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: Nevertheless,
cars produce carbon dioxide. High-speed trains will, consequently,
reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
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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.
House, 2002.
Albert, Kye. “Stem Cells May Cure Diseases But Stir Heated Controversy.”
Magazine/Newspaper article from Proquest
Time.
Magazine article, two authors
Jones, Fred, and Sara
Barnett. “Stem Cells.” Time.
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
www.stemcell.com
Encyclopedia with author
Wolfson, Richard.
"Electricity." World Book Online
<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
- Good can be a predicate adjective/object complement:
The pie tastes good. The play was
good.
- Well is an adverb: She plays soccer well.
- He looks well (He appears healthy) vs. He looks good (he is attractive).
Real/really
- Real is an adjective:
- 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
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
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.
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.
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.
<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.
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
12
C. Phrases and
Clauses
Phrases are groups of words that are not complete sentences. They lack a
subject, a
verb, or both.
To the library the deep sand slowing their
stride seeing the movie
Independent clauses are complete sentences:
I left the meeting early.
Dependent (or subordinate clauses) cannot stand alone:
Incorrect: Because I left the
meeting early.
Edited: Because I left the
meeting early, I missed the donuts.
3. Sentence types
Simple sentence: one independent clause, no dependent clauses
The dog
chased the stick.
Compound sentence: two independent clauses, no dependent clauses
The dog
chased the stick, and the cat caught a mouse.
Complex sentence: one independent clause and one dependent clause,
in any order
The dog
chased the stick because Sally threw it.
Because
Sally threw the stick, the dog chased it.
Compound-complex sentences: two or more independent clauses and one
or more dependent clauses
Although
Mozart’s music is very famous now, Mozart was frequently in debt, and he
died
poor.
4. Punctuation
Commas
- To join independent clauses: Jonah went to the
store, but Adriana saw a movie.
- To set off introductory word groups that appear
before the complete subject:
(Dependent
clause) Even though Henry said it was a bad idea, I still take vitamins.
(Prepositional
phrase) During the war in
(Transitional word) However, dogs chase cats.
- To set off transitions and interrupters:
Accordingly, we offered the new class.
The plan, I think, will
work well.
- To set off tag questions: Your machine will
work, won’t it?
- To set off contrasts: The new school will
help all children, not just the first graders.
5
- To set off nonessential (nonrestrictive)
modifiers: which and who
My
fish, which are doing the back stroke, don’t look too well.
Sally,
who is in my speech class, is waiting for us.
Constrast these with The toaster that burns my English muffins just
quit working.
- To set off serial adjectives: The shiny, new
school bus
Usage note: Some serial adjectives don’t take commas: The new welding equipment.
The test: if you can switch the adjectives’ order or
add “and” or “but” between them, separate
them with a comma.
- Addresses and names
I live
in Chelan,
We
hired Maureen Johnson, PhD, to teach the archeology class.
- In quotations
“I
don’t think we should eat those worms,” Martha said, “because we don’t know
where
they’ve been.”
NO comma if “that” introduces the quotation: Irma said that “it
wouldn’t be fair” if
she didn’t win.
Semicolons and colons
- Use semicolons to link two independent clauses
that contain distinct thoughts:
People
say they want to protect the environment; then they buy SUV’s.
- Use semicolons to set off lengthy items in a list
that may already contain commas:
For the
camping trip, you should bring a camera, a flashlight, and matches; a tent, a
sleeping
bag, and a pad; and plenty of food.
- Use colons to introduce examples, quotes, or
lists:
I have
one goal: to eat that burrito.
The
teacher became livid: “Sit down now!”
For lists, use a colon only after a
complete sentence
Joe had
three symptoms: a headache, dizziness, and fainting spells.
NOT Joe’s three symptoms are:
a headache, . . ..
- Use colons to join independent clauses if the
second thought illustrates the first. Capitalize the first letter after a colon when
used to join independent clauses.
Sumptuous
food filled the table: The guests were practically drooling.
Apostrophes
- Use apostrophes to show possession: Adam’s car
- Use apostrophes in contractions: don’t
- Use apostrophes to show plurals of symbols,
letters, and numbers: A’s, &’s, 8’s.
Do not
use apostrophes to show plurals of words.
Incorrect: on Sunday’s, three apple’s
6
10. Dangling/Misplaced
Modifiers
Modifiers are groups of words
that add information to a sentence.
However, if incorrectly placed, they may cause confusion:
Unclear: It was not a good idea to
serve food to the directors standing around the
room on flimsy paper plates.
Edited: It was not a good idea to serve food on flimsy
paper plates to the directors
standing around the room.
11. Combining Complete Sentences
, for , and , nor , but , or , yet , so
Option
1:
Independent
clause Independent
clause
;
Option 2:
Independent clause Independent clause
; consequently, ; furthermore, ; however, ; indeed, ; in fact, ; moreover, ; nevertheless, ; then, ; therefore,
Option
3:
Independent
clause Independent
clause
, and consequently, , and furthermore, , and indeed, , and/but in fact, , and moreover, , but nevertheless, , and therefore,
Option 4
:
Independent clause Independent clause
11
9. Editing sentences
Complete sentences have a subject, a verb, and they can stand alone: The pig loves slop.
Fragments are incomplete sentences. They may lack a subject, a verb, or they may be
dependent clauses that cannot stand alone
No subject: Running from the monster.
No verb: Shelley, the woman in the yellow hat.
Dependent clause: As when we went to the movies.
Comma splices
occur when you join two complete sentences with only a comma; you must also use
a FANBOYS.
Comma splice: I went to the store, Dana did her physics homework.
Edited: I went to the store, but Dana did her physics homework.
Run-on sentences (or fused sentences) occur
when you omit punctuation between complete sentences that you want to join.
Run-on: I only had one cookie yet John said that he wanted
it.
Edited: I only had one cookie, yet John said that he wanted it.
Usage issues
Subject-verb agreement
Use a singular verb if the sentence subject is a
single title, even though it contains plural
words: The World Wars is
a great historical reference book.
Use singular verbs with singular nouns that end with
s, such as athletics, politics,
linguistics, statistics, mumps, etc.: Politics is dirty business.
Use plural verbs for compound subjects: Cheese and beef
are
high-fat foods.
If the parts of a compound subject form a single
unit, treat them as singular:
Bacon and eggs is my favorite breakfast.
If you use or/nor
to connect different parts of a compound subject, make the verb agree
with the part of the subject closest to it:
The principal or the teachers review the curriculum.
Neither the teachers nor
principal agrees with cutting the
budget.
Make the subject and verb agree when separated by
interrupters:
The new car,
loaded with extras, is quite
expensive.
Expletive construction
There are
jobs available. There is a job available.
Trouble words
If all is the subject, ask if the noun to which it refers is countable
(plural), or
general (singular)
All of the food is on the counter. (food: not countable)
All of the food containers are cardboard. (containers: countable)
Sentence subjects and prepositional phrases
Prepositional objects are never sentence
subjects; they may confuse agreement:
One of the girls likes
baseball.
10
4. Use
‘s after a singular noun that ends with an s: Chris’s car
Exception:
If the word is lengthy or if adding ‘s
makes the pronunciation difficult, use just an apostrophe after the final s: Hodges’ (vs.
Hodges’s)
5. Use
an apostrophe to show the deletion of understood digits in dates: 1997 à ‘97
6. Miscellaneous
My mother-in-law’s car
Sally and Joey’s mother (same mother) vs Sally’s and Joey’s mothers (different
mothers)
Usage note: It’s is a contraction for it
is, it was, or it has only; its is a
possessive pronoun
Quotation marks
- Quotations within quotations are set off with
single quotation marks:
Mary
replied, “The teacher said, ‘Please get to work,’ and then he sat down.”
- End punctuation generally goes within quotation
marks:
Juan
yelled, “Run!” Mayra asked, “May I
borrow your pencil?”
Sometimes the question and exclamation
marks apply to the whole sentence, but not to
the quotes. In these cases, the punctuation may come
after the quotation mark
Mayra
asked, “Did the teacher say, ‘Turn in your papers on Monday’?”
Fred yelled, “You didn’t even hear
Dad say, ‘Please drive safely’!”
- Colons and semicolons generally fall outside
quotation marks:
Sue didn’t
heed her mother’s advice to “stay out of trouble”: She started reading
Hamlet.
- Block quotes (over four lines in MLA style) do
not take quotation marks.
Hyphens
- Hyphenate numbers between 21 and 99, even if
within larger numbers:
Thirty-eight forty-three
thousand
- Hyphenate prefixes before a proper noun or a
number:
non-Euclidean
post-Victorian pre-1980
- Hyphenate all ex-, self-, all-, -elect, and –odd
words
All-encompassing,
self-doubt, ex-parrot, president-elect, forty-odd pigeons
- Hyphenate letters before words: t-shirt, e-mail,
A-frame
- Hyphenate compound adjectives, nouns, and verbs:
The
second-largest importer The
eighth-grade class The
runner-up is Tony.
You
should re-form the clay into a ball.
Cross-examine that witness, please.
Do not hyphenate compound adjectives if
they fall after the noun they modify:
The
sleep-inducing drug vs. The drug is sleep inducing.
7
- Hyphenate between double-vowels and triple
consonants after prefixes and before suffixes:
Anti-intellectual
(vs. antimagnetic), bell-like (vs. childlike)
- Use hanging hyphens in lists of hyphenated items:
The
oil- and water-based paints are new.
5. Capitalization
Capitalize proper nouns and proper adjectives
Capitalized Not
capitalized
Tom my
friend
Dad as a name (e.g. Dad said yes.) dad (e.g. My dad said yes.)
African-American a white man, black people
October fall,
spring
Fall Orientation, Easter holiday
Buddhism, Catholic religion
Bible biblical
(e.g. biblical scholars)
God (specific name) god (e.g. gods and goddesses)
Senator Miriam Jones (part of a
title) the senator replied
The French Revolution the
revolution in 1979
Jazz Age the
beginning of rock and roll
Math 101, Algebra II my
math class, your algebra teacher
The Big Dipper the
constellation
Earth (the planet) earth (dirt)
Capitalize the first line of a quote: Bill said, “Let’s go eat.”
“Let’s go eat,” Bill said, “and then see a play.”
Don’t capitalize the first word of
an integrated quote :
Film critic Maria Hernandez states that The Matrix “needs to find a new
lead actor.”
Titles
Capitalize the first and last words of a title, and everything in between except for a, an, the, and, and prepositions under five letters:
An Enemy of the People A
Secret Between Friends Last
But Not Least
Usage Note: Underlining titles
Underline titles that other authors wrote: Hamlet
Do not underline your own original titles: My Vacation with Spot
8
6. Editing Word Choice
SLANG to expunge from your writing:
kid bunch cool spot like stuff
guy hang out well party (use as a noun,
not a verb) 
DEAD
WORDS to delete:
very quite rather great super
really a lot much thing many
Assent Ascent Council Counsel Emigrate Immigrate Loose Lose Populace Populous Whether Weather Elicit Illicit Accept Except Break Brake Bare Bear Waist Waste Which Witch Who’s Whose
7. Homonyms
Eminent Imminent Gorilla Guerilla Personal Personnel Cite Sight Site Allude Elude Conscious Conscience
Right
Rite
Write
Stationary
Stationery
Straight
Strait
Than
Then
Your
You’re
To
Too
Two
8. Writing numbers
In formal academic texts,
readers expect most numbers to be written out:
These twenty-three authors represent four different regions.
In technical documents, where
more numbers are used, numerals are fine.
If a number appears at the
beginning of a sentence, write it out or rearrange the sentence so a word
appears first.
Incorrect: 174 families live in Washtucna.
Clumsy: One hundred and seventy-four families live
in Washtucna.
Better: Washtucna is
home to 174 families.
Miscellaneous
The
1930s the class of ’97 the ‘80s (informal)
For a range of numbers over
100, you may omit the first digit of the second number unless doing so
causes confusion: 145-56
Supply all digits in ranges
of years unless they belong to the same century:
1492-1536 1993-98
9