Materials on this page provide
basic background information about grammar. Check them out
if you're
- vague about prepositions or other parts
of speech
- confused about where to start and stop a sentence
- wishing you'd paid more attention to semicolons and other punctuation
marks
- concerned that poor mechanics will
distract readers from your message
- smart enough to know your spellchecker can't catch every spelling mistake
Besides choosing one of these five categories,
you can also do a quick review of
one term or explore a recommended site. |
| Categories |
Reason to Review |
| Parts of Speech |
Become familiar with terms used in explanations
of grammar rules |
| Sentence Structure |
Understand the basic ways that English-speakers
put sentences together |
| Punctuation Marks |
Review how to use commas, ellipses, and
other punctuation marks with confidence
|
| Mechanics |
Keep readers from thinking you're careless
or uneducated
(How credible is a grammar expert who advises you not to join
two independent clauses with a coma?) |
| Spelling |
Catch the sound-alike
words your spellchecker
misses
(e.g., there, their, they're) |
Review Strategies
|
For
a quick review, you might
- Skim the list of terms until you come to a term you don't
know.
- Click on a Resources link beside the unfamiliar term.
- Choose one of the first links for a basic introduction;
choose a link towards the end of the list for more detail.
|
To minimize
clicking, you might prefer to choose a site to
explore:
Charles Darling's comprehensive Guide
to Grammar & Writing includes definitions and
quizzes. Choose from pulldown menus or use the index to
find the term you're looking for. Look for links at
the top or bottom of the page if you need more information.
Garbl's
Editorial Style Manual answers questions about
capitalization, forming plurals and possessives, and
using punctuation marks. Check out the keywords or
use the alphabetical index.
Online
Technical Writing: Common Grammar, Usage, and Spelling
Problems (OTW) provides an overview of writers' "biggest
headaches," with many examples of proper usage
and how to correct problems.
Sentence
Sense is a comprehensive online tutorial that begins
with how sentences are put together and explains how to
correct
common errors.
Place your cursor over a chapter number to preview the
contents.
The Write
Place Catalogue at St. Cloud State University has helpful
articles on style, plagiarism, grammar,
and punctuation.
If Grammar
Help doesn't answer your question, check out
Ruth Vilmi's links to selected Internet
resources.
Many
are helpful
to English language learners.
|
| Topic
| Terms |
Resources |
| Parts of Speech
| Search tip:
Go to Google;
type define:
(e.g., define: noun)
|
"The
Grammar Lesson"
Steve Kowit's poem
gives a quick overview of parts of speech.
Parts
of Speech (LEO)
Parts
of Speech (Wikipedia) The
Parts of Speech (definitions and quiz) |
| noun | definition
|
Nouns
Lynch's Guide to Grammar and
Style
|
proper noun
|
Proper Noun
The Proper Noun
Use of Capital Letters with Nouns |
count/noncount
|
Count
and Noncount Nouns (Purdue)
Count
and Non-count Nouns
(Darling; includes quiz) |
| collective nouns |
Collective
Nouns (Darling)
Collective
Nouns (Wikipedia)
List of Collective Nouns by Subject |
compound nouns
|
Compound
Words
Compound Nouns
Compound Nouns and Adjectives |
| possessive nouns |
The
Possessive Form of Nouns
Possessive
Nouns
Possessive
Forms of Nouns (Darling)
Plural
and Possessive Nouns |
| irregular plurals |
English Irregular Plurals
Irregular
Nouns |
| verb
| verb
tense | Verb
Tense (Purdue)
Verbs (OWL)
Tenses (Online
English Grammar)
|
<
| helping verb |
Auxiliary
Verb (Wikipedia)
Helping and Modal Auxiliary Verbs |
| irregular verb |
Irregular
Verbs (list)
Irregular
Verbs (Wikipedia) |
| compound verb |
The
Compound Verb
Compound
Verb (Wikipedia)
Compound
Verbs |
| voice |
Active
and Passive Verbs
The
Passive Voice
Action Verbs |
| pronoun
| overview
| Pronoun (Lynch)
Pronouns (OTW)
Pronouns (Darling)
Pronoun (Writing English) |
|
| case
| Pronoun
Case
It's versus Its |
| number
| Using Pronouns Clearly |
| adjective
| overview |
Adjective (Wikipedia)
Adjectives
(includes quizzes) Adjective
or Adverb? Adjective Help
More About Adjectives
Adjectives
(great links)
Adjectives (Online English Grammar)
Commas with Coordinate Modifiers |
| comparative forms (degree) |
Comparison of Adjectives
Adjectives (scroll
to "Degrees...")
Form and Function of Adjectives |
| order |
Adjectives (scroll
to "The Order...Series") |
| adverb
| definition |
Adverbs
Adverbs—Form
Kinds of Adverbs More
About Adverbs
Adverbs (Online
English Grammar)
You Feel Bad... |
| comparative forms |
Comparative
Forms (Online English Grammar) |
| misplaced modifiers |
Modifier Placement
It's My Participle, and I'll Dangle It if I Want To! |
| order |
Adverbs (scroll
to "Order of Adverbs") |
| preposition
| Prepositions (Lynch)
Preposition (Wikipedia)
Prepositions:
Locators in Time and Place (Darling) Prepositional
Phrases (choose "Grammar Handbook"
from the menu in the left frame; then select "Prepositional
Phrases" from the Table of Contents)
|
| conjunction
| Conjunctions (Darling) Conjunctions (Lynch) Conjunctions (Online Technical Writing)
|
| article
| Articles, Determiners, and Quantifiers Articles for English Language Learners Exceptions to Using the Definite Article
|
| interjections
| Interjections (Darling) Interjection (Wikipedia)
|
|
Sentence Structure
|
Terms
|
Resources
|
| subject |
Building
Sentence Patterns Parts of a Sentence Basic
Patterns and Elements of the Sentence (OTW) Compound Subjects (tutorial)
|
| predicate |
Parts
of a Sentence
Basic
Sentence Concepts
Simple Sentence: Subject and Predicate |
| phrase |
The Phrase Mark
Phrases (choose "Grammar Handbook" from
the menu in the left frame; then select "Phrases" from the Table of Contents) |
| object |
Parts
of a Sentence Direct and Indirect Objects Predicates, Objects, Complements
|
| clause |
Clauses:
The Essential Building Blocks
Strategies for Sentence Recognition
Dependent versus Independent
Clauses (definition) Dependent
and Independent Clauses (handout)
A Ten-Minute Tour of Phrases and Clauses
and What They Do
The Clause in English |
| sentence |
Sentence
Parts and Functions
Sentence Types
Sentence
Sense (online
tutorial) Comma
Splices, Fused Sentences, and Run-ons
|
| agreement |
Agreement (Lynch) |
| coordination |
Strunk's
Rule 4
Expressing Coordination in Sentences |
| subordination |
Expressing
Subordination in Sentences
Academic
Writing and Subordination |
| parallelism |
Parallelism
Parallel Structure in Professional Writing |
| Punctuation
Marks |
Terms
|
Resources
|
| commas |
Commas Comma
Uses Comma
Rules Punctuation:
Commas (many
examples)
Tips for Using Commas
Unnecessary commas |
| semicolons |
Semicolon Semicolons (many examples)
Colons,
and Semicolons, and Bears! |
| colons |
Colons Colons (many
examples)
Colons, and Semicolons, and Bears! |
| dashes |
Dash
Dashes (Paradigm) |
| quotation marks |
Punctuation
and Quotation Marks (Lynch)
Quotations Marks: A General Explanation of How They Are Used |
| apostrophes |
The
Basics of Using Apostrophes to Show Possession
Apostrophes
Apostrophe
Rules
|
| parentheses |
Parentheses (Lynch) Parentheses (Darling) |
| brackets |
Brackets (Darling) Brackets (LEO)
|
| ellipses |
Brackets
and Ellipses
Ellipses
Are Those Dots Just for Decoration? |
| slashes |
Slashes Virgule
|
| periods |
The Functions of Punctuation
Periods (Paradigm) |
| question marks |
Question Marks
Strong and Weak Punctuation |
| exclamation points |
Exclamation Marks
Strong
and Weak Punctuation |
| Mechanics |
Terms
|
Resources
|
| hyphens |
Hyphen Hyphens (OTW) Compound Words
|
| capitalization |
Capitalization (Lynch) Capitalization (Garbl) Capitalization (OTW)
Capitalization (Paradigm) Capitalizing Proper Nouns
|
| numbers |
Numbers (Lynch) Numbers (Garbl)
|
| underlining/italics |
Italics Removing
links from URLs (MLA)
Which Titles Are Italicized and Which Are
Enclosed in Quotation Marks? |
| Spelling |
Terms |
Resources
|
| homonyms |
The
Notorious Confusables
Charles Darling's guide to sound-alike words
that your spellchecker won't catch (e.g., accept/except)
Ten Common But Easily Corrected Errors
Tina Blue's advice makes these mistakes "as
easy to correct as they are to make."
Words That Sound Alike
An exercise from Purdue's Online Writing Lab Online
Dictionaries
Links to various dictionaries provided
by the Library of Congress
|
| spelling tips |
Some
Rules and Suggestions About Spelling (Darling) Common
Spelling Problems
Spelling (Paradigm) Spelling
Checkers Spelling
and Typographical Errors
Why Bother with Spelling and Grammar Rules?
The
Basic Cozy Spelling Course |
Home 