Grammar Usage

a lot

a large amount, usually not specific; NEVER one word (There are a lot of books in this room)

beside

a location at the side of (I stood beside John in line)

diner

a place to eat (We went to the diner to eat)

straight

a straight line

could of/ might of/ must of / should of/ would of

avoid; instead use helping verb "have" ( I should have helped with the chores)

being as/being that

avoid; use because or since (The dog broke his leg because he jumped off the bridge)

than

conjunction used in comparisons (She is prettier than her sister)

it's

contraction for it is (It's time to go to sleep)

they're

contraction for they are (They're finished studying)

who's

contraction for who is (Who's coming over to my house after school?)

don't

contraction meaning "do not" ; is used with plural nouns and pronouns like you, we, and they (Don't you have something better to do?)

doesn't

contraction meaning "does not" is used with singular nouns and pronouns like he, she, and it (It doesn't matter to me)

loose

free or not fitting tightly; adjective (after gaining so much weight, my ring was no longer loose)

there

location (Go over there and get away from me)

rode

past tense of ride (We rode the 4 wheeler)

said

past tense of say (He said she was a horrible cook)

chose

past tense; to pick or select (I chose my pictures for the slide show yesterday)

this kind

singular and is used with singular words (This kind of ice cream is my favorite)

as

subordinating conjunction and introduces a subordinate clause (The kite flew freely as could be)

two

the number of ( I have two dogs)

effect

the result; noun (The effect of the storm was disaster)

says

third person singular of verb say (She says the movie is really good)

let

to allow or to permit (My mom let me stay out until midnight)

sit

to be seated (Sit down in your desk)

bring

to carry from a distant place to a closer one (Bring me your homework)

take

to carry from a nearby place to a more distant one (Take your books to your locker)

affect

to cause a change; verb (The storm affected the entire east coast)

raise

to cause to move up (Please raise your hand to answer the question)

proceed

to continue or move along (Please proceed with what you were saying)

immigrate

to enter a country in order to live (He immigrated to the United States)

rise

to get up or to move up (Please rise for the honorable Judge Taylor)

teach

to give knowledge (My teacher teaches me English)

leave

to go away or to depart (Leave me alone)

precede

to go or come before (The bridesmaids precede to walk down the aisle)

lose

to misplace; to fail to win; verb (Did you lose your book? John's attitude will cause us to lose the game)

emigrate

to move from one country to another (Sarah emigrated from Spain to England)

lay

to place or to put (Lay the body on the bed)

set

to put or place ( Set the items on the counter)

accept

to receive (We accept all major credit cards)

learn

to receive knowledge (I learn English)

lie

to recline or to be positioned (If you don't feel well, go lie down)

amount

undetermined number (The amount of rainfall was minimal)

different from/ different than

use different from is preferable to different than. (Boys are different from girls)

reason is because

use either reason is that OR because (The reason Grandma called is that today is my birthday. Grandma called because it's my birthday.)

hanged/hung

use hung unless the meaning is "to put to death by hanging" (The outlaws were hanged for the crimes)

an

when a word starts with a vowel sound (an elephant, an apple, an hour)

a

when a word with a consonant sound (a cat, a dog, a box)

respectfully

with respect (Respectfully yours, Rachel )

bare

without something (I went bare foot in the sand)

where at

avoid using at after where (Where are you? NOT Where are you at?)

this here/ that there

avoid using here and there after this and that

ain't

avoid using unless it's part of a direct quote

can't hardly/ can't scarcely

avoid; double negatives (I can hardly keep my eyes open)

then

adverb used to refer to time (The audience sighed and then cheered)

too

also (I want to go too)

all right

always two words/ NEVER spelled alright (Everything will be all right)

bear

animal; to hold or carry (I killed a bear in the woods)

strait

barring strait

already

before or by this (I've already finished my homework)

except

but or then (Everyone except me got to go to the ballgame)

past

can be a noun, adj, preposition, or adverb (The word lost is past tense. The past can be very interesting. It is five past noon.)

number

can be counted (The number of people in the crowd was 2,574.)

altogether

completely or on the whole; adverb (I was altogether too tired to play softball today)

all ready

completely prepared (We're all ready to go on the trip)

desert

dry hot land (The desert has a lot of sand)

dessert

food (I had to eat my dessert first)

dinner

food (Let's eat dinner at 5)

a while

for a time; used after a presposition (We went to town for a while)

awhile

for a time; used as an adverb (We talked awhile after the game)

can

implies ability (Can you speak Spanish?)

may

implies permission to do it (May I go to the restroom?)

all together

in a group (When our choir teacher says, "All together now" she wants us to sing as a group)

besides

in addition to (Besides John, there are twelve other people in line)

respectively

in the order named (Please write down nouns, verbs, and pronouns, respectively.

in

indicated a location inside (We're in the building)

into

indicates movement or direction from outside to inside (We went into the building)i

passed

is used only as the past tense of the verb pass (We passed our English test)

road

pathway (The road was very curvy)

these kinds

plural and is used with plural words (These kinds of flavors all sound good)

its

possessive (The cat licked its paws)

their

possessive (Their mother took them to town)

whose

possessive (Whose coat is this?)

like

preposition and introduces a prepositional phrase (The kite flew like a bird)

to

preposition noun following it (to town)

choose

present tense; to pick or select (Choose your pictures for the slide show)

further

refers to degree or time (If you further your college education, you will be a postgraduate)

farther

refers to physical distance (Move farther away from my desk)

less

refers to quantity that can't be counted (There is less air on Mars than on Earth)

fewer

refers to things that can be counted (There were fewer white cars than black cars on the lot)

irregardless/regardless

regardless is the correct term; -less and ir- are both negatives so irregardless is a double negative

among

relationship between more than two (I graduated fifth among my classmates)

between

relationship of one person or thing to another (That secret is just between you and me)