Author Archives: Gila Berryman

Sentence Fragments

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"Williamsburg Bridge: April 1, 2014" by Jennifer Sears

“Williamsburg Bridge: April 1, 2014” by Jennifer SearsFragment

Fragment

~ a small part broken or separated off something

  • ~ an isolated or incomplete part of something

A sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence. Every sentence needs a subject/noun and a verb. A noun is a person place or thing, and a verb is an action or state of being. A sentence fragment is either missing a noun or a verb or, it doesn’t contain a complete thought. When looking for sentence fragments there is a tendency to look for short sentences. While it’s true that some sentence fragments are short, it’s not always the case. There are short sentences that are fine.

I am here.   She is fun.   We jumped.    Rachel ate.
Each of these sentences is a complete sentence containing a subject and a verb.

Subject             Verb
I                          am
she                     is
we                      jumped
Rachel                ate

There are longer sentences that may not look like fragments, because they contain more information, but are still incomplete. This can happen when the subject or the verb is missing, or when the sentence does not contain a complete thought. Like this:

While eating cheetos, caressing her cat lovingly, and watching her favorite TV show.

There is no subject in that sentence. It is not clear who is eating cheetos. We can fix that sentence like this:

Jessica was eating cheetos, caressing her cat lovingly, and watching her favorite TV show.

Another way to fix that sentence is to complete the scenario that was set up by using the word while. Using the word while in the first version of that sentence, makes it seem as if something happened while Jessica was eating cheetos, caressing her cat, and watching TV. So, what happened?

Jessica fell asleep while eating cheetos, caressing her cat lovingly, and watching her favorite TV show.

Here is another sentence fragment.
For example what my father has done before.

This fragment contains a subject and a verb, but it does not contain a complete thought. It is a particularly difficult sentence fragment because we have no idea what it is talking about. It could be saying just about anything.

For example what my father has done before was take his helicopter when he was late for work. For example what my father has done before is stay inside of the house for the entire winter because he hates the cold.

Do you see what I mean?

Proofread your essays and look for sentence fragments. Check to see if each sentence has a subject and a verb. Then, make sure that each sentence contains a complete thought. See the links below for tutorials and exercises on sentence fragments.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/620/1/
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/exercises/5/18/38

 

Finding the Main Idea

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Your grammar and your sentence structure are great. You’ve got a good handle on how to write a pretty decent essay in ninety minutes. The only problem is that your professor keeps saying that you’re going off topic. It’s possible that you’re missing the main point; the author’s main idea. And while it’s great that you can write a good essay, for the CATW, it’s extremely important that your essay is a response to the passage that you were given.

So, how do you find the main idea? If you’re lucky the title of the article can be a big help. If an article is titled “Smoking is Bad for You” then, most likely the main idea of the article is that smoking is bad for you, and the author will go on to tell you why this is so. But if the title is something more obscure like, “Cigarette Breath and Nicotine Withdrawal,” you have to look a beyond the title, in order to ascertain what the main idea of the passage is.

Sometimes the main idea is stated very clearly in a thesis statement like this:  Many people used to think that smoking a cigarette was a  good way to take a much needed break from their problems. Now, studies show that smoking causes serious health hazards. It is most likely that the rest of that passage is going to be about the health hazards that can occur as a result of smoking.

If a passage doesn’t have a very clear thesis statement you will have to figure it out on your own. A good thing to remember is that the main idea is going to be something  general like, smoking is bad for you. It will be followed by supporting details which are more specific such as, smoking causes emphysema, halitosis, and lung cancer. Try not to get sidetracked by a particularly interesting supporting detail and focus on that, while losing track of the main idea.

If you’ve read through the essay once and you’re not positive that you know what the author’s main point is:
1. Read the title again.
2. Look for a thesis statement.
3. Look for a general idea followed by more specific details.

General Idea                        Supporting Details
Smoking is bad                      It causes emphysema, halitosis, and lung cancer
I had a bad day                      I got fired from my job, my dog doesn’t like me anymore
Smart phones are useful        You can make calls, check your email, and take pictures

4. Look for repeated words and phrases. If the author keeps saying something over and over again it’s probably pretty important to the passage.

Run-on Sentences

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A sentence is considered a run-on sentence when it has several ideas that are crammed together one after the other without punctuation or without joining them properly with conjunctions this often happens when we write fast and think fast and also when we don’t take time to proofread.

The previous sentence is a run on sentence. There are four ideas in that sentence. 1. several ideas crammed into one sentence 2. without pause or joining them properly with conjunctions or punctuation 3. this happens when writing and thinking fast 4. and when we don’t take time to proofread.

This would be a better way to deal with that sentence. A run-on sentence has several ideas that are crammed together without punctuation or, without joining them properly with conjunctions. This often happens when we write fast and think fast. It can also happen when we don’t take time to proofread.

Notice how much easier it is to take in all of the ideas that are presented when they are not thrown together in one sentence. Also notice that some words were cut while reconstructing that sentence. Eliminating excess words helps to avoid repetition and often makes things clearer. Please remember that using the proper conjunctions and punctuation allows the reader time to pause, in order to understand what they have read.

Check out the following links for tutorials on run-on sentences.

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/598/02/

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/runons.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFMhbxAv-Hk

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpoEkFDgQa0

Punctuation

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Fancy Clock 時計 of a Hairdressers Salon messed up in Traffic Signs in : City Chiba Japan by: Arjan Richter

Punctuation marks are like road signs for the reader. They tell the reader when to pause, and when to stop. They indicate when one idea ends and another one begins. Using proper punctuation in an essay can mean the difference between presenting coherent ideas and confusing your reader. So, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the proper usage of the different punctuation marks.

For basic essay writing you will have to be proficient in using periods, commas, apostrophes, and quotation marks. The period ( . ) is a dot at then end of the sentence that indicates a full stop. The comma ( , ) indicates a pause inside of the sentence.

Last night I forgot to turn on my alarm clock. So, this morning I was running late. I usually leave my house an hour before I’m scheduled to show up at my job. I got dressed quickly, hurried through breakfast, and barely had time to brush my teeth. In the end, I managed to make it to work before my boss showed up.  

(Please see a previous post for an more in depth look at the use of commas.)

Quotation marks ( “ ) indicate that someone is speaking or, that we’re using someone else’s words. Using quotation marks is especially important in essay writing if we want to use someone else’s words without plagiarizing.

My mother used a lot of aphorisms when I was little. She would say, “do as I say not as I do,“ when I wanted to join her, as she was doing grown up things. At the time, I found that very annoying. She also liked to quote the Dalai Lama whenever my sister and I got into a fight. He said, “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.“ I think it’s good for me to remember that one.

Apostrophes indicate possession or, allow us to combine words like: can‘t (can not,) couldn‘t (could not,)  won‘t (will not,) wouldn‘t (would not,) and shouldn‘t (should not.) (Please see a previous apostrophe post for an in depth tutorial on the proper use of apostrophes.)

There are also semi colons ( ; ) colons ( : ) dashes  and hyphens, all of which indicate different kinds of pauses. Once you master the proper use of periods, commas, quotation marks and apostrophes, you can move on to incorporating colons, semi colons, and hyphens.

The following link contains tutorials about comas, apostrophes, quotation marks, and hyphens.

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/1/6/

Capitalization

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Capitalization works along with punctuation to indicate the beginning of a new sentence. It also indicates that something is a proper noun.

In most schools in the United States, capitalization is taught in the second grade. Although you may not have attended second grade in the United States or, your second grade teacher might have skipped that lesson, most readers will assume that you’ve learned the rules of capitalization. When writers do not adhere to the rules of capitalization it detracts from the quality of their writing. Making sure that everything is properly capitalized will help readers take your writing seriously.

1. Always capitalize the first letter of a new sentence. Notice in the paragraph above that the first letter of each sentence is capitalized.

2. Always capitalize the pronoun I.

I am looking for a summer job so that I can save money to put towards tuition in the fall. Even though I‘ll be working I‘m still looking forward to spending some time outside, in the sun.

3. Always capitalize the first letter of a proper noun (a name of something or someone.)   Jason                  Pedro

Alabama              Bangladesh

Kmart                  Disneyland

4. Always capitalize the first letter of the main words in a title, like this:

To Kill a Mockingbird

Malcolm in the Middle

Skip the smaller words like: and, a, an, the, of, and with, unless they are the first word of the title.

Click the links below for more in depth tutorials on proper nouns and capitalization.
http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/propernoun.htm
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/592/01/
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/engagement/2/1/42/

Verb Tense Consistency

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verbsVerb tense consistency means that all of the verbs within the sentence, or passage, are in the same tense. This is important, so that it is clear to the reader, when the action has happened. If the verbs are in the past tense, we know that the action has already happened. If the verbs are in the present tense, we know that the action is happening right now. If the verbs are in the future tense, the action has not yet happened.

When the tense is not consistent the reader can become confused about when an event took place. It can be tricky to maintain tense consistency since, we often start telling a story that happened in the past, and then shift to the present tense, in the middle of the story, like this:

Yesterday I walked down the street and I saw a huge dog. The dog was walking all by itself and I wondered where it’s owner was. Suddenly the dog starts running towards me at full speed. It’s running so fast that I don’t have time to think, so I jump behind a mail box and watched it run right past me.

Notice that the verbs in the first two sentences are in past tense. The third sentence shifts into present tense. The fourth sentence starts out in present tense and then shifts to past tense. This kind of unnecessary tense shifting can be confusing to the reader.

We do this when we talk because we want our listener to feel as if they were right there with us having that experience. Nevertheless, it is important not to do this in writing, so that the reader doesn’t become confused. The trick is to pick a tense and stick with it. When writing about something that happened yesterday stick with the past tense. When writing about something that is happening right now stick with the present tense, and when writing about something that will happen in the future stick with the future tense.

Here is that same story in consistent past tense:

Yesterday I walked down the street and I saw a huge dog. The dog was walking all by itself and I wondered where its owner was. Suddenly the dog started running towards me at full speed. It was running so fast that I didn’t have time to think, so I jumped behind a mail box and watched it run right past me.

Notice how much clearer that passage is with all of the verbs in past tense. 

Here it is again in present tense: 

I walk down the street and I see a huge dog. The dog is walking all by itself and I wonder where its owner is. Suddenly the dog starts running towards me at full speed. It’s running so fast that I don’t have time to think, so I jump behind a mail box, and watch it run right past me.

Please note that it is difficult to maintain consistent present tense. It is also rare that consistent present tense is needed since it is unusual to write about something while it’s actually happening.

Here’s a link to a lesson on verb tense consistency. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/601/04/

Here is a link to several verb tense consistency exercises. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/exercises/2/22

Watch this video for an interactive verb tense consistency lesson.

Subject Verb Agreement

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Subjects and verbs are the two basic components of a sentence. Subjects = nouns: person, place, or thing    Verbs = action or state of being. The subjects and verbs, within each sentence, have to agree with each other in terms of numbers. A singular noun must correspond to  singular verb and, a plural noun must correspond to a plural verb. The following sentences are examples of subjects and verbs agreeing with each other.

The people are protesting. (plural)
She is protesting. (singular)
They are seeking justice. (plural)
She is seeking justice. (singular)
Andrea and her friends are passionate about their cause. (plural)                                 Andrea is passionate about her cause. (singular)
They work hard to ensure that people are treated fairly. (plural)
She works hard to ensure that people are treated fairly. (singular)

Click the following links for subject verb agreement tutorials.

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/599/01/

https://www.sinclair.edu/centers/tlc/pub/handouts_worksheets/grammar_punctuation_writing/subject_verb_agreement.pdf

Watch this video for a visual tutorial on subject verb agreement.

 

Homophones: There, Their, They’re

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Homophones are words that sound alike, or the same, but are spelled differently and have different meanings. It’s important to know how to spell these words because, when they are misspelled the meaning of the sentence changes.

There are quite a few homophones like: weather and whether, accept and except, or close and clothes. This post will focus on the homophones: There, Their, and They’re. These words sound almost identical even though they mean very different things.

There = in, at, or to that place or position. He is sitting on the bench over there. What are you doing under there? How are we going to get there?

Their = indicates possession or belonging. The shopping bags on the ground are theirs. Their heads were blocking our view. They forgot their luggage.

They’re= is a combination of the words they and are. To combine those words, remove the a and leave an apostrophe in its place like this: they’re. They’re going to a party later. They’re probably going to stay out late. I don’t know how they’re going to get home.

Here are a few of sentences that use all three homophones: I wonder why they’re sitting over there with their shopping bags. They’re going to use their GPS to get there. They’re not allowed to bring their pets over there. 

Click the following link for a list of homophones that are commonly confused with one another. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/engagement/2/1/48/

Watch the following video for a tutorial on the homophones: There, Their, and They’re. For an extra challenge, watch this video several times and see if you can find a missing apostrophe that is not related to those homophones.

Using Articles: A – AN – THE

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THINK

The words a, an, and the are called articles. These simple words play an important role in the English language. The proper use of articles can seem particularly daunting to people for whom English is not their native language. Some languages don’t have articles at all. Other languages have articles, but they are used differently than they’re used in English.

In English the words  a, an, and the are the articles used before nouns.
For example:
A chair
An umbrella
The girl

The tricky part is knowing when to use which article.

A is an Indefinite Article:
“A chair” is not definite. This means that we’re not referring to a specific  chair, we’re referring to any chair.
Example 1: Put the bag on a chair in the front row.

An is an Indefinite Article:
An is similiar to  a, but it’s used when the noun following it begins with a vowel. We say an umbrella rather than a umbrella, simply because it sounds better.
Example 2: I put an umbrella in my bag in case of rain.

The is a Definite Article: 
“The girl” is definite. This means we are talking about a specific girl, not any girl.
Example 1: Put your bag on the chair in the front row. This implies that there is only one chair available in the front row.
Example 2: I put the umbrella in my bag in case of rain. This implies the speaker either has one umbrella to choose from or that the speaker is explaining why she put the umbrella in her bag.

The following you tube video contains a lesson on the proper use of articles in English. It even has a quiz that you can take at the end to see if you’ve understood the lesson. After you’ve watched the video click the following link for some exercises in the proper use of articles. 

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/exercises/2/1

 

 

Apostrophes

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Apostrophes can be pretty useful. They are the piece of punctuation that allows us to take a shortcut. By using an apostrophe we can shorten the number of words that we use.

Apostrophes allow us to combine two words and form contractions like can’t or won’t. Forming contractions is relatively simple. The apostrophe takes the place of the missing letters.

Another function of the apostrophe is to indicate possession (or belonging.) This is a bit more complicated than forming contractions but, once you get the hang of it, they’ll start to make sense.

To indicate possession (that something belongs to someone) add  ‘s.

Examples:

The dog that belongs to Pedro = Pedro’s dog.

The purse that belongs to my mother = my mother’s purse.

In the case of more than one person, where there is an s on the end of the word to indicate that it is plural, place the apostrophe after the s. 

Examples:

The purses that belong to our mothers = our mothers’ purses.

The house that belongs to my grandparents = my grandparents’ house.

In the case of more than one person where the word does not end in an s, simply add ‘s.

Examples:

The telescope that belongs to the women = the women’s telescope.

The locker room that belongs to the men = the men’s locker room.

Click here for a more in depth tutorial on apostrophes. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/621/01/

Watch the following you tube for a trick to knowing if you have put the apostrophes in the right places.