VOCABULARY
Grammar Guru
Grammar rules vary by time,
culture, and circumstances.
Regional dialects make some
grammar styles acceptable for
speech but not for college
writing. For example, people
might say “have ran,” but present
perfect tense should be written
“have run.” (Note the period is
inside the quotation mark.)
Common Errors:
Except / Accept You accept
(take) money but you might
gladly accept all except (but)
pennies.
Effect / Affect Effect refers to
intent or outcome; affect refers to
emotion, presentation, or change.
Her affect was euphoric. The
medicine affected her mood. The
effect of the medicine was to
change her affect.
There / Their There refers to
place, their is a possessive
pronoun.
It’s / Its It’s is a contraction for
it is. Its is a possessive pronoun.
.
Online grammar, and
vocabulary quizzes:
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/
grammar/quiz_list.htm
http://www.grammarphobia.com/
grammar.html
http://www.studygs.net/
http://www.testprepreview.com/a
ccuplacer_practice.htm
It is hard to proofread one’s own
papers. Make an appointment at
the ARC (539-4312) for free help
before submitting your papers for
a grade.
Reading is one of the best ways
to build your vocabulary. Write
down words that you do not
know, guess their meaning of
words from the context, and then
confirm both the meaning and
pronunciation by looking it up.
A thesaurus can help you find
other words with the same
meaning.
Most American vocabulary has
roots in other languages. Here
are some common prefixes:
Bene means good or well as in
benefactor or beneficial
Tele means far off as in
telescope, telephone
Non, a, im, in, il, un prefixes
usually mean not as in amoral,
immature, infallible, illegal,
unworthy
Super means over; sub means
below.
E, Ex, or Ec means from as in
elicit, expunge, or ecstasy
Cir or peri means around as in
circumference or perimeter
Co means with as in coexist
For ESL help, go to
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/han
douts/esl/eslstudent.html#vocab
You can have new vocabulary
words sent to your email list
daily through many websites
including
http://www.m-w.com/
http://www.how-tostudy.com/Building%20Vocabula
ry.htm
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/
grammar/vocabulary.htm
Just in time student series Dr.
Susan Weaver, Center for
Teaching and Learning 606
539-4325