Grammer glamour

This is something I copied from a book, and wanted to share it with everyone! Hope it helps with your writing, to know the correct way to write makes your work that much better. Enjoy!

Grammer Glamour

Affect/Effect-

This confuses people.....

Affect �" to influence something

example : The fashion on the runways ( affect ) the fashions in lower-priced stores.

Effect �" the result of something

example : The fashion shown on the runways has an inspiring effect on me!

So something �" affects �" you, and you are effected by it.

accept/except

Another thing people get confused about.

Accept �" to approve of, to welcome.

Example �" When I was finally accepted by the cool kids, I realized they were idiots.

Except �" means the same thing as 'but'.

Example �" I would have been happy to finally been accepted by the cool kids, except I realized they were idiots.

A lot -

A lot is not one word. The phrase is two words and it means ' plenty.' It is a good idea to avoid using this phrase in formal writing. If you do use it, don't use it as follows: (a lot).

Example _ There are a lot of cranky kids reading this writing book.

Already/ all ready

Already is an adverb that tells when.

All ready is a phrase meaning “ completely ready.”

Example �" We are already on Chapter 6. We are all ready to stop studying our writing skills and play some video games.

Can/May

Can means “ able to” and may - “permitted to.”

Examples -

I think we can finish studying writing skills. May we go now?

Imply/Infer

Something is implied. Someone infers. That is, you can say something that implies something to someone, and they infer what you mean.

Ex �" I implied that Shelly is not my favorite person. Angela somehow inferred from this that I absolutely hate Shelly.

Its/It's

Only use it's when you mean “ it is”.

Example �" It's snowing outside.

There is no other time when you need an apostrophe in ' its.' Even when its a possessive, it still gets no apostrophe. It's- is only correct when you are saying ' it is.' We can't seem to say this enough, as we keep repeating ourselves.

To/Too/Two

Most, but not all people use two correctly; that is, for the number 2. But to and too cause a lot of problems.

To �" is a preposition. Use it that way.

Example �" I went to the prep rally.

Too- means also. Do not use it for a location. And don't use it at the beginning of a sentence. You will often see too at the end of a sentence �" don't forget the comma before the word- 'too'.

Example �" I went to the pep rally, and Janna had to go, too.

Whom/Who

We would be that 99% of the population gets this wrong. It's a tough one, but we have a trick! First, however, we'll explain it so you understand the grammatical reasoning behind it ( We have to do that, of course!) Who is used as the subject of the sentence. Whom is used as a direct object. Get it?

Forget it! Here's the trick: There are two times when you use whom.

1. When a subject or a subject pronoun follows your choice of who or whom, use whom. Here's the trick. Check this out:

example �" It was the new babysitter ( whom) Lisa told to order that pizza.

Whom or who? The answer is whom. “Lisa” comes after your choice.

Example �" It was the new babysitter '______ ' ordered that pizza.

Whom or who? The answer is 'who'! There is no other subject following the choice. Therefore, who is the subject and follows the rule of being used as a subject! Let's try it again, so you can get this right and correct your parents, teachers, and anyone older than you whom you think should know more than you, right? There we go! “ You” followed the choice of who or whom, so you use whom. Cool trick, right? There's one little problem. There's an exception. You cannot use whom with the verb- 'to be.' That means if you see �" is,are, was,were,etc., stick with who. Sorry, Nothing is ever that simple. So, if your sentence reads:

example �" You are the one_____ I love.

Who or Whom? The answer is who. Since you see a form of the verb 'to be', in this case, are, use who.

2. If a preposition comes before the choice, use whom since it will then become an object.

Example �" My mom asked, “The pizza was ordered by whom?”

Here's another who/whom trick: When in doubt, use who. Why? As we said, most people really can't get this right. And whom used incorrectly sounds a lot worse than who. However, it would be great to get this right.

So read through this who/whom deal one more time. The thing is that once you get it, you'll never forget it, get it right every time!

Semicolons -

1. Separate independent clauses joined without a conjunction.

2. Separate independent clauses that contain commas even if the clauses are joined by a conjunction. The semicolon helps the reader see where the break in thought occurs.

3 To separate independent clauses connected with a conjunctive adverb. Follow the adverb with a comma. * Meaning- “A conjunctive adverb is an adverb that joins independent clauses.” Conjunctive adverbs are punctuated differently than regular conjunctions. The first independent clause is followed by a semicolon; the conjunctive adverb is followed by a comma.

*meaning- “ independent clause - “ a group of words that by itself could form a complete sentence.”

List of conjunctive adverbs

accordingly furthermore instead otherwise

besides hence moreover therefore

consequently however nevertheless thus

4. Use a semicolon to separate items in a series if the items contain comma, a semicolon is used even when there “ Is” a conjunction.

Colons -

1. Use a colon to introduce a list of items, as long as the part before the colon is already a complete sentence.

2. Do not use a colon if the list of items complement a verb; in other words, if it completes the meaning begun by the verb.

3. Use a colon to introduce a formal question.

4. Use a colon to emphasize a word, phrase, or clause that adds particular emphasis to the main body of a sentence. Again, the part before the colon should already be a complete sentence.

Colons that show a subordinate relationship:

1. Between two sentences when the 2^nd explains the 1^st.

2. Between the title and the subtitle of a book.

3. Between volume and page number or chapter & verse.

4. Between hour & minute.

5. After the greeting of a business letter. A colon signals the reader that what is to follow is a business matter, something to be taken seriously. In a business letter, the closing is followed by a comma.

Apostrophes & Dashes

1. When there is more than one word in the possessive adjective �" for example, with a compound noun, a business or institution, or jointly possessed items �" add the apostrophe

's' to the last word of the compound.

2. Words showing periods of time or amount of money need apostrophes when they are used as possessive adjectives.

3. A singular noun that ends in 's' still takes apostrophe 's', though some writers omit the 's' and include only the apostrophe.

4. When a possessive pronoun ( my, mine, our, ours. Your , yours, his, her, hers, their, theirs) is used as an adjective, no apostrophe is needed.

Dashes

A dash is a very specialized punctuation mark reserved for only a few special situations.

( Remember to distinguish a dash from a hyphen when typing-- a dash is two hyphens!)

1. Use a dash to mark a sudden break in though or to insert a comment.

2. Use a dash to emphasize explanatory material. You don't have to use a dash, but you may.

3. Use a dash to indicate omitted letters or words.

4. Use a dash to connect a beginning phrase to the rest of the sentence.

Punctuating within Quotation marks-

1. Question marks, exclamation points, and dashes go inside the quotation marks if they are part of the quotation. If they aren't place them outside they quotation marks.

2. Periods and commas go inside closing quotation marks.

3. Colon and semicolon go outside closing quotation marks.

Verbs �" 3 parts

1. Present �" the form of the verb that would complete the sentence, “ Today I ______.”

2. Past �" the form of the verb that would complete the sentence, “ Yesterday, I _____.”

3. Past participle �" the form of the verb that would complete the sentence “often I have______.”

Present �" do, go, see, drink, break ,bring, choose, know, wear, write.

Past �" did, went, saw, drank, broke, brought, chose, knew, wore, wrote.

Past participle �" done, gone, seen, drunk, broken, brought, chosen, known, worn.

Reviews

[Poetic Beauty]

Jen thanks for posting this. I am one of those people whom from time to time gets confused on the accept/except thing or use to. this is great for giving new writers and young writer helpful tips to improve their work and help with the confusing nature of the words. thanks from a not so young writer.

[Octob3r Star]

ha ha

-joshua

[Crowley]

Strunk, White and Burlock...great tips. that took some time to write that down.

[zogzog]

wow....thanks a great deal....everybody really does need this....i could never for the life of me get affect/effect right....EVER! lol....thanks...
i remember my college english teacher talking about this very thing too....effect/affect....maybe someday....lol

[Ladysue]

Jen, this is awesome...I can get confused from time to time..yes a very helpful tip for all...thanks for sharing..

[The Rock And Roll Cowbo..]

Thanks for sharing... I too make some of those errors... even though I know better I guess I get to relaxed and don't pay attention.