Full Description
From grammar and punctuation to the creation of essays and business letters, The Essentials of English: A Writer¿s Handbook, by Ann Hogue, is a must-have reference tool for today¿s writer. As easy to use as a dictionary, this handbook is designed specifically for non-native English speakers. The Essentials of English pays extra attention to articles, phrasal verbs, subordinate clauses, and other commonly troublesome items. The book uses everyday language and simple sentence structure in both explanations and examples. The examples reflect topics of multicultural interest.
Each part focuses on a single topic, building from sentence structure and mechanics to writing, revising, and proper formatting. Students also learn how to write a research paper in the MLA and APA styles. Practice exercises provide immediate application, and ¿Special Tips¿ throughout indicate common errors, explain confusing points, and offer helpful hints.
Contents
PART 1 The Basics 1 Words
a Nouns
b Pronouns
c Verbs
d Adjectives
e Articles
f Adverbs
g Prepositions
h Conjunctions
i Interjections
2 Phrases
a Noun phrases
b Infinitive phrases
c Gerund phrases
d Prepositional phrases
e -ing and -ed phrases
f Appositive phrases
3 Clauses
a Independent clauses
b Dependent clauses
4 Sentences
a Sentence parts
b Sentence patterns
c Question patterns
d Kinds of sentences
PART 2 Clear Sentences 5 Connecting Ideas
a Coordination
b Subordination
c Coordination or subordination?
6 Connecting Ideas by Coordination
a Making compound sentences
b Connecting words coordinating conjunctions
c Connecting words with correlative conjunctions
d Using parallel forms
7 Connecting Ideas by Subordination
a Making complex sentences
b Using appositives
c Using -ing and -ed phrases
d Using shortened adverb clauses
8 Common Sentence Problems
a Fragments
b Run-together sentences
c Choppy writing
d Overuse of and, but, and so
9 Word Order
a Normal word order
b Inverted (verb-subject) word order
c Word order of direct and indirect objects
d Varying sentence openings
10 Word Choice
a Dictionaries and thesauruses
b Informal language and slang
c Gender-sensitive (sexist) language
PART 3 Grammar 11 Verb Forms and Tenses
a Verb forms
b Verb tenses
c Special tense combinations
d Modals
e Passive voice
12 Special Situations with Verbs
a Gerunds
b Infinitives
c Gerunds vs. infinitives
d Phrasal verbs
13 Subject-Verb Agreement
a Singular subject
b Singular or plural subjects
c Plural subjects
d Confusing situations
14 Nouns: Count and Noncount
a Count nouns
b Noncount nouns
c Count or noncount nouns
d Expressing quantity
15 Articles
a For generic nouns: a, an, or no article ( æ )
b For indefinite articles: a, an, or some
c For definite nouns: the
d Idiomatic uses of articles
e Choosing the right article
16 Pronouns
a Subject, object, and possessive forms
b Special situations
c Myself, ourselves
d Each other and one another
17 Pronoun Agreement
a With indefinite pronouns: someone, everybody
b With generic nouns: a student, an employee
c With collective nouns: team, class
d With either ...or and neither ... nor
18 Pronouns: Unclear Reference 19 Adjectives and Adverbs: Position
a Position of adjectives
b Position of adverbs
20 Special Situations with Adjectives
a Agreement of adjectives
b Order of adjectives
c Participial adjectives: boring or bored?
21 Comparisons
a Equal degree: as big as, the same size as
b Comparative and superlative degrees: bigger than, the biggest; more difficult than, the most difficult
c Parallel forms with comparisons
22 Negatives
a No vs. not
b Double negatives
23 Adjective Clauses
a Subject pronouns: who, which, that
b Object pronouns: whom, which, that, æ (no pronoun)
c Possessive pronoun: whose
d Relative adverbs: where and when
e Punctuation of adjective clauses
PART 4 Punctuation 24 End Punctuation
a Periods
b Question marks
c Exclamation points
25 Commas
a In compound sentences
b After introducers
c Around extra-information modifiers
d With transition signals
e With direct quotations
f With items in a series
g Other uses of commas
26 Semicolons
a In compound sentences
b In compound sentences with transition signals
c In a series containing commas
27 Colons
a In sentences
b Other uses of colons
28 Apostrophes
a With possessives
b In contractions and in years
c With special plurals
29 Quotation Marks
a With direct quotations
b Other uses of quotation marks
30 Parentheses 31 Dashes 32 Brackets and Ellipses PART 5 Mechanics 33 Capital Letters
a Pronoun I
b First word of a sentence
c Proper nouns and most proper adjectives
d Titles and subtitles of works
e Greetings and closings in letters
f Certain abbreviations
34 Hyphens
a In compound words
b Dividing words at the end of a line
35 Underlining and Italics
a Titles of long works
b Foreign words
c Numbers, letters, and words used as words
36 Abbreviations
a Titles of people
b Dates and times
c Familiar abbreviations
d Postal codes
e Latin abbreviations
f Words usually not abbreviated
37 Numbers
a Numbers written as words
b Numbers written as numerals
c Forming plural numbers
38 Spelling
a ei or ie rule
b Adding suffixes
c Forming plurals
d British and American spelling
PART 6 Writing and Revising 39 Writing in English 40 The Writing Process
a Creating
b Organizing
c Writing
d Polishing
41 Paragraphs
a Topic sentence
b Supporting sentences
c Paragraph unity
d Paragraph coherence
e Concluding sentence
f Patterns of paragraph organization
42 Essays
a Introduction
b Body
c Conclusion
d Patterns of essay organization
PART 7 Formats 43 Writing on a Computer 44 Document Formats
a Academic papers (MLA style)
b Lab reports
c Business documents
d E-mail
45 Research Papers
a Making a schedule
b Taking a library tour
c Choosing a topic
d Collecting information
e Reading and taking notes
f Writing and revising the paper
g Citing your sources (MLA style)
h Sample research paper
PART 8 Reference Lists
46 Irregular Verbs
47 Verb + Prepositions Combinations
48 Phrasal Verbs
49 Adjective + Preposition Combinations
50 Pairs of -ing / -ed Adjectives
51 Proper Nouns with The
52 Connecting Words
53 Transition Signals
54 Troublesome Words
55 Editing Symbols
56 APA Style
Answer Key
