GRAMMAR

1. GRAMMAR BASIC OVERVIEW & TIPS

2. FRAGMENTS • What is a fragment? • An incomplete sentence which does not contain a main clause. • What constitutes a complete sentence? • Verb: express action or links information to the subject. • Subject: who or what is doing the action. • Complete thought: Verb + Subject = Complete Thought • Tips: • Find the verb: • Correct: The fans shouted during the game. • Incorrect: The fans shouting during the game. • Find the subject: • Correct: The opposing team was annoyed. • Incorrect: The opposing team was annoyed. And the next day was irritable. • Find the complete thought: • Correct: When the students took the exam, they felt prepared. • Incorrect: When the students took the exam. (Don’t leave the reader hanging with an incomplete thought).

3. Run-On Sentences • What is a run-on sentence? • Consists of two or more main clauses that run together without proper punctuation. • Examples: • Incorrect: The student showed us his book someone gave it to him. • Correct: The student showed us his book. Someone gave it to him. • It is important to break up your main points for the reader, so as not to lose the overall meaning.

4. Shifts • Avoid unnecessary shifts in tone, voice, mood, person. • Maintain the same tense: • Incorrect: The man caught the ball and then throws it to the catcher for the out. • Correct: The man caught the ball and then threw it to the catcher for the out. • Don’t shift from past to present tense.

5. Shifts Continued • Voice: When a sentence contains two or more verbs, both should maintain the same voice (active or passive). • Incorrect: When the boy turned on the radio, static was heard. • Correct: When the boy turned on the radio, he heard static.

6. Parallelism • Parallel structure means using the same pattern or words to demonstrate two or more ideas have the same level of importance. • Incorrect: Tim likes reading, swimming, and to spend time with friends. • Correct: Tim likes reading, swimming, and spending time with friends. • Incorrect: The students were told that they should read the textbook, that they should study for the exam, and to do some practice study questions. • Correct: The students were told they should read the textbook, study for the exam, and complete some study questions.

7. Mixed Constructions • What is a Mixed Construction? • A sentence which starts with one grammatical form and ends with another. • Examples: • Incorrect: For most psychology students who take the licensure exam cannot understand test construction. • Correct: For most psychology students who take the licensure exam, test construction is difficult to understand. • Tip: Simple steps like careful proofreading can help eliminate aforementioned errors.

8. THESIS STATEMENTS • First, determine the type of paper you are writing (ex. analytical, expository, argumentative). • Next, the thesis statement should be very specific and supported by clear evidence. • The thesis statement is typically located at the end of the first paragraph of a paper. • Lastly, you may need to revise your thesis statement as the main ideas of your paper unfold. • Remember, it is okay to be creative and to think ‘outside of the box’. 

9. FINAL THOUGHTS • Remember, with issues like Grammar, practice makes perfect. • If you have any questions along the way, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the course instructor. • Good luck this week with the course exercises.