Day 1

1. Steinbeck Skills and Explanations Day 1 Commonly Misspelled Words: A lot A lot is two words, not one. Possession of Nouns Form the possessive of singular nouns by adding 's. For a plural noun ending in -s, just add an apostrophe after the -s. For nouns ending in s, add an 's. Some grammarians suggest that you should only add an apostrophe (without an s) if a proper noun would sound awkward if pronounced with -iz as in Jesusiz (Jesus's). Capitalization of Proper Nouns Proper nouns name specific people, places and things and are capitalized. If a noun is general, it is not a proper noun and is not capitalized.

2. Use of You Only use the word you if you are speaking directly to the reader. If you mean people in general, use one rather than you. If you are referring to yourself, use I.

3. Day 2 Pronoun Cases There are three cases (forms): Subjective case is for pronouns used as the subject. (I, you, he, she, it, we, they, who) The objective case is for pronouns used as objects of verbs or prepositions.(me, you, him, her, it, us, them, whom) Possessive case is for pronouns that express ownership. (my/mine, your/yours, his, her/hers, it/its, our/ours, their/theirs, whose) Compound Modifiers When an adverb modifies an adjective, do not hyphenate them.

4. Punctuation of a Split Quotation A split quotation is a direct quotation that is interrupted by the tag line (the phrase indentifying the speaker). Punctuate it as you would any direct quotation, but do not capitalize the word when you resume the quote after the tag line if it does not begin a new sentence. As with all direct quotations, put quotation marks only around the words that are being quoted. 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.

5. Day 3 Relative clauses Relative clauses give information to define or identify the noun or pronoun to which the clause refers.These are the words that introduce relative clauses: who that which whom where when why whose Commonly Confused words: Who versus Whom There are three cases (forms): Subjective case is for pronouns used as the subject. Who is in the subjective case. The objective case is for pronouns used as objects of verbs or prepositions. Whom is in the objective case. To help you choose between the two, try substituting he or she to see if the case is subjective and him or her to see if the case is subjective.

6. Relative Pronouns When referring to people, use who, whom or whose. Use who to refer to people that are subjects, whom to refer to people that are objects and whose to refer to people who are possessing something. When referring to things, use which (preceded by a comma) in clauses that are not important to the main meaning of the sentence. Never use which to refer to people because this implies that the person is an object rather than a human being. When referring to things, use that (not preceded by a comma) to refer to things in clauses that are important to the main meaning of the sentence.

7. Day 4 Plural of Last Names To make a last name plural (as in the Hill family) add an -s to the name (the Hills)--do not add an -'s. Use of a Dash for Explanatory Information When you add information that explains something in your sentence, you can set it off from the rest of the sentence with a dash (if at the end) or dashes (if in the middle--one on either side of the information). Sentence Fragment A sentence fragment is a group of words punctuated like a sentence that is not a complete thought. In formal writing, sentences should express complete thoughts. A sentence fragment can also be a sentence missing a subject or predicate. Correct sentence fragments by connecting them to sentences or by creating sentences with additional words.

8. Conjunctive Adverbs Conjunctive adverbs are not really conjunctions--they connect two independent clauses by functioning as transitions. They follow a semicolon and have a comma after them. Some common conjunctive adverbes are the following: accordingly afterwards otherwise also consequently therefore however indeed similarly likewise moreover still nevertheless nonetheless Sally did not like to skin small game; therefore, she hired her little brother to clean Fluffy after the cat was hit by a car. The test was difficult; accordingly, many students ran from the room screaming.

9. Day 5 Active Voice versus Passive Voice Active voice has the subject doing something to the object. Passive voice has something being done to the subject by an unknown agent or by something in the prepositional phrase by _______________.Use active voice as much as possible. Only use passive when you have a specific reason. The students were tortured by their teacher. (Passive) The teacher tortured the students. (Active) Commonly Confused Words: fewer versus less The word fewer is used to modify things that can be counted. The word less is used to modify things that cannot be counted. I have fewer pennies than Highlands Union Bank. I have less sand in my shoes than you do.

10. Commonly Confused Words: Then versus Than Then relates to time. Than isused in comparisons. Exclamation Point The exclamation point is used after an interjection or at the end of a sentence showing strong emotion. Do not overuse the exclamation point.