humphries_carolyn_really_simple_english_grammar.pdf

8/20/2019 humphries_carolyn_really_simple_english_grammar.pdf

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foulshamThe Publishing House, Bennetts Close, Cippenham, Slough, Berkshire, SL1 5A£ England

ISBN 13: 978-0-572-02811-4ISBN 10: 0-572-02811-3

Copyright © 2003 W. Foulsham & Co. Ltd

Cover photograph © Eye Wire Collections

All rights reserved.

The Copyright Act prohibits (subject to certain very limited exceptions) the makingof copies of any copyright work or of a substantial pa rt of such a work, includingthe m aking of copies by photocopying or similar process. Written permission to

a copy or copies must therefore normally be obtained from the pu blisher inadvance. It is advisable also to consult the publisher i f in any doubt as to t he legalityof any copying which is to be undertake n.

Printed in G reat Britain by Cox Sc Wyman Ltd, Beading, Berkshire

Content

Introduction

Chapter 1 Parts of Speech

Chapter 2 Sentences and Punctuation

Chapter 3 Changing Words from Sin

Chapter 4 Confusing Words

Chapter 5 Words that Sound the Sam

Chapter 6 Beginnings and Endings o

Chapter 7 Abbreviations and Capita

Chapter 8 Tricky Spellings

Chapter 9 Fancy Terminology

Usage Guide

Index


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Introduction

I

f you’ve ever tried to use a grammar book to look up

something straightforward - such as when to use ‘that’ or‘which’, or where to put the apostrophe when a word alreadyends in ‘s’ - you’ll know it’s virtually impossible to find whatyou want. Even the books supposedly designed for people withno knowledge of grammar seem to use complicated jargon, andyou need a natural ability for the subject and a desire to ploughthrough endless paragraphs of complicated text just to pinpointyour problem. When it comes to spelling, dictionaries aren’tmuch help either - if you can’t spell a word, how are yousupposed to find it in the first place?

This book is different. It’s a concise and practical referencebook, all about best practice in written communication. Itcontains everything you need to know to help you write clearlyand correctly, but it won’t confuse you with complicatedterminology, unnecessary detail or convoluted explanations.Everything is in plain, sensible English with lots of examplesillustrating each point. Most topics are cross-referenced to helpyou find them easily and, where necessary, information is placedin more than one section so wherever you look for it, you’ll findit straight away.

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Really Simple English Grammar working guide to help you avoid all tmistakes - and to improve your spotime. It is not designed as a formal conceivable grammatical point and it the most common grammatical terms

grips with the basics. Of course, if grammar - you may not believe me byou can go on to study it further.

Keep this reference book to hand,you’re writing anything from a letter You’ll soon find that you can imcolleagues with your new-found expermore confidence in the way you use En

The hardest bit - wh

Don’t be put off when you glance at complicated but it isn’t. The problemthere is no beginning and no end - icircular route. For instance, it’s hconstruct a sentence without first exnouns are; but it’s just as hard explainiare without first defining what constit

This book starts with the basic partsbecome familiar with what each word take you through how to build up you


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Introduction

correct punctuation as you go; and finally the last chaptersguide you through those litde idiosyncrasies of English spellingthat catch even the best of us out from time to time.

You don’t have to start at the beginning and read the wholebook like a novel. You may just want to dip into the section youneed to check a particular point that is bothering you - there is a

comprehensive index at the back to make it easy. But, if you dowant to learn from scratch, you can start from Chapter 1 andgradually build up your knowledge, chapter by chapter.

You’ll be amazed at how quickly you begin to understandEnglish grammar and all its irregularities. Soon you’ll findyourself noticing when other people make mistakes. But don’tbe a bore and point them all out - just enjoy being a silent, smugknow-it-all!

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Chapter 1

Parts o f Sp

E

verything we write and say is e

may stand alone or be linked tsentences. Under the rules of gradifferent categories called parts o f towards using speaking and writing these are and how they function. In thexplain what the parts of speech are aparts of speech are:

Verbs Words that involve bei

Nouns Words that name

Pronouns Words that replace nou

Adjectives Words that describe

Adverbs Words that qualify or t

Prepositions Words that link a nounto die rest of the senten

Conjunctions Words that join two pasentence


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Parts of Speech

A Watch out for vowels and consonantsThe English alphabet has five vowels: a, e, i, o, u. Eachsingle vowel may be referred to as short or long, dependingon the way it is pronounced.

Short a hat Longa hayShort e bed Longe theseShort i sit Longi rideShort o pod Longo moleShort u but Longu flute, cute

The remainder of the letters of the alphabet are consonants.The pronunciation of each is constant, with the exceptionof c andg, which may be either hard or soft.

Hard c cat, panic, raccoon Soft c /ace, cerealHard g go, bag Soft g giraffe, rage

In written English, these parts of speech are strung togetherinto groups of words, to form sentences. Each sentence can bebroken down into short sections, called clauses and phrases. Inorder to write correctly, you must understand the meaning ofthese terms.

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Sentence A complete statement, inclustand on its own.

Clause A complete statement, includof a longer sentence.

Phrase A group of words, without alonger sentence.

Paragraph A group of sentences on the s

A Watch out for syllablesA syllable is simply a single sound in syllable. Hedgehog has two syllables.syllables.

VerbsVerbs used to be known as ‘doing’ or ‘act

clearly involve activity, for exampleto runto grab

However, this definition is misleadinmay involve no apparent action at all, su

to beto thinkto thunder

It is perhaps better to think of verbs as


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Verbs

There are several forms of each verb. The form of the verbgiven here, where it is preceded byto - as in to be, to go, to sing- is known as the infinitive.

A Watch out for split infinitivesThe famous line from the TV show Star Trek - ‘to boldly go

where no man has gone before’ - is a classic example of asplit infinitive. This is when an adverb (here, boldly) isplaced between the words of the infinitive (to go). This usedto be considered a heinous grammatical crime but today weare not so fussy; in fact, you can use it for emphasis, asCaptain Kirk does here! It is no bad thing, however, to beaware when you are splitting an infinitive - in case you arechallenged by a traditionalist - and you should always makesure it doesn’t alter the sense or make the sentence awkward.

By definition, all sentences must contain a verb. If there is noverb, it’s not a sentence!There are two types of verb. Some verbs need a word known

as an object in order to make sense - these are the verbs whereyou are doing something to something or with something. Theyare known as transitive verbs.

I beat the drum.

He stroked the cat.

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Some verbs don’t need an object in ofunction they describe can stand alone. Th

I cried.

They rejoiced.

Tenses

The tense of a verb shows when it takepast or future.

Present tenseThe present tense is used when things ar

The guard stands in /ront of the pa

I love my dog.

We want an apology.

In some instances, you can use a foshow that something is happening no

happen. This uses am, are or is plus the pis simply the infinitive form of the verb wThe guard is standing in front of th

You are walking to the shop.Native English speakers do not hav

which form of the present tense to ussource of difficulty to foreigners.

We are wanting a map of London.

We want a map of London.


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Verbs

For the rules on how to add the -ing to verbs, see FormingPresent and Past Participles on page 19.

Present participles as nouns: Words ending in -ing are oftenused on their own as nouns. If you need to know whether aword ending in -ing is a present participle of a verb or a noun,

look at what it does in the sentence.In this example, dancing is a present participle of the verb am dancing.

When I am dancing, I am very light on my fe et.

In the next example, dancing is a noun; the verb is is.Dancing is very good exercise.

A Watch out for sentences that start with a present participleIf you start a sentence with a present participle, you mustremember that it relates to the person doing the main action

in the sentence. Look at these two examples.The steak is very good here. Having said that, the/ish isgood too. X

This is wrong. It sounds as though the fish is recommending

the steak!

I know the steak is really good here. Having said that,I can recommend the fish as well. /

This is correct. The person speaking is making the

recommendations.

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Past tenseThe past tense is used when the action ohappened and is now over.

I considered the problem.

You ran home.

She liked the dress.

We selected the words.

They were sad.

There is a second form of past tense, wplus the past participle to show whencompleted. The past participle is formed the infinitive form of verb, like the past tenor -en and some do not change at all. Thcommon examples but there are no easy to use a dictionary if you aren’t sure.

We have informed the police.

They have completed the task.

I have eaten my meal.

You have tried my patience.

He has lived in the house for 20 year

For the rules on how to add -d or -ed Present and Past Participles on page 19.

Past participles can also be used as adjec


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Verbs

A Watch out for providing and providedIf something has to happen before something else canhappen, then use the past participle, not the present.

Providing the rain stops, the children, can ride their bikes. XThis first example is wrong. It sounds as though thechildren are providing the rain stops. You should say:

Provided the rain stops, the children can ride their bikes. S

Hie subjunctive: This is a form of verb that is now almostobsolete in English. However, you will have heard it inexpressions such as ‘If I were you’. It is used when something isimagined, when you know you are not dealing with facts. It is alsoused when you wish for something but it can’t really happen.

I wish I were a millionaire.You can also rearrange the order of the words in the sentence

and use were I instead of if I were.

Were I to win the lottery, I would buy a mansion.Because the subjunctive is so rare nowadays, it is best avoided

if you are in any doubt as to how to use it.

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Future tenseThe future tense is used when things arein the future. To form the future tense,before the verb. It is grammatically corand we, and will with he, she, it, you modern usage, will is more commonly u

He will mend the car next week.

It will look better in the morning.

They will go on holiday next summe

We shall meet again soon.

& Watch out for shall and will for emThe rule for using shall and will is revgive more force to the words.

Iwill pass my driving test.You shall go to the balL

Til and you’ll: These are short for I shaused in exactly the same way. Short forcalled contractions, are only used ininformal writing.Shan’t and won’t: These are short for shthey are the negative versions of ‘shall’ anexacdy the same way. They are only usedinformal writing.

See also Apostrophes on page 53.


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Verbs

Conditional tenseThis is formed by prefacing the verb with should or would. Conditional verbs imply that an action to be taken in the futuredepends on (i.e. is conditional on) something else. The choice ofwhich to use follows the same rules as shall and will.

I should like to buy a car if I pass my driving test.They would like to go out tomorrow but they must wait tosee if it is fine.

The conditional tense can also be used to mean ought to. Inthis case, you use should with every pronoun.

I should eat less.You should know what he said about you.

A Watch out for should o f and could o f Many people say should o f and could of when they meanshould have and could have. This has crept into commonusage through mispronunciation and is a bad mistake.

Ishould of told him about the meeting. X I should have told him about the meeting. ✓

Regular and irregular verbsIn most cases, to change a verb to the past tense and the pastparticiple, you add -ed or -d to the infinitive form of verb. Thosethat follow this rule are known asregular verbs. For the rules onforming the past participles of regular verbs, see page 19.

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Regular verbsInfinitive Past tense

to look (I) lookedto love Cl) loved

A few verbs can take -t or -ed in the pato bum (1) burned /burntto dream Cl) dreamed/dreamtto dwell (1) dwelled/dweltto lean (1) leaned/leantto leap (I) leaped/leaptto learn COleamed/leamtto smell CDsmelled/smeltto spell (1) spelled/speltto spill (1) spilled/spiltto spoil COspoiled/spoilt

Ai Watch out for bought and broughSome people use bought, the past parthey mean brought, the past paRemembering the r in bring should h

I bought the newspaper at the shop

Irregular verbsSadly, not all English verbs obey the ru- the bane of language students everirregular verbs. Overleaf is a list of the


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The irregular verb people most often get wrong is to do.I done the washing. X

The correct forms of the past tense areI did the washing.I have done the washing.

Verbs-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Infinitive Past tense Past participleto be Cl) was Cl have) beento bring (I) brought Cl have) broughtto bug Cl) bought Cl have) boughtto choose Cl) chose Cl have) chosento come Cl) came Cl have) cometo do Cl) did Cl have) doneto drink Cl) drank Cl have) drunkto eat Cl) ate Cl have) eatento go Cl) went Cl have) goneto grow Cl) grew Cl have) grownto lie Cl) lag/laid Cl have) laidto light Cl) lit/lighted Cl have) litto mistake Cl) mistook Cl have) mistakento read Cl) read Cl have) readto see Cl) saw Cl have) seento sing Cl) sang Cl have) sungto swim Cl) swam Cl have) swumto teach Cl) taught Cl have) taughtto write Cl) wrote Cl have) written

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S

S

& Watch out for hung and bangedIf you are talking about hanging a th

He hung the picture on the wall.If you are talking about hanging a pe

They hanged him at dawn.

Forming present and past participlAs we have already seen, the presenadding -ing to the end of the infinitivregular verbs is formed by adding -d o

I n f i n i t i ve Present participle

to look looking to double-cross double-crossing

However, different rules must be a

ensure correct spelling and pronunciat

Words ending with a short vowel followDouble the final consonant and add th

to stop stopping to jit fitting to quarrel quarrelling to confer conferring

Remember that this does not apply ty as these never appear in doubled form


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Verbs

Words ending in eDrop the e, then add the suffix.

I n f i n i t i v e Present participle Past participle

to poke poking poked

to force forcing forced

to contemplate contemplating contemplated

A Watch out for exceptions to the -ing ruleIn a few cases, words ending in e simply add the -ing without dropping the e, in order to avoid ambiguity in themeaning. For example, dyeing (from to dye) is not the sameas dying (from to die). You should also leave the final e onwords that rely on it for their pronunciation (hoeing).

Bothageing andaging are correct, although the former ismore common in UK usage.

NounsNouns are ‘name’ words. There are four types: common nouns,

proper nouns, abstract nouns and collective nouns. Nouns canbe either the subjects or objects of verbs (see Building Sentenceson page 45).

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Common nounsThese are simply the names of ordinary

dog, girl, tree, house, plate, car

Proper nounsThese are specific names of places, pe

They always start with a capital letter.Mary, London, France, Dumbo, Mi

Abstract nounsThese are names of intangible things liof mind or measurement.

happiness, ambition, equality, heig

Collective nounsThese are names for groups of things.

flock, herd, audience, band, assortCollective nouns are always consideeven though they may be made up of lot- so they take the singular form of the v

The audience was delighted with The/amily that eats together, sta

Many nouns have a specific collectiused with them. The list overleaf gcommon.


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Nouns

a bale of cotton/hay/wood a flotilla of boatsa band of musicians a gaggle of geesea batch of biscuits/cakes, etc. a galaxy of starsa bevy of beauties a hand of bananasa board of directors a herd of cowsa bouquet of flowers a host of angelsa brood of hens a litter of kittens/puppiesa bunch of grapes a nest of vipersa choir of singers a pack o f wolvesa cluster of diamonds a pride of lionsa clutch of eggs a school of whales/dolphinsa company of actors a sheaf of com/wheata jleet of cars/ships a shoal offisha jlight of stairs/steps

GenderNouns fall into four gender groups.

Masculine for male people and animalsman, earl, bull

Feminine for female people and animalswoman, duchess, cow

Common for words denoting people or animals that can be ofeither sex

child, tenant, fish Neuter for words denoting things with no sex

book, shoe, feather

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A Watch out for sayinghe or sheWhen the gender of something is co(such as individual, tenant, etc.) it usethe pronoun he or his when referrtoday’s world of increasing political equality, this is no longer considered

various approaches to the problem. Utime may prove some sort of poconfusing. Repeated use of he or sheand (s)he is ugly and unpronounceabto rework the sentence to avoid the pis not possible, choose one gender aThe following is part of an agreelandlord of student houses and was hall the tenants were girls!

Each tenant is required to give one

will be charged an extra week’s ren

extend his tenancy, he must informshall not allow him to stay.

It may be appropriate to put a nothe passage, giving your reason for cshe or vice versa.


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Nouns

ArticlesThe, a and an are known as articles. They always precede anoun.

The is called the definite article because it is specific. Whenyou write the man, you are not referring to just any man - youare indicating one particular man. A and an are called indefinite articles because they are non

specific. You should use a when it precedes a word that startswith a consonant (a parasol, a piano) and an when the wordstarts with a vowel (an umbrella, an upright piano).

A Watch out fora hotelYou may hear people use an with words beginning with h. This is only correct if the h is silent. In the past, hotel waspronounced as ’otel so it was correct to use an hotel. Nowadays we sayhotel, so a hotel is correct.

I am going to stay the night at a hotelYou still use an for words that have a silent h - they

nearly all relate to the wordsheir, honour and honest:He died without leaving an heir.

She has an honest face.

He was an honourable man.

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PronounsPronouns are used instead of nouns in don’t need to keep repeating the noun its

Personal pronounsThese are the little words that are used to- such as Mary - or common nouns witcat - where you want to avoid repeating

Mary slapped James. She slapped MThe blows were extremely hard. The

Personal pronouns come in pairs: I/she/her, it/it, we/us, they/them.

It is usually very clear which form to usI like food.

You go to the shops.

We hate scary movies.They live in a city.

The baby smiled at me.

He loves her.

The book was given to them.


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Pronouns

I and meSome people become confused when there is more than oneperson involved. For example, should you say My friend and I like going to parties or My friend and me like going to parties ? Todecide which is right, simply split up the two people in thesentence.

My f r i end likes going to parties.I also like going to parties.

Therefore, the complete sentence should be:My friend and I like going to parties.

Now look at this example. The taxi driver gave my friend and I/me a lift. Divide it as before.

The taxi driver gave my friend a lift.The taxi driver also gave me a lift.

Therefore, the complete sentence should be:The taxi driver gave my friend and m e a lift.

& Watch out for me and my friend Note that you should always put yourself second, so youshould say my friend and me (or my friend and I if that’scorrect), not me and my friend. Remember, even the Queenputs herself second in this case. She always says: ‘Myhusband and I’.

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& Watch out for between you and I This is a common mistake - it shouldyou and me. If you’re not sure why it’spronouns as a pair: you and I means weus. Put like that, between you and I bewhich is clearly wrong.

This rule applies to all prepositions

Myself Myself has two definite jobs in a sentence

It may be used to show that you aryourself.

I cut myself shaving.I cried myself to sleep.

It may also be used to emphasise a poinMyself, I prefer plain chocolates.

I’ll do it myself.It should never be used instead of me

becoming more and more common, in seYou can write to any one of the teamMy aunt invited myself and my /amiin Wales. Myself and my jriends went to Ibiza.


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Pronouns

Here are the correct versions.You can write to any one of the team, including me. /My aunt invited my family and me to spend a week in Wales./My friends and I went to Ibiza. /

In the same way, ourselves should never be used instead ofwe or us.

There will be a meeting between ourselves and thedirectors next week. X There will be a meeting between the directors and usnext week. /

& Watch out for theirselvesSome people say theirselves when they mean themselves. There is no such word as theirselves so themselves is alwaysthe correct choice.

This and that, these and thoseThese litde words (and sometimes they) are calleddemonstrative

pronouns because they demonstrate, or show, that something iseither the subject or object of the sentence.

In these examples, they are the subject of the verb in thesentence.

This is a good place to stop.That was a delicious lunch.These are the best strawberries I have ever tasted.Those boys were causing the trouble.

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In these examples, they are the object of tI need this.Don't do that.He wants these.Give me one of those.

^ Watch out for Those are them

Many people say Those are them or, eThat’s them, but, strictly speaking, youthey. If you think that sounds stiltedinstead!

Who and whomThese are interrogative pronouns, so-cused to introduce questions. They are nois used as the subject of a sentence thawhom as the object of a verb within the q

If you are unsure of which to use, imathe question. If the answer contains I, hthe question should use who.

Question: Who hid behind the bush(Answen They hid behind the bush

If the answer to the question is likely tthem, then you should use whom.

Question.- To whom did you give the(Answer: I gave the money to him.)


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Pronouns

& Watch out for it andyouIt andyou do not change whatever the question and answerso, if you are unsure, use who. In practice, very few peopleactually use whom in spoken English so it is unlikely thatanyone will notice!

Which and whatThese are also interrogative pronouns, used when asking questionsabout things.

Which is used when asking for choice from a definite set ofoptions.

Which do you prefer - butter or margarine?What is used when asking for a choice from a range of

unknown possibilities.What are you holding?

Whose and who’sWhose is a relative pronoun denoting ownership. In a way, itmeans to whom it belongs.

There is the man whose car I borrowed.

Who’s is a contraction, or shortening, of who is or who has. Itis common in spoken English but you should not use it in formalwriting. Use the full form instead.

Who’s that man lurking in the shadows?

See also Apostrophes, page 53.

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AdjectivesAdjectives are ‘describing’ words. Themore about a noun. Words that describetexture, nationality, disposition, etc. are

the big red ball

the angry old man

an elegant French so/a

Compound adjectivesAs you might expect, these are formed wtogether into one. They always contain a

the black-bearded manthe 20-mile hike

The purpose of the hyphen is to avoid hyphen, you could have two different mabove, the black, bearded man would black-bearded man.

See also Hyphens, page 65.

Comparative and superlative adjectiThese are used when making comparison

When you are comparing two similaruse a comparative adjective.

My dog is bigger than yours.


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Adjectives

When you are comparing three or more things, you use asuperlative adjective.

This is the prettiest dress of all.

Forming comparative and superlative adjectivesIt is quite simple to form the comparative and superlative formsof any adjective.

If die adjective has only one syllable, add -er to the adjectiveto make the comparative and -est to make the superlative. Inthis way, from young you can form younger and, youngest andfrom old you get older and oldest.

He was the younger of the two brothers.

Gemma was the oldest girl in the class.

If there is a single vowel before the last consonant, you doublethe last letter before adding the -er or -est.

big, bigger, biggestthin, thinner, thinnest

This does not apply if the last consonant isw or y, as these arenever doubled.

low, lower, lowestgay, gayer, gayest

If the adjective has two syllables and ends in -y, change the-y to -i, then add -er or -est.

happy, happier, happiest

funny, funnier, funniest

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For most other two-syllable adjectiveor more syllables, you simply putadjective.

dangerous, more dangerous, moshelpful, more helpful, most helpfu

As ever, there are some words that

rules. These you just have to learn,

bad, worse, worst

far, farther, farthest

good, better, best

little, less, least

much/many, more, most

clever, cleverer, cleverest

See also Beginnings and Endings of179.

A Watch out for fewer Fewer follows the rules for compmany people use it incorrectly and cpage 119 for a full explanation.


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Adjectives

Complete adjectivesThere are a few adjectives whose meaning is complete in itselfand these should never be put into a comparative or superlativecontext. Instead, you should rephrase your sentence.Unique: This means the only one o f its kind. By definition,therefore, something cannot be more unique and certainly notthe most unique ofal llComplete: A task or thing is either complete - finished, orwhole - or it is not. The following example may be quitecommon in spoken English but it is wrong.

That is the most complete mess I have ever seen. XEmpty: If a container is empty, there is nothing inside. It cannotbe made more or less empty.

This jug is emptier than that one. X

There is less in this jug than in that one. /

However, used figuratively, it can mean hollow and in thatcase a comparative is possible.

Ajter her husband died, her life felt emptier than ever before. Full: There are no degrees of fullness - a container is either fullor it is not.

Can you make this cup of tea fuller? X Can you put more in this cup of tea? /

However, the word may be used comparatively when it isused in a figurative sense.

She described her experiences in the /ullest detail.

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Extreme: Strictly speaking, this reffarthest point.

She went to extreme lengths to p

finding her money. (She could goHowever, it may also be used to me

restraint, in which case a comparative We are both on the right wing of

the punishment of criminals are athan mine.

Verbal adjectivesPresent and past participles of many vedescribing words.

the roaring fire the shocked woman

In this form they are often placsentences, to give prominence to the id

Roaring in the grate, the fire gaveShocked, the woman sat down, h

Be careful how you do this: it’s easy tin the wrong place in the sentencedifferent meaning.

Barbecued in the open, children loSet like this, the sentence implies

barbecued, not the chicken and sausagChildren love chicken and sausage

----------------------------------------------------


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Adverbs

AdverbsAdverbs are words that give you more information aboutparticular words in a sentence. Adverbs are usually made up ofadjectives with -ly on the end (see Beginnings and Endings of

Words, page 179).Adverbs are used most often to refer to verbs and to describe

in more detail how the action is being carried out - in whatmanner, when, where, how often.

The wind blew strongly.

The girl ran quickly.

His voice /altered momentarily.

A Watch out for using adjectives instead of adverbsWhen describing a verb, you must use an adverb.

He ate his meal too quick. X

He ate his meal too quickly. /

>Sometimes the same word can be both an adjective and an

adverb.In this sentence, fast is an adjective.

He drove a jdst car.

In this sentence, it is an adverb.He drove fast.

If you don’t know whether you need an adjective or anadverb, try substituting another word that means the same.In the next example, we have changed fast to speedy. The

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sentence that contains the adverb beclittle adjustment.

He drove a speedy car.He drove speedily.

Adverbs can also be used to qualify that you put them in the correct placethe meaning that you want.

In this example, the adverb dangerouskidded.

The car skidded dangerously on thIn this example, the adverb is describ

The car skidded on the dangerous

& Watch out for positioning adverbIf you position the adverb wrongly,nonsense of a sentence. The first exthat the repairs should be carried out

The roof needs repairing badly.

The roof badly needs repairing.

Tortured adverbsI have said that adverbs are formed byadjectives. This holds true in most casewith compound adjectives, you willmouthful. Made-up words such assufferingly, blood-curdlingly, etc. are

Ad b


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Adverbs

Strictly speaking, there is nothing wrong with them but theysound ludicrous and are difficult to say. A better alternativewould be a well-chosen adjective or a complete rearrangementof the phrase - especially in written English.

Watching the horror movie was sick-makingly horrible. X

Watching the horror movie was horrible and sick-making. /

PrepositionsThese are the little words that usually go before nouns andpronouns to show how they link to the rest of the sentence.

after against

along amid/amidst

among/amongst around

at before

behind below

beneath beside

between beyond

by down

during except

for jrom

in inside

into near

of off on outside

over past

round since

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through totowards unde

underneath until

up upon

with withi

without

Here are examples of how prepositioHe gave the chocolates to his girlf

They both stood under the umbreThere is a new bridge over the rivThe bill was paid bij my uncle.

Where a preposition is followed byalways use me, him, her, us and them.with only one pronoun - beside me, afpeople make mistakes when there is involved, especially you and me.

Apart from you and me, no one s

See also Between You and Me, page 2

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With some words, it is important to use the right prepositionin order to give the correct meaning. Here are a few of the most

common examples.agree to (something)agree with (someone)

bored with comply with

deficient in differentf r om divide among (many things)divide between (two things)

equal to

inspired byprotest atopposite to

similar to

Different from and similar toThese two expressions cause many mistakes in English.Different from is correct because, technically, things that aredifferent are in opposition, so they can be described as movingaway from each other.

The house was different from the apartment.Similar to is correct because, conversely, if things are similar,they are close to each other.

Simon looked very similar to his younger brother.

Prepositions----------------------------------------------------------------—

40

Prepositions at the end of sentencesIn formal English grammar, it used to befinish a sentence with a preposition:

She wished she had brought a purse However, the alternative may actually so

She wished she had brought a purse in On the whole, in modern language

acceptable to put the preposition at the esounds better that way. This is especially trquestion. Look at the examples below: would actually use the first - strictly corre

For what are you doing that?What are you doing that for?

ConjunctionsThese are the little words that join words,sentences together. They are vital for creat

of the sentence. The most common ones aalthough andas becausebut for if or since while/wh

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Conjunctions

Conjunctions at the beginning of sentencesIt used to be considered wrong to start a sentence with and orbut and many people still adhere to this rule. But nowadays wetend to write shorter sentences, so it is considered moreacceptable (as in this sentence). If you are writing formally, youmay prefer to use a longer sentence or start the sentence withhowever, as in the example below.

However, nowadays we tend to write shorter sentences, so

it is considered more acceptable.

A Watch out forand or but starting a paragraphIt is not good style to start a paragraph with and or but. A new paragraph should indicate that you are moving on to adifferent topic, so there should be no reason to link twoparagraphs with a conjunction.

All the other conjunctions may be used to start a sentence.

This is because it is possible to reverse the order of the clausesthat make up the sentence.

If you invite that woman here, I shall go out.I shall go out i f you invite that woman here.From the look on her fac e, it was dear she was angry.

It was clear she was angry fr om the look on her face.

42

Chapter 2

Sentences Punctuation

Sentences are made up by groupinspeech described in the last chaptemany ways to arrange these grou

shall look at how to build clear, well-conas you read this chapter, you can’t remany of the parts of speech, simply turn page 7.)

Every sentence you write should start wend with a full stop and however short every sentence must have a verb.

I hate you.Go away.Leave!

Unless the sentence consists of just onalmost certainly contain nouns. The subjplace or thing doing the action. The objeplace or thing on the receiving end of sentence above, I is the subject noun, hatthe object noun.

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Concord-

ConcordThe subject noun and the verb must agree. By this, I mean that ifthe subject of the verb (the person or thing doing the action) issingular, then the verb must also be singular.

He/she/it/the cat is

If the subject noun is plural, then the verb must be plural.They/the cats are

This is called concord.

Check which word is the subjectThere are several expressions that many people wrongly usewith the plural form of the verb when the verb should take thesingular form because it actually refers to one person in a group,not the whole group. To check, add one to the sentence.

Each of the girls have a new dress. XEach of the girls has a new dress. /

If you add one, die mistake becomes obvious:Each one of the girls have a new dress. XEach one of the girls has a new dress. /

This rule applies to die following expressions.None of the men has a reason to be here.Either o f us is happy to help.Every one o f the musicians plays two instruments.Neither o f the boys enjoys /ootbalLNone o f the group was injured.

44

Not one of the glasses was broken.One o f the children hits the ball.Has any o f these exam papers been m

One and one makes twoWhen two subjects are joined together wthe joint subject of the sentence and ther

form of the verb. This applies whether thare singular or plural.

The cat and the mouse are afraid of eThe pans and the kettle are kept in th

Building sentenceNow we are going to learn, step by stesentences. To make things more interestingexamples are linked together to form a litt

A sentence may consist of just one word

is a verb.‘Listen!’

However, usually a sentence consists ofnoun, with or without an article. The subjagree with the verb.

The door opene

ARTICLE SUBJECT NOUN VERB

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g

You can then add more detail by attaching an adjective to thenoun or an adverb to the verb.

The oak door opened slowly.

ADJECTIVE ADVERB

Ne xt, you might join tw o clauses together with a conjunction.

The oak door opened slowly and a man crept into the room.

CONJUNCTION

You can now introduce pronouns referring to the nouns youhave already introduced.

He shut it silently behind him.

PRONOUN PRONOUN

PunctuationSo far we have used short, simple sentences. If you wish to buildup sentences that are any more complicated, you have tointroduce punctuation marks. These will add expression andclarity to your sentences. Without it, the sentences will be dull

and probably incomprehensible. We have already mentioned thefull stop at the end of the sentence; here are the otherpunctuation marks.

comma ,

quotation marks “double” and ‘single*

apostrophe ’

exclamation mark !

ellipsis

question mark ?

46

semi-colon ;

colon

brackets (round) and [squ

dash -

hyphen

Commas

Commas provide breaks or pauses wibreaks are lighter than those provided by not to insert too many as they can usentence. Commas can be used in several To separate adjectives: If there is a list of tdescribing the subject or object, commseparate them.

Aroaring logfire flickered in the enormgrate.

To enclose descriptive phrases: You can us

a phrase from the rest of the sentence. Runlike a clause, does not include a verbinformation:

A woman, aged about 30, sat with he

To separate items in a list: This is the saadjectives above, but the items may be qui

She was adorned with expensive jewe

solid gold watch, three gold chains, a

diamond earrings, several rings and a

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You should not use a comma before a simple conjunction suchas and and but, so in the last example there’s no need for acomma before the last item in a list. However, if the sense isambiguous, you can add the comma to clarify the meaning. Inthe next example, the final comma makes it clear that Fortnumand Mason is one shop and Selfridges is another.

In her hand she was clutching bills fr om Harrods, Fortnum

and Mason, and Selfridges.To separate clauses: You can use a comma to separate clauses ina sentence. (Remember, a clause is a short sentence within alonger sentence. It is complete on its own as it includes a verb. Ifyou take it out, the rest of the sentence should still make sense.)

Her face was pale, her brow appeared furrowed.However, you don’t need to use a comma if the clauses in a

sentence are joined with a conjunction.She stared at the bills and shook her head sadly.

When a sentence starts with a conjunction, always insert a

comma to separate that clause from the rest of the sentence.Because she was lost in thought, she did not hear the dooropen.

To enclose an aside: Another use of commas is to separate aphrase that is less important than the rest of the sentence (andwithout which the sentence could still stand alone).

The room, despite the crackling fire, was cold.To separate a series of actions or events: Sometimes, you maywant to use a series of verbs in a sentence, in which case you

48

need to separate them with commas. Thcommas between clauses as described ea

She stood up, sat down, shivered, l

glass and took a long drink of whis

To separate an explanatory word or phexplanatory phrase comes within thcomma before and after it. If the word

beginning of the sentence, it needs a comThe problem was, in fact, she wctk she had no intention of stoppingwas all she had to do in life.

To clarify meaning: The position of aambiguous sentence.

She knew that the villagers nicknam

of the Mall.

Without the comma, her name becomWith direct speech in quotation marks: C

to separate words that are said (this is from the words that indicate the persattribution). It is important to position th

If the quoted words open the senattribution, a comma should be placed in

‘This is ridiculous,’ she muttered.If the attribution comes first, put

quotation marks.Louder than be/ore, she said, ‘This

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Quotation marksThese are also known as inverted commas. There are no setrules for when to use “double” or ‘single’ quotation marks, butyou must be consistent. Generally speaking, nowadays morepeople use single quotation marks. Quotation marks have avariety of uses.To indicate direct speech: The actual words someone says must

always be contained within quotation marks. You can haveseveral sentences within one set of quotation marks if they areall said by the same person. Start each new sentence within thequotation marks with a capital letter.

If the attribution (the words that indicate who is speaking)follows the speech, you should place a comma at the end of thespoken words, inside the quotation marks, and the final fullstop after the attribution.

‘TKis is not fair. I don’t spend all that much. They can’t stop

my credit cards,’ she almost whimpered.

If the attribution comes within the speech, you have to closethe quotation marks before it and open a new set after it. If thedirect speech is in two separate sentences, you should place thefirst full stop after the attribution.

‘Perhaps I can sell some jewellery to pay them off/ she saidmore brightly. ‘I’ll look into it jirst thing in the morning.’

The two parts of the direct speech can also be phrases or

clauses, separated by commas, with a full stop at the end.

‘Ajter all,’ she said, ‘there’s nothing to worry about really.’

50

There is no need for a capital lettersecond part of the speech when all the sone sentence.

A Watch out for using lower case after If there is an attribution after the splast example, there is no need to start

This is obvious when the speech endmost usual - but it also applies afteexclamation mark, as in T hank goodn

When writing conversations between timportant to clarify who said what. Alweach new speaker and remember to opwhen they start to speak and close finished.

She imagined the conversation she

jeweller the/ollowing day:‘I would like to sell these diamonds.

‘Five thousand pounds, madam.’

‘Five thousand? Don’t be ridiculou

‘Well, perhaps we could offer a little b

good customer. Eight thousand poun

‘What if I want to sell the watch as

‘With the watch, ten thousand,’ sai

a patronising, sickly-sweet manner

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Spoken words can be written as indirect or reported speech. This is where the reader is told what is or was said, rather thanthe actual words being reproduced. Indirect speech is usuallyintroduced by the word that - he ex plained that, she said that, he reported that and so on. You don’t need quotation marks forindirect speech.

She went on reasoning with herself, saying that she would

be able to get a good deal and money would no longer be aproblem

To indicate made-up words: Quotation marks are often used toindicate that a word is in some way not quite appropriate. Itmay be slang, or a made-up word, or a euphemism.

She knew she was good at ‘blagging* her way out of trouble.

^ Watch out for quotations within quotationsIf you need to use quotation marks around text that isalready within quotation marks, use double quotation

marks within single quotation marks or vice versa.‘I know I'm good at “blagging” my way out of trouble,’

she thought.

Around quotations and song titles: If you quote words fromanother written source, such as a novel or a poem, thenobviously they should be contained in quotation marks.Quotation marks should also be used to enclose titles of somethings, including names of articles, books, short poems or songs.

52

She started humming the Abba song

Note that the inverted commas encl

don’t include the full stop at the end of

ApostrophesApostrophes are widely misused nowadreasons to insert an apostrophe: to i

belongs to someone or to indicate that s

& Watch out for apostrophes in plurYou should never form plural nouns see any signs like this when you are oWRONG!

Fresh carrot’s for sale.

Apostrophes to indicate possession: followed by an s at the end of a noun

belongs to that person or thing (the boythe cat’s whiskers). If the noun is singbefore the s. In this example, the diamo

Elizabeth’s diamonds sparkled in thIf the noun is plural and already ends

after the s. In this example, the vadiamonds.

The diamonds’ value was phenome

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A Watch out for apostrophes with irregular pluralsRemember that nouns such as children and people arealready plural, so in the possessive, the apostrophe mustcome before the s.

the children’s books the people’s princess

Apostrophes to indicate something is missing: Apostrophes arealso used to show that one or more letters or numbers have beenleft out.

Words with letters missing are known as contractions. Forexample, didn’t is short for did not - the o in not is left out.

Elizabeth didn’t realise she was being watched.

In this next example, the ha in had is left out.She'd become engrossed in her worries. She'd also forgotten that her friends, the Walkers, should be arriving soon.

A Watch out for ain’t Ain’t is a colloquialism meaning am/are/is/has/have not. Likeall slang, it should be avoided in written English unless youwant to indicate dialect in direct speech.

The expression o’clock is a contraction of the words o f the clock. A whole word has been missed out and the remaindercontracted.

54

She glanced at her watch and saw t

Henry would be home soon, and sh

avoid a row over her debts.

In the following sentence, the numbeElizabeth is reminiscing about the 1960s

She wished that she were still living

In some expressions, the a and d are le

Then she’d been a dedicated fan ofeven own a credit card.

A Watch out for VIn expressions like fish ’n’ chips, wetmash, etc., you must use two apostropsingle quotation marks (‘ ’). Each apposition where one letter is missing.

Its and it’s

These two litde words often causes confin fact, very simple.

Its (no apostrophe) means belonging (which do not have apostrophes!) mean

The cat, curled up in front o f the firIt’s (with an apostrophe) is a cont

apostrophe shows the letter i is missing ‘It'S as I suspected,’ thought the ma

the door. He turned and slipped sile

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Apostrophes in words ending in sIf a word ending in s is a plural, place the apostrophe after the s (the girls’ faces, the dogs’ tails). In the example below, the nounis plural, referring to Mr and Mrs Walker.

She thought she heard her friends’ car in the drive.

Some words ending in 5 are singular (bus, James). In this case,add the apostrophe and another s (James’s ball, the bus’s front

wheels).She remembered it was Bess’s night off.

A Watch out for apostrophes with collective nounsRemember that nouns such as audience are singular, so inthe possessive, the apostrophe must come before the s.

the audience’s reaction

Exclamation marksThese are placed at the end of words that are cried out loudly.

The exclamation may be a single word, such as a command, or aphrase or sentence. A verb can stand alone as an exclamation,making a complete sentence. (Stop!) An exclamation mark actsas a full stop when it is at the end of a sentence so you don’tneed a full stop as well. Remember to use a capital letter at thebeginning of a sentence following an exclamation mark.

Clang! The ancient bell on the front door rang. She rushed

into the hall, exclaiming, ‘Oh my goodness!’

See also Full Stops, page 57, and Capital Letters, page 194.

56

A Watch out for using too many exclaUse exclamation marks sparingly. Usinevery sentence will give your writingirritating appearance and style. Never uthe end of a sentence, unless you are wrinformal, such as a letter to a close frien

Full stopsFull stops are used to complete sentenceabbreviations.Full stops at the end of sentences: You astops are used to end all sentences. By ushort sentences, rather than using longimpact and change the pace of the writinof menace.

The door stood ajar. Mist swirled in.

Night had /alien.

Compare this to the next example, whconjunctions instead of some of the fulighter tone to the words.

The door stood ajar, mist swirled in a

Night had /alien.

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Full stops in abbreviations: Full stops should be placed at theend of abbreviations.

e.g. Wed. (Wednesday)

H.G. Wells p. 9 (page 9)

Ph.D. (doctor of philosophy) Woods and Co.Full stops are not used when die abbreviated word begins and

ends with the same letter as the whole word.

Mrs (originally Mistress) St (Saint)Mr (Mister) Revd (Reverend)

Ms (Miss or Mistress) Ltd (Limited)

Dr (Doctor)

Full stops are also no longer considered necessary inacronyms - words formed from the initial letters of the actualname that are pronounced as words in their own right.

AIDS

BAFTA

They are also not used in common or colloquial abbreviations,

co-opdemo

decaf

See also Abbreviations, page 192.

58

EUipses

This is the technical word for three spsometimes known as omission marks. Aindicate a word or series of words is missi

Use an ellipsis if you are copying a extraarticle or other piece of writing and you whole piece. Insert the three dots whereve

left out. Here is an example of wholeshortened version, with parts left out.

She re-read the scribbled note that Be

telephone:

‘Dear Madam, I will be back tomorrow

breakfast as usual. I am so sorry fo r t

Walkers phoned and asked me to tell

been delayed in Woolington so they w

time fo r dinner. They still hope to com

they’re not there by 9.30, they’ll com

‘.. . Back tomorrow in time to make b

phoned ... delayed ... i/they’re not th

come another day.’

You can also use an ellipsis at the end of that there might be more to come. This dadd suspense.

Elizabeth was sure she hadn’t imagine

stared out into the night ...

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Question marksA question mark must be placed at the end of any directquestion, whether in speech or prose.

‘Meg, John, are you there?’ she called out, nervously. Whatcould be scarier than finding the front door open, with no

one there, and being sure you heard a car draw up and the

door bell ring?

You don’t need a question mark when using indirect speech(see page 52).

She asked nervously if her friends were there.

Semi-colonsThese can be used in two ways.To create a noticeable pause: Semi-colons, like commas, may beused to break up sentences. You can link two clauses with asemi-colon without the need for a conjunction. This gives alonger pause than a comma, but shorter than if you separated

the text into two sentences.She shut the door; it was eerily quiet in the dark hall.

To separate long items in a list: Semi-colons can also be usedinstead of commas to separate items in a list. This is very usefulwhen the items are long and already contain commas.

She went back to the lounge and grabbed her glass; the

half-empty bottle of whisky; her cashmere pashmina, which

was thrown over the back 0/ the armchair, and a copy of

Vogue magazine.

60

ColonsColons should not be confused with semfunction is to introduce, or herald, a pieseveral specific purposes.To precede an explanation: The text aftwhat is said at the beginning of the senten

The clock struck 10 o’clock. There w

the Walkers wouldn’t be coming nowTo introduce a quotation or an examprecedes the title of the magazine article.

She glanced at the magazine. A que

her smile: Are you bored with your

To introduce a list: The list following thethings that bore Elizabeth. Note that thwealth must be set in a separate sentenclist of boring things.

There were lots of things with which

home, her husband, her lifestyle and she was certainly not bored with her

To introduce direct speech: A colon cancomma when the attribution precedes th

She shouted out loud: ‘I’m sick 0/ al

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To introduce dialogue in a play manuscript: In written dialogue,the name of the person speaking is followed by a colon, thentheir speech.

She climbed the stairs, swaying slightly, imagining the

scenario that would follow when Henry found out.Elizabeth: Darling, there’s been a mistake. I’ve made a tiny

miscalculation.

Henry [staring at the bills]: How can you stand there andsay that £10,000 is a miscalculation? Are you completely

mad or just plain stupid?

EUzabetfu Please don’t be angry.

Henry [bellowing]: I have every right to be angry! What

kind of wife...?

A Watch out for capital letters after a colonYou must use a capital letter after a colon only when you arewriting direct speech.

BracketsRound bracketsAlso called parentheses, these are used when you add extrainformation but want to keep it separate. Round brackets andtheir contents may form part of a longer sentence. If this is thecase, you don’t use a capital letter or a full stop to start andfinish the text in the brackets, but you do put a question mark orexclamation mark, if appropriate.

62

Elizabeth sat on the bed, drank the reheadache in the morning would be d

Sometimes, the text inside the bracketsentence, starting with a capital letter anstop

She didn’t move but she was acutely

(She was also a little afraid now.) Wh

her friends and why was she so alone

Square bracketsThese are much less common than rounused mainly to enclose words that are noriginal text but have been added by sooriginal writer or speaker in order to mak

Her head was beginning to hurt. ‘The

have come,’ she thought miserably.

You will frequently see square bracket

magazines where someone’s words are bbeen changed slightly for the purposes oalso be used instead of round brackets toinformation, such as stage directions (sedialogue on page 62).

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DashesDashes are used frequently in informal, everyday writing butless often in formal writing. They have several uses.To separate a clause: Dashes can be used in the same way ascommas or brackets to separate a clause from the rest of a sentence.

Head and heart pounding - and very drunk now - she fell into a deep sleep.

To replace a colon before a list: A dash may be used instead of acolon to precede a list.

She had a frightening, muddled dream, with everything

swirling round in her mind - diamonds, a black shadowy

figure, pain, mist and relief.

A dash may also be placed after a list, introducing theexplanation for the list.

Her money worries, her love of shopping, her guilt and her

boredom - all these emotions were going round and round

in her head.

To show hesitation in speech: A dash can be used to convey thepauses people make when talking.

‘I- er - wish - oh, I - 1can’t bear this!’ she whispered to herselfTo indicate an afterthought: In this case, the dash shows thatthe final thought is an afterthought, or a condition on which therest of the sentence depends.

The Walkers stood on the front doorstep and rang the bell.

They were hoping fo r a coff ee and a chat - if Elizabeth was

still awake.

64

To create a pause before a climax: In writtused to indicate a dramatic pause, such ayou were reading aloud.

The front door stood open and a light

Calling out, they went up to Elizabeth

sprawled on the bed - dead.

HyphensHyphens look like short dashes. They arways.To join a word that breaks between twoenough room at the end of a line for a com‘break’ it, joining the two sections with a words at the end of a syllable and not too end of the word, but take care that you spFor instance, manslaughter should be splnot mans-laughterl If the word is already

at the original hyphen. Words with only ohyphenated.Meg and John stood frozen to the sp

maculately made-up and fully clothed

lery. Even her rings, which she alwaying. She reeked of whisky.

Punctuation Arran


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& Watch out for hyphens at the end of linesAlways put the hyphen after the first part of the word at theend of the first line, not before the second part of the wordat the beginning of the second line.

To link numbers together: Hyphens may be used with words or

numbers that are linked in some way. John grabbed the phone by the bed and dialled 9-9-9.Theywent downstairs to the lounge to wait for the police. The

clock said twenty-past-eleven.

To join two words to create one: Hyphens used in this way helpto avoid any ambiguity. In the example below, a wad of 50-pound notes, where each note is worth £50, is worth farmore than a wad o f 50 pound notes, where each of the notes is

worth £l .On the table lay the pile of bills, topped with a wad of

50-pound notes.‘Jumping jack-in-the-box!’ whistled John. ‘That% a lot of cash.’

Omitting the hyphen may completely change the meaning. John wondered secretly if Elizabeth had been having an

extra-marital affair.In this case, if you remove the hyphen {John wondered secretly

if Elizabeth had been having an extra marital affair ), John wouldbe wondering if Elizabeth was having another marital affair.

See also Prefixes, page 179.

66

Arranging complex sMost complex sentences can be arranwithout altering the meaning. When wshould always choose the arrangemenavoids ambiguity.

Consider the following sentence. It despite being quite long.

John and Meg sat in the lounge wowas dead, what had happened to hwhere all the money had come jrom

This next version sounds rather stiltedIn the lounge sat John and Meg won

money had come from, what had h

that evening and why she was dead

This final example is ambiguous - and

sounds as though the money arrived while

John and Meg wondered what had

why she was dead and where all thwhile they sat in the lounge.

ParagraphsBreaking up text into paragraphs makeparagraph is simply a sequence of senttheme that runs through the whole pawhere to stop and start your paragraphsstart a new paragraph for each new poin

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In written text, line spaces may be left between paragraphs.Each new paragraph may also be indented.

Paragraphs can vary in length enormously. They may be justone sentence - a device often used to give impact to text.Alternatively, they may run to as much as several pages.However, for easy reading, it is best not to make them too long.

The police arrived and soon the house was swarming with

detectives and/orensic experts. An inspector tookstatements /rom Meg and John, who could give him very

few clues as to what had gone on that evening. The couple

went over everything that had happened: about being late;

hoping to jind Elizabeth up so they could have a drink and

a chat; jinding her dead, awash with alcohol; the/act that

all her jewellery had gone; the bills and, strangest of all, themoney. Why would a thief leave so much cash and yet steal

jewellery?

The detectives wanted to know where Elizabeth’s

husband and the members of household staff were. Megand John were able to tell them that it was thehousekeeper’s night off but that they didn’t know where

Henry was. Usually Elizabeth said when he was away on

business, but this time she hadn’t.

As the clock struck midnight, nobody saw the shadowy

jigure slip out into the night.

68

Chapter 3

Changing WorSingular to P

Common nouns are either singular thing) or plural (when there are common words add -s or -es to tu

but there are many variations, depending o

A Watch out for matching the noun tRemember that if you use a singular also be singular - or both must be page 44).

Ways to fo r m pluFor most singular nouns, you simply admake it plural.

Singular Plubag bagalibi alib

allowance allo

tunnel tun

zoo zoo

Ways to/orm plurab


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There are, however, a number of exceptions.

Words that end in a sibilantWhen a singular word ends in a sibilant, you should add -es tomake the plural. The sibilants are 5, ss, x and sh. This rule alsoapplies to words ending in -ch.

Singular Plural

box boxesbrush brushes

clutch clutches

gas gases (US gasses)

moss mosses

Words that end in -isIf a singular word ends in -is, it is changed to -es (pronounced‘eez’) in the plural.

Singular Plural

analysis analysesaxis axes

crisis crises

diagnosis diagnoses

hypothesis hypotheses

parenthesis parentheses

synopsis synopses

thesis theses

70

Words that end in -yThese fall into two categories: those thata vowel (boy, day) and those that endconsonant (gallery, nanny).

If the letter before the final y is a voweplural form.

Singular Plu

play plamonkey mo

valley val

toy toy

guy guy

If the letter before the final y is a consand add -es to make the plural form.

Singular Plu

ruby rub

caddy cad

fly fliearmy armpenny pen

poppy pop

sanctuary san

difficulty diff

Ways to/orm plurals--------------------------------------------------------


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Words that end in -/ or -/eWhen singular words end in -for -fe, add -s to form the plural.

Singular Plural

handkerchief handkerchiefsruff ruffs

roof roofs giraffe giraffes

carafe carafescafe cafesThere are a few exceptions to this rule, where you change the

f to a v and add -es for the plural.Singular Plural

calf calveself elveshalf halvesknife knivesleaf leaveslife livesloaf loavesself selvessheaf sheavesshelf shelvesthief thieveswife wiveswolf wolves

72

Finally, there are a few words which mSingular Plhoof hoscarf scturf tuwharf w

Words that end in -oWhen singular words end in -o, you usplural.

Singular Plavocado av

banjo ba

pimiento pi

solo so

studio stu

photo ph

verso ve

video vi

However, there are a few exceptionstake -es for the plural.

Singular Plu

domino do

echo ech

embargo em

hero her

Ways to form plurals


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mosquito mosquitoes

no noes

potato potatoes

tomato tomatoes

torpedo torpedoes

veto vetoes

volcano volcanoes

ain, there are a few that take either form.Singular Pluralcargo cargoes OR cargos

mango mangoes OR mangos

memento mementoes OR mementos

Foreign wordsEnglish contains many words that we have taken from otherlanguages. Many of these have been absorbed fully into Englishand follow English grammar rules, but others have retained the

rules of their original language.

Latin words ending in -aWords taken from Latin that end in -a in the singular becomeplural by adding an e (the ending, -ae, is pronounced ‘ee’).Many of these may also be seen with an English plural ending,formed by adding an s. Where this is common, I have given bothforms.

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Singular P

alga al

alumna al

amoeba am

antenna an

an

/ormula /o

larva la

nebula ne

pupa pu

vertebra ve

Latin words ending in -amLatin words that end in -um change plural. As before, there are occasionaEnglish plural form is used, simply addi

Singular P

addendum ad

aquarium aq

bacterium ba

curriculum cu

datum da

erratum er

mausoleum m

maximum m

medium m

Foreign words


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memorandum memoranda/memorandums

millennium millennia/millenniumsminimum minima/minimumsoptimum optima/optimums

phylum phylareferendum referenda/referendums

stratum strata

ultimatum ultimata/ultimatumsovum ova

A Watch out for strataIt is quite common to hear people talking aboutthe strata o f society. Strata is actually the plural form of the Latin wordstratum, meaning a layer. So make sure you’re talking aboutthe many layers if you use strata. If you are talking about just one, use stratum.

Latin words ending in -usSingular Latin words ending in -us change to -i in the plural. Insome cases, the English plural ending -es can be added instead.

Singular Plural

alumnus alumnibacillus bacillicactus cacti/cactuses

focus foci/focuses fungus fungi/funguses

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genius genhippopotamus hip

hipnucleus nuradius radstimulus stimstylus sty

syllabus sylterminus termtumulus tumvillus vill

A Watch out for exceptions in Latin!Even Latin has the odd exceptions(meaning an internal organ) takes thewhich is how we usually use it in En(meaning a work of art) takes the plurwe use to mean a particular form of mBut we also use the English plural fworks of art.

Latin words ending in -ixLatin words ending in -ix change the endplural. Alternatively, you can add the Ento the whole word.

Foreign words


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Singular Plural

appendix appendices/appendixes

index indices (especially intechnical contexts)/indexes

matrix matrices/matrixes

vertex vertices/vertexes

vortex vortices/vortexes

French words ending in -uFn gl ish has acquired several French words ending in -u in thesingular. For the plural form, most keep to the original Frenchrules and add -x, although some can be anglicised and simply

add -s.Singular Plural

adieu adieux/adieus

bureau bureaux/bureaus

chateau chateaux

milieumilieux/milieus

plateau plateaux/plateaus

tableau tableaux

Italian words ending in -oThere are a few Italian words ending in -o that are used inEnglish. You will find many of these in a musical context. Toform the plural, follow the Italian rule and change the -o to -i. Alternatively, for an anglicised form, just add -s.

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Singular Plu

libretto librtempo temvirtuoso virt

A Watch out for graffitiGraffiti is the plural form of graffito

‘scratched’), so you should use it with The graffiti in the underpass are veNowadays, the word is frequently

noun, referring to the writing of inscrthis case, treat it as singular.

Graffiti is becoming a serious proble

Greek words ending in -onThese always change to -a in the plurusage some keep the -on and add -s.

Singularautomatoncriterionganglionphenomenon

Pluautcritganph

Foreign words ----------------------------------------------------W


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A Watch out for criterion and phenomenon These two are never anglicised and so they cause manymistakes, with the plural - criteria and phenomena - oftenbeing mistaken for the singular. Remember,

The most important criteria are. . .These extraordinary phenomena w ere...

Words that don’t changeSome singular words are the same in the singular and the pluralform.

aircraft bisoncannon deerdozen* jishgrouse sheepshot (bullets) swine

*Dozens o f is often used colloquially to mean lots o f- but it isnot strictly correct.

A Look out for fishAs well as the word fish itself, most types of fish adhere tothe ‘no change’ rule: bream, cod, haddock, salmon, sole, trout, herring, etc. However, small fish - such as pilchards, sardines and sprats - take the usual -s in the plural form

Fish may also be used in the plural form fishes.

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A few nouns are never used in the sing

barracks

bellows

billiards

gallows

measles

news

pincers

pliers

scissors

shears

spectacles

thanks

tidings

tongs

trousers

tweezers

victuals

There are exceptions when the

attributively - that is, attributed, or a ttac

a descriptive way:

billiard ball

trouser press

trouser leg

pincer movement

Plurals of hyphenated words

Pl l f h h t d d I l l


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Plurals of hyphenated wordsWhen forming plurals of hyphenated words, make sure you addthe s to the right part. Try to think what it is that is increasing innumber. In most cases, it is the first word that you should change.

Singular Plural

brother-in-law brothers-in-lawsister-in-law sisters-in-law

mother-in-law mothers-in-law/ather-in-law fathers-in-lawdaughter-in-law daughters-in-lawson-in-law sons-in-lawcoat-o/-arms coats-of-armshanger-on hangers-onmaid-o/-honour maids-o/-honourman-of-war men-o/-warpasser-by passers-by

In the following examples, however, it is clearly the secondword that is being increased in number, so that one takes the 5.Singular Pluralbye-law bye-lawsdo-gooder do-goodersmouse-trap mouse-trapsman-eater man-eaters

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Irregular pluraSome words have strange plurals that yo

Singularbrother (in a religious context)childdie

foot

gooselousemanmouseox

persontoothwoman

A Watch out for mongoose

The plural of mongoose ismongooses -

A t/ t


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Chapter 4

Confusing Words

T

here are many pairs (or even larger groups) of words inthe English language that sound similar but don’t mean

the same thing. There are also words that sound quitedifferent yet have similar meanings. In this chapter, I havelisted the words that most commonly cause confusion, so thatyou can check which one you should use and when. There isalso more information in Words that Sound the Same, startingon page 152.

Accede/exceedTo accede means to agree to.

The police refused to accede to the demands of the

kidnappers.It can also mean to take office, especially of a king or queen.Prince Charles will accede to the throne when QueenElizabeth II dies or abdicates.

To exceed means to go beyond, to surpass.It is very easy to exceed the speed limit, especially if youdon’t know the road.

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Accept/exceptTo accept means to give an affirmative a

We accept your invitation with grea

It can also mean to tolerate or to submitHe accepted the umpire’s decision.The children accepted their new ste

Except is a preposition that meansotherAll our friends were there except Bo

Adverse/averseAdverse means unfavourable.

The adverse weather spoilt their hoAverse means opposed (to).

I am not averse to the odd glass of

Advice/adviseAdvice means recommendation.

The doctor’s advice was that he shTo advise is the verbal form of the sarecommend.

I advise you to think it over.

Affect/effectTo affect usually means to have an impa

The /all in the stock market will ajfe

It can also mean to put on or to pretend.She affected indifference at his prop

Con/using Words

Affected is an adjective meaning put on artificial All together/altogether


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Affected is an adjective, meaning put on, artificial.Everyone loathed her affected manner.

To effect means to bring about.The punishment has effected a change for the better in hisbehaviour.

Effect may also be used as a noun, meaning a consequence orresult.

The strike had the desired effect.It can also mean the state o f being operative.

The new law comes into effect from next July.A third meaning is an impression made upon a spectator.

She gazed in the mirror, thrilled with the effect of her newoutfit.

Effects (plural) means the lighting, sound, etc. in a film or play.The film's special effects were terrifyingly realistic.

It can also mean belongings.Please take all your personal effects with you when youleave the aircraft.

Affective/effective

Affective means emotional, concerning the affections.Last night’s television programme about reuniting broken

families was deeply affective and reduced all ofus to tears. Effective means having the desired result.

Aspirin is an effective cure for headaches.

All together/altogetherAll together means all in one place or tim

The children came into the kitchen a

Altogether means in total or overall.It had been a very successful day alAltogether, there were twenty childr

Allude/eludeTo allude means to refer to something ind

Janets husband never missed an opp

criminal past, dropping little hints in

To elude means to escape.The fox eluded the hounds by wadinconceal its scent.

I am puzzled by her extraordinary b

it eludes me.

Allusioa/delusion/illusionAn allusion is an indirect reference, a hin

In her speech, she made an allusion

her from the board of directors.A delusion is a mistaken idea.

His delusion that he could control th

shattered when the argument broke

An illusion is a deceptive appearance.The magician completed the illusion

the lady in half.

Confusing Words

It can also mean a mistaken idea Ambiguous/ambivalent


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It can also mean a mistaken idea.A mirage is an optical illusion.

He was under the illusion that he could fly.

Allusive/elusiveAllusive means hinting at.

She spoke about her new relationship in an allusive way,

dropping occasional hints about another man.

Elusive means difficult to catch o r recall.The elusive butterfly fluttered all round the garden, just outof reach.

The truth of the matter proved to be elusive; no one would

answer her questions.

Alternate/alternativeAlternate means every other.

We go shopping on alternate Fridays.

To alternate means to change repeatedly between two conditions.I alternate between loving and hating TV soap operas.

An alternative is one o f two choices.The alternative to going by train would be to go by car.

However, nowadays it is often used (incorrectly) to mean one o f

any number of options.

There are several alternatives - we could go by car, coach,train or plane.

A better alternative would be to use the word choicesl

Ambiguous/ambivalent Ambiguous means giving two meaning

The ambiguous letter jrom the sol

argument over what it actually m

Ambivalent means experiencing confsame time.

The victim had ambivalent feelingurchin who stole her purse.

Amiable/amicableAmiable means likeable and friendly.

My old spaniel was the most amia

wouldn’t hurt a fly.

Amicable means done in a friendly wayThey settled their differences in anboth feeling satisfied.

Among/betweenBoth these words are used with the

depends on how many are sharing.

Among should be used when three o

share something.

We shared the bag of sweets amoBetween should be used if an item is

people or things.

We divided the cake between the

Confusing Words

Between may also be used to indicate a point relative to two or Anticipate/expect


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Between may also be used to indicate a point relative to two ormore others in space or time, or in relationships.

There is no love lost between the Blokes and the Smiths.

France is situated between Spain, Belgium, Switzerland and

Germany.

They arrived between two and three o’clock.

Amoral/immoralThese are subtly different.Amoral means having no moral standards. An amoral personlacks morals in the sense that he does not appreciate or evenunderstand right from wrong. He stands outside moral laws.Immoral means corrupt or promiscuous. An immoral personknows right from wrong and chooses the latter. He knowinglybreaks moral laws.

Anathema/enigmaAnathema means a detestable person or thing. It is used withoutthe indefinite article (an).

The wicked murderer was anathema to the young detective.An enigma is a puzzle.

The workings of the murderer’s mind were a total enigma tothe detective.

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Anticipate/expectTo anticipate means to be aware o f soact accordingly.

The residents anticipated the flood

against their doors.

To expect means to assume something wThe residents expected the river to

I expect you to arrive on time ever

Arbitrate/mediateTo arbitrate means to settle a dispute.other authoritative party.

The judge who arbitrated in the d

management should give a 4 per c

To mediate means to intervene in a dispThe twins’ mother often had to meover toys. She always succeeded in

As if/as though/likeAll these expressions are used when maAs if/as though may be used to preced

such as look as if and feel as thougcomparison to a situation. Do not use l

She looked as iflas though she ha

hedge backwards.

His face reddened like he had been

Confusing Words

Like should only be used with a noun when drawing a We take out travel insurance ever


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Like should only be used with a noun, when drawing acomparison to a person or thing.

He tried to behave like his father.

The bird dropped like a stone on to its prey.

Assume/presumeTo assume means to accept as true, without pr oo f or reason.

I assume you take milk in your tea.

You should not assume that life will always be the same.

To presume means to believe something, based on available evidence.

I presumed that, as they had met before, they wouldremember each other’s names.

Assurance/insuranceAssurance means certainty or guarantee.

At the post office, she sought assurance that the parcel would be delivered the next day.

It is very often used in a technical sense to mean insurance, as inlife assurance policy, when a pay-out is guaranteed in the eventof an inevitable occurrence, usually death.

A li/e assurance policy is a sensible way o f saving money for your /amity’s future.

Insurance means prote cti on against risk. The event insured -such as accident, theft, illness etc. - may never happen, so thereis no guarantee involved.

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had to make a claim.

Assure/ensure/insureTo assure means to say with confidehappen).

I assure you I will be home by mi

To ensure means to m ake certain (tha

By taking the proper precautionsTo insure means to protect against fina

We’ve even insured the dog again

Astrology/astronomyAstrology means the study o f the interpreted as an influence on pe op le’s

I always read the astrology chart

Astronomy means the scientific study

The only thing I know about astr

revolves around the sun.

Authorised/authoritativeAuthorised means officially approved.

The committee was authorised to

to the clubhouse.

Authoritative meansconvincing, being self-confident.

Confusing Words

The teacher had an authoritative air when she addressed To bathe means to cleanse (a wound)


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the class.

Autobiography/biographyAutobiography means one’s own life story.Biography means the life story o f another person.

Avenge/revenge

To avenge means to seek revenge or retribution.The young earl avenged the death of his father by killingthe murderer’s entire fa mily.

Revenge means (act o f or desire for) retaliation, getting one’s oum back.

Jimmy got his revenge by hiding a frog in the bullyls rucksack.

Averse see Adverse

Avoid/evade

These mean the same. However, it is worth pointing out thattax avoidance is not such a great crime as tax evasion (the lattersuggests some kind of deliberate subterfuge).

Bath/batheA bath is a container in which you sit or lie to wash yourself.

She filled the bath with hot, sudsy water.

To bath means to wash (something or someone) in a bath.

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( )She went upstairs to bathe the cuts

It may also mean to swim.The water was warm so he decid

A bathe is the act o f swimming.The water was warm so he decided

Beside/besides

Beside means next to.I put a glass of water beside my b

Besides means in addition to.Besides being a trombone player,

Between see Among

Biannual/biennialBiannual means occurring twice a year

We have biannual conferences, he

Biennial means occurring once every twyears.

The biennial conference was held

Borrow/lendTo borrow means to have temporary uto another person.

I can borrow my mother’s car.

Confusing Words

To lend means to allow someone temporary use o f your Breath/breathe

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