Grammar Rules
- Commas are used to separate items.
Sometimes, it's a list. Ex: He ran, flew, and crashed. Sometimes, it's two full ideas. Ex: He ran to his house, but he crashed into the tree. Sometimes, it's to separate an idea about something or someone. Ex: He, who is very clumsy, crashed into a tree. Sometimes, it's to introduce time or an idea. Ex: Yesterday, he flew. Before he flew, he found mapped out his journey.
- Fragments and Run-on Sentences are opposite evils!
Fragments are incomplete sentences. Ex: Cinderella, who lost her shoe.
Run-on Sentences are the opposite of fragments. They have too many ideas in one sentence. Ex: Cinderella, who lost her shoe, went to see the prince, she went to the ball.
3. Add Complexity to your Sentences
One way to add flavor to your sentences is by making compound or complex sentences. (simple) Eh: Cinderella cried when she lost her shoe. (compound) Ooooo: Cinderella cried when she lost her shoe, but the Prince soon comforted her. (complex) Ooooolala: After a long day of scrubbing, Cinderella was happy to attend to ball.
4. Adjective and Appositive Spice
Let's put it this way. What would you rather eat? The chips OR the spicy, red Takis that make your tongue burn.
Who would you rather meet? Jacob OR Jacob, who entrances you with his golden wolf eyes.
5. Tenses
Can you live in both the past, present, and future? You'd definitely have a split personality!
Try to always be aware of what tense you are in and stick to it! Ex: He came to school and eat all day.
HUH? Let's try that again. Ex: He came to school and ate all day.
6. Subject/Verb Agreement
You have to know what's singular or plural to understand this rule. Just imagine that when you're boyfriend/girlfriend-less, you're single (one person). Plural is more than one.
Singular Nouns + Singular Verbs (end with "s") Plural Nouns + Plural Verbs (no "s")
Ex: Ms. K dances the night away. (Ms. K is singular, she has a singular verb) Ex: The teachers dance the night away. (Teachers are plural, they take a plural verb)
7. New Paragraphs
The bottom line is new paragraph = new ideas= INDENT!!!
8. Common Spelling Errors
a. No LOLing! When writing a formal piece, please exclude abbreviations or we'll smh. b. Commonly misspelled words: their/there/they're, because, environment, could've/would've/should've, himself/herself, affect/effect, lose/loose, believe.