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Ruth Colman grew up in a northern Sydney beach suburb and attended state school

Ruth Colman grew up in a northern Sydney beach suburb and attended state schools. She did a colourful BA at the University of Sydney. She taught English at secondary schools for about ten years in Australia and South-east Asia, before getting sidetracked into editorial work. The briefest English grammar and punctuation guide ever! A UNSW Press book Published by University of New South Wales Press Ltd University of New South Wales Sydney NSW 2052 AUSTRALIA www.unswpress.com.au © Ruth Colman 2005, 2010, 2011 The briefest English grammar ever! First published by the author 2004. First published by UNSW Press 2005. Reprinted 2006, 2008. The briefest punctuation guide ever! First published by UNSW Press 2010. This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Inquiries should be addressed to the publisher. National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Author: Colman, Ruth V. Title: The briefest English grammar and punctuation guide ever!/by Ruth Colman. ISBN: 978 1 74223 279 9 (pbk.) Subjects: English language – Grammar. English language – Punctuation. Dewey Number: 428.2 Design Di Quick Print Everbest, China Ruth Colman The briefest English grammar and punctuation guide ever! UNSW PRESS Contents P ART 1: Grammar Preface to the grammar guide 2 Intro 3 Sentences 4 Clauses and phrases 6 Words – and their functions 8 Nouns 9 Pronouns 11 Verbs 14 Adjectives 25 Adverbs 27 Prepositions 29 Conjunctions 30 Articles (or determiners) 30 Exclamations 31 More about clauses 32 In conclusion . . . 35 P ART 2: Punctuation Preface: What this part is and isn’t 37 Intro 38 I’m writing ordinary sentences. What punctuation marks do I need? 40 What’s the difference between a hyphen and a dash? Aren’t they the same? 47 Capital letters can be confusing. When should I use them? When shouldn’t I use them? 50 Please! Please tell me about apostrophes 55 I’m quoting something written by someone else. What are the rules? 63 I want to write a conversation, just as it was spoken 68 Lists. Are there any rules? 70 Not strictly punctuation, but . . . 74 In conclusion 80 Helpful books 80 P ART 1 Grammar Preface to the grammar guide When English speakers begin to learn other languages they often find themselves being taught via methods that assume they have a basic knowledge of English grammar. Some of us, however, have come through a school system that taught little or nothing of the way our language is structured. We recognise when things “sound right” or “sound wrong” but we cannot say why. We now want to study a second language, to read it or speak it or both, and we are non-plussed when the teacher says, “In German the verb comes at the end of the clause”, or “That’s the indirect object.” I hope this small guide will fill a gap and give you the basics, whether you want to learn another language or not, and if you do, whether your aimed-for second language is Spanish, Anindilyakwa, New Testament Greek, Swahili or anything else. Don’t forget that many languages don’t have direct equivalents of all our classes of words or all our grammatical structures. Some systems of grammar are simpler than the English system, some are more complex, and some are simply different. 2 Intro How do we identify and classify words and groups of words? Whatever the language, it’s a matter of function. When people want to speak, In English we they need ways of . . . call these words . . . • indicating things and people nouns and pronouns • talking about actions verbs • describing things adjectives • describing actions adverbs • showing how things relate to other things prepositions • joining sections of speech conjunctions Quite often there is overlap. Words don’t always fit neatly into the categories we think they should be in. Sometimes a group of words performs the function of one word, and some words have more than one function. But by and large the outlines in this booklet cover most situations. As you go through it you will find new meanings for some common English words – which simply indicates that grammar has its jargon just like any other field of study. 3 Sentences Sentences are groups of words that make complete sense. When you give me a sentence I know you have told me or asked me something complete. Sentences can be short . . . • Susan lives there. • Where are you going? or longer. • Sedimentary rocks, wherever they are, tell us about ancient climatic conditions, and geological events that happened in the area during the time the sediments were deposited. Sentences can be statements . . . • John hasn’t paid his rent for two months. • All these toys were made by Uncle Joe. or questions . . . • Are you well? • Have they finished painting the house? or commands. • Come to the office at ten. • Stop! 4 Here’s an exercise (the only one in the book). Which of the following are sentences and which are not? Can you tell why? Full stops and capitals have been omitted. • the house on the hill • he’s finished the story • in the cupboard • but whenever we see him • she won the award for the best supporting role • they don’t know where you are • down the street and over the bridge • completed only months before • when she ran across the line • it’s made of cotton • shake the bottle well before you open it • made from 100% cotton • the lady who lives next door • he found it on the floor behind the sofa • she’ll tell you how to make it If you can tell which are sentences and which are not, by “intuition”, that’s enough for the present. You can come back to it later with a bit more knowledge. 5 Clauses and phrases A clause is a group of words containing one finite verb (see page 16). It is often only a section of a sentence. Here is a sentence with two clauses. You’ll need to speak to the person/who arranges the timetables. Together these clauses make a complete sentence. The first clause could be a sentence on its own, but the second couldn’t unless we gave it an initial capital and a question mark. Some sentences have only one clause. He bought it this morning. Some have more. Old Alf revved the engine/and off they went towards the river mouth,/while we waited on the jetty/until they were out of sight./ A phrase is also a group of words. It is a looser structure than a clause. It is short, doesn’t have a finite verb (it may not have a verb at all) but it functions as a kind of unit. Here are some examples: 6 • under the table • after the exams • in the drawer • hundreds of fish • eating peanuts • through the door We haven’t got far, but at this stage we will leave clauses and phrases for a while, and look instead at words, the raw material of our communications. When we have tried to identify and classify words, we will be able to return with greater understanding to consider clauses in more detail, and to examine their different kinds. 7 Words — and their functions We classify words according to the work they do. If you’ve heard of parts of speech it simply means classes of words, grouped according to function. We will deal with them in the following order: Nouns the names of things Pronouns the he me them words Verbs the action words Adjectives the describing words Adverbs the how when where words Prepositions the to in at words And a few other bits and pieces. Now for a bit more detail (but not too much). — — — — —— — — — 8 Nouns A noun is the name of something: a thing or a person or a place, or even a feeling or a state of mind. house Jane delight pencils Paris There are four kinds of nouns. Common nouns are the names of ordinary things we can see or touch: house chicken banana boy town Proper* nouns are the names of particular or special things or persons or places. In English they have an initial capital. Adelaide Michael Christmas April Collective nouns are names for groups of things or people: crowd class flock choir fleet Abstract nouns are the names of things we can’t touch or “put in a box”. We often use these ones without saying a or an or the. pain pleasure beauty wisdom sunshine * Doesn’t mean the rest are improper 9 Your teachers may talk about the case of nouns (and pronouns). They will mention nouns as uploads/Litterature/ grammar-guide 3 .pdf