The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation - Ampleforth College

177 Pages·2008·0.87 MB·English

The Blue Book
of Grammar
and Punctuation
An Easy-to-Use Guide
with Clear Rules, Real-World Examples,
and Reproducible Quizzes
Tenth Edition
Jane Straus

The Blue Book
of Grammar
and Punctuation
An Easy-to-Use Guide
with Clear Rules, Real-World Examples,
and Reproducible Quizzes
Tenth Edition
Jane Straus
Copyright2008byJaneStraus.Allrightsreserved.
PublishedbyJossey-Bass
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ISBN:978–0–470–22268–3
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
TENTHEDITION
PBPrinting 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Acknowledgments xiii
AbouttheAuthor xv
ForewordbyMignonFogarty(GrammarGirl) xvii
Introduction xix
1 Grammar 1
FindingSubjectsandVerbs 1
Findingverbs
Usingverbstofindsubjects
Youasanunderstoodsubject
Multiplesubjectsandverbsinasentence
SubjectandVerbAgreement 2
Singularvs.pluralverbs
Withorandnor
Witheitherandneither
Withconjunctionssuchasandandbut
Withinterruptingexpressions
Withpronounsassubjectssuchaseach,everyone,andanybody
Withportionssuchaspercent,fraction,part,some,all,andnone
Withhereandthere
Withsumsofmoney
Withwho,that,andwhich
Withcollectivenouns
Pronouns 6
SubjectCase(Nominative):I,you,he,she,it,we,they
iii
iv TheBlueBookofGrammarandPunctuation
ObjectCase(Objective):me,you,him,her,it,us,them
Correctuseofpronounsbyfindingclauses
Followingthanoras
Possessivecase:mine,yours,his,hers,ours,theirs,its
Itsvs.it’s
Usingpossessivecasewithgerunds
Reflexives:theselfpronouns
Whovs.Whom 8
Whoevervs.Whomever 8
Thatvs.Which 9
AdjectivesandAdverbs 10
Adjectivesmodifyingnounsandpronouns
Adverbsmodifyingverbs,adjectives,andadverbs:Answeringhow,when,orwhere
Whentoadd-ly
Senseverbs:taste,smell,look,andfeel
Goodvs.well
Comparisonssuchas–ervs.–estandmorevs.most
This,that,these,andthose
Thanvs.then
ProblemswithPrepositions 13
Endingasentencewithapreposition
Avoidingextraprepositions
Withdates
Ofvs.have
Betweenvs.among
Invs.into
Likevs.as
EffectiveWriting 14
Concretevs.vaguelanguage
Activevs.passivevoice
Clumsyconstructionsuchasthereisoritwas
Doublenegatives
Similargrammaticalform
Misplacedanddanglingmodifiers
Fragments
2 ConfusingWordsandHomonyms 16
Advicevs.advice
Affectvs.effect
Contents v
Layvs.lie
Theirvs.therevs.they’re
Hundredsmoreconfusingwordsandhomonyms
3 Punctuation 52
SpacingwithPunctuation 52
Periods 52
Withcompletesentences
Withindirectquestions
Withabbreviationsattheendofasentence
EllipsisMarks 53
Withomittedwordsorsentences
Spacing
Commas 54
Toseparatethreeormoreitems
Toseparateadjectives
Withnames
Withdates
Withcityandstate
Withdegreesandtitles
Tosetoffinterruptingexpressions
Withweakandstrongclauses
Afterphrases
Withnonessentialdescriptions
Withconjunctions
Toavoidconfusion
Commasplice
Run-onsentence
Tointroducequotedmaterial
Toseparatestatementsfromquestions
Toseparatecontrastingpartsofasentence
Withintroductorywordssuchaswellandyes
Withinterrupterssuchashoweverandtherefore
Withintroductorywordssuchasnamely,thatis,forexample,
e.g.,andi.e. whentheyarefollowedbyaseriesofitems
Semicolons 57
Tojointwosentenceswithoutaconjunction
Withintroductorywordssuchasnamely,thatis,forexample,e.g.,
andi.e.whentheyintroduceacompletesentence
Toavoidconfusionwherecommasalreadyexist
vi TheBlueBookofGrammarandPunctuation
Withsentencesthathavemultipleclauses
Colons 58
Toattachliststosentences
Spacing
Withtabularformatting
Withlongquotations
Afterthesalutationinabusinessletter
QuestionMarks 60
ExclamationPoints 61
QuotationMarks 61
Placementwithperiods,commas,questionmarks,andsemicolons
Useofsinglequotationmarks
Useofsic
Parentheses 62
Forclarification
Forasides
Toenclosenumbers
Withcompletesentences
Apostrophes 63
Contractions
Possession
Singularpossession
Pluralpossession
Withnamesendingins
Withcompoundnounssuchasmother-in-law’s
Toshowjointpossession
Withpossessivepronounssuchashis,hers,andours
Toshowpluralsofnumbers,letters,andabbreviations
Withgerunds(-ingwords)
Hyphens 65
Betweenwords
Withcompoundverbs
Withcompoundadjectives
With-lywords
Withcompoundadverbs
Withcompoundnumbers
Withprefixes
Withdoublevowelssuchassemi-invalid
Withdoubleeanddoubleosuchaspreemptiveandcoordinate
Contents vii
Withmixedvowelssuchasproactive
Withvowelsandconsonantssuchasnoncompliance
Withself,ex,andre
HyphensBetweenWords
HyphenswithPrefixes
Dashes 68
EnDash
EmDash
4 Capitalization 70
Beginningasentenceorquotedsentence
Propernouns
Titles
Governmentofficials
Pointsofthecompass
Titlesofpublications
Withstate,federal,andothergovernmentbodies
Withseasons
Withsalutations
WithwordsderivedfrompropernounssuchasEnglish
5 WritingNumbers 73
Usingfiguresvs.spellingout
Mixedquantitieswithinthesamesentence
Fractions
Largenumbers
Decimals
Dates
Time
Compoundnumbers
6 Quizzes 76
GrammarPretest 76
FindingSubjectsandVerbs—Quiz1 78
FindingSubjectsandVerbs—Quiz2 78
SubjectandVerbAgreement—Quiz1 79
SubjectandVerbAgreement—Quiz2 80
Pronouns—Quiz1 81
Pronouns—Quiz2 81
Who,Whom,Whoever,Whomever—Quiz1 82
Who,Whom,Whoever,Whomever—Quiz2 83
Who,Whom,That,Which—Quiz1 84
viii TheBlueBookofGrammarandPunctuation
Who,Whom,That,Which—Quiz2 84
AdjectivesandAdverbs—Quiz1 85
AdjectivesandAdverbs—Quiz2 86
ProblemswithPrepositions—Quiz1 87
ProblemswithPrepositions—Quiz2 87
Affectvs.Effect—Quiz1 88
Affectvs.Effect—Quiz2 88
Layvs.Lie—Quiz1 89
Layvs.Lie—Quiz2 90
Advicevs.Advise—Quiz1 90
Advicevs.Advise—Quiz2 91
Theirvs.Therevs.They’re—Quiz1 91
Theirvs.Therevs.They’re—Quiz2 92
MoreConfusingWordsandHomonyms—Quiz1 92
MoreConfusingWordsandHomonyms—Quiz2 93
MoreConfusingWordsandHomonyms—Quiz3 94
EffectiveWriting—Quiz1 95
EffectiveWriting—Quiz2 97
GrammarMasteryTest 98
Punctuation,Capitalization,andWritingNumbersPretest 100
Commas—Quiz1 102
Commas—Quiz2 102
SemicolonsandColons—Quiz1 103
SemicolonsandColons—Quiz2 104
QuestionMarks,QuotationMarks,andParentheses—Quiz1 105
QuestionMarks,QuotationMarks,andParentheses—Quiz2 106
Apostrophes—Quiz1 106
Apostrophes—Quiz2 107
HyphensBetweenWords—Quiz1 107
HyphensBetweenWords—Quiz2 108
Hyphenswith-lyWords—Quiz1 108
Hyphenswith-lyWords—Quiz2 109
HyphenswithPrefixes—Quiz1 109
HyphenswithPrefixes—Quiz2 110
Hyphenswithre-Words—Quiz1 110
Hyphenswithre-Words—Quiz2 111
Capitalization—Quiz1 111
Capitalization—Quiz2 112
WritingNumbers—Quiz1 112