Grammar rules

Go with the shortest answer unless the shortest is horrible (grammatically incorrect or omits necessary information)

Exaggerate the pause and the inflection change

A subject, a verb, a complete thought, Dependent clauses (where, while, when, because, if since as unless, rather, until...) are never complete thoughts

a. the butterfly is colorful b. the friends are together c. When there is a single word underline, its usually a verb. When hunting down the subject slash the prepositional phrase.

a. Each- of the boys has arrived b. Neither- of the teams is any good c. None- of them whines about homework d.Neither- of the cars gets good gas mileage

a. If one owner:'s- one boy's dream, one girl's microscope b. If more than one owner:s'- two boys' dream, two girls' microscope c. men's, women's, children's, and people's are alway's 's.

a. always say both words: its, you've, you're, they've, we've, he's, who's. b. Impact: contractions are less formal, less emphatic, and less urgent. c. Who's vs. Whose:- i, There's the guy, who's an achiever, not a slacker. ii. There's the guy, whose effort should lead to many scholarships.

a. Semi-colon- ; =, and (bracketed by two complete thoughts) b. Colon- : = example(s) to follow (a complete thought precedes a colon) c. hyphen or dash- - = a comma or a semicolon.

Your principal goal is to please your principal, your Pal. Your principles are your bedrock, heartfelt values. i. Graduating from college is my principal motive. ii. My principles won't let me do that. Effect is a noun while to affect is a verb. i. Your score should affect your college cost. ii. Apathy will have an effect on your future. Then vs. Than- Then is time while Than is comparing.

a. Use; or, and i. Ed went to the store, and he bought some gum

a. Determine the tense, then plug it into these sentences.

Today I, bring Yesterday I brought For years I have brought Today I cast Yesterday I cast For years I have cast today I run yesterday I ran For years I have ran Today I seek Yesterday I sought For years I have sought Today I shrink Yesterday I shrunk For years I have shrunk Today I fling Yesterday I flung For years I have flung Today I slide Yesterday I slid For years I have slid Today I stride Yesterday I strode For years i have stridden Today I swim Yesterday I swam For years I have swum

A. about, above, across, after, against, around, along, among, at, behind, before, beneath, beside, between, beyond, by, down, during, except, for, from, in, near, of, off, on, opposite, out, outside, over, past, regarding, round, since, to, through, under, until, up, with, within b. Prepositional phrases begin with prepositions and end with nouns, but never have subjects.

a. The guy is flipping pancakes b. Bob has to run to the store

a. Stay with the trend within the sentence i. She was walking, talking, and smiling. ii. she walked, talked, and smiled. iii. Verb tense has to be the same

a. It must be clear what the pronoun refers to (must have a clear antecedent). i. Bob and Jim shopped. They bought some jeans. b. Must agree in number and gender with its antecedent. i. Sally and George work hard. They are happy. c. Cross out the names and the word and around the pronoun: isolate the pronoun. i. Give the books to me. ii. Please study with me. d. Think of something identical simple to understand: final resort when torn between two. i. This is just between you and me. e. Comparisons with a pronoun at end: add the verb. i. Margie is faster than he. ii. They aren't as prepared as we. f. the verb 'to be': am, is, are, was, were, been, could, should, may, might, will. i. what precedes 'to be' equals what follows: He is the teacher. ii. like math: is a=b then b=a. When a pronoun follows the verb 'to be', reverse the order. 1. The class president will be she. 2. The leaders all year have been they. 3.Thats he right there. 4. Hey that's I in the photograph. g. who v. whom: i. Make sure the antecedent involves people. ii. Begin with who/whom. Take out who whom. Plug in he or they. iii. If he or they works, go with who. If neither he nor the works, go with whom. (who=he), (whom=him) 1. Who is this for? 2. Who gave you that?