Effect: noun. the effects of the drug
Affect: verb. I was affected by her performance.
Complete sentence= independent clause
Contains a subject (noun) performing action (verb) or being
(verb)
Examples:
I am. He walks. They play basketball in the snow.
Fragment= dependent clause
*missing a subject or a verb (action/state of being)
*Clauses can become fragments when a conditional word is
used at the front.
Ex: the effects of the drug
The driving man
Because I have three sisters
Complete: Because I have three sisters, I know a lot about
women.
Who vs. Whom
Who is a subject (performs action)
Whom is an object (receives action) (often works with
prepositions—to, for, with, etc.)
Who= He, Whom = Him
Examples:
He/Who went to the store./?
Think about for whom you are writing.
To whom did you send the letter?
Comma splice: using a comma to join two complete sentences.
This is grammatically incorrect.
This is wrong: I loved Amy Tan’s essay, it changed my life.
If you want to use a comma (to join two complete sentences),
add a conjunction.
Correct: I loved Amy Tan’s essay, and it changed my life.
I loved Amy Tan’s essay, but it has its flaws.
Appositive:
Interrupting a sentence with a separate thought
We use commas to offset the appositive.
Ex: I’m bringing home, against my will, a baby bumblebee.
I’m bringing home (where I usually bring dangerous things) a
baby bumblebee.
“Don’t be so mean,” I said, “it will come back to haunt you.”
Hyphen - vs. Dash –
A hyphen creates compound thoughts:
Ex: Well-bred, cross-eyed, etc.
A dash (two hyphens) creates an interruption of thought flow.
Ex: I would like to go out and drive to— no, it’s snowing.
I like Amiri Baraka— I have a thing for angry black poets— and I
make my students read him every quarter.
Mixing commas and dashes:
Everybody hates generalizations— oh shit, I just generalized.
Digits vs. spelling out numbers
Numbers under ten should be spelled out. Numbers ten and
greater can be in digits.
Using “and” in a list with commas
The comma should go before the “and.”
Ex: I’m bringing sandwiches, soda pop, corn chips, and candy.
Using grammar inside quotes:
Punctuation goes inside of quotes, usually. Some exceptions
apply.
Ex: She told me to “Shut the hell up.”
David Sedaris calls his classmate “rabbity-mouthed.”
With citation, the period goes outside (exclamations and
question marks can go inside).
Ex: David Sedaris says, “Me talk pretty one day” (35).
William F Buckley asks, “Why don’t we complain?” (38).
Why would Amiri Baraka even dare read “Somebody Blew Up
America?”
Colon
:
A colon introduces a list, an explanation, or a quote.
Examples:
There are three things I can’t live without: air, water, and Allen
Ginsberg.
I ran away from home for one reason only: I wanted cable t.v.
Oscar Wilde famously commented: “Fashion is a form of ugliness so
intolerable, we must change it every six months.”
Subjects and Objects:
Subjects perform action while objects receive action.
Correct:
My sister and I enjoyed that movie.
He said that to me and my sister.
Incorrect:
Me and my sister enjoyed that movie.
Subjects:
I am he. It is I. (states of being= no object, only subject)
Wherefore= Why, not “where”
Whence= from where
Incorrect: From whence… = “From from where”
Correct: I banish you, demon, whence you came.
Less vs. Fewer
Fewer is only used for things that can be counted.
Ex: 15 items or fewer
I have fewer M&M’s than you do.
Less is only used for things that can’t be counted.
Ex: I think I need less love from you.
I would like less milk in the glass.
Difference between “Ex.,” “i.e.,” and “e.g.”
Ex= example (Ex. = one example, Ex: = list of examples)
i.e.= id est= that is= (in effect)= I went to PCC, i.e., my local co-op
grocery.
e.g.= exempli gratia= for example= (example given)= I collect rare books,
e.g., The Futurist Cookbook.
For style, if you use a semicolon, make sure the two independent
clauses are closely related by more than coincidence/circumstance.
Ex: Don’t write: I went to the movies; the movie was good.
Write this: I went to the movies; there was a heat wave in Seattle and
this was one of the only air-conditioned buildings nearby.