Sher Matsen
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WRITING TIPS

VERBS 

The PRESENT PARTICIPLE - always ONE word and always ends in -ING going, eating  

The PAST PARTICIPLE - always ONE word; can easily be found by pretending that 'I have' comes before it (I have) gone; (I have) eaten  

The INFINITIVE - can be found by pretending that 'to' comes before it: (to) go; (to) eat.  

The following examples indicate the different combinations of verbs: 

He is breaking stones. (auxiliary + present participle) 

He has broken stones. (auxiliary + past participle) 

He will break stones. (auxiliary + infinitive) 

He will be breaking stones. (auxiliaries + present participle)  

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LIE & LAY 

to lie means: 

to tell a fib  

You lied to her. 

to be in a horizontal position  

Lie down and you'll feel better. 

to lay means: 

to place something down in its correct position  

Lay those bricks in a straight line. 

to produce :eggs  

Our hens lay enough eggs to feed us all  

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PRONOUNS 

NOT: Give the papers to myself or James.  

But: Give the papers to James or me. 

Emphatic Pronouns - add EMPHASIS to a noun or pronoun that is ALREADY THERE  

I, MYSELF, have always believed ..... 

The owners, THEMSELVES, were held responsible.... 

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COMP OUND NOUNS 

These are words that are joined (usually by a hyphen). You need to be careful when using the PLURAL form of compound nouns: 

- armful / armfuls (you don't suddenly sprout more arms to cope with the extra load)  

- mother-in-law / mothers-in-law (you get another mother, not another law)  

- manservant / menservants (this one likes to be absolutely sure and takes the -s as well as the 'men')  

- man-eater / man-eaters (presumably the sharks - or females - can only cope with ONE man at a time).  

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POTATOS OR POTATOES? 

If the word ends in -o preceded by a VOWEL (that's -a -e -i -o -u) you just add -s: bamboo / bamboos; embryo / embryos; rodeo / rodeos; ratio / ratios  

If the word ends in -o preceded by a CONSONANT (that's all the other letters) you add -es to the word: tornado / tornadoes; flamingo / flamingoes; potato / potatoes; motto / mottoes  

If the word has been 'lifted' from another language, you just add -s (even if the -o IS preceded by a consonant): sombrero /sombreros; fresco /frescos; ghetto / ghettos; merino / merinos; silo / silos.  

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AGREEMENT OF PRONOUNS 

NOT "People that live alone, watch more television." BUT "People WHO live alone...."

An easy way to remember this is that who, whose and whom refer to people and which and that refer to things.  

NOT "Each family member has their own car." BUT "Each family member has his or her own car." OR "All family members have their own cars."  

The pronouns everybody, anybody, nobody, each, either etc are singular, so they take a singular verb AND they must agree in number with their antecedent (the thing they refer to).  

Everybody HAS left the hall. 

Nobody IS home. 

Each of the girls WRITES well.  

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AGREEMENT OF VERB AND SUBJECT 

NOT "There's lots of animals at the zoo."  

"There's" is short for "there IS" and "lots" is PLURAL.  

BUT "There ARE lots of animals at the zoo."  

1. Any subjects joined by AND take the plural form of the verb unless two DIFFERENT nouns in the subject express ONE idea: 

Today's wife and mother HAS more stress in her life. 

Pain and suffering IS never over for these people. 

The 'wife and mother' is referring to ONE woman. 

'Pain and suffering' are two parts of a SINGLE condition here.  

2. The pronouns everybody, anybody, each, either etc are singular so they take a singular verb. 

Everybody HAS left the hall. 

Nobody IS home. 

Each of the girls WRITES well. 

Neither Jim nor Bill HAS arrived. (Not one of them has come.) 

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MORE AGREEMENT 

When subjects of DIFFERENT number or person are joined by either ... or neither ... nor, the verb agrees with the subject CLOSEST to it. 

Either they or I AM wrong. (I know it sounds a bit odd at first, but you always say "I am " and that sounds OK.) 

Neither the tug nor the fishing boats WERE seen.  

When two subjects are joined by as well as, together with, with or besides, the verb agrees with the FIRST or MAIN subject.  

Jane, as well as her sisters, IS home. 

Jane is the MAIN person we are discussing, the sisters just tagged along (as sisters are inclined to do). 

A hat, together with a coat, WAS found on the bus.  

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WORDS COMMONLY CONFUSED 

Some words are often misused simply because people aren't sure about their correct meaning. One of the most commonly misused pairs is “loose” and “lose.” 

Do these look familiar? There's no time to loose. Do not loose this docket.  

It seems that loose is everyone's favourite and no-one like to use lose.  

Loose means'not attached, released from bonds or restraint' e.g. a loose connection. 

Lose  means to misplace something e.g. There's no time to lose.  

Do not lose this docket.  

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MORE CONFUSION 

1. Another pair of words often confused is: 

Affect - means to produce an effect (always a verb) 

e.g. The rain affected her plans.  

Effect - means to bring about 

e.g. The effect of the rain was felt throughout the countryside. 

(can be a noun)  

2. This pair of words can easily be confused: 

Proceed - means to go on 

e.g. You must proceed to the office immediately.  

Precede - means to come/ go before 

e.g. Your reputation precedes you.  

3. Take care you don't confuse these words in your writing: 

Exceed - means to go beyond 

e.g. Do not exceed the speed limit.  

Accede - means to agree to 

e.g. I hope you'll all accede to my request to make a donation.  

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NOUNS and PLURALS 

1. Nouns with NO plurals 

Some words use the same form for the plural as they do for the singular (and this is common sense when you look at the nouns involved - by definition, these words refer to a 'group', so it doesn't make sense to have another word. 

Some examples: corps, deer, dozen, innings, sheep, species, series  

2. Nouns with NO singulars 

Some nouns don't have a singular form (and this, too, is logical when you think about it - there is obviously a nano-second in time when you do, in fact, only have one MEASLE, but it doesn't take long before you're covered in MEASLES).  

People are generous by nature, since we never, ever give THANK for anything, but always give THANKS. 

Other nouns that fit into this classification are bellows, scissors, pliers, trousers, tweezers etc., (ever tried cutting something with a 'scissor'?)  

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REALLY ODD NOUNS 

Some words have TWO meanings in the singular form and take two DIFFERENT plural forms: 

* brother - brothers (members of the same family) 

 - brethren (members of the same society)  

* die - dies (metal stamps for badges etc) 

- dice (cubes for playing games)  

* index - indexes (tables of contents in books) 

- indices (mathematical term)  

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COMPOUND NOUNS 

These are words that are joined (usually by a hyphen). You need to be careful when using the PLURAL form of compound nouns:  

* armful / armfuls (you don't suddenly sprout more arms to cope with the extra load)  

* mother-in-law / mothers-in-law (you get another mother, not another law)  

* manservant / menservants (this one likes to be absolutely sure and takes the -s as well as the 'men')  

* man-eater / man-eaters (presumably the sharks - or females - can only cope with ONE man at a time). 

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ORDER OF ADJECTIVES 

In English, we use adjectives to give more information about nouns and pronouns, but you can't just use them willy-nilly. There's a special order that we're accustomed to hearing and if you upset that order, you run the risk of distracting your reader from your content.  

The order is: Determiner, Observation, Size, Shape, Age, Colour, Origin, Material, Qualifier ... so you'd write about those amazing little square antique black English wooden book stands.  

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USING COMMAS BETWEEN ADJECTIVES 

The Rule is that you use a comma "to separate coordinate adjectives. You could think of this as "That tall, distinguished, good looking fellow" rule (as opposed to "the little old lady"). If you can put an and or a but between the adjectives, a comma will probably belong there. For instance, you could say, "He is a tall and distinguished fellow" or "I live in a very old and run-down house." So you would write, "He is a tall, distinguished man" and "I live in a very old, run-down house." But you would probably not say, "She is a little and old lady," or "I live in a little and purple house," so commas would not appear between little and old or between little and purple." http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/commas.htm  

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FLAMMABLE OR INFLAMMABLE 

Usually, if you add a prefix to a word, you're changing its meaning, except for words like "flammable" and "inflammable." 

If something is "flammable" it means it will burn readily ... right? So ... if it's "inflammable" that should mean it doesn't burn ... right?  

Wrong. Both words mean the same.  

"Inflammable," is derived from the Latin "inflammare," meaning "to kindle," from "in" (in) plus "flamma" (flame).  

"Flammable," is derived from the Latin word, "flammare," meaning "to set on fire."

The confusion comes because the Latin prefix "in," can mean "in" (as in "inflammable"), but usually means "not" (as in "invisible" - "not visible"). You can see the problem with our two words; "inflammable" could mistakenly be perceived as meaning "fireproof."

The Oxford English Dictionary has this usage note: "Historically, flammable and inflammable mean the same thing. However, the presence of the prefix in- has misled many people into assuming that inflammable means "not flammable" or "noncombustible." The prefix -in in inflammable is not, however, the Latin negative prefix -in, which is related to the English -un and appears in such words as indecent and inglorious. Rather, this -in is an intensive prefix derived from the Latin preposition in. This prefix also appears in the word enflame. But many people are not aware of this derivation, and for clarity's sake it is advisable to use only flammable to give warnings." 

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WHEN TO ADD -IBLE AND WHEN TO ADD -ABLE 

Why do some words add the suffix -ible and others -able?  

A good rule of thumb is that if the root word is a complete word, you add able e.g. accept - acceptable; laugh - laughable; suit - suitable and so on.  

If the word ends in y, change it to i e.g. justify - justifiable, and if it ends in e, you usually (but not always) drop the e. e.g. believe - believable.  

But ... if the consonant preceding that vowel is a g or a c, you keep the e. If you don't, the consonant would become hard, and the word would sound odd. e.g. notice - noticeable; knowledge - knowledgeable. And, if removing the e would change the pronunciation of the preceding vowel then you leave the e. e.g. like (long i) - likeable; sale (long a) - saleable.  

If the root is an incomplete word, you add -ible e.g. vis- visible; tang- tangible; cred - credible.

(Remember this by the two i's: Incomplete -ible.)  

Generally speaking, the suffix - able is more common than -ible  

You can only use -able after g, i and the hard c ("k" sound) (e.g., navigable, amiable, irrevocable)  

You must use -ible after double consonants (e-g-, ll), s, st, some d sounds and soft c ("s" sound) e.g. infallible, plausible, edible, forcible 

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