Conjunctions

Have you seen how children write when theyre first learning? They write in short little sentences that
sound rather robotic:
My name is Anna. I am five years old. I am a girl.
I have a mother. I have a father. I have a brother.
I have a cat. I like hot dogs.
When they get a little older, they learn to connect some of those sentences so its not so choppy:
My name is Anna, and I am five years old. I am a girl.
I have a mother, a father, a brother, and a cat. I like
hot dogs.
Notice the use of and; thats the magic key to not sounding like a robot. And is a conjunction;
conjunctions are one of the things we use to connect ideas to create a smoothly flowing sentence
which is clearly understandable to the reader.
Conjunctions are great things, but you can have too much of a good thing. When conjunctions are
overused, you have run-on sentences.

What Are Conjunctions

Conjunctions are little words like and, but, and or. Theyre used to connect concepts, clauses,
or parts of sentences.
I was going to see a movie, but Ive changed my mind.
She couldnt decide if she wanted the lemon tea or the rosehip tea.

Uses of Conjunctions
Conjunctions connect thoughts, ideas, actions, nouns, clauses, etc.
Martha went to the market and bought fresh vegetables.
In this sentence, the conjunction and connects the two things Martha did.
Martha went to the market, and I went to the hardware store.
Here, and connects two sentences, preventing the choppiness which would arise if we used
too many short sentences.

Conjunctions can also make lists.

I cant decide between the blue shirt and the red shirt.
We barbequed hamburgers, hotdogs, and sausages.
When using a conjunction, make sure that the parts which are being joined by the conjunction
have a parallel structure (i.e. that they use the same verb forms, etc.)
I worked quickly yet am careful.
Am careful is not in the same form as quickly; this creates faulty parallelism. The verbs need
to be in the same form.
I worked quickly yet carefully.
The two adverbs modify the verb worked.
I am quick yet careful.
The two adjectives modify the pronoun I.

Coordinating Conjunctions
The coordinating conjunctions are conjunctions that join two independent clauses, or two
nouns, or two verbs, etc. You can remember the coordinating conjunctions with the acronym
FANBOYS.
F or , A nd , N or , B ut , O r , Y et , S o,
Run and hide!
The coordinating conjunction connects the two verbs.
We didnt have much money, but we were happy.
Here are two contrasting states of being: not having much money, and being happy.
We didnt have much money or much food.
I had chocolate cake, and Michael had carrot cake.

Note the commas before the coordinating conjunctions which separate two independent
clauses.

Correlative Conjunctions
Correlative conjunctions are pairs of conjunctions that work together. Some examples
areeither/or, neither/nor and not only/but.
Not only am I finished studying for English, but Im also finished my history essay.
I am finished both my English essay and my history essay.
Make sure that you use both conjunctions when writing. Sometimes when we speak, we get a
little lazy; dont leave a clause unfinished or else youll have a problem with faulty parallelism.
You could use either.
This is alright for conversation because youll have something in front of you to point to, giving
you a visual clue.
You could use either the spoon.
This is an unfinished sentence; there is a problem with faulty parallelism here.
You could use either the spoon or the fork.
This sentence is perfect because it lists both things to be used.

Subordinating Conjunctions
Subordinating conjunctions show a relationship between an independent and a dependent
clause; some of the relationships can be cause-and-effect, and contrast. Some examples of
subordinating conjunctions are because, since, as, although, though, while, and whereas.
I can stay out until the clock strikes twelve.
Here, the subordinating conjunction is connecting the two ideas: I can stay out and the clock
strikes twelve.
He can leave the house as long as he has cleaned his room.
The teacher said that he was amazingly creative.
The subordinating conjunction doesnt need to go in the middle of the sentence. It must be
part of the dependent clause, but it doesnt matter whether the clause is the first or second on
in the sentence.

Before he leaves, make sure his room is clean.

If the dependent clause comes first, youll need a comma; if the independent clause comes
first, you probably wont need a comma.
I drank a glass of water because I was thirsty.
Because I was thirsty , I drank a glass of water.
When she asked why I wanted a glass of water, I could only answer Because , because I was so
thirsty.
Ive used a comma in this sentence only to separate the repeated because; this makes it
clearer to the reader.

Conjunctive Adverbs
Conjunctive adverbs are adverbs which join two clauses; some examples of are also,besides,
accordingly, finally, subsequently, therefore, thus, meanwhile, moreover, nonetheless, instead,
however, indeed, hence, consequently, similarly and still. Conjunctive adverbs frequently (but
not necessarily) have a semi-colon before them. As theyre conjunctions (i.e. words that join
two thoughts or ideas), its best not to use them at the beginning of a sentence.
Please close the outer door; otherwise , the cold air comes in.
First feed the horses; next , please feed the chickens.
Conjunctive adverbs can also put a little break in the sentence, providing emphasis.
The new building will, furthermore , provide storage facilities as well as meeting space.
The commas are used around the conjunctive adverb for emphasis. If the interruption in the
sentence should be weaker, just leave out the commas.
The new building will furthermore provide storage facilities as well as meeting space.

Starting a Sentence with a Conjunction

If a conjunction is used at the beginning of a sentence, the reader may be looking for an idea
to connect to the sentence. While using a conjunction at the beginning of a sentence can add

emphasis, its an informal means of doing so. You can use it in creative or personal writing,
but its not recommended for formal writing.
Many people fear crashing in an airplane. But riding in a car is actually more dangerous.
Beginning the second sentence with the conjunction but is not a good idea. It would be better
to connect the sentences with a comma and but.
Many people fear crashing in an airplane , but riding in a car is actually more dangerous.
And when using the subjunctive, be sure to use it properly.
We can take out the and at the beginning of the sentence; it serves no purpose.
N.B. While the subject is a matter of debate, beginning a sentence with words like however
and on the other hand is frequently frowned upon. It may be safer to connect the sentences
with a semi-colon.
I like the blue shirt ; however , the red one is nice, too.

Conjunctions List
Coordinating Conjunctions
for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so
Correlative Conjunctions
both/and, either/or, neither/nor, not only/but, whether/or
Some Subordinating Conjunctions
after, although, as, as if, as long as, as much as, as soon as, as though, because, before, by
the time, even if, even though, if, in order that, in case, in the event that, inasmuch, just in
case, lest , now that, once, only, only if, provided that, since, so, supposing, that, than, that,
though, till (or til), unless, until, when, whenever, where, whereas, wherever, whether or not,
while

DEFINITIONS OF
BASIC SENTENCE PARTS

absolutephrases || adjectives || adverbs || articles || conjunctions || directand

indirectobjects || interjections || modifiers || nouns ||
predicates || prepositions || pronouns || subjects || verbals || verbs
Thehyperlinksabovewilltakeyoutoseparatepages.

THE PARTS OF SPEECH

The eight parts of speech verbs, nouns, pronouns,
adverbs, adjectives, prepositions,
conjunctions, and interjections are defined on the
pages hyperlinked below. (Some authorities would not list
interjections, but would list determiners or articles,
instead.) In addition, you can use the Powerpoint presentation
on the PartsofSpeech. Visit the page on Powerpoint for further
information. The terms below and over 300 others are
also listed in the Guide'sINDEX.

Here'salittlerhymebyDavidB.Tower&BenjaminF.Tweedthatteachersused
indaysgonebytohelpstudentslearnthepartsofspeech.(Weincludeithereinresponse
topopulardemand.Whythesongleavesoutpronounsisamystery.Awriterfrom
Richland,Washington,suggests"APRONOUNreplacesanynoun:/he,she,it,andyouare
found.)Ithasbeensettomusic,butwe'llleavethatuptoyoutodiscoverorcreatefor
yourself:

Three little words you often see

Are ARTICLES: a, an, and the.
A NOUN's the name of anything,
As: school or garden, toy, or swing.
ADJECTIVES tell the kind of noun,
As: great, small, pretty, white, or brown.
VERBS tell of something being done:
To read, write, count, sing, jump, or run.

How things are done the ADVERBS tell,

As: slowly, quickly, badly, well.
CONJUNCTIONS join the words together,
As: men and women, wind or weather.
The PREPOSITION stands before
A noun as: in or through a door.
The INTERJECTION shows surprise
As: Oh, how pretty! Ah! how wise!
The whole are called the PARTS of SPEECH,
Which reading, writing, speaking teach.

Sentence Parts:
Function and Usage Notes
Absolute
Phrases

Adjectives

Adverbs

Determiners/
Articles

Clauses

Complements

Coordinated
Adjectives

Conjunctions

Directand
Indirect
Objects

Interjections

Nouns

Phrases

Predicates

Prepositions

Pronouns

Subjects

VerbsandVerbals
(Infinitives,Participles,Gerunds)

ADJECTIVES
Definition
Adjectivesarewordsthatdescribeormodifyanotherpersonorthinginthesentence.
TheArticlesa,an,andtheareadjectives.

thetallprofessor

thelugubriouslieutenant

asolidcommitment

amonth'spay

asixyearoldchild

theunhappiest,richestman

If a group of words containing a subject and verb acts as an adjective, it is called

anAdjectiveClause.Mysister,whoismucholderthanIam,isanengineer.Ifanadjective
clauseisstrippedofitssubjectandverb,theresultingmodifierbecomesanAdjectivePhrase:
Heisthemanwhoiskeepingmyfamilyinthepoorhouse.
Beforegettingintootherusageconsiderations,onegeneralnoteabouttheuseorover
use of adjectives:Adjectives are frail; don't ask them to do more work than they
should.Let your broadshouldered verbs and nouns do the hard work of description. Be
particularly cautious in your use of adjectives that don't have much to say in the first
place:interesting, beautiful, lovely, exciting. It is your job as a writer to create beauty and
excitementandinterest,andwhenyousimplyinsistonitspresencewithoutshowingittoyour
readerwell,you'reconvincingnoone.
Consider the uses of modifiers in this adjectivally rich paragraph from Thomas
Wolfe'sLookHomeward,Angel.(CharlesScribner's,1929,p.69.)Adjectivesarehighlightedin
thiscolor;participles,verbformsactingasadjectives,arehighlightedinthisblue.Somepeople
wouldarguethatwordsthatarepartofanamelike"EastIndiaTeaHousearenotreally
adjectivalandthatpossessivenounsfather's,farmer'sarenottechnicallyadjectives,but
we'veincludedtheminouranalysisofWolfe'stext.
He remembered yet the East India Tea House at the Fair, the sandalwood, the turbans, and the
robes, the cool interior and the smell of India tea; and he had felt now the nostalgic thrill of dewwet mornings in Spring, the cherry scent, the coolclarion earth, the wet loaminess of the garden,

the pungent breakfast smells

and
the floating snow
of
blossoms.
He
knew
the inchoate sharp excitement
of hot dandelions
in young earth;
in
July,
of
watermelons bedded in sweet hay,
inside
afarmer's covered wagon;
of
cantaloupe
and crated peaches; and the scent of orange rind, bitter-sweet, before a fire of coals. He knew
the good male smell of his father's sitting-room; of the smooth worn leather sofa, with
the gaping horse-hair rent; of the blistered varnished wood upon the hearth; of the heated calfskin bindings; of the flat moist plug of appletobacco, stuck with a red flag; of wood-smoke
and burnt leaves in October; of the brown tired autumn earth; of honey-suckle at night;
of warm nasturtiums, of a clean ruddy farmer who comes weekly with printed butter, eggs, and
milk; of fatlimp underdone bacon and of coffee; of a bakery-oven in the wind; of large deephued stringbeans smoking-hot andseasoned well with salt and butter; of a room
of old pine boards in which books and carpets have been stored, longclosed; of Concord grapes
in their long white baskets.

Anabundanceofadjectiveslikethiswouldbeuncommonincontemporaryprose.Whetherwe
havelostsomethingornotisleftuptoyou.

Position of Adjectives
UnlikeAdverbs,whichoftenseemcapableofpoppingupalmostanywhereinasentence,
adjectivesnearlyalwaysappearimmediatelybeforethenounornounphrasethattheymodify.
Sometimestheyappearinastringofadjectives,andwhentheydo,theyappearinasetorder
accordingtocategory.(SeeBelow.)Whenindefinitepronounssuchassomething,someone,
anybodyaremodifiedbyanadjective,theadjectivecomesafterthepronoun:
Anyone capable of doing something
Something wicked this way comes.

horrible to someone

nice should

be

punished.

And there are certain adjectives that, in combination with certain words, are always
"postpositive"(comingafterthethingtheymodify):
The president elect, heir apparent to the Glitzy fortune, lives in New York proper.

See,also,thenoteonaadjectives,below,forthepositionofsuchwordsas"ablaze,aloof,
aghast."

Degrees of Adjectives
Adjectivescanexpressdegreesofmodification:

Gladysisarichwoman,butJosieisricherthanGladys,andSadieistherichestwomanin
town.

The degrees of comparison are known as thepositive,

the comparative, and the superlative. (Actually, only the
comparative and superlative show degrees.) We use the
comparative for comparing two things and the superlative for
comparing three or more things. Notice that the

word than frequently accompanies the comparative and the

word theprecedes the superlative. The inflected suffixes erand -est suffice to form most comparatives and superlatives,
although we need -ier and -iest when a two-syllable adjective
ends in y (happier and happiest); otherwise we
use more and most when an adjective has more than one
syllable.

Positive

Comparative

Superlative

rich

richer

richest

lovely

lovelier

loveliest

beautiful

more beautiful

most beautiful

Certainadjectiveshaveirregularformsinthecomparativeandsuperlativedegrees:
Irregular Comparative and Superlative
Forms
good

better

best

bad

worse

worst

little

less

least

much
many
some

more

most

far

further

furthest

Becarefulnottoformcomparativesorsuperlativesofadjectiveswhichalreadyexpressan
extreme of comparison unique, for instance although it probably is possible to form
comparativeformsofmostadjectives:somethingcanbemoreperfect,andsomeonecanhave
afullerfigure.Peoplewhoarguethatonewomancannotbemorepregnantthananotherhave
neverbeenninemonthspregnantwithtwins.

AccordingtoBryanGarner,"complete"isoneofthoseadjectivesthatdoesnotadmitof
comparativedegrees.Wecouldsay,however,"morenearlycomplete."IamsurethatIhavenot
beenconsistentinmyapplicationofthisprincipleintheGuide(Icanhearmyself,now,saying
somethinglike"lessadequate"or"morepreferable"or"lessfatal").OtheradjectivesthatGarner
wouldincludeinthislistareasfollows:
absolute

impossible

principal

adequate

inevitable

stationary

chief

irrevocable

sufficient

complete

main

unanimous

devoid

manifest

unavoidable

entire

minor

unbroken

fatal

paramount

unique

final

perpetual

universal

ideal

preferable

whole

Becareful,also,nottousemorealongwithacomparativeadjectiveformedwithernorto
usemostalongwithasuperlativeadjectiveformedwithest(e.g.,donotwritethatsomething
ismoreheavierormostheaviest).
Theasasconstructionisusedtocreateacomparisonexpressingequality:

Heisasfoolishasheislarge.

Sheisasbrightashermother.

Premodifiers with Degrees of Adjectives

Bothadverbsandadjectivesintheircomparativeandsuperlativeformscanbeaccompanied
bypremodifiers,singlewordsandphrases,thatintensifythedegree.

Wewerealotmorecarefulthistime.

Heworksalotlesscarefullythantheotherjewelerintown.

Welikehisworksomuchbetter.

You'llgetyourwatchbackallthefaster.

Thesameprocesscanbeusedtodownplaythedegree:

Theweatherthisweekhasbeensomewhatbetter.

Heapproacheshisschoolworkalittlelessindustriouslythanhisbrotherdoes.

Andsometimesasetphrase,usuallyaninformalnounphrase,isusedforthispurpose:

Hearrivedawholelotsoonerthanweexpected.

That'saheckofalotbetter.

Iftheintensifierveryaccompaniesthesuperlative,adeterminerisalsorequired:

Sheiswearingherveryfinestoutfitfortheinterview.

They'redoingtheverybesttheycan.

Occasionally,thecomparativeorsuperlativeformappearswithadeterminerandthething
beingmodifiedisunderstood:

OfallthewinesproducedinConnecticut,Ilikethisonethemost.

Thequickeryoufinishthisproject,thebetter.

Ofthetwobrothers,heisbyfarthefaster.

Less versus Fewer

When making a comparison between quantities we often have to make a
choice between the words fewer and less. Generally, when we're talking
about countable things, we use the word fewer; when we're talking about
measurable quantities that we cannot count, we use the word less. "She
had fewer chores, but she also had less energy." The managers at our
local Stop & Shop seem to have mastered this: they've changed the signs
at the so-called express lanes from "Twelve Items or Less" to "Twelve
Items or Fewer." Whether that's an actual improvement, we'll leave up to
you.

Wedo,however,definitelyuselesswhenreferringtostatisticalornumerical

expressions:

It'slessthantwentymilestoDallas.

He'slessthansixfeettall.

Youressayshouldbeathousandwordsorless.

Wespentlessthanfortydollarsonourtrip.

Thetownspentlessthanfourpercentofitsbudgetonsnowremoval.

In these situations, it's possible to regard the quantities as sums of

countable measures.

Taller than I / me ??
When making a comparison with "than" do we end with a subject form or
object form, "taller than I/she" or "taller than me/her." The correct
response is "taller than I/she." We are looking for the subject form: "He is
taller than I am/she is tall." (Except we leave out the verb in the second
clause, "am" or "is.") Some good writers, however, will argue that the
word "than" should be allowed to function as a preposition. If we can say
"He is tall like me/her," then (if "than" could be prepositional like like) we
should be able to say, "He is taller than me/her." It's an interesting
argument, but for now, anyway in formal, academic prose, use the
subject form in such comparisons.

Wealsowanttobecarefulinasentencesuchas"Ilikehimbetterthanshe/her."
The"she"wouldmeanthatyoulikethispersonbetterthanshelikeshim;the"her"
wouldmeanthatyoulikethismalepersonbetterthanyoulikethatfemaleperson.
(Toavoidambiguityandtheslipperyuseofthan,wecouldwrite"Ilikehimbetter
thanshedoes"or"IlikehimbetterthanIlikeher.")

More than / over ??

In the United States, we usually use "more than" in countable numerical
expressions meaning "in excess of" or "over." In England, there is no such
distinction. For instance, in the U.S., some editors would insist on "more
than 40,000 traffic deaths in one year," whereas in the UK, "over 40,000

traffic deaths" would be acceptable. Even in the U.S., however, you will
commonly hear "over" in numerical expressions of age, time, or height:
"His sister is over forty; she's over six feet tall. We've been waiting well
over two hours for her."

The Order of Adjectives in a Series

Itwouldtakealinguisticphilosophertoexplainwhywesay"littlebrownhouse"andnot
"brownlittlehouse"orwhywesay"redItaliansportscar"andnot"Italianredsportscar."The
orderinwhichadjectivesinaseriessortthemselvesoutisperplexingforpeoplelearningEnglish
asasecondlanguage.Mostotherlanguagesdictateasimilarorder,butnotnecessarilythesame
order.Ittakesalotofpracticewithalanguagebeforethisorderbecomesinstinctive,becausethe
orderoftenseemsquitearbitrary(ifnotdownrightcapricious).Thereis,however,apattern.You
willfindmanyexceptionstothepatterninthetablebelow,butitisdefinitelyimportanttolearn
thepatternofadjectiveorderifitisnotpartofwhatyounaturallybringtothelanguage.
Thecategoriesinthefollowingtablecanbedescribedasfollows:
I.

Determinersarticlesandotherlimiters.SeeDeterminers

II.

Observationpostdeterminersandlimiteradjectives(e.g.,arealhero,aperfectidiot)
andadjectivessubjecttosubjectivemeasure(e.g.,beautiful,interesting)

III.

SizeandShapeadjectivessubjecttoobjectivemeasure(e.g.,wealthy,large,round)

IV.

Ageadjectivesdenotingage(e.g.,young,old,new,ancient)

V.
VI.

VII.

VIII.

Coloradjectivesdenotingcolor(e.g.,red,black,pale)
Origindenominaladjectivesdenotingsourceofnoun(e.g.,French,American,
Canadian)
Materialdenominaladjectivesdenotingwhatsomethingismadeof(e.g.,woolen,
metallic,wooden)
Qualifierfinallimiter,oftenregardedaspartofthenoun(e.g.,rockingchair,hunting
cabin,passengercar,bookcover)

Itwouldbefolly,ofcourse,torunmorethantwoorthree(atthemost)adjectivestogether.
Furthermore,whenadjectivesbelongtothesameclass,theybecomewhatwecallcoordinated
adjectives,andyouwillwanttoputacommabetweenthem:theinexpensive,comfortableshoes.
Theruleforinsertingthecommaworks thisway:ifyoucouldhaveinsertedaconjunction

andorbutbetweenthetwoadjectives,useacomma.Wecouldsaytheseare"inexpensive
butcomfortableshoes,"sowewoulduseacommabetweenthem(whenthe"but"isn'tthere).
Whenyouhavethreecoordinatedadjectives,separatethemallwithcommas,butdon'tinserta
commabetweenthelastadjectiveandthenoun(inspiteofthetemptationtodosobecauseyou
oftenpausethere):a popular, respected, and good looking student

RULES FOR
COMMA USAGE
Useacommatoseparatetheelementsinaseries(threeormorethings),includingthelasttwo.
"Hehittheball,droppedthebat,andrantofirstbase."Youmayhavelearnedthatthecomma
beforethe"and"isunnecessary,whichisfineifyou'reincontrolofthings.However,thereare
situationsinwhich,ifyoudon'tusethiscomma(especiallywhenthelistiscomplexorlengthy),
theselasttwoitemsinthelistwilltrytoglomtogether(likemacaroniandcheese).Usinga
commabetweenalltheitemsinaseries,includingthelasttwo,avoidsthisproblem.Thislast
commatheonebetweentheword"and"andtheprecedingwordisoftencalledtheserial
commaortheOxfordcomma.Innewspaperwriting,incidentally,youwillseldomfindaserial
comma,butthatisnotnecessarilyasignthatitshouldbeomittedinacademicprose.
Use a comma + a little conjunction(and, but, for, nor, yet, or, so)to connect
twoin
dependentclauses,asin"Hehittheballwell,butherantowardthirdbase."
Contending that the coordinating conjunction is adequate separation, some
writerswillleaveoutthecommainasentencewithshort,balancedindependentclauses(suchas
weseeintheexamplejustgiven).Ifthereiseveranydoubt,however,usethecomma,asitis
alwayscorrectinthissituation.
One of the most frequent errors in comma usage is the placement of a commaaftera
coordinating conjunction. We cannot say that the comma will always come before the
conjunctionandneverafter,butitwouldbearareevent,indeed,thatweneedtofollow a
coordinatingconjunctionwithacomma.Whenspeaking,wedosometimespauseafterthelittle
conjunction,butthereisseldomagoodreasontoputacommathere.
Useacommatosetoffintroductoryelements,asin"Runningtowardthirdbase,hesuddenly
realizedhowstupidhelooked."
Itispermissibletoomitthecommaafterabriefintroductoryelementiftheomission
doesnotresultinconfusionorhesitancyinreading.Ifthereiseveranydoubt,usethecomma,as
itisalwayscorrect.Ifyouwouldlikesomeadditionalguidelinesonusingacommaafter
introductoryelements,clickHERE.

Useacommatosetoffparentheticalelements,asin"TheFoundersBridge,whichspansthe
ConnecticutRiver,isfallingdown."By"parentheticalelement,"wemeanapartofasentence
thatcanberemovedwithoutchangingtheessentialmeaningofthatsentence.Theparenthetical
elementissometimescalled"addedinformation."Thisisthemostdifficultruleinpunctuation
becauseitissometimesunclearwhatis"added"or"parenthetical"andwhatisessentialtothe
meaningofasentence.
Appositivesarealmostalwaystreatedasparentheticalelements.

Calhoun'sambition,tobecomeagoalieinprofessionalsoccer,iswithinhisreach.

Eleanor,hiswifeofthirtyyears,suddenlydecidedtoopenherownbusiness.

Sometimestheappositiveandtheworditidentifiesaresocloselyrelatedthatthecommacanbe
omitted,asin"HiswifeEleanorsuddenlydecidedtoopenherownbusiness."Wecouldargue
thatthename"Eleanor"isnotessentialtothemeaningofthesentence(assuminghehasonlyone
wife),andthatwouldsuggestthatwecanputcommasbothbeforeandafterthename(andthat
would,indeed,becorrect).But"hiswife"and"Eleanor"aresoclosethatwecanregardthe
entirephraseasoneunitandleaveoutthecommas.Withthephraseturnedaround,however,we
haveamoredefiniteparentheticalelementandthecommasarenecessary:"Eleanor,hiswife,
suddenlydecidedtoopenherownbusiness."Consider,also,thedifferencebetween"College
PresidentIraRubenzahlvotedtorescindthewithdrawalpolicy"(inwhichweneedthename"Ira
Rubenzahl"orthesentencedoesn'tmakesense)and"IraRubenzahl,thecollegepresident,voted
to rescind the withdrawal policy" (in which the sentence makes sense without his title, the
appositive,andwetreattheappositiveasaparentheticalelement,withapairofcommas).
Aspointedoutabove(Rule#3),anadverbialclausethatbeginsasentenceis
setoffwithacomma:

AlthoughQueasybreathhadspentseveralyearsinAntarctica,hestill
bundledupwarmlyinthebriskautumnsofOhio.

BecauseTashondahadlearnedtostudybyherself,shewasableto
passtheentranceexam.

Whenanadverbialclausecomeslateroninthesentence,however,the
writermustdetermineiftheclauseisessentialtothemeaningofthe
sentenceornot.A"becauseclause"canbeparticularlytroublesomeinthis
regard.Inmostsentences,a"becauseclause"isessentialtothemeaningof
thesentence,anditwillnotbesetoffwithacomma:

TheOkieshadtoleavetheirfarmsinthemidwestbecausethe
droughtconditionshadruinedtheirfarms.

Sometimes,though,the"becauseclause"mustbesetoffwithacommato
avoidmisreading:

IknewthatPresidentNixonwouldresignthatmorning,becausemy
sisterinlawworkedintheWhiteHouseandshecalledmewiththe
news.

Withoutthatcomma,thesentencesaysthatNixon'sresignationwasthefault
ofmysisterinlaw.Nixondidnotresignbecausemysisterinlawworked
intheWhiteHouse,sowesetoffthatclausetomakethemeaningclearly
parenthetical.
Whenaparentheticalelementaninterjection,adverbialmodifier,orevenanadverbial
clause follows a coordinating conjunction used to connect two independent clauses, we
donotputacommainfrontoftheparentheticalelement.

TheRedSoxwereleadingtheleagueattheendofMay,butofcourse,theyalwaysdowell
inthespring.[nocommaafter"but"]

TheYankeesdidn'tdosowellintheearlygoing,butfrankly,everyoneexpectsthemtowin
theseason.[nocommaafter"but"]

TheTigersspentmuchoftheseasonatthebottomoftheleague,andeventhoughthey
pickedupseveralpromisingrookies,theyexpecttobethereagainnextyear.[nocomma
after"and"]

Whenbothacity'snameandthatcity'sstateorcountry'snamearementionedtogether,the
stateorcountry'snameistreatedasaparentheticalelement.

WevisitedHartford,Connecticut,lastsummer.

Paris,France,issometimescalled"TheCityofLights."

Whenthestatebecomesapossessiveform,thisruleisnolongerfollowed:

Hartford,Connecticut'sinvestmentintheinsuranceindustryiswellknown.

Also,whenthestateorcountry'snamebecomespartofacompoundstructure,thesecondcomma
isdropped:

Heublein,aHartford,Connecticutbasedcompany,ismovingtoanotherstate.

Anabsolute phraseis always treated as a parenthetical element, as is aninterjection.

Anaddressedperson'snameisalsoalwaysparenthetical.Besure,however,thatthenameis
thatofsomeoneactuallybeingspokento.AseparatesectiononVocatives,thevariousforms
thataparentheticalelementrelatedtoanaddressedperson'snamecantake,isalsoavailable.

Theiryearsoftrainingnowforgotten,thesoldiersbrokeranks.

Yes,itisalwaysamatter,ofcourse,ofpreparationandattitude.

I'mtellingyou,Juanita,Icouldn'tbemoresurprised.(ItoldJuanitaIcouldn'tbemore
surprised.[nocommas])

Use a commato separate coordinate adjectives. You could think of this as "That tall,
distinguished,goodlookingfellow"rule(asopposedto"thelittleoldlady").Ifyoucanput
anandorabutbetweentheadjectives,acommawillprobablybelongthere.Forinstance,you
couldsay,"Heisatallanddistinguishedfellow"or"Iliveinaveryoldandrundownhouse."So
youwouldwrite,"Heisatall,distinguishedman"and"Iliveinaveryold,rundownhouse."
Butyouwouldprobablynotsay,"Sheisalittleandoldlady,"or"Iliveinalittleandpurple
house,"socommaswouldnotappearbetweenlittleandoldorbetweenlittleandpurple.
And what does a comma do, a comma does nothing but make easy a thing that if
you like it enough is easy enough without the comma. A long complicated sentence
should force itself upon you, make you know yourself knowing it and the comma,
well at the most a comma is a poor period that lets you stop and take a breath but
if you want to take a breath you ought to know yourself that you want to take a
breath. It is not like stopping altogether has something to do with going on, but
taking a breath well you are always taking a breath and why emphasize one breath
rather than another breath. Anyway that is the way I felt about it and I felt that
about it very very strongly. And so I almost never used a comma. The longer, the
more complicated the sentence the greater the number of the same kinds of words
I had following one after another, the more the very more I had of them the more I
felt the passionate need of their taking care of themselves by themselves and not
helping them, and thereby enfeebling them by putting in a comma.
So that is the way I felt about punctuation in prose, in poetry it is a little different but
more so
Gertrude Stein
from Lectures in America

Useacommatosetoffquotedelements.Becausewedon'tusequotedmaterialallthetime,
evenwhenwriting,thisisprobablythemostdifficultruletorememberincommausage.Itisa

goodideatofindapagefromanarticlethatusesseveralquotations,photocopythatpage,and
keepitinfrontofyouasamodelwhenyou'rewriting.Generally,useacommatoseparate
quotedmaterialfromtherestofthesentencethatexplainsorintroducesthequotation:

Summing up this argument, Peter Coveney writes, "The purpose and strength of the
romanticimageofthechildhadbeenabovealltoestablisharelationbetweenchildhood
andadultconsciousness."

Ifanattributionofaquotedelementcomesinthemiddleofthequotation,twocommaswillbe
required.Butbecarefulnottocreateacommaspliceinsodoing.

"Thequestionis,"saidAlice,"whetheryoucanmakewordsmeansomanythings."

"Ishouldliketobuyanegg,please,"shesaidtimidly."Howdoyousellthem?"

Becarefulnottousecommastosetoffquotedelementsintroducedbythewordthatorquoted
elementsthatareembeddedinalargerstructure:

PeterCoveneywritesthat"[t]hepurposeandstrengthof..."

Weoftensay"Sorry"whenwedon'treallymeanit.

And,insteadofacomma,useacolontosetoffexplanatoryorintroductorylanguagefroma
quotedelementthatiseitherveryformalorlong(especiallyifit'slongerthanonesentence):

Peter Coveney had this to say about the nineteenthcentury's use of children
infiction:"Thepurposeandstrengthof...."

Usecommastosetoffphrasesthatexpresscontrast.

Somesaytheworldwillendinice,notfire.

Itwashermoney,nothercharmorpersonalitythatfirstattractedhim.

Thepuppieswerecute,butverymessy.

(Somewriterswillleaveoutthecommathatsetsoffacontrastingphrasebeginningwithbut.)
Useacommatoavoidconfusion.Thisisoftenamatterofconsistentlyapplyingrule#3.

Formosttheyearisalreadyfinished.

Formost,theyearisalreadyfinished.

Outsidethelawnwasclutteredwithhundredsofbrokenbranches.

Outside,thelawnwasclutteredwithhundredsofbrokenbranches.
I have spent most of the day putting in a comma and the
rest of the day taking it out.
Oscar Wilde

GrammarEnglish'sFamousRuleofPunctuation:Neveruseonlyonecommabetweena
subjectanditsverb."Believingcompletelyandpositivelyinoneselfisessentialforsuccess."
[Although readers might pause after the word "oneself," there is no reason to put a
commathere.]
TypographicalReasons:Betweenacityandastate[Hartford,Connecticut],adateandtheyear
[June15,1997],anameandatitlewhenthetitlecomesafterthename[BobDowney,Professor
ofEnglish],inlongnumbers[5,456,783and$14,682],etc.Althoughyouwilloftenseeacomma
betweenanameandsuffixBobDowney,Jr.,RichardHarrison,IIIthiscommaisno
longerregardedasnecessarybymostcopyeditors,andsomeindividualssuchasMartin
LutherKingJr.neverusedacommathereatall.
Notethatweuseacommaorasetofcommastomaketheyearparentheticalwhenthe
dateofthemonthisincluded:

July4,1776,isregardedasthebirthdateofAmericanliberty.

Withoutthedateitself,however,thecommadisappears:

July1776wasoneofthemosteventfulmonthsinourhistory.

Ininternationalormilitaryformat,nocommasareused:

TheDeclarationofIndependencewassignedon4July1776.

Use Commas with Caution

Asyoucansee,therearemanyreasonsforusingcommas,andwehaven'tlistedthem
all.Yetthebiggestproblemthatmoststudentshavewithcommasistheiroveruse.
Some essays look as though the student loaded a shotgun with commas and blasted away.
Remember,too,thatapauseinreadingisnotalwaysareliablereasontouseacomma.Trynotto
useacommaunlessyoucanapplyaspecificrulefromthispagetodoso.

Concentratingontheproperuseofcommasisnotmereformforform'ssake.Indeed,it
causeswriterstoreviewtheirunderstandingofstructureandtoconsidercarefullyhowtheir
sentencesarecrafted.

Capitalizing Proper Adjectives

Whenanadjectiveowesitsoriginstoapropernoun,itshouldprobablybecapitalized.Thus
wewriteaboutChristianmusic,Frenchfries,theEnglishParliament,theMingDynasty,a
Faulknerianstyle,Jeffersoniandemocracy.Someperiodsoftimehavetakenonthestatusof
properadjectives:theNixonera,aRenaissance/Romantic/Victorianpoet(butacontemporary
novelistandmedievalwriter).Directionalandseasonaladjectivesarenotcapitalizedunless
they'repartofatitle:
We took the northwest route during the spring thaw. We stayed there until the town's annual Fall
Festival of Small Appliances.

CAPITALIZATION
Capitalize this!
1.Thefirstwordofeverysentence.
2.Thefirstpersonsingularpronoun,I.
3.Thefirst,last,andimportantwordsinatitle.(Theconcept"importantwords"usuallydoesnot
includearticles,shortprepositions(whichmeansyoumightwanttocapitalize"towards"or
"between,"say),the"to"ofaninfinitive,andcoordinatingconjunctions.Thisisnottruein
APAReferencelists(wherewecapitalizeonlythefirstword),norisitnecessarilytruefortitles
inotherlanguages.Also,onbookjackets,aestheticconsiderationswillsometimesoverridethe
rules.)
4.Propernouns
o

Specific persons and things: George W. Bush, the White House, General Motors
Corporation.

Specificgeographicallocations:Hartford,Connecticut,Africa,ForestParkZoo,Lake
Erie,theNortheast,theSouthend.However,wedonotcapitalizecompassdirections
orlocationsthataren'tbeingusedasnames:thenorthsideofthecity;we'releaving
theNorthwestandheadingsouththiswinter.Whenwecombinepropernouns,we
capitalizeattributivewordswhentheyprecedeplacenames,asinLakesErieand
Ontario,buttheoppositehappenswhentheorderisreversed:theAppalachianand
Adirondackmountains.Whenatermisuseddescriptively,asopposedtobeingan
actualpartofapropernoun,donotcapitalizeit,asin"TheCaliforniadesertsdonot
getashotastheSaharaDesert."

Names of celestial bodies: Mars, Saturn, the Milky Way. Do not, however,
capitalizeearth,moon,sun,exceptwhenthosenamesappearinacontextinwhich
other(capitalized)celestialbodiesarementioned."Ilikeithereonearth,"but"Itis
furtherfromEarthtoMarsthanitisfromMercurytotheSun.

Namesofnewspapersandjournals.Donot,however,capitalizethewordthe,even
whenitispartofthenewspaper'stitle:theHartfordCourant.

Days of the week, months, holidays. Donot, however, capitalize the names of
seasons(spring,summer,fall,autumn,winter)."Nextwinter,we'retravelingsouth;
byspring,we'llbebackupnorth."

Historicalevents:WorldWarI,theRenaissance,theCrusades.

Races,nationalities,languages:Swedes,Swedish,AfricanAmerican,Jewish,French,
NativeAmerican.(Mostwritersdonotcapitalizewhites,blacks.)

Namesofreligionsandreligiousterms:God,Christ,Allah,Buddha,Christianity,
Christians,Judaism,Jews,Islam,Muslims.

Namesofcourses:Economics,Biology101.(However,wewouldwrite:"I'mtaking
coursesinbiologyandearthsciencethissummer.")

Brandnames:Tide,Maytag,Chevrolet.

5.Namesofrelationshipsonlywhentheyareapartoforasubstituteforaperson'sname.(Often
thismeansthatwhenthereisamodifier,suchasapossessivepronoun,infrontofsuchaword,
wedonotcapitalizeit.)
o

Let'sgovisitGrandmothertoday.Let'sgovisitmygrandmothertoday.

IrememberUncleArthur.IremembermyUncleArthur.Myuncleisunforgettable.

This also means that we don't normally capitalize the name of a "vocative" or term of
endearment:
o

Canyougetthepaperforme,hon?

Dropthegun,sweetie.Ididn'tmeanit.

Capitalizing People's Titles

and the Names of Political Entities
Oneofthemostfrequentlyaskedquestionsaboutcapitalizationiswhetherornotto
capitalizepeople'sjobtitlesorthenamesofpoliticalorquasipoliticalentities.Most
writingmanualsnowadaysseemtoalignthemselveswiththetendencyinjournalistic
circles:lessisbetter.Whenatitleappearsaspartofaperson'sname,usuallybeforethe
name,itiscapitalized:ProfessorFarbman(orProfessorofPhysicsHerschelFarbman),
MayorPerez,U.S.SecretaryofStateColinPowell.Ontheotherhand,whenthetitle
appears after the name, it is not capitalized: Herschel Farbman,professor ofhistory;
EddiePerez,mayorofthecityofHartford;JuanCarlos,kingofSpain.Althoughwe
don'tcapitalize"professorofhistory"aftertheindividual'sname,wewouldcapitalize
department and program names when they are used in full*: "He worked in
theDepartmentofBehavioralSciencesbeforehestartedtoteachphysics."(Wedonot
capitalizemajorsoracademicdisciplinesunlesstheyrefertoalanguage,ethnicgroup,or
geographical entity: Roundbottom is aneconomics major, but he loves his courses
inFrenchandEastEuropeanstudies.)
Thecapitalizationofwordsthatrefertoinstitutionsorgovernmentalagencies,etc.
canwelldependonwhoisdoingthewritingandwhereorfromwhatperspective.For
instance,ifIwerewritingforthecityofHartford,doingworkonitscharterorpreparing
aninhousedocumentonappropriateofficedecor,IcouldcapitalizethewordCityin
ordertodistinguishbetweenthiscityandothercities."TheCityhasalongtraditionof
individual freedom in selecting wallpapers." If I were writing for the College of
Wooster'spublicrelationsstaff,IcouldwriteabouttheCollege'snewpolicyoncourse
withdrawal. On the other hand, if I were writing for a newspaperoutsidethese
institutions,Iwouldnotcapitalizethosewords."Thecityhasrevampeditsentiresystem
ofgovernment.""Thecollegehaschangeditspolicymanytimes."
We don't capitalize words such as city, state, federal, national, etc. when those
wordsareusedasmodifiers"Therearefederalregulationsabouttherelationshipofcity
andstate governments. Even as nouns, these words do not need to be capitalized:
"ThecityofNewYorkisinthestateofNewYork"(butit'sNewYorkCity).Commonly
accepted designations for geographical areas can be capitalized: theNearEast, the
AmericanSouth, theNorthEnd (of Hartford), Boston'sBackBay, theWildWest.
Directionsarenotcapitalizedunlesstheybecomepartofthemoreorlessofficialtitleof
ageographicalentity:"HemovedfromsouthTexastoSouthAfrica."

Capitalization in E-Mail
Forsomereason,somewritersfeelthatemailshouldduplicatethelookandfeelof

ancienttelegraphmessages,andtheircapitalsgothewayofthewindmillortheygoto
the opposite extreme and capitalize EVERYTHING. That's nonsense. Proper and
restrained capitalization simply makes things easier to read (unless something is
capitalizedinerror,andthenitslowsthingsdown).Withoutthelittletailsandleaderswe
getinanicemixtureofupperandlowercasetext,wordslosetheirfamiliartouchand
feel.TextwritteninALLCAPSisextremelydifficulttoreadandsomepeopleregardit
asunseemlyandrude,likeSHOUTINGatsomeonecloseathand.Restrainyouruseof
ALLCAPSinemailtosolitarywordsthatneedfurtheremphasis(or,betteryet,use
italicsorunderliningforthatpurpose,ifyouremailclientprovidesforthattreatment).

Words Associated with the Internet

Thereisconsiderabledebate,still,abouthowtocapitalizewordsassociatedwiththe
Internet. Most dictionaries are capitalizingInternet,Web, and associated words such
asWorldWideWeb (usually shortened toWeb),Webpage,Website, etc., but the
publicationsofsomecorporations,suchasMicrosoft,seemtobeleaningawayfromsuch
capitalization. TheYale Style Manualrecommends capitalization. The wordsemail
andonline arenot capitalized.TheGuide toGrammar andWritingis amonumentto
inconsistencyonthisissue.
Themostimportantguidingprincipleinallsuchmattersisconsistencywithina
documentandconsistencywithinanofficeorinstitution.Probablythemostthoroughand
most often relied upon guide to capitalization is theChicago Manual of Style,but
theGreggReferenceManualisalsohighlyrecommended.

Collective Adjectives
Whenthedefinitearticle,the,iscombinedwithanadjectivedescribingaclassorgroupof
people,theresultingphrasecanactasanoun:thepoor,therich,theoppressed,thehomeless,the
lonely,theunlettered,theunwashed,thegathered,thedeardeparted.Thedifferencebetween
aCollectiveNoun(whichisusuallyregardedassingularbutwhichcanbepluralincertain
contexts)andacollectiveadjectiveisthatthelatterisalwayspluralandrequiresapluralverb:

Theruralpoorhavebeenignoredbythemedia.

TherichofConnecticutareresponsible.

Theelderlyarebeginningtodemandtheirrights.

Theyoungatheartarealwaysajoytobearound.

Collective Nouns, Company Names,

Family Names, Sports Teams
Thereare,further,socalledcollectivenouns,whicharesingularwhenwethink
ofthemasgroupsandpluralwhenwethinkoftheindividualsactingwithinthewhole
(whichhappenssometimes,butnotoften).
audience
band
class
committee
crowd
dozen

family
flock
group
heap
herd
jury

kind
lot
[the]
number
public
staf
team

Thus, if we're talking about eggs, we could say "A dozenisprobably not
enough." But if we're talking partying with our friends, we could say, "A
dozenarecomingoverthisafternoon."Thejurydeliversitsverdict.[But]Thejury
cameinandtooktheirseats.WecouldsaytheTokyoStringQuartetisoneofthebest
stringensemblesintheworld,butwecouldsaytheBeatlesweresomeofthemost
famoussingersinhistory.Generally,bandnamesandmusicalgroupstakesingularor
plural verbs depending on the form of their names: "The Mamas and the
Papaswereoneofthebestgroupsofthe70s"and"Metallicaismyfavoriteband."
Note that "the number" is a singular collective noun. "The numberof
applicantsissteadilyincreasing.""Anumber,"ontheotherhand,isapluralform:
"Thereareseveralstudentsinthelobby.Anumber

areheretoseethepresident."
Collective nouns arecount nounswhich means they, themselves, can be
pluralized: a university has several athleticteamsandclasses. And the
immigrantfamilieskeptwatchovertheirherdsandflocks.
Thewordfollowingthephraseoneofthe(asanobjectoftheprepositionof)will
alwaysbeplural.

Oneofthereasonswedothisisthatitrainsalotinspring.

Oneofthestudentsinthisroomisresponsible.

Notice, though, that the verb ("is") agrees with one, which is
singular, and not with the object of the preposition, which is always
plural.

Whenafamilyname(apropernoun)ispluralized,wealmostalwayssimplyadd
an"s."SowegotovisittheSmiths,theKennedys,theGrays,etc.Whenafamily
nameendsins,x,ch,sh,orz,however,weformthepluralbyaddedes,asinthe
Marches, the Joneses, the Maddoxes, the Bushes, the Rodriguezes. Donotform a
family name plural by using an apostrophe; that device is reserved for creating
possessiveforms.
Whenapropernounendsinan"s"withahard"z"sound,wedon'taddany
ending to form the plural: "The Chambers are coming to dinner" (not the
Chamberses); "The Hodges used to live here" (not the Hodgeses). There are
exceptionseventothis:wesay"TheJonesesarecomingover,"andwe'dprobably
write"TheStevensesarecoming,too."Amodestproposal:womenwhoselastnames
endin"s"(pronounced"z")shouldmarryandtakethenamesofmenwhoselast
namesdonotendwiththatsound,andeventuallythisproblemwilldisappear.
Thenames of companies and other organizationsare usually regarded as
singular,regardlessoftheirending:"GeneralMotorshasannounceditsfalllineupof
newvehicles."Trytoavoidtheinconsistencythatisalmostinevitablewhenyouthink
of corporate entities as a group of individuals: "General
Motorshasannouncedtheirfall lineup of new vehicles." But note that some
inconsistencyisacceptableinallbutthemostformalwriting:"Fordhasannouncedits
breakupwithFirestoneTires.TheircarswillnolongerusetiresbuiltbyFirestone."
Somewriterswilluseapluralverbwhenapluralconstructionsuchas"Associates"is
partofthecompany'stitleorwhenthetitleconsistsofaseriesofnames:"Upton,
Vernon, and Gridleyaremoving to new law offices next week" or "Shadrach,
Meshach,Abednego&Associateshavewonalltheircasesthisyear."Singularverbs
andpronounswouldbecorrectinthosesentences,also.
Thenamesofsportsteams,ontheotherhand,aretreatedasplurals,regardless
oftheformofthatname.Wewouldwritethat"TheYankeeshavesignedanewthird
baseman"and"TheYankeesareagreatorganization"(evenifwe'reRedSoxfans)
andthat"Fortwoyearsinarow,theUtahJazzhaveattemptedtodraftabigman."
Whenwerefertoateambythecityinwhichitresides,however,weusethesingular,
asin"DallashasattemptedtosecuretheservicesoftwoassistantcoachesthatGreen
Bayhopestokeep."(ThisisdecidedlynotaBritishpractice.IntheUK,thecityor
countrynamesbywhichBritishnewspapersrefertosoccerteams,forexample,are
usedaspluralsapracticethatseemsoddandinconsistenttoAmericanears:"A
minute's silence will precede the game at Le Stadium today, when
ToulouseplayMunster,andtomorrowatLansdowneRoad,whenLeinsterattemptto

reachtheirfirstEuropeanfinalbybeatingPerpignan"[reportintheonlineLondon
Times].)
In a rare dictum-making mood, William Safire (in No Uncertain Terms, 2003) declares that
pluralized names like Packers and Yankees should take plural verbs (obviously), but that team
names like the Jazz, the Heat, the Lightning, the Connecticut Sun should take singular verbs.
This dictum seems to prevail in Safire's own New York Times: "The [Miami] Heat, typical of its
resilience at home, was far from through. " But just about everywhere else in the world of sports
reporting, this is not the case. Even in the Times, an AP report asserts that "The Heat, down 2-0
in the East Conference semifinal series, have won 16 straight home games." TheBoston
Globe says that "the [New England] Revolution are reestablishing their reputation for
resourcefulness and spirited play." and "the Heat were in it in the first half." The Hartford
Courant writes that "When the Connecticut Sun play an exhibition game tonight in Houston,
coach Mike Thibault will have two more players." Finally, NBA Media Ventures writes that "The
Utah Jazz were expected to follow the rebuilding mode ." [All quotations are from May 10th
and 20th, 2004, online sources.)

Plurals and Apostrophes

We usean apostrophe to create plural formsin two limited situations: for
pluralizedlettersofthealphabetandwhenwearetryingtocreatethepluralformofa
wordthatreferstotheworditself.Herewealsoshoulditalicizethis"wordasword,"
butnotthe'sendingthatbelongstoit.Donotusetheapostrophe+stocreatetheplural
ofacronyms(pronounceableabbreviationssuchaslaserandIRAandURL*)and
otherabbreviations.(Apossibleexceptiontothislastruleisanacronymthatendsin
"S":"WefiledfourNOS'sinthatfolder.")

JeffreygotfourA'sonhislastreportcard.

Towandalearnedveryquicklytomindherp'sandq's.

Youhavefifteenand'sinthatlastparagraph.

Noticethatwedonotuseanapostrophestocreatethepluralofawordinitself.For
instance,wewouldrefertothe"insandouts"ofamystery,the"yesesandnos"ofa
vote (NYPLWriter's Guide to Style and Usage), and we assume that Theodore
Bernsteinknew whathewastalkingaboutin hisbookDos,Don'ts& Maybes of
EnglishUsage.Wewouldalsowrite"Theshortstopmadetwospectacularoutsinthat
inning."Butwhenwerefertoawordasaword,wefirstitalicizeitIpointedout
theuseofthewordoutinthatsentence.andifnecessary,wepluralizeitbyadding
the unitalicized apostrophe s "In his essay on prepositions, Jose used an
astonishing three dozenout's." This practice is not universally followed, and in

newspapers, you would find our example sentence written without italics or
apostrophe:"Youhavefifteenandsinthatlastparagraph."
Some abbreviations have embedded plural forms, and there are often
inconsistencies in creating the plurals of these words. The speed of an internal
combustionengineismeasuredin"revolutionsperminute"orrpm(lowercase)and
the efficiency of an automobile is reported in "milesper gallon" ormpg(no "s"
endings).Ontheotherhand,baseballplayerslovetoaccumulate"runsbattedin,"a
statisticthatisusuallyreportedasRBIs(althoughitwouldnotbeterriblyunusualto
hearthatsomeonegot100RBIlastyearandsomebaseballcommentatorswilltalk
about"ribbies,"too).Also,theU.S.militaryprovides"mealsreadytoeat"andthose
rationsareusuallydescribedasMREs(notMRE).Whenanabbreviationcanbeused
torefertoasingularthingarunbattedin,amealreadytoeat,aprisonerofwar
it'ssurelyagoodideatoformthepluralbyadding"s"totheabbreviation:RBIs,
MREs, POWs. (Notice that no apostrophe is involved in the formation of these
plurals.Whetherabbreviationsliketheseareformedwithupperorlowercaseletters
isamatterofgreatmystery;onlyyourdictionaryeditorknowsforsure.)
Notice, furthermore, that we donotusean apostrophe tocreate pluralsinthe
following:

The1890sinEuropearewidelyregardedasyearsofsocialdecadence.

Ihaveprepared1099sfortheentirestaff.

RosaandherbrotherhaveidenticalIQs,andtheybothhavePhDsfromHarvard.

Shehasover400URLs*inherbookmarkfile.

Singular Subjects, Plural Predicates, etc.

Wefrequentlyrunintoasituationinwhichasingularsubjectislinkedtoaplural
predicate:

Myfavoritebreakfastiscerealwithfruit,milk,orangejuice,andtoast.

Sometimes,too,apluralsubjectcanbelinkedtosingularpredicate:

Mistakesinparallelismaretheonlyproblemhere.

Insuchsituations,rememberthatthenumber(singularorplural)ofthesubject,not
thepredicate,determinesthenumberoftheverb.SeethesectiononSubjectVerb
Agreementforfurtherhelp.
Aspecialsituationexistswhenasubjectseemsnottoagreewithitspredicate.For
instance,whenwewanteachstudenttoseehisorhercounselor(andeachstudentis
assignedtoonlyonecounselor),butwewanttoavoidthat"hisorher"constructionby
pluralizing,dowesay"Studentsmustseetheircounselors"or"Studentsmustsee
theircounselor"?Thesingularcounselorisnecesssarytoavoidtheimplicationthat
students have more than one counselor apiece. Do we say "Many sons dislike
theirfatherorfathers"?Wedon'tmeantosuggestthatthesonshavemorethanone
father,soweusethesingularfather.TheodoreBernstein,inDos,Don'tsandMaybes
ofEnglishUsage,saysthat"Idiomaticallythenounapplyingtomorethanoneperson
remainsinthesingularwhen(a)itrepresentsaqualityorthingpossessedincommon
("The audience'scuriositywas aroused"); or (b) it is an abstraction ("The judges
appliedtheirreasontotheproblem"),or(c)itisafigurativeword("Alltenchildren
hadasweettooth")(203).Sometimesgoodsensewillhavetoguideyou.Wemight
wanttosay"Puzzled,thechildrenscratchedtheirhead"toavoidtheimageofmulti
headedchildren,but"Theaudiencerosetotheirfoot"isplainlyridiculousandabout
totipover.
In "The boys moved their car/cars," the plural would indicate that each boy
owned a car, the singular thatthe boys (together) owned one car(which is quite
possible).Itisalsopossiblethateachboyownedmorethanonecar.Bepreparedfor
suchsituations,andconsidercarefullytheimplicationsofusingeitherthesingularor
theplural.Youmighthavetoavoidtheproblembygoingtheoppositedirectionof
pluralizing:movingthingstothesingularandtalkingaboutwhateachboydid.
Adjectival Opposites
Theoppositeorthenegativeaspectofanadjectivecanbeformedinanumberofways.One
way, of course, is to find an adjective to mean the opposite an antonym. The opposite
ofbeautifulisugly,theoppositeoftallisshort.Athesauruscanhelpyoufindanappropriate
opposite.Anotherwaytoformtheoppositeofanadjectiveiswithanumberofprefixes.The
opposite offortunateisunfortunate, the opposite ofprudentisimprudent, the opposite
ofconsiderateisinconsiderate, the opposite ofhonorableisdishonorable, the opposite
ofalcoholicisnonalcoholic,theoppositeofbeingproperlyfiledismisfiled.Ifyouarenotsure
ofthespellingofadjectivesmodifiedinthiswaybyprefixes(orwhichistheappropriateprefix),
youwillhavetoconsultadictionary,astherulesfortheselectionofaprefixarecomplexand
too shifty to be trusted. The meaning itself can be tricky; for instance, flammable and
inflammablemeanthesamething.

Athirdmeansforcreatingtheoppositeofanadjectiveistocombineitwithlessorleastto
createacomparisonwhichpointsintheoppositedirection.Interestingshadesofmeaningand
tonebecomeavailablewiththisusage.Itiskindertosaythat"Thisistheleastbeautifulcityin
thestate."thanitistosaythat"Thisistheugliestcityinthestate."(Italsohasaslightly
different meaning.) A candidate for a job can still beworthyand yet be "less worthyof
consideration"thananothercandidate.It'sprobablynotagoodideatousethisconstructionwith
anadjectivethatisalreadyanegative:"Heislessunluckythanhisbrother,"althoughthatisnot
the same thing as saying he is luckier than his brother. Use the comparativelesswhen the
comparisonisbetweentwothingsorpeople;usethesuperlativeleastwhenthecomparisonis
amongmanythingsorpeople.

Mymotherislesspatientthanmyfather.

Ofallthenewsitcoms,thisismyleastfavoriteshow.

Some Adjectival Problem Children

Good versus Well

In both casual speech and formal writing, we frequently have to choose
between the adjective good and the adverb well. With most verbs, there is
no contest: when modifying a verb, use the adverb.
He swims well.
He knows only too well who the murderer is.
However, when using a linkingverb or a verb that has to do with the five
human senses, you want to use the adjective instead.
How are you? I'm feeling good, thank you.
After a bath, the baby smells so good.
Even after my careful paint job, this room doesn't look good.
Many careful writers, however, will use well after linking verbs relating to
health, and this is perfectly all right. In fact, to say that you are good or
that you feel good usually implies not only that you're OK physically but
also that your spirits are high.
"How are you?"
"I am well, thank you."

Bad versus Badly

When your cat died (assuming you loved your cat), did you
feel bad or badly? Applying the same rule that applies togood versus well,
use the adjective form after verbs that have to do with human feelings.
You felt bad. If you said you feltbadly, it would mean that something was
wrong with your faculties for feeling.

Other Adjectival Considerations

ReviewthesectiononCompoundNounsandModifiersfortheformationofmodifiers
createdwhenwordsareconnected:afouryearoldchild,anineteenthcenturynovel,anempty
headedfool.

COMPOUND WORDS
Definition
In English, words, particularly adjectives and nouns, are combined into compound
structuresinavarietyofways.Andoncetheyareformed,theysometimesmetamorphoseover
time.Acommonpatternisthattwowordsfirefly,saywillbejoinedbyahyphenfora
timefireflyandthenbejoinedintoonewordfirefly.Inthisrespect,alanguagelike
German,inwhichwordsarehappilyandimmediatelylinkedonetotheother,mightseemto
haveanadvantage.ThereisonlyonesurewaytoknowhowtospellcompoundsinEnglish:use
anauthoritativedictionary.

There are three forms of compound words:

the closed form, in which the words are melded together,
such as firefly, secondhand, softball, childlike, crosstown,
redhead, keyboard, makeup, notebook;
the hyphenated form, such as daughter-in-law, master-atarms, over-the-counter, six-pack, six-year-old, mass-produced;
and the open form, such as post office, real estate, middle
class, full moon, half sister, attorney general.

Howawordmodifiedbyanadjective"alittle
school,""theyellow

butter"isdifferentfrom
a compound word " ahigh school," "thepeanut butter" is a nice and philosophical
question.Itclearlyhassomethingtodowiththedegreetowhichtheprecedingwordchangesthe
essentialcharacterofthenoun,thedegreetowhichthemodifierandthenounareinseparable.If
youwerediagrammingasentencewithacompoundword,youwouldprobablykeepthewords
together,onthesamehorizontalline.
Modifying compounds areoften hyphenatedtoavoid confusion.The New YorkPublic
Library'sWriter'sGuidepointsoutthatanoldfurnituresalesmanclearlydealsinoldfurniture,
butanoldfurnituresalesmanwouldbeanoldman.Weprobablywouldnothavethesame
ambiguity,however,aboutausedcardealer.Whencompoundedmodifiersprecedeanoun,they
areoftenhyphenated:parttimeteacher,fiftyyardwidefield,fireresistantcurtains,highspeed
chase. When those same modifying words come after the noun, however, they are not
hyphenated:afieldfiftyyardswide,curtainsthatarefireresistant,etc.Thesecondrateopera
companygaveaperformancethatwasfirstrate.
Comparativeandsuperlativeformsofadjectivesarehyphenatedwhencompoundedwith
othermodifiers:thehighestpricedcar,theshortertermloan.Butthisisnotalwaysthecase:the
mosttalentedyoungster.Adverbs,wordsendinginly,arenothyphenatedwhencompounded
withothermodifiers:ahighlyratedbank,apartiallyrefundedticket,publiclyheldsecurities.
Sometimeshyphenatedmodifierslosetheirhyphenswhentheybecomecompoundnouns:
Acleardecisionmakingprocesswasevidentintheirdecisionmaking.Thebluishgreywas
slowlydisappearingfromthebluishgreysky.Thisisnotalwaysso,however:yourhighrise
apartmentbuildingisalsoknownasahighrise.
Whenmodifyingapersonwithhisorherage,thecompoundedphraseishyphenated:my
sixyearoldson.However,whentheagecomesaftertheperson,wedon'tuseahyphen.Myson
issixyearsold.Heis,however,asixyearold.

Plurals and Possessives

Mostdictionarieswillgivevariantspellingsofcompoundplurals.Whenyouhavemore
thanonetruckfilledwithsand,doyouhaveseveraltruckfulsortrucksful?Thedictionarywill
giveyouboth,withthefirstspellingusuallypreferred.(Andthesameistrueofteaspoonfuls,
cupfuls,etc.)Thedictionarywillhelpyoudiscoverthatonlyonespellingisacceptableforsome
compoundslikepassersby.
Forhyphenatedforms,thepluralizingsisusuallyattachedtotheelementthatisactually
beingpluralized:daughtersinlaw,halfmoons,mayorselect.TheChicagoManualofStylesays
that"hyphenatedandopencompoundsareregularlymadepluralbytheadditionoftheplural
inflectiontotheelementthatissubjecttothechangeinnumber"andgivesasexamples"fathers

inlaw," "sergeantsinarms," "doctors of philosophy," "and courtsmartial" (196). The

NYPLWriter'sGuideputsitthisway:"themostsignificantwordgenerallythenountakes
thepluralform.Thesignificantwordmaybeatthebeginning,middle,orendoftheterm"(396).
Andthenwegetexamplessuchas"attorneysatlaw,""billsoffare,"chiefsofstaff,"notaries
public,"assistantattorneysgeneral,""higherups,""alsorans,"and"gobetweens."
Note: some dictionaries will list "attorney generals" along with "attorneys general" as
acceptablepluralsofthatoffice.Whetherthat'samatterofcavingintopopularusageoran
inabilitytodeterminethe"significantword"isunknown.
Asageneralrule,then,thepluralformofanelementinahierarchicaltermbelongstothe
baseelementintheterm,regardlessofthebaseelement'splacement:

firstsergeants

sergeantsmajor

sergeantsfirstclass

colonelgenerals[Russian]

lieutenantgenerals

lieutenantcolonels

apprentice,journeyman,andmastermechanics

deputylibrarians

deputyassistantsecretariesofstate

Thepossessiveofahyphenatedcompoundiscreatedbyattachinganapostrophestothe
endofthecompounditself:mydaughterinlaw'scar,afriendofmine'scar.Tocreatethe
possessiveofpluralizedandcompoundedforms,awriteriswisetoavoidtheapostrophesform
andusean"of"phrase(the"postgenitive")instead:themeetingofthedaughtersinlaw,the
scheduleofhalfmoons.Otherwise,thepossessiveformbecomesdownrightweird:the
daughtersinlaw'smeeting,friendsofmine'scars.
Oneofthemostdifficultdecisionstomakeaboutpossessivesandpluralsofcompound
wordsoccurswhenyoucan'tdecidewhetherthefirstnouninacompoundstructureisactingasa
nounthatoughttobeshowingpossessionoraswhatiscalledanattributivenoun,essentiallyan
adjective.Inotherwords,dowewritethatIamgoingtoawritersconferenceortoawriters'
conference?TheChicagoStyleManualsuggeststhatifsingularnounscanactasattributive

nounscitygovernment,taxreliefthenpluralnounsshouldbeabletoactasattributive
nouns:consumersgroup,teachersunion.Thisprincipleisnotuniversallyendorsed,however,
andwritersmustremembertobeconsistentwithinadocument.
Thissectiondoesnotspeaktothematterofcompoundednounssuchas"ProfessorVilla's
andProfessorDarling'sclasseshavebeenfilled."SeethesectiononPossessivesforadditional
help.

Compounds with Prefixes

Withahandfulofexceptions,compoundscreatedbytheadditionofaprefixarenot
hyphenated:
anteroom, antisocial, binomial, biochemistry, coordinate, counterclockwise, extraordinary,
infrastructure, interrelated, intramural, macroeconomics, metaphysical, microeconomics,
midtown, minibike, multicultural, neoromantic, nonviolent, overanxious, postwar, preconference,
pseudointellectual, reunify, semiconductor, socioeconomic, subpar, supertanker, transatlantic,
unnatural, underdeveloped

Exceptions include
compounds in which the second element is capitalized or a number:
anti-Semitic, pre-1998, post-Freudian
compounds which need hyphens to avoid confusion
un-ionized (as distinguished from unionized), co-op
compounds in which a vowel would be repeated (especially to avoid
confusion)
co-op, semi-independent, anti-intellectual (but reestablish,
reedit)
compounds consisting of more than one word
non-English-speaking, pre-Civil War
compounds that would be difficult to read without a hyphen
pro-life, pro-choice, co-edited
Also,whenwecombinecompoundnouns,wewoulduseahyphenwiththefirst,butnotthelast:
whenunderandoverdevelopednationsgettogether....

Spelling
Thefollowingtablepresentsaminidictionaryofcompoundmodifiersandnouns.Perhaps
thebestuseofaverypartialinventorylikethisistosuggestthekindsofwordsthatawriter
wouldbewiseeithertomemorizeortobeatleastwaryof.Itissometimesenoughtoknowwhen
weshouldgetthedictionaryofftheshelf.
2-year education
one-week vacation
A-frame
African American
Air Force
all-city tournament
attorney general
blood pressure
blue-green dress
bull's-eye
database
daughter-in-law
English-speaking person
ex-wife
first-rate accommodations
football
grandmother
grant-in-aid
great-aunt

half sister
high-level officials
I-beam
Italian-American
Italian-American club
jack-in-the-box
lifelike
light year
mayor-elect
salesperson
secretary-treasurer
stockbroker
T-square
threefold
up-to-the-minute
V-formation
vice president
well-made clothes
worldwide inflation
X-ray

NoticethatAfricanAmericancontainsnohyphen,butItalianAmericandoes.Thereareno
hardandfastrulesaboutthis,andsocialconventionschange.(ThereisnohypheninFrench
Canadian.)Somegroupshaveinsistedthattheydonotwanttobeknownas"hyphenated
Americans"andresist,therefore,theuseofahyphen,preferringthattheword"American"be
usedasanadjective.SomeresourcesevensuggestthatatermlikeItalianAmericanshouldbe
usedonlywhentheindividualthusreferredtohasparentsoftwodifferentnationalities.That's
probablyastretch,butawritermustbeawarethatsensibilitiescanbearousedwhenusing
nationalitiesofanydescription.Consistencywithinadocumentisalsoimportant.

Suspended Compounds*
Withaseriesofnearlyidenticalcompounds,wesometimesdelaythefinaltermofthe
finaltermuntilthelastinstance,allowingthehyphentoactasakindofplaceholder,asin

Thethirdandfourthgradeteachersmetwiththeparents.

Bothfullandparttimeemployeeswillgetraisesthisyear.

Wedon'tseemany3,4,and5yearoldchildrenaroundhere.

Becarefulnottooverusethisfeatureofthehyphen;readershavetowaituntilthatfinal
instancetoknowwhatyou'retalkingabout,andthatcanbeannoying.

FOR ADDITIONAL HELP

TheChicagoManualofStylecontainsanextensivesectiondevotedtocompounded
modifiersandnouns.Thatbook'stableofcompoundscategorizescompoundsintovarious
types,andhelpsusdiscoverprinciplesofspelling(andsomereallystrangeexceptions).
Stylesofcompoundingwordschangeovertheyears,however,andwritersmightevenfind
differentversionsindifferentdictionaries.TheChicagoManualisespeciallyhelpful
becauseittriestodefinetheprinciplesbywhichsuchdecisionsaremade.

POSSESSIVE FORMS
skip to PluralNounForms.

Forming Possessives
ShowingpossessioninEnglishisarelativelyeasymatter(believeitornot).Byaddingan
apostropheandanswecanmanagetotransformmostsingularnounsintotheirpossessive
form:

thecar'sfrontseat

Charles'scar

Bartkowski'sbook

ahardday'swork

SomewriterswillsaythatthesafterCharles'isnotnecessaryandthataddingonlythe
apostrophe(Charles'car)willsufficetoshowpossession.Consistencyisthekeyhere:ifyou
choosenottoaddthesafteranounthatalreadyendsins,dosoconsistentlythroughoutyour
text.WilliamStrunk'sElementsofStylerecommendsaddingthe's.(Infact,oddlyenough,it's
RuleNumberOneinStrunk's"ElementaryRulesofUsage.")Youwillfindthatsomenouns,
especiallypropernouns,especiallywhenthereareothersandzsoundsinvolved,turninto

clumsybeastswhenyouaddanothers:"That'soldMrs.Chambers'sestate."Inthatcase,you're
betteroffwith"Mrs.Chambers'estate."
Thereisanotherwayaroundthisproblemofklunkypossessives:usingthe"ofphrase"to
showpossession.Forinstance,wewouldprobablysaythe"constitutionofIllinois,"asopposed
to"Illinois'(orIllinois's??)constitution."
ToanswerthatquestionaboutIllinois,youshouldknowthatmostwordsthatendinan
unpronounced"s"formtheirpossessivebyaddinganapostrophe+s.Sowewouldwriteabout
"Illinois'snextgovernor"and"Arkansas'sformergovernor"and"theMarineCorps'spolicy."
However,manynonEnglishwordsthatendwithasilent"s"or"x"willformtheirpossessives
withonlyanapostrophe.Sowewouldwrite"AlexanderDumas'firstnovel"and"thisbordeaux'
bouquet."AccordingtotheNewYorkPublicLibrary'sGuidetoStyleandUsage,thereare
"certainexpressionsthatendinsorthessoundthattraditionallyrequireanapostropheonly:for
appearance'sake,forconscience'sake,forgoodness'sake"(268).Incidentally,the
NYPLGuidealsosuggeststhatwhenawordendsinadoubles,we'rebetteroffwritingits
possessivewithonlyanapostrophe:theboss'memo,thewitness'statement.Manywritersinsist,
however,thatweactuallyhearan"es"soundattachedtothepossessiveformsofthesewords,so
anapostrophesisappropriate:boss'smemo,witness'sstatement.Ifthelookofthethrees'sina
rowdoesn'tbotheryou,usethatconstruction.
Whenwewantthepossessiveofapluralizedfamilyname,wepluralizefirstandthen
simplymakethenamepossessivewiththeuseofanapostrophe.Thus,wemighttravelin
theSmiths'carwhenwevisittheJoneses(membersoftheJonesfamily)attheJoneses'home.
Whenthelastnameendsinahard"z"sound,weusuallydon'taddan"s"orthe"es"andsimply
addtheapostrophe:"theChambers'newbaby."
Many writers consider it bad form to use apostrophe -s possessives with pieces of
furniture and buildings or inanimate objects in general. Instead of "the desk's edge"
(according to many authorities), we should write "the edge of the desk" and instead
of "the hotel's windows" we should write "the windows of the hotel." In fact, we
would probably avoid the possessive altogether and use the noun as an attributive:
"the hotel windows." This rule (if, in fact, it is one) is no longer universally endorsed.
We would not say "the radio of that car" instead of "that car's radio" (or the "car
radio") and we would not write "the desire of my heart" instead of "my heart's
desire." Writing "the edge of the ski" would probably be an improvement over "the
ski's edge," however.
For expressions of time and measurement, the possessive is shown with an
apostrophe -s: "one dollar's worth," "two dollars' worth," "a hard day's night," "two
years' experience," "an evening's entertainment," and "two weeks' notice" (the title

of the Hollywood movie nothwithstanding).

Rememberthatpersonalpronounscreatespecialproblemsintheformationofpossessives.
SeethechartofNounandPronounCases.

Possessives & Gerunds

Possessiveformsarefrequentlymodifiersforverbformsusedasnouns,orgerunds.Using
thepossessivewillaffecthowwereadthesentence.Forinstance,"I'mworriedaboutJoerunning
intheparkafterdark"meansthatI'mworriedaboutJoeandthefactthatherunsintheparkafter
dark(theword"running"isapresentparticiplemodifyingJoe).Ontheotherhand,"I'm
worriedaboutJoe'srunningintheparkafterdark"putstheemphasisontherunningthatJoeis
doing("running"isagerund,and"Joe's"modifiesthatverbal).Usually,almostalwaysinfact,
weusethepossessiveformofanounorpronountomodifyagerund.Moreisinvolved,however.
ClickHEREforfurtherinformationaboutusingthepossessiveformwithgerunds.

Possessives versus Adjectival Labels

Don'tconfuseanadjectivallabel(sometimescalledan"attributivenoun")ending
inswiththeneedforapossessive.Sometimesit'snoteasytotellwhichiswhich.Doyouattend
awriters'conferenceorawritersconference?Ifit'sagroupofwritersattendingaconference,
youwantthepluralending,writers.Iftheconferenceactuallybelongstothewriters,thenyou'd
wantthepossessiveform,writers'.Ifyoucaninsertanothermodiferbetweentheswordand
whateveritmodifies,you'reprobablydealingwithapossessive.Additionalmodifierswillalso
helpdeterminewhichformtouse.

PatriotsquarterbackDrewBledsoethrewthreetouchdownpasses.(pluralasmodifier)

ThePatriots'[new]quarterback,DrewBledsoe,threwthreetouchdownpasses.(possessive
asmodifier]

Possessives of Plurals & Irregular Plurals

Mostpluralnounsalreadyendins.Tocreatetheirpossessive,simplyaddanapostrophe
afterthes:

ThePepins'houseisthebigblueoneonthecorner.

Thelions'usualsourceofwaterhasdriedup.

Thegases'odorsmixedandbecamenauseating.

Thewitches'broomswerehiddeninthecorner.

Thebabies'bedswereallinarow.

Withnounswhosepluralsareirregular(seePlurals),however,youwillneedtoaddan
apostrophefollowedbyanstocreatethepossessiveform.

Sheplansonopeningawomen'sclothingboutique.

Children'sprogrammingisnotahighpriority.

Thegeese'sfoodsupplywasendangered.

(Butwithwordsthatdonotchangetheirformwhenpluralized,youwillhavetoaddansores.)

Theseaweedwasdestroyedbythefishes'overfeeding.

Holidays Showing Possession

AnumberofAmericanHolidayshavepossessiveforms,andarepeculiarlyinconsistent.
"Mother'sDay"and"Father'sDay"areeasyenough,oneparentatatime,and"Parents'Day"is
nicelypluralized,asis"Presidents'Day"whichcelebratesthebirthdaysofbothWashingtonand
Lincoln."AllSouls'Day(Halloween),"ofcourse,takesapluralpossessive."VeteransDay"is
pluralbutnotpossessive,forhistoricalreasonsshroudedinmystery.MartinLutherKingJr.Day
hasnopossessive."NewYear'sDay,""St.Valentine'sDay,"St.Patrick'sDay,"and"AprilFool's
Day"allhavetheirsingularprossessiveform,andso,whilewe'reatit,does"Season's
Greetings."Notethat"DaylightSavingTime"isneitherpossessivenorplural.

Compound Possessives
Whenyouareshowingpossessionwithcompoundednouns,theapostrophe'splacement
dependsonwhetherthenounsareactingseparatelyortogether.

Miguel'sandCecilia'snewcarsareintheparkinglot.
Thismeansthateachofthemhasatleastonenewcarandthattheirownershipisaseparate
matter.

MiguelandCecilia'snewcarsareintheparkinglot.
ThisconstructiontellsusthatMiguelandCeciliashareownershipofthesecars.The
possessive(indicatedby's)belongstotheentirephrase,notjusttoCecilia.

Anotherexample:

LewisandClark'sexpectationswereverymuchthesame.
Thisconstructiontellsusthatthetwogentlemenheldonesetofexpectationsincommon.

Lewis'sandClark'sexpectationswerealtogetherdifferent.
Thismeansthattheexpectationsofthetwomenweredifferent(ratherobviousfromwhat

thesentencesays,too).Wesignifyseparateownershipbywritingbothofthecompounded
propernounsinthepossessiveform.

Whenoneofthepossessorsinacompoundpossessiveisapersonalpronoun,wehavetoput
bothpossessorsinthepossessiveformorweendupwithsomethingsilly:"Billandmycarhad
tobetowedlastnight."

Bill'sandmycarhadtobetowedlastnight.

Giorgio'sandherfatherwasnotaroundmuchduringtheirchildhood.

Ifthissecondsentenceseemsunsatisfactory,youmighthavetodosomerewritingsoyouendup
talkingabouttheirfather,instead,orreverttousingbothnames:"GiorgioandIsabel'sfather
wasn'taroundmuch...."(andthen"Giorgio"willlosetheapostrophe+s).

Possessives & Compound Constructions

Thisisdifferentfromtheproblemweconfrontwhencreatingpossessiveswithcompound
constructionssuchasdaughterinlawandfriendofmine.Generally,theapostrophesissimply
addedtotheendofthecompoundstructure:mydaughterinlaw'scar,afriendofmine'scar.If
thissoundsclumsy,usethe"of"constructiontoavoidtheapostrophe:thecarofafriendofmine,
etc.Thisisespeciallyusefulinpluralizedcompoundstructures:thedaughtersinlaw'scar
soundsquitestrange,butit'scorrect.We'rebetteroffwiththecarofthedaughtersinlaw.See
thesectiononCompoundNounsandModifiersforadditionalhelp.

Possessives with Appositive Forms

Whenapossessivenounisfollowedbyanappositive,awordthatrenamesorexplainsthat
noun,theapostrophe+sisaddedtotheappositive,nottothenoun.Whenthishappens,wedrop
thecommathatwouldnormallyfollowtheappositivephrase.

WemustgetJoeBidwell,thefamilyattorney'ssignature.

Createsuchconstructionswithcaution,however,asyoumightendupwritingsomethingthat
lookssilly:

Iwreckedmybestfriend,Bob'scar.

You'refrequentlybetteroffusingthe"ofgenitive"form,writingsomethinglike"Wemustget
thesignatureofJoeBidwell,thefamilyattorney"and"Iwreckedthecarofmybestfriend,Bob."

Double Possessives
Dowesay"afriendofmyuncle"or"afriendofmyuncle's"?Inspiteofthefactthat"a
friendofmyuncle's"seemstooverworkthenotionofpossessiveness,thatisusuallywhatwesay

andwrite.Thedoublepossessiveconstructionissometimescalledthe"postgenitive"or
"offollowedbyapossessivecaseoranabsolutepossessivepronoun"(fromtheOxfordEnglish
Dictionary,whichlikestoshowoff).Thedoublepossessivehasbeenaroundsincethefifteenth
century,andiswidelyaccepted.It'sextremelyhelpful,forinstance,indistinguishingbetween"a
pictureofmyfather"(inwhichweseetheoldman)and"apictureofmyfather's"(whichhe
owns).Nativespeakerswillnotehowmuchmorenaturalitistosay"He'safanofhers"than
"he'safanofher."
Generally,whatfollowsthe"of"inadoublepossessivewillbedefiniteandhuman,not
otherwise,sowewouldsay"afriendofmyuncle's"butnot"afriendofthemuseum's
[museum,instead]."Whatprecedesthe"of"isusuallyindefinite(afriend,notthebestfriend),
unlessit'sprecededbythedemonstrativesthisorthat,asin"thisfriendofmyfather's."
AdjectivesthatarereallyParticiples,verbformswithingandedendings,canbe
troublesomeforsomestudents.Itisonethingtobeafrightenedchild;itisanaltogetherdifferent
mattertobeafrighteningchild.Doyouwanttogouptoyourprofessorafterclassandsaythat
youareconfusedorthatyouareconfusing?Generally,theedendingmeansthatthenounso
described("you")hasapassiverelationshipwithsomethingsomething(thesubjectmatter,the
presentation)hasbewilderedyouandyouareconfused.Theingendingmeansthatthenoun
describedhasamoreactiveroleyouarenotmakinganysensesoyouareconfusing(to
others,includingyourprofessor).
Theedendingmodifiersareoftenaccompaniedbyprepositions(thesearenottheonly
choices):

Wewereamazedatallthecircusanimals.

Wewereamusedbytheclowns.

Wewereannoyedbytheelephants.

Wewereboredbytheringmaster.

Wewereconfusedbythenoise.

Weweredisappointedbythemotorcycledaredevils.

Weweredisappointedintheirperformance.

Wewereembarrassedbymybrother.

Wewereexhaustedfromalltheexcitement.

Wewereexcitedbytheliontamer.

Wewereexcitedaboutthehighwireact,too.

Wewerefrightenedbythelions.

Wewereintroducedtotheringmaster.

Wewereinterestedinthetent.

Wewereirritatedbytheheat.

Wewereopposedtoleavingearly.

Weweresatisfiedwiththecircus.

Wewereshockedatthelevelofnoiseunderthebigtent.

Weweresurprisedbythefans'response.

Weweresurprisedattheirindifference.

Weweretiredofallthelightsafterawhile.

Wewereworriedaboutthetrafficleavingtheparkinglot.

A- Adjectives
Themostcommonofthesocalledaadjectivesareablaze,afloat,afraid,aghast,alert,
alike,alive,alone,aloof,ashamed,asleep,averse,awake,aware.Theseadjectiveswillprimarily
showupaspredicateadjectives(i.e.,theycomeafteralinkingverb).

Thechildrenwereashamed.

Theprofessorremainedaloof.

Thetreeswereablaze.

Occasionally,however,youwillfindaadjectivesbeforethewordtheymodify:thealertpatient,
thealoofphysician.Mostofthem,whenfoundbeforethewordtheymodify,arethemselves
modified:thenearlyawakestudent,theterriblyalonescholar.Andaadjectivesaresometimes
modifiedby"verymuch":verymuchafraid,verymuchalone,verymuchashamed,etc.

ADVERBS

Definition
Adverbsarewordsthatmodify

averb(Hedroveslowly.Howdidhedrive?)

anadjective(Hedroveaveryfastcar.Howfastwashiscar?)

anotheradverb(Shemovedquiteslowlydowntheaisle.Howslowlydidshemove?)

Aswewillsee,adverbsoftentellwhen,where,why,orunderwhatconditionssomething
happensorhappened.Adverbsfrequentlyendinly;however,manywordsandphrasesnot
endinginlyserveanadverbialfunctionandanlyendingisnotaguaranteethatawordisan
adverb.Thewordslovely,lonely,motherly,friendly,neighborly,forinstance,areadjectives:

Thatlovelywomanlivesinafriendlyneighborhood.

If a group of words containing a subject and verb acts as an adverb

(modifying the verb of a sentence), it is called an AdverbClause:

Whenthisclassisover,we'regoingtothemovies.

Whenagroupofwordsnotcontainingasubjectandverbactsasanadverb,itiscalled
anadverbialphrase.Prepositionalphrasesfrequentlyhaveadverbialfunctions(tellingplace
andtime,modifyingtheverb):

Hewenttothemovies.

Sheworksonholidays.

TheylivedinCanadaduringthewar.

AndInfinitivephrasescanactasadverbs(usuallytellingwhy):

Shehurriedtothemainlandtoseeherbrother.

Thesenatorrantocatchthebus.

Butthereareotherkindsofadverbialphrases:

Hecallshismotherasoftenaspossible.

Adverbscanmodifyadjectives,butanadjectivecannotmodifyan
adverb.Thuswewouldsaythat"thestudentsshowedareallywonderful

attitude"andthat"thestudentsshowedawonderfullycasualattitude"andthat"myprofessor
isreallytall,butnot"Heranrealfast."
Likeadjectives,adverbscanhavecomparativeandsuperlativeformstoshowdegree.

Walkfasterifyouwanttokeepupwithme.

Thestudentwhoreadsfastestwillfinishfirst.

Weoftenusemoreandmost,lessandleasttoshowdegreewithadverbs:

Withsneakerson,shecouldmovemorequicklyamongthepatients.

TheflowerswerethemostbeautifullyarrangedcreationsI'veeverseen.

Sheworkedlessconfidentlyafterheraccident.

ThatwastheleastskillfullydoneperformanceI'veseeninyears.

Theasasconstructioncanbeusedtocreateadverbsthatexpresssamenessorequality:
"Hecan'trunasfastashissister."
Ahandfulofadverbshavetwoforms,onethatendsinlyandonethatdoesn't.Incertain
cases,thetwoformshavedifferentmeanings:

Hearrivedlate.

Lately,hecouldn'tseemtobeontimeforanything.

Inmostcases,however,theformwithoutthelyendingshouldbereservedforcasualsituations:

ShecertainlydrivesslowinthatoldBuickofhers.

Hedidwrongbyher.

Hespokesharp,quick,andtothepoint.

Adverbsoftenfunctionasintensifiers,conveyingagreaterorlesseremphasistosomething.
Intensifiersaresaidtohavethreedifferentfunctions:theycanemphasize,amplify,ordowntone.
Herearesomeexamples:

Emphasizers:
o

Ireallydon'tbelievehim.

Heliterallywreckedhismother'scar.

Shesimplyignoredme.

They'regoingtobelate,forsure.

Amplifiers:
o

Theteachercompletelyrejectedherproposal.

Iabsolutelyrefusetoattendanymorefacultymeetings.

Theyheartilyendorsedthenewrestaurant.

Isowantedtogowiththem.

Weknowthiscitywell.

Downtoners:
o

Ikindoflikethiscollege.

Joesortoffeltbetrayedbyhissister.

Hismothermildlydisapprovedhisactions.

Wecanimproveonthistosomeextent.

Thebossalmostquitafterthat.

Theschoolwasallbutruinedbythestorm.

Adverbs(aswellasadjectives)intheirvariousdegreescanbeaccompaniedby
premodifiers:

Sherunsveryfast.

We'regoingtorunoutofmaterialallthefaster

Thisissueisaddressedinthesectionondegreesinadjectives.

Using Adverbs in a Numbered List

Withinthenormalflowoftext,it'snearlyalwaysabadideatonumberitemsbeyondthree
orfour,atthemost.Anythingbeyondthat,you'rebetteroffwithaverticallistthatusesnumbers
(1,2,3,etc.).Also,insuchalist,don'tuseadverbs(withanlyending);useinsteadthe

uninflectedordinalnumber(first,second,third,fourth,fifth,etc.).First(notfirstly),it'sunclear
whattheadverbismodifying.Second(notsecondly),it'sunnecessary.Third(notthirdly),after
yougetbeyond"secondly,"itstartstosoundsilly.Adverbsthatnumberinthismannerare
treatedasdisjuncts(seebelow.)

Adverbs We Can Do Without

ReviewthesectiononBeingConciseforsomeadviceonadverbsthatwecaneliminateto
thebenefitofourprose:intensifierssuchasvery,extremely,andreallythatdon'tintensify
anythingandexpletiveconstructions("Thereareseveralbooksthataddressthisissue.")

Kinds of Adverbs
Adverbs of Manner
She moved slowly and spoke quietly.
Adverbs of Place
She has lived on the island all her life.
She still lives there now.
Adverbs of Frequency
She takes the boat to the mainland every day.
She often goes by herself.
Adverbs of Time
She tries to get back before dark.
It's starting to get dark now.
She finished her tea first.
She left early.
Adverbs of Purpose
She drives her boat slowly to avoid hitting the rocks.
She shops in several stores to get the best buys.

Positions of Adverbs
Oneofthehallmarksofadverbsistheirabilitytomovearoundinasentence.Adverbsof
mannerareparticularlyflexibleinthisregard.

Solemnlytheministeraddressedhercongregation.

Theministersolemnlyaddressedhercongregation.

Theministeraddressedhercongregationsolemnly.

Thefollowingadverbsoffrequencyappearinvariouspointsinthesesentences:

Beforethemainverb:Inevergetupbeforenineo'clock.

Betweentheauxiliaryverbandthemainverb:Ihaverarelywrittentomybrotherwithouta
goodreason.

Beforetheverbusedto:Ialwaysusedtoseehimathissummerhome.

Indefiniteadverbsoftimecanappeareitherbeforetheverborbetweentheauxiliaryandthe
mainverb:

Hefinallyshowedupforbattingpractice.

Shehasrecentlyretired.

Order of Adverbs
Thereisabasicorderinwhichadverbswillappearwhenthereismorethanone.Itis
similartoTheRoyalOrderofAdjectives,butitisevenmoreflexible.

THE ROYAL ORDER OF ADVERBS

Verb

Manner

Place

Frequency

Time

Purpose

Beth
swims

enthusiastically

in the
pool

every
morning

before
dawn

to keep in
shape.

Dad
walks

impatiently

into
town

every
afternoon

before
supper

to get a
newspaper.

in her
room

every
morning

before
lunch.

Tashond
a naps

In actual practice, of course, it would be highly unusual to have a string of adverbial

modifiers beyond two or three (at the most). Because the placement of adverbs is so
flexible, one or two of the modifiers would probably move to the beginning of the sentence:
"Every afternoon before supper, Dad impatiently walks into town to get a newspaper." When
that happens, the introductory adverbial modifiers are usually set off with a comma.

More Notes on Adverb Order

Asageneralprinciple,shorteradverbialphrasesprecedelongeradverbialphrases,
regardlessofcontent.Inthefollowingsentence,anadverboftimeprecedesanadverbof
frequencybecauseitisshorter(andsimpler):

Dadtakesabriskwalkbeforebreakfasteverydayofhislife.

Asecondprinciple:amongsimilaradverbialphrasesofkind(manner,place,frequency,etc.),the
morespecificadverbialphrasecomesfirst:

MygrandmotherwasborninasodhouseontheplainsofnorthernNebraska.

ShepromisedtomeethimforlunchnextTuesday.

Bringinganadverbialmodifiertothebeginningofthesentencecanplacespecialemphasison
thatmodifier.Thisisparticularlyusefulwithadverbsofmanner:

Slowly,eversocarefully,Jessefilledthecoffeecupuptothebrim,evenabovethebrim.

Occasionally,butonlyoccasionally,oneoftheselemonswillgetbytheinspectors.

Inappropriate Adverb Order

ReviewthesectiononMisplacedModifiersforsomeadditionalideasonplacement.
Modifierscansometimesattachthemselvestoandthusmodifywordsthattheyoughtnotto
modify.

TheyreportedthatGiuseppeBalle,aEuropeanrockstar,haddiedonthesixo'clocknews.

Clearly,itwouldbebettertomovetheunderlinedmodifiertoapositionimmediatelyafter"they
reported"oreventothebeginningofthesentencesothepoormandoesn'tdieontelevision.
Misplacementcanalsooccurwithverysimplemodifiers,suchasonlyandbarely:

Sheonlygrewtobefourfeettall.

Itwouldbebetterif"Shegrewtobeonlyfourfeettall."

Adjuncts, Disjuncts, and Conjuncts

Regardlessofitsposition,anadverbisoftenneatlyintegratedintotheflowofasentence.
Whenthisistrue,asitalmostalwaysis,theadverbiscalledanadjunct.(Noticetheunderlined
adjunctsoradjunctiveadverbsinthefirsttwosentencesofthisparagraph.)Whentheadverb
doesnotfitintotheflowoftheclause,itiscalledadisjunctoraconjunctandisoftensetoffbya
commaorsetofcommas.Adisjunctfrequentlyactsasakindofevaluationoftherestofthe
sentence.Althoughitusuallymodifiestheverb,wecouldsaythatitmodifiestheentireclause,
too.Noticehow"too"isadisjunctinthesentenceimmediatelybeforethisone;thatsameword
canalsoserveasanadjunctadverbialmodifier:It'stoohottoplayoutside.Herearetwomore
disjunctiveadverbs:

Frankly,Martha,Idon'tgiveahoot.

Fortunately,noonewashurt.

Conjuncts,ontheotherhand,serveaconnectorfunctionwithintheflowofthetext,signalinga
transitionbetweenideas.

Iftheystartsmokingthoseawfulcigars,thenI'mnotstaying.

We'vetoldthelandlordaboutthisceilingagainandagain,andyethe'sdonenothingtofix
it.

Attheextremeedgeofthiscategory,wehavethepurelyconjunctivedeviceknownasthe
conjunctiveadverb(oftencalledtheadverbialconjunction):

Josehasspentyearspreparingforthisevent;nevertheless,he'sthemostnervousperson
here.

Ilovethisschool;however,Idon'tthinkIcanaffordthetuition.

Some Special Cases

Theadverbsenoughandnotenoughusuallytakeapostmodifierposition:

Isthatmusicloudenough?

Theseshoesarenotbigenough.

Inaroomfulofelderlypeople,youmustremembertospeakloudlyenough.

(Notice,though,thatwhenenoughfunctionsasanadjective,itcancomebeforethenoun:

Didshegiveusenoughtime?

Theadverbenoughisoftenfollowedbyaninfinitive:

Shedidn'trunfastenoughtowin.

Theadverbtoocomesbeforeadjectivesandotheradverbs:

Sherantoofast.

Sheworkstooquickly.

Iftoocomesaftertheadverbitisprobablyadisjunct(meaningalso)andisusuallysetoffwitha
comma:

Yasminworkshard.Sheworksquickly,too.

Theadverbtooisoftenfollowedbyaninfinitive:

Sherunstoo
slowlytoenterthisrace.

Anothercommonconstructionwiththeadverbtooistoofollowedbyaprepositionalphrase
for+theobjectoftheprepositionfollowedbyaninfinitive:

Thismilkistoo
hotforababytodrink.

Relative Adverbs
Adjectivalclausesaresometimesintroducedbywhatarecalledtherelative
adverbs:where,when,andwhy.Althoughtheentireclauseisadjectivalandwillmodifyanoun,
therelativeworditselffulfillsanadverbialfunction(modifyingaverbwithinitsownclause).
Therelativeadverbwherewillbeginaclausethatmodifiesanounofplace:
My entire family now worships in the church where my great grandfather used to be minister.

Therelativepronoun"where"modifiestheverb"usedtobe"(whichmakesitadverbial),butthe
entireclause("wheremygreatgrandfatherusedtobeminister")modifiestheword"church."
Awhenclausewillmodifynounsoftime:
My favorite month is always February, when we celebrate Valentine's Day and Presidents' Day.

Andawhyclausewillmodifythenounreason:
Do you know the reason why Isabel isn't in class today?

Wesometimesleaveouttherelativeadverbinsuchclauses,andmanywritersprefer"that"
to"why"inaclausereferringto"reason":

DoyouknowthereasonwhyIsabelisn'tinclasstoday?

Ialwayslookforwardtothedaywhenwebeginoursummervacation.

Iknowthereasonthatmenlikemotorcycles.

Viewpoint, Focus, and Negative Adverbs

Aviewpointadverbgenerallycomesafteranounandisrelatedtoanadjectivethat
precedesthatnoun:

Asuccessfulathleticteamisoftenagoodteamscholastically.

Investingallourmoneyinsnowmobileswasprobablynotasoundideafinancially.

Youwillsometimeshearaphraselike"scholasticallyspeaking"or"financiallyspeaking"in
thesecircumstances,buttheword"speaking"isseldomnecessary.
Afocusadverbindicatesthatwhatisbeingcommunicatedislimitedtothepartthatis
focused;afocusadverbwilltendeithertolimitthesenseofthesentence("HegotanAjustfor
attendingtheclass.")ortoactasanadditive("HegotanAinadditiontobeingpublished."
Althoughnegativeconstructionslikethewords"not"and"never"areusuallyfound
embeddedwithinaverbstring"Hehasneverbeenmuchhelptohismother."theyare
technicallynotpartoftheverb;theyare,indeed,adverbs.However,asocallednegative
adverbcreatesanegativemeaninginasentencewithouttheuseoftheusual
no/not/neither/nor/neverconstructions:

Heseldomvisits.

Shehardlyeatsanythingsincetheaccident.

Afterherlongandtediouslectures,rarelywasanyoneawake.

CONJUNCTIONS
Definition
Somewordsaresatisfiedspendinganeveningathome,alone,eatingicecreamrightoutof
thebox,watchingSeinfeldrerunsonTV,orreadingagoodbook.Othersaren'thappyunless
they'reoutonthetown,mixingitupwithotherwords;they'rejoinersandtheyjustcan'thelp
themselves.Aconjunctionisajoiner,awordthatconnects(conjoins)partsofasentence.

Coordinating Conjunctions
Thesimple,littleconjunctionsarecalledcoordinatingconjunctions(youcanclickonthe
wordstoseespecificdescriptionsofeachone):

Coordinating Conjunctions
and

but

or

yet

for

nor

so

(Itmayhelpyouremembertheseconjunctionsbyrecallingthattheyallhavefewerthan
fourletters.Also,remembertheacronymFANBOYS:ForAndNorButOrYetSo.Becareful
ofthewordsthenandnow;neitherisacoordinatingconjunction,sowhatwesayabout
coordinatingconjunctions'rolesinasentenceandpunctuationdoesnotapplytothosetwo

words.)Whenacoordinatingconjunctionconnectstwoindependentclauses,itisoften(butnot
always)accompaniedbyacomma:

UlysseswantstoplayforUConn,buthehashadtroublemeetingtheacademic
requirements.

Whenthetwoindependentclausesconnectedbyacoordinatingconjunctionarenicelybalanced
orbrief,manywriterswillomitthecomma:

Ulysseshasagreatjumpshotbutheisn'tquickonhisfeet.

Thecommaisalwayscorrectwhenusedtoseparatetwoindependentclausesconnectedbya
coordinatingconjunction.SeePunctuationBetweenTwoIndependentClausesforfurther
help.
Acommaisalsocorrectwhenandisusedtoattachthelastitemofaseriallist,althoughmany
writers(especiallyinnewspapers)willomitthatfinalcomma:

Ulyssesspenthissummerstudyingbasicmath,writing,andreadingcomprehension.

Whenacoordinatingconjunctionisusedtoconnectalltheelementsinaseries,acommaisnot
used:

PresbyteriansandMethodistsandBaptistsaretheprevalentProtestantcongregationsin
Oklahoma.

Acommaisalsousedwithbutwhenexpressingacontrast:

Thisisausefulrule,butdifficulttoremember.

Inmostoftheirotherrolesasjoiners(otherthanjoiningindependentclauses,thatis),
coordinatingconjunctionscanjointwosentenceelementswithoutthehelpofacomma.

HemingwayandFitzgeraldareamongtheAmericanexpatriatesofthebetweenthewars
era.

HemingwaywasrenownedforhisclearstyleandhisinsightsintoAmericannotionsof
maleidentity.

ItishardtosaywhetherHemingwayorFitzgeraldisthemoreinterestingculturaliconof
hisday.

AlthoughHemingwayissometimesdisparagedforhisunpleasantportrayalof
womenandforhisglorificationofmachismo,wenonethelessfindsomesympathetic,even
heroic,femalefiguresinhisnovelsandshortstories.

Beginning a Sentence with And or But

Afrequentlyaskedquestionaboutconjunctionsiswhetherandorbutcanbe
usedatthebeginningofasentence.ThisiswhatR.W.Burchfieldhastosay
aboutthisuseofand:
There is a persistent belief that it is improper to begin a sentence with And, but
this prohibition has been cheerfully ignored by standard authors from AngloSaxon times onwards. An initial Andis a useful aid to writers as the narrative
continues.

Thesameistruewiththeconjunctionbut.Asentencebeginning
withandorbutwilltendtodrawattentiontoitselfanditstransitionalfunction.
Writersshouldexaminesuchsentenceswithtwoquestionsinmind:(1)would
thesentenceandparagraphfunctionjustaswellwithouttheinitialconjunction?
(2)shouldthesentenceinquestionbeconnectedtotheprevioussentence?Ifthe
initialconjunctionstillseemsappropriate,useit.
Amongthecoordinatingconjunctions,themostcommon,ofcourse,areand,but,andor.It
mightbehelpfultoexploretheusesofthesethreelittlewords.Theexamplesbelowbynomeans
exhaustthepossiblemeaningsoftheseconjunctions.

AND
a. Tosuggestthatoneideaischronologicallysequentialtoanother:"Tashondasentinher
applicationsandwaitedbythephoneforaresponse."
b. Tosuggestthatoneideaistheresultofanother:"Willieheardtheweather
reportandpromptlyboardeduphishouse."
c. Tosuggestthatoneideaisincontrasttoanother(frequentlyreplacedbybutinthisusage):
"JuanitaisbrilliantandShalimarhasapleasantpersonality.
d. Tosuggestanelementofsurprise(sometimesreplacedbyyetinthisusage):"Hartfordisa
richcityandsuffersfrommanysymptomsofurbanblight."

e. Tosuggestthatoneclauseisdependentuponanother,conditionally(usuallythefirstclause
isanimperative):"Useyourcreditcardsfrequentlyandyou'llsoonfindyourselfdeepin
debt."
f.

Tosuggestakindof"comment"onthefirstclause:"Charliebecameaddictedtogambling
andthatsurprisednoonewhoknewhim."

BUT
a. Tosuggestacontrastthatisunexpectedinlightofthefirstclause:"Joeylostafortunein
thestockmarket,buthestillseemsabletolivequitecomfortably."
b. Tosuggestinanaffirmativesensewhatthefirstpartofthesentenceimpliedinanegative
way(sometimesreplacedbyonthecontrary):"Theclubneverinvestedfoolishly,butused
theservicesofasageinvestmentcounselor."
c. Toconnecttwoideaswiththemeaningof"withtheexceptionof"(andthenthesecond
wordtakesoverassubject):"EverybodybutGoldenbreathistryingoutfortheteam."

OR
a. Tosuggestthatonlyonepossibilitycanberealized,excludingoneortheother:"Youcan
studyhardforthisexamoryoucanfail."
b. Tosuggesttheinclusivecombinationofalternatives:"Wecanbroilchickenonthegrill
tonight,orwecanjusteatleftovers.
c. Tosuggestarefinementofthefirstclause:"SmithCollegeisthepremierallwomen's
collegeinthecountry,orsoitseemstomostSmithCollegealumnae."
d. Tosuggestarestatementor"correction"ofthefirstpartofthesentence:"Thereareno
rattlesnakesinthiscanyon,orsoourguidetellsus."
e. Tosuggestanegativecondition:"TheNewHampshirestatemottoistherathergrim"Live
freeordie."
f.

Tosuggestanegativealternativewithouttheuseofanimperative(seeuseofandabove):
"Theymustapprovehispoliticalstyleortheywouldn'tkeepelectinghimmayor."

The Others . . .
TheconjunctionNORisnotextinct,butitisnotusednearlyasoftenastheother
conjunctions,soitmightfeelabitoddwhennordoescomeupinconversationorwriting.Its
mostcommonuseisasthelittlebrotherinthecorrelativepair,neithernor(seebelow):

Heisneithersanenorbrilliant.

ThatisneitherwhatIsaidnorwhatImeant.

>Itcanbeusedwithothernegativeexpressions:

ThatisnotwhatImeanttosay,norshouldyouinterpretmystatementasanadmissionof
guilt.

Itispossibletousenorwithoutaprecedingnegativeelement,butitisunusualand,toanextent,
ratherstuffy:

George'shandshakeisasgoodasanywrittencontract,norhasheeverproven
untrustworthy.

ThewordYETfunctionssometimesasanadverbandhasseveralmeanings:inaddition
("yetanothercauseoftrouble"or"asimpleyetnoblewoman"),even("yetmoreexpensive"),
still("heisyetanovice"),eventually("theymayyetwin"),andsosoonasnow("he'snothere
yet").Italsofunctionsasacoordinatingconjunctionmeaningsomethinglike"nevertheless"or
"but."Thewordyetseemstocarryanelementofdistinctivenessthatbutcanseldomregister.

Johnplaysbasketballwell,yethisfavoritesportisbadminton.

Thevisitorscomplainedloudlyabouttheheat,yettheycontinuedtoplaygolfeveryday.

Insentencessuchasthesecondone,above,thepronounsubjectofthesecondclause("they,"in
thiscase)isoftenleftout.Whenthathappens,thecommaprecedingtheconjunctionmightalso
disappear:"Thevisitorscomplainedloudlyyetcontinuedtoplaygolfeveryday."
Yetissometimescombinedwithotherconjunctions,butorand.Itwouldnotbeunusualto
seeandyetinsentencesliketheonesabove.Thisusageisacceptable.
ThewordFORismostoftenusedasapreposition,ofcourse,butitdoesserve,onrare
occasions,asacoordinatingconjunction.Somepeopleregardtheconjunctionforasrather
highfalutinandliterary,anditdoestendtoaddabitofweightinesstothetext.Beginninga
sentencewiththeconjunction"for"isprobablynotagoodidea,exceptwhenyou'resinging"For
he'sajollygoodfellow."For"hasserioussequentialimplicationsandinitsusetheorderof
thoughtsismoreimportantthanitis,say,withbecauseorsince.Itsfunctionistointroducethe
reasonfortheprecedingclause:

Johnthoughthehadagoodchancetogetthejob,forhisfatherwasonthecompany'sboard
oftrustees.

Mostofthevisitorswerehappyjustsittingaroundintheshade,forithadbeenalong,
dustyjourneyonthetrain.

BecarefuloftheconjunctionSO.Sometimesitcanconnecttwoindependentclausesalong
withacomma,butsometimesitcan't.Forinstance,inthissentence,

SotoisnottheonlyOlympicathleteinhisfamily,soarehisbrother,sister,andhisUncle
Chet.

wherethewordsomeans"aswell"or"inaddition,"mostcarefulwriterswoulduseasemicolon
betweenthetwoindependentclauses.Inthefollowingsentence,wheresoisactinglikeaminor
league"therefore,"theconjunctionandthecommaareadequatetothetask:

Sotohasalwaysbeennervousinlargegatherings,soitisnosurprisethatheavoidscrowds
ofhisadoringfans.

Sometimes,atthebeginningofasentence,sowillactasakindofsummingupdeviceor
transition,andwhenitdoes,itisoftensetofffromtherestofthesentencewithacomma:

So,thesheriffperemptorilyremovedthechildfromthecustodyofhisparents.

The Case of Then and Than

In some parts of the United States, we are told, then and than not only
look alike, they sound alike. Like a teacher with twins in her classroom,
you need to be able to distinguish between these two words; otherwise,
they'll become mischievous. They are often used and they should be
used for the right purposes.
Than is used to make comparisons. In the sentence "Piggy would rather
be rescued then stay on the island," we have employed the wrong word
because a comparison is being made between Piggy's two choices; we
need than instead. In the sentence, "Other than Pincher Martin, Golding
did not write another popular novel," the adverbial construction "other
than" helps us make an implied comparison; this usage is perfectly
acceptable in the United States but careful writers in
the UK try to avoid it (Burchfield).
Generally,theonlyquestionaboutthanariseswhen
wehavetodecidewhetherthewordisbeingusedasa
conjunctionorasapreposition.Ifit'sapreposition(and
MerriamWebster'sdictionaryprovidesforthisusage),
thenthewordthatfollowsitshouldbeintheobjectform.

He'stallerandsomewhatmorehandsomethanme.

Justbecauseyoulooklikehimdoesn'tmeanyoucanplaybetter
thanhim.

Most careful writers, however, will insist that than be used as a

conjunction; it's as if part of the clause introduced by than has been left
out:

He'stallerandsomewhatmorehandsomethanI[amhandsome].

Youcanplaybetterthanhe[canplay].

In formal, academic text, you should probably use than as a conjunction

and follow it with the subject form of a pronoun (where a pronoun is
appropriate).
Then is a conjunction, but it is not one of the little conjunctions listed at
the top of this page. We can use the FANBOYS conjunctions to connect
two independent clauses; usually, they will be accompanied (preceded)

by a comma. Too many students think that then works the same way:
"Caesar invaded Gaul, then he turned his attention to England." You can
tell the difference between then and a coordinating conjunction by trying
to move the word around in the sentence. We can write "he then turned
his attention to England"; "he turned his attention, then, to England"; he
turned his attention to England then." The word can move around within
the clause. Try that with a conjunction, and you will quickly see that the
conjunction cannot move around. "Caesar invaded Gaul, and then he
turned his attention to England." The word and is stuck exactly there and
cannot move like then, which is more like an adverbial conjunction (or
conjunctive adverb see below) than a coordinating conjunction. Our
original sentence in this paragraph "Caesar invaded Gaul, then he
turned his attention to England" is a commasplice, a faulty sentence
construction in which a comma tries to hold together two independent
clauses all by itself: the comma needs a coordinating conjunction to help
out, and the wordthen simply doesn't work that way.

Subordinating Conjunctions
ASubordinatingConjunction(sometimescalledadependentwordorsubordinator)
comesatthebeginningofaSubordinate(orDependent)Clauseandestablishesthe
relationshipbetweenthedependentclauseandtherestofthesentence.Italsoturnstheclause
intosomethingthatdependsontherestofthesentenceforitsmeaning.

Hetooktothestageasthoughhehadbeenpreparingforthismomentallhislife.

Becausehelovedacting,herefusedtogiveuphisdreamofbeinginthemovies.

Unlessweactnow,allislost.

Noticethatsomeofthesubordinatingconjunctionsinthetablebelowafter,before,since
arealsoprepositions,butassubordinatorstheyarebeingusedtointroduceaclauseandto
subordinatethefollowingclausetotheindependentelementinthesentence.

Common Subordinating Conjunctions

after
although
as
as if
as long as
as though

if
if only
in order that
now that
once
rather than

though
till
unless
until
when
whenever

because
before
even if
even though

since
so that
than
that

where
whereas
wherever
while

The Case of Like and As

Strictly speaking, the word like is a preposition, not a conjunction. It can,
therefore, be used to introduce a prepositional phrase ("My brother is
tall like my father"), but it should not be used to introduce a clause ("My
brother can't play the piano like as he did before the accident" or "It
looks like as if basketball is quickly overtaking baseball as America's
national sport."). To introduce a clause, it's a good idea to useas, as
though, or as if, instead.

LikeAsItoldyouearlier,thelecturehasbeenpostponed.

Itlookslikeasifit'sgoingtosnowthisafternoon.

Johnsonkeptlookingoutthewindowlikeasthoughhehadsomeone
waitingforhim.

In formal, academic text, it's a good idea to reserve the use of like for
situations in which similarities are being pointed out:

Thiscommunitycollegeislikeatwoyearliberalartscollege.

However, when you are listing things that have similarities, such as is
probably more suitable:

Thecollegehasseveralhighlyregardedneighbors,likesuchastheMark
TwainHouse,St.FrancisHospital,theConnecticutHistoricalSociety,
andtheUConnLawSchool.

Omitting That
The word that is used as a conjunction to connect a subordinate clause

to a preceding verb. In this construction that is sometimes called the

"expletive that." Indeed, the word is often omitted to good effect, but the
very fact of easy omission causes some editors to take out the red pen
and strike out the conjunction that wherever it appears. In the following
sentences, we can happily omit the that (or keep it, depending on how
the sentence sounds to us):

Isabelknew[that]shewasabouttobefired.

Shedefinitelyfelt[that]herfellowemployeeshadn'tsupportedher.

Ihope[that]shedoesn'tblameme.

Sometimes omitting the that creates a break in the flow of a sentence, a

break that can be adequately bridged with the use of a comma:

Theproblemis,thatproductioninherdepartmenthasdropped.

Remember,thatwedidn'thavetheseproblemsbeforeshestarted
workinghere.

As a general rule, if the sentence feels just as good without the that, if no
ambiguity results from its omission, if the sentence is more efficient or
elegant without it, then we can safely omit the that.Theodore Bernstein
lists three conditions in which we should maintain the conjunction that:

Whenatimeelementintervenesbetweentheverbandtheclause:"The
bosssaidyesterdaythatproductioninthisdepartmentwasdownfifty
percent."(Noticethepositionof"yesterday.")

Whentheverboftheclauseislongdelayed:"Ourannualreport
revealedthatsomelossessustainedbythisdepartmentinthethirdquarter
oflastyearwereworsethanpreviouslythought."(Noticethedistance
betweenthesubject"losses"anditsverb,"were.")

Whenasecondthatcanclearupwhosaidordidwhat:"TheCEOsaid
thatIsabel'sdepartmentwasslackingoffandthatproductiondropped
precipitouslyinthefourthquarter."(DidtheCEOsaythatproduction
droppedorwasthedroparesultofwhathesaidaboutIsabel's
department?Thesecondthatmakesthesentenceclear.)

Beginning a Sentence with Because

Somehow, the notion that one should not begin a sentence with the
subordinating conjunction becauseretains a mysterious grip on people's
sense of writing proprieties. This might come about because a sentence
that begins with because could well end up a fragment if one is not
careful to follow up the "because clause" with an independent clause.

Becauseemailnowplayssuchahugeroleinourcommunications
industry.

When the "because clause" is properly subordinated to another idea

(regardless of the position of the clause in the sentence), there is
absolutely nothing wrong with it:

Becauseemailnowplayssuchahugeroleinourcommunications
industry,thepostalservicewouldverymuchliketoseeittaxedinsome
manner.

Correlative Conjunctions
Someconjunctionscombinewithotherwordstoformwhatarecalledcorrelative
conjunctions.Theyalwaystravelinpairs,joiningvarioussentenceelementsthatshouldbe
treatedasgrammaticallyequal.

Sheledtheteamnotonlyinstatisticsbutalsobyvirtueofherenthusiasm.

Poloniussaid,"Neitheraborrowernoralenderbe."

Whetheryouwinthisraceorloseitdoesn'tmatteraslongasyoudoyourbest.

Correlativeconjunctionssometimescreateproblemsinparallelform.ClickHEREforhelpwith
thoseproblems.Hereisabrieflistofcommoncorrelativeconjunctions.

PARALLEL FORM
MOSTOFTHEDESCRIPTIONSANDEXAMPLESINTHISSECTIONaretakenfromWilliam
Strunk'svenerableElementsofStyle,whichismaintainedonlinebytheBartlebyProjectat
ColumbiaUniversity:
This principle, that of parallel construction, requires that expressions of similar content and
function should be outwardly similar. The likeness of form enables the reader to recognize more

readily the likeness of content and function. Familiar instances from the Bible are the Ten
Commandments, the Beatitudes, and the petitions of the Lord's Prayer.

Students should also visit the section on SentenceVariety, which has material on
the repetition of phrases and structures. Click HERE to visit a page containing
the biblical passages mentioned above. Also in this Guide is a definition of the
ideaofacollege, a lovely example of parallel form. Students are also familiar
with AbrahamLincoln'sGettysburgAddress, which abounds with examples of
parallel form. Clicking on the title above will allow you to read this famous
speech and view a brief "slide-show" demonstration of the parallel structures
within Lincoln's famous text. (TheLibraryofCongress maintains a site at which
you can inspect two diferent drafts of the Gettysburg Address in Lincoln's own
handwriting.)

Unskillfulwritersoftenviolatethisprinciple,fromamistakenbeliefthattheyshould
constantlyvarytheformoftheirexpressions.Itistruethatinrepeatingastatementinorderto
emphasizeitwritersmayhaveneedtovaryitsform.Butapartfromthis,writersshouldfollow
carefullytheprincipleofparallelconstruction.
Faulty Parallelism

Corrected Version

Formerly, science was

taught by the textbook
method, while now the
laboratory method is
employed.

Formerly, science was

taught by the textbook
method; now it is taught by
the laboratory method.

Thelefthandversiongivestheimpressionthatthewriterisundecidedortimid;heseemsunable
orafraidtochooseoneformofexpressionandholdtoit.Therighthandversionshowsthatthe
writerhasatleastmadehischoiceandabidedbyit.
Bythisprinciple,anarticleoraprepositionapplyingtoallthemembersofaseriesmust
eitherbeusedonlybeforethefirsttermorelseberepeatedbeforeeachterm.
Faulty Parallelism

Corrected Version

The French, the Italians,

Spanish, and Portuguese

The French, the Italians, the

Spanish, and the Portuguese

In spring, summer, or in
winter

In spring, summer, or winter

(In spring, in summer, or in
winter)

Correlativeexpressions(both,and;not,but;notonly,butalso;either,or;first,second,
third;andthelike)shouldbefollowedbythesamegrammaticalconstruction.Manyviolationsof
thisrulecanbecorrectedbyrearrangingthesentence.
Faulty Parallelism

Corrected Version

It was both a long ceremony

and very tedious.

The ceremony was both long

and tedious.

A time not for words, but

action

A time not for words, but for

action

Either you must grant his

request or incur his ill will.

You must either grant his

request or incur his ill will.

My objections are, first, the

injustice of the measure;
second, that it is
unconstitutional.

My objections are, first, that

the measure is unjust;
second, that it is
unconstitutional.

Whenmakingcomparisons,thethingsyoucompareshouldbecouchedinparallel
structureswheneverthatispossibleandappropriate.
Faulty Parallelism

Corrected Version

My income is smaller than

my wife.

My income is smaller than

my wife's.

The inherent vice of capitalism is the

unequal sharing of blessings; the
inherent virtue of socialism is the equal
sharing of miseries.

both . . . and
not only . . . but
also
not . . . but
either . . . or

neither . . . nor
whether . . . or
as . . . as

Conjunctive Adverbs
Theconjunctiveadverbssuchashowever,moreover,nevertheless,consequently,asa
resultareusedtocreatecomplexrelationshipsbetweenideas.Refertothesection
onCoherence:TransitionsBetweenIdeasforanextensivelistofconjunctiveadverbs
categorizedaccordingtotheirvarioususesandforsomeadviceontheirapplicationwithin
sentences(includingpunctuationissues).

ARTICLES, DETERMINERS,
AND QUANTIFIERS
Definition
Articles,determiners,andquantifiersarethoselittlewordsthatprecedeandmodify
nouns:
the teacher, a college, a bit
of honey, that person, those people, whatever purpose, either way, your choice

Sometimesthesewordswilltellthereaderorlistenerwhetherwe'rereferringtoaspecific
orgeneralthing(thegarageoutback;Ahorse!Ahorse!Mykingdomforahorse!);sometimes
theytellhowmuchorhowmany(lotsoftrees,severalbooks,agreatdealofconfusion).The
choiceoftheproperarticleordeterminertoprecedeanounornounphraseisusuallynota
problemforwriterswhohavegrownupspeakingEnglish,norisitaseriousproblemfornon
nativewriterswhosefirstlanguageisaromancelanguagesuchasSpanish.Forotherwriters,
though,thiscanbeaconsiderableobstacleonthewaytotheirmasteryofEnglish.Infact,some

studentsfromeasternEuropeancountrieswheretheirnativelanguagehaseithernoarticlesor
analtogetherdifferentsystemofchoosingarticlesanddeterminersfindthatthese"little
words"cancreateproblemslongaftereveryotheraspectofEnglishhasbeenmastered.
Determinersaresaidto"mark"nouns.Thatistosay,youknowadeterminerwillbe
followedbyanoun.Somecategoriesofdeterminersarelimited(thereareonlythreearticles,a
handfulofpossessivepronouns,etc.),butthepossessivenounsareaslimitlessasnouns
themselves.Thislimitednatureofmostdeterminercategories,however,explainswhy
determinersaregroupedapartfromadjectiveseventhoughbothserveamodifyingfunction.We
canimaginethatthelanguagewillnevertireofinventingnewadjectives;thedeterminers(except
forthosepossessivenouns),ontheotherhand,arewellestablished,andthisclassofwordsisnot
goingtogrowinnumber.Thesecategoriesofdeterminersareasfollows:thearticles(an,a,the
seebelow;possessivenouns(Joe's,thepriest's,mymother's);possessivepronouns,(his,your,
their,whose,etc.);numbers(one,two,etc.);indefinitepronouns(few,more,each,every,either,
all,both,some,any,etc.);anddemonstrativepronouns.Thedemonstratives(this,that,these,
those,such)arediscussedinthesectiononDemonstrativePronouns.Noticethatthepossessive
nounsdifferfromtheotherdeterminersinthatthey,themselves,areoftenaccompaniedbyother
determiners:"mymother'srug,""thepriests'scollar,""adog'slife."

Some Notes on Quantifiers

Likearticles,quantifiersarewordsthatprecedeandmodifynouns.Theytellushowmany
orhowmuch.Selectingthecorrectquantifierdependsonyourunderstandingthedistinction
betweenCountandNonCountNouns.Forourpurposes,wewillchoosethecount
nountreesandthenoncountnoundancing:
The following quantifiers will work with count nouns:

many trees
a few trees
few trees
several trees
a couple of trees
none of the trees
The following quantifiers will work with non-count nouns:

not much dancing

a little dancing
little dancing
a bit of dancing
a good deal of dancing

a great deal of dancing

no dancing
The following quantifiers will work with both count and non-count nouns:

all of the trees/dancing

some trees/dancing
most of the trees/dancing
enough trees/dancing
a lot of trees/dancing
lots of trees/dancing
plenty of trees/dancing
a lack of trees/dancing
Informalacademicwriting,itisusuallybettertousemanyandmuchratherthanphrasessuch
asalotof,lotsofandplentyof.
Thereisanimportantdifferencebetween"alittle"and"little"(usedwithnoncount
words)andbetween"afew"and"few"(usedwithcountwords).IfIsaythatTashondahasa
littleexperienceinmanagementthatmeansthatalthoughTashondaisnogreatexpertshedoes
havesomeexperienceandthatexperiencemightwellbeenoughforourpurposes.IfIsaythat
Tashondahaslittleexperienceinmanagementthatmeansthatshedoesn'thaveenough
experience.IfIsaythatCharlieownsafewbooksonLatinAmericanliteraturethatmeansthat
hehassomesomebooksnotalotofbooks,butprobablyenoughforourpurposes.IfIsay
thatCharlieownsfewbooksonLatinAmericanliterature,thatmeanshedoesn'thaveenoughfor
ourpurposesandwe'dbettergotothelibrary.
Unlessitiscombinedwithof,thequantifier"much"isreservedforquestionsandnegative
statements:

Muchofthesnowhasalreadymelted.

Howmuchsnowfellyesterday?

Notmuch.

Notethatthequantifier"mostofthe"mustincludethedefinitearticlethewhenitmodifies
aspecificnoun,whetherit'sacountoranoncountnoun:"mostoftheinstructorsatthiscollege
haveadoctorate";"mostofthewaterhasevaporated."Withageneralpluralnoun,however
(whenyouarenotreferringtoaspecificentity),the"ofthe"isdropped:

Mostcollegeshavetheirownadmissionspolicy.

Moststudentsapplytoseveralcolleges.

Anindefinitearticleissometimesusedinconjunctionwiththequantifiermany,thus
joiningapluralquantifierwithasingularnoun(whichthentakesasingularverb):

Manyayoungmanhasfalleninlovewithhergoldenhair.

ManyanapplehasfallenbyOctober.

Thisconstructionlendsitselftoasomewhatliteraryeffect(somewouldsayastuffyorarchaic
effect)andisbestusedsparingly,ifatall.

Predeterminers
Thepredeterminersoccurpriortootherdeterminers(asyouwouldprobably
guessfromtheirname).Thisclassofwordsincludesmultipliers(double,twice,
four/fivetimes....);fractionalexpressions(onethird,threequarters,etc.);the
wordsboth,half,andall;andintensifierssuchasquite,rather,andsuch.

Themultipliersprecedepluralcountandmassnounsandoccurwithsingular
countnounsdenotingnumberoramount:

Thisvanholdsthreetimes

thepassengersasthatsportscar.

Mywifeismakingdouble

my/twicemysalary.

Thistimeweaddedfivetimes

theamountofwater.

Infractionalexpressions,wehaveasimilarconstruction,buthereitcanbe
replacedwith"of"construction.

Charliefinishedinonefourth[of]thetimehisbrothertook.

Twofifthsoftherespondentsreportedthathalfthemedicationwassufficient.

Theintensifiersoccurinthisconstructionprimarilyincasualspeechandwriting
andaremorecommoninBritishEnglishthantheyareinAmericanEnglish.The
intensifier"what"isoftenfoundinstylisticfragments:"Wevisitedmybrotherinhis
dormroom.Whatamess!"

Thisroomisratheramess,isn'tit?

Theticketholdersmadequiteafusswhentheycouldn'tgetin.

Whatanidiotheturnedouttobe.

Ourvacationwassuchagrandexperience.

Half,both,andallcanoccurwithsingularandpluralcount
nouns;halfandallcanoccurwithmassnouns.Therearealso"ofconstructions"with
thesewords("all[of]thegrain,""half[of]hissalary");the"ofconstruction"
isrequiredwithpersonalpronouns("bothofthem,""allofit").Thefollowingchart
(fromQuirkandGreenbaum)nicelydescribestheusesofthesethreepredeterminers:

The Articles
The three articles a, an, the are a kind of adjective. The is called
the definite articlebecause it usually precedes a specific or previously
mentioned noun; a and an are calledindefinite articles because they are
used to refer to something in a less specific manner (an unspecified count
noun). These words are also listed among the noun
markers or determinersbecause they are almost invariably followed by a
noun (or something else acting as a noun).

CAUTION! Even after you learn all the principles behind

the use of these articles, you will find an abundance of the
correct article or choosing whether to use one or not will
prove chancy. Icy highways are dangerous. The icy
highways are dangerous. And both are correct.

Theisusedwithspecificnouns.Theisrequiredwhenthenounitrefersto
representssomethingthatisoneofakind:
The moon circles the earth.

Theisrequiredwhenthenounitreferstorepresentssomethingintheabstract:
The United States has encouraged the use of the private automobile as opposed to the use of
public transit.

Theisrequiredwhenthenounitreferstorepresentssomethingnamedearlierinthe
text.(Seebelow..)

COUNT AND NON-COUNT

NOUNS
What are COUNT NOUNS?
Lookaroundtheroomortheclassroomyou'resittinginthemore"stuff"in
theroom,thebetter.Namesomethingsthatsomebodymusthavecarriedintothe
room.
desks, chairs, flag, clock, computers, keyboards, projector, books, bookcases, pens,
notebooks, backpacks, lights, students (Well, maybe the students walked in under
their own power!)

Nownamesomethingsthatarepartoftheroomitself.
floor, wall, ceiling, windows, door, chalkboard

Youcanimaginetherebeingmorethanoneofeverythingyou'venamedsofar
althoughyoumighthavetohavemorethanoneroomtohavemorethanoneflooror
ceiling.TheseareallCOUNTNOUNS,thingsthatyoucancount.

Usage Notes:

Countnounscanbepluralizedwhenappropriate.SeethesectiononPluralsforhelpwith
theproperformationofnounplurals.

Wecanuseexpressionssuchas
a. manybottles
b. fewbottles

c. afewbottles

Thesenouns,bothsingularandplural,canbeprecededbytheappropriatedefiniteand
indefinitearticlesthewithbothsingularandplural,aoranwithsingularcountnouns.

Singularcountnounscanbeprecededbythisandthatandbyevery,each,
either,andneither.

Pluralcountnounscanbeprecededbytheseandthoseandbysome,any,enough,and
thezeroarticle.Thephrasenumberofisaccompaniedbycountnouns.

Countnounscannotbeprecededbymuch.Thephraseamountofisalsoasuresignthatyou
arenotdealingwithacountnoun.

What are MASS (NON-COUNT) NOUNS?

HereisalistofMASSNOUNSforyoutoconsider.Canyoucountanyof
thesethings?Doweusethepluralformofanyofthesewordsincommon
speechandwriting?Whatdothethingsinthefirstcolumnhavein
common?thesecondcolumn?Inthefirstsection,above,wenamedthings
intheclassroomthatwecouldcount.Whataresomethingsinthesame
roomthatwecan'tcount?
wood
cloth
ice
plastic
wool
steel
aluminum
metal
glass
leather
porcelain
hair
dust
air
oxygen

water
milk
wine
beer
cake
sugar
rice
meat
cheese
flour

reading
boating
smoking
dancing
soccer
hockey
weather
heat
sunshine
electricity
biology
history
mathematics
economics
poetry

Chinese
Spanish
English
luggage
equipment
furniture
experience
applause
photography
traffic
harm
publicity
homework
advice

Usage Notes:

Aretherecategoriesofthingsinthethirdandfourthcolumnsaswell?ClickHEREfor
categorieswesee.

Generally,thesenounscannotbepluralized.Thenoncountnounsofthesecondcolumn
(foodstuff)arepluralizedwhenweusethewordtoexpressa"type":
a. Therearenewwinesbeingintroducedeveryday.
b. ThewatersoftheAtlanticaremuchwarmerthistimeofyear.
c. TheDutcharefamousfortheircheeses.
d. Thespringrainscameearly.

Wecanuseexpressionssuchas
a. muchharm
b. littleharm
c. alittleharm

Itisappropriatetoprecedethesenounswithadefiniteorindefinitearticle.
a. thesunshine
b. anexperience
c. awine
Buttheyfrequentlyappearwithzeroarticle:
d. Smokingisbadforyou.
e. Poetryisbeautiful.
f.

Sugarissweet.

g. Experienceisthebestteacher.

Thesenounscanbeprecededbysome,any,enough,this,that,andmuch.

Becausetheyarenotcountable,thesenounscannotbeprecededbythese,those,every,
each,either,andneither.

What are ABSTRACT NOUNS?

HereisalistofABSTRACTNOUNSforyoutothinkabout.Canyou
touchorseeanyofthesethingsinthephysicalsense?Canyoucountany
ofthem?Canyoucreatesentencesinwhichsomeofthesewordscanbe
usedasplurals?
peace
warmth
hospitality
information
anger
education
melancholy
softness
violence

conduct
courage
leisure
knowledge
safety
shopping
justice
chaos
progress

speed
experience
time
friendship
trouble
work
culture
virtue

taste
evil
liberty
democracy
death
grief
piety

Usage Notes:

Becausetheyrefertoideas,concepts,itisdifficulttoseehowabstractnounscanbe
pluralized.Infact,manyofthemcannotbe.Theabstractnounsinthefirsttwocolumns
(above)cannotbepluralized;theabstractnounsinthesecondtwocolumnscanbe.The
sectionbelowdiscusseswhathappenstoanabstractnounwhenitispluralized.
a. Thegriefsofthenationaretoomuchtobear.
b. Theeditorstooklibertieswithourprose.
c. Sheformedmanyfriendshipsatcollege.

Intermsofquantifiersandwordsthatprecedethesewords,whatwesayaboutthenon
countnouns,above,canbesaidaboutabstractnouns.

How can something be BOTHa COUNT NOUN and a

MASS NOUN?
Ifweconceiveofthemeaningofanounasacontinuumfrombeing
specifictobeinggeneralandabstract,wecanseehowitcanmovefrom

beingacountnountoamassnoun.Consider,forexample,the
nounexperiences.WhenIsay
I had many horrifying experiences as a pilot.

I'mreferringtospecific,countablemomentsinmylifeasapilot.WhenI
say,
This position requires experience.

I'musingthewordinanabstractway;itisnotsomethingyoucancount;
it'smorelikeanidea,ageneralthingthatpeopleneedtohaveinorderto
applyforthisjob.
IfIwrite
The talks will take place in Degnan Hall.

thesetalksarecountableeventsorlectures.IfIsay
I hate it when a meeting is nothing but talk.

thewordtalkisnowuncountable;I'mreferringtothegeneral,abstract
ideaofidlechatter.Evilsreferstospecificsinspride,envy,sloth,and
everyone'sfavorite,gluttonywhereasevilreferstoageneralnotionof
beingbadorungodly.
Onemoreexample:"IlovetheworksofBeethoven"meansthatI
likehissymphonies,hisstringquartets,hisconcertiandsonatas,his
choralpiecesallverycountablethings,works."Ihatework"means
thatIfindtheveryideaoflabor,inageneralway,quiteunappealing.
Noticethatthepluralformmeanssomethingquitedifferentfromthe
singularformofthisword;they'reobviouslyrelated,butthey're
different.Whatistherelationship
betweenplasticandplastics,woodandwoods,iceand
[Italian]ices,hairandhairs?
Further,asnotedearlier,almostallmassnounscanbecomecount
nounswhentheyareusedinaclassificatorysense:
a. TheyservedsomeniceBrazilianwines.
b. Thereweresomerealbeautiesinthatrosegarden.

c. Wehadsomeseriousdifficultiesinthisproject.

Butsomethingscannotbemadecountableorplural:
wecannothavefurnitures,informations,knowledges,softnesses,or
chaoses.Whenindoubt,consultagooddictionary.

.
Weuseabeforesingularcountnounsthatbeginwith
consonants(acow,abarn,asheep);weuseanbeforesingular
countnounsthatbeginwithvowelsorvowellikesounds(anapple,anurbanblight,
anopendoor).Wordsthatbeginwithanhsoundoftenrequireana(as
inahorse,ahistorybook,ahotel),butifanhwordbeginswithanactualvowel
sound,useanan(asinanhour,anhonor).Wewouldsayausefuldeviceandaunion
matterbecausetheuofthosewordsactuallysoundslikeyoo(asopposed,say,to
theuofanuglyincident).ThesameistrueofaEuropeananda
Euro(becauseofthat
consonantal"Yoo"sound).Wewouldsayaonceinalifetimeexperienceoraone
timeherobecausethewordsonceandonebeginwithawsound(asiftheywere
spelledwuntzandwon).

MerriamWebster'sDictionarysaysthatwecanuseanbeforeanhwordthat
beginswithanunstressedsyllable.Thus,wemightsayanhisTORicalmoment,but
wewouldsayaHIStorybook.Manywriterswouldcallthatanaffectationandprefer
thatwesayahistorical,butapparently,thischoiceisamatterofpersonaltaste.
Forhelponusingarticleswithabbreviationsandacronyms(aoranFBIagent?),
seethesectiononAbbreviations.
Firstandsubsequentreference:Whenwefirstrefertosomethinginwritten
text,weoftenuseanindefinitearticletomodifyit.
A newspaper has an obligation to seek out and tell the truth.

Inasubsequentreferencetothisnewspaper,however,wewillusethedefinitearticle:
There are situations, however, when the newspaper must determine whether the public's safety
is jeopardized by knowing the truth.

Anotherexample:
"I'dlikeaglassoforangejuice,please,"Johnsaid.
"Iputtheglassofjuiceonthecounteralready,"Sheilareplied.
Exception:
Whenamodifierappearsbetweenthearticleandthenoun,thesubsequentarticlewill
continuetobeindefinite:
"I'dlikeabigglassoforangejuice,please,"Johnsaid.
"Iputabigglassofjuiceonthecounteralready,"Sheilareplied.
Genericreference:Wecanrefertosomethinginagenericwaybyusinganyof
thethreearticles.Wecandothesamethingbyomittingthearticlealtogether.

Abeaglemakesagreathuntingdogandfamilycompanion.

Anairedaleissometimesaratherskittishanimal.

Thegoldenretrieverisamarvelouspetforchildren.

Irishsettersarenotthehighlyintelligentanimalstheyusedtobe.

Thedifferencebetweenthegenericindefinitepronounandthenormalindefinite
pronounisthatthelatterreferstoanyofthatclass("Iwanttobuyabeagle,andany
oldbeaglewilldo.")whereastheformer(seebeaglesentence)referstoallmembers
ofthatclass.
Propernouns:Weusethedefinitearticlewithcertainkindsofpropernouns:

Geographicalplaces:theSound,theSeaofJapan,theMississippi,theWest,theSmokies,
theSahara(butoftennotwhenthemainpartofthepropernounseemstobemodifiedbyan
earlierattributivenounoradjective:WewentswimmingattheOceanPark)

Pluralizednames(geographic,family,teams):theNetherlands,theBahamas,the
Hamptons,theJohnsons,theNewEnglandPatriots

Publicinstitutions/facilities/groups:theWadsworthAtheneum,theSheraton,theHouse,the
PresbyterianChurch

Newspapers:theHartfordCourant,theTimes

Nounsfollowedbyaprepositionalphrasebeginningwith"of":theleaderofthegang,the
presidentofourclub

Abstractnouns:Abstractnounsthenamesofthingsthatarenottangibleare
sometimesusedwitharticles,sometimesnot:

Thestormupsetmypeaceofmind.Hewasmissingjustonething:peaceofmind.

Injusticewaswidespreadwithinthejudicialsystemitself.Heimploredthejudgeto
correcttheinjustice.

Herbodywasrackedwithgrief.Itwasagriefhehadneverfeltbefore.

Zeroarticles:Severalkindsofnounsneverusearticles.Wedonotusearticles
withthenamesoflanguages("HewaslearningChinese."[Butwhentheword
Chinesereferstothepeople,thedefinitearticlemightcomeintoplay:"TheChinese
arehopingtogetthenextOlympics."]),thenamesofsports("Sheplaysbadminton
andbasketball."),andacademicsubjects("She'stakingeconomicsandmath.Her
majorisReligiousStudies.")
Whentheyaregeneric,noncountnounsandsometimespluralcountnounsare
usedwithoutarticles."Welikewinewithourdinner.WeadoreBaroquemusic.We
userosesformanypurposes."Butifan"ofphrase"comesafterthenoun,weusean
article:"WeadorethemusicoftheBaroque."Also,whenagenericnounisused
withoutanarticleandthenreferredtoinasubsequentreference,itwillhavebecome
specificandwillrequireadefinitearticle:"TheDataCenterinstalledcomputersinthe
LearningCenterthissummer.Thecomputers,unfortunately,don'twork."
Commoncountnounsareusedwithoutarticlesincertainspecialsituations:
idiomatic
expressions
using be andg
o

We'll go by train. (as opposed to "We'll

take the train.)
He must be in school.

with seasons

In spring, we like to clean the house.

with
institutions

He's in church/college/jail/class.

with meals

Breakfast was delicious.

He's preparing dinner by himself.

with diseases

He's dying of pneumonia.

Appendicitis nearly killed him.
She has cancer
(You will sometimes hear "the measles," "the
mumps," but these, too, can go without articles.)

with time of
day

We traveled mostly by night.

We'll be there around midnight.

Principles of Choosing an Article

Choosingarticlesanddeterminers:Brieflydefined,adeterminerisanoun
marker:whenyouseeone,youknowthatwhatfollowsisanounornounphrase.

THE GARDEN
OF PHRASES
AbsolutePhrases || AppositivePhrases || GerundPhrases || InfinitivePhrases ||
NounPhrases || ParticipialPhrases || PrepositionalPhrases

Aphraseisagroupofrelatedwordsthatdoesnotincludeasubjectandverb.(Ifthegroup
ofrelatedwordsdoescontainasubjectandverb,itisconsideredaclause.)Thereareseveral
differentkindsofphrases.Understandinghowtheyareconstructedandhowtheyfunctionwithin
asentencecanbolsterawriter'sconfidenceinwritingsentencesthataresoundinstructureand
variousinform.

NOUN PHRASE
Anounphrasecomprisesanoun(obviously)andanyassociatedmodifiers:

Thelongandwindingroad

Anounphrase

anyassociatedmodifiers

Themodifiersthataccompanyanouncantakeanynumberofformsandcombinationof
forms:adjectives,ofcourse("thetallandbrilliantprofessor");aparticipialphrase("theroad
followingtheedgeofthefrozenlake");aninfinitivephrase("thefirstmantowalkonthe
moon");amodifyingclause("thepresentationthathehadmadethedaybefore");and
prepositionalphrases("thebuildingnexttothelodge,overbythehighway").[Seebelowfor
definitionsofparticipial,infinitive,andprepositionalphrases.]Usually,anounphrasewillbeall

ofapiece,allthewordsthatcomposeitbeingcontiguouswiththenounitself.Itispossible,
however,foranounphrasetobebroken,tobecomewhatwecalldiscontinuous.Sometimespart
ofthenounphraseisdelayeduntiltheendofthesentencesothatthatportionofthephrase
(usuallymodifyingphrasesparticipialorprepositional)canreceiveendweightorfocus.In
ourfirstexample,forinstance(nounphraseindarkred),

Severalaccidentshavebeenreportedinvolvingpassengersfallingfromtrains.

wecouldhaveputtheentirenounphrasetogether:"Severalaccidentsinvolvingpassengers
fallingfromtrainshavebeenreportedrecently."Shiftingthemodifyingphrasesofthered
coloredpartofthephrasetotheendputsadditionalemphasisonthatpart.Herearesomeother
examples:

ArumorcirculatedamongthestaffthathewasbeingpromotedtoVicePresident.(instead
of"ArumorthathewasbeingpromotedtoVicePresidentcirculatedamongthestaff.")

Thetimehadcometostopspendingmoneyfoolishlyandtoputsomethingawayforthe
future.(insteadof"Thetimetostopspendingmoneyfoolishlyandtoputsomethingaway
forthefuturehadcome.")

Thatharddrivewasfaultythatyousoldme.(insteadof"Thatharddrivethatyousold
mewasfaulty.")

Whatbusinessisitofyours?(insteadof"Whatbusinessofyoursisit?")

Clearly,thereisnothinginherentlywrongwithadiscontinuousnounphrase.Oneverygood
reasonforadiscontinuousnounphraseistoachieveabalancebetweenasubjectandits
predicate:

ThestoryistoldthathewasonceasoldierinFrenchForeignLegion.

Withoutthediscontinuousnounphraseinthesentenceabove,weendupwithatwelveword
subject,alinkingverb,andaonewordpredicatesortoflopsided.
Authority: A Grammar of Contemporary English by Randolph Quirk, Sidney Greenbaum, Geoffrey Leech, and Jan
Svartvik. Longman Group: London. 1978.

Onethingyouwanttowatchoutforwithnounphrasesisthelongcompoundnounphrase.*
Thisissometimescalledthe"stackednounphrase"or"packednounphrase."Itiscommon
tofindonenounmodifyinganother:studentbody,bookcover,watercommission.Butwhenwe
createalongstringofsuchattributivenounsormodifiers,wecreatedifficulties:

Peoplewhoauthorwebpageshavebecomeawareofwhatisnowknownastheuniform
resourcelocatorprotocolproblem.

Thedifficultywehavehereisknowingwhatismodifyingwhat.Also,thereaderkeeps
expectingthestringtoend,sotheenergyofthesentence(andourattention)dwindlesintoa
seriesoffalseendings.Suchphrasesareaparticulartemptationintechnicalwriting.Usually,the
solutiontoanoverlyextendedcompoundnounphraseistotakethelastnounoftheseriesand
liberateitfromtherestofthestring(puttingitatthebeginningofthesentence)andthentoturn
atleastoneofthemodifyingnounsintoaprepositionalphrase:

Theproblemwiththeprotocolofuniformresourcelocatorsisnowrecognizedbypeople
whoauthorwebpagesas....

(Thisisonesituationinwhichmakingasentencelongerisprobablyanadvantage.)
Avocativeanaddressedperson'snameorsubstitutenameisoftenasinglewordbut
sometimestakestheformofanounphrase.Avocativeisalwaystreatedasaparenthetical
elementandisthussetofffromtherestofthesentencewithacommaorapairofcommas(ifit
appearswithintheflowofasentence).Whenvocativesarepropernouns(usuallythecase),they
arealsoreferredtoas"nounsofaddress."Vocativesarelikeadverbs:theycanpopupalmost
anywhereinthesentence.Donot,however,getintothehabitofthrowingcommasatpeople's
names;unlessthenamereferstosomeonewhoisactuallybeingaddressed,itisnotavocative
andwillnotnecessarilybeparenthetical:

HetoldJorgetoturntheboataround.

Jorge,turntheboataround

Quirk and Greenbaum enumerate four diferent kinds of vocatives:

1. Singlenames,withorwithoutatitle:Jorge,Mr.Valdez,Dr.Valdez,Uncle,Grandma.Dr.
Valdez,willyoupleaseaddressthegraduates?
2. Thepersonalpronounyou(notapoliteformofaddress):You,putdownthatgun!The
secondpersonpronounissometimescombinedwithotherwords(buttheresultisoften
ratherrudeandisneverusedinformalprose["Youoverthere,hurryup!""Youwiththe
purplehairandsilvernoserings,getbackinline!"])Theindefinitepronounscanalsoserve
asavocative:Callanambulance,somebody!Quick,anybody!Givemeahand!
3. Appellatives(whatwecallpeople)ofendearment("Darling,""Sweetheart,""Mydear,"
"Love")Comesitnexttome,mydear.;ofrespect("Sir,""Madam,""YourHonor,""Ladies
andgentlemen")Iwouldaskyou,Sir,nevertodothatagain.;ofprofessionorstatus
("Professor,""Mr.President,""MadamChairman,""Coach")Please,Coach,letmeplayfor
awhile.
4. Nominalclause:Whoeverismakingthatnoise,stopitnow.

PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE
Aprepositionalphraseconsistsofapreposition,anounorpronounthatservesastheobjectof
thepreposition,and,moreoftenthannot,anadjectiveortwothatmodifiestheobject.Ernest
Hemingwayapparentlyfellinlovewiththerhythmsofhisprepositionalphrasesatthebeginning
ofhisshortstory"HillsLikeWhiteElephants":
The hills across the valley of the Ebro were long and white. On this side there was no shade
and no trees and the station was between two lines of rails in the sun. Close against the side of
the station there was the warm shadow of the buildingand a curtain, made of strings of bamboo
beads, hung across the open door into the bar, to keep out flies. The American and the girl with
him sat at a table in the shade, outside the building. It was very hot and the express from
Barcelona would come in forty minutes. It stopped at this junction for two minutes and went
on to Madrid.

Prepositionalphrasesusuallytellwhenorwhere:"infortyminutes,""inthesun,againstthe
side,etc."Prepositionalphrasescanperformotherfunctions,however:ExceptJo,thechildren
wereremarkablyliketheirfather.
Aprepositionalphraseatthebeginningofasentenceconstitutesanintroductorymodifier,
whichisusuallyasignalforacomma.However,unlessanintroductoryprepositionalphraseis
unusuallylong,weseldomneedtofollowitwithacomma.
Youmayhavelearnedthatendingasentencewithaprepositionisaseriousbreachof
grammaticaletiquette.Itdoesn'ttakeagrammariantospotasentenceendingpreposition,sothis
isaneasyruletogetcaughtupon(!).Althoughitisofteneasytoremedytheoffending
preposition,sometimesitisn't,andrepaireffortssometimesresultinaclumsysentence.Based
onshakyhistoricalprecedent,theruleitselfisalatecomertotherulesofwriting.Thosewho
disliketherulearefondofrecallingChurchill'srejoinder:<"ThatisnonsenseupwithwhichI
shallnotput."Weshouldalsorememberthechild'scomplaint(attributedtoE.B.White):"What
didyoubringthatbookthatIdon'tliketobereadtooutofupfor?"

APPOSITIVE PHRASE
Anappositiveisarenamingoramplificationofawordthatimmediatelyprecedesit.
(Anappositive,thenistheoppositeofanoppositive.)Frequentlyanotherkindofphrasewill
serveinapposition.

Myfavoriteteacher,afinechessplayerinherownright,haswonseveralstatelevel
tournaments.[Nounphraseasappositive]

Thebestexercise,walkingbriskly,isalsotheleastexpensive.[Gerundphraseas
appositive]

Tashonda'sgoalinlife,tobecomeanoccupationaltherapist,iswithinhergraspthisyear,
atlast.[Infinitivephraseasappositive]

ABSOLUTE PHRASE
Usually(butnotalways,asweshallsee),anabsolutephrase(alsocalledanominativeabsolute)
isagroupofwordsconsistingofanounorpronounandaparticipleaswellasany
relatedmodifiers.Absolutephrasesdonotdirectlyconnecttoormodifyanyspecificwordinthe
restofthesentence;instead,theymodifytheentiresentence,addinginformation.Theyare
alwaystreatedasparentheticalelementsandaresetofffromtherestofthesentencewitha
commaorapairofcommas(sometimesbyadashorpairofdashes).Noticethatabsolute
phrasescontainasubject(whichisoftenmodifiedbyaparticiple),butnotatruefiniteverb.

Theirreputationaswinnerssecuredbyvictory,theNewYorkLibertychargedintothe
semifinals.

Theseasonnearlyfinished,RebeccaLoboandSophieWitherspoonemergedastrue
leaders.

Thetwosuperstarssignedautographsintothenight,theirfacesbeaminghappily.

Whentheparticipleofanabsolutephraseisaformoftobe,suchasbeingorhavingbeen,the
participleisoftenleftoutbutunderstood.

Theseason[being]over,theyweremobbedbyfansinTimesSquare.

[Havingbeen]Starsalltheiradultlives,theyseemedusedtotheattention.

Anotherkindofabsolutephraseisfoundafteramodifiednoun;itaddsafocusingdetailorpoint
offocustotheideaofthemainclause.Thiskindofabsolutephrasecantaketheformofa
prepositionalphrase,anadjectivephrase,oranounphrase.

Theoldfirefighterstoodoverthesmokingruins,hissensesalerttoanysignofanother
flareup.

Hissubordinates,theirfacessweatstreakedandsmudgedwithash,leanedheavily
againstthefiretruck.

Theyknewalltoowellhowalltheirhardworkcouldbeundoneinaninstant.

Itisnotunusualfortheinformationsuppliedintheabsolutephrasetobethemostimportant
elementinthesentence.Infact,indescriptiveprose,thetellingdetailswilloftenbewrappedinto
asentenceintheformofanabsolutephrase:

CoachNykeshastrolledontothecourt,herarmsakimboandalargesilverwhistle
clenchedbetweenherteeth.

Thenewrecruitsstoodinonecornerofthegym,theiruniformsstiffandillfitting,their
facesbetrayingtheiranxiety.

Anounphrasecanalsoexistasanabsolutephrase:

Yourbestfriends,wherearetheynow,whenyouneedthem?

AndthentherewasmybestfriendSallythedeargirlwhohascertainlyfallenon
hardtimes.

ItmightbeusefultoreviewthematerialonMisplacedModifiersbecauseitisimportant
nottoconfuseanabsolutephrasewithamisplacedmodifier.

INFINITIVE PHRASE
Aninfinitivephraseconsistsofaninfinitivetherootoftheverbprecededbytoandany
modifiersorcomplementsassociatedwithit.Infinitivephrasescanactasadjectives,adverbs,
andnouns.

Herplantosubsidizechildcarewonwideacceptanceamongurbanpoliticians.
[modifiesplan,functionsasanadjective]

Shewantedtoraisetaxes.[nounobjectofthesentence]

TowatchUncleBillytellthisstoryisaneyeopeningexperience.[nounsubjectofthe
sentence]

Toknowheristoloveher.[noun,predicatenominative]

Juanwenttocollegetostudyveterinarymedicine.[tellsuswhyhewent,soit'sanadverb]

GERUND PHRASE
Gerunds,verbalsthatendiningandthatactasnouns,frequentlyareassociatedwithmodifiers
andcomplementsinagerundphrase.Thesephrasesfunctionasunitsandcandoanythingthata
nouncando.Noticethatotherphrases,especiallyprepositionalphrases,arefrequentlypartof
thegerundphrase.

Crammingfortestsisnotagoodstudystrategy.[gerundphraseassubject]

Johnenjoyedswimminginthelakeafterdark.[gerundphraseasobject]

I'mreallynotinterestedinstudyingbiochemistryfortherestofmylife.[gerundphrase
asobjectoftheprepositionin]

Reviewingthegeneralusesofgerundsandinfinitivesmightnotbeabadidea.
ClickHERE.

PARTICIPIAL PHRASE
Presentparticiples,verbalsendingining,andpastparticiples,verbalsthatendined(for
regularverbs)orotherforms(forirregularverbs),arecombinedwithcomplementsand
modifiersandbecomepartofimportantphrasalstructures.Participialphrasesalwaysact
asadjectives.Whentheybeginasentence,theyareoftensetoffbyacomma(as
anintroductorymodifier);otherwise,participialphraseswillbesetoffbycommasifthey
areparentheticalelements.

Thestonesteps,havingbeenworndownbygenerationsofstudents,neededtobe
replaced.[modifies"steps"]

Workingaroundtheclock,thefirefightersfinallyputoutthelastoftheCaliforniabrush
fires.[modifies"firefighters"]

Thepond,frozenoversinceearlyDecember,isnowsafeforiceskating.[modifies
"pond"]

Thereisalistofsuchwordsinthetablebelow.Whenyouplaceyourmouse
cursoroverawordorpairofrelatedwords(suchaseither/neither),youwillseeinthe
righthandframeanimagedescribingthekindsofwordsthatwordcanmodify.
Zeroarticle(seetablebelow)meanseitherthatnoarticlewouldbeappropriatewith
thatkindofnounorthatthatkindofnouncanbeused(inthatcontext)withoutan
article.

Ifyouwouldliketoseetheseimageslistedononepage,clickHERE.
Noticethatthereisadifferencebetweena"stressed"someoranyandan
"unstressed"someorany.ConsiderthewordsinALLCAPSasshoutedwordsand
youwillhearthedifferencebetweenthesetwo:

ThatisSOMEcaryou'vegotthere!

Idon'twanttohearANYexcuse!

As opposed to. . .

Wehavesomecarsleftinthelot.

Isn'tthereanyfurnitureinthelivingroom?

Intermsofthewordstheyusuallymodify,theunstressedsomeandanydonotmodify
singularcountnouns.

INTERJECTIONS
Interjectionsarewordsorphrasesusedtoexclaimorprotestorcommand.Theysometimes
standbythemselves,buttheyareoftencontainedwithinlargerstructures.

Wow!Iwonthelottery!

Oh,Idon'tknowaboutthat.

Idon'tknowwhattheheckyou'retalkingabout.

No,youshouldn'thavedonethat.

Mostmildinterjectionsaretreatedasparentheticalelementsandsetofffromtherestof
thesentencewithacommaorsetofcommas.Iftheinterjectionismoreforceful,however,itis
followedwithanexclamationmark.Interjectionsarerarelyusedinformaloracademicwriting.

Interjections List

Here is a list of interjections with meanings and example sentences.

This list does not include all interjections but it does show the more
common ones.
interjectio
n

meaning

example

ah

expressing pleasure

"Ah, that feels good."

expressing realization

"Ah, now I understand."

expressing resignation

"Ah well, it can't be

helped."

expressing surprise

"Ah! I've won!"

alas

expressing grief or pity

"Alas, she's dead now."

dear

expressing pity

"Oh dear! Does it hurt?"

expressing surprise

"Dear me! That's a

surprise!"

asking for repetition

"It's hot today." "Eh?" "I

said it's hot today."

expressing enquiry

"What do you think of

that, eh?"

expressing surprise

"Eh! Really?"

inviting agreement

"Let's go, eh?"

er

expressing hesitation

"Lima is the capital

of...er...Peru."

hello, hullo

expressing greeting

"Hello John. How are you

today?"

expressing surprise

"Hello! My car's gone!"

calling attention

"Hey! look at that!"

eh

hey

expressing surprise, joy

etc

"Hey! What a good idea!"

hi

expressing greeting

"Hi! What's new?"

hmm

expressing hesitation,
doubt or disagreement

"Hmm. I'm not so sure."

oh, o

expressing surprise

"Oh! You're here!"

expressing pain

"Oh! I've got a

toothache."

expressing pleading

"Oh, please say 'yes'!"

ouch

expressing pain

"Ouch! That hurts!"

uh

expressing hesitation

"Uh...I don't know the

answer to that."

uh-huh

expressing agreement

"Shall we go?" "Uh-huh."

um, umm

expressing hesitation

"85 divided by 5
is...um...17."

well

expressing surprise

"Well I never!"

introducing a remark

"Well, what did he say?"

NOUNS
In love with nouns? We also have
sections on
Pluralformsofnouns
Possessiveformsofnouns
Anexerciseinrecognizingnouns
Countversusnoncountnouns
Anexerciseincategorizingcountand
noncountnouns

Raindropsonrosesandwhiskersonkittens

Brightcopperkettlesandwarmwoolenmittens
Brownpaperpackagestiedupwithstrings
Theseareafewofmyfavoritenouns
Creamcoloredponiesandcrispapplestreudels
Doorbellsandsleighbellsandschnitzelwithnoodles
Wildgeesethatflywiththemoonontheirwings
Theseareafewofmyfavoritenouns
Girlsinwhitedresseswithbluesatinsashes

Snowflakesthatstayonmynoseandeyelashes

Silverwhitewintersthatmeltintosprings
Theseareafewofmyfavoritenouns

Compoundnouns(andadjectives)

Whenthedogbites
Whenthebeestings
WhenI'mfeelingsad
Isimplyremembermyfavoritenouns
AndthenIdon'tfeelsobad.
Apologies to Oscar Hammerstein II,
lyricist of "My Favorite Things"
from The Sound of Music

Definition
Anounisthenameofaperson,place,thing,oridea.Whateverexists,weassume,canbe
named,andthatnameisanoun.Apropernoun,whichnamesaspecificperson,place,orthing
(Carlos,QueenMarguerite,MiddleEast,Jerusalem,Malaysia,Presbyterianism,God,Spanish,
Buddhism,theRepublicanParty),isalmostalwayscapitalized.Apropernounusedasan
addressedperson'snameiscalledanounofaddress.Commonnounsnameeverythingelse,
thingsthatusuallyarenotcapitalized.
Agroupofrelatedwordscanactasasinglenounlikeentitywithinasentence.ANoun
Clausecontainsasubjectandverbandcandoanythingthatanouncando:
What he does for this town is a blessing.

ANounPhrase,frequentlyanounaccompaniedbymodifiers,isagroupofrelatedwordsacting
asanoun:theoildepletionallowance;theabnormal,hideouslyenlargednose.
ThereisaseparatesectiononwordcombinationsthatbecomeCompoundNounssuch
asdaughterinlaw,halfmoon,andstickinthemud.

Categories of Nouns
Nounscanbeclassifiedfurtherascountnouns,whichnameanythingthatcanbecounted
(fourbooks,twocontinents,afewdishes,a
dozenbuildings);mass
nouns(ornoncountnouns),whichname
somethingthatcan'tbecounted
(water,air,energy,blood);andcollective
nouns,whichcantakeasingular
formbutarecomposedofmorethanoneindividualpersonoritems(jury,team,class,
committee,herd).Weshouldnotethatsomewordscanbeeitheracountnounoranoncount
noundependingonhowthey'rebeingusedinasentence:

a.

Hegotintotrouble.(noncount)
b. Hehadmanytroubles.(countable)
c. Experience(noncount)isthebestteacher.
d. Wehadmanyexcitingexperiences(countable)incollege.

Whetherthesewordsarecountornoncountwilldeterminewhethertheycanbeused
witharticlesanddeterminersornot.(Wewouldnotwrite"Hegotintothetroubles,"butwe
couldwriteabout"ThetroublesofIreland."
Sometextswillincludethecategoryofabstractnouns,bywhichwemeanthekindof
wordthatisnottangible,suchaswarmth,justice,grief,andpeace.Abstractnounsaresometimes
troublesomefornonnativewritersbecausetheycanappearwithdeterminersorwithout:"Peace
settledoverthecountryside.""Theskirmishdisruptedthepeacethathadsettledoverthe
countryside."SeethesectiononPluralsforadditionalhelpwithcollectivenouns,wordsthat
canbesingularorplural,dependingoncontext.

Forms of Nouns
Nounscanbeinthesubjective,possessive,andobjectivecase.Thewordcasedefinesthe
roleofthenouninthesentence.Isitasubject,anobject,ordoesitshowpossession?

TheEnglishprofessor[subject]istall.

HechosetheEnglishprofessor[object].

TheEnglishprofessor's[possessive]carisgreen.

Nounsinthesubjectandobjectroleareidenticalinform;nounsthatshowthepossessive,
however,takeadifferentform.Usuallyanapostropheisaddedfollowedbytheletters(except
forplurals,whichtaketheplural"s"endingfirst,andthenaddtheapostrophe).Seethesection
onPossessivesforhelpwithpossessiveforms.Thereisalsoatableoutliningthecasesof
nounsandpronouns.
Almostallnounschangeformwhentheybecomeplural,usuallywiththesimpleaddition
ofansores.Unfortunately,it'snotalwaysthateasy,andaseparatesectiononPluralsoffers
adviceontheformationofpluralnounforms.

Assaying for Nouns*

Backinthegoldrushdays,everylittletownintheAmericanOldWesthadanassayer's
office,aplacewherewildeyedprospectorscouldtaketheirbagsoforeforofficialtesting,to
makesuretheshinystuffthey'dfoundwastherealthing,not"fool'sgold."Weofferheresome

assaytestsfornouns.Therearetwokindsoftests:formalandfunctionalwhatawordlooks
like(theendingsittakes)andhowawordbehavesinasentence.

FormalTests
1. Doesthewordcontainanounmakingmorpheme?organization,
misconception,weirdness,statehood,government,democracy,philistinism,
realtor,tenacity,violinist
2. Canthewordtakeapluralmakingmorpheme?pencils,boxes
3. Canthewordtakeapossessivemakingmorpheme?today's,boys'

FunctionTests
1

Withoutmodifiers,cantheworddirectlyfollowanarticleandcreatea
grammaticalunit(subject,object,etc.)?thestate,anapple,acrate

Canitfilltheslotinthefollowingsentence:"(The)_________seem(s)all
right."(orsubstituteotherpredicatessuchasunacceptable,short,dark,
dependingontheword'smeaning)?

Testing the Tests:

Withmostnouns,thetestisclear."State,"forexample,canbeaplural("states"),becomea
possessive("state's"),followanarticle("a/thestate"),andfitintheslot("thestateseemsall
right").Itdoesn'thaveanounmakingmorpheme,butitpassesalltheothertests;itcanpassasa
noun.(Thefactthat"state"canalsobeaverb"Westateourcase"isnotrelevant.)
"Greyness"cannottakepluralendingnorcanitbepossessive,butitdoescontainanounmaking
morpheneanditcanfollowanarticleandfitintheslotsentence.Cantheword"grey,"whichis
obviouslyalsoanadjective,beanoun?It'shardtoimagineitpassinganyoftheformaltests,but
itcanfollowanarticleandfilltheslot:"Thegreyseemsacceptable."Andwhatabout"running,"
whichisoftenpartofaverb(Heisrunningforoffice)?Again,itwon'tpasstheformaltests,but
itwillfittheslotsentence:"Runningisallright."(Itcanalsofollowanarticle,butinratheran
oddway:"Therunningisabouttobegin.")"Grey"and"running"arenouns,butjustbarely:one
isanadjectiveactinglikeanoun,andtheotherisaverbactinglikeanoun(agerund).

Additional Help With Nouns

AsimpleexerciseinNamingNounswillhelpansweranyquestionsyoumighthaveabout
countandnoncountnounsandhelpyoudistinguishbetweenpluralandsingularforms.
Thecategoriesofcountandnoncountnounscanbeconfusing,however,andwesuggest
furtherreview,especiallyforwritersforwhomEnglishisasecondlanguage.Thesecondsection
weofferiscalledCountandNonCount,abasicreviewofthoseconceptsandtheirusesin

sentences,withmanyexamples.Third,weofferWORKINGWITHNOUNS,amoreextensive
(andsomewhatmoreadvanced)reviewofthecountandnoncountdistinction,alongwith
exercises.Finally,justwhenyouthoughtyoucouldn'tstandsuchriches,wesuggestyoureview
theusesofArticles,Determiners,andQuantifierswithcountandnoncountnouns.

PREDICATES, OBJECTS,
COMPLEMENTS
Predicates
Apredicateisthecompleterofasentence.Thesubjectnamesthe"doer"or"beer"ofthe
sentence;thepredicatedoestherestofthework.Asimplepredicateconsistsofonlyaverb,
verbstring,orcompoundverb:

Theglaciermelted.

Theglacierhasbeenmelting.

Theglaciermelted,brokeapart,andslippedintothesea.

Acompoundpredicateconsistsoftwo(ormore)suchpredicatesconnected:

Theglacierbegantoslipdownthemountainsideandeventuallycrushedsomeofthe
village'soutlyingbuildings.

Acompletepredicateconsistsoftheverbandallaccompanyingmodifiersandotherwords
thatreceivetheactionofatransitiveverborcompleteitsmeaning.Thefollowingdescriptionof
predicatescomesfromTheLongmanHandbookforWritersandReaders(examplesourown):
With an intransitiveverb, objects and complements are included in the predicate. (The glacier is
melting.) With a transitiveverb, objects and objectcomplements are said to be part of the
predicate. (The slow moving glacier wiped out an entire forest. It gave the villagers a lot of
problems.) With a linkingverb, the subject is connected to a subjectcomplement. (The
mayor doesn't feel good.)

Apredicateadjectivefollowsalinkingverbandtellsussomethingaboutthesubject:

Ramonitaisbeautiful.

Hisbehaviorhasbeenoutrageous.

Thatgarbageonthestreetsmellsbad.

Apredicatenominativefollowsalinkingverbandtellsuswhatthesubjectis:

Dr.Couchworthyisactingpresidentoftheuniversity.

Sheusedtobethetallestgirlontheteam.

Direct and Indirect Objects

Adirectobjectisthereceiverofactionwithinasentence,asin"Hehittheball."Becareful
todistinguishbetweenadirectobjectandanobjectcomplement:

TheynamedtheirdaughterNatasha.

Inthatsentence,"daughter"isthedirectobjectand"Natasha"istheobjectcomplement,which
renamesordescribesthedirectobject.
Theindirectobjectidentifiestoorforwhomorwhattheactionoftheverbisperformed.
Thedirectobjectandindirectobjectaredifferentpeopleorplacesorthings.Thedirectobjectsin
thesentencesbelowareinboldface;theindirectobjectsareinitalics.

TheinstructorgavehisstudentsA's.

GrandfatherleftRosalitaandRaoulallhismoney.

JoBobsoldmeherboat.

Incidentally,thewordme(andsimilarobjectformpronounssuchashim,us,them)isnotalways
anindirectobject;itwillalsoserve,sometimes,asadirectobject.

Blessme/her/us!

Callme/him/themifyouhavequestions.

InEnglish,nounsandtheiraccompanyingmodifiers(articlesandadjectives)donotchange
formwhentheyareusedasobjectsorindirectobjects,astheydoinmanyotherlanguages."The
radioisonthedesk"and"Iborrowedtheradio"containexactlythesamewordformusedfor
quitedifferentfunctions.Thisisnottrueofpronouns,however,whichusedifferentformsfor
differentfunctions.(He[subject]loveshisgrandmother.Hisgrandmotherloveshim[object].)
(See,also,pronouncases.)

Complements
Sincethispageisaboutthecompletersofthoughts,itisappropriatetoincludeabrief
descriptionofcomplements.Acomplement(noticethespellingoftheword)isanywordor
phrasethatcompletesthesenseofasubject,anobject,oraverb.Asyouwillsee,the

terminologydescribingpredicatesandcomplementscanoverlapandbeabitconfusing.Students
areprobablywisetolearnonesetofterms,notboth.

Asubjectcomplementfollowsalinkingverb;itisnormallyanadjectiveoranounthat
renamesordefinesinsomewaythesubject.
o

Aglacierisahugebodyofice.

Glaciersarebeautifulandpotentiallydangerousatthesametime.

Thisglacierisnotyetfullyformed.(verbformactingasanadjective,a
participle)

Adjectivecomplementsarealsocalledpredicateadjectives;nouncomplementsare
alsocalledpredicatenounsorpredicatenominatives.Seepredicates,above.

Anobjectcomplementfollowsandmodifiesorreferstoadirectobject.Itcanbeanoun
oradjectiveoranywordactingasanounoradjective.
o

TheconventionnamedDogbreathVicePresidenttokeephimhappy.(The
noun"VicePresident"complementsthedirectobject"Dogbreath";the
adjective"happy"complementstheobject"him.")

Theclowngotthechildrentooexcited.(Theparticiple"excited"
complementstheobject"children.")

Averbcomplementisadirectorindirectobjectofaverb.(Seeabove.)
o

GrannyleftRaoulallhermoney.(Both"money"[thedirectobject]and
"Raoul"[theindirectobject]aresaidtobetheverbcomplementsofthis
sentence.)

PREPOSITIONS:
LOCATORS IN
TIME AND PLACE
Aprepositiondescribesarelationshipbetweenotherwordsinasentence.Initself,aword
like"in"or"after"israthermeaninglessandhardtodefineinmerewords.Forinstance,when
youdotrytodefineaprepositionlike"in"or"between"or"on,"youinvariablyuseyourhands
toshowhowsomethingissituatedinrelationshiptosomethingelse.Prepositionsarenearly
alwayscombinedwithotherwordsinstructurescalledprepositionalphrases.Prepositional
phrasescanbemadeupofamilliondifferentwords,buttheytendtobebuiltthesame:a
prepositionfollowedbyadeterminerandanadjectiveortwo,followedbyapronounornoun

(calledtheobjectofthepreposition).Thiswholephrase,inturn,takesonamodifyingrole,
actingasanadjectiveoranadverb,locatingsomethingintimeandspace,modifyinganoun,or
tellingwhenorwhereorunderwhatconditionssomethinghappened.
Considertheprofessor'sdeskandalltheprepositionalphraseswecanusewhiletalking
aboutit.
You can sit before the desk (or in front of the desk). The professor can sit on the desk (when
he's being informal) orbehind the desk, and then his feet are under the desk or beneath the
desk. He can stand beside the desk (meaning next to the desk), before the
desk, between the desk and you, or even on the desk (if he's really strange). If he's clumsy, he
can bump into the desk or try to walk through the desk (and stuff would fall off the desk).
Passing his hands over the desk or resting his elbows upon the desk, he often
looks across the desk and speaks of the desk or concerning the desk as if there were
nothing else like the desk. Because he thinks of nothing except the desk, sometimes you
wonder aboutthe desk, what's in the desk, what he paid for the desk, and if he could
live without the desk. You can walk toward the desk, to the desk, around the desk, by the
desk, and even past the desk while he sits at the desk or leans against the desk.
All of this happens, of course, in time: during the class, before the class, until the
class, throughout the class, after the class, etc. And the professor can sit there in a bad
mood [another adverbial construction].

Thosewordsinboldbluefontareallprepositions.Someprepositionsdootherthingsbesides
locateinspaceortime"Mybrotherislikemyfather.""Everyoneintheclassexceptmegot
theanswer."butnearlyallofthemmodifyinonewayoranother.Itispossiblefora
prepositionphrasetoactasanoun"Duringachurchserviceisnotagoodtimetodiscuss
picnicplans"or"IntheSouthPacificiswhereIlongtobe"butthisisseldomappropriatein
formaloracademicwriting.
ClickHEREforalistofcommonprepositionsthatwillbeeasytoprintout.

COMMON PREPOSITIONS
about
above
across
after
against
around
at
before
behind

by
down
during
except
for
from
in
inside
into

outside
over
since
through
throughout
till
to
toward
under

according to
because of
by way of
in addition to
in front of
in place of
in regard to
in spite of
instead of

below
beneath
beside
besides
between
beyond

like
near
of
off
on
out

until
up
upon
with
without

on account of
out of

You may have learned that ending a sentence with

a preposition is a serious breach of grammatical
etiquette. It doesn't take a grammarian to spot a
sentence-ending preposition, so this is an easy rule
to get caught up on (!). Although it is often easy to
remedy the offending preposition, sometimes it isn't,
and repair efforts sometimes result in a clumsy
sentence. "Indicate the book you are quoting from" is
not greatly improved with "Indicate from which book
you are quoting."
Based on shaky historical precedent, the rule itself is
a latecomer to the rules of writing. Those who dislike
the rule are fond of recalling Churchill's rejoinder:
"That is nonsense up with which I shall not put." We
should also remember the child's complaint: "What
did you bring that book that I don't like to be read to
out of up for?"
IsitanywonderthatprepositionscreatesuchtroublesforstudentsforwhomEnglishisa
secondlanguage?Wesayweareatthehospitaltovisitafriendwhoisinthehospital.We
lieinbedbutonthecouch.Wewatchafilmatthetheaterbutontelevision.Fornativespeakers,
theselittlewordspresentlittledifficulty,buttrytolearnanotherlanguage,anyotherlanguage,
andyouwillquicklydiscoverthatprepositionsaretroublesomewhereveryouliveandlearn.
Thispagecontainssomeinteresting(sometimestroublesome)prepositionswithbriefusage
notes.Toaddressallthepotentialdifficultieswithprepositionsinidiomaticusagewouldrequire
volumes,andtheonlywayEnglishlanguagelearnerscanbegintomastertheintricaciesof
prepositionusageisthroughpracticeandpayingcloseattentiontospeechandthewrittenword.
Keepingagooddictionarycloseathand(tohand?)isanimportantfirststep.

Prepositions of Time: at, on, and in

Weuseattodesignatespecifictimes.
Thetrainisdueat12:15p.m.

Weuseontodesignatedaysanddates.
MybrotheriscomingonMonday.
We'rehavingapartyontheFourthofJuly.
Weuseinfornonspecifictimesduringaday,amonth,aseason,orayear.
Shelikestojoginthemorning.
It'stoocoldinwintertorunoutside.
Hestartedthejobin1971.
He'sgoingtoquitinAugust.

Prepositions of Place: at, on, and in

Weuseatforspecificaddresses.
GrammarEnglishlivesat55BoretzRoadinDurham.
Weuseontodesignatenamesofstreets,avenues,etc.
HerhouseisonBoretzRoad.
Andweuseinforthenamesoflandareas(towns,counties,states,countries,andcontinents).
ShelivesinDurham.
DurhamisinWindhamCounty.
WindhamCountyisinConnecticut.

Prepositions of Location: in, at, and on

and No Preposition
IN
(the) bed*
the bedroom
the car
(the) class*
the library*
school*

AT
class*
home
the library*
the office
school*
work

ON
the bed*
the ceiling
the floor
the horse
the plane
the train

NO
PREPOSITI
ON
downstairs
downtown
inside
outside
upstairs
uptown

* You may sometimes use different prepositions for these locations.

Prepositions of Movement: to
and No Preposition
Weusetoinordertoexpressmovementtowardaplace.
Theyweredrivingtoworktogether.
She'sgoingtothedentist'sofficethismorning.
Towardandtowardsarealsohelpfulprepositionstoexpressmovement.Thesearesimplyvariant
spellingsofthesameword;usewhicheversoundsbettertoyou.
We'removingtowardthelight.
Thisisabigsteptowardstheproject'scompletion.
Withthewordshome,downtown,uptown,inside,outside,downstairs,upstairs,weuseno
preposition.
Grandmawentupstairs
Grandpawenthome.
Theybothwentoutside.

Prepositions of Time: for and since

Weuseforwhenwemeasuretime(seconds,minutes,hours,days,months,years).
Heheldhisbreathforsevenminutes.
She'slivedthereforsevenyears.
TheBritishandIrishhavebeenquarrelingforsevencenturies.
Weusesincewithaspecificdateortime.
He'sworkedheresince1970.
She'sbeensittinginthewaitingroomsincetwothirty.

Prepositions with Nouns, Adjectives, and Verbs.

Prepositionsaresometimessofirmlyweddedtootherwordsthattheyhavepractically
becomeoneword.(Infact,inotherlanguages,suchasGerman,theywouldhavebecomeone
word.)Thisoccursinthreecategories:nouns,adjectives,andverbs.

NOUNS and PREPOSITIONS

approval of
awareness of
belief in
concern for
confusion about
desire for

fondness for
grasp of
hatred of
hope for
interest in
love of

need for
participation in
reason for
respect for
success in
understanding of

ADJECTIVES and
PREPOSITIONS
afraid of
angry at
aware of
capable of
careless about
familiar with

fond of
happy about
interested in
jealous of
made of
married to

proud of
similar to
sorry for
sure of
tired of
worried about

VERBS and PREPOSITIONS

apologize for
ask about
ask for
belong to
bring up
care for
find out

give up
grow up
look for
look forward to
look up
make up
pay for

prepare for
study for
talk about
think about
trust in
work for
worry about

Acombinationofverbandprepositioniscalledaphrasalverb.Thewordthatisjoinedto
theverbisthencalledaparticle.Pleaserefertothebriefsectionwehavepreparedonphrasal
verbsforanexplanation.

Idiomatic Expressions with Prepositions

agreetoaproposal,withaperson,onaprice,inprinciple

argueaboutamatter,withaperson,fororagainstaproposition

comparetotoshowlikenesses,withtoshowdifferences(sometimessimilarities)

correspondtoathing,withaperson

differfromanunlikething,withaperson

liveatanaddress,inahouseorcity,onastreet,withotherpeople

Unnecessary Prepositions
Ineverydayspeech,wefallintosomebadhabits,usingprepositionswheretheyarenot
necessary.Itwouldbeagoodideatoeliminatethesewordsaltogether,butwemustbeespecially
carefulnottousetheminformal,academicprose.

Shemetupwiththenewcoachinthehallway.

Thebookfelloffofthedesk.

Hethrewthebookoutofthewindow.

Shewouldn'tletthecatinsideofthehouse.[oruse"in"]

Wheredidtheygoto?

Putthelampinbackofthecouch.[use"behind"instead]

Whereisyourcollegeat?

Prepositions in Parallel Form

PARALLEL FORM
MOSTOFTHEDESCRIPTIONSANDEXAMPLESINTHISSECTIONaretakenfromWilliam
Strunk'svenerableElementsofStyle,whichismaintainedonlinebytheBartlebyProjectat
ColumbiaUniversity:
This principle, that of parallel construction, requires that expressions of similar content and
function should be outwardly similar. The likeness of form enables the reader to recognize more
readily the likeness of content and function. Familiar instances from the Bible are the Ten
Commandments, the Beatitudes, and the petitions of the Lord's Prayer.

Students should also visit the section on SentenceVariety, which has material on
the repetition of phrases and structures. Click HERE to visit a page containing
the biblical passages mentioned above.

BIBLICAL PASSAGES
IN PARALLEL FORM
THESEPASSAGESARETAKENFROMTHEKINGJAMESVERSIONoftheBibletoillustrate
usesofparallelform.OnecouldlooktoothersourcesintheBible,ofcourse.TheSongof
Solomonisfilledwithmomentsofextremeandbeautifullyricism.TheKingJamesVersion

probablydoesgreaterjusticetotheparallelrhythmsofEnglishthandolatertranslations.

Matthew 5:3-11: The Beatitudes

Blessedarethepoorinspirit:fortheirsisthekingdomofheaven.
Blessedaretheythatmourn:fortheyshallbecomforted.
Blessedarethemeek:fortheyshallinherittheearth.
Blessedaretheywhichdohungerandthirstafterrighteousness:fortheyshallbefilled.
Blessedarethemerciful:fortheyshallobtainmercy.
Blessedarethepureinheart:fortheyshallseeGod.
Blessedarethepeacemakers:fortheyshallbecalledthechildrenofGod.
Blessedaretheywhicharepersecutedforrighteousness'sake:fortheirsisthekingdomof
heaven.
Blessedareye,whenmenshallrevileyou,andpersecuteyou,andshallsayallmannerof
evilagainstyoufalsely,formysake.

Matthew 6:9-13: The Lord's Prayer

Afterthismannerthereforeprayye:OurFatherwhichartinheaven,Hallowedbethy
name.
Thykingdomcome,Thywillbedoneinearth,asitisinheaven.
Giveusthisdayourdailybread.
Andforgiveusourdebts,asweforgiveourdebtors.
Andleadusnotintotemptation,butdeliverusfromevil:Forthineisthekingdom,andthe
power,andtheglory,forever.Amen.

Deuteronomy 5:6-21: The Ten Commandments

IamtheLORDthyGod,whichbroughttheeoutofthelandofEgypt,fromthehouseof
bondage.
Thoushalthavenoneothergodsbeforeme.
Thoushaltnotmaketheeanygravenimage,oranylikenessofanythingthatisinheaven
above,orthatisintheearthbeneath,orthatisinthewatersbeneaththeearth:
Thoushaltnotbowdownthyselfuntothem,norservethem:forItheLORDthyGodama
jealousGod,visitingtheiniquityofthefathersuponthechildrenuntothethirdandfourth
generationofthemthathateme,

Andshewingmercyuntothousandsofthemthatlovemeandkeepmycommandments.
ThoushaltnottakethenameoftheLORDthyGodinvain:fortheLORDwillnotholdhim
guiltlessthattakethhisnameinvain.
Keepthesabbathdaytosanctifyit,astheLORDthyGodhathcommandedthee.
Sixdaysthoushaltlabour,anddoallthywork:
ButtheseventhdayisthesabbathoftheLORDthyGod:initthoushaltnotdoanywork,
thou,northyson,northydaughter,northymanservant,northymaidservant,northineox,
northineass,noranyofthycattle,northystrangerthatiswithinthygates;thatthy
manservantandthymaidservantmayrestaswellasthou.
AndrememberthatthouwastaservantinthelandofEgypt,andthattheLORDthyGod
broughttheeoutthencethroughamightyhandandbyastretchedoutarm:thereforethe
LORDthyGodcommandedtheetokeepthesabbathday.
Honourthyfatherandthymother,astheLORDthyGodhathcommandedthee;thatthy
daysmaybeprolonged,andthatitmaygowellwiththee,inthelandwhichtheLORDthy
Godgiveththee.
Thoushaltnotkill.
Neithershaltthoucommitadultery.
Neithershaltthousteal.
Neithershaltthoubearfalsewitnessagainstthyneighbour.
Neithershaltthoudesirethyneighbour'swife,neithershaltthoucovetthyneighbour's
house,hisfield,orhismanservant,orhismaidservant,hisox,orhisass,oranythingthatis
thyneighbour's.
Also in this Guide is a definition of theideaofacollege, a lovely example of parallel
form. Students are also familiar with AbrahamLincoln'sGettysburgAddress, which
abounds with examples of parallel form. Clicking on the title above will allow
you to read this famous speech and view a brief "slide-show" demonstration of
the parallel structures within Lincoln's famous text. (TheLibraryof
Congress maintains a site at which you can inspect two diferent drafts of the
Gettysburg Address in Lincoln's own handwriting.)

Unskillfulwritersoftenviolatethisprinciple,fromamistakenbeliefthattheyshould
constantlyvarytheformoftheirexpressions.Itistruethatinrepeatingastatementinorderto
emphasizeitwritersmayhaveneedtovaryitsform.Butapartfromthis,writersshouldfollow
carefullytheprincipleofparallelconstruction.
Faulty Parallelism

Corrected Version

Formerly, science was

taught by the textbook
method, while now the
laboratory method is
employed.

Formerly, science was

taught by the textbook
method; now it is taught by
the laboratory method.

Thelefthandversiongivestheimpressionthatthewriterisundecidedortimid;heseemsunable
orafraidtochooseoneformofexpressionandholdtoit.Therighthandversionshowsthatthe
writerhasatleastmadehischoiceandabidedbyit.
Bythisprinciple,anarticleoraprepositionapplyingtoallthemembersofaseriesmust
eitherbeusedonlybeforethefirsttermorelseberepeatedbeforeeachterm.
Faulty Parallelism

Corrected Version

The French, the Italians,

Spanish, and Portuguese

The French, the Italians, the

Spanish, and the Portuguese

In spring, summer, or in
winter

In spring, summer, or winter

(In spring, in summer, or in
winter)

Correlativeexpressions(both,and;not,but;notonly,butalso;either,or;first,second,
third;andthelike)shouldbefollowedbythesamegrammaticalconstruction.Manyviolationsof
thisrulecanbecorrectedbyrearrangingthesentence.
Faulty Parallelism

Corrected Version

It was both a long ceremony

and very tedious.

The ceremony was both long

and tedious.

A time not for words, but

action

A time not for words, but for

action

Either you must grant his

request or incur his ill will.

You must either grant his

request or incur his ill will.

My objections are, first, the

injustice of the measure;
second, that it is
unconstitutional.

My objections are, first, that

the measure is unjust;
second, that it is
unconstitutional.

Whenmakingcomparisons,thethingsyoucompareshouldbecouchedinparallel
structureswheneverthatispossibleandappropriate.
Faulty Parallelism

Corrected Version

My income is smaller than

my wife.

My income is smaller than

my wife's.

Whentwowordsorphrasesareusedinparallelandrequirethesameprepositiontobe
idiomaticallycorrect,theprepositiondoesnothavetobeusedtwice.
Youcanwearthatoutfitinsummerandinwinter.
Thefemalewasbothattractedbyanddistractedbythemale'sdance.
However,whentheidiomaticuseofphrasescallsfordifferentprepositions,wemustbecareful
nottoomitoneofthem.
Thechildrenwereinterestedinanddisgustedbythemovie.
Itwasclearthatthisplayercouldbothcontributetoandlearnfromeverygameheplayed.
Hewasfascinatedbyandenamoredofthisbeguilingwoman.

PRONOUNS
Definition
Generally(butnotalways)pronounsstandfor(pro+noun)orrefertoanoun,anindividual
orindividualsorthingorthings(thepronoun'santecedent)whoseidentityismadeclearearlierin
thetext.Forinstance,wearebewilderedbywriterswhoclaimsomethinglike

Theysaythateatingbeefisbadforyou.

Theyisapronounreferringtosomeone,butwhoarethey?Cows?whomdotheyrepresent?
Sloppyuseofpronounsisunfair.
Notallpronounswillrefertoanantecedent,however.

Everyonehereearnsoverathousanddollarsaday.

Theword"everyone"hasnoantecedent.
Theproblemofagreementbetweenapronounanditsantecedentandbetweenapronoun
anditsverbistreatedinanothersectiononPronounAntecedentConsistency.Thequizzeson
pronounusagearealsolistedattheendofthatsection.
Thissectionwilllistandbrieflydescribetheseveralkindsofpronouns.
KINDS OF PRONOUNS: Personal || Demonstrative || Indefinite || Relative ||
Reflexive || Intensive || Interrogative || Reciprocal

Personal Pronouns
UnlikeEnglishnouns,whichusuallydonotchangeformexceptfortheadditionofan
sendingtocreatethepluralortheapostrophe+stocreatethepossessive,personalpronouns
(whichstandforpersonsorthings)changeformaccordingtotheirvarioususeswithina
sentence.ThusIisusedasthesubjectofasentence(Iamhappy.),meisusedasanobjectin
variousways(Hehitme.Hegavemeabook.Dothisforme.),andmyisusedasthepossessive
form(That'smycar.)Thesameistrueoftheotherpersonalpronouns:thesingularyouand
he/she/itandthepluralwe,you,andthey.Theseformsarecalledcases.Aneasilyprintablechart
isavailablethatshowsthevariousCasesofthePersonalPronouns.
Personalpronounscanalsobecharacterizedordistinguishedbyperson.Firstpersonrefers
tothespeaker(s)orwriter(s)("I"forsingular,"we"forplural).Secondpersonreferstothe
personorpeoplebeingspokenorwrittento("you"forbothsingularandplural).Third
personreferstothepersonorpeoplebeingspokenorwrittenabout("he,""she,"and"it"for
singular,"they"forplural).ThepersonofapronounisalsodemonstratedinthechartCasesof
thePersonalPronouns.Asyouwillseethere,eachpersoncanchangeform,reflectingitsuse
withinasentence.Thus,"I"becomes"me"whenusedasanobject("Sheleftme")and"my"
whenusedinitspossessiverole(That'smycar");"they"becomes"them"inobjectform("Ilike
them")and"their"inpossessive("That'sjusttheirway").
Whenapersonalpronounisconnectedbyaconjunctiontoanothernounorpronoun,its
casedoesnotchange.Wewouldwrite"IamtakingacourseinAsianhistory";ifTalithaisalso
takingthatcourse,wewouldwrite"TalithaandIaretakingacourseinAsianhistory."(Notice
thatTalithagetslistedbefore"I"does.ThisisoneofthefewwaysinwhichEnglishisa"polite"
language.)Thesameistruewhentheobjectformiscalledfor:"ProfessorVendettigaveallher
bookstome";ifTalithaalsoreceivedsomebooks,we'dwrite"ProfessorVendettigaveallher
bookstoTalithaandme."Formoreonthis,seecasesofpronouns.

Whenapronounandanounarecombined(whichwillhappenwiththepluralfirstand
secondpersonpronouns),choosethecaseofthepronounthatwouldbeappropriateifthenoun
werenotthere.

Westudentsaredemandingthattheadministrationgiveustwohoursforlunch.

Theadministrationhasmanagedtoputus
studentsinabadsituation.

Withthesecondperson,wedon'treallyhaveaproblembecausethesubjectformisthesameas
theobjectform,"you":

"Youstudentsaredemandingtoomuch."

"Weexpectyoustudentstobehavelikeadults."

Amongthepossessivepronounforms,thereisalsowhatiscalledthenominative
possessive:mine,yours,ours,theirs.

Lookatthosecars.Theirsisreallyugly;oursisbeautiful.

Thisnewcarismine.

Mineisnewerthanyours.

Demonstrative Pronouns
Thefamilyofdemonstratives(this/that/these/those/such)canbehaveeitheraspronounsor
asdeterminers.
Aspronouns,theyidentifyorpointtonouns.

Thatisincredible!(referringtosomethingyoujustsaw)

Iwillneverforgetthis.(referringtoarecentexperience)

Suchismybelief.(referringtoanexplanationjustmade)

Asdeterminers,thedemonstrativesadjectivallymodifyanounthatfollows.Asenseofrelative
distance(intimeandspace)canbeconveyedthroughthechoiceofthesepronouns/determiners:

These[pancakessittingherenowonmyplate]aredelicious.

Those[pancakesthatIhadyesterdaymorning]wereevenbetter.

This[bookinmyhand]iswellwritten;

that[bookthatI'mpointingto,overthere,onthetable]istrash.

Asenseofemotionaldistanceorevendisdaincanbeconveyedwiththedemonstrative
pronouns:

You'regoingtowearthese?

Thisisthebestyoucando?

Pronouns used in this way would receive special stress in a spoken

sentence.
Whenusedassubjects,thedemonstratives,ineithersingularorpluralform,canbeusedto
refertoobjectsaswellaspersons.

Thisismyfather.

Thatismybook.

Inotherroles,however,thereferenceofdemonstrativesisnonpersonal.Inotherwords,
whenreferringtostudents,say,wecouldwrite"Thosewereloiteringneartheentranceduring
thefiredrill"(aslongasitisperfectlyclearincontextwhat"those"refersto).Butwewouldnot
write"Theprincipalsuspendedthosefortwodays";instead,wewouldhavetouse"those"asa
determinerandwrite"Theprincipalsuspendedthosestudentsfortwodays."

Relative Pronouns
Therelativepronouns(who/whoever/which/that)relategroupsofwordstonounsorother
pronouns(Thestudentwhostudieshardestusuallydoesthebest.).Thewordwhoconnectsor
relatesthesubject,student,totheverbwithinthedependentclause(studies).Choosingcorrectly
betweenwhichandthatandbetweenwhoandwhomleadstowhatareprobablythemost
FrequentlyAskedQuestionsaboutEnglishgrammar.Forhelpwithwhich/that,referto
theNotoriousConfusablesarticleonthosewords(includingthehyperlinktoMichaelQuinion's
articleonthisusageandthelinkstorelevantquizzes).Generally,weuse"which"tointroduce
clausesthatareparentheticalinnature(i.e.,thatcanberemovedfromthesentencewithout
changingtheessentialmeaningofthesentence).Forthatreason,a"whichclause"isoftensetoff
withacommaorapairofcommas."Thatclauses,"ontheotherhand,areusuallydeemed
indispensableforthemeaningofasentenceandarenotsetoffwithcommas.The
pronounwhichreferstothings;who(anditsforms)referstopeople;thatusuallyreferstothings,
butitcanalsorefertopeopleinageneralkindofway.Forhelpwithwho/whomrefertothe
sectiononConsistency.Wealsorecommendthatyoutakethequizzesontheuse
ofwhoandwhomattheendofthatsection.

Theexpandedformoftherelativepronounswhoever,whomever,whateverareknown
asindefiniterelativepronouns.Acoupleofsamplesentencesshouldsufficetodemonstrate
whytheyarecalled"indefinite":

Thecoachwillselectwhomeverhepleases.

Heseemedtosaywhatevercametomind.

Whoevercrossesthislinefirstwillwintherace.

Whatisoftenanindefiniterelativepronoun:

Shewilltellyouwhatyouneedtoknow.

Indefinite Pronouns
Theindefinitepronouns(everybody/anybody/somebody/all/each/every/some/none/one)do
notsubstituteforspecificnounsbutfunctionthemselvesasnouns(Everyoneiswondering
ifanyisleft.)
Oneofthechiefdifficultieswehavewiththeindefinitepronounsliesinthefactthat
"everybody"feelsasthoughitreferstomorethanoneperson,butittakesasingularverb.
(Everybodyisaccountedfor.)Ifyouthinkofthiswordasmeaning"everysinglebody,"the
confusionusuallydisappears.Theindefinitepronounnonecanbeeithersingularorplural,
dependingonitscontext.Noneisnearlyalwaysplural(meaning"notany")exceptwhen
somethingelseinthesentencemakesusregarditasasingular(meaning"notone"),asin"None
ofthefoodisfresh."Somecanbesingularorpluraldependingonwhetheritreferstosomething
countableornoncountable.RefertothesectiononPronounConsistencyforhelpon
determiningthenumberoftheindefinitepronouns(andthenumber[singular/plural]oftheverbs
thataccompanythem).Thereisaseparatesectionontheusesofthepronounone.
Thereareotherindefinitepronouns,wordsthatdoubleasDeterminers:
enough, few, fewer, less, little, many, much, several, more, most, all, both, every, each, any,
either, neither, none, some

Fewwillbechosen;fewerwillfinish.

Littleisexpected.

SeethesectiononPronounConsistencyforhelpindeterminingthenumber
(singular/plural)characteristicsofthesepronouns.

Intensive Pronouns
Theintensivepronouns(suchasmyself,yourself,herself,ourselves,themselves)consistof
apersonalpronounplusselforselvesandemphasizeanoun.(Imyselfdon'tknowtheanswer.)It
ispossible(butratherunusual)foranintensivepronountoprecedethenounitrefersto.(Myself,
Idon'tbelieveawordhesays.)

Reflexive Pronouns
Thereflexivepronouns(whichhavethesameformsastheintensivepronouns)indicatethat
thesentencesubjectalsoreceivestheactionoftheverb.(Studentswhocheatonthisquizare
onlyhurtingthemselves.Youpaidyourselfamilliondollars?Sheencouragedherselftodowell.)
Whatthismeansisthatwheneverthereisareflexivepronouninasentencetheremustbea
persontowhomthatpronouncan"reflect."Inotherwords,thesentence"Pleasehandthatbook
tomyself"wouldbeincorrectbecausethereisno"I"inthatsentenceforthe"myself"toreflect
to(andwewoulduse"me"insteadof"myself").Asentencesuchas"Igavethatbooktomyself
forChristmas"mightbesilly,butitwouldbecorrect.
Be alert to a tendency to use reflexive pronoun forms (ending in -self) where they are
neither appropriate nor necessary. The inappropriate reflexive form has a wonderful
name: the untriggered reflexive. "Myself" tends to sound weightier, more formal, than
little ol' me or I, so it has a way of sneaking into sentences where it doesn't belong.

BobandmyselfIareresponsibleforthisdecision.

Thesedecisionswillbemadebymyselfme.

Ifyouhaveanyquestions,pleasecontactmyselfmeorBobJones.

Whenpronounsarecombined,thereflexivewilltakeeitherthefirstperson

Juanita,Carlos,andIhavedeceivedourselvesintobelievinginmyuncle.

or,whenthereisnofirstperson,thesecondperson:

YouandCarloshavedeceivedyourselves.

Theindefinitepronoun(seeabove)onehasitsownreflexiveform("Onemusthavefaith
inoneself."),buttheotherindefinitepronounsuseeitherhimselforthemselvesasreflexives.
(Thereisanentirepageonthepronounone.)Itisprobablybettertopluralizeandavoidthe
clumsyhimselforherselfconstruction.

Nooneherecanblamehimselforherself.

Thepeopleherecannotblamethemselves.

Interrogative Pronouns
Theinterrogativepronouns(who/which/what)introducequestions.(Whatisthat?Whowill
helpme?Whichdoyouprefer?)Whichisgenerallyusedwithmorespecificreferencethanwhat.
Ifwe'retakingaquizandIask"Whichquestionsgiveyouthemosttrouble?",Iamreferringto
specificquestionsonthatquiz.IfIask"Whatquestionsgiveyoumosttrouble"?Icouldbe
askingwhatkindofquestionsonthatquiz(orwhatkindofquestion,generically,ingeneral)
givesyoutrouble.TheinterrogativepronounsalsoactasDeterminers:Itdoesn'tmatterwhich
beeryoubuy.Hedoesn'tknowwhosecarhehit.Inthisdeterminerrole,theyaresometimes
calledinterrogativeadjectives.
Liketherelativepronouns,theinterrogativepronounsintroducenounclauses,andlikethe
relativepronouns,theinterrogativepronounsplayasubjectroleintheclausestheyintroduce:

Weknowwho
isguiltyofthiscrime.

Ialreadytoldthedetectivewhat
Iknowaboutit.

Reciprocal Pronouns
Thereciprocalpronounsareeachotherandoneanother.Theyareconvenientformsfor
combiningideas.IfBobgaveAliciaabookforChristmasandAliciagaveBobabookfor
Christmas,wecansaythattheygaveeachotherbooks(orthattheygavebookstoeachother).

MymotherandIgiveeachotherahardtime.

Ifmorethantwopeopleareinvolved(let'ssayawholebookclub),wewouldsaythatthey
gaveoneanotherbooks.Thisrule(ifitisone)shouldbeappliedcircumspectly.It'squite
possiblefortheexchangeofbookswithinthisbookclub,forexample,tobebetweenindividuals,
making"eachother"justasappropriateas"oneanother."
Reciprocalpronounscanalsotakepossessiveforms:

Theyborrowedeachother'sideas.

Thescientistsinthislaboftenuseoneanother'sequipment.

SENTENCE SUBJECTS
Thesubjectofasentenceistheperson,place,thing,orideathat
isdoingorbeingsomething.Youcanfindthesubjectofasentenceifyoucanfindtheverb.Ask
thequestion,"Whoorwhat'verbs'or'verbed'?"andtheanswertothatquestionisthesubject.
Forinstance,inthesentence"ThecomputersintheLearningCentermustbereplaced,"theverb
is"mustbereplaced."Whatmustbereplaced?Thecomputers.Sothesubjectis"computers."

Asimplesubjectisthesubjectofasentencestrippedofmodifiers.Thesimplesubjectofthe
followingsentenceisissue:

The really important issue of the conference, stripped of all

other considerations, is the morality of the nation.
Sometimes,though,asimplesubjectcanbemorethanoneword,evenanentireclause.In
thefollowingsentence

What he had already forgotten about computer repair could fill

whole volumes,
thesimplesubjectisnot"computerrepair,"norisit"whathehadforgotten,"norisit"he."
Askwhatitisthat"couldfillwholevolumes."Youranswershouldbethattheentireunderlined
clauseisthesimplesubject.
InEnglish,thesubjectofacommand,order,orsuggestionyou,thepersonbeingdirected
isusuallyleftoutofthesentenceandissaidtobetheunderstoodsubject:

[You]SteplivelythereorI'llleaveyoubehind!

Beforeassemblingtheswingset,[you]readtheseinstructionscarefully.

Forpurposesofsentenceanalysis,thedoerortheinitiatorofactioninasentenceis
referredtoastheagentofthesentence.Inanactivesentence,thesubjectistheagent:

TheJohnsonsaddedadoublegaragetotheirhouse.

Thejuryreturnedaverdictofmanslaughter.

In a passivesentence, the agent is not the subject. In fact, sometimes a

passive sentence will not contain an agent.

Thedean'sreportwasreviewedbythefacultysenate.

Threecitiesinthecountry'sinteriorwerebombed.

Subject-Verb Inversion
ThenormalEnglishorderofsubjectverbcompleterisdisturbedonlyoccasionallybut
underseveralcircumstances.Burchfield*listsabouttensituationsinwhichthesubjectwillcome
aftertheverb.Themostimportantoftheseareasfollows(subjectsinblue):
1. Inquestions(routinely):"Have

youeatenbreakfastyet?""Are
youready?"

2. Inexpletiveconstructions:"TherewerefourbasiccausesoftheCivilWar."
"Hereisthebook."
3. Inattributingspeech(occasionally,butoptionally):"'Helpme!'cried
FarmerBrown."
4. Togiveprominenceorfocustoaparticularwordorphrasebyputtingthepredicateinthe
initialposition:"Evenmoreimportantisthechapterdealingwithordnance."
5. Whenasentencebeginswithanadverboranadverbialphraseorclause:
"Seldomhassomuchbeenowedbysomanytosofew."
6. Innegativeconstructions:"Idon'tbelieveawordshesays,nordoesmybrother.Cometo
thinkofit,neitherdoesherfather."
7. Afterso:"Ibelieveher;sodoesmybrother."
8. Foremphasisandliteraryeffect:"IntothejawsofDeath,/Intothemouthof
Hell/Rodethesixhundred."**

Thereareotherusesofinversion,butmostofthoseresultinastrainedorliteraryeffect.

VERBS AND VERBALS

auxiliary || gerunds || infinitives || irregular || linking || mood || auxiliary || participles || phrasal || causative
|| factitive ||sequence || tense

Thereareseparatesectionson

ThePassiveVoice

Progressive,Stative,andDynamicVerbsand

ConditionalVerbForms

The"ToBe"Verb

Definitions
Verbscarrytheideaofbeingoractioninthesentence.

Iamastudent.

Thestudentspassedalltheircourses.

Aswewillseeonthispage,verbsareclassifiedinmanyways.First,someverbsrequire
anobjecttocompletetheirmeaning:"Shegave_____?"Gavewhat?Shegavemoneytothe
church.Theseverbsarecalledtransitive.Verbsthatareintransitivedonotrequireobjects:
"Thebuildingcollapsed."InEnglish,youcannottellthedifferencebetweenatransitiveand
intransitiveverbbyitsform;youhavetoseehowtheverbisfunctioningwithinthesentence.In
fact,averbcanbebothtransitiveandintransitive:"Themonstercollapsedthebuildingbysitting
onit."
Althoughyouwillseldomheartheterm,aditransitiveverbsuchascauseorgiveis
onethatcantakeadirectobjectandanindirectobjectatthesametime:"Thathorridmusic
gavemeaheadache."Ditransitiveverbsareslightlydifferent,then,fromfactitiveverbs(see
below),inthatthelattertaketwoobjects.
Verbsarealsoclassifiedaseitherfiniteornonfinite.Afiniteverbmakesanassertionor
expressesastateofbeingandcanstandbyitselfasthemainverbofasentence.

Thetruckdemolishedtherestaurant.

Theleaveswereyellowandsickly.

Nonfiniteverbs(think"unfinished")cannot,bythemselves,bemainverbs:

Thebrokenwindow...

Thewheezinggentleman...

Another,moreusefultermfornonfiniteverbisverbal.Inthissection,wediscussvariousverbal
forms:infinitives,gerunds,andparticiples.

For WebCT Users

The "-s" Problem Icon means that the verb requires an s ending because it's a third-person (he/she/it) verb in the
present tense. See the TableofVerbTenses for help in
identifying present tenses requiring the -s.
The "-ed" Problem Icon probably means that the verb
requires an -ed ending because it's in the past tense or that
an -ed ending has been used inappropriately. The -edending
is particularly problematic when it occurs just before a "d" or
"t" sound as in "We are used to doing things the way we're

supposed to: like in the old-fashioned days." See theTableof

VerbTenses for help in identifying past tenses requiring the ed.
The "Verb" Problem Icon probably means that the verb
tenses in this sentence are inconsistent or incorrect. See the
section on Sequencing for help in using the correct sequence
of verb tenses. See the section onConsistency for help in
maintaining a proper consistency in verb tense.

Four Verb Forms

Theinflections(endings)ofEnglishverbformsarenotdifficulttoremember.Thereare
onlyfourbasicforms.Insteadofformingcomplextenseformswithendings,Englishuses
auxiliaryverbforms.Englishdoesnotevenhaveaproperendingforfutureforms;instead,we
useauxiliariessuchas"Iamgoingtoreadthisafternoon."or"Iwillread."oreven"Iamreading
thisbooktomorrow."Itwouldbeuseful,however,tolearnthesefourbasicformsofverb
construction.

Name of verb

Base form

Past
form

Present
participle

Past participle

to work

I can work.
I work.

I worked.

I am working.

I have worked.

to write

I
can write.
I write.

I wrote.

I am writing.

I have written.

Linking Verbs
Alinkingverbconnectsasubjectanditscomplement.Sometimescalledcopulas,linking
verbsareoftenformsoftheverbtobe,butaresometimesverbsrelatedtothefivesenses(look,
sound,smell,feel,taste)andsometimesverbsthatsomehowreflectastateofbeing(appear,
seem,become,grow,turn,prove,remain).Whatfollowsthelinkingverbwillbeeitheranoun
complementoranadjectivecomplement:

Thosepeopleareallprofessors.

Thoseprofessorsarebrilliant.

Thisroomsmellsbad.

Ifeelgreat.

Avictorytodayseemsunlikely.

Ahandfulofverbsthatreflectachangeinstateofbeingaresometimescalledresultingcopulas.
They,too,linkasubjecttoapredicateadjective:

Hisfaceturnedpurple.

Shebecameolder.

Thedogsranwild.

Themilkhasgonesour.

Thecrowdgrewugly.

"This is he."
A Frequently Asked Question about linking verbs concerns the correct
response when you pick up the phone and someone asks for you. One
correct response would be "This is he [she]." The predicate following the
linking verb should be in the nominative (subject) form
definitely not "This is him." If "This is he" sounds stufy to you, try using
"Speaking," instead, or "This is Fred," substituting your own name for
Fred's unless it's a bill collector or telemarketer calling, in which case
"This is Fred" is a good response for everyone except people named Fred.

Active and Passive Voice

THE PASSIVE VOICE

Passive and Active Voices
Verbsarealsosaidtobeeitheractive(Theexecutivecommitteeapprovedthenewpolicy)
orpassive(Thenewpolicywasapprovedbytheexecutivecommittee)invoice.Intheactive
voice,thesubjectandverbrelationshipisstraightforward:thesubjectisabeeroradoerand
theverbmovesthesentencealong.Inthepassivevoice,thesubjectofthesentenceisneithera
doerorabeer,butisacteduponbysomeotheragentorbysomethingunnamed(Thenew
policywasapproved).Computerizedgrammarcheckerscanpickoutapassivevoice

constructionfrommilesawayandaskyoutoreviseittoamoreactiveconstruction.Thereis
nothinginherentlywrongwiththepassivevoice,butifyoucansaythesamethingintheactive
mode,doso(seeexceptionsbelow).Yourtextwillhavemorepizzazzasaresult,sincepassive
verbconstructionstendtolieaboutintheirpajamasandavoidactualwork.
Wefindanoverabundanceofthepassivevoiceinsentencescreatedbyselfprotective
businessinterests,magniloquenteducators,andbombasticmilitarywriters(whomustgetweary
ofthisaccusation),whousethepassivevoicetoavoidresponsibilityforactionstaken.Thus
"Cigaretteadsweredesignedtoappealespeciallytochildren"placestheburdenontheadsas
opposedto"Wedesignedthecigaretteadstoappealespeciallytochildren,"inwhich"we"
acceptsresponsibility.AtaWhiteHousepressbriefingwemighthearthat"ThePresidentwas
advisedthatcertainmembersofCongresswerebeingaudited"ratherthan"TheHeadofthe
InternalRevenueserviceadvisedthePresidentthatheragencywasauditingcertainmembersof
Congress"becausethepassiveconstructionavoidsresponsibilityforadvisingandforauditing.
Onefurthercautionaboutthepassivevoice:weshouldnotmixactiveandpassiveconstructions
inthesamesentence:"Theexecutivecommitteeapprovedthenewpolicy,andthecalendarfor
nextyear'smeetingswasrevised"shouldberecastas"Theexecutivecommitteeapprovedthe
newpolicyandrevisedthecalendarfornextyear'smeeting."
Takethequiz(below)asanexerciseinrecognizingandchangingpassiveverbs.
Thepassivevoicedoesexistforareason,however,anditspresenceisnotalwaystobe
despised.Thepassiveisparticularlyuseful(evenrecommended)intwosituations:

Whenitismoreimportanttodrawourattentiontothepersonorthingactedupon:The
unidentifiedvictimwasapparentlystruckduringtheearlymorninghours.

Whentheactorinthesituationisnotimportant:Theauroraborealiscanbeobservedinthe
earlymorninghours.

Thepassivevoiceisespeciallyhelpful(andevenregardedasmandatory)inscientificor
technicalwritingorlabreports,wheretheactorisnotreallyimportantbuttheprocessor
principlebeingdescribedisofultimateimportance.Insteadofwriting"Ipoured20ccofacid
intothebeaker,"wewouldwrite"Twentyccofacidis/waspouredintothebeaker."Thepassive
voiceisalsousefulwhendescribing,say,amechanicalprocessinwhichthedetailsofprocess
aremuchmoreimportantthananyone'stakingresponsibilityfortheaction:"Thefirstcoatof
primerpaintisappliedimmediatelyaftertheacidrinse."
Weusethepassivevoicetogoodeffectinaparagraphinwhichwewishtoshiftemphasis
fromwhatwastheobjectinafirstsentencetowhatbecomesthesubjectinsubsequentsentences.
The executive committee approved an entirely new policy for dealing with academic suspension
and withdrawal. Thepolicy had been written by a subcommittee on student behavior. If students

withdraw from course work before suspension can take effect, the policy states, a mark of "IW" .
...

Theparagraphisclearlyaboutthisnewpolicysoitisappropriatethatpolicymovefrombeing
theobjectinthefirstsentencetobeingthesubjectofthesecondsentence.Thepassivevoice
allowsforthistransition.

Passive Verb Formation

Thepassiveformsofaverbarecreatedbycombiningaformofthe"tobeverb"withthe
pastparticipleofthemainverb.Otherhelpingverbsarealsosometimespresent:"The
measurecouldhave

beenkilledincommittee."Thepassivecanbeused,also,invarioustenses.
Let'stakealookatthepassiveformsof"design."

Auxiliary
Tense

Subject
Singular

Plural

Past
Participle

Present

The car/cars is

are

designed.

Present perfect

The car/cars has been

have been

designed.

Past

The car/cars was

were

designed.

Past perfect

The car/cars had been

had been

designed.

Future

The car/cars will be

will be

designed.

Future perfect

The car/cars will have been will have been designed.

Present
progressive

The car/cars is being

are being

designed.

Past progressive

The car/cars was being

were being

designed.

Asentencecastinthepassivevoicewillnotalwaysincludeanagentoftheaction.For
instanceifagorillacrushesatincan,wecouldsay"Thetincanwascrushedbythegorilla."But
aperfectlygoodsentencewouldleaveoutthegorilla:"Thetincanwascrushed."Also,whenan
activesentencewithanindirectobjectisrecastinthepassive,theindirectobjectcantakeonthe
roleofsubjectinthepassivesentence:

Active

Professor Villa gave Jorge an A.

Passive

An A was given to Jorge by Professor Villa.

Passive

Jorge was given an A.

Onlytransitiveverbs(thosethattakeobjects)canbetransformedintopassiveconstructions.
Furthermore,activesentencescontainingcertainverbscannotbetransformedintopassive
structures.Tohaveisthemostimportantoftheseverbs.Wecansay"Hehasanewcar,"butwe
cannotsay"Anewcarishadbyhim."Wecansay"Josefinalackedfinesse,"butwecannotsay
"Finessewaslacked."Hereisabrieflistofsuchverbs*:
resemble

look like

equal

agree with

mean

contain

hold

comprise

lack

suit

fit

become

Verbals in Passive Structures

Verbalsorverbformscanalsotakeonfeaturesofthepassivevoice.Aninfinitivephrase
inthepassivevoice,forinstance,canperformvariousfunctionswithinasentence(justlikethe
activeformsoftheinfinitive).

Subject:Tobeelectedbymypeersisagreathonor.

Object:Thatchildreallylikestobereadtobyhermother.

Modifier:Grassowasthefirstwomantobeelectedgovernorinherownright.

Thesameistrueofpassivegerunds.

Subject:Beingelectedbymypeerswasagreatthrill.

Object:Ireallydon'tlikebeinglecturedtobymyboss.

Objectofpreposition:Iamsotiredof
beinglecturedtobymyboss.

Withpassiveparticiples,partofthepassiveconstructionisoftenomitted,theresultbeinga
simplemodifyingparticipialphrase.

[Havingbeen]designedforoffroadperformance,thePathseekerdoesnotalwaysbehave
wellonpavedhighways.

Mood
Moodinverbsreferstooneofthreeattitudesthatawriterorspeaker
hastowhatisbeingwrittenorspoken.Theindicativemood,which
describesmostsentencesonthispage,isusedtomakeastatementoraska
question.Theimperativemoodisusedwhenwe'refeelingsortofbossish
andwanttogiveadirective,strongsuggestion,ororder:

Getyourhomeworkdonebeforeyouwatchtelevisiontonight.

Pleaseincludecashpaymentwithyourorderform.

Getoutoftown!

Noticethatthereisnosubjectintheseimperativesentences.Thepronounyou(singularor
plural,dependingoncontext)isthe"understoodsubject"inimperativesentences.Virtuallyall
imperativesentences,then,haveasecondperson(singularorplural)subject.Thesoleexception
isthefirstpersonconstruction,whichincludesanobjectiveformassubject:"Let's(orLetus)
workonthesethingstogether."
Thesubjunctivemoodisusedindependentclausesthatdothefollowing:1)expressa
wish;2)beginwithifandexpressaconditionthatdoesnotexist(iscontrarytofact);3)begin
withasifandasthoughwhensuchclausesdescribeaspeculationorconditioncontrarytofact;
and4)beginwiththatandexpressademand,requirement,request,orsuggestion.Anewsection
ontheusesoftheConditionalshouldhelpyouunderstandthesubjunctive.

Shewishesherboyfriendwerehere.

IfJuanweremoreaggressive,he'dbeabetterhockeyplayer.

Wewouldhavepassedifwehadstudiedharder.

Heactedasifhewereguilty.

Irequestedthathebepresentatthehearing.

ThesubjunctiveisnotasimportantamoodinEnglishasitisinotherlanguages,like
FrenchandSpanish,whichhappentobemoresubtleanddiscriminatinginhypothetical,

doubtful,orwishfulexpressions.Manysituationswhichwouldrequirethesubjunctiveinother
languagesaresatisfiedbyusingoneofseveralauxiliaryverbsinEnglish.
The New York Public Library's Writer's Guide to Style and
Usage has this important note on the subjunctive: "The
words if, as if, or as though do not always signal the
subjunctive mood. If the information in such a clause
points out a condition that is or was probable or likely,
the verb should be in the indicative mood. The indicative
tells the reader that the information in the dependent
clause could possibly be true" (155). Cited with
permission.

Thepresenttenseofthesubjunctiveusesonlythebaseformoftheverb.

Hedemandedthathisstudentsusetwoinchmargins.

Shesuggestedthatwebeontimetomorrow.

Thepasttenseofthesubjunctivehasthesameformsastheindicativeexcept(unfortunately)
fortheverbtobe,whichuseswereregardlessofthenumberofthesubject.

IfIweresevenfeettall,I'dbeagreatbasketballplayer.

Hewisheshewereabetterstudent.

Ifyouwererich,wewouldn'tbeinthismess.

Iftheywerefaster,wecouldhavewonthatrace.

PROGRESSIVE, STATIVE
AND DYNAMIC VERBS
THEPROGRESSIVEFORMSOFAVERBINDICATETHATSOMETHINGISHAPPENINGorwas
happeningorwillbehappening.Whenusedwiththepast,theprogressiveformshowsthe
limiteddurationofanevent:"WhileIwasdoingmyhomework,mybrothercameintomy
room."Thepastprogressivealsosuggeststhatanactioninthepastwasnotentirelyfinished.
(Compare"Ididmyhomework."to"Iwasdoingmyhomework.")Thisisevenmoreevidentin
thepassiveprogressiveconstruction:"Hewasbeingstrangledinthealley"suggestsanaction

thatwasnotfinished,perhapsbecausetheactwasinterruptedbyagoodcitizen,whereasthe
simplepast"Hewasstrangledinthealley"suggestsanactionthatwasfinished,unfortunately.
Aneatcategorizationoftheusesoftheprogressivecanbefoundonthepagedescribing
the"ToBe"Verb.
Theprogressiveformsoccuronlywithdynamicverbs,thatis,withverbsthatshow
qualitiescapableofchangeasopposedtostativeverbs,whichshowqualitiesnotcapableof
change.*Forinstance,wedonotsay,"Heisbeingtall"or"Heisresemblinghismother"or"I
amwantingspaghettifordinner"or"Itisbelongingtome."(Wewouldsay,instead:"Heistall,"
"Heresembleshismother,""Iwantspaghetti,"and"Itbelongstome.")Thebestwayto
understandthedifferencebetweenstativeanddynamicverbsistolookatatablethatliststhem
andbreaksthemintocategoriesandthentobuildsomesentenceswiththem,tryingoutthe
progressiveformstoseeiftheyworkornot.
ThesecategoriesandlistsarederivedfromRandolphQuirkandSidneyGreenbaum'sA
UniversityGrammarofEnglish(usedwiththepublisher'spermission).Theexamplesareour
own.Thelistsarenotmeanttobecomplete.

DYNAMIC VERBS
Activity Verbs
I am begging you. I was learning French. They will be
playing upstairs..
Virtually identical in meaning to simple tense forms:
I beg you. I learned French. They will play upstairs.
abandon
ask
beg
call
drink

eat
help
learn
listen
look at

play
rain
read
say
slice

throw
whisper
work
write

Process Verbs
The corn is growing rapidly. Traffic is slowing down.
Virtually identical in meaning to simple present tense
forms:
The corn grows rapidly. Traffic slows down.

change
deteriorate

grow
mature

slow down

widen

Verbs of Bodily Sensation

"I feel bad" and "I am feeling bad" are virtually
identical in meaning.
ache

feel

Hurt

itch

Transitional Events Verbs

Progressive forms indicate the beginning of an event,
as opposed to the simple present tense.
"She was falling out of bed [when I caught her]" as
opposed to
"She falls out of bed every night."
arrive
die

fall
land

Leave

lose

Momentary Verbs
Progressive forms indicate little duration and suggest
repetition.
She is hitting her brother.
He is jumping around the house.
hit
jump

kick
knock

Nod

tap

STATIVE VERBS
Verbs of Inert Perception and Cognition*
I detest rudabaga, but not I am detesting rudabaga.
I prefer cinnamon toast, but not I am preferring
cinnamon toast.

abhor
adore
astonish
believe
desire

guess
hate
hear
imagine
impress

mind
perceive
please
prefer
presuppose

satisfy
see
smell
suppose
taste

detest
dislike
doubt
feel
forgive

intend
know
like
love
mean

realize
recall
recognize
regard
remember

think
understand
want
wish

Relational Verbs
I am sick, but not I am being sick.
I own ten acres of land, but not I am owning ten acres.
My brother owes me ten dollars" but not
My brother is owing me ten dollars.

be*
belongto
concern
consistof
contain
cost

dependon
deserve
equal
fit
have
include

involve
lack
matter
need
owe
own

possess
require
require
resemble
seem
sound

*Kollnsuggeststhatwethinkofthedifferencebetweenstativeanddynamicintermsof
"willed"and"nonwilled"qualities.Considerthedifferencebetweenasocalleddynamic
adjective(orsubjectcomplement)andastativeadjective(orsubjectcomplement):"Iamsilly"
OR"Iambeingsilly"versus"Iamtall."Ihavechosentobesilly;Ihavenochoiceaboutbeing
tall.Thus"tall"issaidtobeastative(oran"inert")quality,andwecannotsay"Iambeingtall";
"silly,"ontheotherhand,isdynamicsowecanuseprogressiveverbformsinconjunctionwith
thatquality.
Thesameappliestoverbs.Twoplustwoequalsfour.Equalsisinert,stative,and
cannottaketheprogressive;thereisnochoice,novolitioninthematter.(Wewouldnot
say,"Twoplustwoisequallingfour.")Inthesameway,nounsandpronounscanbesaidto
exhibitwilledandunwilledcharacteristics.Thus,"Sheisbeingagoodworker"(because
shechoosestobeso),butwewouldsay"Sheis(notisbeing)anOlympicathlete"(because
onceshebecomesanathleteshenolonger"willsit").

CONDITIONAL
VERB FORMS
If I had a hammer, I'd hammer in the morning,
I'd hammer in the evening, all over this land.
I'd hammer out danger, I'd hammer out warning,

I'd hammer out love between my brothers and my sisters

Oh, oh, all over this land.
If I had a bell, I'd ring it in the morning,
I'd ring it in the evening, all over this land.
I'd ring out danger, I'd ring out warning,
I'd ring out love between my brothers and my sisters
Oh, oh, all over this land.

SogothefirsttwostanzasofLeeHaysandPeteSeeger'sfolktune,"IfIhadahammer,"
oneofthemostfamoustunesandlyricsinthehistoryofAmericansong.Thegrammarofthe
lyricsuseswhatiscalledtheconditional.Thewriterexpressesanactionoranidea(hammering
outdangerandwarningandlove)thatisdependentonacondition,onsomethingthatisonly
imagined(havingahammerorabellor,inthenextstanza,asong).Inthissituation,the
lyricistimagineswhathewoulddoifhe"hadahammer"now,inthepresent.Hemightalso
haveimaginedwhathewouldhavedoneifhe"hadhadahammer,"inthepast,priorto
somethingelsehappening:

"IfIhadhadahammer,Iwouldhavehammeredawarning."

Theconditionalispossiblealsointhefuturetense:

"IfIhaveahammertomorrow,Imighthammeroutwarning.
OR
...Iwillhammeroutwarning."
OR
"IfIweretohaveahammertomorrow,Iwouldhammeroutwarning."

And,finally,hecouldimaginewhatiscalledthehabitualpresentconditional:

"If/whenIhaveahammer,Ihammeroutwarning."[Idoitallthetime,wheneverIhavea
hammer.]

The Factual versus the Unreal or Hypothetical

Inexpressingaconditionalsituation,wemustbeabletodistinguish
betweenwhatisafactualstatementandwhatisahypotheticalstatement.
(Othertermsforhypotheticalcouldbeunreal,imagined,wishedfor,only
possible,etc.)Forinstance,ifwesay

"ThedogisalwayshappywhenDadstayshome,"

that'sasimplestatementofpresenthabitualfact.Ageneraltruthisexpressedinthesameway:

"Ifthesunshinesallday,itgetshot."

Statementsofhabitualfactcanalsobemadeinthepast:

"Ifweateoutatall,itwasalwaysinacheaprestaurant."

Andconditionalorhypotheticalstatementscanbemadeaboutthefuture:

"Iwillgiveyouacall,ifIflytoPhoenixtomorrow.

(Inthefuture,wecouldcombinethebaseformoftheverb("give,"inthiscase)withothermodal
verbs:may,might,could.)

HYPOTHETICAL STATEMENTS
WhenweexpressthehypotheticalinEnglishinthepresenttense,weendupusingthepast
tenseinaninterestingway.

Ifyoulikedtennis,wecouldgoplayonthenewcourts.

(Insteadofcould,wecouldhaveusedwouldormightinthatsentence.)Thespeakerofthat
sentenceisnottalkingaboutsomethinginthepasttense,eventhoughheusesthepasttense
"liked."Thespeakerimplies,infact,thatyoudon'tliketoplaytennis(inthepresent),sothere's
nopoint,now,ingoingtothenewtenniscourts.
Whenweusethehypotheticalinthisconditionalmode,weaccommodateourneedto
speculateonhowthingscouldhavebeendifferent,howwewishthingsweredifferent,howwe
imaginethatthingscouldbedifferentinthefuture,etc.Inordertoexpresstheunreal,the
hypothetical,thespeculative,orimagined(allthosebeingthesameinthiscase),Englishhas
adoptedaninterestinghabitofmovingtimeonestepbackward.Twoverbsareinvolved:onein
theclausestatingthecondition(the"if"clause)andoneintheresultclause.Watchhowthe
verbschange.
Ifthehypotheticalresultisinthefuture,weputtheverbintheconditionclauseonestep
backintothepresent:

IftheBullswinthegametomorrow,theywillbechampsagain.

Forpresentunrealevents,weputtheverbintheconditionclauseonestepbackintothepast:

IftheBullswonanotherchampionship,RobertowoulddriveintoChicagoforthe
celebration.

IwishIhadtickets.

Iftheywereavailableanywhere,Iwouldpayanypriceforthem.

Ifhewereagoodfriend,hewouldbuythemforme.

Notethatwishingisalwaysanunrealcondition.Note,too,thattheverbtobeusesthe
formwereinanunrealcondition.Moreaboutthisinamoment.
Forpastunrealeventsthingsthatdidn'thappen,butwecanimagineweputtheverb
intheconditionclauseafurtherstepbackintothepastperfect:

IfthePacershadwon,AuntGladwouldhavebeenrich.

IfshehadbetthatmuchmoneyontheBulls,sheandUncleChestercouldhaveretired.

IwishIhadlivedinLosAngeleswhentheLakershadMagicJohnson.

IfIhadknownyouwerecoming,Iwouldhavebakedacake.

Inthislastsentence,notetheconditionalclauseinthepastperfect(hadknown)andtheresult
clausethatusestheconditionalmodal+have+thepastparticipleofthemainverb(wouldhave
baked).
SomewritersseemtothinkthatthesubjunctivemoodisdisappearingfromEnglish,but
that'sprobablynottrue.Weusethesubjunctiveallthetimetoaccommodatethishumanurgeto
expresspossibility,thehypothetical,theimagined.(YoucanreviewtheVerbsandVerbals
sectionforfurtherhelpunderstandingtheSubjunctiveMood.)Frequently,conditional
expressionsrequirethatweusewerewherewewouldotherwisehaveusedanotherformofto
be.Theswitchtowereisnottheonlymanifestationofthesubjunctiveinexpressingthe
conditional,butitisthemostcommon.

Ifmybrotherweremyboss,Iwouldn'thaveajobtoday.

IfIweretolosemyjob,Iwouldn'tbeabletopaymybills.[Noticehowthisismore
uncertain,more"iffey,"than"IfIlosemyjob,Iwon'tbeabletopaymybills."]

IfIwereeightfeettall,I'dbeoneheckofabasketballplayer.[Thesubjunctiveis
sometimestoexpresspurelyimaginarysituation.]

IfIshouldgrowtobeeightfeettall,I'dbeagreatbasketballplayer.[Thisstatementseems
evenmoreimaginaryandunlikely.]

Using Would and Could

Whenexpressingtheunreal,theresultclausesneedwould,couldorwill.Thecondition
clausesdonotusethoseverbs;theconditionclauses,instead,useverbsmovedonestepbackin
timefromtheresult(aswewillseeinthetablesbelow).

Future Conditionals versus Hypothetical Conditionals

Whenwewanttopredictsomethingconditionalaboutthefuture(whatwethinkmight
happen),wecanusethepresenttenseintheifclauseandwillorbegoing+thebaseformofthe
verbintheresultclause.

IfJeffreygrowsanytaller,thebasketballcoachisgoingtorecruithimfortheteam.

Ifhedoesn'tgrowmore,thecoachwillignorehim.

Ontheotherhand,thehypotheticalconditionalallowsustoexpressquiteunlikelysituations
orsituationsthataredownrightimpossible.

IfIboxedagainstEvanderHolyfield,hewouldkillme.

Ifmydadhadbeensevenfeettallinsteadoflessthansixfeettall,hewouldhavebeena
greatathlete.

Other Forms of Conditional Statements

Theconditionalcanalsobesignaledbymeansofasubjectverbinversion.Thisinversion
replacestheword"if";itisinappropriatetouseboththeword"if"andthesubjectverbinversion
inthesamesentence.

WereJuditaabetterstudent,shewouldhaveabetterrelationshipwithherinstructors.

HadJuditastudiedharderlastfall,shewouldnothavetotakesomanycoursesthisspring.

Various Tenses in the Conditional

Thefollowingtablesdividetheusesoftheconditionalintothreetypes,accordingtothe
timeexpressedintheifclause:(1)trueinthepresentorfutureorpossiblytrueinthefuture;(2)
untrueorcontrarytofactinthepresent;or(3)untrueorcontrarytofactinthepast.Noticethe
onestepbackwardintimeintheconditionclause.
True in the Present
If clause
True as habit or fact

Independent clause

If + subject + present
tense

subject + present tense

If Judita works hard,

she gets good grades.

True as one-time future event

If + subject + present
tense

subject + future tense

If Judita hands in her

paper early tomorrow,

she'll probably get an A.

Possibly true in the future

If + subject + present
tense

subject + modal + base

form

If Judita hands in her

paper early
tomorrow,she
may/might/could/should
get an A.

Untrue in the Present

If clause

Independent clause

If + subject + past tense

subject +
would/could/might +
simple form of verb

If Judita worked this hard

in all her courses,

she would/could/might
get on the Dean's List.

If + subject + to be verb

subject +
would/could/might +

simple form of verb

If Judita were president of she could work to reform
her class,
the grading policy.

Untrue in the Past

If clause

Independent clause

If + subject + past
perfect tense

subject + modal + have

+ past participle

If Judita had worked this

hard in all her courses,

she would not have failed

this semester.

THE VERB TO BE
The Forms of To Be
TheGreekseagod,Proteus,was(likethesea)capableofchangingforminaninstant.In
ordertogetanydecentinformationoutofhim,youhadtograbhimandholdontightwhilehe
wentthroughhisvariousformslion,wildboar,snake,tree,runningstreamitwasn'teasy.
TheverbTobeissaidtobethemostproteanoftheEnglishlanguage,constantlychanging
form,sometimeswithoutmuchofadiscerniblepattern.Consideringthatweuseitsooften,itis
reallytoobadthattheverbTobehastobethemostirregular,slipperyverbinthelanguage.
Present Tense
I am

We are

You are

You are

He/She/It is

They are

Past Tense

I was

We were

You were

You were

He/She/It was

They were

Perfect Form (past participle)

Progressive Form (present participle)

I have been, etc.

I am being, etc.

Wemustchoosecarefullyamongthesevariousformswhenselectingtheproperverbtogo
withoursubject.Singularsubjectsrequiresingularverbs;pluralsubjectsrequirepluralverbs.
That'susuallyaneasymatter.Wewouldn'twriteThetroops

wasmovingtotheborder.But
somesentencesrequirecloserattention.DowewriteThemajorityofstudentsis(orare)voting
againstthereferendum"?ReviewcarefullythematerialinoursectiononSubjectVerb
Agreement,andnoticehowoftenthechoiceswemakerequireafamiliaritywiththeseformsof
theTobeverb.

Simple Questions
Wecreatesimpleyes/noquestionsbyinvertingtheorderofsubjectandtheTobeverb.

Isyourbrothertallerthanyou?

AmIbotheringyou?

Weretheyembarrassedbythecomedian?

The same inversion takes place when To be is combined with

verbs in the progressive:

AmIworkingwithyoutoday?

Isitsnowinginthemountains?

Wereyourchildrendrivinghomethisweekend?

The Linking and Existential 'To Be'

TheverbTobemostfrequentlyworksinconjunctionwithanotherverb:Heisplaying
thepiano,Shewillbearrivingthisafternoon.Occasionally,though,theverbwillstandby
itself,alone,inasentence.Thisisespeciallytrueinsimple,briefanswerstoquestions.
Who's going to the movies with me?
I am
Who's responsible for this mess in the bathroom?
She is.

Insentencessuchasthese,thesubjectusuallyreceivestheintonationstressandthevoice
fallsoffontheverb.
AnauxiliarycanbecombinedwiththebaseformofTobetoprovidesimpleanswersto
questionsthatuseformsoftobe.
Is Heitor in class this morning?
Well, he might be.
Is anyone helping Heitor with his homework?
I'm not sure. Suzanne could be.

TheverbTobealsoactsasalinkingverb,joiningthesentencesubjectwithasubject
complementoradjectivecomplement.Alinkingverbprovidesnoactiontoasentence:the
subjectcomplementreidentifiesthesubject;theadjectivecomplementmodifiesit.(Forfurther
informationandadditionalvocabularyindealingwithlinkingverbs,visitthehyperlinksinthis
paragraph.)

ProfessorMoriberistheDirectorofOnlineLearning.

OurtriptoYellowstonewasfantastic!

In Passive Constructions
AformoftheverbTobeiscombinedwithapastparticipletoformthepassive.Passive
verbconstructionsareusefulwhenthesubjectofanactionisnotasimportantaswhatthe
subjectdid(theactionofthesentence)orwhenthesubjectisunknown.Forinstance,thepolice
mightreportthatTheprofessorwasassaultedinthehallwaysbecausetheydonotknowthe
perpetratorofthisheinouscrime.Intechnicalwriting,wheretheprocessismoreimportantthan
whoisdoingtheactivity,wemightreportthatThreelitersoffluidisfilteredthroughporous
glassbeads.Regardlessoftheverb'spurpose,onlytheauxiliaryformofTobechanges;the
participlestaysthesame.TheTobewillchangeformtoindicatewhetherthesubjectis
singularorplural:

Thefoundationissupportedbyenormousfloatingcaissonsthatkeepitfromsinkinginto
theswamp.

Theywereconstructedbyworkershalfsubmergedinthemurkywaters.

Noticehowtheinformationaboutwhodidtheactionisfrequentlyfoundinaprepositional
phrasebeginningwithby.Passiveconstructionsdonotalwaysincludethisinformation:

Woodencaissonswereuseduntilfiberglassstructuresweredevelopedinthe1950s.

Caissonswerealsodesignedtofunctionunderwaterintheconstructionofbridges.

TheTobewillalsochangetoindicatethetimeoftheactionandtheaspectoftheverb
(simple,progressive,perfect).

Waterispumpedoutofthecaissontocreateanunderwaterworkchamber.(simplepresent)

Somecaissonsweremovedtootherconstructionsites.(simplepast)

Whilethewaterwasbeingpumpedout,workerswouldenterthetopofthewaterproof
chamber.(pastprogressive)

Manyotherusesofcaissonconstructionhavebeenexplored.(presentperfect)

CaissonshadbeenusedbytheancientRomans.(pastperfect)

Otheruseswillbefound.(future)

TheTobeverbcanbecombinedwithothermodalforms(alongwiththepastparticipleof
themainverb)toconveyotherkindsofinformation.Seethesectiononmodalsforthevarious
kindsofinformationconveyedbymodals(advisability,predictability,guessing,necessity,
possibility,etc.).

Thewalljointsmaybeweakenedifthecaissonscan'tberebuilt.

Perhapsthecaissonsshouldbereplaced;Ithinktheyoughttobe.

Theseancient,sturdystructuresmighthavebeenrottedbyconstantexposuretowater.

Visitoursectiononthepassiveforadviceonwhentousethepassiveandwhento
substitutemoreactiveverbforms.
WhenTobeverbsarecombinedwithmodalformsinthismanner,theconstructionis
calledaphrasalmodal.Herearesomemoreexamples:

Rosariowasabletofinishherdegreebytakingonlinecourses.

Shewasn'tsupposedtograduateuntilnextyear.

Shewillbeallowedtoparticipateincommencement,though.

Sheisabouttoapplytoseveralgraduateprograms.

Sheisgoingtoattendthestateuniversitynextfall.

SometimesitisdifficulttosaywhetheraTobeverbislinkingasubjecttoaparticipleor
iftheverbandparticiplearepartofapassiveconstruction.InCertainbehaviorsareallowed,is
"arelinkingbehaviorsto"allowed"(aparticipleactingasapredicateadjective)orisare
allowedapassiveverb?Inthefinalanalysis,itprobablydoesn'tmatter,butthedistinctionleads
tosomeinterestingvariations.Considerthedifferencebetween

Thejuristswerewelcomed.
and

Thejuristswerewelcome.

Inthefirstsentence,theparticiplewelcomed(inthispassiveconstruction)emphasizesthe
actionofwelcoming:thesmiles,theheartygreetings,theslapsontheback.Inthesecond
sentence,thepredicateadjectivewelcomedescribesthefeelingthatthejuristsmusthavehad
uponbeingsowelcomed.

Progressive Forms
ClickHEREforathoroughdiscussionoftheprogressiveverbforms.Progressiveforms
includeaformofTobeplusapresentparticiple(aningending).FrodesenandEyring**
categorizeprogressiveverbsaccordingtothefollowingfunctions:

todescribeactionsalreadyinprogressatthemoment"infocus"withinthesentence,asin
Iwasdoingmyhomeworkwhenmybrotherbrokeintomyroom,crying.orIwillbe
graduatingfromcollegeaboutthesametimethatyouenterhighschool.

todescribeactionsatthemomentoffocusincontrasttohabitualactions,asinWeusually
buythemostinexpensivecarwecanfind,butthistimewe'rebuyingaluxurysedan.

toexpressrepeatedactions,asinMygrandfatherisforeverretellingthesamestoryabout
hisadventuresinRangoon.

todescribetemporarysituationsincontrasttopermanentstates,asinJeffreygoestothe
UniversityofConnecticut,butthissummerheistakingcoursesatthecommunitycollege.

toexpressuncompletedactions,asinHarveyandMarkareworkingontheirdeck.

Tag Questions with To Be

ClickHEREforadescriptionoftagquestions,adevicebywhichastatementisturnedinto
aquestion.WhenweuseTobeverbsinatagquestion,thebasicformulafollows:theverbis
combinedwithapronounandsometimeswithnot(usuallyinacontractedform).Positive
statementsarefollowedbynegativetags;negativestatementsbypositivetags.

RobertFrostwasAmerica'sfavoritepoet,wasn'the?

Hewasn'twidelyacceptedinthiscountryatfirst,washe?

Youweregoingtoskipthispoem,weren'tyou?

Therewereseveraltypographicalerrorsinthisanthology,weren'tthere?(Becarefulhere.
It'snotweren'tthey.)

Iamnotaverygoodreader,amI?

I'mabetterreaderthanyou,aren'tI?

(Don'ttrytomakesenseofthislastconstruction.Itisacceptable.Inveryformaltext,you
mightwriteamInotinstead.Ain'tisnotregardedasacceptableexceptintextattemptingto
duplicatesubstandardspeech.)

Order with Adverbs

NoticethatadverbsoffrequencynormallyappearafterformsoftheverbTobe:

Asastudent,hewasseldomhappy.

Arturoisalwaysfirstinline.

Theywereneverontime.

NoticethattheadverbstillappearsafterTobeverbsbutbeforeothermainverbs:

Mybrotherinlawstillworksforthebank.

Heisstillatelleraftertwentyyears.

AnadverbcanbeinterposedbetweentheinfinitiveTobeandaparticiple,asinthefollowing
sentences.Thefearofsplittinganinfinitiveiswithoutgroundsinthisconstruction.

Thismedicinehastobe
carefullyadministered.

Sheturnedouttobe
secretlymarriedtoherchildhoodsweetheart.

Unnecessary Uses of To Be
EvenacasualreviewofyourwritingcanrevealusesoftheverbTobethatare
unnecessaryandthatcanberemovedtogoodeffect.Inaway,theTobeverbdoesn'tdomuch
foryouitjustsitsthereandtextthatistooheavilysprinkledwithTobeverbscanfeel
sodden,static.ThisisespeciallytrueofTobeverbstuckedintodependentclauses
(particularlydependentclausesusingapassiveconstruction)andexpletiveconstructions(There
is,Therewere,itis,etc.).Notethattherelativepronounfrequentlydisappearsaswellwhen
werevisethesesentences.

Hewantedamedicationthatwasprescribedbyaphysician.

Sherecognizedtheofficerwhowaschasingthecrook.

Anyonewhoiswillingtoworkhardwillsucceedinthisprogram.

ItwasAlbertowhotoldtheprincipalaboutthestudents'prank.(Noticethattheitwas
broughtspecialemphasistoAlberto,anemphasisthatissomewhatlostbythischange.)

Acustomerwhoispleasedissuretoreturn.Apleasedcustomerissuretoreturn.(Whenwe
eliminatetheTobeandtherelativepronoun,wewillalsohavetorepositionthepredicate
adjectivetoaprenounposition.)

Anexpletiveconstruction,alongwithitsattendantTobeverb,canoftenbeeliminatedto
goodeffect.Simplyomittheconstruction,findtherealsubjectofthesentence,andallowittodo
somerealworkwitharealverb.

Thereweresomeexcellentresultstothisexperimentinsocialwork.(Changeto....)This
experimentinsocialworkresultedin....

Thereisoneexplanationforthisstory'sendinginFaulkner'sdiary.(Changeto....)
Faulkner'sdiarygivesusoneexplanationforthisstory'sending.

Ontheotherhand,expletiveconstructionsdogiveusaninterestingmeansofsettingoutor
organizingtheworkofasubsequentparagraph:

TherewerefourunderlyingcausesofWorldWarI.First,....

Fuzzy Verb Phrases with "Be"

Verbphrasescontaining"be"verbsareoftenmerelyroundaboutwaysofsayingsomething
bettersaidwithasimpleverb.Thus"besupportiveof"for"support"isverbose.

Thefollowingcircumlocutoryusesof"be"verbsarecommoninstuffywriting.Thesimple
verb(inparentheses)isusuallybetter:
be
be
be
be
be
be
be
be
be
be

abusive of (abuse)
applicable to (apply to)
benefited by (benefit from)
derived from (derive from)
desirous of (desire or want)
determinative of (determine)
in agreement (agree)
in attendance (attend)
indicative of (indicate)
in error (err)

be
be
be
be
be
be
be
be
be

in existence (exist)
influential on (influence)
in possession of (possess)
in receipt of (have received)
in violation of (violate)
operative (operate)
productive of (produce)
promotive of (promote)
supportive of (support)

Manysuchwordyconstructionsaremorenaturallyphrasedinthepresenttensesingular:"is
ableto"("can"),"isauthorizedto"("may"),"isbindingupon"("binds"),"isempoweredto"
("may"),"isunableto"("cannot").

Stative and Dynamic Forms

MarthaKolln*suggeststhatwethinkofthedifferencebetweenstativeanddynamicin
termsofwilledandnonwilledqualities.Considerthedifferencebetweenasocalled
dynamicadjective(orsubjectcomplement)andastativeadjective(orsubjectcomplement):I
amsillyORIambeingsillyversusIamtall.Ihavechosentobesilly;Ihavenochoice
aboutbeingtall.ThusTallissaidtobeastative(oraninert)quality,andwecannotsayI
ambeingtall;silly,ontheotherhand,isdynamicsowecanuseprogressiveverbformsin
conjunctionwiththatquality.
Twoplustwoequalsfour.Equalsisinert,stative,andcannottaketheprogressive;thereis
nochoice,novolitioninthematter.(Wewouldnotsay,Twoplustwoisequalingfour.)Inthe
sameway,nounsandpronounscanbesaidtoexhibitwilledandunwilledcharacteristics.Thus,
Sheisbeingagoodworker(becauseshechoosestobeso),butwewouldsaySheis(notis
being)anOlympicathlete(becauseonceshebecomesanathleteshenolongerwillsit)

HELPING AND
MODAL AUXILIARY
VERBS
Helpingverbsorauxiliaryverbssuchaswill,shall,may,might,can,could,must,ought
to,should,would,usedto,needareusedinconjunctionwithmainverbstoexpressshadesof
timeandmood.Thecombinationofhelpingverbswithmainverbscreateswhatarecalledverb

phrasesorverbstrings.Inthefollowingsentence,"willhavebeen"arehelpingorauxiliary
verbsand"studying"isthemainverb;thewholeverbstringisunderlined:

AsofnextAugust,Iwillhavebeenstudyingchemistryfortenyears.

Studentsshouldrememberthatadverbsandcontractedformsarenot,technically,partofthe
verb.Inthesentence,"Hehasalreadystarted."theadverbalreadymodifiestheverb,butitisnot
reallypartoftheverb.Thesameistrueofthe'ntin"Hehasn'tstartedyet"(theadverbnot,
representedbythecontractedn't,isnotpartoftheverb,hasstarted).
Shall,willandformsofhave,doandbecombinewithmainverbstoindicatetimeand
voice.Asauxiliaries,theverbsbe,haveanddocanchangeformtoindicatechangesinsubject
andtime.

Ishallgonow.

Hehadwontheelection.

Theydidwritethatnoveltogether.

Iamgoingnow.

Hewaswinningtheelection.

Theyhavebeenwritingthatnovelforalongtime.

Uses of Shall and Will and Should

InEngland,shallisusedtoexpressthesimplefutureforfirst
personIandwe,asin"Shallwemeetbytheriver?"Willwouldbeusedinthe
simplefutureforallotherpersons.Usingwillinthefirstpersonwouldexpress
determinationonthepartofthespeaker,asin"Wewillfinishthisprojectby
tonight,bygolly!"Usingshallinsecondandthirdpersonswouldindicate
somekindofpromiseaboutthesubject,asin"Thisshallberevealedtoyouin
goodtime."ThisusageiscertainlyacceptableintheU.S.,althoughshallis
usedfarlessfrequently.Thedistinctionbetweenthetwoisoftenobscuredby
thecontraction'll,whichisthesameforbothverbs.
IntheUnitedStates,weseldomuseshallforanythingotherthanpolite
questions(suggestinganelementofpermission)inthefirstperson:

"Shallwegonow?"

"ShallIcalladoctorforyou?"

(Inthesecondsentence,manywriterswoulduseshouldinstead,
althoughshouldissomewhatmoretentativethanshall.)IntheU.S.,toexpress
thefuturetense,theverbwillisusedinallothercases.
Shallisoftenusedinformalsituations(legalorlegalisticdocuments,minutes
tomeetings,etc.)toexpressobligation,evenwiththirdpersonandsecond
personconstructions:

Theboardofdirectorsshallberesponsibleforpaymenttostockholders.

Thecollegepresidentshallreportfinancialshortfallstotheexecutive
directoreachsemester."

Shouldisusuallyreplaced,nowadays,bywould.Itisstillused,however,to
mean"oughtto"asin

Youreallyshouldn'tdothat.

Ifyouthinkthatwasamazing,youshouldhaveseenitlastnight.

InBritishEnglishandveryformalAmericanEnglish,oneisapttohearor
readshouldwiththefirstpersonpronounsinexpressionsoflikingsuchas"I

shouldprefericedtea"andintentativeexpressionsofopinionsuchas

Ishouldimaginethey'llvoteConservative.

Ishouldhavethoughtso.

(The New Fowler's Modern English Usage edited by R.W. Burchfield. Clarendon Press: Oxford,
England. 1996. Used with the permission of Oxford University Press. Examples our own.)

Uses of Do, Does and Did

Inthesimplepresenttense,dowillfunctionasanauxiliarytoexpress
thenegativeandtoaskquestions.(Does,however,issubstitutedforthird
person,singularsubjectsinthepresenttense.Thepasttensedidworkswithall
persons,singularandplural.)

Idon'tstudyatnight.

Shedoesn'tworkhereanymore.

Doyouattendthisschool?

Doesheworkhere?

Theseverbsalsoworkas"shortanswers,"withthemainverbomitted.

Doessheworkhere?No,shedoesn'tworkhere.

With"yesno"questions,theformofdogoesinfrontofthesubjectandthe
mainverbcomesafterthesubject:

DidyourgrandmotherknowTruman?

Dowildflowersgrowinyourbackyard?

Formsofdoareusefulinexpressingsimilarityanddifferencesin
conjunctionwithsoandneither.

Mywifehatesspinachandsodoesmyson.

Mywifedoesn'tlikespinach;neitherdoI.

Doisalsohelpfulbecauseitmeansyoudon'thavetorepeattheverb:

Larryexcelledinlanguagestudies;sodidhisbrother.

Raoulstudiesashardashissisterdoes.

ThesocalledemphaticdohasmanyusesinEnglish.
a. Toaddemphasistoanentiresentence:"Hedoeslikespinach.Hereally
does!"

b. Toaddemphasistoanimperative:"Docomein."(actuallysoftensthe
command)
c. Toaddemphasistoafrequencyadverb:"Heneverdidunderstandhis
father.""Shealwaysdoesmanagetohurthermother'sfeelings."
d. Tocontradictanegativestatement:"Youdidn'tdoyourhomework,did
you?""Oh,butIdidfinishit."
e. Toaskaclarifyingquestionaboutapreviousnegativestatement:
"Ridwelldidn'ttakethetools.""Thenwhodidtakethetools?"
f.

Toindicateastrongconcession:"AlthoughtheClintonsdeniedany
wrongdoing,theydidreturnsomeofthegifts."

Intheabsenceofothermodalauxiliaries,aformofdoisusedinquestionand
negativeconstructionsknownasthegetpassive:

DidRinaldogetselectedbythecommittee?

Theaudiencedidn'tgetriledupbythepolitician.

Based on descriptions in Grammar Dimensions: Form, Meaning, and Use 2nd Ed. by Jan
Frodesen and Janet Eyring. Heinle & Heinle: Boston. 1997. Examples our own.

Uses of Have, Has and Had

Formsoftheverbtohaveareusedtocreatetensesknownasthepresent
perfectandpastperfect.Theperfecttensesindicatethatsomethinghas
happenedinthepast;thepresentperfectindicatingthatsomethinghappened
andmightbecontinuingtohappen,thepastperfectindicatingthatsomething
happenedpriortosomethingelsehappening.(Thatsoundsworsethanitreally
is!)SeethesectiononVerbTensesintheActiveVoiceforfurther
explanation;alsoreviewmaterialintheDirectoryofEnglishTenses.
Tohaveisalsoincombinationwithothermodalverbstoexpressprobability
andpossibilityinthepast.

Asanaffirmativestatement,tohavecanexpresshowcertainyouare
thatsomethinghappened(whencombinedwithanappropriatemodal
+have+apastparticiple):"Georgiamusthaveleftalready.""Clinton
mighthaveknownaboutthegifts.""Theymayhavevotedalready."

Asanegativestatement,amodaliscombinedwithnot+have+apast
participletoexpresshowcertainyouarethatsomethingdidnot
happen:"Clintonmightnothaveknownaboutthegifts.""Imaynot
havebeenthereatthetimeofthecrime."

Toaskaboutpossibilityorprobabilityinthepast,amodaliscombined
withthesubject+have+pastparticiple:"CouldClintonhaveknown
aboutthegifts?"

Forshortanswers,amodaliscombinedwithhave:"DidClintonknow
aboutthis?""Idon'tknow.Hemayhave.""Theevidenceispretty
positive.Hemusthave."

Tohave(sometimescombinedwithtoget)isusedtoexpressalogical
inference:

It'sbeenrainingallweek;thebasementhastobefloodedbynow.

Hehithisheadonthedoorway.Hehasgottobeoversevenfeettall!

Haveisoftencombinedwithaninfinitivetoformanauxiliarywhosemeaning
issimilarto"must."

Ihavetohaveacarlikethat!

Shehastopayherowntuitionatcollege.

Hehastohavebeenthefirststudenttotrythat.

Based on the analysis in Grammar Dimensions: Form, Meaning, and Use 2nd Ed. by Jan
Frodesen and Janet Eyring. Heinle & Heinle: Boston. 1997. Examples our own.

Modal Auxiliaries
Otherhelpingverbs,calledmodalauxiliariesormodals,suchascan,could,may,might,
must,oughtto,shall,should,will,andwould,donotchangeformfordifferentsubjects.For
instance,trysubstitutinganyofthesemodalauxiliariesforcanwithanyofthesubjectslisted
below.
I
you (singular)
he
we
you (plural)
they

can write well.

ThereisalsoaseparatesectionontheModalAuxiliaries,whichdividestheseverbsinto
theirvariousmeaningsofnecessity,advice,ability,expectation,permission,possibility,etc.,and
providessamplesentencesinvarioustenses.SeethesectiononConditionalVerbFormsfor
helpwiththemodalauxiliarywould.Theshadesofmeaningamongmodalauxiliariesare
multifariousandcomplex.MostEnglishasaSecondLanguagetextbookswillcontainatleast
onechapterontheirusage.Formoreadvancedstudents,AUniversityGrammarofEnglish,by
RandolphQuirkandSidneyGreenbaum,containsanexcellent,extensiveanalysisofmodal
auxiliaries.

Uses of Can and Could

Themodalauxiliarycanisused

toexpressability(inthesenseofbeingabletodosomethingor
knowinghowtodosomething):
HecanspeakSpanishbuthecan'twriteitverywell.

toexpressionpermission(inthesenseofbeingallowedorpermittedto
dosomething):
CanItalktomyfriendsinthelibrarywaitingroom?(Notethatcanis
lessformalthanmay.Also,somewriterswillobjecttotheuseofcanin
thiscontext.)

toexpresstheoreticalpossibility:
Americanautomobilemakerscanmakebettercarsiftheythinkthere's
aprofitinit.

Themodalauxiliarycouldisused

toexpressanabilityinthepast:
Icouldalwaysbeatyouattenniswhenwewerekids.

toexpresspastorfuturepermission:
CouldIburymycatinyourbackyard?

toexpresspresentpossibility:
Wecouldalwaysspendtheafternoonjustsittingaroundtalking.

toexpresspossibilityorabilityincontingentcircumstances:
Ifhestudiedharder,hecouldpassthiscourse.

Inexpressingability,canandcouldfrequentlyalsoimplywillingness:Can
youhelpmewithmyhomework?

Can versus May

Whethertheauxiliaryverbcancanbeusedtoexpresspermissionornot
"CanIleavetheroomnow?"["Idon'tknowifyoucan,butyoumay."]
dependsonthelevelofformalityofyourtextorsituation.AsTheodore
BernsteinputsitinTheCarefulWriter,"awriterwhoisattentivetothe
proprietieswillpreservethetraditionaldistinction:canforabilityorpowerto
dosomething,mayforpermissiontodoit.
Thequestionisatwhatlevelcanyousafelyignorethe"proprieties."
MerriamWebster'sDictionary,tenthedition,saysthebattleisoverandcancan
beusedinvirtuallyanysituationtoexpressoraskforpermission.Most
authorities,however,recommendastricteradherencetothedistinction,atleast
informalsituations.
Authority: The Careful Writer by Theodore Bernstein. The Free Press: New York. 1998. p. 87.

Uses of May and Might

Twoofthemoretroublesomemodalauxiliariesaremayandmight.When
usedinthecontextofgrantingorseekingpermission,mightisthepasttense
ofmay.Mightisconsiderablymoretentativethanmay.

MayIleaveclassearly?

IfI'vefinishedallmyworkandI'mreallyquiet,mightIleaveearly?

Inthecontextofexpressingpossibility,mayandmightareinterchangeable
presentandfutureformsandmight+have+pastparticipleisthepastform:

Shemightbemyadvisornextsemester.

Shemaybemyadvisornextsemester.

Shemighthaveadvisedmenottotakebiology.

Avoidconfusingthesenseofpossibilityinmaywiththeimplication
ofmight,thatahypotheticalsituationhasnotinfactoccurred.Forinstance,
let'ssaythere'sbeenahelicoptercrashattheairport.Inhisinitialreport,
beforeallthefactsaregathered,anewscastercouldsaythatthepilot
"mayhavebeeninjured."Afterwediscoverthatthepilotisinfactallright,the
newscastercannowsaythatthepilot"mighthavebeeninjured"becauseitisa
hypotheticalsituationthathasnotoccurred.Anotherexample:abodyhad
beenidentifiedaftermuchworkbyadetective.Itwasreportedthat"without
thispainstakingwork,thebodymayhaveremainedunidentified."Sincethe
bodywas,infact,identified,mightisclearlycalledfor.

Uses of Will and Would

Incertaincontexts,willandwouldarevirtuallyinterchangeable,butthere
aredifferences.Noticethatthecontractedform'llisveryfrequentlyused
forwill.
Willcanbeusedtoexpresswillingness:

I'llwashthedishesifyoudry.

We'regoingtothemovies.Willyoujoinus?

Itcanalsoexpressintention(especiallyinthefirstperson):

I'lldomyexerciseslateron.

andprediction:

specific:Themeetingwillbeoversoon.

timeless:Humiditywillruinmyhairdo.

habitual:Theriverwilloverflowitsbankseveryspring.

Wouldcanalsobeusedtoexpresswillingness:

Wouldyoupleasetakeoffyourhat?

Itcanalsoexpressinsistence(ratherrare,andwithastrongstressontheword
"would"):

Nowyou'veruinedeverything.Youwouldactthatway.

andcharacteristicactivity:

customary:Afterwork,hewouldwalktohishomeinWestHartford.

typical(casual):Shewouldcausethewholefamilytobelate,every
time.

Inamainclause,wouldcanexpressahypotheticalmeaning:

MycockerspanielwouldweighatonifIlethereatwhatshewants.

Finally,wouldcanexpressasenseofprobability:

Ihearawhistle.Thatwouldbethefiveo'clocktrain.

Uses of Used to
Theauxiliaryverbconstructionusedtoisusedtoexpressanactionthat
tookplaceinthepast,perhapscustomarily,butnowthatactionnolonger
customarilytakesplace:

Weusedtotakelongvacationtripswiththewholefamily.

Thespellingofthisverbisaproblemforsomepeoplebecausethe"ed"
endingquitenaturallydisappearsinspeaking:"Weyoostootakelongtrips."
Butitoughtnottodisappearinwriting.Thereareexceptions,though.When
theauxiliaryiscombinedwithanotherauxiliary,did,thepasttenseiscarried
bythenewauxiliaryandthe"ed"endingisdropped.Thiswilloftenhappenin
theinterrogative:

Didn'tyouusetogojoggingeverymorningbeforebreakfast?

Itdidn'tusetobethatway.

Usedtocanalsobeusedtoconveythesenseofbeingaccustomedtoor
familiarwithsomething:

Thetirefactorydowntheroadreallystinks,butwe'reusedtoitby
now.

Iliketheseoldsneakers;I'musedtothem.

Usedtoisbestreservedforcolloquialusage;ithasnoplaceinformalor
academictext.

Auxiliary or Helping Verbs

TheissuesraisedbyHelpingorAuxiliaryVerbsandModalAuxiliariesare
coveredinaseparatesection.ClickhereforhelpwithAuxiliaryVerbsandModal
Auxiliaries.
Phrasal Verbs
Phrasalverbsconsistofaverbandanotherwordorphrase,usually
apreposition.Theresultingcombinationcreateswhatamountstoanewverb,whose
meaningcansometimesbepuzzlingtononnativespeakers.Phrasalverbsoftenarise
fromcasualusesofthelanguageandeventuallyworkthemselvesintothemainstream
oflanguageuse.Phrasalverbscanbebothintransitive(Thechildrenweresitting
around,doingnothing.Thewitnessfinallybrokedownonthestand.)andtransitivein
meaning(Ourbosscalledoffthemeeting.Shelookedupheroldboyfriend.)The
wordthatisjoinedwithaverbinthisconstruction(oftenapreposition)iscalled
aparticle.

Theproblemwithphrasalverbsisthattheirmeaningisoften,atfirst,obscure,
andtheyoftenmeanseveraldifferentthings.Tomakeout,forinstance,canmeanto
perceiveortoseesomething;itcanalsomeantoengageinlightsexualplay.If
someonechoosestoturnupthestreetthatisacombinationofaverbanda
preposition,butitisnotaphrasalverb.Ontheotherhand,ifyourneighbors
unexpectedlyturnup(appear)atapartyoryourbrotherturnsuphisradio,thoseare
phrasalverbs.Tocomeout,wearetold,haseighteendifferentmeanings.
Verbscanbecombinedwithdifferentprepositionsandotherwords,sometimes
withdizzyingeffect:standout,standup,standin,standoff,standby,standfast,stand
pat,standdown,standagainst,standfor.Further,theverbandthewordorphraseit
connectstoarenotalwayscontiguous:"Fillthisout,"wewouldsay,butthenwe
wouldsay,"Filloutthisform."
YoucanclickHEREforanextensivelistofphrasalverbs,brokendowninto
categoriesoftransitiveandintransitive,separableandinseparable.Thelistofverbsis
accompaniedwithbriefdefinitionsandexamples.Printedout,thelistwillbefiveor
sixpageslong,dependingonthesizefontyouareusing,thewidthofyourbrowser
window,etc.Understand,however,thatthelistisameresamplingofthehundredsof
phrasalverbcombinations.Forbeginninglanguagelearners,thechallengeof
masteringphrasalverbsissogreatthatonlyintensiveinstructionandpracticeinan
ESLprogramandagreatdealoftimespentlisteningandreadingcarefullycan
addresstheproblem.Havingagooddictionaryathandisalsohelpful.

COMMON
PHRASAL VERBS
Separable Phrasal Verbs
The object may come after the following phrasal verbs or it may separate the two
parts:
You have to do this paint job over.
You have to do over this paint job.
Whentheobjectofthefollowingphrasalverbsisapronoun,thetwopartsofthe
phrasalverbmustbeseparated:
You have to do it over.
Verb

Meaning

Example

blow up

explode

The terrorists tried to blow up the railroad station.

bring
up

mention a topic

My mother brought up that little matter of my prison

record again.

bring
up

raise children

It isn't easy to bring up children nowadays.

call off

cancel

They called off this afternoon's meeting

do over

repeat a job

Do this homework over.

fill out

complete a form

Fill out this application form and mail it in.

fill up

fill to capacity

She filled up the grocery cart with free food.

find out

discover

My sister found out that her husband had been planning a

surprise party for her.

give
away

give something to
someone else for
free

The filling station was giving away free gas.

give
back

return an object

My brother borrowed my car. I have a feeling he's not

about to give it back.

hand in

submit something
(assignment)

The students handed in their papers and left the room.

hang up

put something on
hook or receiver

She hung up the phone before she hung up her clothes.

hold up

delay

I hate to hold up the meeting, but I have to go to the

bathroom.

hold up
(2)

rob

Three masked gunmen held up the Security Bank this

afternoon.

leave
out

omit

You left out the part about the police chase down Asylum
Avenue.

look
over

examine, check

The lawyers looked over the papers carefully before

questioning the witness.
(They looked them overcarefully.)

look up

search in a list

You've misspelled this word again. You'd better look itup.

make
up

invent a story or lie

She knew she was in trouble, so she made up a story

about going to the movies with her friends.

make
out

hear, understand

He was so far away, we really couldn't make out what he

was saying.

pick out choose

There were three men in the line-up. She picked out the
guy she thought had stolen her purse.

pick up

lift something off

something else

The crane picked up the entire house. (Watch

them pick itup.)

point
out

call attention to

As we drove through Paris, Francoise pointed out the

major historical sites.

put
away

save or store

We put away money for our retirement. She put away the
cereal boxes.

put off

postpone

We asked the boss to put off the meeting until tomorrow.

(Please put it off for another day.)

put on

put clothing on the

body

I put on a sweater and a jacket. (I put them on quickly.)

put out

extinguish

The firefighters put out the house fire before it could

spread. (They put it out quickly.)

read
over

peruse

I read over the homework, but couldn't make any sense of

it.

set up

to arrange, begin

My wife set up the living room exactly the way she

wanted it. She set it up.

take
down

make a written note

These are your instructions. Write them down before you

forget.

take off

remove clothing

It was so hot that I had to take off my shirt.

talk
over

discuss

We have serious problems here. Let's talk them over like

adults.

throw
away

discard

That's a lot of money! Don't just throw it away.

try on

put clothing on to
see if it fits

She tried on fifteen dresses before she found one she

liked.

try out

test

I tried out four cars before I could find one that pleased
me.

turn
down

lower volume

Your radio is driving me crazy! Please turn it down.

turn
down
(2)

reject

He applied for a promotion twice this year, but he

wasturned down both times.

turn up

raise the volume

Grandpa couldn't hear, so he turned up his hearing aid.

turn off

switch off
electricity

We turned off the lights before anyone could see us.

turn off
(2)

repulse

It was a disgusting movie. It really turned me off.

turn on

switch on the
electricity

Turn on the CD player so we can dance.

use up

exhaust, use
completely

The gang members used up all the money and went out to
rob some more banks.

Inseparable Phrasal Verbs (Transitive)

With the following phrasal verbs, the lexical part of the verb (the part of the phrasal

verb that carries the "verb-meaning") cannot be separated from the prepositions (or
other parts) that accompany it: "Who will look after my estate when I'm gone?"
Verb

Meaning

Example

call on

ask to recite in class

The teacher called on students in the back row.

call on (2)

visit

The old minister continued to call on his sick

parishioners.

get over

recover from sickness or

disappointment

I got over the flu, but I don't know if I'll ever get
over my broken heart.

go over

review

The students went over the material before the

exam. They should have gone over it twice.

go
through

use up; consume

They country went through most of its coal

reserves in one year. Did he go through all his
money already?

look after

take care of

My mother promised to look after my dog while

I was gone.

look into

investigate

The police will look into the possibilities of

embezzlement.

run across

find by chance

I ran across my old roommate at the college

reunion.

run into

meet

Carlos ran into his English professor in the

hallway.

take after

resemble

My second son seems to take after his mother.

wait on

serve

It seemed strange to see my old boss wait

on tables.

Three-Word Phrasal Verbs (Transitive)

With the following phrasal verbs, you will find three parts: "My brother dropped out
of school before he could graduate."
Verb

Meaning

Example

break in on

interrupt (a
conversation)

I was talking to Mom on the phone when the

operatorbroke in on our call.

catch up
with

keep abreast

After our month-long trip, it was time to catch up

withthe neighbors and the news around town.

check up
on

examine, investigate

The boys promised to check up on the condition of

the summer house from time to time.

come up
with

to contribute
(suggestion, money)

After years of giving nothing, the old parishioner

was able to come up with a thousand-dollar
donation.

cut down
on

curtail (expenses)

We tried to cut down on the money we were

spending on entertainment.

drop out of

leave school

I hope none of my students drop out of school this

semester.

get along
with

have a good
relationship with

I found it very hard to get along with my brother

when we were young.

get away
with

escape blame

Janik cheated on the exam and then tried to get

away with it.

get rid of

eliminate

The citizens tried to get rid of their corrupt mayor in

the recent election.

get through
with

finish

When will you ever get through with that program?

keep up
with

maintain pace with

It's hard to keep up with the Joneses when you lose

your job!

look
forward to

anticipate with
pleasure

I always look forward to the beginning of a new

semester.

look down
on

despise

It's typical of a jingoistic country that the

citizens look down on their geographical neighbors.

look in on

visit (somebody)

We were going to look in on my brother-in-law, but

he wasn't home.

look out for be careful, anticipate

Good instructors will look out for early signs of

failure in their students

look up to

First-graders really look up to their teachers.

respect

make sure
of

verify

Make sure of the student's identity before you let

him into the classroom.

put up with

tolerate

The teacher had to put up with a great deal of

nonsense from the new students.

run out of

exhaust supply

The runners ran out of energy before the end of the

race.

take care of

be responsible for

My oldest sister took care of us younger children

after Mom died.

talk back to

answer impolitely

The star player talked back to the coach and was

thrown off the team.

think back
on

recall

I often think back on my childhood with great

pleasure.

walk out on abandon

Her husband walked out on her and their three

children.

Intransitive Phrasal Verbs

The following phrasal verbs are not followed by an object: "Once you leave home,
you can never really go back again."
Verb

Meaning

Example

break down

stop functioning

That old Jeep had a tendency to break down just

when I needed it the most.

catch on

become popular

Popular songs seem to catch on in California first and

then spread eastward.

come back

return to a place

Father promised that we would never come back to

this horrible place.

come in

enter

They tried to come in through the back door, but it

was locked.

come to

regain
consciousness

He was hit on the head very hard, but after several

minutes, he started to come to again.

come over

to visit

The children promised to come over, but they never

do.

drop by

visit without
appointment

We used to just drop by, but they were never home,

so we stopped doing that.

eat out

dine in a restaurant

When we visited Paris, we loved eating out in the

sidewalk cafes.

get by

survive

Uncle Heine didn't have much money, but he always

seemed to get by without borrowing money from
relatives.

get up

arise

Grandmother tried to get up, but the couch was too

low, and she couldn't make it on her own.

go back

return to a place

It's hard to imagine that we will ever go back to

Lithuania.

go on

continue

He would finish one Dickens novel and then just go

on to the next.

go on (2)

happen

The cops heard all the noise and stopped to see what
wasgoing on.

grow up

get older

Charles grew up to be a lot like his father.

keep away

remain at a
distance

The judge warned the stalker to keep away from his

victim's home.

keep on
continue with the
(with gerund) same

He tried to keep on singing long after his voice was

ruined.

pass out

lose
consciousness,
faint

He had drunk too much; he passed out on the

sidewalk outside the bar.

show off

demonstrate
haughtily

Whenever he sat down at the piano, we knew he was

going to show off.

show up

arrive

Day after day, Efrain showed up for class twenty

minutes late.

wake up

arouse from sleep

I woke up when the rooster crowed.

Causative Verbs
Causativeverbsdesignatetheactionnecessarytocauseanotheractionto
happen.In"Thedevilmademedoit."theverb"made"causesthe"do"tohappen.
Hereisabrieflistofcausativeverbs,innoparticularorder:let,help,allow,have,

require,allow,motivate,get,make,convince,hire,assist,encourage,permit,employ,
force.Mostofthemarefollowedbyanobject(nounorpronoun)followedbyan
infinitive:"Sheallowsherpetcockatieltoperchonthewindowsill.Shehireda
carpentertobuildanewbirdcage."
Threecausativeverbsareexceptionstothepatterndescribedabove.Insteadof
beingfollowedbyanoun/pronounandaninfinitive,thecausativeverbshave,
makeandletarefollowedbyanoun/pronounandthebaseformoftheverb(whichis
actuallyaninfinitivewiththe"to"leftoff).

ProfessorVillahadherstudentsreadfourshortnovelsinoneweek.

Shealsomadethemreadfiveplaysinoneweek.

However,sheletthemskipthefinalexam.

Factitive Verbs
Verbslikemake,choose,judge,elect,select,name.arecalledfactitiveverbs.
Thesetransitiveverbscantaketwoobjects,orseemto:

TheyjudgedPhilbert'sdogBestofShow.(where"dog"isthedirectobjectand"Bestof
Show"isthesecondcomplement).

ThefacultyelectedDogsbreaththenewAcademicDean.(whereDogsbreathisthedirect
objectand"AcademicDean"isthesecondcomplement).

U.S.NewsandWorldReportnamedourcollegethebestinthenortheast.(where"our
college"isthedirectobjectand"thebest"isthesecondcomplement).

Tenses
Tenseshowsthetimeofaverb'sactionorbeing.Therearethreeinflectedforms
reflectedbychangesintheendingsofverbs.Thepresenttenseindicatesthat
somethingishappeningorbeingnow:"Sheisastudent.Shedrivesanewcar."
Thesimplepasttenseindicatesthatsomethinghappenedinthepast:"Shewasa
student.Shedroveanewcar."Andthepastparticipleformiscombinedwith
auxiliaryverbstoindicatethatsomethinghappenedinthepastpriortoanotheraction:
"Shehasbeenastudent.Shehaddrivenanewcar."

Unlikemostotherlanguages,Englishdoesnothaveinflectedformsforthefuture
tense.Instead,Englishfutureformsarecreatedwiththeuseofauxiliaries:
"Shewillbeastudent.Sheisgoingtodriveanewcar."Englishcanevencreatethe

futurebyusingthepresenttense,"Thebusarriveslaterthisafternoon,"orthepresent
progressive,"HeisrelocatingtoPortlandlaternextmonth."
ForanextensivediscussionofthefuturetenseinEnglish,clickHERE.

Progressive Verbs
Theprogressivetenses,whichindicatesomethingbeingorhappening,are
formedwiththepresentparticipleform(endingining)alongwithvarious
auxiliaries."Sheisdriving.Shewasdriving.Shewillbedriving.Shehasbeen
driving.Shehadbeendriving.Shewillhavebeendriving."ClickHEREformore
ontheprogressiveforms.Someverbs,calledstativeverbs,(including,
sometimes,theverbtobe)donotnormallycreatetheprogressive.Clickherefor
adiscussionofthedifferencebetweenstativeanddynamicverbs.

Ifyouhaveaframescapablebrowser,werecommendthe
TheDirectorycontainsdescriptions,conjugations(forbothregular
andirregularverbs),andsamplesentencesforthetwelvetensesofactivevoice
verbs.Foragreatlysimplifiedonepagesummaryofthesetenses,clickHERE.
Colin Mahoney, a teacher of English as a
foreign language, has a considerable page
devoted to the PresentPerfectTense(andrelated
issues), which we recommend. For ESL
learners and students wanting a thorough
review of verbs, we also recommend the
tutorial on English tenses
atEnglishpage.com (expect ads).

Irregular Verbs
MostverbsinEnglishformtheirvarioustensesconsistently:addedtothebase
ofaverbtocreatethesimplepastandpastparticiple:hewalked;hehaswalked.
Thereare,however,anumberofsocalledirregularverbs,(including,unfortunately,
someverycommonverbssuchastobeandtohave)whosevariousformsmustbe
memorized.AnalphabetizedlistofCommonIrregularVerbsisavailableinthe

Guidethatyoucancopyorprintoutandthentrytomemorizeoratleastusein
practicesentences.Youshouldtakethequizzesonirregularverbs,below,afteryou've
lookedatthislist.

COMMON IRREGULAR VERBS

The verb forms provided in the table below are as follows:
the base form, which you would find in the infinitive: to fly
the third-person, singular, present tense: he flies
the third-person past tense: he flew
and the past participle: he has flown

Base
Form

Present
Third
Person

Past
Third
Person

Past
Participle

arise
be
bear
begin
bite
blow
break
bring
buy
catch
choose
come
creep
dive
do
drag
draw
dream
drink

arises
is
bears
begins
bites
blows
breaks
brings
buys
catches
chooses
comes
creeps
dives
does
drags
draws
dreams
drinks

arose
was/were
bore
began
bit
blew
broke
brought
bought
caught
chose
came
crept
dived/dove
did
dragged
drew
dreamed/dreamt
drank

arisen
been
borne
begun
bitten/bit
blown
broken
brought
bought
caught
chosen
come
crept
dived
done
dragged
drawn
dreamt
drunk

drive
drown
eat
fall
fight
fly
forget
forgive
freeze
get
give
go
grow
hang
hide
know
lay
lead
lie
light
lose
prove
ride
ring
rise
run
see
seek
set
shake
sing
sink
sit
speak
spring
steal
sting
strike
swear
swim
swing
take
tear
throw
uses

drives
drowns
eats
falls
fights
flies
forgets
forgives
freezes
gets
gives
goes
grows
hangs
hides
knows
lays
leads
lies
lights
loses
proves
rides
rings
rises
runs
sees
seeks
sets
shakes
sings
sinks
sits
speaks
springs
steals
stings
strikes
swears
swims
swings
takes
tears
throws
used

drove
drowned
ate
fell
fought
flew
forgot
forgave
froze
got
gave
went
grew
hung
hid
knew
laid
led
lay
lit
lost
proved
rode
rang
rose
ran
saw
sought
set
shook
sang
sank
sat
spoke
sprang
stole
stung
struck
swore
swam
swung
took
tore
threw
used

driven
drowned
eaten
fallen
fought
flown
forgotten
forgiven
frozen
got/gotten
given
gone
grown
hung
hidden
known
laid
led
lain
lit
lost
proved/proven
ridden
rung
risen
run
seen
sought
set
shaken
sung
sunk
sat
spoken
sprung
stolen
stung
struck
sworn
swum
swung
taken
torn
thrown
used

wake
wear
write

wakes
wears
writes

woke/waked
wore
wrote

woken/waked/wok
e
worn
written

Sequence of Tenses
SequenceofTenses:Therelationshipbetweenverbsinamainclauseandverbs
independentclausesisimportant.Theseverbtensesdon'thavetobeidenticalaslong
astheyreflect,logically,shiftsintimeandmeaning:"Mybrotherhad
graduatedbeforeIstartedcollege.""MybrotherwillhavegraduatedbeforeIstart."
ClickHEREforachartdescribingvarioustimerelationshipsandhowthose
relationshipsdeterminetheappropriatesequenceofverbtenses.
Verbals
Verbalsarewordsthatseemtocarrytheideaofactionorbeingbutdonot
functionasatrueverb.Thearesometimescalled"nonfinite"(unfinishedor
incomplete)verbs.Becausetimeisinvolvedwithallverbforms,whetherfiniteor
nonfinite,however,followingalogicalTenseSequenceisimportant.ClickHEREfor
achartdescribingthetimeelementsinvolvedinchoosingthecorrectverbalform.
Verbalsarefrequentlyaccompaniedbyother,relatedwordsinwhatiscalledaverbal
phrase.

Participle:averbformactingasanadjective.Therunningdogchased
theflutteringmoth.Apresentparticiple(likerunningorfluttering)describesapresent
condition;apastparticipledescribessomethingthathashappened:"The
completelyrottedtoothfinallyfelloutofhismouth."Thedistinctioncanbeimportant
tothemeaningofasentence;thereisahugedifferencebetweenaconfusingstudent
andaconfusedstudent.SeethesectiononAdjectivesforfurtherhelponthisissue.
Infinitive:therootofaverbplusthewordto.Tosleep,perchancetodream.
Apresentinfinitivedescribesapresentcondition:"Iliketosleep."Theperfect
infinitivedescribesatimeearlierthanthatoftheverb:"Iwouldliketohavewonthat
game."SeethesectiononSequencebelowforotherformsaswell.

The Split Infinitive

If there is one error in writing that your boss or history prof can and will pick up on,

it's the notorious split infinitive. An infinitive is said to be "split" when a word (often
an adverb) or phrase sneaks between the to of the infinitive and the root of the
verb: "to boldly go," being the most famous of its kind. The argument against split
infinitives (based on rather shaky historical grounds) is that the infinitive is a single
unit and, therefore, should not be divided. Because it raises so many readers'
hackles and is so easy to spot, good writers, at least in academic prose, avoid the
split infinitive. Instead of writing "She expected her grandparents to notstay," then,
we could write "She expected her grandparents not to stay." Sometimes, though,
avoiding the split infinitive simply isn't worth the bother. There is nothing wrong,
really, with a sentence such as the following:
He thinks he'll be able to more than double his salary this year.
The Oxford American Desk Dictionary, which came out in October of 1998, says
that the rule against the split infinitive can generally be ignored, that the rule "is not
firmly grounded, and treating two English words as one can lead to awkward, stilted
sentences." ("To Boldly Go," The Hartford Courant. 15 Oct 1998.) Opinion among
English instructors and others who feel strongly about the language remains
divided, however. Today's dictionaries allow us to split the infinitive, but it should
never be done at the expense of grace. Students would be wise to know their
instructor's feelings on the matter, workers their boss's.

Both gerunds and infinitive phrases can function as nouns, in a variety of

ways. Noun uses are covered in a separate document, a section that
should be helpful to students who want to understand why some verbs
take gerunds, others take infinitives, some take either. (In addition, there
is a section on the use of the infinitive as adjective complement free at
no extra charge.) Click the button to enter.

GERUNDS AND
INFINITIVES:
THEIR NOUN ROLES
Bothgerundsandinfinitivescanbenouns,whichmeanstheycandojustaboutanything
thatanouncando.Althoughtheynamethings,likeothernouns,theynormallynameactivities
ratherthanpeopleorobjects.Herearefivenounusesofgerundsandinfinitives(andone
additionalnonnounuse,theadjectivecomplement,thatwethrowinhere,freeofcharge).

Gerundsandinfintivescanbothfunctionasthesubjectofasentence:
a. Playingbasketballtakesuptoomuchofhertime.
b. ToplaybasketballforUConnisherfavoritefantasy.

Itisnotimpossibleforaninfinitivetoappearatthebeginningofasentenceasthesubject(asin
Ib),butitismorecommonforaninfinitivetoappearasaSubjectComplement:
a. HerfavoritefantasyistoplaybasketballforUConn.

Thegerundcanalsoplaythisrole:
b. HerfavoritefantasyisplayingbasketballforUConn.

BothoftheseverbalformscanfurtheridentifyanounwhentheyplaytheroleofNoun
ComplementandAppositive:
a. HerdesiretoplaybasketballforUConnbecameanobsession.
b. IcouldneverunderstandherdesiretoplaybasketballforUConn.
c. Heroneburningdesireinlife,playingbasketballforUConn,seemedagoalwithinreach.

Theinfinitiveisoftenacomplementusedtohelpdefineanabstractnoun.Hereisavery
partiallistofabstractnouns,enoughtosuggesttheirnature.Tryfollowingtheseadjectiveswith
aninfinitivephrase(theirdesiretoplayinthechampionshipgame,amotivationtopassalltheir
courses,herpermissiontostayuplate,agentleremindertodoyourwork)toseehowthephrase
modifiesandfocusesthenoun.
advice
appeal
command
decision
desire
fact
instruction
motivation

opportunity
order
permission
plan
possibility
preparation
proposal
recommendation

refusal
reminder
request
requirement
suggestion
tendency
wish

Infinitivephrasesoftenfollowcertainadjectives.Whenthishappens,theinfinitiveissaid
toplaytheroleofAdjectiveComplement.(Thisisnotanounfunction,butwewill
includeitherenonetheless.)
a. Shewashesitanttotellthecoachofherplan.
b. Shewasreluctanttotellherparents,also.
c. Butshewouldnothavebeencontenttoplayhighschoolballforever.

Hereisalistofadjectivesthatyouwilloftenfindinsuchconstructions.
ahead
amazed
anxious
apt
ashamed
bound
careful
certain
content
delighted

determined
disappointed
eager
eligible
fortunate
glad
happy
hesitant
liable
likely

lucky
pleased
proud
ready
reluctant
sad
shocked
sorry
surprised
upset

Althoughwedonotfindmanyinfinitivesinthisnextcategory,itisnotuncommontofind
gerundstakingontheroleofObjectofaPreposition:
a. Shewroteanewspaperarticleaboutdealingwithcollegerecruiters.
b. Shethankedhercoachforhelpinghertodealwiththepressure.

Two prepositions, except and but, will sometimes take an infinitive.

a. ThecommitteehadnochoiceexcepttoelectFrogbellowchairperson.
b. Whatisleftforusbuttopackupourbelongingsandleave?

And,finally,bothgerundsandinfinitivescanactasaDirectObject:
Here,however,allkindsofdecisionshavetobemade,andsomeofthesedecisions
willseemquitearbitrary.Thenextsectionisaboutmakingthechoicebetweengerundand
infinitiveformsasdirectobject.

Verbsthattakeotherverbformsasobjectsarecalledcatenatives(fromawordthat
meanstolink,asinachain).Catenativescanbefoundattheheadofaseriesoflinked
constructions,asin"Weagreedtotrytodecidetostopeatingbetweenmeals."Catenativesare
alsocharacterizedbytheirtendencytodescribementalprocessesandresolutions.(Kolln)
AlthoughitisseldomaseriousproblemfornativeEnglishspeakers,decidingwhetherto
useagerundoraninfinitiveafteraverbcanbeperplexingamongstudentsforwhomEnglishisa
secondlanguage.Whydowedecidetorun,butwewouldneverdeciderunning?Ontheother
hand,wemightavoidrunning,butwewouldnotavoidtorun.Andfinally,wemightlike
runningandwouldalsoliketorun.Itisclearthatsomeverbstakegerunds,someverbstake
infinitives,andsomeverbstakeeither.Thefollowingtablesofverbsshouldhelpyouunderstand
thevariousoptionsthatregulateourchoiceofinfinitiveorgerund.
Some students may find it convenient to have a list of
verbs that take infinitives, verbs that take gerunds, verbs
that take eitherwithout the lists being broken into verb
categories as they are below. Click the button to see such
a list.
We also make available a chart of 81 verbs that take
gerunds and infinitives along with pop-up examples of
their usage. Click HERE for that chart.

Verbs That Take

Gerund and Infinitive Completers
Infinitives
No agent*

He can aford to call them.

With optional agent* for the action

You wanted me to call them. OR

You wanted to call them.

With required agent* for the action

She reminded us to call them.

Used without the word "to"

We heard her call them.

Gerunds
No agent*

Juno enjoys calling them.

With required agent* for the

action

We heard you calling them

Difference in meaning

I forgot to
call them. || I forgot calling them.

*By agent, we mean the person or thing that might or might not be required to complete the action:
We asked Joe to call home. (Joe is the agent.)
Giorgio began to gamble on weekends. (No agent)

acknowled
choose
ge

enjoy

hope

persuade

recommen
seem
d

admit

command expect

imagine

plan

refuse

start

advise

consent

fail

intend

practice

regret

stop

aford

consider

feel

invite

prefer

remember teach

agree

continue

finish

involve

allow

dare

forbid

learn

anticipate

decide

force

let

appear

demand

forget

like

appreciate deny

get

love

ask

deserve

give up

make

avoid

discuss

hate

mention

beg

dislike

have

miss

begin

endure

hear

need

celebrate

encourag help

pretend

remind

neglect

tell

e
challenge

enable

(cannot)
help

notice

promise

see

understan
d

watch

want

wish

Theverbsinthetablebelowwillbefollowedbyaninfinitive.Wedecidedtoleave.
Hemanages,somehow,towin.Itisthreateningtorain.Noticethatmany,butnotall,ofthese
verbssuggestapotentialevent.
Someoftheverbsinthefollowingtablemaybefollowedbyagerundiftheyaredescribing
an"actual,vividorfulfilledaction"(Frodesen).Weloverunning.Theybeganfarmingtheland.
Thesearedescribed,also,below.
Emotion
care
desire
hate

hate
like
loathe

love
regret
yearn

hope
intend
need
plan
prefer

prepare
propose
refuse
want
wish

Choice or Intent
agree
choose
decide
decide
expect

Initiation, Completion, Incompletion

begin
cease
commence
fail
Mental Process

get
hesitate
manage
neglect

start
try
undertake

forget
know how

learn

remember

promise
swear

threaten
vow

seem

tend

claim
continue

pretend
wait

Request and Promise

demand
ofer
Intransitives
appear
happen
Miscellaneous
aford
arrange

Theverbsinthenexttablewilloftenbefollowedbyaninfinitive,buttheywillalsobe
accompaniedbyasecondobject.Weaskedtheintruderstoleavequietly.Theytaughtthe
childrentoswim.Theteacherconvincedhisstudentstotryharder.
Theverbsinblue,withanasterisk,canalsofollowthesamepatternastheverbsinthetable
above(i.e.,thesecondobjectisoptional).Weallwantedtogo.Theypromisedtobehomeearly.
Communication
advise
ask*
beg*
challenge
command
convince

forbid
invite
order
permit
persuade
promise*

remind
require
tell
warn
urge

instruct
teach

train

Instruction
encourage
help

Causing
allow
cause
choose

force
get
hire

need*
would like*

trust
prepare*

want*

Miscellaneous
dare*
expect*

Gerundsaccompanyaformoftheverbtogoinmanyidiomaticexpressions:Let'sgo
shopping.Wewentjoggingyesterday.ShegoesbowlingeveryFridaynight.
Thefollowingverbswillbefollowedbyagerund.DidImentionreadingthatnovellast
summer?Irecommendleavingwhilewecan.IhavequitsmokingTheseverbstendtodescribe
actualevents.
Initiation, Completion and Incompletion
anticipate
avoid
begin
cease
complete

delay
finish
get through
give up
postpone

quit
risk
start
stop
try

encourage
mention
recommend

report
suggest
urge

practice
involve

keep
keep on

love

regret

Communication
admit
advise
deny
discuss
Continuing Action
continue
can't help
Emotion
appreciate

dislike
enjoy
hate
like

mind
don't mind
miss
prefer

can't stand
resent
resist
tolerate

imagine
recall
remember

see
can't see
understand

Mental Process
anticipate
consider
forget

Theverbsinthefollowingtablecanbefollowedbyeitheraninfinitiveoragerund,and
therewillbevirtuallynodifferenceinthemeaningofthetwosentences.Iliketoplaybasketball
inthepark.Ilikeplayingbasketballinthepark.
attempt
begin
continue
hate

like
love
neglect
prefer

regret
can't stand
stand
start

Theverbsinthisnext,verysmalltablecanbefollowedbyeitheraninfinitiveoragerund,
buttherewillbeadifferenceinmeaning.Istoppedsmokingmeanssomethingquitedifferent,for
instance,fromIstoppedtosmoke.Theinfinitiveformwillusuallydescribeapotentialaction.
forget

remember

stop

Finally,theverbsbelowwillbefollowedbyeitheragerundorasimpleverbandasecond
subjectwillberequired.Isawtheteamlosingitscomposure.Ioverheardmylandlord
discussingarentincrease.(IheardBillsing/singing.)Theseverbsinvolvethesenses.

Verbs Involving Senses

feel
hear
listen to

look at
notice
observe

overhear
see
watch

Verbsofperceptionhear,see,watchandahandfulofotherverbshelp,let,
andmakewilltakewhatiscalledthebareinfinitive,aninfinitivewithouttheparticle"to."
Thisistrueoftheseverbsonlyintheactivevoice.
a. Wewatchedhimclearthetable.

b. Theyheardthethiefcrashthroughthedoor.
c. Shemademedoit.
d. Wehelpedherfinishthehomework.

Using Possessives with Gerunds

Dowesay"Ican'tstandhimsingingintheshower,"ordowesay"Ican'tstandhissinging
intheshower"?Well,youhavetodecidewhatyoufindobjectionable:isithim,thefactthatheis
singingintheshower,orisitthesingingthatisbeingdonebyhimthatyoucan'tstand?Chances
are,it'sthelatter,it'sthesingingthatbelongstohimthatbugsyou.Sowewouldsay,"Ican't
standhissingingintheshower."
Ontheotherhand,dowesay"Inoticedyourstandinginthealleylastnight"?Probablynot,
becauseit'snottheactionthatwenoticed;it'stheperson.Sowe'dsayandwrite,instead,"I
noticedyoustandinginthealleylastnight."Usually,however,whenanounorpronounprecedes
agerund,thatnounorpronountakesapossessiveform.Thisisespeciallytrueofformal,
academicwriting.
Thereareexceptionstothis.(Whatwouldthestudyoflanguagebewithoutexceptions?)

Whenthenounprecedingthegerundismodifiedbyotherwords,usethecommonformof
thatnoun,notthepossessive.
a. FedericowaspleasedbyCarlos'smakingtheDean'sListforthefirsttime.
but
b. FedericowaspleasedbyCarlos,hisoldestson,makingtheDean'sListfor
thefirsttime.

Whenthenounprecedingthegerundisplural,collective,orabstract,usethe
commonformofthatnoun,notthepossessive.
c. ProfessorVillawasamazedbyherstudentsworkingashardastheydid.
d. Theclassworkingcollaborativelywassomebodyelse'sidea.
e. Itwasacaseofoldagegettingthebetterofthem.

Therearecertainsituationsinwhichthepossessiveandthegerundcreatean
awkwardcombination.Thisseemstobeparticularlytruewhenindefinitepronouns
areinvolved.

f.

Iwasshockedbysomebody'smakingthatremark.
Thiswouldbegreatlyimprovedbysaying,instead...

g. Iwasshockedthatsomebodywouldmakethatremark.

Thisisalsotruewhenthe"owner"ofthegerundcomeswrappedinanounphrase:
a. Iwasthankfulfortheguynextdoorshovelingsnowfrommydriveway.

Gerund:averbform,endingining,whichactsasanoun.Runninginthepark
afterdarkcanbedangerous.Gerundsarefrequentlyaccompaniedbyotherassociated
wordsmakingupagerundphrase("runningintheparkafterdark").
Becausegerundsandgerundphrasesarenouns,theycanbeusedinanywaythata
nouncanbeused:

assubject:Beingkingcanbedangerousforyourhealth.

asobjectoftheverb:Hedidn'tparticularlylikebeingking.

asobjectofapreposition:Hewroteabookaboutbeingking.

Infinitives and Gerunds and Sequence

Althoughtheyarenot,strictlyspeaking,verbs,infinitivesandgerundscarry
withinthemtheideaofaction.Combinedwithauxiliaryverbforms,likeverbs,they
alsoexpressvariousshadesoftime.

Simple
Forms

Perfective
Forms

Passive
Forms

Perfective
Passive
Forms

Perfective
Progressive
Infinitive

Wehadplannedtowatchallthe
eventsoftheOlympics

Seeingthoseathletesperformis
alwaysagreatthrill.

Thewomen'shockeyteamhopedto
havewonagoldmedalbeforethey
weredone.

Wewerethrilledabouttheirhaving
beenincontentionintheworld
championshipsbefore.

Tobechosenasanolympianmust
bethebiggestthrillinanyathlete's
life.

Beingchosen,however,isprobably
notenough.

Thewomendidnotseemsatisfied
simplytohavebeenselectedas
players.

Havingbeenhonoredthisway,
theywentoutandearneditby
winningthegold.

Tohavebeencompetingatthat
level,attheiragealready,wasquite
anaccomplishment.

Actual and Potential Meanings

Althoughagerundandaninfinitivewilloftenhavepracticallythesamemeaning
("Runningintheparkafterdarkcanbedangerous"and"Torunintheparkafterdark
canbedangerous"),therecanbeadifferenceinmeaning.Gerundsareusedto
describean"actual,vivid,orfulfilledaction"whereasinfinitivesarebetterusedto
describe"potential,hypothetical,orfutureevents"(Frodesen&Eyring297).Thisis
especiallytruewiththreekindsofverbs:verbsofemotion,verbsof
completion/incompletion,andverbsofremembering.
EMOTION
Actual Event

Potential Event

I hated practicing my violin

while the other kids were
playing outside.

I prefer to work during the

day.

COMPLETION/INCOMPLETION
Actual Event

Potential Event

We began working on this

project two years ago.
Wefinished working on this
project a month ago.
(Finish always takes a
gerund.)

We will continue to work on

this project for the next four
months. I wonder when we
willstart to wrap up this
project.

REMEMBERING
(such as remember, forget, regret)
Juanita forgot to do her
homework. (meaning that
Juanita failed to do her
homework because she
didn't remember to do it)

Juanita forgot doing her

homework. (meaning that
Juanita did her homework
but that she forgot she had
done so)

ABBREVIATIONS
If you are frequently confronted with decisions regarding

abbreviations, get hold of a copy of either The Chicago Manual

of Style or The Gregg Reference Manual. Both these books
contain extensive chapters on proper form in using abbreviations,
as well as the possessive and plural forms of abbreviations.

Abbreviate the following:

Titles before names:

Mrs.,Mr.,Ms.,Prof.,Dr.,Gen.,Rep.,Sen.,St.(forSaint)
NoticethatMissisnotanabbreviation,sowedon'tputaperiodafterit.Ms.isnotan
abbreviation,either,butwedouseaperiodafteritprobablytokeepitconsistentwithMr.and
Mrs.
ThepluralofMr.isMessrs.(WeinvitedMessrs.Carter,Lincoln,andFord.)Thepluralof
Dr.isDrs.(WeconsultedDrs.Carter,Lincoln,andFord.)ThepluralofMrs.isMmesorMmes.
(withorwithouttheperiod).
Inmostformalprose,wedonotusetitles,abbreviatedorotherwise,withindividuals.Ms.
EmilyDickinsonissimplyEmilyDickinson,andafterthefirstuseofherfullname,Dickinson
willdo(unlessweneedEmilytoavoidconfusionwithotherDickinsons).
TheabbreviationsRev.andHon.(forReverendandHonorable)arenot,strictlyspeaking,
titles;theyareadjectives.Ininformallanguageorwhenwe'retryingtosavespaceormakealist,
wecanwriteRev.AlanB.DarlingandHon.FranciscoGonzales.Informaltext,wewouldwrite
"theReverendAlanB.Darling"and"theHonorableFranciscoGonzales"(i.e.,it'snotagood
ideatoabbreviateeitherReverendorHonorablewhenthesewordsareprecededby"the").
Incidentally,wecannotsay"Weinvitedthereverendtodinner"andonlyacadwouldinvite"the
rev."

Titles after names:

Sr.,Jr.,Ph.D.,M.D.,B.A.,M.A.,D.D.S.
Thesearestandardabbreviations,withperiods.TheAPAPublication
Manualrecommendsnotusingperiodswithdegrees;otherreferencemanualsdorecommend
usingperiods,souseyourownjudgmentonthisissue.Allsourcesadviseagainstusingtitles
beforeandafteranameatthesametime(i.e.,shecanbeDr.JuanitaEspinozaorJuanita
Espinoza,PhD,butshecannotbeDr.JuanitaEspinoza,PhD).Andwedonotabbreviateatitle
thatisn'tattachedtoaname:"Wewenttoseethedoctor(notdr.)yesterday."

TheChicagoManualofStylerecommendsnotusingacommatoseparatetheJr./Sr./III
fromthelastname,butyoushouldfollowthepreferencesoftheindivdualifyouknowthose
preferences.Ifyoulista"junior"withhisspouse,the"Jr."cangoafterbothnames,asin"Mr.
andMrs.ArthurC.BanksJr."or"Mr.ArthurC.BanksJr.andGloriaBanksbutnotArthurC.
andGloriaBanksJr.Youshouldavoidusinga"Jr."or"Sr."whenyouhaveonlythelastname
Mr.BanksJr.
Have you ever run across an acronym or abbreviation and not known what it means? Try
using the AcronymFinder. Just type in the letters and click on Search. Out of a database
of over 190,000 abbreviations and acronyms, the Finder will probably discover what
you're looking for.

Namesof

familiarinstitutionsUConn,MIT,UCLA,CIA,FBI,NATO

countriesU.S.A.,U.K.

corporationsIBM,CBS,NPR,CNN,ITT

famouspeopleLBJ,FDR,JFK,MLK

veryfamiliarobjectsTV,VCR,CDROM.

NoticethatU.S.A.canalsobewrittenUSA,butU.S.isbetterwiththeperiods.Also,we
canuseU.S.asamodifier(theU.S.policyonimmigration)butnotasanoun(Heleft
theU.S.U.S.A.).
Termsofmathematicalunits:15in.,15ft,15kg,15m,15lb
Generally,youwouldusetheseabbreviationsonlyintechnicalwriting.Thereisaspace
betweenthenumberandtheabbreviation.Noticethatwedonotputansaftersuchabbreviations
evenwhenthepluralisindicated.Also,wedonotuseaperiodwithsuchabbreviationsexcept
forin.whenitmightbeconfusedwiththeprepositionin.
Whenthetermofmeasurementisusedasamodifier,weputahyphenbetweenthenumber
andthetermofmeasurement:a15ftboard,a6lbline,etc.
Long,commonphrases,suchasIQ(IntelligenceQuotient),rpm(revolutionsperminute),mph
(milesperhour),andmpg(milespergallon).
Suchabbreviationsareacceptableeveninformalacademictextandmaybeusedwithout
periods.

Wordsusedwithnumbers:Heleftat2:00a.m.Shewasbornin1520B.C.
EitherloweroruppercaseletterscanbeusedwithA.M.,a.m.,P.M.,p.m.Theabbreviation
B.C.(beforeChrist)isusedafterthedate;A.D.(annodomini,"intheyearoftheLord")
appearsbeforethedate.TheabbreviationsB.C.andA.D.aresometimesreplacedwithB.C.E.
(beforethecommonera)andC.E.(commonera),bothusedafterthedate(althoughonemust
addthatthoseabbreviationsareneitherwidelyusednorcommonlyunderstood).Sometimesyou
willsee790BCandAD78writtenwithoutperiodsandwritteninSMALLCAPS.Notethatmany
stylebooksarenowrecommendingSMALLCAPSforallappearancesofacronyms,such
asNAACPorNCAA.Theeffectofthispracticeistoallowtheacronymtoblendmoresmoothly
withtherestofthetext.
Itisconsideredbadformtousetheseabbreviationswithoutaspecificnumberattachedto
them:"We'lldothisinthea.m."or"We'lldothistomorrowa.m."
CommonLatinterms:etc.(etceteraandsoforth),i.e.(idestthatis),e.g.(exempli
gratiaforexample),etal.(etaliiandothers).
The abbreviation i.e. (i.e., that is) is often confused with other
abbreviations (e.g., e.g.). The i.e. generally is used to introduce
matter that is explanatory as opposed to being the name of an
example or list of examples. If you can say for example as a
substitute for the abbreviation, you want to use e.g., not i.e. Do not
italicize or underline these abbreviations. Most sources
recommend avoiding the use of Latin abbreviations except within
parenthetical notes and some sources say not to use Latin
abbreviations at all (use the English terms instead) except within
citations or reference lists. Good advice.
The Chicago Manual of Style recommends using a comma after
i.e. or e.g. in order to set off those abbreviations as introductory
modifiers. Other resources say not to bother with the comma, but
the comma makes good sense.

Exceptinthebusinessofformallycitingmaterialyou'veusedinresearch,it'sagoodidea
nottouseetal.whenyoumean"andothers."Anddon'tuseetc.asalazyperson'swayofgetting
outofwork.Spelloutthewordversusunlessyou'rereportinggamescores,whenyouwoulduse
vs.;whenyou'recitinglegaldocuments,usetheabbreviationv.

Namesofstatesandterritoriesinreferencesandaddresses,butnotinnormaltext.
AbbreviationsacceptedbytheU.S.PostalService(includingabbreviationsforwords
likeBoulevardandAlley)arelistedonline.Donotusestateabbreviationssimplytosavetimeor
spaceexceptinanaddressonanenvelopeorlist.Wedonotuseperiodswithstateabbreviations:
CT,NY,NJ.WeuseD.C.afterthenameofthecitywithintheDistrictofColumbia:
Washington,D.C.;theAPAManualdoesnotuseperiodswithDC.TheU.S.postalservice,
incidentally,doesnotinsertacommabetweenthecityandtheabbreviatedstatename:Hartford
CT,PortlandORatleastnotintheaddressesonenvelopes.
Abbreviate"Saint"inU.S.placenames,asinSt.LouisandSt.Petersburg,Florida,andthe
St.LawrenceRiver.Forthesamewordinothercountries,youmighthavetoconsultagood
dictionary(onethatcontainsplacenames):St./SaintMartin'sintheFields,SaintMoritz,Saint
Lucia,MontSaintMichel,SaintPetersburg(Russia).WhenthewordSaintisusedtorefertoa
holyperson,spelloutthewordSaintTheresa,SaintFrancisofAssisi.Ifaninstitutionis
namedafterasaint,spelloutthewordSaintunlessyouhavesomereasontosavespaceSaint
FrancisHospital,SaintJosephCollege,SaintJoseph'sUniversity.Itiswise,asalways,toconsult
theactualinstitution.Colleges,universities,andhospitalsnamedafterSaintMaryareabout
evenlydividedbetweenSt.andSaint,butinformalsituations,Saintseemstobefavoredmore
frequently.

Don't abbreviate the following:

(Informalacademicproseitisconsideredbadformtoabbreviatewordssimplytosavespace,
time,orenergy.)

Wordssuchasthrough(thru),night(nite).

Daysoftheweekormonthsoftheyear(inthenormalflowoftext).

Wordsatthebeginningofasentence.

People'snamessuchasChas.(forCharles)orJas.(forJames),unlessthoseabbreviations
havecometobeacceptedasnicknamesforthoseparticularindividuals.

States'namessuchasMass.(forMassachusetts)orConn.(forConnecticut).When
appropriate(asintheaddressesforenvelopes),usetheU.S.postalservice'sapprovedtwo
letterabbreviations:MA,CT(withoutperiods).

Coursessuchasecon(foreconomics)orpolisci(forpoliticalscience).

Spacing and Periods

Abbreviationsofunitsofmeasurearewrittenwithoutperiods(withtheexceptionof"in"
whenitcouldbeconfusedwiththepreposition).Weuseperiodsformostlowercase
abbreviationssuchase.g.andi.e.andc.o.d.Forverycommonabbreviations,leaveoutthe

periods,asinrpmandmph.Whenanabbreviationwithaperiodendsasentence,thatperiodwill
sufficetoendthesentence:HelivesinWashington,D.C.Suffixesforpeople'snamesrequire
periods:JoeSmithJr.livesinErie.Informaltextitisnotagoodideatoabbreviatemilitarytitles
LieutenantColonelChesterPiascykbutininformaltextLt.Col.ChesterPiascykwouldbe
acceptable.(Notethespaceafter"Lt.")Academicdegreescanbewrittenwithperiodsornot,but
don'tinsertspacesPh.D.orPhD,M.B.A.orMBAwithinthedegree.
People'sinitialsareusuallyfollowedbyaperiodandaspaceW.E.B.DuBoisbut
youneedtobecarefulthatalinebreakdoesn'tcomeinthemiddleofsomeone'sinitials.(You
canimposewhatiscalleda"forcedspace"or"nonbreakingspace"byholdingdowntheoption
keywhileyouhitthespacebar.)Youwillfindexceptionstothisruleinthewaythatsome
companieswritetheirname:JCPenney(nospacesorperiods),L.L.Bean(nospaceinthe
initials),etc.Innormaltext,writerscansafelyignorecorporateaberrationsinspacingand
capitalization.(SomeeditorswriteHarrySTrumanwithoutaperiodafterthe"S,"becausethe
initialdidn'treallystandforanything,buttheTrumanPresidentialMuseumand
Librarycontendsthatthatpracticeissilly.Still,youwilloftenfindTruman'snamewrittensans
periodinhighlyregardedplaces.)Whenaperson'sinitialsstandaloneeitherasanickname,
"Comehere,JT!"orasacommonshortcutJFK(forJohnFitzgeraldKennedy)orLBJ(for
LyndonBainesJohnson)typethemwithoutspacesorperiods.Professionaldesignationssuch
asCPA(CertifiedPublicAccountant)orCLU(CertifiedLifeUnderwriter)areseparatedfrom
thelastnamewithacommaandarewrittenwithoutspacesorperiods,asinBerthaBigknot,
CPA,unlessthedesignationisaccompaniedbyanacademicdegree,asinFoxyReynard,Ph.D.,
C.L.U.

Acronyms
Thereisadifferencebetweenacronymsandabbreviations.Anacronymisusually
formedbytakingthefirstinitialsofaphraseorcompoundedwordandusingthoseinitials
toformawordthatstandsforsomething.ThusNATO,whichwepronounceNATOH,is
anacronymforNorthAtlanticTreatyOrganization,andLASER(whichwepronounce
"lazer"),isanacronymforLightAmplificationbyStimulatedEmissionofRadiation.FBI,
then,isnotreallyanacronymfortheFederalBureauofInvestigation;itisan
abbreviation.AIDSisanacronym;HIVisanabbreviation.URLisanabbreviationfor
UniformResourceLocator(WorldWideWebaddress),butmanypeoplepronounceitas
"Earl,"makingitatrueacronym,andothersinsistonpronouncingitasthreeseparate
letters,"U*R*L,"thusmakingitanabbreviation.Thejuryisstillout.(IvoteforUncle
Earl.)
Itappearsthattherearenohardandfastrulesforusingperiodsineitheracronymsor
abbreviations.Moreandmore,newspapersandjournalsseemtodroptheperiods:
NAACP,NCAA,etc.Consistency,obviously,isimportant.

Using articles with abbreviations and acronyms:

One of the most often asked questions about grammar has to do with the choice
of articles a, an, the to precede an abbreviation or acronym. Do we say an FBI
agent or a FBI agent? Although "F" is obviously a consonant and we would precede any
word that begins with "F" with "a," we precede FBI with "an" because the first sound we
make when we say FBI is not an "f-sound," it is an "eff-sound." Thus we say we're going
to a PTO meeting where anNCO will address us. We say we saw a UFO because,
although the abbreviation begins with a 'U," we pronounce the "U" as if it were spelled
"yoo." Whether we say an URL or a URL depends on whether we pronounce it as "earl"
or as "u*r*l."