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Tables of Contents for The Complete Idiot's Guide to Grammar and Style
Chapter/Section Title
Page #
Page Count
Part 1: No Uncertain Terms
1
24
1 Are You Grammarphobic?
3
10
How Can You Tell If You're Grammarphobic?
4
1
Word Power
5
2
War of the Words
5
1
The Force Be with You
6
1
Term Limits
7
3
What Is Grammar?
7
1
What Is Usage?
7
3
What Is Mechanics?
10
1
What Is Style?
10
1
A Civil Tongue: Standards for Effective Communication
11
2
2 Conan the Grammarian
13
12
Sweet Dreams Aren't Made of These
13
2
Puppy Love
14
1
Has It Come to This?
14
1
Perversity Rules
15
5
Let Me 'Splain It to You, Lucy
18
2
Personal Writing Inventory
20
3
Damage Control
23
1
Mission Possible
23
2
Part 2: Under the Grammar Hammer
25
112
3 Parts of Speech: Coming to Terms
27
20
Nouns: Prime-Time Players
27
9
Possessive Nouns: 9/10 of the Law
29
1
Possess It!
29
2
Plural Nouns: Two's Company, Three's a Crowd
31
1
Too Much of a Good Thing?
31
3
Combo Platter
34
1
A Note on Nouns for Non-Native Speakers
35
1
Verbs: All the Right Moves
36
3
Action Verbs: Jumping Jack Flash
36
1
Chain Gang: Linking Verbs
37
1
Mother's Little Helper: Helping Verbs
37
1
Verb-O-Rama
37
2
Conjunctions: The Ties That Bind
39
3
All Tied Up
39
2
Fit to Be Tied
41
1
Prepositions: Good Things Come in Small Packages
42
5
Joined at the Hip
43
1
A Note on Prepositions for Non-Native Speakers
44
3
4 Terms of Endearment: More Parts of Speech
47
12
Adjectives: Happy Little Clouds
47
3
Spice Up Your Sentences with Adjectives
48
1
A Note on Adjectives for Non-Native Speakers
49
1
Have Fun with Adjectives
49
1
And in This Corner
49
1
Adverbs: Who Ya Gonna Call?
50
3
Have Fun with Adverbs
51
1
Conjunctive Adverbs: An Adverb Disguised as a Conjunction
51
1
Hunt and Peck
52
1
Pronouns: Pinch Hitters
53
3
Face the Music
55
1
Interjections: Zap! Pow! Wow
56
1
Just When You Thought It Was Safe to Take a Shower
56
3
Seventh-Inning Stretch
57
2
5 Altered States: Verbs
59
18
Shape Shifters
60
1
Verb Tense: Nothing a Little Prozac Wouldn't Cure
60
6
I Feel Your Pain: Principal Parts of Verbs
61
1
A Class Act: Forming Past Tenses
61
3
Now I Lay Lie Lay Me Down to Sleep
64
1
Party Pooper: Test Time
65
1
All Tensed Up: Using Verb Tense Correctly
66
5
Past Tense
67
1
Back to the Future
68
1
A Note on Verbs for Non-Native Speakers
68
2
It's All in the Timing
70
1
Person, Number, and Mood
71
2
Person
72
1
Number
72
1
Mood
72
1
Active and Passive Voice: A Mistake Has Been Made
73
4
Not So Fast
74
3
6 Woe Is I: Pronouns and Case
77
12
Why Can't a Pronoun Be More Like a Noun?
77
1
Head Case: The Three Cases
78
1
The Rules
79
6
Sorry, Wrong Number
83
1
Seventh-Inning Stretch
84
1
Who Versus Whom (or Should I Just Shoot Myself Now?)
85
4
This Hurts You More Than It Hurts Me
86
1
I Dare You
86
1
Seventh-Inning Stretch
87
2
7 Multiple-Vehicle Wrecks: Pronoun Reference
89
10
How's That Again?
90
1
It Just Proves There's Someone for Everyone
91
2
The Numbers Game
91
1
Tag, You're It
92
1
Location, Location, Location: Placement of Pronouns
93
1
A Match Made in Writer's Heaven
94
5
Possession and Pronouns
94
1
It's a Lock
94
1
It and They
95
1
It Mania
96
1
Who's on First?
97
2
8 How to Write and Speak Good: Adjectives Versus Adverbs
99
12
They Walk Alike, They Talk Alike: You Could Lose Your Mind
100
2
Graphic Proof
100
1
I'm Ready for My Close-Up Now, Mr. DeMille
101
1
Three Degrees of Separation
102
4
Size Does Matter
103
1
Good, Gooder, Goodest: Irregular Adjectives and Adverbs
104
1
Keep Your Balance
105
1
Other and Else
105
1
Tough Sledding: Using Adjectives After Linking Verbs
106
2
The Badlands
106
1
Good News; Well News
106
1
Once More into the Breach, Dear Friends
107
1
A Note on Adjectives and Adverbs for Non-Native Speakers
108
1
Don't Use No Double Negatives
108
3
Don't Be Making No Mistakes
109
2
9 Reaching an Agreement: Matching Sentence Parts
111
4
Anyone Got a Match?
112
3
Singular Subjects and Verbs
112
1
Plural Subjects and Verbs
113
1
Seventh-Inning Stretch
114
1
Collective Nouns
115
1
Indefinite Pronouns
116
3
The Pause That Refreshes
118
1
Walk This Way
119
3
Hide and Seek
119
1
Playing the Numbers
120
1
Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me a Match
120
1
Mix and Match
121
1
Agree to Disagree
122
2
Nose to the Grindstone
124
10 Dazed and Confused: Common Usage Dilemmas
115
22
Dangling Modifiers: Counterintelligence
126
2
Help Is on the Way
126
1
Man the Battle Stations
127
1
Misplaced Modifiers: Lost and Found
128
3
It Says What?
129
1
Quiz Show
130
1
Mixed Metaphors: A Dollar Late and a Day Short
131
2
Split Infinitives: To Boldly Go Where Everyone Else Goes
133
1
The Good, the Bad, the Ugly
134
5
Hopefully
134
1
Like/As
134
1
Ending with a Preposition
135
2
Part 3: Usage and Abusage
137
54
11 Phrases: Prime-Time Players
139
12
Phrases of the Moon
139
1
Prepositional Phrases: The Big Daddy of Phrases
140
2
Offspring 1: Adjectival Phrases
141
1
Offspring 2: Adverbial Phrases
142
1
Appositives: Something More for Your Money
142
3
Appositive Phrases
143
1
The Moment of Truth
144
1
Verbal Phrases: Talk Soup
145
6
Part and Participle
146
1
Gerund Phrases
147
1
Infinitive Phrases: The Final Frontier
148
3
12 Clauses: Kickin' It Up a Notch
151
14
Clauses: Phrases on Steroids
151
2
Independent Clauses: Top Dogs
152
1
Dependent Clauses: I Get by with a Little Help from My Friends
153
1
I Know 'Em When I See 'Em
153
1
Subordinating Conjunctions Link 'Em Together
153
3
Looking for Love in All the Right Places
154
2
Adverb Clauses: Hot Shots
156
1
Follow the Leader
156
1
Shape Up Your Sentences
157
1
Adjective Clauses: Paint by Numbers
157
2
Relative Clauses: It's All Relative
158
1
Clauses Make the Sentence
159
1
Noun Clauses: What's in a Name?
159
1
Connect the Dots
160
5
Getting Down and Dirty
160
5
13 Sentence and Sensibility
165
12
I Know It When I See It: The Sentence
166
1
Seek and Ye Shall Find
166
1
Hidden Treasures
167
1
Sentence Structure: The Fab Four
167
5
Simple Sentences: Simple Isn't as Simple Does
168
1
Compound Sentences: Compound Interest
169
1
Complex Sentences: Not So Complex at All
169
1
Compound-Complex Sentences: The Big Kahuna
170
1
The Choice Is Yours
170
1
Face the Music
171
1
Sentence Functions: The Four Tops
172
1
Alley Oops
172
5
Fragments: Lost in Place
173
1
Run-Ons and Comma Splices: It Could Be a Stretch
174
1
Seventh-Inning Stretch
175
2
14 Coordination and Subordination: What to Say When the Cops Come
177
14
Coordination: All the Right Moves
178
4
Mix and Match
179
1
Dancing Cheek-to-Cheek
179
1
Don't String Me Along
180
1
Why Not Give It a Shot?
181
1
Subordination: What I Did for Love
182
3
Follow the Leader
183
1
Dice 'n' Slice
184
1
Double Dare
184
1
Duke It Out: Coordination Versus Subordination
185
1
Parallel Structure: Trod the Straight and Narrow
186
7
Make It So
187
1
Time to Face Old Sparky
187
4
Part 4: Tools of the Trade
191
58
15 The Writer's Tools: Round Up the Usual Suspects
193
10
Pencil Pusher
193
1
Using the Dictionary: You Could Look It Up
194
6
Who You Gonna Call?
195
1
Read the Labels
196
1
Shop 'Till You Drop
196
2
Specialized Dictionaries: Everyone's an Expert
198
1
Computer Spell Checkers: Marvels of Technology
199
1
Electronic Grammar Software: Help Is Only a Button Away
200
1
The Thesaurus: War of the Words
201
2
Let's Go Shopping
202
1
Whiz-Bang Thesaurus Programs
202
1
16 Punctuation: Commas Are Our friends
203
20
Punctuation Matters
203
1
Show Me the Money
204
1
Period, Question Mark, Exclamation Mark: The End of the Line
205
4
The Period: Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200
206
1
The Question Mark: Inquiring Minds Want to Know
206
1
Exclamation Marks: Gosh and Golly!
207
1
The Pause That Refreshes
207
2
The Comma: A Major Player
209
3
First Impressions Count
209
1
Sentence Interruptus
210
1
In Media Res
211
1
Dazed and Confused
211
1
Bean Counters
211
1
Constant Commas
212
1
The Semicolon: Love Child of the Comma and the Period
213
1
The Colon: What a Party Animal
213
1
Semi-Tough
214
1
Quotation Marks: Quote/Unquote
215
2
A Little Dabba Do Ya
216
1
Not Separated at Birth: The Dash and the Hyphen (and Let's Add the Ellipsis for Fun)
217
1
The Dash: Long and Lean
217
1
The Hyphen: Short and Sweet
218
1
The Ellipsis: Dot, Dot, Dot
218
1
Parentheses and Brackets: Bosom Buddies
218
1
(Parentheses)
219
1
[Brackets]
219
1
Slash and Burn
219
1
Apostrophes
220
3
Once More, Dear Friends
221
2
17 Capitalization and Abbreviations: Go to the Head of the Class
223
10
Capitalization: A Capital Idea
223
6
Capital Punishment
224
1
Rules to Capitalize By
225
3
Capital Investment
228
1
Abbreviations: Good Things Come in Small Packages
229
4
18 Guide to Spelling: Hooked on Phonics
233
16
Bee a Good Speller
234
1
If U Cn Reed This
235
1
Quick and Dirty Tricks of the Trade
235
2
Attaching Prefixes and Suffixes: Bits and Pieces
237
4
Attaching Prefixes: Front-End Collision
237
1
Attaching Suffixes: Rear-End Collision
237
4
Go for the Gusto
241
1
Contractions: Suck It In
241
1
Follow the Rules! Spelling Rules
242
2
ieeeeeeeeeeeee!
244
1
See and Say
244
2
Silent Letters
245
1
Tricky-Dickie Word Endings
245
1
Y/I Use
246
1
Spelling Demons
246
5
Ten Tough Spelling Words-and Ways to Make Them
Part 5: Style: All the Write Stuff
249
76
19 What Is Style, and How Do I Get Some?
251
12
Style: Write On!
251
2
The 3C's: Consistency, Coherence, Clarity
253
5
Consistency
253
2
Coherence
255
2
Clarity
257
1
I'll Have What's on His Plate
258
3
Lie Like a Rug
261
2
20 In Style
263
12
Audience: People Who Need People
263
6
Inquiring Minds Want to Know
264
1
I Share Your Pain
264
2
Who's Who
266
2
Culture Vulture
268
1
Model Behavior
269
1
Live and Learn
270
1
Make It Your Own
270
1
Four Play
270
5
Exposition: Writing That Explains
271
1
Narration: Writing That Tells a Story
272
1
Argumentation: Writing That Persuades
272
1
Description: Writing That Describes
273
2
21 Stylish Sentences
275
6
Flexible Flyers
276
8
Vary Sentence Types
276
1
Vary Sentence Lengths
277
2
Add Questions and Commands
279
1
Focus on the Subject
279
1
Add Details
280
3
Use Vivid Verbs
283
1
Invert Word Order
283
1
Play with Pronouns
283
1
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
284
1
Punctuation and Style: Little Things Matter a Lot
284
22 Conciseness: The Department of Redundancy Department
281
18
Slash and Burn
287
3
Thrift, Thrift, Thrift
290
9
Eliminate Unneeded Words and Phrases
291
3
Revise Sentences That Begin with Expletives
294
1
Combine Sentences That Repeat Information
295
1
Don't Say the Same Thing Twice
296
1
Make Passive Sentences Active
297
2
23 Diction: Find the Right Word, Not Its First Cousin
299
12
Diction: Proper Words in Proper Places
300
2
Elevated Diction
301
1
Edited American English
301
1
Colloquial Language
301
1
Slang
301
1
Vernacular
302
1
Tone-on-Tone
302
1
Ten Distinctions Worth Making (or at Least Worth
Being Able to Make!)
303
2
Twenty-Five Headaches
305
3
Your You're On
307
1
Homophones: Give Piece a Chance
308
3
Grin and Bare Bear It
309
2
24 Don't Go There: Words and Expressions to Avoid
311
14
Sexist Language: Political Roadkill
312
4
On Thin Ice
313
1
Nonsexist Language: Level the Playing Field
314
2
Top of Your Game
316
1
Spin Doctors
317
4
Jargon: "Phasers on Stun, Cap'n"
318
1
Bureaucratic Language: Piled Higher and Deeper
319
1
Inflated Language: Full of Hot Air
320
1
Euphemisms: Sleeping with the Fishes
320
1
Search and Destroy
321
1
The Cliché Expert
321
6
Gorgeous George
323
1
A Note on Words and Expressions to Avoid for Non-Native Speakers
324
1
Part 6: In Your Write Mind
325
32
25 Business Writing: Write Angles
327
18
Letter Perfect
328
2
Form and Function
328
2
Kissing Cousins
330
1
Resumés and Cover Letters: Get on the Fast Track
330
8
Resumés
331
1
Shooting Yourself in the Foot
332
1
Chronological Resumé
332
1
Skills Resumé
333
3
Cover Letters
336
2
Bread-and-Butter Notes
338
1
Good News, Bad News
339
6
Good News
340
1
Bad News
340
5
26 Personal Writing: In Your Write Mind
345
12
Friendly Letters: My Baby, She Wrote Me a Letter
346
2
Signed, Sealed, Delivered: I'm Yours
346
1
Model Letter
347
1
B & B Revisited
348
2
I Feel Your Pain: Letters of Condolence
348
2
Letters of Opinion
350
3
Complain, Complain, Complain
350
2
My 2¢ Worth
352
1
E-Mail: Instant Gratification
353
Boot Up
354
1
Think Before You Flame
355
Appendixes
A Glossary
357
4
B Model Documents
361
1
Guide to Grammar and Usage
361
34
Index
395