Two-Part Grammar, Style and Usage: One-Day Program
Part I: Mastering Correct and Consistent Punctuation
Part 1 of Grammar, Style & Usage will cover basic sentence structure and will demonstrate how knowing grammar and syntax will make it easier to apply consistent rules for using commas, semicolons, colons, hyphens, apostrophes and dashes. Learn to write and edit correctly with confidence and how to explain your editing to others. Become your local grammar guru.
Discover:
- seven nearly infallible rules to master those pesky commas
- rules for punctuating complex and compound sentences
- practical reasons for knowing the difference between restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses
- the difference between "which" and "that"
- when to place a comma between adjectives
- how to know when that hyphen is necessary for clarity
- when and how to use the much-abused apostrophe
- the precise use of the semicolon
Part II: Mastering the Pronoun and the Verb; Consistent Style and Correct Usage
Part 2 of Grammar, Style & Usage will concentrate on the pronoun (number, gender and case) and on the verb (tenses, voices and moods). You'll review the participles, gerunds and infinitives and why it's so embarrassing to use them incorrectly. Finally, you'll rediscover the importance of a stylebook and ways to remember correct usage.
Review:
- why and how the personal pronoun changes its form
- how to have pronoun agreement and avoid sexism
- how to be consistent with the tense of your verbs
- how to recognize and banish the passive voice in most cases
- why the subjunctive mood is not dead and should not die
- why purists still avoid splitting infinitives
- why dangling participles confuse and amuse readers
- how to remember "affect" and "effect" and other misused words
- why a style book is not a burden but a boon