Glimpses into Grammar #2 - Nouns, Pronouns, and Prepositional Phrases. Oh, my!

A Day in the Life of a Science Fiction Writer: Glimpses into Grammar - Nouns, Pronouns, and Prepositional Phrases. Oh, my!

This is the second of four posts on common grammar errors, omissions, and misunderstandings. The last of the "Glimpses into Grammar"--the fifth & final post--will explore sentence structure/construction.

Nearly every writer has grammar issues of some kind or another. Those chosen for this blog series are some of the ones I experience in my writing. In any of my manuscripts, the issue with each individual issue will range from significant to non-existent.

If you don’t experience any of these in any of your writing, I hope you realize how fortunate you are!

This glimpse begins with

Bonus Tip #1

Accept – to allow into a group or be satisfied with a situation

Except – to exclude something

 

Nouns

Almost all of us learned that a noun is “the name of a person, place or thing.” Ideas are nouns, too. Here are the rules for making nouns plural:

·      The general rule is to add an “s” (cat à cats)

·      If the noun ends in –s, -ch, -x, or –z, add “es” (churches, buses)

·      If the noun ends in –y, and the “y” follows a consonant drop the “y” and add “ies” (Bunny = Bunnies, Berry = Berries)

·      If the noun ends in –y, and the final “y” follows a vowel just add “s” (Monkey à Monkeys)

 

Know your pronouns!

·      Indefinite—many, anybody, all

·      Reflexive—myself

·      Possessive—theirs, ours, its

·      Demonstrative—this/that/those/these

·      Interrogative—who/which

·      Personal—I, me, she, he

·      Intensive—myself

·      Relative—who, whatever

·      Reciprocal—each other

 

Bonus Tip!

·      That

·      Which 

 Both are relative pronouns, but…

That is restrictive:

It identifies, narrows or specifies. The information is required for the meaning of the sentence to be clear to the reader.

“The house that we toured yesterday was tiny.”

That is restrictive and needs no commas

 

Which is non-restrictive:

Gives more info about what’s already identified. The information is not required for the meaning of the sentence to be clear to the reader.

“The kitchen floor, which is filthy, needs to be mopped.”

Which is non-restrictive and needs commas.

Memory tool: Commas, which cut out the fat, go with  “which” and never “that.”

Prepositional Phrases

2 essential parts: preposition and a noun or pronoun

3 possible functions: adjective, adverb, noun

The NOUN or PRONOUN is known as the object of the preposition. 

What are the prepositional phrases? <answers below pictures>

Adjective: The satchel in the hallway was Cameron’s.

Adverb: Jen and Kara went to the Coffee Bean late last night.

Noun: The noise originated outside my house.

Adjective: The satchel in the hallway was Cameron’s.

Adverb: Jen and Kara went to the Coffee Bean late last night.

Noun: The noise originated outside my house.

 

Finding & Correcting Errors

Correct the grammar and punctuation errors in this mixed up paragraphs from Tune Up Your Teaching & Turn on Student Learning by Dr. JoAnn Jurchan and Dr. Chuck Downing:

Challenges is a part of a teachers’ life. Situations arise that are perplexing, or frankly just, frustrating. You “cup” at times may be overflowing, and not in a good way. Other times, your “cup” at times may be overflowing with exciting about something new you have learned or a classroom’s successes that you wants to share with others. A new policy or directive may just be the straws that breaks the camels back and you are looking for strategies or methods to help it all make since. Maybe, you want to communicate and collaborate with others that will stretch and assist you move successfully along the novice to expert/master continuum from you’re current location to where you will be most affective. Reading our book was a step in helping you solve any of this situations.

The corrected paragraph is shown after the "signature" of this blog. Compare your “fixes” to what you find there.

Next Day in the Life of a Science Fiction Writer: Glimpses into Grammar - Adjectives, and Conjunctions

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Challenge is a part of a teacher’s life. Situations arise that are perplexing or frankly just frustrating. Your “cup” at times may be overflowing and not in a good way. Other times, your “cup” may be overflowing with excitement about something new you have learned or a classroom success that you want to share with others. A new policy or directive may be the straw that breaks the camel’s back, and you are looking for strategies or methods to help it all make sense. Maybe you want to communicate and collaborate with others who will stretch and assist you move successfully along the novice to expert/master continuum from your current location to where you will be most effective. Reading our book was a step in helping you resolve any of these situations.