The Navajo Skills and Principles

1. The Navajo Skills and Principles Day 1 Unnecessary Preposition: In About In about--one only needs about because in adds no new information A.D. and B.C. A.D. is a Latin abbreviation for Anno Domini, in the year of our Lord. A.D. is used with dates in the current era. A.D. is roughly the same as C.E. (Common Era). Although Latin is not a word order language, it is conventional in English writing for A.D. to precede (come before) the year (A.D. 2004). B.C. stands for Before Christ and is a way of dating events before the year zero on our calendar. B.C. is roughly the same as B.C.E. (Before the Common Era). B.C. follows the date (53 B.C.). Both are capitalized. Names of Places In formal writing, spell out the names of places. Do not abbreviate.

2. Day 2 Numbers above 100 Numbers above 100 are expressed as numerals. Commas in Addresses When writing an address, a comma comes between the city and state or city and country. Wordy Sentence Since writing is meant to communicate, sentences should do so in a clear way. Adding unnecessary words can confuse the audience. Eliminate all words that do not add new meaning. For example, because of the fact that gives the same information as simply writing because; thus, eliminate of the fact that and replace it with because. The time in which gives the same information as simply writing when; thus, eliminate the time in which and replace it with when.

3. Day 3 Comparative and Superlative Forms of Adjectives Comparative Form and Superlative Form (-er/-est) one-syllable adjectives two-syllable adjectives ending in -y or -er Comparative Form and Superlative Form (more/most) adjectives of three or more syllables (and two-syllable adjectives not ending in -y/-er) Do not double up (use both the -er/-est form with more or most)

4. Choosing between Comparative and Superlative Comparative is used when something is being compared to something else. "It is ________er than the other thing." The word than is a clue that you need the comparative--not all comparatives use the word than, however. Superlative is used when something is more than any other thing of its kind. "It is the _______________est of all." The word the can be a clue that you are to use the superlative. Capitalization: Names of Countries The names of countries are proper nouns and are thus capitalized. Sentence fragment A sentence fragment is a group of words punctuated like a sentence that is not a complete thought. Sentences should express complete thoughts, and sentence fragments are incomplete thoughts. A sentence fragment can also be a sentence missing a subject or predicate.

5. Day 4 Coordinate Adjectives If two adjectives modify a noun in the same way, place a comma between the two adjectives. These are called coordinate adjectives. There is a two-part test for coordinate adjectives: (1) Can you replace the comma with the word and? (2) Can you reverse the order of the adjectives and keep the same meaning? If you can do both, then you have coordinate adjectives. Coordinate adjectives require that you place a comma between them when they appear in a series. Faulty Subordination Subordinating an idea means that you consider it less important than another idea. Make sure that the subordinate clause is really subordinate. For example, make sure it is really the cause of the event in the main clause. Imprecise Adjective: Nice The adjective nice is overused and does not add much to the meaning of the sentence because the meaning is vague. If you find yourself wanting to use it, try to find an alternative and more precise way to state what you mean. She was nice. Miranda always treated her friends with respect.

6. Imprecise Adjective: Nice The adjective nice is overused and does not add much to the meaning of the sentence because the meaning is vague. If you find yourself wanting to use it, try to find an alternative and more precise way to state what you mean. She was nice. Miranda always treated her friends with respect.

7. Day 5 Pronoun Case: Subject of a Sentence When the pronoun is the subject of a sentence, use the subjective (nominative) case: I, you, he, she, it, we, they. Order of Pronouns The pronouns I, me, we, us are used second in pairs. For example, a correct way to use this is my sister and I not I and my sister. Correlative Conjunctions Conjunctions are words used to link things together. Correlative conjunctions are two conjunctions that always appear together in a sentence. The most common correlative conjunctions are either...or, neither...nor, not only...but also, and whether...or.

8. Neither...nor When using neither x nor y, use the singular form of the verb if each of the elements are singular or the plural form if the elements are plural. If they are a mixture of singular and plural, the element closest to the verb determines if the verb is singular or plural.