-1Effective Writing ................................................................................................................ 2 Mechanics of Writing ......................................................................................................... 3 Parts of Speech ................................................................................................................ 3 Sentence Structure .......................................................................................................... 4 Verbs ........................................................................................................................... 4 Regular Verbs ..................................................................................................... 5 Verb "to be" ........................................................................................................ 5 Irregular Verbs .................................................................................................... 5 Table of Irregular Verbs...................................................................................... 7 Voice and Mood .................................................................................................. 8 Transitive/Intransitive Verbs .............................................................................. 8 Perfected Tenses ................................................................................................. 9 Nouns ........................................................................................................................ 10 Pronouns ................................................................................................................... 10 Pronoun Declension .......................................................................................... 11 Who/That Errors ............................................................................................... 12 Gerunds ............................................................................................................. 12 Adjectives ................................................................................................................. 13 Adverbs ..................................................................................................................... 14 Prepositions ............................................................................................................... 15 Conjunctions ............................................................................................................. 15 Punctuation ............................................................................................................... 17 Lists ................................................................................................................... 17 Quotes ............................................................................................................... 17 Clauses and Commas ........................................................................................ 17 Avoiding Errors ................................................................................................................ 18 Grammar & Spelling ..................................................................................................... 18 Rules for Common Errors ................................................................................. 19 Apostrophe Problems ........................................................................................ 19 Spelling Traps ................................................................................................... 20 Idioms ............................................................................................................... 20 Redundancy....................................................................................................... 20 Miscellaneous Problem Words ......................................................................... 21 Where to Look .................................................................................................. 21 Consistency ................................................................................................................... 21 -2- Effective Writing Besides the readability levels determined by a strongly empirical method such as the Fry Graph, a more subjective analysis can be achieved using the Writing Skills Matrix. A reasonably scrupulous person could perform a readability index on their own piece of writing, but the CAP-IO Guide is silent on methods to effectively conduct a quality review. Quality reviews imply that an impartial, non-involved member, or even an “expert”--(There is an English teacher who is not a member of CAP who reviews my reports. If she can make sense of it and understand what I am doing, and agrees with the conclusion and doesn’t stumble ofer my por spaling. . .) ---can review your report for the essence of ideas, organization, voice, and mechanics and offer valid suggestions to improve the readability beyond what a mere empirical assessment can do, though that Fry Graph is a great place to start, especially for the “beginning report writer.” Writing Skills are critical and essential to effective report writing for the Inspector General program. Numerous web sites exist that offer significant on-line instruction of the 6 identified traits of effective writing: Ideas, Organization, Fluency, Voice, Word Meaning, and Conventions. What is contained in this IG College Text is a simplification of this concept. Ideas address directly the focus and purpose of the paper. If an IG is writing a report of investigation (ROI), then the reader puts down a well written ROI and says, “I get it. . .I agree.” You must be clear on your purpose in your own mind, or your writing will produce a jumble of disconnected ideas. Once you are clear on your purpose, your writing will proceed directly to fulfillment of that purpose. Ideas are the creative part of writing; all the rest is execution. Organization places facts, events, and situations in logical and readable sequence. Events flow from one point to the next. Readers are not forced to go back and read something again and again to figure out what the writer is trying to explain. The horse comes first, then the cart. By the time readers get to the final classification of allegations, the readers know or can predict the outcome because the organization, along with the powerful focus of ideas, gets them there. Voice in this model combines, for simplification, the concept of voice, word meaning, and fluency. Voice means the reader knows it was you who wrote this. You are apparent in the writing. Word meaning means exact and precise use of vocabulary appropriate for the report. Lastly, Fluency means you do not use circumlocutory sentences like this: “Scintillate, scintillate, miniature asteroid body” (Would that be “twinkle, twinkle, little star?”) Fluency also means that you use effective transitions as you move from one portion of the report to another. If it feels like there is a discontinuity between topics, it means that your transition is lacking; you left the reader behind in the previous section. Mechanics are the conventions of writing: Grammar, Spelling, Punctuation, Word Usage, Sentence structure, Subject-verb agreement, etc. And that is where we will -3begin this section. Mechanics of Writing In the next hour, we are going to cover all there is to know about English grammar. If you believe that, see me later; I have some oceanfront property in Arizona I’d like to sell you. So, why be concerned about grammar? A friend once told me that as a college sophomore, he thought he knew everything, but by the time he graduated, he felt like a complete idiot. That was because by then he had learned how much more there was to learn. What follows is for those who already know English, more or less, but need to have their consciousness raised on some of the finer points. You are not going to be examined on the details of grammar. There will be no requirement that you be able to diagram sentences. Your “final exam” in this area comes when you submit a massive complaint report. If your reader says, “I get it. I agree,” then you pass with flying colors, but if he says something like, “I don’t understand,” you fail. That is when you will wish you had paid a bit more attention to this chapter. Spend an hour or two with it now and it will pay dividends in your reports. We are concerned about grammar for these reasons: • Clarity. If you don’t use Standard English, your writing may be unclear, ambiguous, or even misleading. • You are known by your reports. Bad grammar or use of the wrong word among commonly confused words signals fuzzy, unclear thinking and makes the writer appear ignorant. Worse, it can be confusing and even impair the legal sufficiency of a complaint report. A visitor knocked at a house and a small boy answered the door. “Is your father here?” she asked. “He ain’t home,” the boy replied. “Is your mother home, then?” “She ain’t here neither.” “'Ain’t…neither,' young man, where’s your grammar?” she asked. “O, she’s in the kitchen fixin’ supper.” Parts of Speech There are eight parts of speech, and you need a working knowledge of all of them: 1. Verb: This is the action word. It expresses action or state of being. 2. Noun: A person, place, or thing. 3. Pronoun: Substitutes for a noun. 4. Adjective: Modifies a noun or pronoun (but never a verb). It is used to describe the noun – red lettuce, that book. 5. Adverb: Modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb. -46. Preposition: A word that connects a noun or a pronoun with some other word in the sentence, thereby making a prepositional phrase. 7. Conjunction: Connects words and groups of words. 8. Interjection: an exclamation (Ouch! Hey! Expletives). It has no grammatical connection with the rest of the sentence. We don’t need to say anything further about interjections. Sentence Structure Sentences consist of a subject and a predicate. The subject is a noun or a pronoun, the thing you are talking about. The predicate is a verb that tells what you are saying about the subject. Acorns fall from Oak trees. Jack and Jill ran up the hill. In some instances, especially the imperative mood, the subject is understood. (The imperative mood is for commands and requests.) (You) Tote that barge! (You) Look out! Honey, (you) bring me my slippers, please. The subject and verb must agree in number. If the subject is singular, the singular form of the verb must be used. If the subject is plural, the plural form of the verb must be used. “It don’t matter…” is wrong because the subject (it) is singular, but the verb (do) is plural. Better would be “It doesn’t matter,” or “They don’t matter.” The word none does not involve an apostrophe, but it is a contraction since "none" means "not one." People often forget that when using none as the subject and then get the verb number wrong. For example: None of them counts. None and counts are singular. Saying "None of them count" would be wrong because count is plural. None of the three grammar books I bought was organized in a way that would be useful to us. Why not were organized (plural because of three books? Because of the …books is NOT the subject, but rather is merely a prepositional phrase. The subject is None (=Not one). Hence, a singular verb is needed. Verbs Verbs express action or state of being. There are two types of verbs, regular and irregular. Their various forms are called “conjugation,” a process of expressing all forms of the verb in relation to subject and tense. -5Regular Verbs The vast majority of verbs are regular, and form their past tense and past participle by adding -ed to the present tense. These are called the "principal parts:" Present Past Past Participle look looked have looked row rowed have rowed The conjugation of regular verbs is "regular;" all forms are the same except that the third person singular (he, she, it) generally adds an "s" -- he looks, she rows, etc. Verb "to be" Person I You He We You They Present¹ am are is are are are Past² was were was were were were Perfect³ have been have been has been have been have been have been Past Perf had been had been had been had been had been had been Future will be will be will be will be will be will be Future Perfect will have been will have been will have been will have been will have been will have been Note: "Perfect" means "complete." Irregular Verbs A few verbs do not change anything, but use exactly the same form for all tenses. Examples include cut, put, set, and beat, although beat has an alternative past participle, beaten. cut cut have cut beat beat have beat (or have beaten) These are irregular because they do not follow the normal pattern of adding -ed. Others are even more irregular and don't follow any rules at all unless maybe some rule from many centuries ago. These must be memorized. A table is included below as a reference. As you discover or think of others (and I am sure you will), look up them up in a collegiate or unabridged dictionary to find the principal parts. If you don’t master the parts of irregular verbs, you risk being like the little boy who bragged to his teacher, “This morning I et six eggs.” The teacher told him, “You mean ate.” Thinking it over, the boy replied, “Maybe it was eight I et.” The principle parts normally are given in the dictionary as present tense and past tense only, if there is no difference between past and past participle, or all three forms (with alternates) are given if there are variations. Conjugation of the Irregular Verb to do (do, did, done) Person I You He We 1 Present do do does do 2 Past did did did did 3 Perfect have done have done has done have done 4 Past Perfect had done had done had done had done 5 Future will do will do will do will do Future Perfect will have done will have done will have done will have done -6You They do do did did have done have done had done had done will do will do will have done will have done 1. Present progressive is regular: I am doing, he is doing. 2. Simple past tense is shown. Past progressive (I was doing) is regular. 3. Perfect tense indicates action completed in the past. ("Perfect" means "complete.") 4. Past perfect (or pluperfect) indicates completion in the past prior to some other completed action. 5. The auxiliary shall may be substituted for the less formal will to denote an emphatic future, indicating that the subject is under obligation or constraint to do as indicated. -7- Table of Irregular Verbs Past Past Participle Present Past Past Participle lie (tell a lie) lied lied Awake* awoke / awaked* awoken / awaked / awaken light lit / lighted lit / lighted beat beat beaten / beat lose lost lost begin began begun read read read bite bit bitten ride rode ridden blow blew blown rise rose risen bear bore borne run ran run break broke broken ring rang rung said Present bring brought brought say said burst burst burst sit sat sat catch caught caught see saw seen choose chose chosen set set set come came come shake shook shaken creep crept crept Shine*** Shone*** shone cut cut cut shoot shot shot dive dived / dove dived show showed shown do did done slay slew slain draw drew drawn slide slid slid dream dreamed / dreamt dreamed / dreamt sell sold sold drive drove driven speak spoke spoken drink drank drunk spring sprang / sprung sprung eat ate eaten steal stole stolen fall fell fallen stand stood stood feed fed fed strive strove / strived striven flee fled fled sting stung stung fly flew flown sing sang sung sunk fling flung flung sink sank forget forgot forgotten swear swore sworn freeze froze frozen swim swam swum give gave given swing swung swung go went gone take took taken get got got / gotten think thought thought grow grew grown throw threw thrown Hang** hung / hanged** hung / hanged** tear tore torn hurt hurt hurt weep wept wept know knew known wear wore worn write wrote written lie (recline) lay lain lead led led lend lent lent * Awake has several acceptable forms for past tense and past participle such that it is hard to get it wrong. Just please don’t say, “woken up.” That one is just wrong. ** Several irregular verbs have alternative forms of the past tense. Usually that means that you may use whichever form you prefer, but at least one of them has a -8specialized usage reserved for one form. Compare this familiar usage in the poem, "The Night Before Christmas," Stockings were hung by the chimney with care in the hope that St. Nick soon would be there. with another (fortunately) less frequent use: In 1903, Tom Horn was hanged for murder in Wyoming. Objects are hung; people are hanged. *** These forms are for the intransitive verb, as in “The sun shone brightly.” For the transitive verb (“He shined shoes.”) the past and past participle are regular. Voice and Mood English has two voices, active and passive. In the active voice, the subject is acting. In the passive voice, the subject is being acted upon. Active: I write reports. Passive: The reports are written by me. The passive voice is sometimes awkward. While having its place in scientific writing, it tends to be wordy and not helpful in news reporting or IG reports. English has four moods: imperative, infinitive, indicative, and subjunctive. When needed, you will surely use infinitive and imperative without any need for analysis, but most of your report writing will be in the indicative mood. (Indicative = indicating, pointing out.) The subjunctive mood [if it had been ... ; if he were to do that ...] is used for statements contrary to fact. Neither passive voice nor subjunctive mood is very useful to report writing. Try to stick with active voice, indicative mood. Look for verbs and constructions that show action. Transitive/Intransitive Verbs Some verbs require a noun or pronoun object (technically called a “complement”). These are called "transitive verbs," abbreviated as vt in your dictionary. Admittedly, this is a confusing subject, but it helps to remember that trans- means “across.” A transitive verb carries the action across to an object. That object is a noun or a pronoun. The “acid test” of whether a verb is vt or vi is this: Does the verb beg the question of what? If so, it is transitive and must have an object. For example: John made. The sentence is obviously incomplete. It begs the question, what? John made what? Made is a transitive verb. Others: John is. He brings. Is what? Brings what? -9Others do not require a direct object, and are called "verb intransitive," abbreviated vi in the dictionary. The experimental aircraft flew. The cake disappeared. The car stopped. In all of these examples, you never wonder what. To further complicate matters, some verbs have both vt and vi forms and use the context or a preposition to show which is being used. A common example of that is the verb to graduate. vt use: Middletown College graduated 130 students. Graduated what? Students. vi use: John graduated from Middletown College. From is emphasized because the preposition shows that it is vi usage. Without the preposition showing the direction of the activity, it would mean that John was the institutional officer who conferred a degree on the college, i.e., the college would become the "graduate" if you were to omit the preposition. In other words, it is wrong to say "John graduated college," unless, of course, the college received a diploma from John. Another example: Wrong: Correct: John was requested to come. John was asked to come. This is a common error. Request is a transitive verb, i.e., it requires an object. Request a thing. Ask in this type of usage is intransitive, does not require an object. Hence, ask can be followed by an infinitive or a prepositional phrase while request cannot. Perfected Tenses Tenses that use "helper verbs" such as have and had are called perfect tense, and past perfect (also called pluperfect). Pluperfect means “more than perfect.” Perfect means complete. Past perfect or pluperfect denotes action completed even earlier. Those and the subjunctive mood are a bit technical and require us to memorize some verb forms we don't use every day. If you are at all uncomfortable using them, try instead to be simple and direct. That will avoid quite a bunch of errors. For example: Wrong: Right: If it wouldn't have been ... If it had not been ... Wrong: He should have went ... Right: He should have gone ... Terrible: If it wouldn't of been ... If it would of been ... - 10 Right: If it had been ... Hardly a day does by without my hearing someone use “of” instead of “'ve” as a contraction for "have," and usually even the have is wrong. Worse yet is when they can’t even spell it and say, “would of” instead of “would have.” Please don't do that. Nouns In most languages, including English, nouns have a declension. At a minimum, nouns have number (singular and plural), usually with a different form depending on number. Nouns in English, unlike pronouns, seldom have different forms according to whether they are used as the subject (nominative case), object (objective case), or possessive. We are not much aware of declensions in English because most of the case forms appear the same. The problem for writers is those nouns that are not the same. A table of forms that a noun or pronoun takes in each case is called a declension. Remember the uses for each case: • Nominative – subject only. The ordinary, unadorned form of a noun is the nominative case and it can function “as is” as the subject. • Possessive – shows ownership or possession. Nouns ordinarily form the possessive through the addition of ’s to the noun for the singular (the book’s cover, the car’s tires) or s’ or s’s for the plural (the books’ pages, all the wings’ CI reports…) History lesson: The possessive in English began as a contraction. For example, John his became John’s. • Objective – object of a verb or preposition. I can’t think of any noun that changes form for the objective case. Instead of a change in form of the noun, objective case is shown with a preposition, or by its position (after the verb) in the sentence. The preposition sometimes is understood, i.e., not stated. Examples: Read the book changed the tire Read to the child washed the car Two or more subjects of the same verb must all be in the nominative (subject) case. No subject can be in the objective case. That is a trivial consideration with nouns in English since nominative and objective forms are the same, but if you throw a pronoun into the mix, case form becomes apparent. (More on that under Pronouns.) Jack Cars Jack Jack and and and and Jill ran up the hill trucks are registered I ran up the hill (I, never “me.”) they ran down the hill (They, not them) Pronouns You already know all the pronouns – he, she, it, I, me, you, they, who, which, what, this, that (and the other thing), … Pronouns stand-in (substitute) for nouns (people, places, things) and must be in - 11 the same case as the noun to which they refer. If the subject and pronoun are separated by a verb, the verb is like an equal sign: the two sides of it must be equal. The subject of a verb is always in the nominative (subject) case, while the object is (you guessed it!) in the objective case. Col Jones will be wanting to meet with John and I sometime in the afternoon… That is bad on multiple levels. First, will be wanting is awkward. Better: will want. Second, the pronoun I is in the wrong case. It is nominative when it needs to be in the objective case – me – to agree with its position as an object of the verb will want. To test which is better, just simplify the sentence. Instead of a compound object (John and I), omit John. Then it becomes, “Col. Jones will want to meet me.” You wouldn’t think of saying, “Col. Jones will want to meet I,” so there you have the solution. Simplify and your writing becomes easier and more accurate. Here is another one where simplification would enable the person to see his error: (From an annoying radio commercial.) Both me and my wife were able to… This is wrong on multiple levels. First, put the other person first, then yourself. Second, what is the subject? Omit both and my wife and it becomes “Me (was) able to…” And just about everyone can recognize the error. Me is the objective case, used here where the Nominative case is needed for the subject. What were they selling? I have no idea; they lost me at me. And that is how it is with your writing. Errors can be so distracting that your message is lost. Pronoun Declension The table below shows personal pronouns and the forms they take in each of the cases (nominative, possessive, objective). A table of the forms that a noun or pronoun takes in each case is called a declension. Remember the uses for each case: • Nominative – subject only • Possessive – shows ownership or possession • Objective – object of a verb or preposition Singular Nominative Possessive Objective Plural Nominative Possessive Objective First Person Second Person Third Person I my, mine me you you, yours you he, she, it his, her, hers, its him, her, it we our, ours us you your, yours you they their, theirs them Examples of nominative case pronoun use: Jack and they ran down the hill. (They, not them) We run up the hill. You and George run around it. - 12 - Examples of Possessive case pronoun use: I wish you and yours a happy holiday. That package is theirs. It is her turn now, and mine next. This is my car. Examples of Objective case pronoun use: He gave (to) me a dollar. It belongs to them. Come with us. Other types of pronouns (nominative case): Demonstrative pronoun – this, that, these, those Indefinite pronouns – many, one, few, all, each, neither, both, anybody, somebody, everybody, everyone, something, another, nobody (you get the idea…) Interrogative pronouns – who, whom, which, what Reciprocal Pronouns – each other, one another Relative pronoun – who, which, that Case forms for various pronouns: Nominative – this, that, these, those Possessive – their, theirs, somebody’s, nobody’s, another’s Objective – whom, which, those, (following to, with, or any other preposition, or as the object of any verb.) Who/That Errors Wrong: All CAP members that wish to participate… Use who for people, that for things. All CAP members who… Bad: It isn't necessary for state employees who have their own provisions, or for military members who we can't control… The first who is correct because it is the subject and substitutes for employees (“for state employees” is a prepositional phrase), but the second who is wrong because it is the object of the verb control and thus must be in the objective case – whom. Bad: …for those that choose to use Wrong because those refers to people. Use who for people, that for things. Gerunds Gerunds are a major source of pronoun errors. A gerund is a verbal noun, a verb - 13 form ending in -ing and used as a noun. For example, in the sentence, "Rowing is exercise," the word rowing is a gerund. That is not usually a problem when the gerund is the subject, but just let it get into the predicate and get a pronoun involved, and most people get it wrong. Gerunds in the predicate require possessive nouns and pronouns. What are the chances of my being discovered? What was the reason for John's leaving so soon? What was the reason for their leaving so soon? While these examples are correct, they are a bit awkward. This would be more direct: Why did John leave so soon? Remember, better writing is simple and direct. Given a choice when writing a report, use simple phrasing. It will be easier to understand, and you are less likely to get into grammatical trouble. Adjectives Adjectives modify, describe, or specify a noun (never a verb). • Modify: quicker processor, faster cars, smallest munchkin • Describe: red chair, good book • Specify: the van, that unit We are all familiar with adjectives of description such as color and size, but articles (a, an, the) are also classed as adjectives. Two or more adjectives (other than articles) applied to a single noun must be separated by commas: A small, red box the tall, dark, and handsome man Adjectives come in three degrees: simple, comparative, and superlative. • Simple: red small • Comparative: redder smaller • Superlative: heavy good heavier better more robust reddest smallest heaviest best robust most robust Notice that most adjectives are regular and form the comparative by just adding er, and form the superlative by just adding -est (maybe doubling a final consonant, if applicable), but some adjectives are irregular and require a helper word, more, or most. Comparison examples (comparative form of the adjective): The Technician rating is lower than the Senior rating. The Senior rating is higher. The latter is not good because it begs the question, “Higher than what?” When you start a comparison, you need to finish it. The Senior rating is higher than the Technician rating. Note that comparisons use than, never then. Then is a time or sequence reference - 14 only. Than is for comparisons. For example: Back then, the war was just getting started. If this condition is met, then you may do that. [Later in time of sequence than whatever was needed to meet the condition. Did you notice than as a comparison within these brackets?] Comparisons: I would rather have vanilla than chocolate. I would rather be right than hesitant. The Master rating is higher than the Senior rating. Examples of the superlative: The Master rating is highest. Or better (more complete): The Master rating is the highest rating. You can string together any number of simple adjectives, but never double up on the other forms. Bad examples: Double comparative: Double superlative: more redder most best more better Adverbs An adverb is a word that is used to modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Adverbs often (not always) end in -ly. An example of an exception to the -ly ending is there, an adverb meaning "in that place." Other adverbs of place are here, yonder, over, up. Adverbs of degree include very, quiet, not, rather. Examples of common errors include: Wrong Drive slow. Come quick. Exact same price Right Drive slowly. Come quickly. exactly the same price Remember Theodore Roosevelt's admonition to "Speak softly and carry a big stick." It will help you remember the –ly of adverbs. Watch this one, too: I feel bad = I am emotionally distressed. I feel badly = My ability to feel (with my hands) is diminished. Just in case you are sick, say sick or ill, not bad. It is clear, to the point, and not likely to be misunderstood. Example: "similarly sounding words." Why not 'similar sounding words'? Because similar is an adjective, and sounding is a verb. Adjectives cannot be used to modify verbs. Hence, an adverb was used. Then as an adverb meaning next in time, or next in sequence, but it also can be an adjective meaning existing in or belonging to the time period under discussion. It is also - 15 a noun meaning that time. In all instances, though, then time or sequence reference only, never part of a comparison. Than is for comparisons. For example: Then-President Bush prematurely claimed mission accomplishment. Back then, the war was just getting started. If this condition is met, then you may do that. [Later in time or sequence than whatever was needed to meet the condition. Did you notice than as a comparison within these brackets?] First the horse, then the cart. (Next in sequence) Prepositions Prepositions are words that connect a noun or a pronoun with some other word in the sentence, thereby making a prepositional phrase. These are propositional phrases: …on the table of mice and men after dinner …in the garden up the hill between meals …at the meeting for a time off the road …to the store with me under the table Prepositions require an object. That is, they are always followed by a noun. That noun is called the object of the proposition. A prepositional phrase always begins with a preposition and ends with the object of the preposition. The object of a preposition must be in the objective case, never the nominative. Try to avoid ending a sentence with a preposition. It is usually a bad structure because prepositions require objects. Prepositions refer to objects, but no object appears after the end of a sentence. However, strict implementation of this rule produces some really awkward sentences and risks being pedantic. Stylists have waxed eloquent at times about when and why you can end a sentence with a preposition, but Sir Winston Churchill said it in an unforgettable way: After a speech by Prime Minister Churchill, a young reporter told him that he should not end sentences with prepositions. Churchill replied, "Young man, impudence is something up with which I will not put." Conjunctions Conjunctions join things together. They are humble words like and, or, when, that, etc., but play a major role in keeping your writing clear and well coordinated. For that reason, you need to think intentionally about what these words do to and for your sentence structure and meaning. I know I do. There are three types of conjunctions: • Coordinating Conjunctions connect sentence elements of the same grammatical class, i.e., nouns with nouns, adverbs with adverbs, and clauses with clauses. Nouns: The course includes spelling, grammar, and word use. Adjectives: Purple and gold are the school’s colors. Verbs: Stop, look, and listen. - 16 Clauses: The search would have failed, but for a sighting. Coordinating conjunctions are and, but, or, nor, for, yet, and so. • Correlative Conjunctions are always used in pairs and relate (correlate) the things they join. Like coordinating conjunctions, these connect sentence elements of the same grammatical class, i.e., nouns with nouns, adverbs with adverbs, and clauses with clauses, and include both…and, either …or, neither…nor, and not only…but also. The old method is not only wasteful but (also) slow. Either lead or get out of the way. Both Cadets and their parents can file complaints. • Subordinating Conjunctions connect subordinate clauses to sentence elements in the main clause. Subordinate clauses specify a condition applicable to the main clause. That is, what is stated in the main clause is conditioned or modified in some way by the subordinate clause, which is introduced by a subordinating conjunction. Examples of subordinate clauses:1 Clauses of time: when, before, after, until, since, while It has been many years since we saw him. Clauses of place: where, wherever We search where needed. Clauses of manner: as, as if, as though The operation went as expected. Clauses of cause: because, since, as The game was delayed because of rain. Clauses of concession: although, though, while Although limping, he finished the race. Clauses of condition: if, unless We will finish soon if the creek doesn’t rise. Clauses of result: so, so that, so…that It was so overcast that we did not fly. Clauses of purpose: so, so that, in order that We write this so that you can write better. Clauses of comparison: as…as, so…as. Than This chapter is longer than anticipated. The previous book was not so long as this one. There are other subordinating conjunctions. What you should see here is the pattern – how clauses introduced by these words affect the meaning in your main clause. Notice also that these clauses are not ordinarily set off by commas. There is more on comma use below. 1 Thanks to Phillip Gucker and his very readable book, Essential English Grammar, Dover Publications, Inc. (New York), 1966, for the list of subordinate clauses. The examples are mine. - 17 - Punctuation The main punctuation marks available in English and their primary uses are: • Period – ends a sentence. • Semicolon [;] – joins two very closely related thoughts into one sentence to show strong connection. Each part must be a complete sentence with subject and verb, able to stand entirely on its own. • Colon [:] – signals that a list follows. • Question mark – ends a question. • Exclamation point – ends an exclamatory sentence or exclamation. • Dash – introduces parenthetic remarks (i.e., parentheses could be used instead.) • Comma – used like pepper, it confuses the reader. If you don’t have a specific reason for putting in a comma, it probably does not belong there and it would be better to leave it out. See below under Clauses. Punctuation marks are signals to the reader. Proper punctuation promotes easy reading and a smooth flow of information. Bad punctuation breaks the reader’s train of thought and impedes the flow of information (fluency). Let’s assume you know the basics, and just skip to the things that may cause you trouble, including some less common uses. Lists Use commas to separate items in a list: Please have the following items with you: flashlight, compass, map, pen, paper, and ID. When you need to list items that contain commas such as addresses (street address, City, ST), use a semicolon to separate the items. Please reply to the following persons: John Doe, 1465 1st Ave., Spokane, WA; Jane Smith, 537 Oak St., St. Louis, MO; George Michaels, 9765 Congress Ave., Cleveland, OH. Two or more adjectives are separated by commas: Tall, dark, and handsome Thick, red book Quotes If a quotation is closed at the end of a sentence, the sentence-ending punctuation goes inside the closing quote marks. That’s the rule. However, this technological age has produces numerous instances where the rule produces a distortion of the meaning. Try to follow the rule, but you may have good reason to deviate from it at times. Clauses and Commas It seems to me that most punctuation errors occur with clauses, perhaps because we have never seen a clear rule about when to use the comma. I imagine that Mrs. - 18 Whatshername covered it when we were in eighth grade, but I must have been staring the cute girl across the aisle and missed it entirely. However, we did remember that the comma signals a brief pause (shorter than the pause introduced by the period). So, the stuff that I proofread ends up with pauses sprinkled inappropriately to match the equally inappropriate pauses of the writer’s speech pattern. Think of former President George W. Bush, who speaks in 3-word phrases. I don’t think you want a comma every three words. A better rule is needed, and this is it: Set off the clause with commas: • If a clause can stand on its own, with its own subject and verb, or • If a clause can be omitted without changing the meaning of the sentence. Conversely, if the clause is essential to the meaning of the sentence, DO NOT put commas around it. Commas are signals that tell the reader something about what follows. With clauses, the signal is that what follows is extra and can be omitted without changing the meaning of the main clause, the main part of the sentence. Examples: Airplanes, which are important to our mission, require proper maintenance. Tires that are underinflated pose a safety hazard. In the first example, which introduces a subordinate clause that can be omitted without altering the meaning of the main clause, so it must be set off with commas. Note the difference: this is which when it is used as a subordinating conjunction, not when it is used as a pronoun. In the second example, that introduces a clause that cannot be omitted without altering the meaning. Thus, it is not set off with commas. Such is generally the case with which and that, so take care in their use. Avoiding Errors Grammar & Spelling Only "Standard English" is acceptable, American style, not British. Colour is out; only color is right. Avoid every type of grammatical error including the following examples: Examples of Common Errors to Avoid Double negative Subject-Verb number Subject case Pronoun case agreement Object of preposition Plural of Numbers & symbols Past tense Wrong Right not hardly; can't never. it don't That don't matter. him and me came It is me. It's him. to he and I to who 7’s; B’s; ELT’s CI’s; SUI’s forecasted He done it. hardly; can never it doesn't That doesn't matter. he and I came It is I. It is he. to him and me to whom 7s; Bs; ELTs CIs; SUIs forecast He did it. See Rule: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 - 19 Rules for Common Errors 1. Use only one negative in a sentence. Do not add a negative to a negative. Logically, this produces an awkward positive though it is generally intended to be a negative. Two negatives produce an error, not emphasis. The word hardly is a negative. 2. Subject and verb must always agree in number. Plural subjects require a plural verb. Singular subjects require singular verbs. "Do" is plural and "does" is singular – they do and he (she, it) does. 3. Two or more subjects of the same verb must all be in the nominative (subject) case. No subject can be in the objective case. 4. Pronouns must be in the same case as the noun to which they refer. The verb is like an equal sign: the two sides of it must be equal. The subject of a verb is always in the nominative (subject) case. 5. The object of a preposition must be in the objective case, never the nominative. 6. The plural of numbers and symbols is formed with just the letter s, just like ordinary nouns. 7. 'Forecast' is one of those words whose present tense is spelled the same as its past tense. There is no -ed ending. Others, like the verb to do have totally different forms for the past tense (do, did, have done). People learning English simply have to memorize these forms. Apostrophe Problems The apostrophe functions in most (but not all) possessives, not to mention contractions, and thus becomes a source of confusion and errors. Adding to this confusion is a group of similarly sounding words with markedly different meaning. Beware of errors involving use of the wrong form of the words shown in these examples: Possessive your their its it's John's Contraction you're they're Contraction for: = = you are they are = = it is John’s John's John is johns -- plural of john, a noun rather than a proper name. (bathrooms) there -- adverb meaning "in that place." The word ‘none’ does not involve an apostrophe, but it, too, is a contraction since "none" means "not one." People often forget that when using none as the subject and then get the verb number wrong. For example: None of them counts. None and counts are singular. Saying "None of them count" would be wrong because "count" is plural. - 20 Spelling Traps hanger -- For hanging up clothes. hangar -- A garage for airplanes. (This is a flying organization. For heaven’s sake, get hangar right!) One large body of spelling traps may be words derived from other languages, especially Latin, that form plurals differently than English. The problem is that we often handle them incorrectly with resultant number disagreement between subject and verb. Perhaps you are aware of the problem with data. Data is a plural word (singular, datum). Data are, never data is. Here are some others: Medium – a newspaper, or the radio, singular Media – all news organizations and publishers collectively, plural Mediums – people who conduct séances Formula is singular, and its plural (strictly speaking) is formulae. However, formulas is acceptable except in scholarly publications. (IGs are all scholars, right?) A number of word phrases have become compound words, and should NOT be hyphenated. If your phrase gets a green or red squiggle under it from your word processor, you probably got it wrong. Examples: Wrong Right What-so-ever Never-the-less whatsoever. nevertheless Idioms Certain idioms are not necessarily wrong, but are awkward, like this one: Awkward: Why I wanted it is because ... Better: I wanted it because ... Try to keep it simple and direct, which brings us to the next thought. Redundancy Redundancy (from the dictionary) is “a stylistic fault involving excessive wordiness that obscures or unduly complicates expression. ... Repetition.” Here, I am being redundant and repetitious and saying things over and over again. Using the same word more than twice in a thought is redundant. Look for a synonym. If all else fails, get out your Thesaurus and look up similar words. Often times. Often is a time reference. Times is a time reference. Time is contained in the concept of often. Would you say, “frequent times”? If not, then “often times” is wrong since often means frequent. This is speech pattern habit, and hard to break in verbal communication, but you (or whoever does your quality review) should catch it in written work. - 21 Miscellaneous Problem Words Reprise – There is a verb to reprise, but it is not related to reprisal actions in the sense of IG complaints. It has to do with recovery of collateral, as to reprise loan security. One cannot reprise a person. (Recover an escaped slave? I think we outlawed that.) One can only reprise a financial transaction, i.e., reprise the collateral for a loan. The term reprisal that we use in connection with IG complaints is a noun, and (for our purposes) must always be used as a noun in a phrase such as reprisal against. The verb reprise is a word that illustrates how you can follow all the rules and still get it wrong. Sometimes it is simply necessary to resort to the dictionary to be sure of one’s meaning. Where to Look None of us has memorized every detail of the language. If you cannot remember whether a word is an adverb or a preposition, look in the dictionary. There you will find the part of speech, correct spelling, preferred pronunciation, examples of use, and whether a verb requires a direct object (transitive) or does not (vi. = verb intransitive). Consistency While writing, you necessarily make numerous choices related to style and formatting. These choices may be totally unrelated to grammar or technical readability, but they always establish a set of signals for the reader. In this document, for example, you have noticed that the italics style is used for very brief quotation of words under discussion. When folks wrote with typewriters that could not italicize, such word quotes had to be enclosed in quotation marks, which would considerably clutter this document. The advent of word processing programs changed the way we signal such uses. Similarly, when you saw the Courier font above, you knew that it was a grammatical example. Those were signals. In your writing, your use of punctuation, fonts, headings, white space, and other elements of style signal your reader. You need to be consistent in their use or the reader will be misdirected by a wrong signal. You also write with a style and phrasing that is uniquely yours. My style in this chapter is quite conversational, but I would use a much different style in a scientific paper or technical manual. Be aware of your style, and do not switch between styles within the same document. Be consistent. It is best to work from an outline, but also make use of your word processor’s ability to generate a Table of Contents (TOC) from your headings. Inspection of the TOC may reveal structural faults (or strengths) in your report. Note whether you have “orphan” headings, lacking equal level points. Note whether you have omitted or glossed over important topics. Note whether you have structural consistency throughout. The following graph summarizes the condensed 4-traits. When using the graph, the reviewer first reads the paper from start to finish. From this impression the reviewer can comment on ideas and voice. After a second review, organization and mechanics are overhauled. To provide the writer with the needed feedback, the reviewer circles words or phrases appropriate in each matrix section - 22 that applies, even if in more than one section! Afterwards, the reviewer will select a value with “5” representing a finished report in that area, a “3” indicating a good report that just needs re-write, or a “1” report indicating the report has serious flaws that do not make it an effective “Stand Alone Document”2 Qualities of a strong (5) paper Ideas Organization Voice Mechanics Paper is clear, focused. It holds the reader's attention; references and details reinforce the direction taken with the allegations in the report. The central subject matter or structural presentation is compelling, clear and sequential Writer speaks directly and without bias. a good grasp of standard writing conventions: grammar, capitalization, punctuation, usage, spelling, paragraphing; The effective organization takes the reader from beginning to end. The Standard of Preponderance of Evidence is clearly in the report Qualities of a developing (3) paper clear and focused; findings and conclusions shows promise even though still limited, sketchy, or general With further rewriting, the preponderance of Evidence needed to be clarified 2 Writer is clearly involved in the report and is showing the reader the direction taken to reach the conclusion in a readable manner errors are few; Only light editing needed for publication. Generally less than 3 errors per page The Writer is known by the quality of this report Strong enough to move the reader along without confusion. Some re-reading is needed to clarify main points to arrive at the findings and conclusions. By re-reading sections and reordering a few topics, the reader is able to follow the direction taken by the writer CAP-IO Guide Chapter 4, “The Report” page 66 Writer seems without bias, but not always Final result is readable but short of any strong focus taking the reader to the conclusion. The Writer is beginning to emerge as the author of this report. A reasonable control over a limited range of conventions; errors numerous and serious enough to be somewhat distracting; would require moderate editing for publication. Frequency of errors is intruding into the meaning and sense of the report, requiring re-reading of sentences or passages. - 23 - Qualities of a weak (1) paper no clear sense of purpose or direction; reader must make inferences based on sketchy details No clear preponderance of evidence notable in the report. Lacks a clear sense of direction; ideas, details, or events strung together at random. Report is directionless and as it is written can not support the findings and conclusions Unable to understand the report. Writer seems indifferent, uninvolved, distanced from the topic; flat; mechanical; overly technical/jingoistic. The report is overly biased by tone and word choices. It appears as if the report’s conclusion is suspect Errors repeatedly distract and make the text difficult to read; extensive editing required for publication. Almost every sentence requires editing. Frequent miss-use or misspellings makes the report unreadable or amateurish.
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