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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Bildung
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011
Get some good grammar practice-and start speaking and writingwell Good grammar is important, whether you want to advance yourcareer, boost your GPA, or increase your SAT or ACT score. Practiceis the key to improving your grammar skills, and that's what thisworkbook is all about. Honing speaking and writing skills throughcontinued practice translates into everyday situations, such aswriting papers, giving presentations, and communicating effectivelyin the workplace or classroom. In English Grammar Workbook For Dummies you'll findhundreds of fun problems to help build your grammar muscles. Justturn to a topic you need help with-from punctuation and pronouns topossessives and parallel structure-and get out your pencil. Withjust a little practice every day, you'll be speaking correctly,writing confidently, and getting the recognition you deserve atwork or at school. * Hundreds of practice exercises and helpful explanations * Explanations mirror teaching methods and classroomprotocols * Focused, modular content presented in step-by-step lessons English Grammar Workbook For Dummies will empower you tostructure sentences correctly, make subject and verbs agree, anduse tricky punctuation marks such as commas, semicolons, andapostrophes without fear.
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English Grammar Workbook For Dummies®, 2nd Edition
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Table of Contents
English Grammar Workbook For Dummies®, 2nd Edition
by Geraldine Woods
English Grammar Workbook For Dummies®, 2nd Edition
Published byWiley Publishing, Inc.111 River St.Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2011 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com, Making Everything Easier, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or Website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Website may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.
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For technical support, please visit www.wiley.com/techsupport.
Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2011921767
ISBN: 978-0-470-93070-0
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
About the Author
Geraldine Woods teaches English and directs the independent study program at the Horace Mann School in New York City. She is the author of more than 50 books, including English Grammar For Dummies, SAT For Dummies, Research Papers For Dummies, College Admission Essays For Dummies, AP English Literature For Dummies, and AP English Language and Composition For Dummies, all published by Wiley. She lives in New York City with her husband and two parakeets. She loves the Yankees, Chinese food, and her family.
Dedication
For Elizabeth, who, as a toddler, already shows an aptitude for grammar. And for Harry, forever in my heart.
Author’s Acknowledgments
I owe thanks to my colleagues at the Horace Mann School, who are always willing to discuss the finer points of grammar. I appreciate the work of Vicki Adang, Caitie Copple, Mike Greiner, and Penny Brown, fine editors whose hard work and intelligence made this workbook much better than it would have been without them. I appreciate the efforts of my agent, Lisa Queen of Queen Literary, and the kindness of Lindsay Lefevere, Wiley’s acquisitions editor.
Publisher’s Acknowledgments
We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration form located at http://dummies.custhelp.com. For other comments, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002.
Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:
Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development
Project Editor: Victoria M. Adang
(Previous Edition: Kristin DeMint)
Executive Editor: Lindsay Sandman Lefevere
(Previous Edition: Kathleen M. Cox)
Copy Editor: Caitlin Copple
(Previous Edition: Sarah Faulkner, E. Neil Johnson)
Assistant Editor: David Lutton
Technical Editors: Michael Greiner, Penelope M. Brown
Editorial Manager: Michelle Hacker
Editorial Assistants: Rachelle Amick, Jennette ElNaggar
Cover Photos: © iStockphoto.com/Natalia Lukiyanova
Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com)
Composition Services
Project Coordinator: Nikki Gee
Layout and Graphics: Carl Byers, Carrie A. Cesavice, Mark Pinto, Corrie Socolovoitch, Christin Swinford
Proofreaders: Lindsay Amones, Melissa Cossell, John Greenough, Betty Kish
Indexer: Steve Rath
Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies
Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies
Kristin Ferguson-Wagstaffe, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies
Ensley Eikenburg, Associate Publisher, Travel
Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel
Publishing for Technology Dummies
Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/General User
Composition Services
Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services
Introduction
Good grammar pays. I’m not joking! If you don’t believe me, turn on your television. Chances are the characters who have fancy jobs or big bank accounts sound different from those who don’t. I’m not making a value judgment here; I’m just describing reality. Proper English, either written or spoken, tends to be associated with the upper social or economic classes. Toning up your grammar muscles doesn’t guarantee your entry to an executive corner office, but poor grammar makes it harder to fight your way in. Furthermore, with the job market becoming more competitive all the time, no one can afford to pass up an advantage in the working world. English Grammar Workbook For Dummies, 2nd Edition,contains lots of information and exercises geared to those who pound out quarterly reports, e-mails, tweets, memos, slide presentations, and other business communications.
If you’re sitting in and not at a desk — in other words, if you’re a student — good grammar pays off in different ways: with better grades and an edge in college and graduate-school admissions. Teachers have always looked favorably on well-written sentences, and grammar has become increasingly important on standardized tests. This book alerts you to material favored by the torturers — sorry, the test writers — and provides you with some exercises that help you become familiar with common testing formats. (If you’re not clutching a number 2 pencil, don’t feel left out. The skills in those exercises help you, too, by improving your grasp of proper English.)
If English is not your native language, this edition of English Grammar Workbook For Dummies has plenty of exercises to help you move from comprehension to mastery — the best word choice for a particular sentence, the proper way to create a plural, and so forth.
About This Book
English Grammar Workbook For Dummies, 2nd Edition, doesn’t concentrate on what we English teachers (yes, I confess I am one) call descriptivegrammar — the kind where you circle all the nouns and draw little triangles around the prepositions. A closely guarded English-teacher secret is that you don’t need to know any of that terminology (well, hardly any) to master grammar. Instead, this book concentrates on functional grammar — what goes where in real-life speech and writing.
Each chapter begins with a quick explanation of what’s right and wrong in Standard English. Next, I provide an example and then hit you with a bunch of questions. After completing the exercises, you can check your answers at the end of the chapter. I also tell you why a particular choice is correct to help you make the right decision the next time.
Conventions Used in This Book
To make your practice as easy as possible, I’ve used some conventions throughout this book so that from chapter to chapter or section to section you’re not wondering what’s going on. At the end of each chapter is the “Answers” section, which provides answers and explanations for all the exercises in that chapter. Answer pages have gray trim on the outside edge. The last exercise in each chapter is comprehensive, so you can check your mastery of the material in the entire chapter. The callout numbers pointing to the corrections in the answer key for the exercise correspond with the numbered explanations in the text.
What You’re Not to Read
I promise you that I’ve kept the grammar jargon to a minimum in this workbook, but I must admit that I have included a couple of terms from schoolbook land. If you stumble upon a definition, run away as fast as you can and try the sample question instead. If you can get the point without learning the grammatical term, don’t bother reading the definition. Likewise, feel free to skip the explanation of any question that you get right.
Foolish Assumptions
In writing the English Grammar Workbook For Dummies, 2nd Edition, I’m assuming that you know some English but want to improve your skills. I imagine that you aspire to a better job orwant higher grades and standardized test scores. I’ve made two more global assumptions about you, the reader:
I assume that you have a busy life. With this important fact in mind, I’ve tried to keep the explanations in this book clear, simple, and short. For the complete explanations, pick up a copy of the companion book, English Grammar For Dummies (Wiley), also written by yours truly.
I also assume that you hate boring, schoolbook-style explanations and exercises. To keep you awake, I’ve used my somewhat insane imagination to create sentences that will (I hope) make you smile or even laugh from time to time.
How This Book Is Organized
Life gets harder as you go along, doesn’t it? So does this book. Parts I and II concentrate on the basics — selecting the right verbs for each sentence, forming singulars and plurals, creating complete sentences, and so on. Part III moves up a notch to the pickier stuff. In Parts III and IV, you get to try your hand at the most annoying problems presented by pronouns (those pesky little words such as I, me, theirs, whomever, and others), advanced verb problems, and comparisons (different than? Or different from?). Part V is totally practical, polishing up your writing style and explaining some common word traps into which you may fall. Now for more detail.
Part I: Building a Firm Foundation: Grammar Basics
In this part I take you through the basic building blocks — verbs (words that express action or state of being) and subjects (whom or what you’re talking about) — with a quick side trip into pronouns(I, he, her, and the like). I show you how to create a complete sentence. In this part you practice choosing the correct verb tense in straightforward sentences and find out all you need to know about singular and plural forms.
Part II: Mastering Mechanics
This part’s devoted to two little things — punctuation and capital letters — that can make or break your writing. If you’re not sure whether to head North or north or if you want to know where a comma belongs, this part’s for you.
Part III: Applying Proper Grammar in Tricky Situations
Paging who and whom, not to mention I and me! This part tackles all the fun stuff associated with pronouns, including the reason why everyone can’t eat their lunch without violating grammar rules. Part III also helps you decipher the shades of difference in verb tense (wrote? had written?) and voice (not alto or soprano, but active or passive). This part tackles grammar for electronic media, so you can text, tweet, and bullet-point without ending up in the grammar penitentiary.
Part IV: Upping the Interest: Describing and Comparing
Part IV doesn’t tackle which stock is a better investment. Instead, it puts you through your paces in selecting and placing descriptive words and creating clear and logical comparisons.
Part V: Improving Your Writing Style
In Part V, the wind sprints and stretches are over, and it’s time to compete with world-class writers. The toughest grammatical situations, plus exercises that address fluid and vivid writing, face you here. I also throw in some misunderstood words (farther and further, to name just two) and let you practice proper usage, especially as it’s measured on standardized tests.
Part VI: The Part of Tens
Here you find ten ways that people trying to be super-correct end up being super-wrong and ten errors that can kill your career (or grade).
I also provide an appendix devoted entirely to comprehensive practice with the grammar skills you develop as you consult English Grammar For Dummies and as you complete the exercises throughout this workbook.
Icons Used in This Book
Icons are the cute little drawings that attract your gaze and alert you to key points, pitfalls, and other groovy things. In English Grammar Workbook For Dummies, 2nd Edition, you find these four:
I live in New York City, and I often see tourists staggering around, desperate for a resident to show them the ropes. The Tip icon is the equivalent of a resident whispering in your ear. Psst! Want the inside story that will make your life easier? Here it is!
When you’re about to walk through a field riddled with land mines, it’s nice to have a map. The Warning icon tells you where the traps are so you can avoid them.
The Practice icon alerts you to (surprise!) an example and a set of practice exercises so you can practice what I just finished preaching.
If you’re getting ready to sweat through a standardized test, pay extra attention to this icon, which identifies frequent fliers on those exams. Not a student? No worries. You can still pick up valuable information when you see this icon.
Where to Go from Here
To the refrigerator for a snack. Nope. Just kidding. Now that you know what’s where, turn to the section that best meets your needs. If you’re not sure what would benefit you most, take a moment to think about the aspects of writing or speaking that make you pause for a lengthy head scratch. Do you have trouble picking the appropriate verb tense? Is finding the right word a snap but placing a comma cause for concern?
After you’ve done a little grammatical reconnaissance, select the sections of this book that meet your needs. Use the table of contents and the index to find more detail about what is where. If you aren’t sure whether a particular topic is a problem, no problem! Try a couple of sentences and check your answers. If everything comes out okay and you understand the answers, move on. If you stub your toe, go back and do a few more until the grammar rule becomes clear. Or, if you like to start with an overview, hit the exercises in the appendix first. Then zero in on the sections that address the errors you made in those exercises.
Part I
Building a Firm Foundation: Grammar Basics
In this part . . .
If you’ve ever built a house — with real bricks or with kiddy blocks — you know that the whole thing is likely to fall down unless it’s sitting atop a strong foundation. This part provides the stuff you need to lay the best foundation for your writing. Chapter 1 takes you through Verbology 101, explaining how to select the best verb for present, past, and future situations. In the same chapter you find the most useful irregular verbs and everything you need to know about the ever-helpful helping verbs, including their role in creating questions. Chapter 2 sorts verbs into singular and plural piles and helps you match each verb to the correct subject. Then you’re ready to pair pronouns and nouns (Chapter 3). In Chapter 4 you distinguish between complete and incomplete sentences and practice combining sentences properly (a real favorite of standardized-test writers). Ready? I promise I won’t let the roof fall on your head!
Chapter 1
Finding the Right Verb at the Right Time
In This Chapter
Putting verbs in past, present, and future tenses
Practicing the perfect tenses
Deciphering irregular forms
Letting helping verbs lend a hand
Placing verbs in questions
As short as two letters and as long as several words, verbs communicate action or state of being. Plus, even without a new Rolex, they tell time. In this chapter I hit you with basic time questions. No, not “You’re late again because . . . ?” but “Which verb do I need to show what’s completed, not yet begun, or going on right now?” The first section hits the basic tenses (past, present, and future) and the second hits the perfect tenses, which are anything but perfect. After that you can work on irregulars, helping verbs, and verbs that ask questions.
Using Past, Present, and Future Tense at the Right Times
Verbs tell time with a quality known as tense. Before you reach for a tranquilizer, here’s the lowdown on the basic tenses. The three basic tenses are past, present, and future, and each has two forms — low-carb and fat-free. Sorry, I mean plain (its basic time designation — present, past, or future) and progressive (the -ing form of a verb). Progressive places a little more emphasis on process or on action that spans a time period, and the present progressive may reach into the future. In many sentences either plain or progressive verbs may be used interchangeably. Here’s a taste of each:
Past tense tells what happened at a specific, previous time or describes a pattern of behavior in the past. In the sentence “Diane tattooed a skull on her bulging bicep,” tattooed is a past-tense verb. In “During the Motorcycle Festival, Diane was flexing her bicep,” was flexing is a verb in past progressive tense.
Present tense tells you what’s going on now at the presentmoment, or more generally speaking, what action is recurring. In the sentence “Grace rides her Harley,” rides is a present-tense verb. In “Grace is always polishing her Harley” and “Grace is riding to Florida,” the verbs is polishing and is riding are in present progressive tense.
Future tense moves into fortune-teller land. The verb in “Grace will give Diane a ride around the block” is will give, which is in future tense. In “Grace will be bragging about her new motorcycle for months,” will be bragging is in future progressive tense.
Okay, time to check out a sample problem. The infinitive (the grandpappy of each verb family; the verb’s original form preceded by to) follows every sentence. Stay in that family when you fill in the blank, choosing the correct tense. When you’re finished with this sample, try the practice problems that follow.
Q. Yesterday, overreacting to an itty-bitty taste of arsenic, Mike __________________ his evil twin brother of murder. (to accuse)
A. accused. The clue here is yesterday, which tells you that you’re in the past.
1. Fashion is important to David, so he always __________________ the latest and most popular style. (to select)
2. Last year’s tight, slim lines __________________ David, who, it must be admitted, does not have a tiny waist. (to challenge)
3. While David __________________ new clothes, his fashion consultant is busy on the sidelines, recommending stripes and understated plaids to minimize the bulge factor. (to buy)
4. David hopes that the next fashion fad __________________ a more mature, oval figure like his own. (to flatter)
5. Right now Diane __________________ an article for the fashion press stating that so-tight-it-may-as-well-be-painted-on leather is best. (to write)
6. She once __________________ a purple suede pantsuit, which clashed with her orange “I Love Motorcycles” tattoo. (to purchase)
7. While she __________________ the pantsuit, the salesperson urged her to “go for it.”
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
