Writer’s Guidelines

Section I > Writing Checklist

Section II > Punctuation Guidelines

Section III> Grammar Guidelines

Section IV> Additional Resources

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Section I : Writing Checklist

1. The introduction grabs interest and offers a clear purpose for reading.
2. All Sentences are clear and complete.
3. No sentence exceeds 15 words.
4. No screen exceeds 100 visible words.
5. Paragraphs do not exceed five lines in the word doc. Each paragraph
essentially talks of one point.
6. There is logical flow from sentence to sentence and paragraph to paragraph.
7. There is proper transition from one idea or concept to the other in the article
or learning hour.
8. Redundant words, sentences, and points are eliminated.
9. The content, its sentences and words make sense to the audience.
10. List:
a. While listing bulleted points put a full stop at the end of every
complete sentence.
b. But not while listing titles, phrases, single words, etc.
For example, you need not put fullstops at the end of the bullets listed
here:

PROBLEM WORDS:
i. Frequently Misused Words
ii. Plural Formations
iii. Negative Formations

11. There is no repetition of short words such as the, is, of, etc.
12. There are no extra spaces between words or omitted space between
sentences.
13. Titles or chapter names are in title case.
14. The title and subheads are short (about three words and certainly not
exceeding five), clever, informative, and enticing.
15. Title and subheads have been checked for errors.
16. There is consistency of style (UK or US English).
17. The spellings have been checked for style (UK or US English).
18. Abbreviations are consistently used throughout the course.
19. Abbreviations are expanded within a bracket on their first appearance in the
course or vice versa. For example:
a. Hi! I am a PDC (Post-dated Cheque) / Hi! I am a Post-dated
Cheque(PDC).
b. Once an abbreviation has been defined, it can be used without further
explanation.
20. The article has been checked for tense shifts and use of passives.
21. Sentence beginning with conjunctions has been avoided.
22. Numerals from one to ten are spelt out (present 11 and above in numerals).
23. It the first word of a sentence was a number, it has been spelt out.
24. Numerals are used in units of measure, distance, time, percentages,
mathematical expressions, decimals and list of numbers: 5%, 6km, 2 metres,
5 minutes, etc.
25. Tables and figures are self explanatory and accurate when actually analysed.
26. "the," "that," ―this‖ and other phrases like "by the way" have been avoided as
far as possible.
27. The articles a, an and the are properly used as guided by rules.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/eslart.html
28. Its - signifies possession while it's stands for it is. When confused, read the
sentence by splitting it’s to it is. The way it sounds will tell which one is to be
used for that particular case.
29. There are no numerals, &, % symbols in the beginning of the sentence.
30. It is USD and not $.
31. Commas are used in any series of three or four things.
32. In a series where there are internal punctuations, they have been separated
by semicolons.
33. Nouns and verbs agree in tense and number.
34. Words that sound alike but mean different things, like accept/except,
effect/affect have been checked. (Check your dictionary or Writer's Web's
Commonly Confused Words.)
35. Gender-neutral language has been used and neutral words have been
substituted for masculine ones (for example, humanity for mankind.)
36. The document has been re-read for any errors.
37. Latin abbreviations like viz., eg., etc., ie., have been replaced with English
substitutes. For example, instead of etc., use and others or and the like.
====================================================
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Section II : Punctuation Guidelines

Space:
One space between words
One space after a comma
One space after a semicolon
One space after a period
One or two spaces after colon. The same should be maintained
consistently.
One space between a number and its unit (5 kilometres, 5 minutes)
No space before or after a hyphen
No space before or after a slash
No space between a word and comma
No space between a number and percentage sign (5%)
No space between a number and its unit if the unit is abbreviated
(5km)

Hyphen:

Numbers:

Twenty-two
Five hundred and sixty-five

Prefixes like all, ex, self, etc.:

all-encompassing
ex-employee
self-doubts
 When prefix or suffix create awkward juxtaposition.

Hyphen is used to separate a prefix from the root, when the last letter of
the prefix and the first letter of the root are the same letter.

Don‘t Do
nonnative non-native
preengineered pre-engineered
deenergise de-energise
preeminent pre-eminent

Use hyphen to add clarity, like in:

son-in-law
tie-ups

Hyphenate two or more words that function together as one

adjective:
happy-go-lucky
Self-confidant
devil-may-care

Formation of compound words can be confusing.

Side effects
Longtime
Clearheaded
Clear-cut
Long-term
Twofold
Antihero/anti-hero

If you are not sure which way a compound word should appear, check the
dictionary.

Don’t break a word if just one letter would be left on al line.

This rule applies to any three-letter word a d to some longer words as well.

Singulars and Plurals:

 Singular Plural
Criterion criteria
Phenomenon phenomena
graffito graffiti
brother-in-law brothers-in-law

Some words like ‗kudos‘ sound like plurals but are not.
The kudos goes to the management team.

Some commonly misused plurals are dices for dice, mediums for
media/multiple media.

Words ending in y change to ies e.g. family-families, patty-patties.

If y is preceded by a vowel (a, e, i, o and u) it does not change; e.g.
monkey-monkeys, toy-toys.

Semicolon ( ; ):

Semicolon is used when comma is insufficient to separate elements

of a sentence.

The competition drew contestants from Georgia and Alabama in the south;
New York, New Hampshire and Connecticut in the northeast; and Oregon in
the northwest.

Use a semicolon to separate independent clauses joined by a

connective other than and, or, but, for and nor; for example:

The committee to enquire into the firing has not met more than three or
four times; nevertheless, it cannot delay the report beyond the date of
submission.

Other connectives are furthermore, that is, moreover, besides, for

example, therefore, for instance, accordingly, nevertheless, however,
otherwise, also, consequently, hence, still, instead, thus, in any case and
so on.

Use a semicolon between independent clauses if there are commas

within the clauses.
Period ( . ):

Period is used to end a sentence.

Experts have concluded that it takes only 90 seconds for a stranger
to form an impression about you.

Do not use a period at the end of fragments.

For example: Single words, phrases. Bullet list items that are not complete
sentences, diagram labels, tables, titles, etc.

Or to indicate an abbreviation.
C.V. Raman
Franklin D. Roosevelt

If an initial appears something like, Franklin D. Roosevelt, note that the

period will appear only after the initial.

Do not use period at the end of instructions (especially for

instructions to learners).
Click here
Click Next to proceed
Choose the best option and click Submit
Select True or False

In Britain and some commonwealth countries, period is omitted when the

abbreviations include the final letter of the word Mrs, Mr, Dr, etc.

Optional period depending on style.

U.S.A or USA
A.M. or AM
P.M. or PM
M.Sc. or MSc
Ph.D or PhD

You can make your own decision and be consistent.

 Do not include periods in metric measurement, e.g.:

29 cm
10° C
150 km

For name of companies or organizations, follow the convention.

IBM and not I.B.M

A.M.A and not AMA

Latin abbreviations:

e.g. not eg. (exempli gratia = for example)

i.e. not ie. (id est = that is)
at al. not et. Al (et alia = and others)
cf. not c.f. (confer = compare)
viz. not viz (videlicet = namely)

Apostrophe ( ’ ):

Possession

For plurals which do not end in s, add an apostrophe plus s.

Singular Plural
Man‘s hat Men‘s hats
child‘s book children‘s books

For plurals that end in s, add just an apostrophe.

Singular Plural
Man‘s hat Men‘s hats
child‘s book children‘s books
student‘s book students‘ book
smith‘s apartment smiths‘ apartment
 Joint/Separate possession:

My mother and father‘s house.

Suraj and Soma‘s son.
Arthur and Lisa‘s partnership
Lata Mangeshkar‘s car --Mangeshkars‘ car (car belonging to the
family of Lata Mangeshkar)
The Browns and the Murphys‘ vacation plans (if the Brown and the
Murphy families travel together).
The Browns‘ and the Murphys‘ vacation plans (if the Brown and the
Murphy families do not travel together).

Contraction

Cap‘n Captain
he‘ll he will
it‘s it is
she‘d she had
B‘day Birthday
they‘re they are but not their
who‘s who is but not whose

Contractions are used in writing the years, usually of a current

century as in:

1997 ‘97
2007 ‘07

Dash ( -- ):

Use dash to set off a terminal or end construction which is added as

an after-thought.

You are welcome to come home and have a meal with us – that is if
your Director allows you to.
 Use dash to introduce an explanation or a series of explanations.

Our trip to Delhi was an utter misery – the temperature was

freezing, there was a power-cut at night, two of us were down with
flu and we were robbed of two suitcases on the return journey.

Slash ( / ):

For situations that present two clear alternatives, slash is an

acceptable symbol for or.

The graduate courses are graded pass/fail.

If a player draws an ace, he/she loses a turn.

Slash is used for indicating division, fraction or date.

6/3 = 2
x/y = z
½
02/02/2002

Parentheses:

Parentheses are used for setting off details:

Dial (040) 2755-1212.
Marie Curie (1867-1934) was the first person to be awarded a
second Nobel Prize.

Abbreviation:
Abbreviations should be expanded within a bracket on its first appearance
in the course or vice versa. For example:
Hi! I am a PDC (Post-dated Cheque) / Hi! I am a Post-dated
Cheque (PDC).
Once the abbreviation has been defined it can be used without further
explanation.
 References:
The leading proponents of this theory (Maxwell, 1986; Rosenberg &
Terrence, 1995) agree that the process must be sensitive to issues of
timing.

Inverted commas:

Marking off a dialogue:

Shreya said ―Just a minute‖.

Setting off citations: Quotation marks come

―Omit needless words!‖ cries the author on page in both doubles(― ―)
23. and singles(‗ ‗). The
American standard
is to use double
Setting off special text, coined or unusual ones for all
words: purposes. For
Now there are software programs marking off a dialogue,
available that can be used to citations from
determine the ―Fog Index‖ of your someone else‘s
writing. writing, titles of works,
Four soldiers were killed by or terms or phrases
―friendly fire‖. with special meaning.

(An occasional style

Setting off titles: guide may be followed
The entire kindergarten class rose to recite ―The with an instruction to
Lion and the Mouse‖. use double marks for
some purposes and
single marks for
others.)

If one quotation falls within another, make the inner marks single
to distinguish them.

―Well?‖ said Miss Higgins. ―Are we about to hear your ‗the dog ate my
homework‘ explanation again?‖

Capitalisation:
Capitalise the following:

The personal pronoun ‗I‘.

The first letter of a sentence.
All proper names.
In title or chapter heading – the first word and all the other words
except for articles, prepositions and coordinating conjunctions.
Religious books of all religions.
- The Upanishads
- The Koran
- The Bible
Titles of relatives when used with person‘s name and when the
person is addressed directly. Like Uncle Nair.
But not when used with a pronoun. Like his uncle.
Names of buildings and monuments.
- Taj Mahal,
- Birla Mandir.
Historical documents, events, periods and eras.
- the Maurya Period
- the Middle Ages
- the Indian Constitution
Specific course of study, like Political Science or Ancient History.
Government and other organizations or a part of such
organizations.
- Indian Air Force
- Fine Arts Academy
- Sales Department
Titles and designations of officials. Note the capitals after the
hyphen in some cases.
- the Mayor
- the Principal
- the Vice-Chancellor
- the Vice-President
Brand names but not the name of the products.
- Rolls Royce cars
- Parker fountain-pen
The first letter of the first word in a dialogue.
- Shreya said ―Just a minute‖.
Italicising:

Highlighting significant words:

She twisted the dial, right, left, right again, heard the click as the lock
yielded, opened the safe – and it was empty.

Emphasizing a speaker’s words:

I could have killed Gregory Fitzhurst at three hundred feet with my left
hand.

Setting off non-english words:

A bataille is generally waged by two players with no outside interference.

Words and letters referred to:

Mary and merry have a similar pronunciation.

Spelling variants:

Listed below are some of the spelling variations between American and British usage
of English language. For more, visit http://www.xpdnc.com/moreinfo/orlabour.html .
American British

abridgment abridgement
acknowledgment acknowledgement
advertize advertise
afterward afterwards
agonize agonise
airplane aeroplane
aluminum aluminium
ambiance ambience
ameba amoeba
amphitheater amphitheatre
analog analogue
analyze analyse
anemia anaemia
anesthesia anaesthesia
annex annexe
antiaircraft anti-aircraft
apologize apologise
archeology archaeology
armor armour
artifact artefact
atomizing atomising
ax axe
B.S. B.Sc.
backward backwards
baptize baptise
barbecue barbeque
bark barque
battle-ax battleaxe
behavior behaviour
Benedictine Benedectine
beside besides
bookkeeper book-keeper
boro borough
bylaw bye law
caesarean caesarian
caliber calibre
caliper calliper
canceling cancelling
carbonization carbonisation
carburetor carburetter
catalog catalogue
catalyze catalyse
center centre
centerboard centreboard
centralize centralise
channeled channelled
characterize characterise
check cheque
civilization civilisation
color colour
criticize criticise
Prepostions:

Abound with Debar from Knock at

Abstain from Decide on Lash at
According to Deliberate on Leave for
Accordance with Delight in Live on(income)
Accuse of Denude of Long for
Accustomed to Depart to Lure into
Acquaint with Departure for Married to
Adverse to Depend on/upon Meddle with
Affiliate to/with Deprive of Oblivious of
Afflict with Derive from Operate on
Afraid of Derogate from Opinion on
Agree to/on Derogatory to Overcome with
Aim at Desist from Pay a call on
Allude to Despair of Persevere in
Alternate with Detrimental to Persist in
Alternative to Devoid of Plan for
Angry with Difficulty in Plead for
Apply to (body) Diffident of Pleased with
Appreciation of Disabuse of Prefer to
Apprise of disagree with Preference of
Approximate to Disgusted with Present with
Arrest in Dispose of Prevent from
Arrive at/in Dissociate from Priority to
Ashamed of Divest of Probe into
Aspire to/after/at Divide into Prohibit from
Associate with Dressed in Proud of
Assure of Effort in(--ing) Provide with
Attribute to Election to Recoil from
Assure of Embroil in Reconcile to
Averse from/to Emphasis in Remand to
Belief in Employ in Remonstrate with
Bereft of Enamoured of Repent of
Beset with Encroach on Replete with
Beware of Endow with Reply to
Blink at Enlarge on Research on
Boast of Engage in Resolve on/to
Break off Essential to Responsibility of(--ing)
Bungle over Expostulate with Sail for
Busy with Extend to Satiate with
Call on (somebody) Fed up with Satisfied with
Canvass for Forbid to Sentence to
Careful of Focus on Sick of
Cause of Fraught with Side with
Centre on Fritter in Sparing of
Charge with Full of Square with
Clamour for Give to Stickler for
Clamp on Grapple with Stricture on
Coerce into Good at Subsist on
Collide with Gratitude for Subversive of
comment on Guilty of Succeed in
Compatible with Hanker after Sue for
Complain of Identical with Superior to
Comply with Impose on Supply with
Compliment on Incur on Sure of
Composed if Indict for Surprised at
Concur in Indifferent to Susceptible to
Condole with Indulge in Suspect of
Conducive to Infatuate with Sympathise with
Confer on Infect with sympathy for
Confirmation of invest with Tamper with
Conform to Information on Testify to
Congratulate on Insensible to Thank for
Conscious of Interest in Throw at
Contiguity with Intimate to Tire of
Converge on Intoxicate with Trace to
Convict of Intrigue with Trample on
Co-opt to Intrude on Translate into
Cope with Invest with(power)/in(bank) Try to (do)
Correspond with Investigation on Unequal to (the task)
Cost of Involve in Vie with
Credit with Jealous of Vote for
(someone/something)
Criticism of Jeer at Wait for (or await)
Cure of Jump at / with / on Ways of
Just to Wide of
Wish for

Prepositions for some special cases:

Absolve from(blame/of)sin)
Admit to (hospital, place, class)
Appear for (examination) /at
Begin on (not from Sunday)
Blow down(the roof)/ off(steam) / over (pass off)
Buy in (market, store)/at (shop)
Come or go by (bus, train)
Come into (conflict with)
Compare with (one man height with another‘s) / to (one man‘s height to a building)
Consist of (to denote the substance)/ in (define the subject)
Deal with (somebody)/ in (goods)
Die of (disease)/ from (other causes)/ in (accident)
Differ from (to be different from)/ with (to disagree)
Due to
Entrust (someone) with (responsibity) / entrust (responsibility) to (somebody)
Fill with (enthusiasm ) / in (a form)
Fire at (when not hit) / on (when injured to kill)
Glad of (the news) /at (having arrived safe)
Hostility to/ in hand (being attended to) / on hand (in possession of)
Intrigue (oneself) with
Inquire into (matter) / of (person) / about (often a thing)
Key of (the door) / to (a problem)
Level (charge) against
Look at (consider evidence) / to (somebody of aid)
Meeting (called) for (Sunday)
Motive in (doing) / for (an act)
Neglect of (duty) / in (doing a thing)
Nominated to (board)
Noted for (good things)
Owing to (used after a very, not after a noun)
Part from (people0/ with (things)
Preventive for priority
Put out (light) / off (trip)
Shoot at (when injured) / in (leg, head)
Take up (job)/ to (a hobby)
Taste of (sensation) / for (liking)
Tear off (remove) / up (to pieces)
Vest with ( The P.M. is vested with the power to…) / in (Powers are vested in the
P.M. to…)
=========================================================================
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Section III : Grammar Guidelines

1) Verb

The inflections (endings) of English verb forms are not difficult to remember. There
are only four basic forms. Instead of forming complex tense forms with endings,
English uses auxiliary verb forms. English does not even have a proper ending for
future forms; instead, we use auxiliaries such as "I am going to read this afternoon."
or "I will read." or even "I am reading this book tomorrow." It would be useful,
however, to learn these four basic forms of verb construction.
Name of verb Base form Past form Present participle Past participle

I can work.
to work I worked. I am working. I have worked.
I work.

I can write.
to write I wrote. I am writing. I have written.
I write.

Phrasal verbs consist of a verb and another word or phrase, usually a preposition.
The resulting combination creates what amounts to a new verb, whose meaning can
sometimes be puzzling to non-native speakers. Phrasal verbs often arise from casual
uses of the language and eventually work themselves into the mainstream of
language use.

Phrasal verbs can be both intransitive (The children were sitting around, doing
nothing. The witness finally broke downon the stand.) and transitive in meaning (Our
boss called off the meeting. She looked up her old boyfriend.) The word that is
joined with a verb in this construction (often a preposition) is called a particle.

Type / click: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar////phrasals.htm to get an

extensive list of phrasal verbs.

2) Subject Verb Agreement

Singular subjects need singular verbs; plural subjects need plural verbs.

Find the subject of each sentence; make sure that the verb matches the subject.

a) The indefinite pronouns anyone, everyone, someone, no one, nobody are always
singular and, therefore, require singular verbs.
Everyone has done his or her homework.
Somebody has left her purse.

b) Some indefinite pronouns — such as all, some — are singular or plural depending
on what they're referring to. (Is the thing referred to countable or not?)
Some of the beads are missing.
Some of the water is gone.

c) The indefinite pronoun, none, can be either singular or plural; it often doesn't
matter whether you use a singular or a plural verb — unless something else in the
sentence determines its number. (Writers generally think of none as meaning not
any and will choose a plural verb, as in "None of the engines are working," but when
something else makes us regard none as meaning not one, we want a singular verb,
as in "None of the food is fresh.")
 None of you claims responsibility for this incident?
None of you claim responsibility for this incident?
None of the students have done their homework. (In this last example, the
word their precludes the use of the singular verb.

d) Everyone and everybody (listed above, also) certainly feel like more than one
person and, therefore, students are sometimes tempted to use a plural verb with
them. They are always singular, though. Each is often followed by a prepositional
phrase ending in a plural word (Each of the cars), thus confusing the verb
choice. Each, too, is always singular and requires a singular verb.

Everyone has finished his or her homework.

You would always say, "Everybody is here." This means that the word is singular and
nothing will change that.
Each of the students is responsible for doing his or her work in the library.
Don't let the word "students" confuse you; the subject is each and each is always
singular — Each is responsible.

e) Phrases such as together with, as well as, and along with are not the same
as and. The phrase introduced by as well as or along with will modify the earlier
word (mayor in this case), but it does not compound the subjects (as the
word and would do).
The mayor as well as his brothers is going to prison.
The mayor and his brothers are going to jail.

f) The pronouns neither and either are singular and require singular verbs even
though they seem to be referring, in a sense, to two things.
Neither of the two traffic lights is working.
Which shirt do you want for Christmas?
Either is fine with me.

g) The conjunction or does not conjoin (as and does): when nor or or is used the
subject closer to the verb determines the number of the verb. Whether the subject
comes before or after the verb doesn't matter; the proximity determines the
number.
Either my father or my brothers are going to sell the house.
Neither my brothers nor my father is going to sell the house.
Are either my brothers or my father responsible?
Is either my father or my brothers responsible?

h) The words there and here are never subjects.

There are two reasons [plural subject] for this.
There is no reason for this.
Here are two apples.

i) Verbs in the present tense for third-person, singular subjects (he, she, it and
anything those words can stand for) have s-endings. Other verbs do not add s-
endings.
He loves and she loves and they love_ and . . . .
j) Sometimes modifiers will get between a subject and its verb, but these modifiers
must not confuse the agreement between the subject and its verb.

Example: The mayor, who has been convicted along with his four brothers on four
counts of various crimes but who also seems, like a cat, to have several political
lives, is finally going to jail.

k) Sometimes nouns take weird forms and can fool us into thinking they're plural
when they're really singular and vice-versa. Consult the section on the Plural Forms
of Nouns and the section on Collective Nouns for additional help. Words such as
glasses, pants, pliers, and scissors are regarded as plural (and require plural verbs)
unless they're preceded the phrase pair of (in which case the word pair becomes the
subject).

My glasses were on the bed.

My pants were torn.
A pair of plaid trousers is in the closet.

l) Some words end in -s and appear to be plural but are really singular and require
singular verbs.

The news from the front is bad.

Measles is a dangerous disease for pregnant women.

On the other hand, some words ending in -s refer to a single thing but are
nonetheless plural and require a plural verb.

My assets were wiped out in the depression.

The average worker's earnings have gone up dramatically.
Our thanks go to the workers who supported the union.

The names of sports teams that do not end in "s" will take a plural verb:
Example: Chelsea have been looking …..

m) Fractional expressions such as half of, a part of, a percentage of, a majority
of are sometimes singular and sometimes plural, depending on the meaning. (The
same is true, of course, when all, any, more, most and some act as subjects.) Sums
and products of mathematical processes are expressed as singular and require
singular verbs.
The expression "more than one" takes a singular verb: "More than one
student has tried this."

Some of the voters are still angry.

A large percentage of the older population is voting against her.
Two-fifths of the troops were lost in the battle.
Two-fifths of the vineyard was destroyed by fire.
Forty percent of the students are in favor of changing the policy.
Forty percent of the student body is in favor of changing the policy.
Two and two is four.
Four times four divided by two is eight.
n) If your sentence compounds a positive and a negative subject and one is plural,
the other singular, the verb should agree with the positive subject.

It is not the faculty members but the president who decides this issue.
It was the speaker, not his ideas, that has provoked the students to riot.

3) Pronoun

Generally pronouns stand for (pro + noun) or refer to a noun, an individual or

individuals or thing or things (the pronoun's antecedent) whose identity is made
clear earlier in the text.

I) Personal Pronouns
Unlike English nouns, which usually do not change form except for the addition of
an -s ending to create the plural or the apostrophe + s to create the possessive,
personal pronouns (which stand for persons or things) change form according to
their various uses within a sentence.
Thus,
I is used as the subject of a sentence (I am happy.),
me is used as an object in various ways (He hit me. He gave me a book.), and
my is used as the possessive form (That's my car.)

First person refers to the speaker(s) or writer(s) ("I" for singular, "we" for plural).
Second person refers to the person or people being spoken or written to ("you" for
both singular and plural).
Third person refers to the person or people being spoken or written about ("he,"
"she," and "it" for singular, "they" for plural).

When a personal pronoun is connected by a conjunction to another noun or pronoun,

its case does not change.
We would write "I am taking a course in Indian history"; if Raju is also taking that
course, we would write "Raju and I are taking a course in Asian history." (Notice that
Talitha gets listed before "I" does.)

The same is true when the object form is called for: "Professor Vijaya gave all her
books to me"; if Raju also received some books, we'd write "Professor Vijaya gave all
her books to Raju and me."

When a pronoun and a noun are combined (which will happen with the plural first-
and second-person pronouns), choose the case of the pronoun that would be
appropriate if the noun were not there.

We students are demanding that the administration give us two hours for
lunch.
The administration has managed to put us students in a bad situation.

With the second person, we don't really have a problem because the subject form is
the same as the object form, "you":

"You students are demanding too much."

 "We expect you students to behave like adults."

Among the possessive pronoun forms, there is also what is called the nominative
possessive: mine, yours, ours, theirs.

Look at those cars. Theirs is really ugly; ours is beautiful.

This new car is mine.
Mine is newer than yours.

II) Demonstrative Pronouns

The family of demonstratives (this/that/these/those/such) can behave either as

pronouns or as determiners.
As pronouns, they identify or point to nouns.

That is incredible! (referring to something you just saw)

I will never forget this. (referring to a recent experience)
Such is my belief. (referring to an explanation just made)

As determiners, the demonstratives adjectivally modify a noun that follows. A sense

of relative distance (in time and space) can be conveyed through the choice of these
pronouns/determiners:

These [pancakes sitting here now on my plate] are delicious.

Those [pancakes that I had yesterday morning] were even better.
This [book in my hand] is well written;
That [book that I'm pointing to, over there, on the table] is trash.

III) Relative Pronouns

The relative pronouns (who/whoever/which/that) relate groups of words to nouns or

other pronouns (The student who studies hardest usually does the best.). The
word who connects or relates the subject, student, to the verb within the dependent
clause (studies).
Generally, we use "which" to introduce clauses that are parenthetical in nature (i.e.,
that can be removed from the sentence without changing the essential meaning of
the sentence).
For that reason, a "which‖ clause is often set off with a comma or a pair of commas.
"That‖ clauses, on the other hand, are usually deemed indispensable for the meaning
of a sentence and are not set off with commas. The pronoun which refers to
things; who (and its forms) refers to people; that usually refers to things, but it can
also refer to people in a general kind of way.

The expanded form of the relative pronouns — whoever, whomever, whatever — are
known as indefinite relative pronouns. A couple of sample sentences should suffice to
demonstrate why they are called "indefinite":
The coach will select whomever he pleases.
He seemed to say whatever came to mind.
Whoever crosses this line first will win the race.
What is often an indefinite relative pronoun:
She will tell you what you need to know.
IV) Indefinite Pronouns

The indefinite pronouns

(everybody/anybody/somebody/all/each/every/some/none/one) do not substitute for
specific nouns but function themselves as nouns (Everyone is wondering if any is
left.)

The indefinite pronoun none can be either singular or plural, depending on its
context. None is nearly always plural (meaning "not any") except when something
else in the sentence makes us regard it as a singular (meaning "not one"), as in
"None of the food is fresh." Some can be singular or plural depending on whether it
refers to something countable or noncountable.

There are other indefinite pronouns, words that double as Determiners:

enough, few, fewer, less, little, many, much, several, more, most, all, both, every,
each, any, either, neither, none, some

Few will be chosen; fewer will finish.

Little is expected.

v) Reflexive Pronouns

The reflexive pronouns indicate that the sentence subject also receives the action of
the verb.
(Students who cheat on this quiz are only hurting themselves. You paid yourself a
million dollars? She encouraged herself to do well.)
What this means is that whenever there is a reflexive pronoun in a sentence there
must be a person to whom that pronoun can "reflect." In other words, the sentence
"Please hand that book to myself" would be incorrect because there is no "I" in that
sentence for the "myself" to reflect to (and we would use "me" instead of "myself").
A sentence such as "I gave that book to myself for Christmas" might be silly, but it
would be correct.

When pronouns are combined, the reflexive will take either the first person
Juanita, Carlos, and I have deceived ourselves into believing in my uncle.

or, when there is no first person, the second person:

You and Carlos have deceived yourselves.

The indefinite pronoun one has its own reflexive form ("One must have faith
in oneself."), but the other indefinite pronouns use either himself or themselves as
reflexives.
It is better to pluralize and avoid the clumsy himself or herself construction.

No one here can blame himself or herself.

The people here cannot blame themselves.

VI) Interrogative Pronouns

The interrogative pronouns (who/which/what) introduce questions.

(What is that? Who will help me? Which do you prefer?)
Which is generally used with more specific reference than ‘what’.
If we're taking a quiz and I ask "Which questions give you the most trouble?", I am
referring to specific questions on that quiz.
If I ask "What questions give you most trouble"? I could be asking what kind
of questions on that quiz (or what kind of question, generically, in general) gives you
trouble.

Like the relative pronouns, the interrogative pronouns introduce noun clauses, and
like the relative pronouns, the interrogative pronouns play a subject role in the
clauses they introduce:

We know who is guilty of this crime.

I already told the detective what I know about it.

VII) Reciprocal Pronouns

The reciprocal pronouns are each other and one another. They are convenient forms
for combining ideas. If Bob gave Alicia a book for Christmas and Alicia gave Bob a
book for Christmas, we can say that they gave each other books (or that they gave
books to each other).

My mother and I give each other a hard time.

If more than two people are involved (let's say a whole book club), we would say
that they gave one another books. This rule (if it is one) should be applied
circumspectly. It's quite possible for the exchange of books within this book club, for
example, to be between individuals, making "each other" just as appropriate as "one
another."

Reciprocal pronouns can also take possessive forms:

They borrowed each other's ideas.

The scientists in this lab often use one another's equipment.

Subjective Possessive Objective

Nouns
Singular
frog frog's frog
Mary Mary's Mary
Plural
frogs frogs' frogs
witches witches' witches
Personal Pronouns
Singular
1st person I my, mine me
2nd person you your, yours you
3rd person he his him
she her, hers her
it its it
Plural
1st person we our, ours us
2nd person you your, yours you
3rd person they their, theirs them
Relative and interrogative pronouns
who whose whom
whoever whomever
which/that/what which/that/what
Indefinite pronouns
everybody everybody's everybody

4) Passive and Active Voices

Verbs are also said to be either active (The executive committee approved the new
policy) or passive (The new policy was approved by the executive committee)
in voice.

In the active voice, the subject and verb relationship is straightforward: the subject
is a be-er or a do-er and the verb moves the sentence along.

In the passive voice, the subject of the sentence is neither a do-er or a be-er, but is
acted upon by some other agent or by something unnamed (The new policy was
approved).

The passive voice does exist for a reason, however, and its presence is not always to
be despised. The passive is particularly useful (even recommended) in two
situations:

When it is more important to draw our attention to the person or thing acted
upon: The unidentified victim was apparently struck during the early morning
hours.
When the actor in the situation is not important: The aurora borealis can be
observed in the early morning hours.

The passive voice is especially helpful (and even regarded as mandatory) in scientific
or technical writing or lab reports, where the actor is not really important but the
process or principle being described is of ultimate importance.

Instead of writing "I poured 20 cc of acid into the beaker," we would write "Twenty
cc of acid is/was poured into the beaker."

The passive voice is also useful when describing, say, a mechanical process in which
the details of process are much more important than anyone's taking responsibility
for the action: "The first coat of primer paint is applied immediately after the acid
rinse."

The passive forms of a verb are created by combining a form of the "to be verb" with
the past participle of the main verb. Other helping verbs are also sometimes present:
"The measure could have been killed in committee." The passive can be used, also,
in various tenses. Let's take a look at the passive forms of "design."
 Auxiliary Past
Tense Subject
Singular Plural Participle

Present The car/cars is are designed.

Present perfect The car/cars has been have been designed.

Past The car/cars was were designed.

Past perfect The car/cars had been had been designed.

Future The car/cars will be will be designed.

Future perfect The car/cars will have been will have been designed.

Present progressive The car/cars is being are being designed.

Past progressive The car/cars was being were being designed.

A sentence cast in the passive voice will not always include an agent of the action.
For instance if a gorilla crushes a tin can, we could say "The tin can was crushed by
the gorilla." But a perfectly good sentence would leave out the gorilla: "The tin
can was crushed."

Also, when an active sentence with an indirect object is recast in the passive, the
indirect object can take on the role of subject in the passive sentence:

Active Professor Villa gave Jorge an A.

Passive An A was given to Jorge by Professor Villa.

Passive Jorge was given an A.

Only transitive verbs (those that take objects) can be transformed into passive
constructions. Furthermore, active sentences containing certain verbs cannot be
transformed into passive structures.

To have is the most important of these verbs. We can say "He has a new car," but
we cannot say "A new car is had by him." We can say "Josefina lacked finesse," but
we cannot say "Finesse was lacked."

Here is a brief list of such verbs:

resemble look like equal agree with

mean contain hold comprise

lack suit fit become

Verbals or verb forms can also take on features of the passive voice. An infinitive
phrase in the passive voice, for instance, can perform various functions within a
sentence (just like the active forms of the infinitive).

Subject: To be elected by my peers is a great honor.

Object: That child really likes to be read to by her mother.
Modifier: Grasso was the first woman to be elected governor in her own right.

The same is true of passive gerunds.

Subject: Being elected by my peers was a great thrill.

Object: I really don't like being lectured to by my boss.
Object of preposition: I am so tired of being lectured to by my boss.

5) Modals and Auxiliaries

Has/Have/Do/Does
The verb "have" can be used in the progressive tense, only in the present and future.
The verb have can not be used in the past progressive tenses.

Have as the Main Verb in Positive Sentences

Subject Main Verb "Have" Continue the Sentence
I have /had/will have a car
We have /had/will have a lot of homework
You have/had/will have a nice house
The cars have/had/will have new tires
Natalie has/had/will have a great time in the States
Her father has/had/will have a very good job
*have is used in the present simple tense
*has is used in the past simple tense
*will have is used in the future simple tense

Have as the Main Verb in Negative

Subject Auxiliary Main Verb
Not Continue the Sentence
verb "Have"
I do/did/will not have time to visit him
to cook dinner when I got
We do/did/will not have
home
They do/did/will not have a lot of time to visit Mary
The car does/did/will not have a new paint job
Our
does/did/will not have a hard time teaching us
teacher
My father does/did/will not have me spent a lot of money
 on candy

*Do is used in the present simple tense with the following pronouns I. you, we, they,
and plural nouns.
*Does is used in the Present Simple Tense with the following pronouns he, she, it
and plural nouns and uncountable nouns.

Question with the verb "have" as the main verb

Wh - word (if Auxiliary Subject Main Verb Continue the
needed) Verb "Have" Sentence
When do/did/will I have time to visit him?
- to cook dinner
Do/Did/Will we have when we got
home?
Why do/did/will they have little homework?
When to get a new paint
does/did/will the car have
job?
- our a hard time
Does/Did/Will have
teacher teaching us?
Why does/did/will your have so much candy in
father the car?

To make questions using verbs, the verb comes before the subject.

Modal verbs

Modal verbs do not change there form.

The main verb is always in its base form when used with a modal verb
Modal verbs stay in the base form - bare infinitive - the bare infinitive is the infinitive
without "to" before the verb.

The following modal verbs are used to with the present verb tense:
can, will, shall, ought to, must, need, may

The following modal verbs are used in the past tense:

would, should, could, might

Modal verbs are used to answer questions in the short form

yes, I do
yes, we can
No, I don't

Model verbs are also called auxiliary verbs, helping verbs and model auxiliaries.
Model verbs are not complete verbs, and they can only be used with a verb.
Model verbs can be used as part of the grammar structure of the sentence, such as
when used with the perfect tenses.
When are model verbs used:

Prediction - Will and Shall

Will and shall can be used to state predict that an event or an action will take place
or will occur. The model verbs can used to make a prediction about an event or
action about the future.

I think we will be able to go and see the move tonight.

My mother thinks we will not get home be it starts to rain.

Requests - Offers - Suggestions - Can - Could - May - Shall

To make requests, offers or suggestions can be stated with the model verbs

Permission - Can - Could - May - Might

Can, could, may and might are model verbs that can be used to give permission or
deny permission to do something or to someone.
Can I help you cook dinner?
You may not watch T. V. after dinner.

Certainty - Possibility - Can - Might - may- Could - Shall -Can, might

- and could are model verbs that can be used to state certainty and possibility.

Do you think it might rain tomorrow night?

I might be home before midnight.
You can come over tonight if you would like to.

Ability - Inability - Can - Could - Able to

My father hopes that we will be able to go to the moves.

I can not go to Europe with you.

Common Mistakes

The Grammar Hammer Handout

Grammar’s Top 20 Misses (From Most Serious to Least)
(excerpted from Douglas Cazort‘s Under the Grammar Hammer, pp 19-24)

1. Wrong Tense or Verb Form (Past, Present, Future)

Incorrect: When William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066, he done the
English language a big favor.
Correct: When William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066, he did the English
language a big favor.

2. Fused or Run-on Sentence

Incorrect: Over 75 percent of mistakes in English cannot be committed in speech
they can only be made in writing.
Correct: Over 75 percent of mistakes in English cannot be committed in speech.
They can only be made in writing.

3. Sentence Fragment
Incorrect: With 500,000 words, the English vocabulary is larger than that of any
other language. Partly because 80 percent of English words come from foreign
sources.
Correct: With 500,000 words, the English vocabulary is larger than that of any other
language, partly because 80 percent of English words come from foreign sources.

4. Lack of Agreement Between Subject and Verb (In number)

Incorrect: An important function of managers are delegating responsibility.
Correct: An important function of managers is delegating responsibility.

5. Wrong Word
Incorrect: Creative people believe their creative.
Correct: Creative people believe they’re creative.

6. Missing Comma(s) with a Nonrestrictive Element

Incorrect: Roger von Oech‘s A Whack on the Side of the Head expanded and
revised for the 1990‘s is an excellent guide to a more creative life.
Correct: Roger von Oech‘s A Whack on the Side of the Head, expanded and revised
for the 1990‘s, is an excellent guide to a more creative life.

7. Unnecessary Shift in Tense

Incorrect: The first English dictionary was published in 1604 and written by Robert
Cawdray, who says he produced it for ―ladies…and other unskillful persons.‖
Correct: The first English dictionary was published in 1604 and written by Robert
Cawdray, who said he produced it for ―ladies…and other unskillful persons.‖

8. Missing Commas in a Series

Incorrect: George Burns defines happiness as having a large loving caring close-
knit family in another city.
Correct: George Burns defines happiness as having a large, loving, caring, close-
knit family in another city.

9. Missing or Misplaced Possessive Apostrophe

Incorrect: Parkinsons law states that a job expands to fill allotted time.
Correct: Parkinson‘s law states that a job expands to fill allotted time.

10. Unnecessary Comma(s) with a Restrictive Element

Incorrect: Linguistic research has found, that New Yorkers communicate social class
through their pronunciation of the letter r.
Correct: Linguistic research has found that New Yorkers communicate social class
through their pronunciation of the letter r.

11. Confusion of Its and It’s

Incorrect: ―If it sells, its creative,‖ they say in advertising.
Correct: ―If it sells, it’s creative,‖ they say in advertising.

12. Dangling or Misplaced Modifier

Incorrect: Popping, sparking, and blowing fuses, the CEO, stood helplessly watching
at the podium while the new audio-visual system self-destructed.
Correct: Popping, sparking, and blowing fuses, the new audio-visual system self-
destructed while the CEO, stood helplessly watching at the podium.

13. Lack of Agreement Between Pronoun and Antecedent

Incorrect: A ―Type-A‖ person will hurry themselves to death.
Correct: ―Type-A‖ people will hurry themselves to death.

14. Wrong or Missing Preposition

Incorrect: We need to invent a language in which politicians would be incapable
from lying.
Correct: We need to invent a language in which politicians would be incapable of
lying.

15. Vague Pronoun Reference

Incorrect: Some managers focus only on short-term profit, which can lower the
quality of the product or service.
Correct: Some managers focus only on short-term profit, a practice that can lower
the quality of the product or service.

16. Unnecessary Shift in Pronoun

Incorrect: If one wants to become an international airline pilot, they have to learn
English.
Correct: If you want to become an international airline pilot, you have to learn
English.

17. Comma Splice

Incorrect: Professor Adams Sherman Hill of Harvard was obsessed with mistakes in
spelling and grammar, he passed his obsession on to generations of English teachers
and the American public.
Correct: Professor Adams Sherman Hill of Harvard was obsessed with mistakes in
spelling and grammar, and he passed his obsession on to generations of English
teachers and the American public.

18. Wrong or missing Verb Ending

Incorrect: The healthy office worker park one mile from work and walk twenty
minutes for exercise.
Correct: The healthy office worker parks one mile from work and walks twenty
minutes for exercise.
19. Missing Commas in a Compound Sentence
Incorrect: Many Americans own a thesaurus yet these books of synonyms don‘t
exist for some languages with small vocabularies.
Correct: Many Americans own a thesaurus, yet these books of synonyms don‘t exist
for some languages with small vocabularies.

20. Missing Comma After an Introductory Element

Incorrect: While the dog ate the cat stayed away from the dish.
Correct: While the dog ate, the cat stayed away from the dish.

Five Uncommonly Serious Mistakes

The following 5 mistakes are not among the 20 most common, but they
receive strong negative responses when committed. In other words, we
don‘t make these mistakes very often, but when we do, we cause strong
negative reactions. If you don‘t make these mistakes, forget them. If you
do, take steps to get rid of them.

1. Objective case pronouns used as subjects

Wrong: Her guru and her agreed that we are what we think.
Right: Her guru and she agreed that we are what we think.

2. Double negatives
Wrong: One hard lesson for many to learn is that worry won’t
hardlychange the future.
Right: One hard lesson for many to learn is that worry will
hardlychange the future.

3. Failure to capitalize proper names

Wrong: roger von oech, the president of creative think, has
conducted workshops on creativity for american
express, apple computer, procter and gamble, and the
japanese management association.
Right: Roger von Oech, the president of Creative Think, has
conducted workshops on creativity for American
Express, Apple Computer, Procter and Gamble, and the
Japanese Management Association.

4. Faulty parallelism
Wrong: A good manager requires the ability to lead, the
capacity to learn, and delegating.
 Right: A good manager requires the ability to lead, the
capacity to learn, and the willingness to delegate.

5. Subjective-case pronouns used as objects

Wrong: The senator‘s use of double negatives surprised my
students and I.
Right: The senator‘s use of double negatives surprised my
students and me.

Source:
http://www.uwc.ucf.edu/Writing%20Resources/Handouts/five_uncommonly.htm

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Section IV: Additional Resources

Visit the following links:

For sub-editing:
http://www.subediting.com/?gclid=CNT8hOXt5ooCFR8iEAodujvPkQ

For grammar, spelling and punctuation:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/index.html

For grammar queries and confusions: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar////index.htm

For rules of articles- a, an and the:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/eslart.html

For list of phrasal verbs: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar////phrasals.htm

For commonly confused words: http://writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb/conford.html

For spelling variations between American and British usage of English

language: http://www.xpdnc.com/moreinfo/orlabour.html

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