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Index
Adjective Modifiers
Adjective Clauses
Adverbs
Summary of adverb modifiers (under construction) |
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Uses— words modified by adverbs, word order, emphasis position; irregular adverbs; split-infinitive debate |
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Present tense adverbs indicating when or how frequently actions or events occur |
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Past tense adverbs: indicating when or how frequently actions or events occured – when? |
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Present perfect adverbs: indicating when or how frequently actions or events have occured – when? |
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Adverbs & prepositional phrases as modfiers: out, out of, outside, behind, back, backward, etc. |
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Adverbs of degree: intensifiers, modifying verbs, adverbs and adjectives |
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Adverbs in future time (mixed verb tense) - before, after, as soon as, when, while, as |
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Advebial clauses and phrases of expected and unexpected outcome: because, though, because of, inspite of |
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Future perfect tense: by the time |
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Adverbs introducing clauses of same-time actions of short and long duration: when, while |
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Shortening clauses to modifying phrases:indicating same-time, earlier or later events: when, while, before, after |
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Shortening clauses to modifying phrases:because expressing reason (cause-effect) : same-time, earlier time |
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Contrast adverbs of place with phrasal verbs: look up vs "look up" See Commonly Confused Words |
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Words (inc. adverbs) that compare and contrast: similarly, differently See Connectory Summary |
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Adverb so modifying adverbs and adjectives; so ... that See Connectory Summary |
Agreement
Summary of subject-verb agreement : sentence, clause, quantifier phrases |
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Using plural Noun Forms (spellings): -s, -es, -ies, -ves |
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Identifying uncommon plural noun forms: -ee-, -en, -oes, -a, -ae, -ices, -i, |
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Editing for irregular plural nouns; -i, oes, -a, -es, -ves |
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Exceptions; irregular agreement examples: English is vs. the English are |
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Editing - final -s / -es in sentences; Final S sounds Listening for final -s [s] / [z] in words (audio) |
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Sentence practice changing the verb to third-person agreement. |
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Examples of count and uncountable (mass) nouns: money vs. dollars, coins, cents |
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Group (mass) nouns - Identifying count & non-count nouns: jewelry vs. rings |
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Referring to group nouns vs. items in the group: equipment -- computers; candy -- candy bars |
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Paragraph practice selecting count and non count nouns |
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count and non-count nouns: some, several, a lot of, much |
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Count & non-count: much vs. many |
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Quantifiers used for food nouns: slice, cup, stick, bottle, spoonful ; pig - pork; calf–veal |
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Subject-verb agreement within sentences with expressions of quantity: some of, all of, the/a number of, none |
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Subject-verb agreement within sentences with clauses or phrases |
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Subject -verb agreement with there |
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Replacing subject and object nouns with pronouns: he, she, we, they — him, her, us, them |
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Pronoun agreement with quantifier phrases: everyone has his / their hat; gender neutral phrasing |
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Sentence Agreement with Possessive Nouns: girl's vs. girls' |
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sentence agreement of quantity phrases and pronouns |
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Sentence editing for common mistakes in sentence agreement |
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Gender and pronoun use; Everyone has his hat vs. their |
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Sentence editing practice. |
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Subject-verb agreement in context |
Articles
Summary of Article Usage |
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Mentioning one as an example of all: A violin has four strings. |
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"A comet" (one as an example) versus "a comet" (one in particular) |
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Speaking in general: "the wolf" (the class-unspecific) versus "wolves" (all-unspecific) |
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"The lion" ( the class - unspecific) versus "a lion" (one - unspecific) |
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"People" (all) versus "The people" (specific); |
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The - noun identified by earlier mention |
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The - noun identified by as part of another larger item |
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The - noun identified by other means-uniqueness, name, shared knowledge |
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The - used with landmarks |
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The - used with geographical features |
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The - used with country names |
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The - used with "expected parts" and expressions of quantity |
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First / Second Mention: a unidentified - the identified (indefinite-definite) |
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The - many ways in which nouns can be identified (definite) |
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Special Uses of the: wars, eras, dates, worlds events |
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Superlatives and the Articles - audio |
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Review: Known or New? The, A, no marker Sentence editing |
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Paragraph Editing - Furniture: in general; specific vs. general nouns |
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Paragraph Editing |
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Determining which article to use; Luxury items on Castaway TV show. |
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PRINTED PRACTICES |
Conditional & Hypothetical Tenses
Confusing Words
Connectors: Conjunctions, Subordinating Conjunctions & Transition Words
Summary of connectors, adverbs and transition words |
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Combining Independent Clauses: FANBOYS - for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so; punctuation for combining clauses |
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Cause and effect phrases so . . . that & such . . . that |
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So clauses; contrasting so . . . that versus so that, so-so, so and other phrases. |
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Cause and effect - because, since, consequently, therefore, as a result, so |
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Paired Conjunctions: both...and, either... or, not only...but also, neither...nor, (or else) |
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Adverbs for emphasis: indeed, in fact, even, even though, even if whether or not; onlyif vs. if only; |
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Making comparisons — same as, different from, similar to, as...as, the same... as |
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Sentence Connector Summary and Review - Practice |
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Editing -- for connectors, transitions, sentence boundaries and punctuation |
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Selecting connectors and transition words in an essay; main cause, as a result, because |
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Parallel phrasing: using similar word forms in a series |
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Editing -- for connectors, transitions, sentence boundaries and punctuation |
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Shortening clauses to modifying phrases - before, after, while, when, since |
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Shortening clauses to modifying phrases: reason – because; earlier and later time frames |
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Avoiding run-on sentences and fragments |
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Related Pages |
(Also see Adverbs and Conditionals.) |
Conditional adverbials: if, only if, unless, otherwise, or else |
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Conditional adverbials: in the event, in case and should |
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Adverbs with unexpected outcomes: Because, since, due to vs. Although, in spite of, despite, regardless, nevertheless; Adverbs before noun phrases: because of, due to, in spite of, despite, regardless of |
Gerunds
Summary of gerund usage |
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Gerunds as subjects; parallel phrasing, bulleted lists, spelling adding -ing |
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Gerunds as objects; expressing attitudes about activities; prepositions looking forward to |
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Gerunds as with direct & indirect objects; expressing attitudes and gratitude |
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Gerund Phrases: Methods and means: by verb+ing, with a noun |
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Stating function, purpose and means: by verb+ing, for verb+ing, to+verb |
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Shortening clauses with gerund phrases after: see, hear, find, catch, watch, etc. |
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Gerund vs. Infinitive phrase completion |
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Gerund vs. Infinitive phrase completion |
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Verbs + prepositions before gerunds |
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Verbs + prepositions before gerunds |
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Methods and means: "by verb+ing", with |
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Parallel phrasing with gerunds |
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Related Pages |
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Identifying gerunds in context of an article |
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Infinitives
Summary of infinitive usage |
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Infinitives as subjects; formal use, definitions |
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Expressing attitudes and opinions about activities; enjoy, hate, like |
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Getting other people to do things; also, have, do, let, make |
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Changing command clauses to infinitive phrases: Imposing will on others; order, command, want, expect |
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Infinitives in expressions ; it takes X + to verb |
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Infinitives in expressions; too, enough |
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Adjectives followed by infinitives; happy; amazed + infin; practice with verb forms |
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Infinitives in expressions; stating purpose: in order to |
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Identifying infinitives in the context of a news article |
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Related Pages |
Infinitives with prepositions: see prepositions |
Modal Verbs
Summary of modal usage |
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Expressing degrees of uncertainty: will, may, might could, may have, might have |
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Expressing scheduled events vs. intent: will, be going to |
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Using connectors with mixed time frames: so that, said that, which, who, if ... then |
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Expressing predictions and expectations: will, should and be supposed to |
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Stating plans vs. making predictions for completion: will have done |
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Expressing advisability - should, ought to |
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Expressing ability: can, could, be able to |
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Giving permission, making requests and offering suggestions: may, can, could, would, shall, let's |
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Using should and could to offer ideas and advice. |
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Expressions with would: stating preference, making requests, used to, making excuses would have |
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PRACTICE |
Modal Review - Review the many meanings of modals |
Modals in context; recognizing modals and meanings |
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PRACTICE |
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Hypothetical statements with modals: options not taken; advice after-the-fact; should have, could have |
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Noun Clauses
Summary of embedding questions, statements and commands as noun clauses |
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Reported/Indirect Speech: Wh Questions |
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Reported/Indirect Speech: Yes-No Questions |
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Reported/Indirect Speech: Commands |
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Reported/Indirect Speech: Statements (Quoted Speech); other words for said |
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PRACTICE |
Infinitive-Subjunctive Commands: changing infinitive phrases to clauses : order, command, want, expect |
Beginning a sentence with a that or a what clause |
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PRACTICE |
Azar Chapter Review 12 - noun clauses |
Practice Quiz (auto-correcting quiz) |
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In context: An Interview - changing reported speech to quoted speech (auto-correcting quiz) |
Passive Voice
Summary of passive voice usage |
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Sentence transformation to place emphasis on the receiver. |
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Determining when to include the "agent"; by phrase |
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Leading with the indirect object in a passive sentence. |
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Verbs that cannot take passive voice: happen |
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Expressions with get; It's not my fault; I did it myself; I got it done |
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Participial adjectives: agent vs. receiver; amused vs. amusing; -ed vs. -ing endings |
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Participial adjectives: ongoing vs. completed, a roasting vs. roasted chicken; -ed vs. -ing endings |
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Participles adjectives and prepositions; interested in, surprised at |
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PRACTICE |
part prep prac Participial Adjectives and prepositions: known for; concerned with; accustomed to |
Past participle modifying phrases: was located / located |
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Past & present-participle modifying phrases: served as / serving as |
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Recognizing Passive Voice |
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Past & Past Perfect Tenses
Prepositions
Summary of preposition use |
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Prepositions of Time: in, on, at; |
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Prepositions of Place: in, on, at, aside, beneath, among, under, inside, near, upon, etc. |
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PRACTICE |
Prepositions in a paragraph: in, on, at |
Adverbs & prepositional phrases as modifiers: out, out of, outside, behind, back, backward, etc. |
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Phrasal verbs or two-word verbs: go about, go at, go away, go down, go off, go on, go out of, go over, go with. |
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Verb+Preposition Phrases before Gerunds: He insisted on going |
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Indirect Object and Preposition Phrases after Gerunds: excused him for burping/ excused his burping |
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PRACTICE |
Verb+Prep Phrases 1 Verb+Preposition Phrases before Gerunds: about, against, after, for, etc. |
PRACTICE |
Verb+Prep Phrases 2 Verb+Preposition Phrases before Gerunds: put off doing, keep from hearing, etc. |
Participles Adjective+Preposition Phrases; interested in, surprised at |
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PRACTICE |
Participle+Prep Prac Participles Adjective+Preposition Phrases: known for, concerned with, accustomed to |
Special conditions for using during or in; also, use with present perfect |
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Verbs and adjectives followed by prepositional phrases: about, against, after, for, from, in, like, of, off, on, over, to, with |
Present & Present Progressive Tenses
Summary of Present tense usage |
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Simple present tense; as used in more permanent states: facts of science and nature |
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Present progressive; as used in more temporary and ongoing activities: blogging |
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Simple present tense; as used for enduring customs and activities |
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Present and present progressive practice |
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Scheduled Events - Future Activities |
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States of "being" vs. Activities |
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Future Sequence of Actions: before, after, as soon as, while, when etc. |
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Narration - Telling stories and jokes |
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Commonly Confused Verbs - make/do, say/tell, lie/lay, rise/raise, sit/set |
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Present Perfect Tense
Summary of present perfect verb tense usage. |
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Past events continuing to present; for, since, so far, to date |
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Activities that have repeatedly continued up to now; several times |
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Permanent events vs. temporary activities; since, ever since, for, this morning, all morning |
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Stating experience; ever, never, before |
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Completed vs. ongoing activities |
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Activities completed Recently: recently, just, lately |
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Activities completed sooner or later than expected; already, yet |
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Context practice - evaluating sentences: ongoing-completed, repetitive-non-repetitive, temporary-permanent |
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Past vs Present Perfect adverb use: up to now, so far, since, this year, in my life; last year, yesterday, then |
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The present perfect state of mind; connecting the past to the present |
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Present perfect paragraph practice |
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Irregular Participles 1 |
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Punctuation
Review
Summary of review and diagnostic pages on this site |
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A series of diagnostic questions to find which grammatical points need to be reviewed |
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(with links from each item to a support page) |
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Chapter review of singular-plural agreement (follows Azar v.3 text chapters) |
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Chapter review of noun clauses |
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Chapter review of adjective clauses |
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Chapter review of adverbials and other miscellaneous words and phrases |
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Chapter review of sentence connectors and coordinators |
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Writing
Employing writing stratgiesand writing ethics |
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Planning before beginning to write; pyramid of time spent |
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Creating a thesis sentence for your paper (research) |
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Narrowing your topic down to a focused thesis |
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Four Types of Introductions |
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VR example of using focus to reveal details of your story |
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"What is Fair Use?" ; resources |
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PRACTICE |
Ethics and Fair Use Check; practice identifying copyrighted materials |
Strategies for avoiding plagiarism; resources |
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PRACTICE |
Plagiarism Examples; practice identifying plagiarized variations of original text |
Examples of in-text and bibliographic citations; resources |
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PRACTICE |
MLA Citation Self-Quiz; practice arranging elements into correct order |
PRACTICE |
Citation Practice; practice identifying correctly written citations |
Criteria for evaluating the authority of web pages; resources |
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PRACTICE |
Evaluating Web Page Authority; practice evaluating three contrasting sources for a topic |
Text & Links
Contact Information
College of San Mateo Updated:
This web site existed from November 1998 - April 2008 , as "Grammar Check", on the San Mateo Community College District server. |

