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Myr

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  1. Myr

    Grammar Guide 10 - Conjunctions

    By Myr,


    Grammar Guide
    Welcome to tenth Grammar Guide!  This week we are going to be talking all about FANBOYS! 

    Well, Myr & Cia are working together to talk about conjunctions, but FANBOYS are part of it.  We'll get to that shortly.
    Conjunctions join two parts of a sentence together, and there are four types of conjunctions:
    Coordinating Conjunctions
    Coordinating Conjunctions - a conjunction placed between words, phrases, clauses, or sentences of equal rank. There are 7 of them and you can remember them with the mnemonic FANBOYS. When a conjunction joins two independent clauses, it must be preceded by a comma. 

    Ex: I bought lettuce and carrots.
    Ex: I bought the lettuce, but she bought the carrots.  
    Correlative Conjunctions
    Correlative Conjunctions - pairs of words that work together to connect two parts of a sentence that hold an equal value or correlate with one another. Some examples: either/or, neither/nor, such/that, both/and, as/as, whether/or, rather/than
    Ex: I ate neither the lettuce nor the carrots.
    Subordinating Conjunctions
    Subordinating Conjunctions - Join an independent or main clause and a dependent clause together, usually to modify the independent clause to provide a reason, result, cause, or purpose. When a sentence starts with a subordinating conjunction, the entire phrase is followed by a comma. The most common words used in subordinating conjunctions, which can be remembered with the acronym I SAW A WABUB are: If, Since, As, When, Although, While, After, Because, Until, Before.
    Ex: Since you are up, you can eat the lettuce.

    Conjunctive Adverbs
    Conjunctive Adverbs join two independent clauses in one sentence to show cause/effect, sequence of events, contrast, or connection. They are preceded with a semicolon and followed by a comma. There are common adverbs used for this purpose such as: however, therefore, nevertheless, besides, after all, finally
    Ex: Lettuce is healthy for you; however, it is not something I enjoy eating.
    References: Kern, Jara. (2020). The Infographic Guide to Grammar. Adams Media Venolia, Jan. (2001). Write Right! (4th ed.). Ten Speed Press
  7. Myr

    Grammar Guide 9 - Prepositions

    By Myr,


    Grammar Guide
    Welcome to our ninth week examining Grammar.  This week, we are hopping on Prepositions.
    Preposition - connects a noun or pronoun to another word in the sentence to show the relationship between the two.  It often indicates position such as: above, below, over, under, or beneath.

    Joey went up the stairs. ( up connects went and stairs) = verb and noun connected
    Sally sat in the corner. (in connects Sally and corner) = two nouns connected
    Ending Sentences with a Preposition
    Most of us had this grammar rule smacked into our faces when we were children.  It is more frowned upon in formal writing, but it is still allowed.  More importantly for story writers, dialog often has sentences ending in prepositions.  For example: "Whom are you talking about?" or "Don't look so put upon!"

     
    Not Always What they Appear
    Some prepositional words can be used in other parts of grammar.  The word alone does not a preposition make.
    For example.  The pirate flag went up the pole.  (Up is a preposition here connecting went and pole)
    The pirate flag was up.  (Up is an adjective here modifying flag)
    Some Prepositions
    There are many prepositions.  Here are a few:
    Above, below, up, down, among, as, at, away, between, over, under, through, next, inside, outside, around, onto, unto, via, within, without, and aside.
    References: Kern, Jara. (2020). The Infographic Guide to Grammar. Adams Media Venolia, Jan. (2001). Write Right! (4th ed.). Ten Speed Press
  16. Myr

    Grammar Guide 8 - Regular vs Irregular Verbs

    By Myr,


    Grammar Guide
    This week we are back to where the action is... verbs!  English is the Rube Goldberg Machine of languages and it has a lot of oddities.  One of those is this whole concept of regular vs irregular and verb forms.

    This also ties in with Grammar Guide 6's topic of Verb Tenses.  Be sure to check that out as well, if you missed it.
    Verbs have 5 Forms:
    Infinitive - the basic form of the verb ➡️ walk Simple Present - Used when the action is happening right now or or happens regularly ➡️ walk Simple Past - Used to discuss actions that happened in the past or existed before now ➡️ walked Present Participle - used in forming continuous tenses, typically by adding -ing ➡️walking Past Participle -  used in forming perfect and passive tenses and sometimes as an adjective ➡️ walked Regular Verbs
    For a regular verb, you form a simple past or past participle by adding -ed to the infinitive form of the verb.
    Example: walk ➡️ walked
    Irregular Verbs
    For an irregular verb, you often change words
    Example: do ➡️did, done
    There are over 200 irregular verbs in the English language.  Unfortunately, they are some of our most common words and the only thing you can do is memorize them. Here are a few:

    There are a lot more, post some below that aren't on the list!
    References: Kern, Jara. (2020). The Infographic Guide to Grammar. Adams Media Venolia, Jan. (2001). Write Right! (4th ed.). Ten Speed Press  
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