Grammar slammer

"Because" modifies a verb.

"Because" modifies a verb. Example: The umpires delayed the game because of the weather.

Personification

Avoid treating inanimate objects or abstractions as if they are human.

Parallel form

Every item in a series must take the same grammatical form. Not parallel: She enjoys writing, researching and reading her published work is great fun, too. Revised:She enjoys writing, researching and reading her published work.

"Due to" modifies a noun.

Example: The game's delay was due to the weather.

Confused words

Lay, laid Set/Sit Hanged/Hung Rise/Raise

Noun-pronoun agreement

Nouns and pronouns must agree with their antecedents.

Misplaced Time Element

Put the time element closest to the verb when something happened. Weak: The city council voted to build a new parking garage on Monday. Improved: The city council voted Monday to build a new parking garage.

Compound adjectives

Remember compound adjectives require hyphens: 21-year-old college student Well-read teacher 10-foot snowdrift

Prepositions

Shows the relationship between a word that comes before it (antecedent) and the word that follows (object)

"Whom"

he object of a verb or a preposition

Adverbs

modify verbs, adjectives and other adverbs. They show degree, direction, cause, affirmation, negation, frequency, time or place. Many end in -ly

"Who"

the subject of a clause

If the subject is plural

the verb must be plural.

If the subject of the sentence is singular

the verb must be singular.

If the sentence is read without the subordinate clause and the meaning does not change use

which or otherwise use that

When referring to people use

who or whom, not that

Conjunctions

words and phrases that connect other words, phrases, clauses or sentences.

Interjections

words and short phrases that express strong emotion.

Modifiers

words that limit, restrict or qualify some other words or phrase. They should appear as close as possible to the word or phrase they modify.