A Commonsense Guide to Grammar and Usage

by Beason, Larry; Lester, Mark

• ISBN13: 9780312470951
• ISBN10: 0312470959
• Edition: 5th
• Format: Spiral Bound
• Copyright: 2008-08-06
• Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's

Summary

This student friendly grammar guide helps students recognize, correct, and avoid the most common and serious grammar and usage errors. This text breaks complex concepts down into simple lessons, each focusing on a single essential skill. Everyday language and easy-to-remember tips make grammar easy to understand, and clear examples and diagramsshow, rather than just tell, how to identify and correct problems. Hundreds of exercises in the book and thousands more at Exercise Central via the companion Web site provide students with plentiful practice.

Author Biography

LARRY BEASON is associate professor of English and director of composition at the University of South Alabama. His teaching interests include composition, grammar, and the teaching of writing. He has published in journals such as Research in the Teaching of English and Journal of Business Communication.

MARK LESTER, former professor of English at Eastern Washington University, is the author of over a dozen books on grammar and linguistics. He has served as the chair of the department of English as a Second Language at the University of Hawaii and chair of the department of English at Eastern Washington University.

Table of Contents

Preface for Instructors

Why Use This Book – For Students
How to Use This Book
Grammar without Tears

Unit One: Understanding the Basic Sentence
1. Fragments

2. Run-ons: Fused Sentences and Comma Splices
        
Unit Two: Making Subjects and Verbs Agree
3. Nearest-Noun Agreement Errors

4. Agreement with There is and There was
5. Agreement with Compound Subjects
    
Unit Three: Using Correct Verb Tenses
6. Present, Past, and Tense Shifting
7. The Past and the Perfect Tenses
    
Unit Four: Understanding Pronouns
8. Pronoun Agreement

9. Vague Pronouns: This, That and It
10. Choosing the Correct Pronoun Form

11. Who, Whom, and That
12. Eliminating Sexist Pronouns

Unit Five: Placing and Punctuating Modifiers

13. Dangling Modifiers
14. Misplaced and Squinting Adverbs

Unit Six: Using Commas Correctly
15. Commas with And, But, Or, and Other Coordinating Conjunctions
16. Commas with Transitional Terms

17. Commas with Adverb Clauses

18. Commas with Introductory Elements
19. Commas with Adjective Clauses
20. Commas with Appositives
    
Unit Seven: Using Apostrophes Correctly
21. Apostrophes in Contractions
22. Apostrophes in Showing Possession
23. Other Uses of the Apostrophe
24. Unnecessary Apostrophes
    
Unit Eight: Using Other Punctuation and Capitalizing Words
25. Quotation Marks with Direct Quotation and Paraphrases
26. Quotation Marks with Other Punctuation
27. Semicolons
28. Colons
29. Capitalization
    
Unit Nine: Writing Clear Sentences
30. Parallelism
31. Passive Voice

Unit Ten: ESL: Choosing the Right Article
32. Incorrect Plurals and Indefinite Articles with Noncount Nouns
33. Using A/An, Some, and The
34. Making Generalizations without Articles
    
Unit Eleven: ESL: Using Verbs Correctly

35. The Progressive Tenses
36. Two-Word Verbs
37. Information Questions
38. Word Order in Noun Clauses
    
Unit Twelve: A Commonsense Writing Guide
39. Reading
40. Planning
41. Drafting
42. Revising

Appendix A: Brief Documentation Guide
Appendix B: Guide to Grammar Terminology
Appendix C: Glossary of Commonly Confused Words

Appendix D: Glossary of Commonly Misspelled Words

Appendix E: Glossary of Common Two-Word Verbs

Answer Key

Index

ESL Index