Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s Handbook
Section One
Grammar
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© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.2
This section provides Fundamentals of effective writing through
mastery of basic sentence structure and the foundations of correct grammar.
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© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.3
Objectives Recognize basic sentence structure Write complete sentences by properly using the
parts of speech to logically form a complete thought
Place phrases and clauses correctly to form complete sentences
Locate verbs, pronouns, adjectives and adverbs within sentences
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© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.4
Grammar helps you …
Write sentences that clearly convey your message and reflect an educated command of English
Use proper word forms and functions to clearly state your meaning.
Vary the style of the sentences you write, which makes your writing more interesting to read.
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© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.5
Grammar is important because Grammar rules provide the framework for
using words correctly as different parts of speech to construct sentences
When you routinely use correct grammar, you can easily spot mistakes and correct them in your writing
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© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.6
Basic sentence structure
Every sentence must include a subject and a verb
The subject and verb must agree in number Objects answer the question whom? or
what?
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© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.7
Phrases
Phrases play different roles in sentences. They can function as subjects, verbs, and
modifiers. Their placement is crucial to clarity.
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© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.8
Phrases Phrases may be essential or nonessential to the
meaning of the sentence To ensure that sentences make sense, notice
whether phrases are connected properly to other parts of the sentence
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© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.9
Clauses
Clauses contain a subject and a verb. A clause may be dependent or independent.
Dependent - cannot stand alone and make sense Independent - can stand alone and make sense
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© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.10
Connect independent clauses with:
Coordinating conjunctions Transitional words and expressions Punctuation
Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s HandbookMoore, Seraydarian, and Fruehling
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.11
Recognize comma splices and run-ons Comma splice - occurs when you place a
comma between independent Run-on sentence - occurs when you join
independent clauses with no punctuation at all.
Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s HandbookMoore, Seraydarian, and Fruehling
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.12
Recognize fragments A sentence fragment is a group of words
lacking a subject or a verb but punctuated as if it were a complete sentence
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© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.13
Verbs
A verb is a word that expresses action or state of being.
State-of-being verbs, also called linking verbs, include forms of the verb to be and verbs of the senses, as well as others.
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© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.14
Helping verbs, also called auxiliary verbs, are used with other verbs to show time, possibility, or emphasis.
Verbs are also categorized as transitive or intransitive. A transitive requires an object to complete the
meaning of the sentence. An intransitive verb does not need an object to
complete its meaning.
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© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.15
Verb Tense Verb tense indicates the time that an action
takes place. The four simple tenses are
Present Past Present participle Past participle
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© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.16
Forming verb tenses Regular verbs form the past and past participle
by adding d or ed. Irregular verbs form the past tense by changing
their spelling in other ways. Most irregular verbs are so commonly used that
we know their forms without thinking
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© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.17
Active Voice of Verbs
The subject performs the action Places emphasis on the doer of the action Is clear and direct and, in general, makes
writing more effective
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© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.18
Passive Voice of Verbs
The subject is the receiver of the action. Use it to invoke a formal tone. Use it to de-emphasize the doer of the action. Use it to create tactful expression of the action.
Otherwise, use the active voice
for more lively, clear
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Types of Pronouns
Demonstrative Indefinite Interrogative Personal Possessive Reflexive Relative
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Pronoun Case Three forms of personal pronouns that perform
different functions in sentences Nominative case Objective case Possessive case
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Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement Personal pronouns replace specific nouns used
elsewhere in a sentence. For clarity, the pronoun reference must agree in
number and gender with its noun or pronoun antecedent.
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© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.22
Adjectives and Adverbs Adjectives modify nouns and pronouns. Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other
adverbs.
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© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.23
Types of Adjectives Descriptive adjectives - tell “what kind.” Limiting adjectives - tell “how many.” Articles - are the words a, an, and the. Pointing adjectives - are similar to articles; they
signal a noun and tell “which one.”
Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s HandbookMoore, Seraydarian, and Fruehling
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.24
Adverbs Answer How? When? Where? Why? and To what
extent? Many adverbs end in ly.
However, do not assume that all words
ending in ly are adverbs.
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© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.25
Adjective and Adverbs show comparison Positive form (first degree) Comparative form (second degree) Superlative form (third degree)
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© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.26
Prepositions Words that connect a noun or pronoun to another word
in the sentence to show relationships A prepositional phrase begins with a preposition
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Using prepositions Avoid unnecessary prepositions. Avoid prepositions at the end of a sentence. Use the correct preposition.
Pearson Business Reference and Writer’s HandbookMoore, Seraydarian, and Fruehling
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.28
Grammar must be correct in all written documents.
When you are unsure, use the Pearson Reference Manual and Writer’s Handbook to check your writing.