmorethanoneindividualpersonoritems(jury,team,class,
committee,herd).Weshouldnotethatsomewordscanbeeitheracountnounoranoncount
noundependingonhowthey'rebeingusedinasentence:
a.
Hegotintotrouble.(noncount)
b. Hehadmanytroubles.(countable)
c. Experience(noncount)isthebestteacher.
d. Wehadmanyexcitingexperiences(countable)incollege.
Whetherthesewordsarecountornoncountwilldeterminewhethertheycanbeused
witharticlesanddeterminersornot.(Wewouldnotwrite"Hegotintothetroubles,"butwe
couldwriteabout"ThetroublesofIreland."
Sometextswillincludethecategoryofabstractnouns,bywhichwemeanthekindof
wordthatisnottangible,suchaswarmth,justice,grief,andpeace.Abstractnounsaresometimes
troublesomefornonnativewritersbecausetheycanappearwithdeterminersorwithout:"Peace
settledoverthecountryside.""Theskirmishdisruptedthepeacethathadsettledoverthe
countryside."SeethesectiononPluralsforadditionalhelpwithcollectivenouns,wordsthat
canbesingularorplural,dependingoncontext.
Forms of Nouns
Nounscanbeinthesubjective,possessive,andobjectivecase.Thewordcasedefinesthe
roleofthenouninthesentence.Isitasubject,anobject,ordoesitshowpossession?
TheEnglishprofessor[subject]istall.
HechosetheEnglishprofessor[object].
TheEnglishprofessor's[possessive]carisgreen.
Nounsinthesubjectandobjectroleareidenticalinform;nounsthatshowthepossessive,
however,takeadifferentform.Usuallyanapostropheisaddedfollowedbytheletters(except
forplurals,whichtaketheplural"s"endingfirst,andthenaddtheapostrophe).Seethesection
onPossessivesforhelpwithpossessiveforms.Thereisalsoatableoutliningthecasesof
nounsandpronouns.
Almostallnounschangeformwhentheybecomeplural,usuallywiththesimpleaddition
ofansores.Unfortunately,it'snotalwaysthateasy,andaseparatesectiononPluralsoffers
adviceontheformationofpluralnounforms.
assaytestsfornouns.Therearetwokindsoftests:formalandfunctionalwhatawordlooks
like(theendingsittakes)andhowawordbehavesinasentence.
FormalTests
1. Doesthewordcontainanounmakingmorpheme?organization,
misconception,weirdness,statehood,government,democracy,philistinism,
realtor,tenacity,violinist
2. Canthewordtakeapluralmakingmorpheme?pencils,boxes
3. Canthewordtakeapossessivemakingmorpheme?today's,boys'
FunctionTests
1
Withoutmodifiers,cantheworddirectlyfollowanarticleandcreatea
grammaticalunit(subject,object,etc.)?thestate,anapple,acrate
Canitfilltheslotinthefollowingsentence:"(The)_________seem(s)all
right."(orsubstituteotherpredicatessuchasunacceptable,short,dark,
dependingontheword'smeaning)?
sentences,withmanyexamples.Third,weofferWORKINGWITHNOUNS,amoreextensive
(andsomewhatmoreadvanced)reviewofthecountandnoncountdistinction,alongwith
exercises.Finally,justwhenyouthoughtyoucouldn'tstandsuchriches,wesuggestyoureview
theusesofArticles,Determiners,andQuantifierswithcountandnoncountnouns.
PREDICATES, OBJECTS,
COMPLEMENTS
Predicates
Apredicateisthecompleterofasentence.Thesubjectnamesthe"doer"or"beer"ofthe
sentence;thepredicatedoestherestofthework.Asimplepredicateconsistsofonlyaverb,
verbstring,orcompoundverb:
Theglaciermelted.
Theglacierhasbeenmelting.
Theglaciermelted,brokeapart,andslippedintothesea.
Acompoundpredicateconsistsoftwo(ormore)suchpredicatesconnected:
Theglacierbegantoslipdownthemountainsideandeventuallycrushedsomeofthe
village'soutlyingbuildings.
Acompletepredicateconsistsoftheverbandallaccompanyingmodifiersandotherwords
thatreceivetheactionofatransitiveverborcompleteitsmeaning.Thefollowingdescriptionof
predicatescomesfromTheLongmanHandbookforWritersandReaders(examplesourown):
With an intransitiveverb, objects and complements are included in the predicate. (The glacier is
melting.) With a transitiveverb, objects and objectcomplements are said to be part of the
predicate. (The slow moving glacier wiped out an entire forest. It gave the villagers a lot of
problems.) With a linkingverb, the subject is connected to a subjectcomplement. (The
mayor doesn't feel good.)
Apredicateadjectivefollowsalinkingverbandtellsussomethingaboutthesubject:
Ramonitaisbeautiful.
Hisbehaviorhasbeenoutrageous.
Thatgarbageonthestreetsmellsbad.
Apredicatenominativefollowsalinkingverbandtellsuswhatthesubjectis:
Dr.Couchworthyisactingpresidentoftheuniversity.
Sheusedtobethetallestgirlontheteam.
Adirectobjectisthereceiverofactionwithinasentence,asin"Hehittheball."Becareful
todistinguishbetweenadirectobjectandanobjectcomplement:
TheynamedtheirdaughterNatasha.
Inthatsentence,"daughter"isthedirectobjectand"Natasha"istheobjectcomplement,which
renamesordescribesthedirectobject.
Theindirectobjectidentifiestoorforwhomorwhattheactionoftheverbisperformed.
Thedirectobjectandindirectobjectaredifferentpeopleorplacesorthings.Thedirectobjectsin
thesentencesbelowareinboldface;theindirectobjectsareinitalics.
TheinstructorgavehisstudentsA's.
GrandfatherleftRosalitaandRaoulallhismoney.
JoBobsoldmeherboat.
Incidentally,thewordme(andsimilarobjectformpronounssuchashim,us,them)isnotalways
anindirectobject;itwillalsoserve,sometimes,asadirectobject.
Blessme/her/us!
Callme/him/themifyouhavequestions.
InEnglish,nounsandtheiraccompanyingmodifiers(articlesandadjectives)donotchange
formwhentheyareusedasobjectsorindirectobjects,astheydoinmanyotherlanguages."The
radioisonthedesk"and"Iborrowedtheradio"containexactlythesamewordformusedfor
quitedifferentfunctions.Thisisnottrueofpronouns,however,whichusedifferentformsfor
differentfunctions.(He[subject]loveshisgrandmother.Hisgrandmotherloveshim[object].)
(See,also,pronouncases.)
Complements
Sincethispageisaboutthecompletersofthoughts,itisappropriatetoincludeabrief
descriptionofcomplements.Acomplement(noticethespellingoftheword)isanywordor
phrasethatcompletesthesenseofasubject,anobject,oraverb.Asyouwillsee,the
terminologydescribingpredicatesandcomplementscanoverlapandbeabitconfusing.Students
areprobablywisetolearnonesetofterms,notboth.
Asubjectcomplementfollowsalinkingverb;itisnormallyanadjectiveoranounthat
renamesordefinesinsomewaythesubject.
o
Aglacierisahugebodyofice.
Glaciersarebeautifulandpotentiallydangerousatthesametime.
Thisglacierisnotyetfullyformed.(verbformactingasanadjective,a
participle)
Adjectivecomplementsarealsocalledpredicateadjectives;nouncomplementsare
alsocalledpredicatenounsorpredicatenominatives.Seepredicates,above.
Anobjectcomplementfollowsandmodifiesorreferstoadirectobject.Itcanbeanoun
oradjectiveoranywordactingasanounoradjective.
o
TheconventionnamedDogbreathVicePresidenttokeephimhappy.(The
noun"VicePresident"complementsthedirectobject"Dogbreath";the
adjective"happy"complementstheobject"him.")
Theclowngotthechildrentooexcited.(Theparticiple"excited"
complementstheobject"children.")
Averbcomplementisadirectorindirectobjectofaverb.(Seeabove.)
o
GrannyleftRaoulallhermoney.(Both"money"[thedirectobject]and
"Raoul"[theindirectobject]aresaidtobetheverbcomplementsofthis
sentence.)
PREPOSITIONS:
LOCATORS IN
TIME AND PLACE
Aprepositiondescribesarelationshipbetweenotherwordsinasentence.Initself,aword
like"in"or"after"israthermeaninglessandhardtodefineinmerewords.Forinstance,when
youdotrytodefineaprepositionlike"in"or"between"or"on,"youinvariablyuseyourhands
toshowhowsomethingissituatedinrelationshiptosomethingelse.Prepositionsarenearly
alwayscombinedwithotherwordsinstructurescalledprepositionalphrases.Prepositional
phrasescanbemadeupofamilliondifferentwords,buttheytendtobebuiltthesame:a
prepositionfollowedbyadeterminerandanadjectiveortwo,followedbyapronounornoun
(calledtheobjectofthepreposition).Thiswholephrase,inturn,takesonamodifyingrole,
actingasanadjectiveoranadverb,locatingsomethingintimeandspace,modifyinganoun,or
tellingwhenorwhereorunderwhatconditionssomethinghappened.
Considertheprofessor'sdeskandalltheprepositionalphraseswecanusewhiletalking
aboutit.
You can sit before the desk (or in front of the desk). The professor can sit on the desk (when
he's being informal) orbehind the desk, and then his feet are under the desk or beneath the
desk. He can stand beside the desk (meaning next to the desk), before the
desk, between the desk and you, or even on the desk (if he's really strange). If he's clumsy, he
can bump into the desk or try to walk through the desk (and stuff would fall off the desk).
Passing his hands over the desk or resting his elbows upon the desk, he often
looks across the desk and speaks of the desk or concerning the desk as if there were
nothing else like the desk. Because he thinks of nothing except the desk, sometimes you
wonder aboutthe desk, what's in the desk, what he paid for the desk, and if he could
live without the desk. You can walk toward the desk, to the desk, around the desk, by the
desk, and even past the desk while he sits at the desk or leans against the desk.
All of this happens, of course, in time: during the class, before the class, until the
class, throughout the class, after the class, etc. And the professor can sit there in a bad
mood [another adverbial construction].
Thosewordsinboldbluefontareallprepositions.Someprepositionsdootherthingsbesides
locateinspaceortime"Mybrotherislikemyfather.""Everyoneintheclassexceptmegot
theanswer."butnearlyallofthemmodifyinonewayoranother.Itispossiblefora
prepositionphrasetoactasanoun"Duringachurchserviceisnotagoodtimetodiscuss
picnicplans"or"IntheSouthPacificiswhereIlongtobe"butthisisseldomappropriatein
formaloracademicwriting.
ClickHEREforalistofcommonprepositionsthatwillbeeasytoprintout.
COMMON PREPOSITIONS
about
above
across
after
against
around
at
before
behind
by
down
during
except
for
from
in
inside
into
outside
over
since
through
throughout
till
to
toward
under
according to
because of
by way of
in addition to
in front of
in place of
in regard to
in spite of
instead of
below
beneath
beside
besides
between
beyond
like
near
of
off
on
out
until
up
upon
with
without
on account of
out of
Weuseontodesignatedaysanddates.
MybrotheriscomingonMonday.
We'rehavingapartyontheFourthofJuly.
Weuseinfornonspecifictimesduringaday,amonth,aseason,orayear.
Shelikestojoginthemorning.
It'stoocoldinwintertorunoutside.
Hestartedthejobin1971.
He'sgoingtoquitinAugust.
AT
class*
home
the library*
the office
school*
work
ON
the bed*
the ceiling
the floor
the horse
the plane
the train
NO
PREPOSITI
ON
downstairs
downtown
inside
outside
upstairs
uptown
Prepositions of Movement: to
and No Preposition
Weusetoinordertoexpressmovementtowardaplace.
Theyweredrivingtoworktogether.
She'sgoingtothedentist'sofficethismorning.
Towardandtowardsarealsohelpfulprepositionstoexpressmovement.Thesearesimplyvariant
spellingsofthesameword;usewhicheversoundsbettertoyou.
We'removingtowardthelight.
Thisisabigsteptowardstheproject'scompletion.
Withthewordshome,downtown,uptown,inside,outside,downstairs,upstairs,weuseno
preposition.
Grandmawentupstairs
Grandpawenthome.
Theybothwentoutside.
fondness for
grasp of
hatred of
hope for
interest in
love of
need for
participation in
reason for
respect for
success in
understanding of
ADJECTIVES and
PREPOSITIONS
afraid of
angry at
aware of
capable of
careless about
familiar with
fond of
happy about
interested in
jealous of
made of
married to
proud of
similar to
sorry for
sure of
tired of
worried about
give up
grow up
look for
look forward to
look up
make up
pay for
prepare for
study for
talk about
think about
trust in
work for
worry about
Acombinationofverbandprepositioniscalledaphrasalverb.Thewordthatisjoinedto
theverbisthencalledaparticle.Pleaserefertothebriefsectionwehavepreparedonphrasal
verbsforanexplanation.
agreetoaproposal,withaperson,onaprice,inprinciple
argueaboutamatter,withaperson,fororagainstaproposition
comparetotoshowlikenesses,withtoshowdifferences(sometimessimilarities)
correspondtoathing,withaperson
differfromanunlikething,withaperson
liveatanaddress,inahouseorcity,onastreet,withotherpeople
Unnecessary Prepositions
Ineverydayspeech,wefallintosomebadhabits,usingprepositionswheretheyarenot
necessary.Itwouldbeagoodideatoeliminatethesewordsaltogether,butwemustbeespecially
carefulnottousetheminformal,academicprose.
Shemetupwiththenewcoachinthehallway.
Thebookfelloffofthedesk.
Hethrewthebookoutofthewindow.
Shewouldn'tletthecatinsideofthehouse.[oruse"in"]
Wheredidtheygoto?
Putthelampinbackofthecouch.[use"behind"instead]
Whereisyourcollegeat?
PARALLEL FORM
MOSTOFTHEDESCRIPTIONSANDEXAMPLESINTHISSECTIONaretakenfromWilliam
Strunk'svenerableElementsofStyle,whichismaintainedonlinebytheBartlebyProjectat
ColumbiaUniversity:
This principle, that of parallel construction, requires that expressions of similar content and
function should be outwardly similar. The likeness of form enables the reader to recognize more
readily the likeness of content and function. Familiar instances from the Bible are the Ten
Commandments, the Beatitudes, and the petitions of the Lord's Prayer.
Students should also visit the section on SentenceVariety, which has material on
the repetition of phrases and structures. Click HERE to visit a page containing
the biblical passages mentioned above.
BIBLICAL PASSAGES
IN PARALLEL FORM
THESEPASSAGESARETAKENFROMTHEKINGJAMESVERSIONoftheBibletoillustrate
usesofparallelform.OnecouldlooktoothersourcesintheBible,ofcourse.TheSongof
Solomonisfilledwithmomentsofextremeandbeautifullyricism.TheKingJamesVersion
probablydoesgreaterjusticetotheparallelrhythmsofEnglishthandolatertranslations.
Andshewingmercyuntothousandsofthemthatlovemeandkeepmycommandments.
ThoushaltnottakethenameoftheLORDthyGodinvain:fortheLORDwillnotholdhim
guiltlessthattakethhisnameinvain.
Keepthesabbathdaytosanctifyit,astheLORDthyGodhathcommandedthee.
Sixdaysthoushaltlabour,anddoallthywork:
ButtheseventhdayisthesabbathoftheLORDthyGod:initthoushaltnotdoanywork,
thou,northyson,northydaughter,northymanservant,northymaidservant,northineox,
northineass,noranyofthycattle,northystrangerthatiswithinthygates;thatthy
manservantandthymaidservantmayrestaswellasthou.
AndrememberthatthouwastaservantinthelandofEgypt,andthattheLORDthyGod
broughttheeoutthencethroughamightyhandandbyastretchedoutarm:thereforethe
LORDthyGodcommandedtheetokeepthesabbathday.
Honourthyfatherandthymother,astheLORDthyGodhathcommandedthee;thatthy
daysmaybeprolonged,andthatitmaygowellwiththee,inthelandwhichtheLORDthy
Godgiveththee.
Thoushaltnotkill.
Neithershaltthoucommitadultery.
Neithershaltthousteal.
Neithershaltthoubearfalsewitnessagainstthyneighbour.
Neithershaltthoudesirethyneighbour'swife,neithershaltthoucovetthyneighbour's
house,hisfield,orhismanservant,orhismaidservant,hisox,orhisass,oranythingthatis
thyneighbour's.
Also in this Guide is a definition of theideaofacollege, a lovely example of parallel
form. Students are also familiar with AbrahamLincoln'sGettysburgAddress, which
abounds with examples of parallel form. Clicking on the title above will allow
you to read this famous speech and view a brief "slide-show" demonstration of
the parallel structures within Lincoln's famous text. (TheLibraryof
Congress maintains a site at which you can inspect two diferent drafts of the
Gettysburg Address in Lincoln's own handwriting.)
Unskillfulwritersoftenviolatethisprinciple,fromamistakenbeliefthattheyshould
constantlyvarytheformoftheirexpressions.Itistruethatinrepeatingastatementinorderto
emphasizeitwritersmayhaveneedtovaryitsform.Butapartfromthis,writersshouldfollow
carefullytheprincipleofparallelconstruction.
Faulty Parallelism
Corrected Version
Thelefthandversiongivestheimpressionthatthewriterisundecidedortimid;heseemsunable
orafraidtochooseoneformofexpressionandholdtoit.Therighthandversionshowsthatthe
writerhasatleastmadehischoiceandabidedbyit.
Bythisprinciple,anarticleoraprepositionapplyingtoallthemembersofaseriesmust
eitherbeusedonlybeforethefirsttermorelseberepeatedbeforeeachterm.
Faulty Parallelism
Corrected Version
In spring, summer, or in
winter
Correlativeexpressions(both,and;not,but;notonly,butalso;either,or;first,second,
third;andthelike)shouldbefollowedbythesamegrammaticalconstruction.Manyviolationsof
thisrulecanbecorrectedbyrearrangingthesentence.
Faulty Parallelism
Corrected Version
Whenmakingcomparisons,thethingsyoucompareshouldbecouchedinparallel
structureswheneverthatispossibleandappropriate.
Faulty Parallelism
Corrected Version
Whentwowordsorphrasesareusedinparallelandrequirethesameprepositiontobe
idiomaticallycorrect,theprepositiondoesnothavetobeusedtwice.
Youcanwearthatoutfitinsummerandinwinter.
Thefemalewasbothattractedbyanddistractedbythemale'sdance.
However,whentheidiomaticuseofphrasescallsfordifferentprepositions,wemustbecareful
nottoomitoneofthem.
Thechildrenwereinterestedinanddisgustedbythemovie.
Itwasclearthatthisplayercouldbothcontributetoandlearnfromeverygameheplayed.
Hewasfascinatedbyandenamoredofthisbeguilingwoman.
PRONOUNS
Definition
Generally(butnotalways)pronounsstandfor(pro+noun)orrefertoanoun,anindividual
orindividualsorthingorthings(thepronoun'santecedent)whoseidentityismadeclearearlierin
thetext.Forinstance,wearebewilderedbywriterswhoclaimsomethinglike
Theysaythateatingbeefisbadforyou.
Theyisapronounreferringtosomeone,butwhoarethey?Cows?whomdotheyrepresent?
Sloppyuseofpronounsisunfair.
Notallpronounswillrefertoanantecedent,however.
Everyonehereearnsoverathousanddollarsaday.
Theword"everyone"hasnoantecedent.
Theproblemofagreementbetweenapronounanditsantecedentandbetweenapronoun
anditsverbistreatedinanothersectiononPronounAntecedentConsistency.Thequizzeson
pronounusagearealsolistedattheendofthatsection.
Thissectionwilllistandbrieflydescribetheseveralkindsofpronouns.
KINDS OF PRONOUNS: Personal || Demonstrative || Indefinite || Relative ||
Reflexive || Intensive || Interrogative || Reciprocal
Personal Pronouns
UnlikeEnglishnouns,whichusuallydonotchangeformexceptfortheadditionofan
sendingtocreatethepluralortheapostrophe+stocreatethepossessive,personalpronouns
(whichstandforpersonsorthings)changeformaccordingtotheirvarioususeswithina
sentence.ThusIisusedasthesubjectofasentence(Iamhappy.),meisusedasanobjectin
variousways(Hehitme.Hegavemeabook.Dothisforme.),andmyisusedasthepossessive
form(That'smycar.)Thesameistrueoftheotherpersonalpronouns:thesingularyouand
he/she/itandthepluralwe,you,andthey.Theseformsarecalledcases.Aneasilyprintablechart
isavailablethatshowsthevariousCasesofthePersonalPronouns.
Personalpronounscanalsobecharacterizedordistinguishedbyperson.Firstpersonrefers
tothespeaker(s)orwriter(s)("I"forsingular,"we"forplural).Secondpersonreferstothe
personorpeoplebeingspokenorwrittento("you"forbothsingularandplural).Third
personreferstothepersonorpeoplebeingspokenorwrittenabout("he,""she,"and"it"for
singular,"they"forplural).ThepersonofapronounisalsodemonstratedinthechartCasesof
thePersonalPronouns.Asyouwillseethere,eachpersoncanchangeform,reflectingitsuse
withinasentence.Thus,"I"becomes"me"whenusedasanobject("Sheleftme")and"my"
whenusedinitspossessiverole(That'smycar");"they"becomes"them"inobjectform("Ilike
them")and"their"inpossessive("That'sjusttheirway").
Whenapersonalpronounisconnectedbyaconjunctiontoanothernounorpronoun,its
casedoesnotchange.Wewouldwrite"IamtakingacourseinAsianhistory";ifTalithaisalso
takingthatcourse,wewouldwrite"TalithaandIaretakingacourseinAsianhistory."(Notice
thatTalithagetslistedbefore"I"does.ThisisoneofthefewwaysinwhichEnglishisa"polite"
language.)Thesameistruewhentheobjectformiscalledfor:"ProfessorVendettigaveallher
bookstome";ifTalithaalsoreceivedsomebooks,we'dwrite"ProfessorVendettigaveallher
bookstoTalithaandme."Formoreonthis,seecasesofpronouns.
Whenapronounandanounarecombined(whichwillhappenwiththepluralfirstand
secondpersonpronouns),choosethecaseofthepronounthatwouldbeappropriateifthenoun
werenotthere.
Westudentsaredemandingthattheadministrationgiveustwohoursforlunch.
Theadministrationhasmanagedtoputus
studentsinabadsituation.
Withthesecondperson,wedon'treallyhaveaproblembecausethesubjectformisthesameas
theobjectform,"you":
"Youstudentsaredemandingtoomuch."
"Weexpectyoustudentstobehavelikeadults."
Amongthepossessivepronounforms,thereisalsowhatiscalledthenominative
possessive:mine,yours,ours,theirs.
Lookatthosecars.Theirsisreallyugly;oursisbeautiful.
Thisnewcarismine.
Mineisnewerthanyours.
Demonstrative Pronouns
Thefamilyofdemonstratives(this/that/these/those/such)canbehaveeitheraspronounsor
asdeterminers.
Aspronouns,theyidentifyorpointtonouns.
Thatisincredible!(referringtosomethingyoujustsaw)
Iwillneverforgetthis.(referringtoarecentexperience)
Suchismybelief.(referringtoanexplanationjustmade)
Asdeterminers,thedemonstrativesadjectivallymodifyanounthatfollows.Asenseofrelative
distance(intimeandspace)canbeconveyedthroughthechoiceofthesepronouns/determiners:
These[pancakessittingherenowonmyplate]aredelicious.
Those[pancakesthatIhadyesterdaymorning]wereevenbetter.
This[bookinmyhand]iswellwritten;
that[bookthatI'mpointingto,overthere,onthetable]istrash.
Asenseofemotionaldistanceorevendisdaincanbeconveyedwiththedemonstrative
pronouns:
You'regoingtowearthese?
Thisisthebestyoucando?
Thisismyfather.
Thatismybook.
Inotherroles,however,thereferenceofdemonstrativesisnonpersonal.Inotherwords,
whenreferringtostudents,say,wecouldwrite"Thosewereloiteringneartheentranceduring
thefiredrill"(aslongasitisperfectlyclearincontextwhat"those"refersto).Butwewouldnot
write"Theprincipalsuspendedthosefortwodays";instead,wewouldhavetouse"those"asa
determinerandwrite"Theprincipalsuspendedthosestudentsfortwodays."
Relative Pronouns
Therelativepronouns(who/whoever/which/that)relategroupsofwordstonounsorother
pronouns(Thestudentwhostudieshardestusuallydoesthebest.).Thewordwhoconnectsor
relatesthesubject,student,totheverbwithinthedependentclause(studies).Choosingcorrectly
betweenwhichandthatandbetweenwhoandwhomleadstowhatareprobablythemost
FrequentlyAskedQuestionsaboutEnglishgrammar.Forhelpwithwhich/that,referto
theNotoriousConfusablesarticleonthosewords(includingthehyperlinktoMichaelQuinion's
articleonthisusageandthelinkstorelevantquizzes).Generally,weuse"which"tointroduce
clausesthatareparentheticalinnature(i.e.,thatcanberemovedfromthesentencewithout
changingtheessentialmeaningofthesentence).Forthatreason,a"whichclause"isoftensetoff
withacommaorapairofcommas."Thatclauses,"ontheotherhand,areusuallydeemed
indispensableforthemeaningofasentenceandarenotsetoffwithcommas.The
pronounwhichreferstothings;who(anditsforms)referstopeople;thatusuallyreferstothings,
butitcanalsorefertopeopleinageneralkindofway.Forhelpwithwho/whomrefertothe
sectiononConsistency.Wealsorecommendthatyoutakethequizzesontheuse
ofwhoandwhomattheendofthatsection.
Theexpandedformoftherelativepronounswhoever,whomever,whateverareknown
asindefiniterelativepronouns.Acoupleofsamplesentencesshouldsufficetodemonstrate
whytheyarecalled"indefinite":
Thecoachwillselectwhomeverhepleases.
Heseemedtosaywhatevercametomind.
Whoevercrossesthislinefirstwillwintherace.
Whatisoftenanindefiniterelativepronoun:
Shewilltellyouwhatyouneedtoknow.
Indefinite Pronouns
Theindefinitepronouns(everybody/anybody/somebody/all/each/every/some/none/one)do
notsubstituteforspecificnounsbutfunctionthemselvesasnouns(Everyoneiswondering
ifanyisleft.)
Oneofthechiefdifficultieswehavewiththeindefinitepronounsliesinthefactthat
"everybody"feelsasthoughitreferstomorethanoneperson,butittakesasingularverb.
(Everybodyisaccountedfor.)Ifyouthinkofthiswordasmeaning"everysinglebody,"the
confusionusuallydisappears.Theindefinitepronounnonecanbeeithersingularorplural,
dependingonitscontext.Noneisnearlyalwaysplural(meaning"notany")exceptwhen
somethingelseinthesentencemakesusregarditasasingular(meaning"notone"),asin"None
ofthefoodisfresh."Somecanbesingularorpluraldependingonwhetheritreferstosomething
countableornoncountable.RefertothesectiononPronounConsistencyforhelpon
determiningthenumberoftheindefinitepronouns(andthenumber[singular/plural]oftheverbs
thataccompanythem).Thereisaseparatesectionontheusesofthepronounone.
Thereareotherindefinitepronouns,wordsthatdoubleasDeterminers:
enough, few, fewer, less, little, many, much, several, more, most, all, both, every, each, any,
either, neither, none, some
Fewwillbechosen;fewerwillfinish.
Littleisexpected.
SeethesectiononPronounConsistencyforhelpindeterminingthenumber
(singular/plural)characteristicsofthesepronouns.
Intensive Pronouns
Theintensivepronouns(suchasmyself,yourself,herself,ourselves,themselves)consistof
apersonalpronounplusselforselvesandemphasizeanoun.(Imyselfdon'tknowtheanswer.)It
ispossible(butratherunusual)foranintensivepronountoprecedethenounitrefersto.(Myself,
Idon'tbelieveawordhesays.)
Reflexive Pronouns
Thereflexivepronouns(whichhavethesameformsastheintensivepronouns)indicatethat
thesentencesubjectalsoreceivestheactionoftheverb.(Studentswhocheatonthisquizare
onlyhurtingthemselves.Youpaidyourselfamilliondollars?Sheencouragedherselftodowell.)
Whatthismeansisthatwheneverthereisareflexivepronouninasentencetheremustbea
persontowhomthatpronouncan"reflect."Inotherwords,thesentence"Pleasehandthatbook
tomyself"wouldbeincorrectbecausethereisno"I"inthatsentenceforthe"myself"toreflect
to(andwewoulduse"me"insteadof"myself").Asentencesuchas"Igavethatbooktomyself
forChristmas"mightbesilly,butitwouldbecorrect.
Be alert to a tendency to use reflexive pronoun forms (ending in -self) where they are
neither appropriate nor necessary. The inappropriate reflexive form has a wonderful
name: the untriggered reflexive. "Myself" tends to sound weightier, more formal, than
little ol' me or I, so it has a way of sneaking into sentences where it doesn't belong.
BobandmyselfIareresponsibleforthisdecision.
Thesedecisionswillbemadebymyselfme.
Ifyouhaveanyquestions,pleasecontactmyselfmeorBobJones.
Whenpronounsarecombined,thereflexivewilltakeeitherthefirstperson
Juanita,Carlos,andIhavedeceivedourselvesintobelievinginmyuncle.
or,whenthereisnofirstperson,thesecondperson:
YouandCarloshavedeceivedyourselves.
Theindefinitepronoun(seeabove)onehasitsownreflexiveform("Onemusthavefaith
inoneself."),buttheotherindefinitepronounsuseeitherhimselforthemselvesasreflexives.
(Thereisanentirepageonthepronounone.)Itisprobablybettertopluralizeandavoidthe
clumsyhimselforherselfconstruction.
Nooneherecanblamehimselforherself.
Thepeopleherecannotblamethemselves.
Interrogative Pronouns
Theinterrogativepronouns(who/which/what)introducequestions.(Whatisthat?Whowill
helpme?Whichdoyouprefer?)Whichisgenerallyusedwithmorespecificreferencethanwhat.
Ifwe'retakingaquizandIask"Whichquestionsgiveyouthemosttrouble?",Iamreferringto
specificquestionsonthatquiz.IfIask"Whatquestionsgiveyoumosttrouble"?Icouldbe
askingwhatkindofquestionsonthatquiz(orwhatkindofquestion,generically,ingeneral)
givesyoutrouble.TheinterrogativepronounsalsoactasDeterminers:Itdoesn'tmatterwhich
beeryoubuy.Hedoesn'tknowwhosecarhehit.Inthisdeterminerrole,theyaresometimes
calledinterrogativeadjectives.
Liketherelativepronouns,theinterrogativepronounsintroducenounclauses,andlikethe
relativepronouns,theinterrogativepronounsplayasubjectroleintheclausestheyintroduce:
Weknowwho
isguiltyofthiscrime.
Ialreadytoldthedetectivewhat
Iknowaboutit.
Reciprocal Pronouns
Thereciprocalpronounsareeachotherandoneanother.Theyareconvenientformsfor
combiningideas.IfBobgaveAliciaabookforChristmasandAliciagaveBobabookfor
Christmas,wecansaythattheygaveeachotherbooks(orthattheygavebookstoeachother).
MymotherandIgiveeachotherahardtime.
Ifmorethantwopeopleareinvolved(let'ssayawholebookclub),wewouldsaythatthey
gaveoneanotherbooks.Thisrule(ifitisone)shouldbeappliedcircumspectly.It'squite
possiblefortheexchangeofbookswithinthisbookclub,forexample,tobebetweenindividuals,
making"eachother"justasappropriateas"oneanother."
Reciprocalpronounscanalsotakepossessiveforms:
Theyborrowedeachother'sideas.
Thescientistsinthislaboftenuseoneanother'sequipment.
SENTENCE SUBJECTS
Thesubjectofasentenceistheperson,place,thing,orideathat
isdoingorbeingsomething.Youcanfindthesubjectofasentenceifyoucanfindtheverb.Ask
thequestion,"Whoorwhat'verbs'or'verbed'?"andtheanswertothatquestionisthesubject.
Forinstance,inthesentence"ThecomputersintheLearningCentermustbereplaced,"theverb
is"mustbereplaced."Whatmustbereplaced?Thecomputers.Sothesubjectis"computers."
Asimplesubjectisthesubjectofasentencestrippedofmodifiers.Thesimplesubjectofthe
followingsentenceisissue:
[You]SteplivelythereorI'llleaveyoubehind!
Beforeassemblingtheswingset,[you]readtheseinstructionscarefully.
Forpurposesofsentenceanalysis,thedoerortheinitiatorofactioninasentenceis
referredtoastheagentofthesentence.Inanactivesentence,thesubjectistheagent:
TheJohnsonsaddedadoublegaragetotheirhouse.
Thejuryreturnedaverdictofmanslaughter.
Thedean'sreportwasreviewedbythefacultysenate.
Threecitiesinthecountry'sinteriorwerebombed.
Subject-Verb Inversion
ThenormalEnglishorderofsubjectverbcompleterisdisturbedonlyoccasionallybut
underseveralcircumstances.Burchfield*listsabouttensituationsinwhichthesubjectwillcome
aftertheverb.Themostimportantoftheseareasfollows(subjectsinblue):
1. Inquestions(routinely):"Have
youeatenbreakfastyet?""Are
youready?"
2. Inexpletiveconstructions:"TherewerefourbasiccausesoftheCivilWar."
"Hereisthebook."
3. Inattributingspeech(occasionally,butoptionally):"'Helpme!'cried
FarmerBrown."
4. Togiveprominenceorfocustoaparticularwordorphrasebyputtingthepredicateinthe
initialposition:"Evenmoreimportantisthechapterdealingwithordnance."
5. Whenasentencebeginswithanadverboranadverbialphraseorclause:
"Seldomhassomuchbeenowedbysomanytosofew."
6. Innegativeconstructions:"Idon'tbelieveawordshesays,nordoesmybrother.Cometo
thinkofit,neitherdoesherfather."
7. Afterso:"Ibelieveher;sodoesmybrother."
8. Foremphasisandliteraryeffect:"IntothejawsofDeath,/Intothemouthof
Hell/Rodethesixhundred."**
Thereareotherusesofinversion,butmostofthoseresultinastrainedorliteraryeffect.
Thereareseparatesectionson
ThePassiveVoice
Progressive,Stative,andDynamicVerbsand
ConditionalVerbForms
The"ToBe"Verb
Definitions
Verbscarrytheideaofbeingoractioninthesentence.
Iamastudent.
Thestudentspassedalltheircourses.
Aswewillseeonthispage,verbsareclassifiedinmanyways.First,someverbsrequire
anobjecttocompletetheirmeaning:"Shegave_____?"Gavewhat?Shegavemoneytothe
church.Theseverbsarecalledtransitive.Verbsthatareintransitivedonotrequireobjects:
"Thebuildingcollapsed."InEnglish,youcannottellthedifferencebetweenatransitiveand
intransitiveverbbyitsform;youhavetoseehowtheverbisfunctioningwithinthesentence.In
fact,averbcanbebothtransitiveandintransitive:"Themonstercollapsedthebuildingbysitting
onit."
Althoughyouwillseldomheartheterm,aditransitiveverbsuchascauseorgiveis
onethatcantakeadirectobjectandanindirectobjectatthesametime:"Thathorridmusic
gavemeaheadache."Ditransitiveverbsareslightlydifferent,then,fromfactitiveverbs(see
below),inthatthelattertaketwoobjects.
Verbsarealsoclassifiedaseitherfiniteornonfinite.Afiniteverbmakesanassertionor
expressesastateofbeingandcanstandbyitselfasthemainverbofasentence.
Thetruckdemolishedtherestaurant.
Theleaveswereyellowandsickly.
Nonfiniteverbs(think"unfinished")cannot,bythemselves,bemainverbs:
Thebrokenwindow...
Thewheezinggentleman...
Another,moreusefultermfornonfiniteverbisverbal.Inthissection,wediscussvariousverbal
forms:infinitives,gerunds,andparticiples.
Name of verb
Base form
Past
form
Present
participle
Past participle
to work
I can work.
I work.
I worked.
I am working.
I have worked.
to write
I
can write.
I write.
I wrote.
I am writing.
I have written.
Linking Verbs
Alinkingverbconnectsasubjectanditscomplement.Sometimescalledcopulas,linking
verbsareoftenformsoftheverbtobe,butaresometimesverbsrelatedtothefivesenses(look,
sound,smell,feel,taste)andsometimesverbsthatsomehowreflectastateofbeing(appear,
seem,become,grow,turn,prove,remain).Whatfollowsthelinkingverbwillbeeitheranoun
complementoranadjectivecomplement:
Thosepeopleareallprofessors.
Thoseprofessorsarebrilliant.
Thisroomsmellsbad.
Ifeelgreat.
Avictorytodayseemsunlikely.
Ahandfulofverbsthatreflectachangeinstateofbeingaresometimescalledresultingcopulas.
They,too,linkasubjecttoapredicateadjective:
Hisfaceturnedpurple.
Shebecameolder.
Thedogsranwild.
Themilkhasgonesour.
Thecrowdgrewugly.
"This is he."
A Frequently Asked Question about linking verbs concerns the correct
response when you pick up the phone and someone asks for you. One
correct response would be "This is he [she]." The predicate following the
linking verb should be in the nominative (subject) form
definitely not "This is him." If "This is he" sounds stufy to you, try using
"Speaking," instead, or "This is Fred," substituting your own name for
Fred's unless it's a bill collector or telemarketer calling, in which case
"This is Fred" is a good response for everyone except people named Fred.
constructionfrommilesawayandaskyoutoreviseittoamoreactiveconstruction.Thereis
nothinginherentlywrongwiththepassivevoice,butifyoucansaythesamethingintheactive
mode,doso(seeexceptionsbelow).Yourtextwillhavemorepizzazzasaresult,sincepassive
verbconstructionstendtolieaboutintheirpajamasandavoidactualwork.
Wefindanoverabundanceofthepassivevoiceinsentencescreatedbyselfprotective
businessinterests,magniloquenteducators,andbombasticmilitarywriters(whomustgetweary
ofthisaccusation),whousethepassivevoicetoavoidresponsibilityforactionstaken.Thus
"Cigaretteadsweredesignedtoappealespeciallytochildren"placestheburdenontheadsas
opposedto"Wedesignedthecigaretteadstoappealespeciallytochildren,"inwhich"we"
acceptsresponsibility.AtaWhiteHousepressbriefingwemighthearthat"ThePresidentwas
advisedthatcertainmembersofCongresswerebeingaudited"ratherthan"TheHeadofthe
InternalRevenueserviceadvisedthePresidentthatheragencywasauditingcertainmembersof
Congress"becausethepassiveconstructionavoidsresponsibilityforadvisingandforauditing.
Onefurthercautionaboutthepassivevoice:weshouldnotmixactiveandpassiveconstructions
inthesamesentence:"Theexecutivecommitteeapprovedthenewpolicy,andthecalendarfor
nextyear'smeetingswasrevised"shouldberecastas"Theexecutivecommitteeapprovedthe
newpolicyandrevisedthecalendarfornextyear'smeeting."
Takethequiz(below)asanexerciseinrecognizingandchangingpassiveverbs.
Thepassivevoicedoesexistforareason,however,anditspresenceisnotalwaystobe
despised.Thepassiveisparticularlyuseful(evenrecommended)intwosituations:
Whenitismoreimportanttodrawourattentiontothepersonorthingactedupon:The
unidentifiedvictimwasapparentlystruckduringtheearlymorninghours.
Whentheactorinthesituationisnotimportant:Theauroraborealiscanbeobservedinthe
earlymorninghours.
Thepassivevoiceisespeciallyhelpful(andevenregardedasmandatory)inscientificor
technicalwritingorlabreports,wheretheactorisnotreallyimportantbuttheprocessor
principlebeingdescribedisofultimateimportance.Insteadofwriting"Ipoured20ccofacid
intothebeaker,"wewouldwrite"Twentyccofacidis/waspouredintothebeaker."Thepassive
voiceisalsousefulwhendescribing,say,amechanicalprocessinwhichthedetailsofprocess
aremuchmoreimportantthananyone'stakingresponsibilityfortheaction:"Thefirstcoatof
primerpaintisappliedimmediatelyaftertheacidrinse."
Weusethepassivevoicetogoodeffectinaparagraphinwhichwewishtoshiftemphasis
fromwhatwastheobjectinafirstsentencetowhatbecomesthesubjectinsubsequentsentences.
The executive committee approved an entirely new policy for dealing with academic suspension
and withdrawal. Thepolicy had been written by a subcommittee on student behavior. If students
withdraw from course work before suspension can take effect, the policy states, a mark of "IW" .
...
Theparagraphisclearlyaboutthisnewpolicysoitisappropriatethatpolicymovefrombeing
theobjectinthefirstsentencetobeingthesubjectofthesecondsentence.Thepassivevoice
allowsforthistransition.
beenkilledincommittee."Thepassivecanbeused,also,invarioustenses.
Let'stakealookatthepassiveformsof"design."
Auxiliary
Tense
Subject
Singular
Plural
Past
Participle
Present
The car/cars is
are
designed.
Present perfect
have been
designed.
Past
were
designed.
Past perfect
had been
designed.
Future
will be
designed.
Future perfect
Present
progressive
are being
designed.
Past progressive
were being
designed.
Asentencecastinthepassivevoicewillnotalwaysincludeanagentoftheaction.For
instanceifagorillacrushesatincan,wecouldsay"Thetincanwascrushedbythegorilla."But
aperfectlygoodsentencewouldleaveoutthegorilla:"Thetincanwascrushed."Also,whenan
activesentencewithanindirectobjectisrecastinthepassive,theindirectobjectcantakeonthe
roleofsubjectinthepassivesentence:
Active
Passive
Passive
Onlytransitiveverbs(thosethattakeobjects)canbetransformedintopassiveconstructions.
Furthermore,activesentencescontainingcertainverbscannotbetransformedintopassive
structures.Tohaveisthemostimportantoftheseverbs.Wecansay"Hehasanewcar,"butwe
cannotsay"Anewcarishadbyhim."Wecansay"Josefinalackedfinesse,"butwecannotsay
"Finessewaslacked."Hereisabrieflistofsuchverbs*:
resemble
look like
equal
agree with
mean
contain
hold
comprise
lack
suit
fit
become
Subject:Tobeelectedbymypeersisagreathonor.
Object:Thatchildreallylikestobereadtobyhermother.
Modifier:Grassowasthefirstwomantobeelectedgovernorinherownright.
Thesameistrueofpassivegerunds.
Subject:Beingelectedbymypeerswasagreatthrill.
Object:Ireallydon'tlikebeinglecturedtobymyboss.
Objectofpreposition:Iamsotiredof
beinglecturedtobymyboss.
Withpassiveparticiples,partofthepassiveconstructionisoftenomitted,theresultbeinga
simplemodifyingparticipialphrase.
[Havingbeen]designedforoffroadperformance,thePathseekerdoesnotalwaysbehave
wellonpavedhighways.
Mood
Moodinverbsreferstooneofthreeattitudesthatawriterorspeaker
hastowhatisbeingwrittenorspoken.Theindicativemood,which
describesmostsentencesonthispage,isusedtomakeastatementoraska
question.Theimperativemoodisusedwhenwe'refeelingsortofbossish
andwanttogiveadirective,strongsuggestion,ororder:
Getyourhomeworkdonebeforeyouwatchtelevisiontonight.
Pleaseincludecashpaymentwithyourorderform.
Getoutoftown!
Noticethatthereisnosubjectintheseimperativesentences.Thepronounyou(singularor
plural,dependingoncontext)isthe"understoodsubject"inimperativesentences.Virtuallyall
imperativesentences,then,haveasecondperson(singularorplural)subject.Thesoleexception
isthefirstpersonconstruction,whichincludesanobjectiveformassubject:"Let's(orLetus)
workonthesethingstogether."
Thesubjunctivemoodisusedindependentclausesthatdothefollowing:1)expressa
wish;2)beginwithifandexpressaconditionthatdoesnotexist(iscontrarytofact);3)begin
withasifandasthoughwhensuchclausesdescribeaspeculationorconditioncontrarytofact;
and4)beginwiththatandexpressademand,requirement,request,orsuggestion.Anewsection
ontheusesoftheConditionalshouldhelpyouunderstandthesubjunctive.
Shewishesherboyfriendwerehere.
IfJuanweremoreaggressive,he'dbeabetterhockeyplayer.
Wewouldhavepassedifwehadstudiedharder.
Heactedasifhewereguilty.
Irequestedthathebepresentatthehearing.
ThesubjunctiveisnotasimportantamoodinEnglishasitisinotherlanguages,like
FrenchandSpanish,whichhappentobemoresubtleanddiscriminatinginhypothetical,
doubtful,orwishfulexpressions.Manysituationswhichwouldrequirethesubjunctiveinother
languagesaresatisfiedbyusingoneofseveralauxiliaryverbsinEnglish.
The New York Public Library's Writer's Guide to Style and
Usage has this important note on the subjunctive: "The
words if, as if, or as though do not always signal the
subjunctive mood. If the information in such a clause
points out a condition that is or was probable or likely,
the verb should be in the indicative mood. The indicative
tells the reader that the information in the dependent
clause could possibly be true" (155). Cited with
permission.
Thepresenttenseofthesubjunctiveusesonlythebaseformoftheverb.
Hedemandedthathisstudentsusetwoinchmargins.
Shesuggestedthatwebeontimetomorrow.
Thepasttenseofthesubjunctivehasthesameformsastheindicativeexcept(unfortunately)
fortheverbtobe,whichuseswereregardlessofthenumberofthesubject.
IfIweresevenfeettall,I'dbeagreatbasketballplayer.
Hewisheshewereabetterstudent.
Ifyouwererich,wewouldn'tbeinthismess.
Iftheywerefaster,wecouldhavewonthatrace.
PROGRESSIVE, STATIVE
AND DYNAMIC VERBS
THEPROGRESSIVEFORMSOFAVERBINDICATETHATSOMETHINGISHAPPENINGorwas
happeningorwillbehappening.Whenusedwiththepast,theprogressiveformshowsthe
limiteddurationofanevent:"WhileIwasdoingmyhomework,mybrothercameintomy
room."Thepastprogressivealsosuggeststhatanactioninthepastwasnotentirelyfinished.
(Compare"Ididmyhomework."to"Iwasdoingmyhomework.")Thisisevenmoreevidentin
thepassiveprogressiveconstruction:"Hewasbeingstrangledinthealley"suggestsanaction
thatwasnotfinished,perhapsbecausetheactwasinterruptedbyagoodcitizen,whereasthe
simplepast"Hewasstrangledinthealley"suggestsanactionthatwasfinished,unfortunately.
Aneatcategorizationoftheusesoftheprogressivecanbefoundonthepagedescribing
the"ToBe"Verb.
Theprogressiveformsoccuronlywithdynamicverbs,thatis,withverbsthatshow
qualitiescapableofchangeasopposedtostativeverbs,whichshowqualitiesnotcapableof
change.*Forinstance,wedonotsay,"Heisbeingtall"or"Heisresemblinghismother"or"I
amwantingspaghettifordinner"or"Itisbelongingtome."(Wewouldsay,instead:"Heistall,"
"Heresembleshismother,""Iwantspaghetti,"and"Itbelongstome.")Thebestwayto
understandthedifferencebetweenstativeanddynamicverbsistolookatatablethatliststhem
andbreaksthemintocategoriesandthentobuildsomesentenceswiththem,tryingoutthe
progressiveformstoseeiftheyworkornot.
ThesecategoriesandlistsarederivedfromRandolphQuirkandSidneyGreenbaum'sA
UniversityGrammarofEnglish(usedwiththepublisher'spermission).Theexamplesareour
own.Thelistsarenotmeanttobecomplete.
DYNAMIC VERBS
Activity Verbs
I am begging you. I was learning French. They will be
playing upstairs..
Virtually identical in meaning to simple tense forms:
I beg you. I learned French. They will play upstairs.
abandon
ask
beg
call
drink
eat
help
learn
listen
look at
play
rain
read
say
slice
throw
whisper
work
write
Process Verbs
The corn is growing rapidly. Traffic is slowing down.
Virtually identical in meaning to simple present tense
forms:
The corn grows rapidly. Traffic slows down.
change
deteriorate
grow
mature
slow down
widen
feel
Hurt
itch
fall
land
Leave
lose
Momentary Verbs
Progressive forms indicate little duration and suggest
repetition.
She is hitting her brother.
He is jumping around the house.
hit
jump
kick
knock
Nod
tap
STATIVE VERBS
Verbs of Inert Perception and Cognition*
I detest rudabaga, but not I am detesting rudabaga.
I prefer cinnamon toast, but not I am preferring
cinnamon toast.
abhor
adore
astonish
believe
desire
guess
hate
hear
imagine
impress
mind
perceive
please
prefer
presuppose
satisfy
see
smell
suppose
taste
detest
dislike
doubt
feel
forgive
intend
know
like
love
mean
realize
recall
recognize
regard
remember
think
understand
want
wish
Relational Verbs
I am sick, but not I am being sick.
I own ten acres of land, but not I am owning ten acres.
My brother owes me ten dollars" but not
My brother is owing me ten dollars.
be*
belongto
concern
consistof
contain
cost
dependon
deserve
equal
fit
have
include
involve
lack
matter
need
owe
own
possess
require
require
resemble
seem
sound
*Kollnsuggeststhatwethinkofthedifferencebetweenstativeanddynamicintermsof
"willed"and"nonwilled"qualities.Considerthedifferencebetweenasocalleddynamic
adjective(orsubjectcomplement)andastativeadjective(orsubjectcomplement):"Iamsilly"
OR"Iambeingsilly"versus"Iamtall."Ihavechosentobesilly;Ihavenochoiceaboutbeing
tall.Thus"tall"issaidtobeastative(oran"inert")quality,andwecannotsay"Iambeingtall";
"silly,"ontheotherhand,isdynamicsowecanuseprogressiveverbformsinconjunctionwith
thatquality.
Thesameappliestoverbs.Twoplustwoequalsfour.Equalsisinert,stative,and
cannottaketheprogressive;thereisnochoice,novolitioninthematter.(Wewouldnot
say,"Twoplustwoisequallingfour.")Inthesameway,nounsandpronounscanbesaidto
exhibitwilledandunwilledcharacteristics.Thus,"Sheisbeingagoodworker"(because
shechoosestobeso),butwewouldsay"Sheis(notisbeing)anOlympicathlete"(because
onceshebecomesanathleteshenolonger"willsit").
CONDITIONAL
VERB FORMS
If I had a hammer, I'd hammer in the morning,
I'd hammer in the evening, all over this land.
I'd hammer out danger, I'd hammer out warning,
SogothefirsttwostanzasofLeeHaysandPeteSeeger'sfolktune,"IfIhadahammer,"
oneofthemostfamoustunesandlyricsinthehistoryofAmericansong.Thegrammarofthe
lyricsuseswhatiscalledtheconditional.Thewriterexpressesanactionoranidea(hammering
outdangerandwarningandlove)thatisdependentonacondition,onsomethingthatisonly
imagined(havingahammerorabellor,inthenextstanza,asong).Inthissituation,the
lyricistimagineswhathewoulddoifhe"hadahammer"now,inthepresent.Hemightalso
haveimaginedwhathewouldhavedoneifhe"hadhadahammer,"inthepast,priorto
somethingelsehappening:
"IfIhadhadahammer,Iwouldhavehammeredawarning."
Theconditionalispossiblealsointhefuturetense:
"IfIhaveahammertomorrow,Imighthammeroutwarning.
OR
...Iwillhammeroutwarning."
OR
"IfIweretohaveahammertomorrow,Iwouldhammeroutwarning."
And,finally,hecouldimaginewhatiscalledthehabitualpresentconditional:
"If/whenIhaveahammer,Ihammeroutwarning."[Idoitallthetime,wheneverIhavea
hammer.]
"ThedogisalwayshappywhenDadstayshome,"
that'sasimplestatementofpresenthabitualfact.Ageneraltruthisexpressedinthesameway:
"Ifthesunshinesallday,itgetshot."
Statementsofhabitualfactcanalsobemadeinthepast:
"Ifweateoutatall,itwasalwaysinacheaprestaurant."
Andconditionalorhypotheticalstatementscanbemadeaboutthefuture:
"Iwillgiveyouacall,ifIflytoPhoenixtomorrow.
(Inthefuture,wecouldcombinethebaseformoftheverb("give,"inthiscase)withothermodal
verbs:may,might,could.)
HYPOTHETICAL STATEMENTS
WhenweexpressthehypotheticalinEnglishinthepresenttense,weendupusingthepast
tenseinaninterestingway.
Ifyoulikedtennis,wecouldgoplayonthenewcourts.
(Insteadofcould,wecouldhaveusedwouldormightinthatsentence.)Thespeakerofthat
sentenceisnottalkingaboutsomethinginthepasttense,eventhoughheusesthepasttense
"liked."Thespeakerimplies,infact,thatyoudon'tliketoplaytennis(inthepresent),sothere's
nopoint,now,ingoingtothenewtenniscourts.
Whenweusethehypotheticalinthisconditionalmode,weaccommodateourneedto
speculateonhowthingscouldhavebeendifferent,howwewishthingsweredifferent,howwe
imaginethatthingscouldbedifferentinthefuture,etc.Inordertoexpresstheunreal,the
hypothetical,thespeculative,orimagined(allthosebeingthesameinthiscase),Englishhas
adoptedaninterestinghabitofmovingtimeonestepbackward.Twoverbsareinvolved:onein
theclausestatingthecondition(the"if"clause)andoneintheresultclause.Watchhowthe
verbschange.
Ifthehypotheticalresultisinthefuture,weputtheverbintheconditionclauseonestep
backintothepresent:
IftheBullswinthegametomorrow,theywillbechampsagain.
Forpresentunrealevents,weputtheverbintheconditionclauseonestepbackintothepast:
IftheBullswonanotherchampionship,RobertowoulddriveintoChicagoforthe
celebration.
IwishIhadtickets.
Iftheywereavailableanywhere,Iwouldpayanypriceforthem.
Ifhewereagoodfriend,hewouldbuythemforme.
Notethatwishingisalwaysanunrealcondition.Note,too,thattheverbtobeusesthe
formwereinanunrealcondition.Moreaboutthisinamoment.
Forpastunrealeventsthingsthatdidn'thappen,butwecanimagineweputtheverb
intheconditionclauseafurtherstepbackintothepastperfect:
IfthePacershadwon,AuntGladwouldhavebeenrich.
IfshehadbetthatmuchmoneyontheBulls,sheandUncleChestercouldhaveretired.
IwishIhadlivedinLosAngeleswhentheLakershadMagicJohnson.
IfIhadknownyouwerecoming,Iwouldhavebakedacake.
Inthislastsentence,notetheconditionalclauseinthepastperfect(hadknown)andtheresult
clausethatusestheconditionalmodal+have+thepastparticipleofthemainverb(wouldhave
baked).
SomewritersseemtothinkthatthesubjunctivemoodisdisappearingfromEnglish,but
that'sprobablynottrue.Weusethesubjunctiveallthetimetoaccommodatethishumanurgeto
expresspossibility,thehypothetical,theimagined.(YoucanreviewtheVerbsandVerbals
sectionforfurtherhelpunderstandingtheSubjunctiveMood.)Frequently,conditional
expressionsrequirethatweusewerewherewewouldotherwisehaveusedanotherformofto
be.Theswitchtowereisnottheonlymanifestationofthesubjunctiveinexpressingthe
conditional,butitisthemostcommon.
Ifmybrotherweremyboss,Iwouldn'thaveajobtoday.
IfIweretolosemyjob,Iwouldn'tbeabletopaymybills.[Noticehowthisismore
uncertain,more"iffey,"than"IfIlosemyjob,Iwon'tbeabletopaymybills."]
IfIwereeightfeettall,I'dbeoneheckofabasketballplayer.[Thesubjunctiveis
sometimestoexpresspurelyimaginarysituation.]
IfIshouldgrowtobeeightfeettall,I'dbeagreatbasketballplayer.[Thisstatementseems
evenmoreimaginaryandunlikely.]
IfJeffreygrowsanytaller,thebasketballcoachisgoingtorecruithimfortheteam.
Ifhedoesn'tgrowmore,thecoachwillignorehim.
Ontheotherhand,thehypotheticalconditionalallowsustoexpressquiteunlikelysituations
orsituationsthataredownrightimpossible.
IfIboxedagainstEvanderHolyfield,hewouldkillme.
Ifmydadhadbeensevenfeettallinsteadoflessthansixfeettall,hewouldhavebeena
greatathlete.
WereJuditaabetterstudent,shewouldhaveabetterrelationshipwithherinstructors.
HadJuditastudiedharderlastfall,shewouldnothavetotakesomanycoursesthisspring.
Independent clause
If + subject + present
tense
Independent clause
subject +
would/could/might +
simple form of verb
she would/could/might
get on the Dean's List.
If + subject + to be verb
subject +
would/could/might +
Independent clause
If + subject + past
perfect tense
THE VERB TO BE
The Forms of To Be
TheGreekseagod,Proteus,was(likethesea)capableofchangingforminaninstant.In
ordertogetanydecentinformationoutofhim,youhadtograbhimandholdontightwhilehe
wentthroughhisvariousformslion,wildboar,snake,tree,runningstreamitwasn'teasy.
TheverbTobeissaidtobethemostproteanoftheEnglishlanguage,constantlychanging
form,sometimeswithoutmuchofadiscerniblepattern.Consideringthatweuseitsooften,itis
reallytoobadthattheverbTobehastobethemostirregular,slipperyverbinthelanguage.
Present Tense
I am
We are
You are
You are
He/She/It is
They are
Past Tense
I was
We were
You were
You were
He/She/It was
They were
I am being, etc.
Wemustchoosecarefullyamongthesevariousformswhenselectingtheproperverbtogo
withoursubject.Singularsubjectsrequiresingularverbs;pluralsubjectsrequirepluralverbs.
That'susuallyaneasymatter.Wewouldn'twriteThetroops
wasmovingtotheborder.But
somesentencesrequirecloserattention.DowewriteThemajorityofstudentsis(orare)voting
againstthereferendum"?ReviewcarefullythematerialinoursectiononSubjectVerb
Agreement,andnoticehowoftenthechoiceswemakerequireafamiliaritywiththeseformsof
theTobeverb.
Simple Questions
Wecreatesimpleyes/noquestionsbyinvertingtheorderofsubjectandtheTobeverb.
Isyourbrothertallerthanyou?
AmIbotheringyou?
Weretheyembarrassedbythecomedian?
AmIworkingwithyoutoday?
Isitsnowinginthemountains?
Wereyourchildrendrivinghomethisweekend?
Insentencessuchasthese,thesubjectusuallyreceivestheintonationstressandthevoice
fallsoffontheverb.
AnauxiliarycanbecombinedwiththebaseformofTobetoprovidesimpleanswersto
questionsthatuseformsoftobe.
Is Heitor in class this morning?
Well, he might be.
Is anyone helping Heitor with his homework?
I'm not sure. Suzanne could be.
TheverbTobealsoactsasalinkingverb,joiningthesentencesubjectwithasubject
complementoradjectivecomplement.Alinkingverbprovidesnoactiontoasentence:the
subjectcomplementreidentifiesthesubject;theadjectivecomplementmodifiesit.(Forfurther
informationandadditionalvocabularyindealingwithlinkingverbs,visitthehyperlinksinthis
paragraph.)
ProfessorMoriberistheDirectorofOnlineLearning.
OurtriptoYellowstonewasfantastic!
In Passive Constructions
AformoftheverbTobeiscombinedwithapastparticipletoformthepassive.Passive
verbconstructionsareusefulwhenthesubjectofanactionisnotasimportantaswhatthe
subjectdid(theactionofthesentence)orwhenthesubjectisunknown.Forinstance,thepolice
mightreportthatTheprofessorwasassaultedinthehallwaysbecausetheydonotknowthe
perpetratorofthisheinouscrime.Intechnicalwriting,wheretheprocessismoreimportantthan
whoisdoingtheactivity,wemightreportthatThreelitersoffluidisfilteredthroughporous
glassbeads.Regardlessoftheverb'spurpose,onlytheauxiliaryformofTobechanges;the
participlestaysthesame.TheTobewillchangeformtoindicatewhetherthesubjectis
singularorplural:
Thefoundationissupportedbyenormousfloatingcaissonsthatkeepitfromsinkinginto
theswamp.
Theywereconstructedbyworkershalfsubmergedinthemurkywaters.
Noticehowtheinformationaboutwhodidtheactionisfrequentlyfoundinaprepositional
phrasebeginningwithby.Passiveconstructionsdonotalwaysincludethisinformation:
Woodencaissonswereuseduntilfiberglassstructuresweredevelopedinthe1950s.
Caissonswerealsodesignedtofunctionunderwaterintheconstructionofbridges.
TheTobewillalsochangetoindicatethetimeoftheactionandtheaspectoftheverb
(simple,progressive,perfect).
Waterispumpedoutofthecaissontocreateanunderwaterworkchamber.(simplepresent)
Somecaissonsweremovedtootherconstructionsites.(simplepast)
Whilethewaterwasbeingpumpedout,workerswouldenterthetopofthewaterproof
chamber.(pastprogressive)
Manyotherusesofcaissonconstructionhavebeenexplored.(presentperfect)
CaissonshadbeenusedbytheancientRomans.(pastperfect)
Otheruseswillbefound.(future)
TheTobeverbcanbecombinedwithothermodalforms(alongwiththepastparticipleof
themainverb)toconveyotherkindsofinformation.Seethesectiononmodalsforthevarious
kindsofinformationconveyedbymodals(advisability,predictability,guessing,necessity,
possibility,etc.).
Thewalljointsmaybeweakenedifthecaissonscan'tberebuilt.
Perhapsthecaissonsshouldbereplaced;Ithinktheyoughttobe.
Theseancient,sturdystructuresmighthavebeenrottedbyconstantexposuretowater.
Visitoursectiononthepassiveforadviceonwhentousethepassiveandwhento
substitutemoreactiveverbforms.
WhenTobeverbsarecombinedwithmodalformsinthismanner,theconstructionis
calledaphrasalmodal.Herearesomemoreexamples:
Rosariowasabletofinishherdegreebytakingonlinecourses.
Shewasn'tsupposedtograduateuntilnextyear.
Shewillbeallowedtoparticipateincommencement,though.
Sheisabouttoapplytoseveralgraduateprograms.
Sheisgoingtoattendthestateuniversitynextfall.
SometimesitisdifficulttosaywhetheraTobeverbislinkingasubjecttoaparticipleor
iftheverbandparticiplearepartofapassiveconstruction.InCertainbehaviorsareallowed,is
"arelinkingbehaviorsto"allowed"(aparticipleactingasapredicateadjective)orisare
allowedapassiveverb?Inthefinalanalysis,itprobablydoesn'tmatter,butthedistinctionleads
tosomeinterestingvariations.Considerthedifferencebetween
Thejuristswerewelcomed.
and
Thejuristswerewelcome.
Inthefirstsentence,theparticiplewelcomed(inthispassiveconstruction)emphasizesthe
actionofwelcoming:thesmiles,theheartygreetings,theslapsontheback.Inthesecond
sentence,thepredicateadjectivewelcomedescribesthefeelingthatthejuristsmusthavehad
uponbeingsowelcomed.
Progressive Forms
ClickHEREforathoroughdiscussionoftheprogressiveverbforms.Progressiveforms
includeaformofTobeplusapresentparticiple(aningending).FrodesenandEyring**
categorizeprogressiveverbsaccordingtothefollowingfunctions:
todescribeactionsalreadyinprogressatthemoment"infocus"withinthesentence,asin
Iwasdoingmyhomeworkwhenmybrotherbrokeintomyroom,crying.orIwillbe
graduatingfromcollegeaboutthesametimethatyouenterhighschool.
todescribeactionsatthemomentoffocusincontrasttohabitualactions,asinWeusually
buythemostinexpensivecarwecanfind,butthistimewe'rebuyingaluxurysedan.
toexpressrepeatedactions,asinMygrandfatherisforeverretellingthesamestoryabout
hisadventuresinRangoon.
todescribetemporarysituationsincontrasttopermanentstates,asinJeffreygoestothe
UniversityofConnecticut,butthissummerheistakingcoursesatthecommunitycollege.
toexpressuncompletedactions,asinHarveyandMarkareworkingontheirdeck.
RobertFrostwasAmerica'sfavoritepoet,wasn'the?
Hewasn'twidelyacceptedinthiscountryatfirst,washe?
Youweregoingtoskipthispoem,weren'tyou?
Therewereseveraltypographicalerrorsinthisanthology,weren'tthere?(Becarefulhere.
It'snotweren'tthey.)
Iamnotaverygoodreader,amI?
I'mabetterreaderthanyou,aren'tI?
(Don'ttrytomakesenseofthislastconstruction.Itisacceptable.Inveryformaltext,you
mightwriteamInotinstead.Ain'tisnotregardedasacceptableexceptintextattemptingto
duplicatesubstandardspeech.)
Asastudent,hewasseldomhappy.
Arturoisalwaysfirstinline.
Theywereneverontime.
NoticethattheadverbstillappearsafterTobeverbsbutbeforeothermainverbs:
Mybrotherinlawstillworksforthebank.
Heisstillatelleraftertwentyyears.
AnadverbcanbeinterposedbetweentheinfinitiveTobeandaparticiple,asinthefollowing
sentences.Thefearofsplittinganinfinitiveiswithoutgroundsinthisconstruction.
Thismedicinehastobe
carefullyadministered.
Sheturnedouttobe
secretlymarriedtoherchildhoodsweetheart.
Unnecessary Uses of To Be
EvenacasualreviewofyourwritingcanrevealusesoftheverbTobethatare
unnecessaryandthatcanberemovedtogoodeffect.Inaway,theTobeverbdoesn'tdomuch
foryouitjustsitsthereandtextthatistooheavilysprinkledwithTobeverbscanfeel
sodden,static.ThisisespeciallytrueofTobeverbstuckedintodependentclauses
(particularlydependentclausesusingapassiveconstruction)andexpletiveconstructions(There
is,Therewere,itis,etc.).Notethattherelativepronounfrequentlydisappearsaswellwhen
werevisethesesentences.
Hewantedamedicationthatwasprescribedbyaphysician.
Sherecognizedtheofficerwhowaschasingthecrook.
Anyonewhoiswillingtoworkhardwillsucceedinthisprogram.
ItwasAlbertowhotoldtheprincipalaboutthestudents'prank.(Noticethattheitwas
broughtspecialemphasistoAlberto,anemphasisthatissomewhatlostbythischange.)
Acustomerwhoispleasedissuretoreturn.Apleasedcustomerissuretoreturn.(Whenwe
eliminatetheTobeandtherelativepronoun,wewillalsohavetorepositionthepredicate
adjectivetoaprenounposition.)
Anexpletiveconstruction,alongwithitsattendantTobeverb,canoftenbeeliminatedto
goodeffect.Simplyomittheconstruction,findtherealsubjectofthesentence,andallowittodo
somerealworkwitharealverb.
Thereweresomeexcellentresultstothisexperimentinsocialwork.(Changeto....)This
experimentinsocialworkresultedin....
Thereisoneexplanationforthisstory'sendinginFaulkner'sdiary.(Changeto....)
Faulkner'sdiarygivesusoneexplanationforthisstory'sending.
Ontheotherhand,expletiveconstructionsdogiveusaninterestingmeansofsettingoutor
organizingtheworkofasubsequentparagraph:
TherewerefourunderlyingcausesofWorldWarI.First,....
Thefollowingcircumlocutoryusesof"be"verbsarecommoninstuffywriting.Thesimple
verb(inparentheses)isusuallybetter:
be
be
be
be
be
be
be
be
be
be
abusive of (abuse)
applicable to (apply to)
benefited by (benefit from)
derived from (derive from)
desirous of (desire or want)
determinative of (determine)
in agreement (agree)
in attendance (attend)
indicative of (indicate)
in error (err)
be
be
be
be
be
be
be
be
be
in existence (exist)
influential on (influence)
in possession of (possess)
in receipt of (have received)
in violation of (violate)
operative (operate)
productive of (produce)
promotive of (promote)
supportive of (support)
Manysuchwordyconstructionsaremorenaturallyphrasedinthepresenttensesingular:"is
ableto"("can"),"isauthorizedto"("may"),"isbindingupon"("binds"),"isempoweredto"
("may"),"isunableto"("cannot").
HELPING AND
MODAL AUXILIARY
VERBS
Helpingverbsorauxiliaryverbssuchaswill,shall,may,might,can,could,must,ought
to,should,would,usedto,needareusedinconjunctionwithmainverbstoexpressshadesof
timeandmood.Thecombinationofhelpingverbswithmainverbscreateswhatarecalledverb
phrasesorverbstrings.Inthefollowingsentence,"willhavebeen"arehelpingorauxiliary
verbsand"studying"isthemainverb;thewholeverbstringisunderlined:
AsofnextAugust,Iwillhavebeenstudyingchemistryfortenyears.
Studentsshouldrememberthatadverbsandcontractedformsarenot,technically,partofthe
verb.Inthesentence,"Hehasalreadystarted."theadverbalreadymodifiestheverb,butitisnot
reallypartoftheverb.Thesameistrueofthe'ntin"Hehasn'tstartedyet"(theadverbnot,
representedbythecontractedn't,isnotpartoftheverb,hasstarted).
Shall,willandformsofhave,doandbecombinewithmainverbstoindicatetimeand
voice.Asauxiliaries,theverbsbe,haveanddocanchangeformtoindicatechangesinsubject
andtime.
Ishallgonow.
Hehadwontheelection.
Theydidwritethatnoveltogether.
Iamgoingnow.
Hewaswinningtheelection.
Theyhavebeenwritingthatnovelforalongtime.
"Shallwegonow?"
"ShallIcalladoctorforyou?"
(Inthesecondsentence,manywriterswoulduseshouldinstead,
althoughshouldissomewhatmoretentativethanshall.)IntheU.S.,toexpress
thefuturetense,theverbwillisusedinallothercases.
Shallisoftenusedinformalsituations(legalorlegalisticdocuments,minutes
tomeetings,etc.)toexpressobligation,evenwiththirdpersonandsecond
personconstructions:
Theboardofdirectorsshallberesponsibleforpaymenttostockholders.
Thecollegepresidentshallreportfinancialshortfallstotheexecutive
directoreachsemester."
Shouldisusuallyreplaced,nowadays,bywould.Itisstillused,however,to
mean"oughtto"asin
Youreallyshouldn'tdothat.
Ifyouthinkthatwasamazing,youshouldhaveseenitlastnight.
InBritishEnglishandveryformalAmericanEnglish,oneisapttohearor
readshouldwiththefirstpersonpronounsinexpressionsoflikingsuchas"I
shouldprefericedtea"andintentativeexpressionsofopinionsuchas
Ishouldimaginethey'llvoteConservative.
Ishouldhavethoughtso.
(The New Fowler's Modern English Usage edited by R.W. Burchfield. Clarendon Press: Oxford,
England. 1996. Used with the permission of Oxford University Press. Examples our own.)
Idon'tstudyatnight.
Shedoesn'tworkhereanymore.
Doyouattendthisschool?
Doesheworkhere?
Theseverbsalsoworkas"shortanswers,"withthemainverbomitted.
Doessheworkhere?No,shedoesn'tworkhere.
With"yesno"questions,theformofdogoesinfrontofthesubjectandthe
mainverbcomesafterthesubject:
DidyourgrandmotherknowTruman?
Dowildflowersgrowinyourbackyard?
Formsofdoareusefulinexpressingsimilarityanddifferencesin
conjunctionwithsoandneither.
Mywifehatesspinachandsodoesmyson.
Mywifedoesn'tlikespinach;neitherdoI.
Doisalsohelpfulbecauseitmeansyoudon'thavetorepeattheverb:
Larryexcelledinlanguagestudies;sodidhisbrother.
Raoulstudiesashardashissisterdoes.
ThesocalledemphaticdohasmanyusesinEnglish.
a. Toaddemphasistoanentiresentence:"Hedoeslikespinach.Hereally
does!"
b. Toaddemphasistoanimperative:"Docomein."(actuallysoftensthe
command)
c. Toaddemphasistoafrequencyadverb:"Heneverdidunderstandhis
father.""Shealwaysdoesmanagetohurthermother'sfeelings."
d. Tocontradictanegativestatement:"Youdidn'tdoyourhomework,did
you?""Oh,butIdidfinishit."
e. Toaskaclarifyingquestionaboutapreviousnegativestatement:
"Ridwelldidn'ttakethetools.""Thenwhodidtakethetools?"
f.
Toindicateastrongconcession:"AlthoughtheClintonsdeniedany
wrongdoing,theydidreturnsomeofthegifts."
Intheabsenceofothermodalauxiliaries,aformofdoisusedinquestionand
negativeconstructionsknownasthegetpassive:
DidRinaldogetselectedbythecommittee?
Theaudiencedidn'tgetriledupbythepolitician.
Based on descriptions in Grammar Dimensions: Form, Meaning, and Use 2nd Ed. by Jan
Frodesen and Janet Eyring. Heinle & Heinle: Boston. 1997. Examples our own.
Asanaffirmativestatement,tohavecanexpresshowcertainyouare
thatsomethinghappened(whencombinedwithanappropriatemodal
+have+apastparticiple):"Georgiamusthaveleftalready.""Clinton
mighthaveknownaboutthegifts.""Theymayhavevotedalready."
Asanegativestatement,amodaliscombinedwithnot+have+apast
participletoexpresshowcertainyouarethatsomethingdidnot
happen:"Clintonmightnothaveknownaboutthegifts.""Imaynot
havebeenthereatthetimeofthecrime."
Toaskaboutpossibilityorprobabilityinthepast,amodaliscombined
withthesubject+have+pastparticiple:"CouldClintonhaveknown
aboutthegifts?"
Forshortanswers,amodaliscombinedwithhave:"DidClintonknow
aboutthis?""Idon'tknow.Hemayhave.""Theevidenceispretty
positive.Hemusthave."
Tohave(sometimescombinedwithtoget)isusedtoexpressalogical
inference:
It'sbeenrainingallweek;thebasementhastobefloodedbynow.
Hehithisheadonthedoorway.Hehasgottobeoversevenfeettall!
Haveisoftencombinedwithaninfinitivetoformanauxiliarywhosemeaning
issimilarto"must."
Ihavetohaveacarlikethat!
Shehastopayherowntuitionatcollege.
Hehastohavebeenthefirststudenttotrythat.
Based on the analysis in Grammar Dimensions: Form, Meaning, and Use 2nd Ed. by Jan
Frodesen and Janet Eyring. Heinle & Heinle: Boston. 1997. Examples our own.
Modal Auxiliaries
Otherhelpingverbs,calledmodalauxiliariesormodals,suchascan,could,may,might,
must,oughtto,shall,should,will,andwould,donotchangeformfordifferentsubjects.For
instance,trysubstitutinganyofthesemodalauxiliariesforcanwithanyofthesubjectslisted
below.
I
you (singular)
he
we
you (plural)
they
ThereisalsoaseparatesectionontheModalAuxiliaries,whichdividestheseverbsinto
theirvariousmeaningsofnecessity,advice,ability,expectation,permission,possibility,etc.,and
providessamplesentencesinvarioustenses.SeethesectiononConditionalVerbFormsfor
helpwiththemodalauxiliarywould.Theshadesofmeaningamongmodalauxiliariesare
multifariousandcomplex.MostEnglishasaSecondLanguagetextbookswillcontainatleast
onechapterontheirusage.Formoreadvancedstudents,AUniversityGrammarofEnglish,by
RandolphQuirkandSidneyGreenbaum,containsanexcellent,extensiveanalysisofmodal
auxiliaries.
toexpressability(inthesenseofbeingabletodosomethingor
knowinghowtodosomething):
HecanspeakSpanishbuthecan'twriteitverywell.
toexpressionpermission(inthesenseofbeingallowedorpermittedto
dosomething):
CanItalktomyfriendsinthelibrarywaitingroom?(Notethatcanis
lessformalthanmay.Also,somewriterswillobjecttotheuseofcanin
thiscontext.)
toexpresstheoreticalpossibility:
Americanautomobilemakerscanmakebettercarsiftheythinkthere's
aprofitinit.
Themodalauxiliarycouldisused
toexpressanabilityinthepast:
Icouldalwaysbeatyouattenniswhenwewerekids.
toexpresspastorfuturepermission:
CouldIburymycatinyourbackyard?
toexpresspresentpossibility:
Wecouldalwaysspendtheafternoonjustsittingaroundtalking.
toexpresspossibilityorabilityincontingentcircumstances:
Ifhestudiedharder,hecouldpassthiscourse.
Inexpressingability,canandcouldfrequentlyalsoimplywillingness:Can
youhelpmewithmyhomework?
MayIleaveclassearly?
IfI'vefinishedallmyworkandI'mreallyquiet,mightIleaveearly?
Inthecontextofexpressingpossibility,mayandmightareinterchangeable
presentandfutureformsandmight+have+pastparticipleisthepastform:
Shemightbemyadvisornextsemester.
Shemaybemyadvisornextsemester.
Shemighthaveadvisedmenottotakebiology.
Avoidconfusingthesenseofpossibilityinmaywiththeimplication
ofmight,thatahypotheticalsituationhasnotinfactoccurred.Forinstance,
let'ssaythere'sbeenahelicoptercrashattheairport.Inhisinitialreport,
beforeallthefactsaregathered,anewscastercouldsaythatthepilot
"mayhavebeeninjured."Afterwediscoverthatthepilotisinfactallright,the
newscastercannowsaythatthepilot"mighthavebeeninjured"becauseitisa
hypotheticalsituationthathasnotoccurred.Anotherexample:abodyhad
beenidentifiedaftermuchworkbyadetective.Itwasreportedthat"without
thispainstakingwork,thebodymayhaveremainedunidentified."Sincethe
bodywas,infact,identified,mightisclearlycalledfor.
I'llwashthedishesifyoudry.
We'regoingtothemovies.Willyoujoinus?
Itcanalsoexpressintention(especiallyinthefirstperson):
I'lldomyexerciseslateron.
andprediction:
specific:Themeetingwillbeoversoon.
timeless:Humiditywillruinmyhairdo.
habitual:Theriverwilloverflowitsbankseveryspring.
Wouldcanalsobeusedtoexpresswillingness:
Wouldyoupleasetakeoffyourhat?
Itcanalsoexpressinsistence(ratherrare,andwithastrongstressontheword
"would"):
Nowyou'veruinedeverything.Youwouldactthatway.
andcharacteristicactivity:
customary:Afterwork,hewouldwalktohishomeinWestHartford.
typical(casual):Shewouldcausethewholefamilytobelate,every
time.
Inamainclause,wouldcanexpressahypotheticalmeaning:
MycockerspanielwouldweighatonifIlethereatwhatshewants.
Finally,wouldcanexpressasenseofprobability:
Ihearawhistle.Thatwouldbethefiveo'clocktrain.
Uses of Used to
Theauxiliaryverbconstructionusedtoisusedtoexpressanactionthat
tookplaceinthepast,perhapscustomarily,butnowthatactionnolonger
customarilytakesplace:
Weusedtotakelongvacationtripswiththewholefamily.
Thespellingofthisverbisaproblemforsomepeoplebecausethe"ed"
endingquitenaturallydisappearsinspeaking:"Weyoostootakelongtrips."
Butitoughtnottodisappearinwriting.Thereareexceptions,though.When
theauxiliaryiscombinedwithanotherauxiliary,did,thepasttenseiscarried
bythenewauxiliaryandthe"ed"endingisdropped.Thiswilloftenhappenin
theinterrogative:
Didn'tyouusetogojoggingeverymorningbeforebreakfast?
Itdidn'tusetobethatway.
Usedtocanalsobeusedtoconveythesenseofbeingaccustomedtoor
familiarwithsomething:
Thetirefactorydowntheroadreallystinks,butwe'reusedtoitby
now.
Iliketheseoldsneakers;I'musedtothem.
Usedtoisbestreservedforcolloquialusage;ithasnoplaceinformalor
academictext.
Theproblemwithphrasalverbsisthattheirmeaningisoften,atfirst,obscure,
andtheyoftenmeanseveraldifferentthings.Tomakeout,forinstance,canmeanto
perceiveortoseesomething;itcanalsomeantoengageinlightsexualplay.If
someonechoosestoturnupthestreetthatisacombinationofaverbanda
preposition,butitisnotaphrasalverb.Ontheotherhand,ifyourneighbors
unexpectedlyturnup(appear)atapartyoryourbrotherturnsuphisradio,thoseare
phrasalverbs.Tocomeout,wearetold,haseighteendifferentmeanings.
Verbscanbecombinedwithdifferentprepositionsandotherwords,sometimes
withdizzyingeffect:standout,standup,standin,standoff,standby,standfast,stand
pat,standdown,standagainst,standfor.Further,theverbandthewordorphraseit
connectstoarenotalwayscontiguous:"Fillthisout,"wewouldsay,butthenwe
wouldsay,"Filloutthisform."
YoucanclickHEREforanextensivelistofphrasalverbs,brokendowninto
categoriesoftransitiveandintransitive,separableandinseparable.Thelistofverbsis
accompaniedwithbriefdefinitionsandexamples.Printedout,thelistwillbefiveor
sixpageslong,dependingonthesizefontyouareusing,thewidthofyourbrowser
window,etc.Understand,however,thatthelistisameresamplingofthehundredsof
phrasalverbcombinations.Forbeginninglanguagelearners,thechallengeof
masteringphrasalverbsissogreatthatonlyintensiveinstructionandpracticeinan
ESLprogramandagreatdealoftimespentlisteningandreadingcarefullycan
addresstheproblem.Havingagooddictionaryathandisalsohelpful.
COMMON
PHRASAL VERBS
Separable Phrasal Verbs
The object may come after the following phrasal verbs or it may separate the two
parts:
You have to do this paint job over.
You have to do over this paint job.
Whentheobjectofthefollowingphrasalverbsisapronoun,thetwopartsofthe
phrasalverbmustbeseparated:
You have to do it over.
Verb
Meaning
Example
blow up
explode
bring
up
mention a topic
bring
up
raise children
call off
cancel
do over
repeat a job
fill out
complete a form
fill up
fill to capacity
find out
discover
give
away
give something to
someone else for
free
give
back
return an object
hand in
submit something
(assignment)
hang up
put something on
hook or receiver
hold up
delay
hold up
(2)
rob
leave
out
omit
You left out the part about the police chase down Asylum
Avenue.
look
over
examine, check
look up
search in a list
make
up
make
out
hear, understand
There were three men in the line-up. She picked out the
guy she thought had stolen her purse.
pick up
point
out
call attention to
put
away
save or store
We put away money for our retirement. She put away the
cereal boxes.
put off
postpone
put on
put out
extinguish
read
over
peruse
set up
to arrange, begin
take
down
take off
remove clothing
talk
over
discuss
throw
away
discard
try on
put clothing on to
see if it fits
try out
test
I tried out four cars before I could find one that pleased
me.
turn
down
lower volume
turn
down
(2)
reject
turn up
turn off
switch off
electricity
turn off
(2)
repulse
turn on
switch on the
electricity
use up
exhaust, use
completely
The gang members used up all the money and went out to
rob some more banks.
verb that carries the "verb-meaning") cannot be separated from the prepositions (or
other parts) that accompany it: "Who will look after my estate when I'm gone?"
Verb
Meaning
Example
call on
call on (2)
visit
get over
I got over the flu, but I don't know if I'll ever get
over my broken heart.
go over
review
go
through
look after
take care of
look into
investigate
run across
find by chance
run into
meet
take after
resemble
wait on
serve
Meaning
Example
break in on
interrupt (a
conversation)
catch up
with
keep abreast
check up
on
examine, investigate
come up
with
to contribute
(suggestion, money)
cut down
on
curtail (expenses)
drop out of
leave school
get along
with
have a good
relationship with
get away
with
escape blame
get rid of
eliminate
get through
with
finish
keep up
with
look
forward to
anticipate with
pleasure
look down
on
despise
look in on
visit (somebody)
look up to
respect
make sure
of
verify
put up with
tolerate
run out of
exhaust supply
take care of
be responsible for
talk back to
answer impolitely
think back
on
recall
Meaning
Example
break down
stop functioning
catch on
become popular
come back
return to a place
come in
enter
come to
regain
consciousness
come over
to visit
drop by
visit without
appointment
eat out
dine in a restaurant
get by
survive
get up
arise
go back
return to a place
go on
continue
go on (2)
happen
The cops heard all the noise and stopped to see what
wasgoing on.
grow up
get older
keep away
remain at a
distance
keep on
continue with the
(with gerund) same
pass out
lose
consciousness,
faint
show off
demonstrate
haughtily
show up
arrive
wake up
Causative Verbs
Causativeverbsdesignatetheactionnecessarytocauseanotheractionto
happen.In"Thedevilmademedoit."theverb"made"causesthe"do"tohappen.
Hereisabrieflistofcausativeverbs,innoparticularorder:let,help,allow,have,
require,allow,motivate,get,make,convince,hire,assist,encourage,permit,employ,
force.Mostofthemarefollowedbyanobject(nounorpronoun)followedbyan
infinitive:"Sheallowsherpetcockatieltoperchonthewindowsill.Shehireda
carpentertobuildanewbirdcage."
Threecausativeverbsareexceptionstothepatterndescribedabove.Insteadof
beingfollowedbyanoun/pronounandaninfinitive,thecausativeverbshave,
makeandletarefollowedbyanoun/pronounandthebaseformoftheverb(whichis
actuallyaninfinitivewiththe"to"leftoff).
ProfessorVillahadherstudentsreadfourshortnovelsinoneweek.
Shealsomadethemreadfiveplaysinoneweek.
However,sheletthemskipthefinalexam.
Factitive Verbs
Verbslikemake,choose,judge,elect,select,name.arecalledfactitiveverbs.
Thesetransitiveverbscantaketwoobjects,orseemto:
TheyjudgedPhilbert'sdogBestofShow.(where"dog"isthedirectobjectand"Bestof
Show"isthesecondcomplement).
ThefacultyelectedDogsbreaththenewAcademicDean.(whereDogsbreathisthedirect
objectand"AcademicDean"isthesecondcomplement).
U.S.NewsandWorldReportnamedourcollegethebestinthenortheast.(where"our
college"isthedirectobjectand"thebest"isthesecondcomplement).
Tenses
Tenseshowsthetimeofaverb'sactionorbeing.Therearethreeinflectedforms
reflectedbychangesintheendingsofverbs.Thepresenttenseindicatesthat
somethingishappeningorbeingnow:"Sheisastudent.Shedrivesanewcar."
Thesimplepasttenseindicatesthatsomethinghappenedinthepast:"Shewasa
student.Shedroveanewcar."Andthepastparticipleformiscombinedwith
auxiliaryverbstoindicatethatsomethinghappenedinthepastpriortoanotheraction:
"Shehasbeenastudent.Shehaddrivenanewcar."
Unlikemostotherlanguages,Englishdoesnothaveinflectedformsforthefuture
tense.Instead,Englishfutureformsarecreatedwiththeuseofauxiliaries:
"Shewillbeastudent.Sheisgoingtodriveanewcar."Englishcanevencreatethe
futurebyusingthepresenttense,"Thebusarriveslaterthisafternoon,"orthepresent
progressive,"HeisrelocatingtoPortlandlaternextmonth."
ForanextensivediscussionofthefuturetenseinEnglish,clickHERE.
Progressive Verbs
Theprogressivetenses,whichindicatesomethingbeingorhappening,are
formedwiththepresentparticipleform(endingining)alongwithvarious
auxiliaries."Sheisdriving.Shewasdriving.Shewillbedriving.Shehasbeen
driving.Shehadbeendriving.Shewillhavebeendriving."ClickHEREformore
ontheprogressiveforms.Someverbs,calledstativeverbs,(including,
sometimes,theverbtobe)donotnormallycreatetheprogressive.Clickherefor
adiscussionofthedifferencebetweenstativeanddynamicverbs.
Ifyouhaveaframescapablebrowser,werecommendthe
TheDirectorycontainsdescriptions,conjugations(forbothregular
andirregularverbs),andsamplesentencesforthetwelvetensesofactivevoice
verbs.Foragreatlysimplifiedonepagesummaryofthesetenses,clickHERE.
Colin Mahoney, a teacher of English as a
foreign language, has a considerable page
devoted to the PresentPerfectTense(andrelated
issues), which we recommend. For ESL
learners and students wanting a thorough
review of verbs, we also recommend the
tutorial on English tenses
atEnglishpage.com (expect ads).
Irregular Verbs
MostverbsinEnglishformtheirvarioustensesconsistently:addedtothebase
ofaverbtocreatethesimplepastandpastparticiple:hewalked;hehaswalked.
Thereare,however,anumberofsocalledirregularverbs,(including,unfortunately,
someverycommonverbssuchastobeandtohave)whosevariousformsmustbe
memorized.AnalphabetizedlistofCommonIrregularVerbsisavailableinthe
Guidethatyoucancopyorprintoutandthentrytomemorizeoratleastusein
practicesentences.Youshouldtakethequizzesonirregularverbs,below,afteryou've
lookedatthislist.
Base
Form
Present
Third
Person
Past
Third
Person
Past
Participle
arise
be
bear
begin
bite
blow
break
bring
buy
catch
choose
come
creep
dive
do
drag
draw
dream
drink
arises
is
bears
begins
bites
blows
breaks
brings
buys
catches
chooses
comes
creeps
dives
does
drags
draws
dreams
drinks
arose
was/were
bore
began
bit
blew
broke
brought
bought
caught
chose
came
crept
dived/dove
did
dragged
drew
dreamed/dreamt
drank
arisen
been
borne
begun
bitten/bit
blown
broken
brought
bought
caught
chosen
come
crept
dived
done
dragged
drawn
dreamt
drunk
drive
drown
eat
fall
fight
fly
forget
forgive
freeze
get
give
go
grow
hang
hide
know
lay
lead
lie
light
lose
prove
ride
ring
rise
run
see
seek
set
shake
sing
sink
sit
speak
spring
steal
sting
strike
swear
swim
swing
take
tear
throw
uses
drives
drowns
eats
falls
fights
flies
forgets
forgives
freezes
gets
gives
goes
grows
hangs
hides
knows
lays
leads
lies
lights
loses
proves
rides
rings
rises
runs
sees
seeks
sets
shakes
sings
sinks
sits
speaks
springs
steals
stings
strikes
swears
swims
swings
takes
tears
throws
used
drove
drowned
ate
fell
fought
flew
forgot
forgave
froze
got
gave
went
grew
hung
hid
knew
laid
led
lay
lit
lost
proved
rode
rang
rose
ran
saw
sought
set
shook
sang
sank
sat
spoke
sprang
stole
stung
struck
swore
swam
swung
took
tore
threw
used
driven
drowned
eaten
fallen
fought
flown
forgotten
forgiven
frozen
got/gotten
given
gone
grown
hung
hidden
known
laid
led
lain
lit
lost
proved/proven
ridden
rung
risen
run
seen
sought
set
shaken
sung
sunk
sat
spoken
sprung
stolen
stung
struck
sworn
swum
swung
taken
torn
thrown
used
wake
wear
write
wakes
wears
writes
woke/waked
wore
wrote
woken/waked/wok
e
worn
written
Sequence of Tenses
SequenceofTenses:Therelationshipbetweenverbsinamainclauseandverbs
independentclausesisimportant.Theseverbtensesdon'thavetobeidenticalaslong
astheyreflect,logically,shiftsintimeandmeaning:"Mybrotherhad
graduatedbeforeIstartedcollege.""MybrotherwillhavegraduatedbeforeIstart."
ClickHEREforachartdescribingvarioustimerelationshipsandhowthose
relationshipsdeterminetheappropriatesequenceofverbtenses.
Verbals
Verbalsarewordsthatseemtocarrytheideaofactionorbeingbutdonot
functionasatrueverb.Thearesometimescalled"nonfinite"(unfinishedor
incomplete)verbs.Becausetimeisinvolvedwithallverbforms,whetherfiniteor
nonfinite,however,followingalogicalTenseSequenceisimportant.ClickHEREfor
achartdescribingthetimeelementsinvolvedinchoosingthecorrectverbalform.
Verbalsarefrequentlyaccompaniedbyother,relatedwordsinwhatiscalledaverbal
phrase.
Participle:averbformactingasanadjective.Therunningdogchased
theflutteringmoth.Apresentparticiple(likerunningorfluttering)describesapresent
condition;apastparticipledescribessomethingthathashappened:"The
completelyrottedtoothfinallyfelloutofhismouth."Thedistinctioncanbeimportant
tothemeaningofasentence;thereisahugedifferencebetweenaconfusingstudent
andaconfusedstudent.SeethesectiononAdjectivesforfurtherhelponthisissue.
Infinitive:therootofaverbplusthewordto.Tosleep,perchancetodream.
Apresentinfinitivedescribesapresentcondition:"Iliketosleep."Theperfect
infinitivedescribesatimeearlierthanthatoftheverb:"Iwouldliketohavewonthat
game."SeethesectiononSequencebelowforotherformsaswell.
it's the notorious split infinitive. An infinitive is said to be "split" when a word (often
an adverb) or phrase sneaks between the to of the infinitive and the root of the
verb: "to boldly go," being the most famous of its kind. The argument against split
infinitives (based on rather shaky historical grounds) is that the infinitive is a single
unit and, therefore, should not be divided. Because it raises so many readers'
hackles and is so easy to spot, good writers, at least in academic prose, avoid the
split infinitive. Instead of writing "She expected her grandparents to notstay," then,
we could write "She expected her grandparents not to stay." Sometimes, though,
avoiding the split infinitive simply isn't worth the bother. There is nothing wrong,
really, with a sentence such as the following:
He thinks he'll be able to more than double his salary this year.
The Oxford American Desk Dictionary, which came out in October of 1998, says
that the rule against the split infinitive can generally be ignored, that the rule "is not
firmly grounded, and treating two English words as one can lead to awkward, stilted
sentences." ("To Boldly Go," The Hartford Courant. 15 Oct 1998.) Opinion among
English instructors and others who feel strongly about the language remains
divided, however. Today's dictionaries allow us to split the infinitive, but it should
never be done at the expense of grace. Students would be wise to know their
instructor's feelings on the matter, workers their boss's.
GERUNDS AND
INFINITIVES:
THEIR NOUN ROLES
Bothgerundsandinfinitivescanbenouns,whichmeanstheycandojustaboutanything
thatanouncando.Althoughtheynamethings,likeothernouns,theynormallynameactivities
ratherthanpeopleorobjects.Herearefivenounusesofgerundsandinfinitives(andone
additionalnonnounuse,theadjectivecomplement,thatwethrowinhere,freeofcharge).
Gerundsandinfintivescanbothfunctionasthesubjectofasentence:
a. Playingbasketballtakesuptoomuchofhertime.
b. ToplaybasketballforUConnisherfavoritefantasy.
Itisnotimpossibleforaninfinitivetoappearatthebeginningofasentenceasthesubject(asin
Ib),butitismorecommonforaninfinitivetoappearasaSubjectComplement:
a. HerfavoritefantasyistoplaybasketballforUConn.
Thegerundcanalsoplaythisrole:
b. HerfavoritefantasyisplayingbasketballforUConn.
BothoftheseverbalformscanfurtheridentifyanounwhentheyplaytheroleofNoun
ComplementandAppositive:
a. HerdesiretoplaybasketballforUConnbecameanobsession.
b. IcouldneverunderstandherdesiretoplaybasketballforUConn.
c. Heroneburningdesireinlife,playingbasketballforUConn,seemedagoalwithinreach.
Theinfinitiveisoftenacomplementusedtohelpdefineanabstractnoun.Hereisavery
partiallistofabstractnouns,enoughtosuggesttheirnature.Tryfollowingtheseadjectiveswith
aninfinitivephrase(theirdesiretoplayinthechampionshipgame,amotivationtopassalltheir
courses,herpermissiontostayuplate,agentleremindertodoyourwork)toseehowthephrase
modifiesandfocusesthenoun.
advice
appeal
command
decision
desire
fact
instruction
motivation
opportunity
order
permission
plan
possibility
preparation
proposal
recommendation
refusal
reminder
request
requirement
suggestion
tendency
wish
Infinitivephrasesoftenfollowcertainadjectives.Whenthishappens,theinfinitiveissaid
toplaytheroleofAdjectiveComplement.(Thisisnotanounfunction,butwewill
includeitherenonetheless.)
a. Shewashesitanttotellthecoachofherplan.
b. Shewasreluctanttotellherparents,also.
c. Butshewouldnothavebeencontenttoplayhighschoolballforever.
Hereisalistofadjectivesthatyouwilloftenfindinsuchconstructions.
ahead
amazed
anxious
apt
ashamed
bound
careful
certain
content
delighted
determined
disappointed
eager
eligible
fortunate
glad
happy
hesitant
liable
likely
lucky
pleased
proud
ready
reluctant
sad
shocked
sorry
surprised
upset
Althoughwedonotfindmanyinfinitivesinthisnextcategory,itisnotuncommontofind
gerundstakingontheroleofObjectofaPreposition:
a. Shewroteanewspaperarticleaboutdealingwithcollegerecruiters.
b. Shethankedhercoachforhelpinghertodealwiththepressure.
And,finally,bothgerundsandinfinitivescanactasaDirectObject:
Here,however,allkindsofdecisionshavetobemade,andsomeofthesedecisions
willseemquitearbitrary.Thenextsectionisaboutmakingthechoicebetweengerundand
infinitiveformsasdirectobject.
Verbsthattakeotherverbformsasobjectsarecalledcatenatives(fromawordthat
meanstolink,asinachain).Catenativescanbefoundattheheadofaseriesoflinked
constructions,asin"Weagreedtotrytodecidetostopeatingbetweenmeals."Catenativesare
alsocharacterizedbytheirtendencytodescribementalprocessesandresolutions.(Kolln)
AlthoughitisseldomaseriousproblemfornativeEnglishspeakers,decidingwhetherto
useagerundoraninfinitiveafteraverbcanbeperplexingamongstudentsforwhomEnglishisa
secondlanguage.Whydowedecidetorun,butwewouldneverdeciderunning?Ontheother
hand,wemightavoidrunning,butwewouldnotavoidtorun.Andfinally,wemightlike
runningandwouldalsoliketorun.Itisclearthatsomeverbstakegerunds,someverbstake
infinitives,andsomeverbstakeeither.Thefollowingtablesofverbsshouldhelpyouunderstand
thevariousoptionsthatregulateourchoiceofinfinitiveorgerund.
Some students may find it convenient to have a list of
verbs that take infinitives, verbs that take gerunds, verbs
that take eitherwithout the lists being broken into verb
categories as they are below. Click the button to see such
a list.
We also make available a chart of 81 verbs that take
gerunds and infinitives along with pop-up examples of
their usage. Click HERE for that chart.
Gerunds
No agent*
Difference in meaning
I forgot to
call them. || I forgot calling them.
*By agent, we mean the person or thing that might or might not be required to complete the action:
We asked Joe to call home. (Joe is the agent.)
Giorgio began to gamble on weekends. (No agent)
acknowled
choose
ge
enjoy
hope
persuade
recommen
seem
d
admit
command expect
imagine
plan
refuse
start
advise
consent
fail
intend
practice
regret
stop
aford
consider
feel
invite
prefer
remember teach
agree
continue
finish
involve
allow
dare
forbid
learn
anticipate
decide
force
let
appear
demand
forget
like
appreciate deny
get
love
ask
deserve
give up
make
avoid
discuss
hate
mention
beg
dislike
have
miss
begin
endure
hear
need
celebrate
encourag help
pretend
remind
neglect
tell
e
challenge
enable
(cannot)
help
notice
promise
see
understan
d
watch
want
wish
Theverbsinthetablebelowwillbefollowedbyaninfinitive.Wedecidedtoleave.
Hemanages,somehow,towin.Itisthreateningtorain.Noticethatmany,butnotall,ofthese
verbssuggestapotentialevent.
Someoftheverbsinthefollowingtablemaybefollowedbyagerundiftheyaredescribing
an"actual,vividorfulfilledaction"(Frodesen).Weloverunning.Theybeganfarmingtheland.
Thesearedescribed,also,below.
Emotion
care
desire
hate
hate
like
loathe
love
regret
yearn
hope
intend
need
plan
prefer
prepare
propose
refuse
want
wish
Choice or Intent
agree
choose
decide
decide
expect
get
hesitate
manage
neglect
start
try
undertake
forget
know how
learn
remember
promise
swear
threaten
vow
seem
tend
claim
continue
pretend
wait
Theverbsinthenexttablewilloftenbefollowedbyaninfinitive,buttheywillalsobe
accompaniedbyasecondobject.Weaskedtheintruderstoleavequietly.Theytaughtthe
childrentoswim.Theteacherconvincedhisstudentstotryharder.
Theverbsinblue,withanasterisk,canalsofollowthesamepatternastheverbsinthetable
above(i.e.,thesecondobjectisoptional).Weallwantedtogo.Theypromisedtobehomeearly.
Communication
advise
ask*
beg*
challenge
command
convince
forbid
invite
order
permit
persuade
promise*
remind
require
tell
warn
urge
instruct
teach
train
Instruction
encourage
help
Causing
allow
cause
choose
force
get
hire
need*
would like*
trust
prepare*
want*
Miscellaneous
dare*
expect*
Gerundsaccompanyaformoftheverbtogoinmanyidiomaticexpressions:Let'sgo
shopping.Wewentjoggingyesterday.ShegoesbowlingeveryFridaynight.
Thefollowingverbswillbefollowedbyagerund.DidImentionreadingthatnovellast
summer?Irecommendleavingwhilewecan.IhavequitsmokingTheseverbstendtodescribe
actualevents.
Initiation, Completion and Incompletion
anticipate
avoid
begin
cease
complete
delay
finish
get through
give up
postpone
quit
risk
start
stop
try
encourage
mention
recommend
report
suggest
urge
practice
involve
keep
keep on
love
regret
Communication
admit
advise
deny
discuss
Continuing Action
continue
can't help
Emotion
appreciate
dislike
enjoy
hate
like
mind
don't mind
miss
prefer
can't stand
resent
resist
tolerate
imagine
recall
remember
see
can't see
understand
Mental Process
anticipate
consider
forget
Theverbsinthefollowingtablecanbefollowedbyeitheraninfinitiveoragerund,and
therewillbevirtuallynodifferenceinthemeaningofthetwosentences.Iliketoplaybasketball
inthepark.Ilikeplayingbasketballinthepark.
attempt
begin
continue
hate
like
love
neglect
prefer
regret
can't stand
stand
start
Theverbsinthisnext,verysmalltablecanbefollowedbyeitheraninfinitiveoragerund,
buttherewillbeadifferenceinmeaning.Istoppedsmokingmeanssomethingquitedifferent,for
instance,fromIstoppedtosmoke.Theinfinitiveformwillusuallydescribeapotentialaction.
forget
remember
stop
Finally,theverbsbelowwillbefollowedbyeitheragerundorasimpleverbandasecond
subjectwillberequired.Isawtheteamlosingitscomposure.Ioverheardmylandlord
discussingarentincrease.(IheardBillsing/singing.)Theseverbsinvolvethesenses.
look at
notice
observe
overhear
see
watch
Verbsofperceptionhear,see,watchandahandfulofotherverbshelp,let,
andmakewilltakewhatiscalledthebareinfinitive,aninfinitivewithouttheparticle"to."
Thisistrueoftheseverbsonlyintheactivevoice.
a. Wewatchedhimclearthetable.
b. Theyheardthethiefcrashthroughthedoor.
c. Shemademedoit.
d. Wehelpedherfinishthehomework.
Whenthenounprecedingthegerundismodifiedbyotherwords,usethecommonformof
thatnoun,notthepossessive.
a. FedericowaspleasedbyCarlos'smakingtheDean'sListforthefirsttime.
but
b. FedericowaspleasedbyCarlos,hisoldestson,makingtheDean'sListfor
thefirsttime.
Whenthenounprecedingthegerundisplural,collective,orabstract,usethe
commonformofthatnoun,notthepossessive.
c. ProfessorVillawasamazedbyherstudentsworkingashardastheydid.
d. Theclassworkingcollaborativelywassomebodyelse'sidea.
e. Itwasacaseofoldagegettingthebetterofthem.
Therearecertainsituationsinwhichthepossessiveandthegerundcreatean
awkwardcombination.Thisseemstobeparticularlytruewhenindefinitepronouns
areinvolved.
f.
Iwasshockedbysomebody'smakingthatremark.
Thiswouldbegreatlyimprovedbysaying,instead...
g. Iwasshockedthatsomebodywouldmakethatremark.
Thisisalsotruewhenthe"owner"ofthegerundcomeswrappedinanounphrase:
a. Iwasthankfulfortheguynextdoorshovelingsnowfrommydriveway.
Gerund:averbform,endingining,whichactsasanoun.Runninginthepark
afterdarkcanbedangerous.Gerundsarefrequentlyaccompaniedbyotherassociated
wordsmakingupagerundphrase("runningintheparkafterdark").
Becausegerundsandgerundphrasesarenouns,theycanbeusedinanywaythata
nouncanbeused:
assubject:Beingkingcanbedangerousforyourhealth.
asobjectoftheverb:Hedidn'tparticularlylikebeingking.
asobjectofapreposition:Hewroteabookaboutbeingking.
Simple
Forms
Perfective
Forms
Passive
Forms
Perfective
Passive
Forms
Perfective
Progressive
Infinitive
Wehadplannedtowatchallthe
eventsoftheOlympics
Seeingthoseathletesperformis
alwaysagreatthrill.
Thewomen'shockeyteamhopedto
havewonagoldmedalbeforethey
weredone.
Wewerethrilledabouttheirhaving
beenincontentionintheworld
championshipsbefore.
Tobechosenasanolympianmust
bethebiggestthrillinanyathlete's
life.
Beingchosen,however,isprobably
notenough.
Thewomendidnotseemsatisfied
simplytohavebeenselectedas
players.
Havingbeenhonoredthisway,
theywentoutandearneditby
winningthegold.
Tohavebeencompetingatthat
level,attheiragealready,wasquite
anaccomplishment.
Potential Event
COMPLETION/INCOMPLETION
Actual Event
Potential Event
REMEMBERING
(such as remember, forget, regret)
Juanita forgot to do her
homework. (meaning that
Juanita failed to do her
homework because she
didn't remember to do it)
ABBREVIATIONS
If you are frequently confronted with decisions regarding
TheChicagoManualofStylerecommendsnotusingacommatoseparatetheJr./Sr./III
fromthelastname,butyoushouldfollowthepreferencesoftheindivdualifyouknowthose
preferences.Ifyoulista"junior"withhisspouse,the"Jr."cangoafterbothnames,asin"Mr.
andMrs.ArthurC.BanksJr."or"Mr.ArthurC.BanksJr.andGloriaBanksbutnotArthurC.
andGloriaBanksJr.Youshouldavoidusinga"Jr."or"Sr."whenyouhaveonlythelastname
Mr.BanksJr.
Have you ever run across an acronym or abbreviation and not known what it means? Try
using the AcronymFinder. Just type in the letters and click on Search. Out of a database
of over 190,000 abbreviations and acronyms, the Finder will probably discover what
you're looking for.
Namesof
familiarinstitutionsUConn,MIT,UCLA,CIA,FBI,NATO
countriesU.S.A.,U.K.
corporationsIBM,CBS,NPR,CNN,ITT
famouspeopleLBJ,FDR,JFK,MLK
veryfamiliarobjectsTV,VCR,CDROM.
NoticethatU.S.A.canalsobewrittenUSA,butU.S.isbetterwiththeperiods.Also,we
canuseU.S.asamodifier(theU.S.policyonimmigration)butnotasanoun(Heleft
theU.S.U.S.A.).
Termsofmathematicalunits:15in.,15ft,15kg,15m,15lb
Generally,youwouldusetheseabbreviationsonlyintechnicalwriting.Thereisaspace
betweenthenumberandtheabbreviation.Noticethatwedonotputansaftersuchabbreviations
evenwhenthepluralisindicated.Also,wedonotuseaperiodwithsuchabbreviationsexcept
forin.whenitmightbeconfusedwiththeprepositionin.
Whenthetermofmeasurementisusedasamodifier,weputahyphenbetweenthenumber
andthetermofmeasurement:a15ftboard,a6lbline,etc.
Long,commonphrases,suchasIQ(IntelligenceQuotient),rpm(revolutionsperminute),mph
(milesperhour),andmpg(milespergallon).
Suchabbreviationsareacceptableeveninformalacademictextandmaybeusedwithout
periods.
Wordsusedwithnumbers:Heleftat2:00a.m.Shewasbornin1520B.C.
EitherloweroruppercaseletterscanbeusedwithA.M.,a.m.,P.M.,p.m.Theabbreviation
B.C.(beforeChrist)isusedafterthedate;A.D.(annodomini,"intheyearoftheLord")
appearsbeforethedate.TheabbreviationsB.C.andA.D.aresometimesreplacedwithB.C.E.
(beforethecommonera)andC.E.(commonera),bothusedafterthedate(althoughonemust
addthatthoseabbreviationsareneitherwidelyusednorcommonlyunderstood).Sometimesyou
willsee790BCandAD78writtenwithoutperiodsandwritteninSMALLCAPS.Notethatmany
stylebooksarenowrecommendingSMALLCAPSforallappearancesofacronyms,such
asNAACPorNCAA.Theeffectofthispracticeistoallowtheacronymtoblendmoresmoothly
withtherestofthetext.
Itisconsideredbadformtousetheseabbreviationswithoutaspecificnumberattachedto
them:"We'lldothisinthea.m."or"We'lldothistomorrowa.m."
CommonLatinterms:etc.(etceteraandsoforth),i.e.(idestthatis),e.g.(exempli
gratiaforexample),etal.(etaliiandothers).
The abbreviation i.e. (i.e., that is) is often confused with other
abbreviations (e.g., e.g.). The i.e. generally is used to introduce
matter that is explanatory as opposed to being the name of an
example or list of examples. If you can say for example as a
substitute for the abbreviation, you want to use e.g., not i.e. Do not
italicize or underline these abbreviations. Most sources
recommend avoiding the use of Latin abbreviations except within
parenthetical notes and some sources say not to use Latin
abbreviations at all (use the English terms instead) except within
citations or reference lists. Good advice.
The Chicago Manual of Style recommends using a comma after
i.e. or e.g. in order to set off those abbreviations as introductory
modifiers. Other resources say not to bother with the comma, but
the comma makes good sense.
Exceptinthebusinessofformallycitingmaterialyou'veusedinresearch,it'sagoodidea
nottouseetal.whenyoumean"andothers."Anddon'tuseetc.asalazyperson'swayofgetting
outofwork.Spelloutthewordversusunlessyou'rereportinggamescores,whenyouwoulduse
vs.;whenyou'recitinglegaldocuments,usetheabbreviationv.
Namesofstatesandterritoriesinreferencesandaddresses,butnotinnormaltext.
AbbreviationsacceptedbytheU.S.PostalService(includingabbreviationsforwords
likeBoulevardandAlley)arelistedonline.Donotusestateabbreviationssimplytosavetimeor
spaceexceptinanaddressonanenvelopeorlist.Wedonotuseperiodswithstateabbreviations:
CT,NY,NJ.WeuseD.C.afterthenameofthecitywithintheDistrictofColumbia:
Washington,D.C.;theAPAManualdoesnotuseperiodswithDC.TheU.S.postalservice,
incidentally,doesnotinsertacommabetweenthecityandtheabbreviatedstatename:Hartford
CT,PortlandORatleastnotintheaddressesonenvelopes.
Abbreviate"Saint"inU.S.placenames,asinSt.LouisandSt.Petersburg,Florida,andthe
St.LawrenceRiver.Forthesamewordinothercountries,youmighthavetoconsultagood
dictionary(onethatcontainsplacenames):St./SaintMartin'sintheFields,SaintMoritz,Saint
Lucia,MontSaintMichel,SaintPetersburg(Russia).WhenthewordSaintisusedtorefertoa
holyperson,spelloutthewordSaintTheresa,SaintFrancisofAssisi.Ifaninstitutionis
namedafterasaint,spelloutthewordSaintunlessyouhavesomereasontosavespaceSaint
FrancisHospital,SaintJosephCollege,SaintJoseph'sUniversity.Itiswise,asalways,toconsult
theactualinstitution.Colleges,universities,andhospitalsnamedafterSaintMaryareabout
evenlydividedbetweenSt.andSaint,butinformalsituations,Saintseemstobefavoredmore
frequently.
Wordssuchasthrough(thru),night(nite).
Daysoftheweekormonthsoftheyear(inthenormalflowoftext).
Wordsatthebeginningofasentence.
People'snamessuchasChas.(forCharles)orJas.(forJames),unlessthoseabbreviations
havecometobeacceptedasnicknamesforthoseparticularindividuals.
States'namessuchasMass.(forMassachusetts)orConn.(forConnecticut).When
appropriate(asintheaddressesforenvelopes),usetheU.S.postalservice'sapprovedtwo
letterabbreviations:MA,CT(withoutperiods).
Coursessuchasecon(foreconomics)orpolisci(forpoliticalscience).
periods,asinrpmandmph.Whenanabbreviationwithaperiodendsasentence,thatperiodwill
sufficetoendthesentence:HelivesinWashington,D.C.Suffixesforpeople'snamesrequire
periods:JoeSmithJr.livesinErie.Informaltextitisnotagoodideatoabbreviatemilitarytitles
LieutenantColonelChesterPiascykbutininformaltextLt.Col.ChesterPiascykwouldbe
acceptable.(Notethespaceafter"Lt.")Academicdegreescanbewrittenwithperiodsornot,but
don'tinsertspacesPh.D.orPhD,M.B.A.orMBAwithinthedegree.
People'sinitialsareusuallyfollowedbyaperiodandaspaceW.E.B.DuBoisbut
youneedtobecarefulthatalinebreakdoesn'tcomeinthemiddleofsomeone'sinitials.(You
canimposewhatiscalleda"forcedspace"or"nonbreakingspace"byholdingdowntheoption
keywhileyouhitthespacebar.)Youwillfindexceptionstothisruleinthewaythatsome
companieswritetheirname:JCPenney(nospacesorperiods),L.L.Bean(nospaceinthe
initials),etc.Innormaltext,writerscansafelyignorecorporateaberrationsinspacingand
capitalization.(SomeeditorswriteHarrySTrumanwithoutaperiodafterthe"S,"becausethe
initialdidn'treallystandforanything,buttheTrumanPresidentialMuseumand
Librarycontendsthatthatpracticeissilly.Still,youwilloftenfindTruman'snamewrittensans
periodinhighlyregardedplaces.)Whenaperson'sinitialsstandaloneeitherasanickname,
"Comehere,JT!"orasacommonshortcutJFK(forJohnFitzgeraldKennedy)orLBJ(for
LyndonBainesJohnson)typethemwithoutspacesorperiods.Professionaldesignationssuch
asCPA(CertifiedPublicAccountant)orCLU(CertifiedLifeUnderwriter)areseparatedfrom
thelastnamewithacommaandarewrittenwithoutspacesorperiods,asinBerthaBigknot,
CPA,unlessthedesignationisaccompaniedbyanacademicdegree,asinFoxyReynard,Ph.D.,
C.L.U.
Acronyms
Thereisadifferencebetweenacronymsandabbreviations.Anacronymisusually
formedbytakingthefirstinitialsofaphraseorcompoundedwordandusingthoseinitials
toformawordthatstandsforsomething.ThusNATO,whichwepronounceNATOH,is
anacronymforNorthAtlanticTreatyOrganization,andLASER(whichwepronounce
"lazer"),isanacronymforLightAmplificationbyStimulatedEmissionofRadiation.FBI,
then,isnotreallyanacronymfortheFederalBureauofInvestigation;itisan
abbreviation.AIDSisanacronym;HIVisanabbreviation.URLisanabbreviationfor
UniformResourceLocator(WorldWideWebaddress),butmanypeoplepronounceitas
"Earl,"makingitatrueacronym,andothersinsistonpronouncingitasthreeseparate
letters,"U*R*L,"thusmakingitanabbreviation.Thejuryisstillout.(IvoteforUncle
Earl.)
Itappearsthattherearenohardandfastrulesforusingperiodsineitheracronymsor
abbreviations.Moreandmore,newspapersandjournalsseemtodroptheperiods:
NAACP,NCAA,etc.Consistency,obviously,isimportant.