Updated Nov 15 06 for 2007 edition

GREFS
are the grammar references
presented as self-instruction in eight pages
Click BACK for Updated Recovery in Mattaweb History.htm
NEXT and BACK
with each page

. Quick-Clicks Grefs 5, 6, 7, 8 Updated for 2007 edition; 1, to 4, next 2006 Grefs 1 Grefs 2 Grefs 3 Grefs 4 Grefs5 A to E Grefs 6 A to E Grefs 7A Grefs 7E Grefs 8A . Grefs 8E 2007 .

Be Grammar-Confident GrammarGURU Leisurely Crash Course in Written English (oxymoron anyone?) Euphemistically called Updated Usage Both British and American Forms Grefs.htm SEE what you knew, --- and possibly didn't. ......(Are you sure? Check it out, decide what your answers ......would be in a self-test in the box below, ..................and then click to find the answers! ......Note, this gives help before taking 'The Test' !. . TAKE the TEST If you get them all right, (or 12 or more.... ......please tell me! I may need a second assistant someday. ) ......Detailed answers and help follow the test.. .. ORGANIZATION General information re Website, ......Assignments, .Content, Purposes and Goals, . SCROLL DOWN to see handy stuff to know. History of Language: It is almost too late. ......WWhat happened to our language, Why, and How to help. . .Turbulent History of all www.mattaweb.ca websites ......WWhen it heals and sites become available, feel free to visit ......WKaleidoscope ( poetry ), Two novels, ( for and by kids ) ......Wand other more useful sites. About like who presumes to teach the rest of us? Please respect Copyright . Can you proofread what you wrote?

Self

Playing with our language: Exploring the writers' toolbox Can you spot the spelling mistakes that spell-check software cannot find because they are real words, just the wrong words? What is the difference: its and it's, your and you're, lay and lie? To, too, and two? Who's and whose? Could you use them correctly in sentences? Do you know how to avoid mistakes in these? Which are right: Give it to me and him. The flock of geese flies south. Everyone has their own way. Between you and I, he's right ? Do you know how to paragraph and punctuate conversation? Important if you'd like to learn how to write good stories. Do you believe plural's need apostrophe's? (Some local newspapers do!) Do you feel secure with verb tenses, regular and irregular, when to use "may" and "might" and know why it matters? Are you sure? TAKE the TEST Check it out, click answers! And for dessert, to be treated like puzzles: Can you analyze all sentences from whatever source and show what makes them tick? Jobs as publishers' editors need this. You will. .

Organization

EIGHT PARTS 1 Cumulative Webpage REFERENCES Found here at www.mattaweb.ca/web2006/Grefs.htm As you progress, if working directly from here, use the links ABOVE to move to the next. For AP students, read the webpage first, each week before starting the assignment because it is more complete and easier to see here. Examples are given, memory-hints given. Get familiar with the content in the level you are doing 2 . The WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS "Week1" http://allpoetry.com/class/show/Punctuation%20Usage%20class Paste to address line... Only registered class members have access to benefits like getting your assignments marked and advice given. Access requires AP membership first. http://allpoetry.com/user/add Assignment "week" is a fluid term, referring to content, not time, The numbers A1 here and A1 at AP correspond. but in AP, they cannot be updated because part E does not fit. Confusing? You betcha, but it is the updated work that is marked. Both are mine. . When answering, save time and effort:copy-paste the whole thing, no need then to type everything! Just the changes! 3 A dedicated e-mail account just for you! for help and feedback Copy-paste to Notepad, then paste into e-mail or work offline directly in "plain text" e-mail, and send to tmatt@vianet.ca Much of the "Teaching" is in the website. If still unclear, it can be dicussed in the group's Board, or by e-mail. Go ahead and ask! Serious students who have registered will be coached through e-mail, on request, and with feedback given on receipt of work. A folder will contain marked copies of all work submitted, as documentation as you progress from level to level. 4 So you need not ask, AP decrees, Minimum: 8 assignments, one from each "Week," will get you a "complete" at AP but recommend, you can do them all if you want to get full value. Where choices exist within the level, extras will be worth bonus points at the end until mine run out. There will be an icon to display when completed. Students returning to complete a level: There is a record of submitted work. If it has not been credited before, start there, and add to it for a minimum of 8 assignments. We may need to discuss choices. A change of rules and organization causes problems for those who have passed one or two sessions. If in the previous session you selected items from more than one level, obviously the same work cannot be used twice for credit so 8 new will be needed to advance to a higher level. With copies of marked work in folders, we can keep it fair. However, 1. if the item is redone, raising its quality noticeably, or 2. the level was left incomplete with no credit given, then it would be fair to accept it now towards a "complete" rating. With the "open" enrollment there will be other issues too. Without a fee on starting, it is unlikely to pay points on completion any more. (Any bonus points are at the discretion of the teacher.) Discussion would be welcome on the Board--if we can find it! .... .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .

Content of the 8 GREFS
1

Links on weeks (below) are clicked from here week1 week2 week3 week4 week5 week6 week7 week8     A1   "Why and when" paragraphs, punctuating     B1   The comma, uses and misuses         C1   The hyphen, dash, ellipsis, colon, semicolon     D1   Three uses of the apostrophe       E1   Nouns and verbs "It is what it does"                   Go to week1 Note, the links on indidual ltems are to the five separate parts of week1.

Im2m

week1 week2 week3 week4 week5 week6 week7 week8     A2 .   Using, punctuating direct and indirect quotations, How and why change one to the other     B2   Using the apostrophe     C2 .   Pronouns, subject, object, possessive, I, me, my, mine / (archaic: thou, thee, thy, thine)     D2   Singular and plural, regular, irregular, Greek, Latin     E2 .   Introducing Sentence form, Assertive, noun subject / verb predicate. . . + Modifiers                     Go to week2

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3ck an

week1 week2 week3 week4 week5 week6 week7 week8     A3 .   General paragraphing, Form, square or Indented Paragraphing, punctuating conversation     B3 .   Sentence structure, using adjectives, adverbs regular, irregular, Syntax: meaning by placement     C3   The Phrase in free verse structure, punctuating     D3 .   Twins: homophone confusion when they sound alike, how to cope (website and dictionary)     E3   Analysing commands and questions                     Go to week3

4

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week1 week2 week3 week4 week5 week6 week7 week8     A4 .   Commas in long sentences, Punctuating sentence fragments in conversation, omissions "understood"     B4 .   Paragraphing with sentence fragments in fast conversation. Phrases and subordinate clauses     C4 .   Sentence structure with modifying phrases Proofreading for common errors     D4 .   Verbs: the "disappearing Subjunctive" remnants The active world of verbs and verb phrases     E4 .   Graphic Analysis of Sentences: what makes commands and questions with verb phrases                     Go to week4

se of this site: ril 15.
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week1 week2 week3 week4 week5 week6 week7 week8     A5 .   Punctuating Indented paragraphs, fragments, recognizing, punctuating questions     B5   Editing, paragraphing, punctuating     C5 .   Proofreading to correct common errors, Using dictionary, Agreement with antecedents     D5   Irregular verbs in verb tenses and verb phrases     E5.   Graphic Sentence Analysis in real life Ads, the Indirect Object, Adjective, Adverb Noun Clauses                     Go to week5

week1 week2 week3 week4 week5 week6 week7 week8     A6 .   Using the dash and ellipsis in selection to write dialogue and action, The Link, a Bridge     B6 .   Plotting practice, (one of two choices) Editing, punctuating, paragraphing     C6 .   Comparison of adjectives and adverbs Using them correctly in sentences.     D6 .   More irregular verbs in verb tenses and verb phrases. Negative sentences.     E6 .   Graphic analysis of compound and complex sentences, positive and negative                     Go to week6

week1 week2 week3 week4 week5 week6 week7 week8     A7 .. .. ..   Do one of three choices: a, b, or c. Use of dash. . . a) Write an essay, any topic (Social issue?) b) Original Discussion / Debate, or a script c) Write a prose-poem or sortasonnet Then / Now     B7 .. ...   Do one of two choices: a, b (Punctuate etc) a)Spoken characterization, with quirks, mannerisms b)Running with your Plotting plan from last week     C7 .. ...   Choosing Subject and Object pronouns (subject of verb, object of verb, object of preposition. Also referring to subject as subjective completion.     D7. .. ..   Still more irregular verbs, in verb tenses and verb phrases, to show past, present, future, conditional, progressive, and combinations of them. "ing"verbs     E7 .   Graphic analysis of sentences with complex verbs and subordinate adverb and adjective clauses                     Go to week7

week1 week2 week3 week4 week5 week6 week7 week8     A8 .   Applying what you have learned: HUMOR, a or b a) A Hysterical Essay b) Blended Fairy Tale     B8 . .   Do [a or b] a) Using sample, Duncan's Dog: a) Oral characterization, plus providing a Bridge, b) Continue to own next anecdote from last week     C8 . . .   GERUNDS, and Agreement with antecedent Subject, Object, Possessive pronouns (subject of verb, object of verb, object of preposition. Also referring to subject as subjective completion.     D8 . ..   The Passive verb form, Gerund, Participle (...ing) "It is what it does." Use of "may" cf "might" for permission, conditional, possibility.     E8 .   A general summary, graphic analysis using a paragraph, sentence by sentence.                     Go to week8 For AP Assignments http://allpoetry.com/assignment_list/4453 "Temporarily" at Storywrite but available now through CLASSES at AP If you are taking the e-course in AP, paste that into your address bar .Only registered class members can submit work. Others perhaps later by invitation and password.

It's time to give the dog its supper. Its time to give the dog it's supper. .

Your right if you're answers match these. You're right if your answers match these. .

The dog lay all day on the floor. The dog will lie all day on the floor. Please lay the books on that table. He lied where he laid the documents. Chickens lay eggs which lie in the nest, truthfully. .

Two boys went to play ball too. Too boys went two play ball to. Too many boys went to play ball. .

Whose going to find who's coat was left? Who's going to find whose coat was left? .

Give it to me and him. Give it to him and I. Between you and I, it is not true. He is smarter than you and me. .

The flock of geese fly south. The flock of geese flies south. .

Everyone has their own way. All have their own way. .

She will not forgive my having to go. She will not forgive me having to go. .

The difference between us Liberals and the others... The difference between we Liberals and the others... .

If only he had arrived sooner, he may have saved her If only he had arrived sooner, he might have saved her

Furthermore . . .
Do you know how to avoid mistakes in their choice?
Which (ones) are right?
Find out why, click answers!

Challenge-answers and more information

It's time to give the dog its supper. (It's means it is. Pronoun possessives have no apostrophe. . . . . . . . . . . . . Remember, in "He found his wallet," we do not put an apostrophe in "his" either.) You're right if your answers match these. (means you are. Pronoun possessive). The dog lay all day on the floor. (Yesterday it lay there. Past of verb "lie." ) The dog will lie all day on the floor. ( Future of verb "lie.") Please lay the books on that table. ( The present form (now) of verb "lay" must have an . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . object.) He lied where he laid the documents. ( Past of "to lie", tell untruths, Past of verb "to lay") Chickens lay eggs which lie in the nest, truthfully.( "lay" must have an object, eggs, to lie is to . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . rest. Two boys went to play ball too (Two, number, to play, infinitive of verb, to is a preposition, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . "too" means also, remember it has "too many o's"). Who's going to find whose coat was left? ( Who's means who is. whose Pronoun possessive He got a ticket to a Leafs game.( This is the name of a hockey team, and does not take an an. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . apostrophe). Give it to me and him. ( It means to me and to him. ) More polite, Give it to him. and me. The flock of geese flies south.( The flock flies. of geese tells us that sheep have not sprouted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . wings.. All have their own way. ( A plural subject needs a plural possessive, One is singular, his, her.). She will not forgive my having to go. ( "having" acts as a noun, and needs possessive my ) The difference between us Liberals and the others... ( between us and the others ). If only he had arrived sooner, he might have saved her ( May is present, might is past-- . . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . because he did not get there in time, the past is needed,)

To the Rescue: The Truly Amazing GrammarGURU You believe that? Not likely, but in a world that has forgotten more than it ever knew, all things are relative. Achieving the Age of Literacy For hundreds of years in human history the English language struggled to emerge from the Dark Ages where only the scribes and certain clergy.knew how to read and copy scriptures. Beowulf, author unknown, is the earliest written fiction, illegible today except by scholars. Translations do exist, but it was not until the 1200's that another piece of fiction came: The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. In it we can decipher that human nature and motivations have not changed much over millennia. Considering archaic "Saxon" spelling and vocabulary of Chaucer's Middle English it is a magnificent achievement that by the 1500's it.could coalesce into the beautifully articulate English of Milton and William Shakespeare. So it continued, for more than four centuries, appreciated by multitudes and easily within the living.memory of this writer!.......... ....................................................................................... Return of the Oral Tradition It was quick but very subtle. At first the advent of Television fascinated the population. Years passed and no one noticed that more and more, we watched and listened instead.. of reading for news and entertainment. Fifteen years, that's all it took here. where I live, for the school system to respond to demands to modernize.... .. Something had to be dropped from the curriculum to make room for new technology; where tape recorders replaced written record keeping, kids wrote less. Cassettes, videotapes soon were all needed to be included in the new Computer literacy. That it added a new visual component to research when connected to a printer, copying the work of others.. During the almost two generations since.the 1960's when intensive. formal teaching of Grammar was dropped, we hardly noticed a quietly surreptitious slide to "anything-goes" acceptance of the oral tradition:. "spelling doesn't matter if it sounds right."... .... It has reached a stage where to many, the correct form looks wrong. It is sad. A beautiful language that took hundreds of years to perfect will have been eroded in less than half a century to mere utility. .......................... Clawing Back Literacy Unaware, our entertainers, leaders, our spokesmen, news commentators, Joe Blow, politicians, and advertisers all lack concept of common errors. Now, who's here to notice mistakes published every day in the media, when few were old enough to learn. . .? When errors sound right, that is when we all approach the point of no return. . .. . . . . .. . . Even more serious: at school, errors are innocently.taught. How could it be otherwise when our younger teachers, themselves taught by a first generation who became teachers, administrators without the base of knowledge needed for English, a formerly proud language. Not their fault. Not anyone's fault what "Progress" insisted should be taught, We simply did not know, and what not. We are looking at progressive decay. Be glad if we can, destruction delay.. . . .