Grammar: 1001 Practice Questions for Dummies (+ Free Online Practice) (Paperback)

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