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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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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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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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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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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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