Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s Handbook Section One Grammar
May 14, 2015
Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s Handbook
Section OneGrammar
Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s HandbookMoore, Seraydarian, and Fruehling
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
Reserved.2
This section provides Fundamentals of effective writing through mastery of basic sentence structure and the foundations of correct grammar.
Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s HandbookMoore, Seraydarian, and Fruehling
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
Reserved.3
Objectives Recognize basic sentence structure Write complete sentences by properly using the parts of speech to logically form a complete thought
Place phrases and clauses correctly to form complete sentences
Locate verbs, pronouns, adjectives and adverbs within sentences
Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s HandbookMoore, Seraydarian, and Fruehling
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
Reserved.4
Grammar helps you … Write sentences that clearly convey your message and reflect an educated command of English
Use proper word forms and functions to clearly state your meaning.
Vary the style of the sentences you write, which makes your writing more interesting to read.
Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s HandbookMoore, Seraydarian, and Fruehling
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
Reserved.5
Grammar is important because Grammar rules provide the framework for using words correctly as different parts of speech to construct sentences
When you routinely use correct grammar, you can easily spot mistakes and correct them in your writing
Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s HandbookMoore, Seraydarian, and Fruehling
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
Reserved.6
Basic sentence structure
Every sentence must include a subject and a verb
The subject and verb must agree in number
Objects answer the question whom? or what?
Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s HandbookMoore, Seraydarian, and Fruehling
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
Reserved.7
Phrases
Phrases play different roles in sentences.
They can function as subjects, verbs, and modifiers.
Their placement is crucial to clarity.
Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s HandbookMoore, Seraydarian, and Fruehling
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
Reserved.8
Phrases Phrases may be essential or nonessential to the meaning of the sentence
To ensure that sentences make sense, notice whether phrases are connected properly to other parts of the sentence
Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s HandbookMoore, Seraydarian, and Fruehling
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
Reserved.9
Clauses
Clauses contain a subject and a verb.
A clause may be dependent or independent. Dependent - cannot stand alone and make sense
Independent - can stand alone and make sense
Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s HandbookMoore, Seraydarian, and Fruehling
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
Reserved.10
Connect independent clauses with:
Coordinating conjunctions Transitional words and expressions
Punctuation
Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s HandbookMoore, Seraydarian, and Fruehling
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
Reserved.11
Recognize comma splices and run-ons Comma splice - occurs when you place a comma between independent
Run-on sentence - occurs when you join independent clauses with no punctuation at all.
Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s HandbookMoore, Seraydarian, and Fruehling
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
Reserved.12
Recognize fragments A sentence fragment is a group of words lacking a subject or a verb but punctuated as if it were a complete sentence
Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s HandbookMoore, Seraydarian, and Fruehling
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
Reserved.13
Verbs
A verb is a word that expresses action or state of being.
State-of-being verbs, also called linking verbs, include forms of the verb to be and verbs of the senses, as well as others.
Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s HandbookMoore, Seraydarian, and Fruehling
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
Reserved.14
Helping verbs, also called auxiliary verbs, are used with other verbs to show time, possibility, or emphasis.
Verbs are also categorized as transitive or intransitive. A transitive requires an object to complete the meaning of the sentence.
An intransitive verb does not need an object to complete its meaning.
Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s HandbookMoore, Seraydarian, and Fruehling
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
Reserved.15
Verb Tense Verb tense indicates the time that an action takes place.
The four simple tenses are Present Past Present participle Past participle
Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s HandbookMoore, Seraydarian, and Fruehling
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
Reserved.16
Forming verb tenses Regular verbs form the past and past participle by adding d or ed.
Irregular verbs form the past tense by changing their spelling in other ways.
Most irregular verbs are so commonly used that we know their forms without thinking
Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s HandbookMoore, Seraydarian, and Fruehling
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
Reserved.17
Active Voice of Verbs
The subject performs the action
Places emphasis on the doer of the action
Is clear and direct and, in general, makes writing more effective
Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s HandbookMoore, Seraydarian, and Fruehling
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
Reserved.18
Passive Voice of Verbs
The subject is the receiver of the action.
Used it to invoke a formal tone. Use it to de-emphasize the doer of the action.
Use it to create tactful expression of the action. Otherwise, use the active voice
for more lively, clear
Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s HandbookMoore, Seraydarian, and Fruehling
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
Reserved.19
Types of Pronouns
Demonstrative Indefinite Interrogative Personal Possessive Reflexive Relative
Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s HandbookMoore, Seraydarian, and Fruehling
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
Reserved.20
Pronoun Case Three forms of personal pronouns that perform different functions in sentences Nominative case Objective case Possessive case
Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s HandbookMoore, Seraydarian, and Fruehling
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
Reserved.21
Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement Personal pronouns replace specific nouns used elsewhere in a sentence.
For clarity, the pronoun reference must agree in number and gender with its noun or pronoun antecedent.
Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s HandbookMoore, Seraydarian, and Fruehling
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
Reserved.22
Adjectives and Adverbs Adjectives modify nouns and pronouns.
Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.
Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s HandbookMoore, Seraydarian, and Fruehling
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
Reserved.23
Types of Adjectives Descriptive adjectives - tell “what kind.”
Limiting adjectives - tell “how many.”
Articles - are the words a, an, and the.
Pointing adjectives - are similar to articles; they signal a noun and tell “which one.”
Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s HandbookMoore, Seraydarian, and Fruehling
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
Reserved.24
Adverbs Answer How? When? Where? Why? and To what extent?
Many adverbs end in ly.
However, do not assume that all words
ending in ly are adverbs.
Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s HandbookMoore, Seraydarian, and Fruehling
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
Reserved.25
Adjective and Adverbs show comparison Positive form (first degree) Comparative form (second degree)
Superlative form (third degree)
Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s HandbookMoore, Seraydarian, and Fruehling
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
Reserved.26
Prepositions Words that connect a noun or pronoun to another word in the sentence to show relationships
A prepositional phrase begins with a preposition
Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s HandbookMoore, Seraydarian, and Fruehling
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
Reserved.27
Using prepositions Avoid unnecessary prepositions. Avoid prepositions at the end of a sentence.
Use the correct preposition.
Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s HandbookMoore, Seraydarian, and Fruehling
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights
Reserved.28
Grammar must be correct in all written documents.
When you are unsure, use the Pearson Reference Manual and Writer’s Handbook to check your writing.