A Commonsense Guide to Grammar and Usage, 5th Edition

✍ Scribed by Larry Beason, Mark Lester

• Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 525
• Edition: 5th
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This student-friendly grammar guide helps students recognize, correct, and avoid the most common and serious grammar and usage errors. The text breaks complex concepts down into simple lessons, each focusing on a single essential skill. Everyday language and easy-to-remember tips make grammar easy to understand, and clear examples and diagrams show, rather than just tell, how to identify and correct problems. Hundreds of exercises in the book and thousands more at Exercise Central provide students with plentiful practice.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover Page......Page 1
ISBN 9780312470951......Page 2
Title page
......Page 3
Brief Contents......Page 4
What Does This Book Offer — and Why?......Page 6
New to This Edition......Page 9
Practical Resources for Instructors and Students......Page 10
Acknowledgments......Page 12
Why Use This Book — For Students......Page 13
How to Use This Book......Page 15
Using the Tabs......Page 18
Contents......Page 20
Grammar without Tears......Page 28
OVERVIEW......Page 34
Lesson 1: Fragments......Page 36
Lesson 2: Run-ons: Fused Sentences and Comma Splices......Page 47
REVIEW......Page 57
OVERVIEW......Page 59
Lesson 3: Nearest-Noun Agreement Errors......Page 61
Lesson 4: Agreement with There is and There was......Page 69
Lesson 5: Agreement with Compound Subjects......Page 76
REVIEW......Page 82
OVERVIEW......Page 84
Lesson 6: Present, Past, and Tense Shifting......Page 86
Lesson 7: The Past and the Perfect Tenses......Page 95
REVIEW......Page 103
OVERVIEW......Page 105
Lesson 8: Pronoun Agreement......Page 107
Lesson 9: Vague Pronouns: This, That, and It......Page 116
Lesson 10: Choosing the Correct Pronoun Form......Page 125
Lesson 11: Who, Whom, and That......Page 134
Lesson 12: Eliminating Sexist Pronouns......Page 143
REVIEW......Page 151
OVERVIEW......Page 154
Lesson 13: Dangling Modifiers......Page 156
Lesson 14: Misplaced and Squinting Adverbs......Page 165
REVIEW......Page 174
OVERVIEW......Page 176
Lesson 15: Commas with And, But, Or, and Other Coordinating Conjunctions......Page 179
Lesson 16: Commas with Transitional Terms......Page 189
Lesson 17: Commas with Adverb Clauses......Page 199
Lesson 18: Commas with Introductory Elements......Page 208
Lesson 19: Commas with Adjective Clauses......Page 217
Lesson 20: Commas with Appositives......Page 226
REVIEW......Page 235
OVERVIEW......Page 238
Lesson 21: Apostrophes in Contractions......Page 240
Lesson 22: Apostrophes Showing Possession......Page 247
Lesson 23: Other Uses of the Apostrophe......Page 257
Lesson 24: Unnecessary Apostrophes......Page 264
REVIEW......Page 271
OVERVIEW......Page 274
Lesson 25: Quotation Marks with Direct Quotations and Paraphrases......Page 277
Lesson 26: Quotation Marks with Other Punctuation......Page 286
Lesson 27: Semicolons......Page 293
Lesson 28: Colons......Page 302
Lesson 29: Capitalization......Page 310
REVIEW......Page 321
OVERVIEW......Page 323
Lesson 30: Parallelism......Page 325
Lesson 31: Passive Voice......Page 334
OVERVIEW......Page 344
Lesson 32: Incorrect Plurals and Indefinite Articles with Noncount Nouns......Page 347
Lesson 33: Using A/An, Some, and The......Page 354
Lesson 34: Making Generalizations without Articles......Page 362
REVIEW......Page 369
OVERVIEW......Page 373
Lesson 35: The Progressive Tenses......Page 375
Lesson 36: Two-Word Verbs......Page 384
Lesson 37: Information Questions......Page 393
Lesson 38: Word Order in Noun Clauses......Page 401
REVIEW......Page 409
OVERVIEW......Page 412
Types of Assignments......Page 416
Understanding What You Read......Page 417
Critical Questions for Reading......Page 420
Determine Your General Purpose......Page 423
Understand Your Audience......Page 425
Connecting Purpose and Audience......Page 426
Explore Your Subject and Develop Support......Page 428
Write a Thesis Sentence......Page 430
Plan Your Paper’s Organization......Page 431
Critical Questions for Planning......Page 434
Lesson 41: Drafting......Page 436
Write Topic Sentences and Paragraphs......Page 437
Strategies for Writing a Single-Paragraph Assignment......Page 439
Put More Support into Paragraphs......Page 441
One Student’s Draft......Page 442
Critical Questions for Drafting......Page 445
Ask Questions as You Revise......Page 447
Using Questions......Page 451
Critical Questions for Revising......Page 454
Appendix A: Brief Documentation Guide......Page 456
Appendix B: Guide to Grammar Terminology......Page 462
Appendix C: Glossary of Commonly Confused Words......Page 476
Appendix D: Glossary of Commonly Misspelled Words......Page 479
Appendix E: Glossary of Common Two-Word Verbs......Page 481
Answer Key......Page 484
Index......Page 514
ESL Index......Page 521
Correction Symbols......Page 524
Finding What You Need in This Book......Page 525