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Grammar Cheat Sheet (DRAFT) by

Grammar rules for english

This is a draft cheat sheet. It is a work in progress and is not finished yet.

Parts of Speech

Noun
Person, Place, Thing and Abstract. Test with 'is/are' after the word
Pronouns
Replace Nouns, show possession (his, her, theirs, mine, each, everyone, these, neither, whose)
Verbs
Show action or link the subject to other words. can work in multiples (Am, is, are, was, were, seem, appear, become)
Adjectives
modify­/de­scribe nouns or pronouns (draw arrows to the thing it modifies)
Adverbs
modify verbs, adject­ives, adverbs
Prepos­itions
always followed by object, provide positional inform­ation, relate object to other words. (to, by, in, at, on, of, from)
Conjun­ctions
Coordi­nating: FANBOYS / Subord­ina­ting: if, because, although, since, unless

Comma Rules

FANBOYS
comma before FANBOYS in IC,cc IC sentences
Series
Lists of more than two items
Introd­uction
After intro words, phrases, clause (DC, IC)
Apposi­tives, Interr­upters, contrast
comma before and after noun replac­ements (bob, the man in the hat,...), interr­upting statements and contrast statements
Conjun­ctive adverbs that introduce ICs
"I could ride my bike, however, I'm fat"
Non-es­sential clauses
clauses that provide unnece­ssary info

Apostr­ophes

Possesive
place after the owner(s) (cat's, cats') *proper nouns that end with 's' can be s' or s's
 
joint ownership? apostrophe on last noun only
 
separate ownership? apostrophe on both nouns
 
indefinite pronouns? 's (anybo­dy's, everyo­ne's)
Contra­ction
marks the omission of letters or numbers. ( it is = it's, they are= they're)
 
pluralize #s, letters, and words (a's, no's, '70s)

Subjec­t-Verb Agreement

Indefinite Pronouns (-body­,-o­ne,­-thing)
Singular Ex: Nothing works without energy
Collective Nouns
Usually singular Ex: The audience applauds after every act
Company Names
singular even when the name seems plural Ex: Starbucks is giving out free samples
Compound Subjects
multiple subjects joined with 'and' is ALWAYS plural 'or/nor' is singular Ex: Jen and jack are away / Jen or jack is away
Mixed subjects (singular + plural)
joined with 'or/nor', closests to the verb determines if the verb is singular or plural Ex: The flowers or the tree is causing my allergies
Prepos­itional Phrase­s/I­nte­rfering words
ignore items set apart by commas or interf­ering words. focus on the real subject Ex: Donna, along with her children, is living on rockland
Reversed subjec­t-verb order
try rearra­nging the sentence so the subject comes before the verb Ex: At the end of the hall, there is a room for special meetings. (A room is at the end of the hall)
singular present tense verbs end in -s Example: He works hard, They work hard

If you are unsure if the subject is singular or plural, replace it with he/they and see what matches the verb (or vice versa).

Pronou­n-a­nte­cedent agreement rules

Indefinite pronouns are usually singular
-body, -one, -thing, each, every, either, neither Ex: Everything on the table has its place.
collective nouns are usually singular
The murder of crows watched from its tree
compound mixed antece­dents depend on the subject closer to the verb
Joined by "­or/­nor­". Ex: Neither the sales repres­ent­atives nor the owner is appeasing his customers.
pronoun always refers to a noun (antec­edent) that came before it

when gender is unknown "­they, them, their" can be singular (except when the subject is not human)

Pronoun Case

Prepos­itions
Always use object pronoun after a prepos­ition Ex: I hope we will still be able to get messages from Michael and her.
Subject pronouns
Use subject pronouns when the pronoun functions as the subject Ex: Jane and he travel to the Maritimes at least once a year.
Pronoun case and compar­atives
When using "­than, as well as, or as" determine if you are trying to contrast the subject with the pronoun. If yes, use the subject form. Ex: Hannah grew this year and is now a lot taller than I (am)
Who / Whom
Who = subject of the sentence Whom= object of a preceding prepos­ition Ex: We want to know on whom the prank was pulled
Myself
Only used when "­i" is the antecedent Ex: I gave myself a haircut, I completed the final report myself
Tip when there is a pronoun and a name remove the name and see if the sentence sounds right

Modi­fiers and their errors

Words
Adjectives (nouns, pronouns) and Adverbs (verbs, adject­ives, adverbs)
Phrases
Prepos­tional (in the blue dress) and Verbal (waving his arms,...)
Error 1) Misplaced
To far, modifies the wrong thing
Error 2) Dangling
Missing the thing it's modifying
Error 3) Squinting
Modifying two separate parts
 

Sentences

Needs a verb, Subject, and complete thought
Linking verb + Compliment Or Action Verb + Direct object
Active Voice: Subject -> Verb -> Object (subject does action)
Passive Voice: Subject receives action (to be, by) test with "by zombies after action­"

Sentence Errors

Fragment
Missing one of the 3 sentence ingred­ients. DC signal words (if, after, before, while, although, since, because, unless, when, which, that, who)
Run-on (comma splice and fused)
bad punctu­ation, fixes= (IC.IC) (IC, cc IC) (IC;IC) (DC, IC or IC DC)
 

Lists / colons Rules

1)
Introduce with IC and colon (otherwise no : )
2)
Full sentence list items sentence case and period
3)
Parallel Structure (watch for correl­atives: either/or , neithe­r/nor)
colons
end of an IC only, introd­ucing a list, explan­ation, intens­ifi­cation or quote