Don't Let Your Participles Dangle in Public!

by DuPont, M. Kay

• ISBN13: 9780961492724
• ISBN10: 0961492724
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-02-28
• Publisher: Jedco Pr

Summary

The most useful, practical book available on todays use of American language and writing practices. A writing textbook and grammar style book all in one, with simple, understandable examples and logical, easy ways to remember the rules. 660 spelling words and more than 350 homonyms with clear explanations of their difference, plus language trivia, charming graphics and an intriguing design.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION	1	(6)
Why Do We Need to Learn to Communicate Better?	1	(1)
Are Grammar and Usage More Important than Vocabulary?	2	(1)
Why Is Writing So Difficult for Some People?	3	(1)
Do the Rules Change?	3	(4)
CHAPTER 1: WRITING STYLE	7	(18)
What Is Style?	7	(1)
14 Pointers for Style	8	(11)
Guidelines for Bias-Free Communication	19	(5)
How Clear Is Your Writing?	24	(1)
CHAPTER 2: PARTS OF SPEECH	25	(10)
Adjective	25	(1)
Adverb	26	(1)
Conjunction	26	(1)
Interjection	27	(1)
Noun	27	(1)
Preposition	27	(1)
Pronoun	27	(1)
Verb	28	(7)
Subject/Verb Agreement	28	(1)
Ways to Select the Correct Verb	28	(2)
Verb Tenses	30	(5)
CHAPTER 3: SENTENCE STRUCTURE	35	(14)
What Is a Sentence?	35	(2)
Simple Sentence	37	(1)
Compound Sentence	38	(1)
Complex Sentence	38	(1)
Compound-Complex Sentence	38	(1)
Sentence Fragment	39	(1)
Run-On Sentence	40	(1)
Dangling Participles	41	(2)
Voice	43	(3)
When Are Passives Acceptable?	45	(1)
Parallelism	46	(2)
Sentence Length	48	(1)
Kay's Rule of Max	48	(1)
CHAPTER 4: PUNCTUATION	49	(40)
Kay's Punctuation Light	51	(2)
Exclamation Point	53	(1)
Period	54	(1)
Semicolon	55	(2)
Question Mark	57	(2)
Colon	59	(2)
Comma	61	(7)
Dash	68	(2)
Ellipses	70	(2)
Parentheses	72	(2)
Brackets	74	(1)
Apostrophe	75	(1)
Asterisk	76	(1)
Hyphen	77	(3)
Quotation Marks	80	(4)
Underscore and Italics	84	(2)
Virgule (Slash, Diagonal)	86	(3)
CHAPTER 5: PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE	89	(4)
Common Sentence Bridges	91	(2)
CHAPTER 6: CONCISENESS	93	(12)
List of Simpler Words	95	(3)
Redundancy Reducer	98	(7)
CHAPTER 7: SPELLING	105	(14)
How Can We Learn to Spell Better?	105	(2)
Prefixes and Their Meanings	107	(2)
Suffixes and Their Meanings	109	(2)
Compounds (Hyphenated Words)	111	(3)
Tricky Words	114	(2)
Correctly Spelled Business Words	116	(3)
CHAPTER 8: WORD USAGE	119	(28)
Confusing Words	120	(27)
CHAPTER 9: TROUBLEMAKERS	147	(38)
Personal Pronouns	147	(4)
Who/Whom	149	(1)
He/They	150	(1)
Self Words	150	(1)
Undefined Pronouns	151	(3)
Comparatives	154	(3)
Common Comparatives	155	(2)
Prepositional Idioms	157	(3)
Plurals	160	(5)
Possessives	165	(3)
Abbreviations	168	(5)
Capitalization	173	(6)
Numerals	179	(6)
CHAPTER 10: LETTER STYLING	185	(24)
Full Block	185	(2)
Simplified	187	(1)
Modified	188	(1)
Semiblock	189	(1)
Parts of a Letter	190	(14)
Date	190	(1)
Reference Line	190	(1)
Mailing Instructions	191	(1)
On-Arrival Notations	191	(1)
Inside Address	191	(6)
Titles for Inside Address	192	(5)
Saluations	197	(2)
Titles for Salutations	197	(2)
Subject Line	199	(1)
Body	200	(1)
Signature Block	201	(3)
Folding Letters	204	(1)
Postal Regulations for Envelopes	204	(3)
Abbreviations for Street Designators and Words	207	(1)
State and Location Abbreviations	208	(1)
CHAPTER 11: E-MAIL GUIDELINES	209	(6)
CHAPTER 12: PROOFREAD LIKE A PRO	215	(6)
Proofreader's Marks	219	(2)
GLOSSARY	221	(8)
INDEX	229