International Writers’ Workshop

Week 2 – Grammar RefresherErica Cirillo-McCarthy

Assistant Director of Graduate and ADEP Writing

Verb Tenses Prepositions Editing for Errors But first – any questions on last week’s workshop –

academic writing in English or the Writing Process?

Today’s Workshop:

Conjugating Regular Verbs according to TENSE and NUMBER

Present tense: Singular: I drive, You drive, He/She/It

drives Plural: We drive, You (plural)

drive, They drive

Past tense: Singular: I drove, you drove, he/she/it

drove Plural: we drove, You (plural)

drove, They drove

Describes an action that began in the past and is still going on in the present (have or has + past participle):

Ex. I have attended CLU for almost three years. (I started attending in the past AND still attend).

Ex. The curriculum has been a topic for faculty meetings for quite some time. (Faculty meetings have focused on curriculum in the past AND still focus on curriculum)

Present Perfect Tense

Describes an action that began in the past and has ended by the time of another past action (had + past participle):

Ex. I had written a strong draft of my personal statement before I met with a tutor.

Ex. The store had sold out by the time I arrived.

Past Perfect Tense

(a little less common) – describes an action that will be completed before or by a certain future time (will have + past participle):

Ex. I will have mastered the English language by the time I complete my studies at CLU.

Ex. If we continue to wait any longer, the plane will have left the airport.

Future Perfect Tense

Describes an action currently in progress or for future actions that are to occur at some specific time (to be + -ing verb):

Ex. Sula is studying for her exams.

Ex. CLU is preparing to expand their graduate writing services next semester.

Present Progressive Form

Describes past actions in progress (was/were + -ing verb):

Ex. Sula was studying intently before I interrupted her.

Ex. Before we discovered the free shuttle, we were walking to school everyday.

Past Progressive

Describes future action in progress (will be + -ing verb):

Ex. I will be taking part in my graduation ceremonies.

Ex. After her big promotion, she will be flying first class.

Future Progressive

Verb consistency worksheet

tense consistency exercise.docx

Applying the rules

Most commonly used prepositions: at, by, for, from, in, of, on, to, with

Denote or show TIME and PLACE.

Prepositions

At – at a specific time: at 10:00am, at sunset, at lunch. Ex. We will meet at 2: 30 pm.

On – on a specific day or date: on Saturday, on Dec. 5th. Ex. I defend my dissertation on Sept. 21st.

IN – in a part of a 24-hour period: in the afternoon, in the day time, in a year or month, in a period of time. Ex. I usually tend to be my brightest in the early morning. Ex. 2. Robert gets most of his workout done in the evening right after work.

By – by a specific time or date: by 4:00pm. Ex. I will have this paper completely revised by next Friday.

TIME

At – at a meeting place or location: at home, at the store. Ex. We can meet at the restaurant to save time. Ex. You can find me at my desk most mornings. Ex. Make a left at the corner of Olson and Moorpark Road.

On – on a surface, on an electronic medium. Ex. I know I put my keys on the table when I came in. Ex. I watched the debates on my laptop.

In – in an enclosed space, in a geographic location, in a print medium. Ex. In the attached document, you will find the necessary information for your trip. Ex. I was born in NY. Ex. I found this quote in Errors and Expectations, a book by Mina Shaughnessy.

By- by a landmark. Ex. I drive by Dodger Stadium every day on my way to work.

PLACE

Preposition Worksheet

PREPOSITIONS _time and place_worksheet.docx

Applying the rules

Come up with a plan that works for you ◦ print it out and read it aloud◦ Have someone else read it aloud so you “hear” your writing for clarity and

flow

Consideration of audience Eliminate redundancy, in word choice, in ideas, in sentence structureParallel structureGet to know your patterns of error and look for thoseFinesse the formatting, in text citation, and references pageGo through and make sure all of your sources have a bibliographic entry and

that you don’t have a bibliographic entry that you haven’t cited (use the “find” function in Word)

Look for your writing ticks—over usage of certain transitions or phrases

Editing

Understand that editing takes time and can seem tedious

But change your perspective: the heavy lifting is already done! Editing is the easy part!

Give yourself enough time to S-L-O-W-L-Y go over every sentence carefully

A solid editing can mean the difference between a ‘B’ paper and an ‘A’ paper

Graduate writing is all high stakes – meaning it’s worth taking the time to edit well!

Editing, continued