Introduction 1
What You'll Find 3
How This Workbook Is Organized 4
Part 1: The Questions 4
Part 2: The Answers 5
Beyond the Book 5
What you'll find online 6
How to register 6
Where to Go for Additional Help 6
Part 1: The Questions 7
Chapter 1: Telling Time: Identifying the Verb and Choosing the Correct Tense 9
The Questions You'll Work On 9
What to Watch Out For 9
Locating the Verb 10
Choosing Simple and Perfect Tense Verb Forms 11
Consistently Choosing the Right Verb Tense 14
Chapter 2: Working with Irregular, Helping, and Descriptive Verb Forms 17
The Questions You'll Work On 17
What to Watch Out For 18
Handling Irregular Verbs 18
Dealing with To Be and To Have 20
Adding Meaning with Helping Verbs 21
Creating Questions with Helping Verbs 23
Detecting and Placing Descriptive Verb Forms 24
Selecting Tense for Descriptive Verb Forms 25
Chapter 3: One Cool and One Hot Topic: Forming Plurals of Nouns and Pronouns 27
The Questions You'll Work On 27
What to Watch Out For 28
Forming Plural Nouns 28
Sorting Singular and Plural Pronouns 29
Chapter 4: Reaching an Agreement: Pairing Subjects and Verbs 33
The Questions You'll Work On 33
What to Watch Out For 33
Locating the Subject 34
Fine-Tuning Subject-Verb Agreement 35
Chapter 5: Matchmaking: Pairing Pronouns and Antecedents 39
The Questions You'll Work On 39
What to Watch Out For 39
Identifying Pronouns and Their Antecedents 40
Pairing Pronouns and Antecedents Correctly 41
Avoiding Vague Pronoun References 42
Chapter 6: Pronouns on a Case-by-Case Basis 45
The Questions You'll Work On 45
What to Watch Out For 45
Sorting Subject, Object, and Possessive Pronouns 46
Using Subject and Object Pronouns Correctly 47
Chapter 7: Forming Complete Sentences 53
The Questions You'll Work On 53
What to Watch Out For 53
Recognizing Complete Sentences 54
Combining Ideas Correctly 55
Correcting Run-Ons and Fragments 56
Chapter 8: Moving Beyond the Basics: Adding Descriptions 59
The Questions You'll Work On 59
What to Watch Out For 60
Distinguishing Between Adjectives and Adverbs 60
Placing Adjectives and Adverbs in Sentences 61
Dealing with Articles 63
Hyphenating Descriptions 64
Chapter 9: Going Long: Descriptive Phrases and Clauses 65
The Questions You'll Work On 65
What to Watch Out For 65
Identifying the Words Being Described 66
Avoiding Misplaced, Dangling, and Vague Descriptions 68
Chapter 10: Writing Gooder Better Comparisons 71
The Questions You'll Work On 71
What to Watch Out For 71
Creating Comparative and Superlative Forms 72
Avoiding Incomplete, Illogical, or Vague Comparisons 73
Chapter 11: Correct with a Capital C: Capitalization 77
The Questions You'll Work On 77
What to Watch Out For 77
Capitalizing Names, Titles, Relationships, and Ethnicity 78
Capitalizing Geographical
Names, Quotations, and School References 80
Capitalizing the Titles of Artistic or Scientific Works 81
Chapter 12: Exercising Comma Sense: Placing Commas Correctly 83
The Questions You'll Work On 83
What to Watch Out For 83
Commas in Lists 84
Using Commas with Identifying and Extra Information 85
Creating a Pause in a Sentence 87
Chapter 13: A Smooth Ride to Meaning: Apostrophes and Quotation Marks 89
The Questions You'll Work On 89
What to Watch Out For 89
Creating the Possessive Form of Nouns 90
Creating Contractions with Apostrophes 91
Inserting and Deleting Apostrophes 91
Distinguishing Between Quotations and Paraphrases 92
Placing Quotation Marks and Other Punctuation 93
Punctuating Academic Work 94
Chapter 14: Seeking Unity and Balance: Parallelism 97
The Questions You'll Work On 97
What to Watch Out For 97
Identifying Parallel Elements in Lists 98
Working with Paired Conjunctions 100
Creating Parallel Comparisons 101
Keeping Sentences Parallel 101
Chapter 15: Cutting Repetition and Wordiness 103
The Questions You'll Work On 103
What to Watch Out For 103
Cutting Repetitive Words and Phrases from Sentences 104
Writing Concisely 105
Chapter 16: Breaking Patterns to Create Interesting Sentences 109
The Questions You'll Work On 109
What to Watch Out For 109
Weaving Complex Sentences 110
Varying Sentence Patterns 115
Chapter 17: More on Verbs: Voice and Mood 119
The Questions You'll Work On 119
What to Watch Out For 119
Identifying Active and Passive Verb Forms 120
Changing Passive Voice to Active 121
Using Subjunctive Verbs Properly 121
Chapter 18: Tailoring Your Writing for Electronic Media 123
The Questions You'll Work On 123
What to Watch Out For 124
Presentation Slides 124
Composing emails and Texts 127
Chapter 19: Choosing Language to Suit Your Audience 131
The Questions You'll Work On 131
What to Watch Out For 132
Identifying Levels of Formality 132
The Right Words for the Right Time 133
Chapter 20: Confusing Word Pairs 135
The Questions You'll Work On 135
What to Watch Out For 135
Distinguishing between Words Resembling Each Other 136
Words Incorrectly Seen as Synonyms 139
Chapter 21: Making Proper Word Choices 143
The Questions You'll Work On 143
What to Watch Out For 143
Selecting the Correct One- or Two-Word Expression 144
Eliminating Nonstandard Words 145
Chapter 22: Identifying Nonstandard Expressions 149
The Questions You'll Work On 149
What to Watch Out For 149
Avoiding Double Negatives and Other Errors 150
Counting and Measuring Words 152
Strange Verb Pairs 153
Part 2: The Answers 155
Chapter 23: Answers 157
Index 313
