Chapter 8: Check for Correct Copy

1. Chapter 8: Check for Correct Copy Ashley Handy, Bryce Hanson, Noah Dendinger

2. 5 key points • Use commas correctly. • Make subjects and verbs agree. • Make pronouns and antecedents agree. • Check use of apostrophes. • Check for other common errors.

3. Use commas correctly • When a clause is not needed to understand a sentence, use commas. • Example: The announcement, which was sent out yesterday, informed employees of a new insurance plan. • The blue part of the sentence was not needed, so you use commas. • Commas are used to… • Set off introductory word groups • Join two sentences with a coordinating conjunction • Set off all nonessential or explanatory elements • Set apart two or more adjectives that equally modify the same noun

4. Make subjects and verbs agree • Compound subjects: your verb will depend on the coordinating conjunction between your subjects • Example: If the conjunction is “and,” the verb must be plural. • The workersandsupervisoragree on the new contract. • Example: If the conjunction is “or” or “nor” the verb must agree with the subject nearest to it. • Either the supervisoror the workersagree on the new contract. • Neither the workersnor the supervisoragrees on the new contract.

5. Make subjects and verbs agree continued • Collective nouns: most often use a singular verb, but can use a plural verb if the collective noun refers to an individual. Some examples of collective nouns are team, committee, and group. • Example: The teammakes good decisions. • Example: His team membersare mostly accountants and salespeople.

6. Make pronouns and antecedents agree • When writing, you must remember that your pronouns and antecedents must agree in number and gender. • Example: The participantsagreed that they found the meeting informative. • Example: Bill said that he learned much about the new routing system.

7. Check use of apostrophes • When should I use apostrophes? • When showing possession. • Person’s ideas (possessive of a singular noun) • Several persons’ thoughts (plural possessive) • Nora, Tim, and Oscar’s idea (possession shared by more than one noun) • Nora’s, Tim’s, and Oscar’s ideas (possession is individual and not shared) • When forming contractions. • Cannot = can’t • They have = they’ve • When forming plurals in special cases. • A’s • #’s

8. Check for other common errors • Don’t shift between point of views. • Don’t shift between tenses. • Difference between good and well. • Good is an adjective used to describe a verb, while well is an adverb used to describe a verb. • Example: We did a good job. • Example: We did well.

9. What was different? • They changed the color on one of the pages. • They added in a picture.

10. Summary • This chapter was all about checking over your grammar before sending your work.

11. questions • What is this chapter all about? • Name one reason that commas are used. • What does it mean to make pronouns and antecedents agree? • When do you use apostrophes? • Name two common errors.

12. Fin!!