English Grammar For Dummies - Woods Geraldine

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fine, and it may even be the best choice. Formal English, on some websites, comes across as stiff and artificial. In general, the more power the recipient has, the more careful you should be. When you're unsure of your audience or writing to someone you want to impress with your level of knowledge, play it safe and opt for formal English.

      

Before you post or tweet, skim what others have written. Chances are you’ll identify a preferred level of formality. If you want to fit in, match that style. Or be a rebel, if you wish! (Check out Chapter 16 to see more guidelines for electronic communication.)

      Probing the Limits of Grammar-Checking Software

      Learning grammar in the 21st century is irrelevant because grammar-checking apps, autocorrect functions, and word-processing programs make human knowledge obsolete. Right? Wrong!

      English has a half million words, and you can arrange those words trillions of ways. No app or device can catch all of your mistakes, and many programs identify errors that aren’t actually wrong. Worse, some apps automatically guess what you mean and make changes automatically. A friend of mine tried to sign up for an online writing course, which her phone changed to a worrying vise. (On second thought, writing does sometimes cause so much worry that you feel you’re trapped in a vise! Maybe the phone was accurate after all.) Other programs show you a few choices in a tiny space, where it’s all too easy to hit the wrong word. Imagine what happens when you type or tap “garage” and it shows up as “grave” in answer to the question “Where’s Pam?” (Speech-to-text programs that try to capture your words on a screen frequently make mistakes like this one.)

      True, some apps find some problems and sometimes suggest good alternatives. But some is not the same as all. Often, computers can’t tell the difference between homonyms – words that sound alike but have different meanings and spelling. For example, if I type

      Eye through the bawl at hymn, but it went threw the window pain instead.

      my word-processing program is perfectly satisfied. However, I was actually trying to say

      I threw the ball at him, but it went through the window pane instead.

      

Machines aren’t as smart as people (especially people who’ve already shown their intelligence by reading English Grammar For Dummies). Take a look at the words your device inserts, changes, or identifies as wrong. Then use your knowledge of spelling and grammar to say exactly what you mean, correctly.

      What's Your Problem? Solutions to Your Grammar Gremlins

I love to stroll around my neighborhood pondering the meaning of life, my grocery list, and other important topics. With my head in the clouds, I sometimes stub my toe. Once I know where the sidewalk cracks are, though, I can avoid them. If you can figure out where the cracks are in your grammatical neighborhood – the gremlins likely to trip you up – your sentences will roll along without risk of falling flat. Table 1-1 shows common usage problems and the location of their solutions. Skim the first column until you recognize something that stumps you. Then turn to the chapter listed in the second column.

TABLE 1-1 Problems and Solutions

Chapter 2

      Verbs: The Heart of the Sentence

      IN THIS CHAPTER

      ❯❯ Finding the verb and understanding its function

      ❯❯ Distinguishing between linking verbs and action verbs

      ❯❯ Using helping verbs correctly

      Think about a sentence this way: A sentence is a flatbed truck. You pile all your ideas on the truck, and the truck takes the meaning to your audience (your reader or your listener). The verb of the sentence is a set of tires. Without the verb, you may get your point across, but you’re going to have a bumpy ride.

      Every sentence needs a verb, so you start with the verb when you want to do anything to your sentence – including correct it. Verbs come in all shapes and sizes, and grammarians have come up with a few dozen names for every single one. In school, you may have learned about predicates, modals, transitive, intransitive, and other sorts of verbs. Don’t worry about terminology. It’s not as important as understanding what verbs add to your sentence.

      In this chapter, I explain how to distinguish between linking and action verbs and how to sort helping verbs from main verbs. Then I show you how to choose the correct verb for all your sentences, including questions and negative statements.

      Expressing Meaning with Verbs

      What time is it? You can find out by checking a clock, your watch, your phone, or a verb. Surprised by that last one? Verbs express states of being (what is, was, or will be) and action (what someone or something does, did, or will do). In other words, a verb is a part of speech that expresses time, which grammarians call tense. Check out the italicized verbs in these example sentences. Notice what the verb tells the reader or listener about time:

      Mark spilled ink on the quilt. (spilled — past)

      Mark’s mom is upset. (is — present)

      Mark will wash the quilt, or his mom will murder him. (will wash and will murder – future)

      These are just three simple examples, but you get the point. The verb puts the action or state of being on a time line. (Don’t tense up about tense. You can find everything you need to know about this topic in Chapter 6.)

      One more important thing you should know about verbs: In a sentence, the verb must match the subject, the person or thing performing the action or existing in the state of being. (See Chapter 3 for the lowdown on subjects.) If the subject is singular (just one), the verb is singular. If the subject is plural (more than one), the verb is plural. In these example sentences, the subject is in bold type and the verb is italicized:

      The poster is on the wall of Sam’s bedroom. (poster and is — singular)

      Sam’s pets hate the poster. (pets and hate — plural)

      Sam’s cat has chewed one corner of the poster. (cat and has chewed — singular)

      My well-behaved dogs do not chew posters. (dogs and do chew – plural)

      

In the last example sentence, did you notice that the word not isn’t italicized? Not changes the meaning of the verb from positive to negative, but it isn’t an official part of the verb. It’s an adverb, if you really want to know. (Turn to Chapter 10 for more about adverbs.)

      For help with matching singular subjects to singular verbs and plural subjects to plural verbs, read Chapter 7.

      Meeting the Families: Linking and Action Verbs

      As everyone in a romantic relationship knows, when things turn serious, it’s time to meet the family – the cousins, grandparents, and other relatives you’ll be eating Thanksgiving dinner with for the rest of your life. Your relationship with verbs may not be romantic, but it is serious, because you can’t make a sentence without a verb. In this section, you meet the two verb “families” – linking and action. You don’t have to share holidays, but you do have to recognize and deal with them.

Linking verbs: The Giant Equal Sign

      Linking

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