Common Grammar and Style Issues
Deadwood
Get rid of or condense do-nothing, say-nothing words and phrases.
There is nothing more important than the breath of life and when one person stops breathing it is a simple fact that there is only enough oxygen in the blood and other tissues to sustain the precious gift of life for a few minutes.
Infinitives and infinitive phrases
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/627/03/
To die a hero is the goal of every Klingon warrior. (noun)
Your plan to eliminate world hunger is admirable but not feasible. (adjective)
We must study to learn. (adverb)
Avoid split infinitives:
I aspire to quickly advance through the ranks to assistant manager. (split infinitive)
Nominalization
making verbs and adjectives into nouns
The discovery of the aliens was made by the government. (Note how nominalization causes the passive voice.)
Better: The government discovered the aliens.
The car wreck was a result of a lack of visual focus.
(Note how the nominalization hides the actor. No one was responsible for the wreck. It is little wonder why this style is popular with bureaucrats.)
Better: My sister wrecked the car when she forgot to wear her glasses.
"There is" and "there are" constructions hide the actor and generate vague nominalizations. Avoid these constructions with extreme prejudice.
There is a need for further study of aliens.
Better: Scientists need to study aliens further.
Better yet: Scientists must study aliens further.
Passive Voice
Pronoun Problems
Agreement
Pronouns must agree with their antecedents in person and number.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/595/01/
Unclear or vague reference
A pronoun must have a clear, demonstrable antecedent.
During class Tom tapped his pencil on the desk, scraped his feet on the floor, and dropped his books. This annoyed the teacher.
The pronoun "this" has no demonstrable antecedent. Revise the sentences thus:
Tom annoyed the teacher by tapping his pencil on the desk, scraping his feet on the floor, and dropping his books.
The boys wore ski boots to class which the principal disapproved of.
The pronoun "which" has no clear antecedent.
Revising the sentence involves correctly using a gerund and the possessive.
Sequence of tenses
An explanation of the sequence of tenses from Purdue:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/601/01/
Note the difference: (present perfect)
Betty taught for ten years.
Betty has taught for ten years.
Note the difference: (past perfect)
Ralph washed the car when Joe arrived.
Ralph had washed the car when Joe arrived.
Subject-verb agreement
Purdue on subject-verb agreement: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/599/01/
Final Exam Samples
Item 1
Item 2
http://docs.google.com/View?id=dcnqcv64_226fwcpqwgn
Item 3
http://docs.google.com/View?id=dcnqcv64_227gnphk5d7
Item 4
http://docs.google.com/View?id=dcnqcv64_228f85wzbcs
Items 3-4
https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1mdqZO8zRRbAPFiXCRfze4l0zuN5D7-RT1oNqyaqTN70
Item 5
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AdO1wSQ9FImjZGNucWN2NjRfMjMwY2ttdnFnZHY&hl=en
practice for items 5, 6, and 7
https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1RxE9Bv1dVh6otP32fARMAhunX4gknreQyKLKXhbjBFQ
practice for items 8-10
https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1JDFalO440veBWk2ya83Lo4iSqtH0FfsZ9oquaN-lMKU
Item 6
Item 7
Item 8
Item 9
Item 10
Mid-term samples
Item 16
https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1KOyecdI5r6QdTMr582ngSuzefsT1h6G0sBH94xr-Y0s
Item 19
https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1IxH0LsUe2rB7EFGkP-xWHOsWuf5J3jt--NCgr1nkjjk
Item 20
https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1m_u9gyRlcbbWlczPAUNfJKHgQq7E-br6bAhbQffylBg
Item 22
https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=16xzEW2PzhKiv9mZpFDkQTzWy6Vxb_7zBsnhg275AJck
Item 24
https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=11GoLGDxFOMsu_O09UXP9WLIqacx0_TgDxzPqx6IQsIQ
Quiz 1 practice
Sequence of tenses
https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1rp7j3wX7ZrC9eGYsHQJ86F169tw4QsQOdSXCkEaVjR4
Quiz 2 Practice
https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=19Udj6e14aCGMp-FnzqAyarmEwdZATU7P1ApaBazlZQ8
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