The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation

225 Pages·2014·22.57 MB·english

by  Jane Straus

ELEVENTH EDITION
THE
B L U E B O O K
GRAMMAR
OF AND
PUNCTUATION
An Easy-to-Use Guide with Clear Rules,
Real-World Examples, and Reproducible Quizzes
Jane Straus
Lester Kaufman
Edited with new material by Tom Stern
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Coverbackground©iStockphoto.com/GoldmundLukic
Copyright©2014byLesterKaufman.Allrightsreserved.
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Straus,Jane.
Thebluebookofgrammarandpunctuation:aneasy-to-useguidewithclearrules,real-worldexamples,
andreproduciblequizzes/JaneStraus,LesterKaufman,TomStern.—Eleventhedition.
pagescm
Includesindex.
ISBN978-1-118-78556-0(pbk)—ISBN978-1-118-79021-2(pdf)—ISBN978-1-118-79032-8(epub)
1.Englishlanguage—Grammar.2.Englishlanguage—Grammar—Problems,exercises,etc.3.English
language—Punctuation.4.Englishlanguage—Punctuation—Problems,exercises,etc.I.Kaufman,LesterII.Stern,TomIII.
Title.
PE1112.S7732014
428.2—dc23
2013038993
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
ELEVENTHEDITION
PBPrinting 10987654321
CONTENTS
Preface and Acknowledgments xv
About the Authors xvii
Introduction xix
1 GRAMMAR 1
Finding Nouns, Verbs, and Subjects 1
Definitions
Noun
Verb
Subject
Using verbs to find subjects
Multiple subjects and verbs in a sentence
Infinitives
You as an understood subject
Subject-Verb Agreement 3
Singular vs. plural verbs
Finding subjects before phrases beginning with of
With or, either/or, and neither/nor
Two singular subjects
One singular and one plural subject
iii
iv CONTENTS
With and
With interrupting expressions
With such portions as percent, fraction,part, etc.
With here or there
With distances, periods of time, sums of money, etc.
With collective nouns
The subjunctive mood
Clauses and Phrases 7
Definitions
Clause
Independent clause
Dependent clause
Phrase
Pronouns 7
Definition: Pronoun
Subject pronouns
As the subject of the sentence
Renaming the subject
When who refers to a personal pronoun
Object pronouns
Subject and verb agreement with who, that, and which
Subject and verb agreement with anyone,someone,each,etc.
Following than or as
Possessive pronouns
Its vs. it’s;who’svs.whose
Reflexives: the -self pronouns
Consistency with singular pronouns
Pronouns linked with nouns by and
Who vs. Whom 12
He/himmethod
Commonwhompitfall
Whoever vs. Whomever 13
Agreement with the verb in the dependent clause
Dependent clause as the subject of the verb following the clause
CONTENTS v
Who, That, Which 14
Who,that, and whichwith people, groups, and things
Thatwith essential clauses
Whichwith nonessential clauses
When whichcan be used with essential clauses
Adjectives and Adverbs 15
Definitions
Adjective
Adverb
Adjectives modifying nouns and pronouns
Adverbs modifying verbs, adjectives, and adverbs
When to add -ly
Sense verbs: taste,smell,look,feel,etc.
Goodvs.well
Wellas an adjective when referring to health
Comparisons, such as -er vs. -estandmorevs.most
This,that,these,andthose
Prepositions 18
Definition: preposition
Ending a sentence with a preposition
Avoiding extra prepositions
Like
As,asif,asthough,theway
Of vs.have
Differentfromvs.differentthan
Invs.into
Efective Writing 20
Concrete vs. vague language
Active vs. passive voice
Overuse of thereis,thereare,itis,itwas,etc.
Double negatives
Parallel construction
Dangling modifiers
Misplaced modifiers
Fragments
vi CONTENTS
2 PUNCTUATION 25
Periods 25
With complete sentences
With abbreviations at the end of a sentence
Replacing periods with question marks and exclamation points
Commas 25
To separate three or more items
To separate adjectives
With two independent clauses
Run-on sentences or comma splices
Joined by connectors such as and,or,but, etc.
When the subject does not appear in front of the second verb
With introductory words
To set of interrupting expressions
With names
With dates
With city and state
With Jr. and Sr.
With degrees and titles
Starting a sentence with a dependent clause vs. an independent clause
With nonessential words, clauses, and phrases
With suiciently identified noun
With quotations
To introduce or interrupt quotations
Following quotations
To separate statements from questions
To separate contrasting parts of a sentence
With certain introductory words
When followed by a series of items
When the series of items ends with etc.
Semicolons 30
To replace a period in two closely linked sentences
With such words as namely,however,therefore,etc., when they
introduce a complete sentence
To avoid confusion where commas already exist
With sentences that have multiple clauses
CONTENTS vii
Colons 31
To introduce a series of items
Except when a series of items directly follows a verb or preposition
With lists
With two independent clauses when the second explains the first
With long quotations
After the salutation in a business letter
Quotation Marks 33
Use of double quotation marks
With titles of magazines, books, plays, etc.
With periods and commas
ALWAYS inside quotation marks
Use of single quotation marks for quotations within quotations
Spacing between single and double quotation marks
With nonstandard expressions
With technical terms and terms used in an unusual way
Avoiding single quotation marks
With quoted material of more than one paragraph
Parentheses and Brackets 34
Not interchangeable
Parentheses 34
For clarification and asides
With complete sentences
Subject-verb agreement
Comma placement with parentheses
Brackets 35
With interruptions
Use of [sic]
With quotations
Apostrophes 36
Singular nouns
Possession with singular nouns
Possession with common nouns ending in s
Possession with proper nouns ending in s
Plural nouns
Plural possession with regular nouns
No apostrophe with regular nouns
viii CONTENTS
Plural possession with irregular nouns
Plural possession with names ending in s
No apostrophe with plural names
Possession with singular compound nouns
To show joint possession
Contractions
With initials, capital letters, and numbers used as nouns
With time or money
With personal pronouns
Apostrophes vs. single quotation marks
False possessives
With nouns ending in y
Hyphens 40
Hyphens between words 41
With compound adjectives
With compound verbs
With compound nouns
With very and -ly adverbs
With ages
For clarification
With spans of time, distance, or other quantities
With compound numbers
With spelled-out fractions
With double last names
Avoiding overuse
Look it up
Hyphens with prefixes and suixes 43
Prefixes with proper nouns or proper adjectives
Prefixes with double vowels
With self-,ex-, and all-
With re-
To avoid confusion
Suixes not usually hyphenated
Suixes and double letters
Using discretion and a dictionary
Dashes 45
Dashes and subject agreement
In place of other punctuation
Spacing