Unit One:Introduction 2
1 Orientation 2
1.1 Words to Learners 2
1.2 Regarding Rules of Grammar 3
1.3 A Happy Median 7
E1 Exercises for Introduction 9
2 English—Indebted,Prestigious and Unpredictable 11
2.1 The Indebted Status of English:Three Periods of Language Development 11
2.2 The Prestigious Status of English 14
2.3 The Unpredictable Status of English:A Poetic Complaint 16
2.4 A Gracious Attitude 19
E2 Exercises for Introduction 19
Unit Two:Parts of Speech 24
3 Seven Word Classes of English 24
3.1 Seven Parts of Speech:A Table 24
3.2 Common Word Order and Positions 25
3.3 Identifying Parts of Speech 26
E3 Exercises for Parts of Speech 27
4 English Nouns 29
4.1 The Naming Function of Nouns 30
4.2 Concrete versus Abstract Nouns 30
4.3 Countable versus Uncountable Nouns 31
4.4 Common versus Proper Nouns 32
4.5 Collective Nouns 33
4.6 Regular versus Irregular Nouns 34
4.7 Irregular Nouns and Their Erratic Spellings 36
4.8 Useful Noun-Making Suffixes 37
E4 Exercises for Nouns 42
5 English Pronouns 45
5.1 Pronouns versus Nouns 45
5.2 Personal Pronouns 46
5.3 Possessive Pronouns 46
5.4 Reflexive Pronouns 47
5.5 Demonstrative Pronouns 49
5.6 Indefinite Pronouns 49
5.7 Interrogative Pronouns 51
5.8 Relative Pronouns 52
5.9 Expletive Pronouns 53
5.10 Reciprocal Pronouns 53
E5 Exercises for Pronouns 54
6 English Verbs 57
6.1 Analyzing Verbs in a Quotation 57
6.2 The Importance of Verbs 58
6.3 Various Attributes of English Verbs 59
6.4 Transitive versus Intransitive Verbs 60
6.5 Regular versus Irregular Verbs 62
6.6 Action,Linking and Helping Verbs 64
6.7 Verbs as Tense Markers 68
6.8 Productive Verb-Making Affixes 73
E6 Exercises for Verbs 75
7 English Adjectives 78
7.1 Semantic Functions of Adjectives 78
7.2 Attributive versus Predicative Adjectives 80
7.3 Regular versus Irregular Adjectives 81
7.4 The Comparative and Superlative Degrees of Adjectives 81
7.5 The Gradable Status of Adjectives 84
7.6 Nominal,Phrasal,and Sentential Adjectives 86
7.7 Productive Adjective-Making Affixes 88
E7 Exercises for Adjectives 92
8 English Adverbs 96
8.1 The Modifying Capability of Adverbs 96
8.2 The Semantic Coverage of Adverbs 98
8.3 The Mobility of Adverbs 99
8.4 Conjunctive Adverbs 101
8.5 The Adverb-Making Suffix:-ly 102
E8 Exercises for Adverbs 103
9 English Prepositions 106
9.1 Attributes of Prepositions 106
9.2 Single-Word Prepositions 108
9.3 Fixed Prepositional Phrases 109
9.4 Non-Fixed Prepositional Phrases 111
9.5 Grammatical Functions of Prepositional Phrases 111
E9 Exercises for Prepositions 112
10 English Conjunctions 115
10.1 Coordinating Conjunctions 116
10.2 Correlative Conjunctions 117
10.3 Subordinating Conjunctions 118
10.4 Conjunctions versus Conjunctive Adverbs 119
E10 Exercises for Conjunctions 120
Unit Three:Controlling Word-Level Errors 124
11 Wrong Verb Form:V 124
11.1 Confusing Irregular and Regular Verbs 124
11.2 Confusing Past Participial and Perfect Verb Forms 125
11.3 How to Tackle Wrong Verb Forms 125
E11 Exercises against Wrong Verb Form 126
12 Wrong Pronoun:P 129
12.1 Confusing the Two Pronoun Cases 130
12.2 Confusing the Two Types of Possessive Pronouns 132
12.3 Confusing the Two Types of Relative Pronouns 133
12.4 Confusing the Two Types of Reciprocal Pronouns 135
E12 Exercises against Wrong Pronoun 136
13 Faulty Pronoun Reference:PR 137
13.1 Pronouns with No Antecedent 138
13.2 Pronouns with More Than One Antecedent 139
13.3 Pronouns with an Unqualified Antecedent 141
13.4 Pronouns with an Incompatible Antecedent 142
E13 Exercises against Faulty Pronoun Reference 143
14 Wrong Possessive Form:Pos 145
14.1 A Test for the Possessive Case 146
14.2 Rules Governing the Possessive Case 147
14.3 Possessive Pronouns versus Contracted Words 149
14.4 Key Points about the Possessive Form 151
E14 Exercises against Wrong Possessive Form 152
15 Wrong Spelling:Sp 155
15.1 Useful Spelling Rules 156
15.2 (More)Ways to Improve Your Spelling 158
E15 Exercises against Wrong Spelling 159
16 Wrong Word Choice:W 165
16.1 Understanding Wrong Word Choices 165
16.2 Confusing Words that Sound Alike 166
16.3 Confusing Words that Look Alike 166
16.4 Misunderstanding a Word 168
16.5 Being Careless 169
E16 Exercises against Wrong Word Choice 170
Unit Four:Controlling Sentence-Level Errors 174
17 Requirements for a Correct English Sentence 174
17.1 The Subject 174
17.2 The Predicate 175
17.3 More on the Defining Requirements 176
E17 Exercises for the Correct Sentence 177
18 Fragment:Frag 179
18.1 The Unsettling Effect of Fragments 179
18.2 Purposeful versus Purposeless Fragments 181
18.3 Causes of Fragments and Their Solutions 182
E18 Exercises against Fragment 184
19 Fused Sentence:FS 187
19.1 Overt Fused Sentences and Their Solutions 189
19.2 Covert Fused Sentences and Their Solutions 190
E19 Exercises against Fused Sentence 192
20 Comma Splice:CS 194
20.1 The Cause of Comma Splices 195
20.2 Ways to Avoid Comma Splices 195
E20 Exercises against Comma Splice 201
21 Misplaced Modifiers:MM 203
21.1 Modi fier Defined and Classified 204
21.2 Understanding Misplaced Modifiers 205
21.3 The Rule against Misplaced Modifiers 206
E21 Exercises against Misplaced Modifier 206
22 Dangling Modifiers:DM 209
22.1 Understanding Dangling Modifiers 209
22.2 The DM Rule against Dangling Modifiers 210
22.3 Ways to Correct Dangling Modifiers 211
E22 Exercises against Dangling Modifier 213
Unit Five:Controlling Inconsistency-Based Errors 213
23 Subject-Verb Disagreement:S-V 218
23.1 Common Situations behind S-V Errors 218
23.2 Ways to Correct S-V Errors 219
E23 Exercises against Subject-Verb Disagreement 234
24 Number Disagreement:＃Ag 237
24.1 Analyzing Number Disagreement Errors 238
24.2 Analyzing Writers Who Make Number Disagreement Errors 240
24.3 Ways to Control Number Disagreement Errors 241
E24 Exercises against Number Disagreement 243
25 Number Shift:＃S 244
25.1 The Problem with Number Shift Errors 245
25.2 How to Be Politically Correct Without Being Illogical 246
E25 Exercises against Number Shift 249
26 Pronoun Shift:PS 253
26.1 A Pronoun Shift that Grants Telepathic Power 253
26.2 Reasons for Avoiding Pronoun Shifts 254
26.3 How to Fix Pronoun Shifts 255
26.4 A Contrastive Look at Personal Pronouns 256
E26 Exercises against Pronoun Shift 259
27 Tense Shift:TS 261
27.1 The Various Kinds of Tenses 261
27.2 Problems with Tense Shifts 263
27.3 Analyzing Tense Shifts 263
27.4 Ways to Control Tense Shifts 264
27.5 Acceptable Cases for Tense Shifts 265
E27 Exercises against Tense Shift 266
28 Mood Shift:MS 269
28.1 Understanding the Four Mood Types 269
28.2 Understanding Mood Shifts 275
28.3 How to Control Mood Shifts 276
E28 Exercises against Mood Shift 278
29 Voice Shift:VS 280
29.1 Active Voice versus Passive Voice 281
29.2 Understanding Voice Shifts 282
29.3 How to Control Voice Shifts 283
29.4 Situations that Need Passive Voice 285
29.5 Using Both Voices Meaningfully 286
E29 Exercises against Voice Shift 288
Unit Six:Controlling the English Punctuation 292
30 An Overview of English Punctuation 292
30.1 The Semantic Importance of Punctuation 292
30.2 A Unique Quote on Punctuation 293
30.3 Classifying Punctuation Marks 294
E30 Exercises for Overview 294
31 Ending Punctuation Marks 296
31.1 The Period(.) 296
31.2 The Exclamation Mark(!) 296
31.3 The Question Mark(?) 297
31.4 Modeling the Professional 299
E31 Exercises for Ending Punctuation Marks 299
32 Non-Ending Punctuation Marks 300
32.1 The Comma(,) 301
32.2 The Colon(:) 305
32.3 The Semicolon(;) 309
32.4 The Dash(—) 312
32.5 Modeling the Professional 315
E32 Exercises for Non-Ending Punctuation Marks 317
33 Pairing Punctuation Marks 321
33.1 The Double Quotation Marks(" ") 322
33.2 The Single Quotation Marks(' ') 324
33.3 The Parentheses[( )] 325
33.4 Modeling the Professional 327
E33 Exercises for Pairing Punctuatior Marks 328
E34 Exercises for General Punctuation Control 329
Appendixes 335
Diagnostic Test 1 335
Diagnostic Test 2 337
Progress Test 1—Word 339
Progress Test 2—Verb 341
Progress Test 3—Sentence 343
Progress Test 4—Punctuation 345
Progress Test 5—General 347
Progress Test 6—Bonus 349
Final Diagnostic Test 350
Keys to Self-Grading Exercises 351
Editing Symbols 354