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Grammar Troublespots eMOl lam eae lt ella) Grammar Troublespots helps students identify and correct Re etre Meee ms ae UCM Ll COMIC LOU LS write. It is the ideal aid for writing teachers preparing students for college-level writing, It can either be used in class or assigned as self-study material to indivicualize grammar instruction for writing students. eat = Concise, clear grammar explanations = Varied, challenging exercises AU Ts Mee UUme nee Li eM cL eck) « Writing assignments = Editing flowcharts PCr smc « A unit on how to cite sources in academic essays About the author Ann Raimes is a leading authority on grammar and seccnd language writing. She is the author of numerous articles and hooks, including el Magee ia eel eereo MO elisa eS a ealal el Wee elm fa eM eed ost ONE 8 ML Lee on UL Me Mem ome etm M acer a al Cae fetal TeolPael WAeINUe ss aol Chae Ol About the third edition DUR eumm Ard mee ax see eR mC en LaLa Every unit has heen reworked, the hook has been reorganized and redesigned, and many new features have heen added. There is also a significant new focus on the troublespots that students will encounter Pm omelet CAMBRIDGE LAE Sod Pee teettt Grammar Troublespots A Guide For Student Writers Ann Raimes ea @) CAMBRIDGE i) UNIVERSITY PRESS Third Edition PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 2ku, UK 40 West 20th Street, New York, wy 10011-4211, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, vic 3207, Australia Ruiz de Alarcon 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain Dock House, The Waterfront, Cape Town 8001, South Africa httpsvvwwcambridge.org © Cambridge University Press 2004 This hook is in copyright. Subject fo statutory exception and (o the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, Ro reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. The publisher has used its best endeavors to ensure that the URLs for websites referred to in this book are correct and active al the time of going to press. lity for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate. However, the publisher has no responsi First published 2004 Printed in the United States of America ‘Typeset in New Aster and Lucida Sans A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-it-Publication data is available, ISBN 0521-53286-8 Art direction and book design: Adventure House, NYC Layout services: Page Designs International Contents Introduction iv Acknowledgements v Troublespot 1 Basic Sentence Structure Troublespot 2 Sentence Building 9 Troublespot 3 Sentence Boundaries 19 Troublespot4 = Punctuation 26 Troublespot 5 Verbs and Auxiliaries 32 Troublespot6 Verb Tense System 41 Troublespot 7 Present Verb Tenses 47 Troublespot 8 — Past Verb Tenses 56 Troublespot 9 Active and Passive Voice 64 Troublespot 10 Modal Auxiliaries 73 Troublespot 11. Nouns and Quantity Words 81 Troublespot 12 Subjeci-Verb Agreement 90 Troublespot 13 Articles 98 Troublespot 14 Pronoun and Pronoun Reference 106 Troubtespot 15 Adjectives and Adverbs 114 Troublespot 16 Infinitive, -ing, and Past Participle Forms 123 Troublespot 17 Prepositions and Phrasal Verbs 132 Troublespot 18 Relative Clauses 142 ‘Troublespot 19 Conditions and Wishes 150 Troublespot 20 Quoting, Reporting, and Citing Sources 156 References 167 Appendix 168 Answer Key 171 Index 185 Introduction To the Instructor This third edition of Granunar Troublespots: A Guide for Student Writers, like its predecessors, can be used in at least two ways: * Students can use it independently as they edit their writing assignments. * You can assign it as a classroom text in a course primarily devoted to writing. In either case, you can help your students use the book effectively by working through a few Troublespots in class, discussing the explanations, doing the exercises, setting the writing assignments, and then working with the flowcharts to examine the writing produced. Using the flowcharts with their writing will help students establish habits of rereading, closely examining text, asking questions about what they have written, and considering ways to correct errors. Grammatical vocabulary is introduced for editing purposes but is kept simple: for example, subject, noun, verb, article, clause, singular and plural. Once students have become familiar with the limited grammatical vocabulary and worked their way through some sample Troublespots, they are then able to use the book independently or as you refer them to specific Troublespots. The Third Edition You will find many changes in the third edition, in response to instructors’ feedback: * The book has been redesigned. * Two Troublespots have been combined; some have been renamed; and the order of the Troublespots has been changed slightly. * Each Troublespot begins with an introduction. * More exercises have been added, so that every grammar explanation has some exercise material following it. * There is an increased focus on the grammar of written discourse and many exercises are drawn from passages of expository prose. * Cautionary notes appear with A\ to warn students of a particularly likely error that they might make. * A writing assignment appears in each Troublespot, so that students can immediately apply the flowchart questions that follow to their own written work. To the Student Grammar Troublespots offers you help with some “troublesome” areas of English grammar that might cause you difficulties in your writing. It is not intended to be a complete review of English grammar, nor is it intended to cover everything you need to know to correct all errors in a piece of writing. Rather, the book concentrates on rules, not exceptions, so it will help you apply general principles. It will also aid you in finding ways to examine your own writing in terms of grammatical accuracy. In Grammar Troublespots you will discover explanations for some conventions of standard written English — areas of the language that operate systematically according to rules. These explanations are accompanied by exercises (an Answer Key is included in the back of the book) and by flowcharts that give you specific questions to ask as you evaluate your own writing. By focusing your attention directly on the problem area, these questions will help you find and correct your own errors, either independently or with the help of an instructor. Sometimes such focusing is precisely what a writer needs in order to find — and correct — errors. After you have done the exercises in this book and worked through the editing advice, you should catch many of the grammar errors in your writing. However, experienced writers also often seek advice, so make sure to use the resources around you. Seek help: from.a classmate, from your instructor, or from a dictionary. Certainly a dictionary such as the Cambridge Dictionary of American English (Cambridge University Press, 2000) is an invaluable tool for checking not only spelling but also irregular plural forms, verb forms, and idioms. Throughout the book, a sentence preceded by an asterisk (*) indicates an example sentence that is not acceptable in standard edited English. Also pay attention to the symbol A\, which warns you of a typical error that you might make. Acknowledgements Thanks go to the Cambridge University Press staff, particularly to Bernard Seal, commissioning editor for English for Academic Purposes, whose keen editorial eye did so much to shape and improve this book; to Anne Garrett, the project editor; and to Mary Sandre, Kathleen O'Reilly, Pam Harris, and Robert Freire. I am also grateful to my students over the years for continually alerting me to where the troublespots are. Troubl Basic Sentence Structure ® Requirements of a Written Sentence A sentence in standard written English has certain essential requirements. 1. Each new sentence must begin with a capital letter. The author has written this example sentence. 2. A sentence must end with a period, a question mark, or an exclamation point. The author has written this example sentence 3. A sentence must contain a subject that is only stated once. The author she has written this example sentence. 4, A sentence must contain a complete verb phrase, containing any auxiliary verbs, such as is, were, has, will, and so on, if necessary. The author has written this example sentence. 5. A sentence must contain standard word order. Subject Verb Object iA Fetopaca "i nlasnnen cel ‘The author has written this example sentence, 6. A sentence must have one independent core idea that can stand alone. In this book, we use the term “independent clause” to describe this part of the sentence; however, you may be more familiar with the term “main clause,” which is also often used. The author has written this example sentence. Basic Sentence Structure 6

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