The Best Grammar Workbook Ever! - The Grammar Diva
The BestGrammar WorkbookEver!
Other books by Arlene Miller:The Best Little Grammar Book Ever: 101 Ways to Impress with Your Writing and SpeakingCorrect Me If I’m Wrong: Getting Your Grammar, Punctuation, and Word Usage RightThe Great Grammar Cheat Sheet:50 Grammar, Punctuation, Writing, and Word Usage Tips You Can Use Now (ebook)www.bigwords101.com
The BestGrammar WorkbookEver!Grammar, Punctuation, and Word Usagefor Ages 10 Through 110Arlene MillerThe Grammar Diva bigwords101Petaluma, California
The Best Grammar Workbook Ever!Grammar, Punctuation, and Word Usage for Ages 10 Through 110Copyright 2015 by Arlene MillerAll rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or byany means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the priorwritten permission of the copyright holder.Cover design by Matt HinrichsInterior formatting by Marny K. ParkinPublisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication DataMiller, Arlene.The Best Grammar Workbook Ever! Grammar, Punctuation, and Word Usage for Ages 10Through 110. First Edition, 2015p. cm.Includes appendixes and indexISBN 978-0-9911674-0-11. English language—Grammar. 2. English language—Usage. 3. English language—Grammar—Self-instructionLibrary of Congress: PE 1106.M550 2015Dewey: 428.2Published by bigwords101, P.O. Box 4483, Petaluma, CA 94955 USAwebsite and blog: www.bigwords101.comContact Ingram or the publisher for quantity discounts for your company, organization,or educational institution.
To Jake and Shelley,my two magna opera
ContentsPractices and Tests xviiAcknowledgments xxiIntroduction 1How to Use This Book 3Conventions Used in This Book4Pretest 5Chapter 1: The Parts of Speech 1.1. Introduction1.2. Nouns1313The Five Types of Nouns1.3. Pronouns14Antecedents14Types of Pronouns1.4. Verbs1518Action Verbs18Linking VerbsTenses1819Irregular Verb FormsVoice142020Transitive/Intransitive1.5. Adjectives2121Other Types of Adjectives1.6. Adverbs221.7. Prepositions1.8. Conjunctions212324Subordinating Conjunctions2413
viii1 Best Grammar Workbook Ever1.9. Interjections251.10. Using the Parts of Speech25Chapter 1 Test 26Chapter 2: Sentences 272.1. Introduction: What Is a Sentence?2.2. Subjects27Complete Subjects2.3. Predicates2.4. Objects27282828Direct Objects28Indirect Objects29Objects of a Preposition2.5. Predicate Words29302.6. The Four Kinds of SentencesDeclarative Sentence3131Interrogative SentenceImperative Sentence3131Exclamatory Sentence31Chapter 2 Test 32Chapter 3: Phrases 333.1. Introduction: What Is a Phrase?3.2. Prepositional Phrases3.3. Infinitive Phrases3.4. Participial PhrasesPresent ParticiplesPast Participles3333333434353.5. Gerundial Phrases353.6. A Few Words About Appositives36Chapter 3 Test 37Chapter 4: Clauses 394.1. Introduction: What Is a Clause?4.2. Independent Clauses3939
Contents4.3. Subordinate (Dependent) ClausesAdjective ClausesAdverb ClausesNoun Clauses39404142Chapter 4 Test 43Chapter 5: Types of Sentence Structures 5.1. Introduction5.2. Not a Sentence4545Sentence FragmentRun-on Sentences45465.3. Types of Sentence StructuresSimple Sentence454747Compound SentenceComplex Sentence4747Compound-Complex Sentence485.4. A Variety of Sentence Patterns49Chapter 5 Test 50Chapter 6: Special Issues with Pronouns 6.1. Introduction516.2. Personal Pronoun Problem: Cases—Is It I or Me?51516.3. Demonstrative Pronouns and Adjectives: This, That, These,Those 526.4. Reflexive Pronouns:Using the -self Words Correctly6.5. Interrogative Pronoun IssuesWhose or Who’s?5354546.6. Relative Pronouns: Using Who, Which, and That Correctly6.7. Indefinite Pronouns: Singular or Plural?Singular Indefinite PronounsPlural Indefinite Pronouns565657Indefinite Pronouns That Can Be Either Singular or Plural 576.8. Unclear AntecedentsChapter 6 Test 5958552ix
x1Best Grammar Workbook EverChapter 7: Special Issues with Verbs 7.1. Introduction7.2. Tense616161Tense Trouble 62Using the Past Perfect627.3. Irregular Verb Forms7.4. Verbs of Being6264Adjectives After Linking Verbs65Pronouns After Linking Verbs657.5. Voice: Active or Passive?657.6. What Is Subjunctive Mood, Anyway?Commands and RecommendationsThings That Are Not True7.7. Using Strong Verbs66666666Chapter 7 Test 68Chapter 8: Commas: Yup! A Whole Chapter 8.1. To Comma or Not To Comma: That Is the Question8.2. Series Comma (Oxford Comma)8.3. Compound Sentences698.4. Between Two Adjectives8.5. Introductory Elements697070Introductory Words and Transition WordsIntroductory Phrases71Introductory Clauses718.6. Interrupting MaterialCommas Needed7171No Commas Needed718.7. Other Common Uses for Commasetc., i.e., e.g.Dates7272Commas with NumbersWith Too72Direct Address7273Setting off Academic DegreesAddresses73Company Names737372706969
ContentsContrasting Expressions and ElementsWhen a Word Is Left OutCommas for EmphasisLetters and Emails73737373Unusual Word Order in a Sentence7474Setting off However and ThereforeAnyplace Where Not Using a Comma Would Be Confusing8.8. Don’t Put Commas Here!7474Chapter 8 Test 76Chapter 9: Punctuation (Except Commas) 9.1. Introduction77Abbreviations779.2. Periods (.)Decimals7778Lists or OutlinesMeasurements78789.3. Question Marks (?)789.4. Exclamation Points (!)9.5. Semicolons (;)79Compound Sentences7879Compound Sentences with Series or Other CommasConfusing Series809.6. Colons (:) 80Digital Time80Salutation of a Business Letter80Between the Title and Subtitle of a BookIn a Compound SentenceIntroducing a QuoteIntroducing Lists8080809.7. Parentheses ( ) and Brackets [ ]Brackets8182Parentheses829.8. Hyphens and Dashes (-/–/—)Hyphen (-) 82En Dash (–)Em Dash (—)8383828079772xi
xii1 Best Grammar Workbook Ever9.9. Italics84Words Used as Themselves84Letters and Numbers Used as ThemselvesForeign Terms and PhrasesTitles? Italics or Quotes?Other Uses for Quotes848484859.10. Quotation Marks ( “ ” ) 85Dialogue85Other Uses for Quotation Marks85Quotation Marks with Other PunctuationSingle Quotation Marks86869.11. Ellipses ( . . . ) 87Chapter 9 Test 88Chapter 10: Capitalization 10.1. Introduction8910.2. The Basic Rules8910.3. More Capitalization RulesTitles899090Directions91Letter/Email Salutations and ClosingsEarth9191Seasons91Some “Common” Proper Nouns91President of the United States and Other TitlesDepartments92School CoursesDecades919292Dog Breeds/Names92Words That Come Before NumbersHyphenated Words9292Chapter 10 Test 94Chapter 11: Some Really ImportantGrammar Issues 11.1. Introduction9595
Contents11.2. Run-on Sentences (and Fragments)Run-on SentencesFragments95959511.3. Agreement96Interrupting Words and Phrases with Subject/Verb Agreement 96Using and, or, neither, either Between SubjectsPronoun/Antecedent AgreementSentences That Begin with ThereIndefinite Pronouns989999A Quirky Little Issue11.4. Comparison9798Singular Nouns That Look PluralCollective Nouns99100Forming Comparatives and Superlatives100What If It Isn’t More? What If It Is Less?100Irregular Forms101Faulty Comparisons10111.5. Misplaced Modifiers11.6. Possessives102Singular Nouns101102Plural Nouns 102Words That Already End in -sLast NamesExceptions103103103Possessive Pronouns10311.7. Parallel Structure104Parallel Structure in Lists10411.8. Using Numbers: When to Spell Them Out11.9. Double Negatives10611.10. Apostrophes in Plurals10711.11. Let’s Be Clear: Avoiding VaguenessThis and It108The Lonely WhichUnclear People108Use AbbreviationsUse Contractions10810811.12. Can I Do These Things?Use Slang97109109109109Start a Sentence with And, So, or But1091052xiii
xiv1Best Grammar Workbook EverEnd a Sentence with a Preposition110Split an Infinitive 110Use They as a Singular110Chapter 11 Test 111Chapter 12: Commonly Confused Words/A Dictionary of Usage 12.1. A Through D12.2. E Through H12.3. I Through L12.4. M Through P12.5. R and S 12212.6. T Through Z113113117119121124Chapter 12 Test 126Final Test 129Part 1—English Language BasicsPart 2—Sentence Correction130129Appendix A: Redundancy 135Appendix B: Commonly Misspelled Words 137A through EF through PQ through W137138139Appendix C: Commonly Mispronounced Words 141Appendix D: Common Prefixes, Suffixes,and Word Roots 143Appendix E: Writing Tips 147Appendix F: Glossary 149
ContentsAppendix G: Answers to Practices andChapter Tests Pretest153153Chapter 1154Chapter 3159Chapter 5161Chapter 7164Chapter 9167Chapter 2157Chapter 4 160Chapter 6 163Chapter 8Chapter 10Chapter 11Chapter 12Final Test166170171175178Index 1812xv
Practices and TestsPretest5Practice 1—Recognizing Nouns13Practice 2—Recognizing Types of Nouns14Practice 3—Pronouns and AntecedentsPractice 4—Personal Pronouns1515Practice 5—Demonstrative Pronouns15Practice 6—Interrogative PronounsPractice 7—Relative Pronouns1516Practice 8—Intensive/Reflexive PronounsPractice 9—Indefinite PronounsPractice 10—Pronoun ReviewBrain Challenge16171717Practice 11—Action VerbsPractice 12—Linking Verbs1818Practice 13—Action and Linking VerbsPractice 14—Verb Tenses1920Practice 15—Regular Verbs20Practice 16—Active and Passive Voice20Practice 17—Transitive and Intransitive VerbsPractice 18—Identifying AdjectivesPractice 19—Identifying AdverbsPractice 20—Placing Adverbs21222223Practice 21—Identifying Prepositional PhrasesPractice 22—Coordinating Conjunctions2324Practice 23—Identifying Subordinating ConjunctionsPractice 24—Adding InterjectionsBrain Challenges2525Chapter 1 Test 26Practice 25—Identifying SubjectsPractice 26—Identifying Verbs272824
xviii1Best Grammar Workbook EverPractice 27—Dividing the Sentence into Subject and Predicate 28Practice 28—Identifying Direct Objects29Practice 29—Identifying Indirect Objects29Practice 30—Identifying Objects of Prepositions 30Practice 31—Identifying Predicate Adjectives and Predicate NominativesPractice 32—Identifying the Types of Sentences31Chapter 2 Test 32Practice 33—Identifying Prepositional Phrases33Practice 34—Find the Infinitive or Infinitive Phrase34Practice 35—Identifying Infinitives as Subjects or ObjectsPractice 36—Identifying ParticiplesPractice 37—Find the Gerund343535Practice 38—Gerund or Participle?Practice 39—Find the AppositivesChapter 3 Test 373636Practice 40—Identifying Independent ClausesPractice 41—Subordinate Clauses3940Practice 42—Identifying Adjective ClausesPractice 43—Identifying Adverb ClausesChapter 4 Test 434142Practice 44—Identifying and Rewriting Sentence Fragments 46Practice 45—Identifying and Correcting Run OnsPractice 46—Simple and Compound SentencesPractice 47—Complex Sentences464748Practice 48—Identifying Sentence Structures48Practice 49—Writing Sentences with Different StructuresChapter 5 Test 50Practice 50—Using the Correct Pronoun Case52Practice 51—Using Demonstratives Correctly53Practice 52—Using -self Pronouns54Practice 53—Who and Whom as Interrogative PronounsPractice 54—Whose and Who’s4955Practice 55—Essential Versus Nonessential Clauses 56Practice 56—Singular Indefinite Pronouns575430
Practices and Tests 2Practice 57—Indefinite Pronouns58Chapter 6 Test 59Practice 58—Tenses61Practice 59—Using Correct Tenses62Practice 60—Irregular Verb Forms64Practice 61—Active and Passive Voice65Practice 62—Using Subjunctive Mood66Chapter 7 Test 68Practice 63—Some Important Comma Rules70Practice 64—Commas for Introductory and Interrupting Elements 72Practice 65—More Comma Rules74Chapter 8 Test 76Practice 66—Using Periods78Practice 67—Question Marks78Practice 68—Exclamation Points79Practice 69—Semicolons and Colons81Practice 70—Parentheses and BracketsPractice 71—Hyphens and DashesPractice 72—Italics828385Practice 73—Italics Versus Quotation MarksPractice 74—Quotation MarksChapter 9 Test 8886Practice 75—Basic Capitalization RulesPractice 76—More CapitalizationChapter 10 Test 9492Practice 77—Run Ons and FragmentsPractice 78—Agreement97Practice 79—More Agreement97Practice 80—More Agreement98Practice 81—More Agreement99Practice 82—Comparison101Practice 83—Misplaced ModifiersPractice 84—Possessives104901029685xix
xx1Best Grammar Workbook EverPractice 85—Parallel StructurePractice 86—Numbers104106Practice 87—Double Negatives107Practice 88—Plurals with ApostrophesPractice 89—Clarity108108Practice 90—Can I Do These Things?Chapter 11 Test 111110Practice 91—Confusing Words A Through D116Practice 92—Confusing Words E Through H118Practice 93—Confusing Words I Through LPractice 94—Confusing Words M Through PPractice 95—Confusing Words R and S122124Practice 96—Confusing Words T through ZChapter 12 Test 126120125Final Test 129Answers to Practices and Chapter Tests 153Index181
AcknowledgmentsMy sincere thank you . . .Dr. Susan Behrens: My beta reader and favorite linguist,who contributed her wise and spot-on comments in amore timely manner than I was able to write the book.My friends: Frances Caballo, Bobbi and Dave Noderer,Edie and Jim Partridge, Jeannie Thomas, Norma Sadow,and Bart Scott for always believing in me (and providing chocolate bread).John DeGaetano: My business coach, for lighting thefire under me to make me finish the manuscript.Michael Powell: My librarian friend, for his knowledgeof copyright pages!Matt Hinrichs (cover) and Marny K. Parkin (interior):Without their design there would be no book.Publicity People: Gil Namur, who keeps the websiterunning; Timothy Nonn, who gave me my first piece ofnewspaper publicity five years ago; The Petaluma ArgusCourier.Copperfield’s Books: The indie bookstore that has beenso kind to me always—a shout out to Grace Bogart, RayLawrason, and Vicki DeArmon.Susan Damon: For piloting this book with her adult literacy classes.Jeane Slone and Mona Mechling: Local book distributors, for keeping my books selling.My “Blurbers”: Jeff Deck, half of the Typo Hunting Team;Sharon Hamilton, bestselling author; Pete Masterson,book designer and book sage; John Bribiescus, retiredEnglish teacher and tireless fundraiser and volunteer foreducation; Peter Bowerman, Well-Fed Author and SelfPublisher; Marjorie Feinstein-Whittaker, M.S., Speechand Communication Consultant; and David Freeman,Author of Mushroom Tales.My colleagues: At Petaluma City Schools, Redwood Writers, and Bay Area Independent PublishingAssociation.Dan Poynter for his groundbreaking book on independent publishing and for always including my blog postsin his newsletters.Starbucks for providing caffeine and a comfortableplace to sit and write.My new family, the Bindons, and my amazing and talented new son-in-law, Josh.Shelley and Jake, without whom I would be nothing.
IntroductionThis is my fourth grammar book and my first workbook. Although language does evolve and “rules”may change, grammar is not going away. It is alive andwell. Proper grammar, punctuation, and capitalizationconventions make our writing—and speaking—clearerand easier to read.Good, clear writing is even more important now: theInternet is forever, and once you put something upthere and everyone sees it, you can’t take it back. Andif you think your employer or college admissions officewon’t notice your mistakes, think again. Grammar isstill a way for others to judge our competence, attentionto detail, education, and intelligence. Dress for success.Speak for success. Write for success.My first book, The Best Little Grammar Book Ever: 101Ways to Impress With Your Writing and Speaking, isa small guide to avoiding the most common errors ingrammar and punctuation. It also includes an introduction to the basics of grammar and sentence structure.Each chapter contains a quiz at the beginning. Alsoincluded are lists of the most commonly misspelledand mispronounced words, a writing lesson, a grammar glossary, and a complete index.My second book, Correct Me If I’m Wrong: Getting YourGrammar, Punctuation, and Word Usage Right, is alsoa small guide to avoiding common grammar, punctuation, and word usage errors. It presents all the issues inalphabetical order and includes more word usage andcomma rules than the first book. Omitted are the quizzes and glossary.I also have produced a small e-book, The Great Grammar Cheat Sheet: 50 Grammar, Punctuation, Writing,and Word Usage Tips You Can Use Now, for writers whomight be in a hurry—who want a no-frills explanationand perhaps a shortcut to their questions.I have wanted to write a workbook for some time, andI am happy to present it to you now. I have includedall the information—and more—that is in both of myprevious books, updated and presented in easy-to-readlanguage, logical order, and friendly format, with plentyof examples and exercises. There is a Pretest at thebeginning of the book and chapter tests at the conclusion of each chapter. Inside each chapter are numerous“practices,” or exercises, so you can practice the information you are reading. To see what you have learned,there is also a Final Test. Of course, all the answers areincluded in the final appendix!The most frequent comment I get about my books isthat in addition to providing helpful information, theyare friendly and easy to read. I hope you find thatdescribes this workbook as well.The Best Grammar Workbook Ever contains everythingyou need to become a better and more confident writerand speaker. It concentrates on the most commongrammar issues and provides all the basic informationabout grammar that you will need to understand themore advanced topics.Enjoy!Arlene Miller, “The Grammar Diva”
How to Use This BookThis workbook begins with basic grammar and buildsup to more complex ideas and grammatical issues.You will probably want to begin by taking the Pretest tocheck your current knowledge level. Then, you mightwant to begin at the beginning and work through thebook in order. However, you may find it more helpful toskip to the areas with which you have the most trouble.I will leave that up to you!This book begins with a Pretest and ends with a FinalTest. Each chapter contains exercises, or “practices,”and ends with a Chapter Test. All answers are in thefinal appendix, before the index.Please note that all conventions in this book reflectAmerican English, rather than British English. Andthere are differences. For example, rules about quotation marks with other punctuation are the opposite inAmerican versus British English style.Here is a more specific overview of the contents.Chapter 1 begins with the parts of speech, the buildingblocks of writing, breaking grammar down into singlewords and their uses in sentences.Chapter 2 talks about the elements of a sentence andthe basic types of sentences.Chapter 3 introduces phrases: small groups of wordsthat make your sentences more interesting and varied.Chapter 4 continues with longer groups of words, clauses.Chapter 5 discusses complete sentences (and what arenot sentences) as well as a variety of different sentencepatterns using the phrases and clauses you learnedabout in Chapters 3 and 4.Chapter 6 begins talking about some common problemswith grammar, concentrating on pronoun problems.Chapter 7 reviews verbs and some of the specific issuesconnected with verbs.Chapter 8 is devoted to commas. There are so manycomma rules that commas deserve a chapter of theirown!Chapter 9 talks about the other punctuation marks.Chapter 10 reviews capitalization conventions.Chapter 11 discusses some really important grammarissues including agreement, parallel structure, comparison, possessives, using numbers, and plurals.Chapter 12 contains a Dictionary of Usage, explainingthe word pairs and groups that often get confused: layand lie, capital and capitol, imply and infer, and many,many others.Throughout each chapter, there are a number of practice exercises; there is a chapter test at the end of eachchapter. Then there is a final test. All answers are inAppendix G.Appendix A includes a list of common redundanciesthat we often use in our writing and speaking.Appendix B contains a list of commonly misspelledwords.Appendix C contains a list of commonly mispronounced words.Appendix D contains a list of common prefixes, suffixes,and word roots to help improve vocabulary and helpyou figure out the meaning of a word by l
1. English language—Grammar. 2. English language—Usage. 3. English language—Grammar— Self-instruction Library of Congress: PE 1106.M550 2015 Dewey: 428.2 Published by bigwords101, P.O. Box 4483, Petaluma, CA 94955 USA website and blog: www.bigwords101.com Contact Ingram or the publish
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