Common Writing Mistakes: A Guide to Correct Usage of Punctuation, Verbs, and More, Exams of History of Education

Download Common Writing Mistakes: A Guide to Correct Usage of Punctuation, Verbs, and More and more Exams History of Education in PDF only on Docsity! 1 Common mistakes • Colon: Do not capitalize the first word that follows a colon (except as appropriate in titles). • Semicolon: Use a semicolon with a conjunctive adverb. (however, therefore, nevertheless). The first test results were unsatisfactory; however, a simple modification of the questionnaire solved the problem. Common mistakes • Comma: A conjunctive adverb (therefore, thus, however, nevertheless) at the beginning of a sentence should be set off with a comma. A coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, for) does not. Thus, the results showed ample significance. • Elsewhere in a sentence, commas are usually used to set off conjunctive adverbs. We believe, therefore, that this test is inadequate. Common mistakes • Comma: Use a comma to set off an appositive -- a word or phrase that follows another word, usually a noun, to explain or identify it. Simple sentence: George Washington was the first president of the United States of America. Simple sentence: George Washington was a planter from Virginia. Appositive: George Washington, a Virginia planter, was the first president of the United States of America. • Be sure you place a comma AFTER the appositive!!!! (PET PEEVE) Common mistakes • Quotation marks: Go around titles of TV shows, books, films. • Commas, question marks and periods go INSIDE quotation marks in a quote. He said, “The test was hard.” “I thought so too,” she replied. • Question marks go OUTSIDE quotation marks when they're NOT part of the speaker's words. EXAMPLE (NOT in quotation marks): Did I hear Dr. Leahy ask if the patient needs treatment in a "recompression chamber"? Common mistakes • Apostrophes: Apostrophes used to indicate numerals left out. ‘90s (for 1990s) • Do not use an apostrophe for decades. 1990s -- NOT 1990’s Common mistakes • Hyphens: Used in phrasal adjectives. 7-year-old boy, an off-the-cuff remark, a little- known man. • But hyphen is NOT used with adverbs ending in -ly. a gravely ill student • In combinations of a number plus a noun of measurement. a 3-inch bug, a 6-foot man, a two-man team 2 Fragments, run-ons and complete sentences • Fragment: Finding a dependable and inexpensive car to use. • Complete: Finding a dependable and inexpensive car to use is becoming more and more difficult. • Run-on: I need a match, do you smoke? • Correct: I need a match. Do you smoke? Verbs • Never use a weak verb when a strong one will do. Weak -- "to be, to go, to do, to get, to have, to make." • Never use adverbs to shore up weak verbs. Use a stronger verb, instead. "Speak softly" -- use "whisper" • A strong verb is strong enough on its own; the adverb is redundant. totally destroy -- destroy be absolutely sure -- be sure be perfectly clear -- be clear Verbs • Never use the passive voice when the active voice will do. Active: She passed the potatoes around the table. Passive: The potatoes were passed around the table (by her). • Never carelessly switch verb tenses (past or present). Ground your story in one tense. • Never violate subject-verb agreement. Single subjects take single verbs. Plural subjects take plural verbs. Pronouns • A singular noun takes a singular pronoun. A plural noun takes a plural pronoun. The student played the trumpet. They make good music. (To whom or what does “they” refer? Singular or plural?) Parallelism • Mixing elements in a phrase or series. Wrong: He enjoys books, movies, and driving around in his dune buggy. • Inappropriately using a clause. Wrong: The stock analyst explained the mutual fund market, interest rates and that tax loopholes were becoming difficult to find. Get rid of deadwood • It is really necessary to return the library book very soon. • It is necessary to return the library book soon. • In many cases, students fail to learn about career opportunities. • Many students fail to learn about career opportunities.