Random House Webster's Pocket Grammar, Usage, and Punctuation

by RANDOM HOUSE

• ISBN13: 9780375719677
• ISBN10: 0375719679
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2001-10-09
• Publisher: Random House Reference

Summary

Random House's completely revised best-selling guide to good English.Random House Webster's Pocket Grammar, Usage, and Punctuationis perfect for students, business, and anyone who cares about the correct use of English. Includes: Clear and concise explanations of English grammar with plenty of examples Common grammatical and stylistic errors and how to avoid them Quick reference to commonly misspelled words User-friendly guide to punctuation and capitalization Easily confused words and how to tell them apart Convenient pocket size that fits into backpack, purse, or briefcase

Author Biography

Established in July 2013 in a merger between Penguin and Random House, Penguin Random House, with nearly 250 independent imprints and brands on five continents, more than 15,000 new titles published each year, and close to 800 million print, audio, and eBooks sold annually, is the world’s leading trade book publisher. Like its predecessor companies, Penguin Random House is committed to publishing adult and children’s fiction and nonfiction print editions and is a pioneer in digital publishing. Its publishing lists include more than 60 Nobel Prize laureates and hundreds of the world’s most widely read authors.

Table of Contents

SECTION 1: GRAMMAR
Parts of Speech	3	(67)
Nouns	4	(2)
Pronouns	6	(13)
Case	9	(8)
Ambiguous References	17	(2)
Verbs	19	(26)
Transitive Verbs	19	(1)
Intransitive Verbs	19	(1)
Ergative Verbs	20	(1)
Copula Verbs	20	(2)
Auxiliary Verbs	22	(1)
Phrasal Verbs	23	(1)
Verbal Forms	24	(2)
Regular and Irregular Verbs	26	(4)
Tense	30	(10)
Mood	40	(2)
Voice	42	(2)
Verbals	44	(1)
Determiners	45	(1)
Adjectives	46	(2)
Nouns and Pronouns as Adjectives	46	(1)
Special Adjectives	47	(1)
Adverbs	48	(1)
Sentence Adverbs	49	(1)
Adjective or Adverb?	49	(9)
Using Adjectives after Linking Verbs	51	(1)
Using Adjectives or Adverbs after Direct Objects	52	(1)
Words That Can Be Either Adjectives or Adverbs	53	(1)
Using Adjectives and Adverbs to Make Comparisons	53	(5)
Prepositions	58	(3)
Common Prepositions	58	(1)
Phrasal Prepositions	59	(1)
Prepositional Phrases	59	(1)
Placement of Prepositions	60	(1)
Prepositional Phrases as Adverbs and Adjectives	60	(1)
Preposition or Adverb	61	(1)
Conjunctions	61	(7)
Coordinating Conjunctions	62	(1)
Correlative Conjunctions	63	(1)
Subordinating Conjunctions	64	(1)
Subordinating Conjunction or Preposition?	65	(1)
Conjunctive Adverb or Transitional Phrase?	66	(1)
Transitional Phrase	67	(1)
Transitional Phrase or Coordinating Conjunction?	68	(1)
Interjections	68	(2)
Phrases	70	(2)
Noun Phrases	70	(1)
Verb Phrases	70	(1)
Prepositional Phrases	70	(1)
Verbal Phrases	71	(1)
Clauses	72	(4)
Independent Clauses	72	(1)
Dependent Clauses	72	(1)
Adjective Clauses	73	(1)
Adverb Clauses	73	(1)
Noun Clauses	74	(1)
Elliptical Clauses	75	(1)
Sentences	76	(29)
Subjects and Predicates	76	(1)
Hard to Locate Subjects	76	(2)
Commands or Directions	76	(1)
Questions	77	(1)
Sentences Beginning with There or Here	77	(1)
Inverted Sentences	78	(1)
Sentence Complements	78	(2)
Direct Objects	78	(1)
Indirect Objects	79	(1)
Object Complements	79	(1)
Subject Complements	80	(1)
Forming Sentences	80	(3)
Simple Sentences	81	(1)
Compound Sentences	81	(1)
Complex Sentences	82	(1)
Compound-Complex Sentences	83	(1)
Review of Sentence Forms	83	(1)
Sentence Functions	84	(2)
Declarative Sentences	84	(1)
Interrogative Sentences	84	(1)
Imperative Sentences	85	(1)
Exclamatory Sentences	85	(1)
Sentence Errors	86	(8)
Fragments	86	(2)
Run-ons	88	(2)
Misplaced Modifiers	90	(1)
Dangling Modifiers	91	(2)
Squinting Modifiers	93	(1)
Agreement of Sentence Parts	94	(11)
Subject-Verb Agreement	95	(7)
Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement	102	(3)
Shifts	105	(11)
Shifts in Tense	105	(1)
Shifts in Voice	106	(1)
Shifts in Mood	107	(1)
Shifts in Person	108	(2)
Shifts in Perspective	110	(1)
Shifts in Number	110	(2)
Person and Number with Collective Nouns	111	(1)
Shifts in Tone and Style	112	(2)
Shifts in Direct and Indirect Quotations	114	(2)
Parallelism	116	(7)
Parallel Structure	116	(2)
Parallel Items in Series	118	(1)
Parallel Outlines and Lists	119	(4)
SECTION 2: USAGE
Common Errors	123	(44)
Commonly Confused Words	167	(33)
Avoiding Insensitive and Offensive Language	200	(15)
Sexism	201	(5)
Replacing Man or Men	202	(1)
Using Gender-Neutral Terms for Occupations, Positions, Roles, Etc.	202	(2)
Avoiding Generic Use of the Personal Pronouns He, His, and Him	204	(1)
Referring to Members of Both Sexes with Parallel Names, Titles, or Descriptions	205	(1)
Race, Ethnicity, and National Origin	206	(1)
Age	207	(1)
Sexual Orientation	208	(1)
Avoiding Depersonalization of Persons with Disabilities or Illnesses	208	(1)
Avoiding Patronizing or Demeaning Expressions	209	(1)
Avoiding language that Excludes or Unnecessarily Emphasizes Differences	210	(5)
SECTION 3: SPELLING
Spelling Rules	215	(3)
Words Commonly Misspelled	218	(13)
Using A Spell Checker	231	(1)
Rules of Word Division	232	(37)
SECTION 4: PUNCTUATION
Period	235	(1)
Question Mark	236	(1)
Exclamation Point	237	(1)
Comma	237	(6)
Semicolon	243	(2)
Colon	245	(2)
Dash	247	(2)
Ellipsis	249	(1)
Parentheses	250	(1)
Brackets	251	(2)
Quotation Marks	253	(2)
Italics/Underlining	255	(2)
Forward Slash	257	(1)
Apostrophe	257	(3)
Hyphen	260	(3)
Capitalization	263	(6)
SECTION 5: PREFIXES, SUFFIXES AND ROOTS
Common Prefixes and Their Meanings	269	(7)
Common Suffixes and Their Meanings	276	(11)
Common Roots and Their Meanings	287	(16)
Index	303