Useful Transitions

Comparisons

In the same way likewise as similarly also like

Contrasts

But yet even so however nevertheless on the other hand

Still on the contrary although even though conversely

Otherwise counter to as opposed to

To emphasize a point

Again indeed with this in mind for this reason truly

In fact to emphasize

To conclude or summarize

As a result consequently thus therefore accordingly

In short in summary

To clarify

That is to put another way to clarify in other words

Stated differently

Usage notes:

• If you use a transition word or phrase at the beginning of a sentence, set if off with a comma:

Nevertheless, cars produce carbon dioxide.

• You can use transitions as interrupters; set them off with commas:

High-speed trains will, consequently, reduce

greenhouse gas emissions.

16

1. Parts of speech

Pronouns

Pronouns replace nouns

Subjective case: I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they

Objective case: Me, you, him, her, it, us, you, them

Possessive case: My/mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs (these function as adjectives)

Indefinite Pronouns

Subjective: Anybody, everybody

Objective: anybody, everybody

Possessive: anybody’s, everybody’s

Relative and Interrogative Pronouns

Subjective: Who, whoever, which, that, what

Objective: Whom, whomever, which, that, what

Possessive: whose

Usage note: who and whom

Use who when it renames the subject of a sentence:

The comedian who made us laugh is on TV.

Use whom when it renames the indirect object in a sentence:

I addressed the committee to whom I had written.

You should give the message to whomever you trust the most.

1

More Verbs!

Modal verbs: might, could, would, should, may

Phrasal verbs: run by, clear out, check in, etc.

Active voice: The dog chased the cat.

Passive voice: The cat was chased by the dog.

Indicative mood: The dog was eating.

Subjunctive mood: If the dog were eating, I would have also fed the cat.

Usage note: lie/lay sit/set

Present Past Past Participle (have + verb)

Lie (oneself) lie lay lain

Lay (an object) lay laid laid

Sit (oneself) sit sat sat

Set (an object) set set set

Adjectives

Adjectives describe nouns. They answer the questions Which one? How many? and What kind?

red car fastest snake that donut my toe Fred’s money three leaves

Adjectives can come at the end of a sentence: The water is cold. This is called a predicate adjective or an object complement.

Adverbs

Adverbs answer the questions When? Where? How? To what degree?

Adverbs can modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.

Adverbs modifying verbs: Adverbs modifying adjectives:

a very fast car

a totally awesome movie

We left early for the game.

They waited there for the bus.

Julia quietly shut the door.

Our friends will arrive soon.

She will not go.

Adverbs modifying other adverbs:

Traffic moved horribly slowly. The story was never really clear.

2

Works Cited Page Example

Jones 7

Works Cited

Book

Abernathy, Susan. The Stem Cell Debate. New York: Random

House, 2002.

Albert, Kye. “Stem Cells May Cure Diseases But Stir Heated Controversy.”

Magazine/Newspaper article from Proquest

Time. 29 Aug. 2003: 23-6. <www.proquest.com>

Magazine article, two authors

Jones, Fred, and Sara Barnett. “Stem Cells.” Time. 23 Aug. 2006: 17

Magazine article from Proquest, no author

“Possible Cure for Alzheimers?” Newsweek. 12 May 2003: 3-5

<www.proquest.com>

Tzadic, Erika. “The Stem Cell Promise Homepage.” The Fred

Web page with author, sponsoring organization, date of creation-revision, date of access

Hutchinson Cancer Center. 4 July 2003. 19 May 2004.

www.stemcell.com

Encyclopedia

with author

Wolfson, Richard. "Electricity." World Book Online Reference Center. 2007. 31 Aug. 2007

<http://www.worldbookonline.com/wb/Article?id=ar177040>

Web page with date of access, no author, no sponsoring org, no date of creation/revision

“The Worries of Stem Cells.” 18 May 2004.

<www.notostemresearch.com>

15

D. Avoiding plagiarism

Plagiarism is the intentional or unintentional presentation of someone else’s words or ideas as your own. It is a serious offence and it carries serious consequences. All direct quotes must lie with quotation marks. All other material must be paraphrased, or re-written in your own words, and correctly cited.

To paraphrase a selection, choose from your source three important, non-sequential words per passage. Rewrite the passage using those three words; the rest is your own. Cite appropriately.

E. Integrating quotes: Use the A-“B”-C method to integrate quotes into your text. The A is introducing the quote. “B” is the quote itself. The C is your summary of the quote or your explanation of its significance. Example: Dr. Foreman believes that exposure to mass media hurts young children. He said, “Children under the age of three can be hurt by any television exposure” (Johnson 25). Allowing young children to view television of any kind can be harmful.

F. Long quotes (four lines or longer) are indented an inch on the left margin, use no quotation

marks, and the parenthetical reference comes after the end punctuation.

Senator Forehead was quick to talk too much:

Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. (Jones 29)

This shows that politicians should be muzzled.

In a typical research paper, avoid having quotes fill more than 25% of any page.

14

.Usage note: Good/well

1. Good can be a predicate adjective/object complement:

The pie tastes good. The play was good.

2. Well is an adverb: She plays soccer well.
3. He looks well (He appears healthy) vs. He looks good (he is attractive).

Real/really

1. Real is an adjective: Norman is a real winner.
2. Really is an adverb: Marie Curie was really smart. Mia Hamm plays really well.

Usage note: object complements

Object complements must be adjectives; they cannot be adverbs. Therefore, it is ungrammatical to write “is when” or “is where” to introduce examples: when/where issues are adverbs.

Incorrect: Detention is when students have to stay after school. School is where students get to read Tolstoy.

Edited: Students who receive detention must stay after school. At school, students get to read

Tolstoy.

Prepositions

Prepositions show relationships. Some common prepositions:

About at despite near to

Above before down of toward

Across behind during off under

After below except on until

Against beneath for out up

Along between from outside upon

Among beyond in over with

Around by into past within

As concerning like through without

A noun always comes after a preposition; it is called the prepositional object. The preposition, the noun, and anything in between are called the prepositional phrase. The end of the very long movie was great.

Usage note: Like and as

Use like as a preposition to show similarities. A noun must follow it:

Fritz dances like a loon.

Use as (or such as/as when/as if) to introduce examples:

Thomas Jefferson had an enormous impact on US history, as when he

wrote the Declaration of Independence.

In formal writing, do not use “like when.” Incorrect: We had fun this summer, like when we went to the beach.

Oh no!!

Interjections show strong emotions or reactions. Hey, did you see The Matrix? Man, it rocked. Dude! Yo.

3

13. MLA documentation style at a glance

A. What to cite: You must cite any

• Statistics
• Direct quotes
• Information/ideas that are not your own

You do not need to cite common knowledge:

The US entered WWII in 1941.

B. In-text/parenthetical citations: use parenthetical citations to identify the source of information you use in your writing. These may appear directly after a data point: Senator Forehead stated, “The economy is improving” (Jones 25). Note that the period comes after the citation. You may also put parenthetical citations at the end of a paragraph in which you use several data points from the same source. However, it is better to cite too often than not enough. Format for parenthetical citations:

§ Book/article with author and page number: (Abernathy 34)

§ Book/article with no author: (“Alzheimer’s” 35)

§ Internet/electronic source/Proquest article with author: (Swenson)

§ Internet/electronic source/Proquest article with no author:

(“Worries”)

C The Works Cited page is not a bibliography; it is only a list of the works you cited in your

paper. List the entries alphabetically, and include all available information.

1. Citing a book:

Author’s name. Title of the book. City where published: publisher, year.

Jones, Fred G. How to Cook Slugs. Seattle: Pantheon, 1998.

2. Citing a magazine article:

Author’s Name. “Title of article.” Title of magazine. Date: page range.

Jones, Fred G. “Cooking Slugs Is Fun and Easy.” Newsweek. 23 July 2003: 24-8

3. Citing a magazine article found on Proquest: do the same entry as a magazine article,

and add to the end the URL within <> marks. Note: the URL should be on one line only.

Jones, Fred G. “Cooking Slugs Is Fun and Easy.” Newsweek. 23 Nov. 2003: 24-8

<www.proquest.com>

4. Citing a personal or professional web page:

Author. Page name. Sponsoring institution. Date of creation or last revision. Date of

access. <URL>

Sanford, Fred G. The Slug Cooking Homepage. The American Culinary Institute of

Slimey Things. 14 Apr. 2002. 20 Jan. 2003. <www.slugcookingyummy.com>

4

Conjunctions join words, phrases, and sentences.

Coordinating conjunctions: For And Nor But Or Yet So

Subordinating conjunctions: After although so that As/as if because where Before if wherever Since unless Until when/whenever Whereas while Even though as though

Coordinating conjunctions, or the FANBOYS, combine objects (apples and oranges), phrases (cleaning the kitchen or ironing clothes), or independent clauses/complete thoughts (I read a book, so John cleaned the kitchen.)

Subordinating conjunctions create dependent clauses; they cannot stand on their own. They must be attached to an independent clause:

I wore a coat because it rained.

Independent clause Dependent clause

Correlative conjunctions (not only. . . but also, either. . . or, both. . .and) combine grammatically equal elements: Not only did we win the game, but we also won the tournament.

2. Parts of sentences

A. A Simple subject consists of one or more nouns/pronouns that is the doer or the topic of the sentence. The complete subject is the simple subject plus all the modifying words.

Example: The lion ate a yak. Lion is the simple subject.

The large, frightened yaks ran away from the lion. Yaks is the simple

subject; The large, frightened yaks is the complete subject.

Gerund phrases may be sentence subjects: Cleaning my room is a chore I abhor.

Infinitive phrases may also be subjects: To run a marathon was my next goal.

Prepositional objects may not be sentence subjects. The large herd of frightened yaks ran away from the lion. Herd, not yaks, is the subject.

B. A simple predicate is a verb or verb phrase. Example: The cat howled.

The cat might have howled. The cat howled and mewed.

Other kinds of predicates:

The player kicked the ball. (transitive verb + direct object)

The player kicked the ball to her teammate. (trans. verb + direct object + indirect object)

The water is cold. The cookie tastes good. (linking verb + object complement)

13

12. Combining Independent and Dependent Clauses

after

although

as/as if/as when

because

before

if

since

unless

until

when/whenever

whereas

while

Option 1:

Independent clause Dependent clause

Option 2:

After

Although

As/as if

Because

Before

If

Since

Unless

Until

When/whenever

Whereas

While

Even though

	,
Dependent clause		Independent clause