WRITER’S “DIRTY DOZEN”



WRITER’S “DIRTY DOZEN” Use this list when revising your writing, editing the work of peers, or reviewing for P/SAT (9/2011)1) Subject and Verb Agreement S-VRULE: Basic Principle: Singular subjects need singular verbs; plural subjects need plural verbs.The indefinite pronouns anyone, everyone, someone, no one, nobody are always singular and, therefore, require singular verbs.Some indefinite pronouns are particularly troublesome Everyone and everybody (listed above, also) certainly feel like more than one person and, therefore, students are sometimes tempted to use a plural verb with them. They are always singular, though. Each is often followed by a prepositional phrase ending in a plural word (Each of the cars), thus confusing the verb choice. Each, too, is always singular and requires a singular verb.The pronouns neither and either are singular and require singular verbs even though they seem to be referring, in a sense, to two things.The conjunction or does not conjoin (as and does): when nor or or is used the subject closer to the verb determines the number of the verb. Whether the subject comes before or after the verb doesn't matter; the proximity determines the number.Note general s/no-s pattern: “A horse eats grass.”/“Horses eat grass.”Note tricky singular subjects that SEEM plural: either, neither, nobody, everyone, each etc.Of all the students in my class, nobody, not even Jake, IS excited about the homework.Note tricky phrases that SEEM to create plural subjects: as well as, along with, in addition toThe leadoff hitter, as well as the cleanup hitter, IS getting some good hits tonight.2) Verb Tense and Verb Tense Consistency V-TRULE: Generally, writers maintain one tense for the main discourse and indicate changes in time frame by changing tense relative to that primary tense, which is usually either simple past or simple present. Even apparently non-narrative writing should employ verb tenses consistently and clearly.General guideline: Do not shift from one tense to another if the time frame for each action or state is the same.Correct tense: Prior to the Industrial Revolution, workers spent [NOT spend] no time in factories.3) Pronoun Antecedent Agreement/ AmbiguityP-ARULE: A pronoun must agree with the noun for which it stands, that is, with its antecedent, in person, number and gender. Person: The person of a pronoun indicates whether the pronoun refers to the first person (the one speaking), the second person (the one spoken to), or the third person (the one spoken about). Number: If the antecedent is singular, the pronoun is singular; if the antecedent is plural, the pronoun is plural.Pronouns agree in number, gender, person with the noun they take the place of.Use “The CIA recruits its (NOT their) spies from among the country’s elite colleges.”Pronouns must be clear (not ambiguous ) as to what noun they take the place of.Incorrect: Sarah told Emma that she had a serious foot odor problem. [Who has the problem?]Be consistent: “You must have an understanding of math if you expect to master physics.”Use subj./obj. pronouns correctly: Jim & I (subj.)are friends. NOT Me (obj.) & Jim are friends. 4) Relative Pronoun AgreementRULE: A pronoun can replace a noun or another pronoun. You use pronouns like "he," "which," "none," and "you" to make your sentences less cumbersome and less repetitive.P-RRelative pronouns "which", "who" and "that" can be singular or plural. Thy take their number from their antecedent (the words to which they refer).Plural antecedent= plural pronoun and verb. Singular antecedent= singular pronoun and verb. Emily picked all of the flowers that were growing in the back garden.The antecedent of "that" is "flowers". Since flowers is plural, the pronoun that is plural and takes a plural verb. Use “The politicians who (NOT that) spent the most money were elected.”Use “The vending machines that (NOT who) were installed were popular with students.”5) Wrong WordRULE: Homophones are words that are pronounced the same as other words but differ in meaning. They words may be spelled the same, such as rose (flower) and rose (past tense of rise), or differently such as carat, caret, and carrot.WWHomophones: i.e. effect-affect/ too-to- two/ their-there/ accept-except/ its-it’s/lie-layWord choice: i.e. Less vs. fewer (use “12 items or fewer” NOT “12 items or less”) 6) Audience Appropriate AUD.RULE: Involves choosing words that are appropriate for the intended audience. Know your audience: Use formal expressions in formal essays.Use “He could have been a good king…” NOT “He could of/ couldav been a good king…” Avoid slang/ street/ texting abbreviations in formal essaysUse “Like you, Hamlet is a flawed character…” NOT “Like u, Hamlet is a messed up guy…”7) Adverb/Adjective ErrorAdv/AdjRULE: An adjective always modifies a noun. An adverb modifies a verb, adjective or adverb. Adverbs modify verbs: “He ate quickly…” NOT “He ate quick...”Remember: “I did well (adv.) in school” NOT “I did good in school.” 8) Dangling and Misplaced ModifiersMod.RULE: Dandling modifiers are words or phrases that do not have a clear term to modify in a sentence. They are often found at the beginning of sentences, though they can also appear at a sentence's end. They frequently include an -ing word and a to + verb (infinitive) phrase near the start of a sentence.MM are words or phrases that do not clearly point to the word or phrase they modify. As a result, meaning is obscured. Dangling: Going to school, I got run over by a bus. NOT Going to school, the bus ran me down.Misplaced: “On the way to school, my friend saw a puppy. NOT “My friend saw a puppy on the way to school.”9) Sentence Fragment or Run-on Sentence SF/R-ORULE: Fragments are incomplete sentences. Usually, fragments are pieces of sentences that have become disconnected from the main clause. One of the easiest ways to correct them is to remove the period between the fragment and the main clause. Other kinds of punctuation may be needed for the newly combined sentence.A run-on sentence has at least two parts, either one of which can stand by itself (in other words, two independent clauses), but the two parts have been smooshed together instead of being properly connected.SF: Use “When young, the politician did lose elections.” NOT “When the politician was young.”R-O: Use “Coal is a dirty fuel. This is a fact.” NOT “Coal is a dirty fuel this is a fact.”10) Parallelism Parall.RULE: Parallelism is writing consistently by using the same grammatical construction. Words, phrases, or clauses that are parallel in function should also be parallel in grammatical form. Sentence elements that are connected, related or sequential should be in “balance” Use “John argued angrily and boisterously with his teacher.” NOT “John argued angrily with his teacher and was boisterous.” Use “She wanted to make money, to buy stock, and to retire early.” NOT “She wanted to make money, to buy stock, and she wanted to retire early.”11) Faulty ComparativesComp.RULE: FC happens when the comparison is not complete or when the items being compared are in different categories.Example: 1) as smart as When it comes to degree of comparison, use the following: Comparatives: When comparing 2 items use -er (smarter, faster, taller) and more (followed by an adverb): more attractiveMost one syllable and two syllable adjectives that end in Y end in -er (calmer, lovelier) while adjectives with more syllables use more (more beautiful).Superlative degree: Compares three or more items (fastest, smartest, smoothest).FC happens when a comparative ending in -er or a superlative ending in -est is used with words like more, most, less or least (you wouldn't say more tastier).When comparing two items, use comparative (–er); with three or more use superlative (-est)When using a comparative or superlative, be sure to complete/ balance both sentence parts. Incorrect: The steak is the best entrée on the menu, and the soup is the best appetizer.Correct: The steak is the best entrée on the menu, and the soup is the best appetizer on the menu.Incorrect: I like modern poetry more than Shakespeare.Correct: I like modern poetry more than Shakespeare’s poetry.12) Proper CapitalizationCap.RULE: Capitalize titles, proper nouns (names of people, places, things), first word of a sentence, etc. ................
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