.Copyright, Terry Gibson, BA, MEd

. . . . . . . . . . . .. . GRAMMAR REFERENCE GLOSSARY . . . "PARTS OF SPEECH" .More complete than your dictionary . . . . . .. . . . .Check the glossary for. . . . . . . . . . Nouns, pronouns, adjectives, articles, . . verbs, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, . . . .. . . .'. .'participles, gerunds, phrases and clauses, . . . .. . . .. . . .. sentences: indicative, subjunctive . . . English: American Usage and Standard English . . . Two countries separated by the same language? . . . .Both equally correct. RECOMMENDED REFERENCES (Check your public library) Swan's Practical English Usage, published by Oxford is the 2009 text that serves as our reference. It is recent but apparently will be replaced annually as we get more and more changes in usage. Except for increases in vocabulary, Standard English has not changed much over time. Fastest to use for both Standard English, and American Usage, giving comparisons is the Oxford Dictionary of Current English, published by Oxford, New York, elsewhere. . . . . Both British (e.g. dialogue Standard) and American Forms are updated (e.g. dialog, US ) .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Edited especially for use of the Winklings Poetry and Grammar Discussion Group The Grefs© GLOSSARY All you really need to know .to use grammar like a pro ---------------------------------------------- In response to a request, permission granted for all to COPY/PRINT and keep If you cannot find what you need in a dictionary or here, IM or e-mail tmatt at vianet.ca Q: What is PUNCTUATION? A: Marks placed after or between words to separate parts of a sentence or bring it to a full stop. Their function is to make meaning clear. Separators are comma, . colon: . semicolon; . (parentheses) . [brackets] Joiner, the hyphen - "quotation marks" . apostrophe' Terminators are dash-- . ellipsis ... . period . . exclamation mark! .question mark? Note: the links to these are at the Front Desk. .(Next) For details and examples . Go to A-1 for hyphen, commas, period, question mark, ellipsis, brackets . . . . . . . . . . .quotation marks, apostrophe's uses, parentheses . Go to B-1 for uses of commas, [enjambment in poetry] quotation marks, . . . . . . . . . . .paragraphing . Go here in C-1 for uses of Hyphen, Dash, Ellipsis, Colon, Semicolon . . Go to D-1 for three uses of apostrophes . Q: What is an ADJECTIVE? A: a word (or group of words) to describe a noun, or to limit its meaning. The whole thing. --A smooth, sandy shore Adjective phrase: The boy with red hair... Adjective clause (has a verb): The man who lives next door... Q: What is an ARTICLE? A: an adjective like 'the,' or 'a' or with a vowel, 'an' (apple) Q: what is a VOWEL? A: a letter, a, e, i, o, u, at the end of a word, y All the rest are CONSONANTS: bcdfghjklmnpqrstvwxyz Q: What is a NOUN? A: a name of a person, place, thing, a condition, an idea: child, home, spoon, health, honour, theory (Standard English) honor (American Usage) Both are correst. Q: What is a PRONOUN? A: a word standing for a noun: I, it, him, us, they, them, who Q: What is a VERB? A: usually an action word telling what "it" does. It also expresses existence or occurrence. Also verbs, 'is, was, seems' ( give a state or condition as in, 'I feel sick' ) (When we verbalize, we express in all kinds of words.) Q: What is an ADVERB? A: a word or group of words answering how? describing (1) a verb: He sat still, and gazed sadly or describing (2) an adjective: the leaning tower was terribly tall, or describing (3) another adverb, He ate too slowly, She sang very well. ) ADVERBS also answer when? as a word: 'soon' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . as a phrase: 'after lunch' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . as a clause: 'while he sleeps' ADVERBS also answer where? as a word: He went 'home' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . as a phrase: 'to school' 'on page ten' 'behind me' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . as a clause: 'where he works' ADVERBS also answer why? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . as a phrase: 'as a lawyer' --he'd know what to do. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . as a clause: 'Because he knew the way' Q: What is a PARTICIPLE? A: (1) A verb ending in '-ing' acting as an adjective, "winding road" . . . . ."running water" "prosecuting attorney" "winning pitcher" (2) Used with an helper verb it forms a progressive tense . . . . .Present progressive: "I am working." "They are learning. . . . . .Past progressive: "I was walking" "We were talking" . . . . .Future progressive: "It will be coming" "You will be winning" Q: What is a GERUND? A: A verb ending in 'ing' acting as a noun. "Walking is healthy." . . . . ."Smoking is addictive." "Writing and reading display literacy." Those were all subjects. As objects of the verb we get: (he likes what?) . . . . .He likes singing. They watch figure skating. We enjoy talking. Object of a preposition would be: "It is an example of thinking. . . . . By waiting we learn patience. . . . . Forgiveness is due to understanding. Q: What is a PREPOSITION? A: Pre, "front position" introduces a phrase, "with a noun or pronoun" . . . . "without you" "in the sky" "under the table" "into the box" Q: What is a PHRASE? A: With preposition but no verb in it, a group of words that describes: . . . . "during the winter" "of apples" "between friends" Q: What is a SUBORDINATE CLAUSE? A "Fragment." A: like a phrase, but with relative conjunction and verb: . . . . "after we ate lunch" "while we watched TV" "since he arrived" Q: What is a CONJUNCTION? A: (1) Co-ordinating conjunctions join words. . . . . Dick and Jane, tired but happy, hot or cold (2) Co-ordinating conjunctions join phrases: . . . . We looked under the bed and behind the door Conjunctions join clauses: (1) With a co-ordinating conjunction Two principal clauses: They prepared dinner and soon the guests arrived. A Compound Sentence (2) With a relative conjunction, at least one subordinate clause The traffic remained stalled while they waited patiently. A Complex Sentence Q: What is a PRINCIPAL clause? A: It can be short, as a complete thought. Examples: Come in. This is handy. Q: What is a COMPOUND sentence? A: It has two or more principal clauses, only. Uses: He came, he saw, he conquered. It has 3. Cat, come in or stay out. Two Q: What is a COMPLEX sentence? A: A principal clause with a subordinate clause: We thought it was a perfect house, until the roof leaked. Q: What is a COMPOUND-COMPLEX sentence A: At least one principal clause, more possible, and two or more subordinate clauses. Charles Dickens could fill a page with these. After two years of progressively more desperate searching and house inspections, we thought it was a perfect house, until the unmistakable stains in the ceiling of the spare bedroom and dank smell of mould told us that the roof leaked. HINT: First find the verbs; they are in clauses. "After two years " adverb phrase [when?] "of progressively more desperate searching and house inspections," adjective phrase describing the noun years. "we thought it was a perfect house," Principal clause "until the unmistakable stains and dank smell of mould told us" Subordinate adverb clause [when?] "in the ceiling of the spare bedroom" adverb phrase. [where] [told us what?] "that the roof leaked" subordinate noun clause, object of the verb "told." A compound-complex sentence, such as you will meet again in E- 8. Punctuation is already available in part 1 Addendum: Sentence Terminology If "FIND" cannot locate what you need, ask. (That's how these are here!) Q: What is an ASSERTIVE sentence? A: Most sentences found in stories are assertive. They tell, describe, explain... Examples: She is a good friend. It was a heavy load to carry. Q: What is an IMPERATIVE sentence? A: A command is imperative. Telling what to do, expecting to be obeyed. Examples: Come in. Please close the door. You must try this product. Q: What is an INTERROGATIVE sentence? A: Ask a question, it is interrogative, and ends with a question mark. (?) Examples: When is he expected? Is that true? Why? Can you do that? Q: What is an EXCLAMATORY sentence? A: Excitement when spoken, is exclamatory, and ends with an exclamation point (!) Examples: What a great movie! Did you see THAT ! (If both ? and ! usually choose ( !) Q: What is an INDICATIVE sentence? A: All of the sentences above are indicative. They ask or give facts or use them. Examples: Anything that is NOT subjunctive is indicative. So, Q: What is a SUBJUNCTIVE sentence? A: Often wishful thinking, it expresses a thought "contrary to fact" Examples: God save the Queen. (not God saves) If I were you, I wouldn't go there. (I am not you) Saints be praised! (not Saints are....) May they find peace. Be that as it may, they have my confidence. Note: Should many more examples arrive, it would help a lot! . .. ., ... .

. This is probably the most valuable page in the course. Link to it! More complete than your dictionary, straightforward, teaching with examples. Remember it is here, ready.to help at various times through the assignments. ,. ,. ,. ,. ,. ,. ,. ,. ,. ,. ,. ,. ,. ,. ,. ,. ,. ,. ,. ,--Terry ,

. . . . . . . . . Grefs Punctuation . . . . LET'S TAKE ANOTHER LOOK AT THESE HANDY THINGS Hyphen, a single ' - ' connects sets of words to act as a single word to describe something: "a six-year-old boy" or when "unfortu- nately" must be split at the end of a line. (seldom seen now). Type two of them ' -- ' to make a dash. Dash, --made with two joined hyphens-- can be an interjection, or an extra thought, --as in this statement--, giving more information. It is used often in conversation where someone is suddenly interrupted. . . . . "I meant to say-- " . . . . "Bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla..." Note, there is no space after the last word. Ellipsis usually shown with three dots . . . (with some software, space-dot space-dot space-dot) is a more thoughtful interruption where more could have been said, but was not. Sometimes it waits for an answer . . . ? or shows surprise . . . ! or lets us know that a lot more was not said . . . . but won't. It ends then, with a period. Uses of the COLON ( : ) and the SEMICOLON ( ; ) No, it's not the guts of this thing, neither is it a wink!. Colon: A major use of the colon is to indicate that something follows, a quotation, a list, a series, or after the word, 'Example.' Semicolon connects parts of a sentence which might otherwise have had conjunctions 'and,' 'or,' 'but.' . . Common sense convenience: . Like traffic signs, punctuation clarifies, saves time, . . ..and prevents misunderstanding. . . .

. . . . ... . . ASSIGNMENTS Delay attempting this set of assignments until you have become thoroughly familiar with content above.. . . . . ... . . .( % of 100 points will be available until mine are gone! Terry) . ... . . .... . . . .Punctuation Assignment C1a- a Write a nonsense story OR poem showing the uses of . . . . "The Hyphen, Dash, Ellipsis, Colon, and Semicolon" as listed in the descriptions above. Length, at least four short paragraphs or verses, in which each of them is used. In blue you are given a head start with two uses of the comma, and permission to use them as the yeast that makes it rise, since the comma is not one of the five required raisins in the bread. You may of course, take off on a different tangent with: "No, it's not the guts of this thing, neither is it a wink!" with a surgical theme and colostomy for the "semi." Make it funny.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . ... And because we hate obvious "forced rhyme," Sample of nonsense verse where, placed in mid-sentence, rhymes are hidden by enjambment. If there is no punctuation, do not pause but read the next line(s). Protean Poetry I find it hard NOT to write end-rhymes, but have hidden them by placing them where they are in mid-sentence or in unexpected places. Insight helps detect even forbidden locations, but not to impair flow of meaning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . You deplore rhyme? Unsure as a neophyte, spelling of words has again gone unnoticed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I don't care if you shun my words; uproar shows it happens. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . My sleight of words demands our protean knowledge so you do not err: each line, like an open door to overflowing verbal flight with Muse to guide by chosen route to elder porte-cochère, there to travel and explore: end-rhymes hidden and alive in rhyme-scheme abcd times 5 --Terry Gibson 2007 Assignment C1a- b VOCABULARY Collect the four sets of rhyming words to see the many different ways to spell the same sound. What do you think the poem means? No guarantee because of metaphor, a dictionary will help a lot. What expression is a metphor of a magician's trick? Copy the expression that means the door of an old-fashioned carriage. .. . . . OR C1ab Not feeling funny just now? Alternately, . . . . . . .(1) "The Hyphen" from the data in this unit, copy/paste at least one example of HYPHENS used to connect 2 or more words that act as a single word to describe something. . . . . . .Repeat for each of Dash, Ellipsis, Colon, and Semicolon . . . . . .(2) Also, create and submit two original examples of . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . .each of these uses. . .. . . . AND . .. . . .(3) Using the data in "The Glossary" please list the extent of your previous knowledge, that is, the parts that you already hold in some familiarity from previous experience in school. I need to know, so that more help can be personally available if needed. . . . . . I realize that those who have studied "a foreign language" will do well here, because only in English have we held what used to be a beautifully organized language in such low regard that it has been ignored in most schools for many decades already. Thus it is not the fault of students here, that young writers tend to call their error-laden verse their "style," and ridicule the "grammar nazis." It prevents embarrassment of ignorance. . . . . "Grammar-nazis" will continue to judge work submitted for sale with top publishers, who will not even read illiterate submissions. Hard fact, folks! . . . . . For many years I subscribed to a monthly journal called _Writers' Digest_ where lively writing filled my own gaps. It has indirectly influenced much of the later content in these courses, and made me glad to help others here. --Terry . .

. l hope you enjoyed Course C1. It was shorter than A1, and more demanding. LlNKS TO THE OTHER COURSES MENTlONED CAN BE CLlCKED FROM THE FRONT DESK BELOW. (under construction) .

Wallpaper of my hands drawn and tiled by Terry Gibson ©