Working with words

1. It’s easier to lower your standards once you’ve learned
higher ones than it is to raise them if you’ve never
learned more formal ones.

2. Examples:
 A person should mind their own
business. (his or her)
 Several employees had to go outside
and lay down after the fire. (lie)
 Hopefully, the snow will miss our area.
(Hopefully doesn’t say who is hoping)

3. 8 parts of speech
 Nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives,
adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions and
interjections
 Parts of speech refer to what words ARE

4. Parts of a sentence
 Subject, predicate, predicate
complement (predicate nominative and
predicate adjective), direct object,
indirect object, noun of direct address,
appositive, sentence adverb,
prepositional phrase, subject of an
infinitive, and so on.
 Parts of a sentence refers to what words
DO or how they are used in a sentence.

5. And then there are…
 Verbals: infinitives, gerunds, participles
 Groups of words: phrases, clauses,
sentences
 Rather than define all of them right now,
let’s look at them as they come about so
you take in only as much terminology as
is necessary.

6. Common mistakes
 a/an:
 a is used before a word that begins with a
consonant sound when pronounced
 an is used before a word that begins with a
vowel sound when pronounced
○ Abbreviations: the choice is determined by the
initial sound
○ …an FBI inquiry (initial sound is ef)
○ …a historical event (initial sound is hih)

7. Other “a” mistakes
 “A lot” is always two words
 Adjective-adverb confusion: adjectives
modify nouns or pronouns
 Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives or
other adverbs
 Everything was running smoothly – modifier
describes the manner in which something
was running – it modifies the verb
 Or say, everything was smooth, because
smooth would be the adjective modifying
everything

8. Adopt/pass
 You adopt a resolution.
 You pass an ordinance
Affect/effect
 Affect is a verb meaning “to influence”
 Effect is a noun meaning “result” and a
verb meaning “to cause”

9. Other “a” mistakes
 As/like
 As is a conjunction and should be used to
introduce a clause
 Like is a preposition and should be used to
introduce a word or phrase
 Among/between
 Use between for two items; among for three or
more
 Alleged and allegedly
 Avoid these as modifiers, for they don’t offer the
legal protection many would think.
 Don’t write, “He is an alleged rapist.” Just say,
“He is charged with rape.”

10. B
 Blond/blonde
 Brunet/brunette
 The forms without the final e are used when
applying to a man only.
 The forms with the e are used only as nouns
applying to a woman.

11. C
 Centers around – change to centers on
or revolves around because the center
is in the middle
 Colon – capitalize the first word after a
colon if what follows is a complete
sentence
 He said you could summarize the message
in three words: Love thy neighbor.

12. Comma
 Put a comma before a conjunction such
as “and” and only if what follows could
stand alone as a complete sentence
 Or, if the “and” could be confusing
reading as linking the last two items as
one rather than leaving them separate:
 Corn, pork, and beans

13. Comma-splice sentences
 A comma alone is not enough to
connect two independent clauses.
 Add a conjunction such as “and” after
the comma, change the common to a
semicolon, or change the comma to a
period and capitalize the next word.

14. Compare to/compare with
 Use compare to when similarities are
stressed
 Use compare with when differences are
stressed
Compose/comprise/constitute
 The whole is composed of the parts or
comprises the parts.
 The parts constitute the whole

15. Conditional mood
 Use could, not can
 Might not may
 Should not shall
 Would not will
 Don’t write, “The bill will make gun
owners…”
 Write, “The bill would make gun owners…”

16. Contact
 Avoid as a verb.
 Use call, write, visit
Convince/persuade
 You’re convinced that or convinced of
something.
 You’re persuaded to do something.