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Welcome back. In the prior post, labeled Stage 2-c, we explored – and, in some ways, exploded – the idea of any universally proper sentence length. I hope that essay helped you to take an interesting and useful step along our Stage 2 pathway. We now move to the next lesson, Stage 2-d, where we…
If you’ve finished reading and considering the lesson in Stage 2-d, “Run-on or Compound,” you now understand that “not all long(ish) sentences are created equal.” (And, no, it’s not “equal-ly” there. See “adverbs” essay, under “Big-picture Concepts” / “Foundational Issues.”) The first and, to me, foremost division of “longish sentences” simply classifies them as either…
Read More “Stage 2-e: Correct “compounds” – via the semicolon” »
Now we’ve turned a bright light on the first “purposeful” technique for correctly joining MCs in a compound sentence – the semicolon. For many reasons related to how people actually learn all this – as mountains of experience have taught me – I’ve labeled the semicolon “technique #1.” Well, compared to the old TV commercials…
Read More “Stage 2-f: Correct “compounds,” (w/ comma rules & accidentals)” »
From “rules” to “resources“ All over this website/blog, you will find me interpreting grammar rules and proposing ways to utilize the “rules” as “resources.” And understanding these resources opens up options to help you communicate with free and authentic self-expression. The better you understand the grammar rules, the better you understand your writing resources. With…
In this essay, I want to acknowledge the ills of “wordiness” — but I do not confuse (some writers prefer the rarer, but more precise, word, conflate) wordiness (usually bad) with “depth and detail” (sometimes saves the day). Can we have both? I think we can. Let’s explore, in the name of “brevity of style”…
Here’s a grammar lesson to help you to better understand adverbs so that you can use them confidently and correctly. You can see how I put into bold italics the -ly at the end of those two adverbs in the prior sentence. Well, that just gets us started. To learn more about adverbs, including how…
Read More “Adverbs – Do they make you feel bad — or badly?” »
You say you want a “revelation” . . . Apologies to John Lennon, but you, Reader-student, are now about to emerge out of the “Helter Skelter” of your piecemeal knowledge of grammar. And, to get started on the transformation, you can, right now, dig in to the first “stage” of my three-stage program of learning…
Read More “Stage 1-b: What “one thing” does every sentence need?” »
Subjects and predicates — “simple” or “complete”? While we’re defining technical grammatical terms, let me point out that subjects and predicates, both, come in two forms: simple and complete. That’s a pretty minor technicality, but understanding the difference will soon prove helpful. So let’s differentiate. The simple forms of both subject (S) and predicate (P)…
Read More “Stage 1-c: “Simple” vs. “complete” subjects & predicates” »
Q: Are there exceptions to this “foundational” rule? A: Yes. Before we move on to Stage 2, where we will explore the possibilities (and rules) regarding using more than one main clause in your sentences, let me point out right now that English grammar allows for several quite-common exceptions to our foundational (and I might even…
Read More “Stage 1-d: Exceptions to the rule (that MCs are “essential”)” »
Get ready to take a closer — and fuller — look at the predicate. Crucially, it makes for “half” of the all-important (not to mention essential) grammatical building block of the sentence, the main clause. Yes, our sentences usually present the subject first, then the predicate, as shown and exemplified throughout my Stage 1-b post,…