Easy English Grammar Step-by-Step, Second Edition

Related titles:

Easy Writing Skills Step-by-Step

ESL Demystified

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Contents

Preface

1   Always Right: The Complete Sentence

Choose Standard English

How Can You Recognize a Standard English Sentence?

Introducing Linking Verbs

Where Did I Go Wrong?

Building Complex Sentences

2   More About Subjects, Action Verbs, and Linking Verbs

Subject and Verb Agreements

Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases

Using Linking Verbs

3   Descriptive Words

In the Know About Adjectives

Adjectives and Where to Put Them

4   More About Descriptive Words and Phrases

Adverbs and How to Use Them

When to Use an Adverb

Common Adjective/Adverb Confusions

5   Verbs Tell Time Perfectly

The Use of Tenses

Participles—What Now?

Tenses of to Be

Using Verbs in the Past, Present, and Future

6   Pronouns

Common Pronouns

Why Use Pronouns?

Using Pronouns Correctly

7   Punctuation

Types of Punctuation

Using Punctuation Correctly

8   Punctuation, Continued

More Types of Punctuation

Using Punctuation Correctly

9   Capitalization

Rules for Capitalization

More Rules!

10   Using Words Correctly

Common Errors

Avoiding Errors

Commonly Confused Words

11   Spelling

Spelling Guidelines

Steps to Strengthen Your Spelling

12   Writing Better Sentences

Keys to Stronger Writing

Steps to Improve Your Writing

Appendix A 100 Most Often Mispelled Misspelled Words in English

Appendix B Common Homophones

Answer Key

Index

Preface

Welcome to Easy English Grammar Step-by-Step. By purchasing this book, you have already taken the first important step: You have made the decision to improve your spoken and written English.

Everyone wants to present themselves in the best possible way, and avoiding common errors in spoken and written English is a step towards this goal. And, while Easy English Grammar Step-by-Step teaches some basic grammatical terms and definitions, it does much more than that. This book teaches you to take what you’ve already learned and apply that knowledge to help you recognize and avoid common errors in spoken and written English.

How to Use This Book

Easy English Grammar Step-by-Step presents skills gradually. The chapters build upon each other. Consequently, the best way to use this book is to begin with Chapter 1 and continue with the chapters one after the other. Only Chapter 11, Spelling, and Appendix A, 100 Most Often Mispelled Misspelled Words in English, should be taken out of order. While spelling rules can be presented in one chapter, they certainly can’t be learned in one sitting. In fact, it is a good idea to study spelling in small doses. You can begin studying these chapters early and continue studying them on a regular basis.

There are short exercises throughout the book and a longer exercise at the end of each chapter. Be sure try each one of them and then consult the Answer Key to follow your progress. If you find you are still having difficulty with a grammatical concept or skill, go back and reread the chapter until you feel more confident in your knowledge.

Easy English Grammar Step-by-Step emphasizes the difference between two levels of English—informal and standard. Although both are correct in the right environment, you don’t want to confuse the different levels of spoken and written English. We all speak or write to friends and family in an informal way (usually in emails or texts), but being informal is not always appropriate, especially if you’re writing a report for school or a résumé for a summer job. In those situations, your teacher or prospective employer will expect to read Standard English.

When in doubt, choose the standard level of English.

1

Always Right: The Complete Sentence

The English language gives speakers and writers so many ways to express their thoughts. In a formal situation, however, one rule always applies. We help our readers and listeners understand our thoughts by using complete sentences. You’ll learn the basics of complete sentences in this chapter.

Choose Standard English

As the Preface explained, we often use informal English when we’re communicating with friends and family. With informal English, we feel free to use incomplete sentences. That’s not the case with Standard English. In school or at work, we communicate with teachers, customers, and employers using Standard English. We need to be flexible language users, making choices depending on the situation.

In this chapter, you’ll learn one of the main requirements of Standard English: the complete sentence. Informal English allows us to use incomplete sentences. Standard English does not.

In the following pages, you will learn why, in many circumstances, the informal sentences in these examples cannot be used in place of the formal versions.

When in doubt, always choose Standard English.

More and more people are using text messages to communicate with friends, family, and coworkers. Everyone agrees that texting is very convenient. However, not everyone agrees that the informal English often used in texting is acceptable in all circumstances. A logical solution is that if you are texting friends, you can use an informal tone. However, if you are texting with your teacher, supervisor, or employer in any work- or school-related situation, choose Standard English. Even though you are texting and not writing a formal report, you are being judged. Correct grammar, spelling, word choice, and all the rest are not a choice; they are a necessity. This is a five-star recommendation!

How Can You Recognize a Standard English Sentence?

Consider this sentence:

My music teacher performs a new song every Saturday.

This Standard English sentence includes:

•   a subject

My music teacher

The subject is teacher. To find the subject, you ask, Who or what is this sentence about? The answer is the teacher.

•   an action word (verb)

My music teacher performs.

What action does the teacher take? What does he or she do? In this sentence, the teacher gives something. The action word is gives.

•   sometimes an object

My music teacher performs a new song every Monday.

What does the teacher give? The teacher gives a quiz. Quiz is the object; it completes the idea of giving by telling what the teacher gave.

Not all sentences contain objects. You can write a complete sentence without an object. For example, the following sentence has no object:

My music teacher sings.

Who is the sentence about (the subject)? The answer is the teacher. What action does the teacher take? The teacher sings.

Does this sentence need an object to be complete? No. The meaning is complete without another word. It is complete with just a subject (teacher) and a verb (sings).

Read the following sentences. Do they contain objects?

Marielle ate.

Mike reads fast.

The bird soars.

The newborns cry.

Bobby scored.

Each of the sentences has a subject—Marielle, Mike, bird, newborns, Bobby—and an action verb—ate, reads, soars, cry, scored—but no object. Still, they are complete thoughts and easily understood.

Practice 1.1

All of the sentences in Practice 1.1 are complete thoughts. Some of the sentences contain objects; some do not. If the sentence contains an object, enter the name of the object. If the sentence does not contain an object, do not add anything. Remember, to find the object, first find the verb and ask, What? The first sentence is done for you.

1.   I bought a book.     book

Ask yourself, What did I buy? The answer is a book, so book is the object.

2.   A baseball smashed the window. ______________________

3.   I write too fast. ______________________

4.   Jimmy drives a small truck. ______________________

5.   You can build a sentence correctly. ______________________

6.   The child has chickenpox. ______________________

7.   The bank closed a branch. ______________________

8.   The audience cheered. ______________________

9.   A young pony galloped. ______________________

10.   Mario sent a postcard. ______________________

You have successfully identified subjects, verbs, and objects in complete sentences. Are you ready for a challenge?

Practice 1.2

Can you correct these incomplete sentences? For each incomplete sentence, add a subject, verb, or both to correct the error. The first sentence is corrected for you.

1.   The wasp flying around the deck.

The wasp flying around the deck stung Benny.

The subject is wasp; the missing verb is stung.

2.   Because sharks were seen close to the shore.

__________________________________________________

3.   After packing the car and making lunch for the trip.

__________________________________________________

4.   Before you arrived and I called the school to find you.

__________________________________________________

5.   Peanut butter and jelly on white bread every day.

__________________________________________________

6.   Kentucky hosting the Derby.

__________________________________________________

7.   The tiny dog standing guard and yelping.

__________________________________________________

8.   When your mother called the doctor.

__________________________________________________

9.   After we finished dinner.

__________________________________________________

10.   In the dark, a menacing figure walking behind me.

__________________________________________________

Introducing Linking Verbs

Look back at Practice 1.1. You can see that all of the sentences contain action verbs: galloped, closed, smashed, drives, and so forth. Another way to build an English sentence is with a non-action or state-of-being verb. You won’t find an action word (verb) such as gives, walks, or laughs in this kind of sentence. However, you will find a word (a linking verb) that links two words in the sentence.

EXAMPLE:     My math teacher is Mr. Albeniz.

Again, the sentence includes:

•   a subject

My math teacher

The subject, or what the sentence is about, is still the word teacher.

•   a verb

My math teacher is

The linking verb is links the subject (teacher) to his name (Mr. Albeniz). Teacher and Mr. Albeniz are the same person.

Try another example:

My computer is slow.

In this sentence, the subject is computer. The linking verb is is. What two words does the linking verb bring together? Is links computer with a word that describes it: slow.

How is this different from the first example? In the first example, Mr. Albeniz equals the subject, teacher. In the second example, slow describes the subject, computer.

Chapter 2 contains more information about linking verbs. For now, use this short list of linking verbs as you complete Practice 1.3: is, are, was, were, am.

Practice 1.3

In the following sentences, identify each linking verb and specify which two words the verb links. The first sentence is done for you.

1.   My Aunt Hattie is a great cook.   is links Aunt Hattie and cook

2.   Lisa, Miguel, and Dennis are best friends. ___________________

3.   I am happy to have a few good friends. ___________________

Hint: A linking verb can link the subject with a feeling or state of being.

4.   The Cape was our best vacation ever. ___________________

5.   Our two dogs were the