John Baylor Grammar Rules

GR 1 - Less is More.

• Exaggerate the pause and the inflection change.

• a. Stay with the trend within the sentence. i. She was walking, talking, and smiling. ii. She walked, talked, and smiled.

• Go with the shortest answer unless the shortest is horrible (grammatically incorrect or omits necessary information).

• a. prepositional phrases (show direction/time) b. adjectives (describe) c. adverbs (end in LY) d. extra info (surrounded by commas or dashes)

GR 2 - Honor thy commas.

• a. Use ; or , and i. Ed went to the store, and he bought some gum. (if you just use a comma it becomes a comma splice, which is a grammatical error.)

• a. Determine the tense, then plug it into these sentences: i. Today I (present tense). ii. Yesterday I (past tense). iii. For years I have (perfect tense). Perfect = Past Perfect

• a. Semicolon ; = , and (bracketed by two complete thoughts). b. Colon : = example(s) to follow (a complete thought precedes a colon). c. Hyphen or dash - = a comma or a semicolon.

• Exaggerate the pause and the inflection change.

GR 3 - A Full Sentence: has three components.

• a. A subject b. A verb c. A complete thought i. (where, while, when, because, if, since, as, unless, rather, until, ...) are never complete thoughts.

• a. Each (of the boys) has arrived b. Neither (of the teams) is any good. c. None (of them) whines about homework. d. Neither (of the cars) gets good gas mileage. (prepositional phrase)

• a. Determine the tense, then plug it into these sentences: i. Today I (present tense). ii. Yesterday I (past tense). iii. For years I have (perfect tense). Perfect = Past Perfect

• a. Driving home after dark, HE proceeded cautiously. b. After running a stoplight, THE POLICE OFFICER pulled Sarah over.

GR 4 Subject-Verb agreement: subjects agree with their verbs in number (singular or plural).

• a. Each (of the boys) has arrived b. Neither (of the teams) is any good. c. None (of them) whines about homework. d. Neither (of the cars) gets good gas mileage. (prepositional phrase)

• a. The butterfly is b. The friends are c. When there is a single word underlined, it's usually a verb. When hunting down the subject slash the prepositional phrase.

• a. Always say both words: it's, you've, you're, they've, we've, he's, they're, who's, etc... b. Impact: contractions are less formal, less emphatic, and less urgent. c. Who's v. Whose i. There's the guy, who's an achiever, not a slacker. ii. There's the guy, whose effort should lead to many scholarships.

• a. Show time or direction b. about, above, across, after, against, around, along, among, at, behind, before, beneath, beside, between, beyond, by, down, during, except, for, from, in, near, of, off, on, opposite, out, outside, over, past, regarding, round, since, to, through, under, until, up, with, within, etc... c. Prepositional phrases begin with prepositions and end with nouns, but never have subjects.

GR 5 Each, none, neither, either, anyone, anybody, someone, everyone, and everybody are singular.

• a. If one owner: 's one boy's baseball glove b. If more than one owner: s' two boys' baseball glove c. men's, women's, children's, and people's are always 's.

• a. Semicolon ; = , and (bracketed by two complete thoughts). b. Colon : = example(s) to follow (a complete thought precedes a colon). c. Hyphen or dash - = a comma or a semicolon.

• a. The guy in the red sweater, my dad, is flipping pancakes. b. Bob, my study partner, has run to the store. c. However, indeed, intact, of course, for example, and for instance are nearly always surrounded with commas. And though when = however.

• a. Each (of the boys) has arrived b. Neither (of the teams) is any good. c. None (of them) whines about homework. d. Neither (of the cars) gets good gas mileage. (prepositional phrase)

GR 6 Apostrophes show possession.

• For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So (FANBOYS) neither....nor either....or not only....but also a. Identical word order follows each conjunction. i. He received neither the attention deserved nor the support required. ii. Either go to your Grandma's house or go to the store.

• a. The guy in the red sweater, my dad, is flipping pancakes. b. Bob, my study partner, has run to the store. c. However, indeed, intact, of course, for example, and for instance are nearly always surrounded with commas. And though when = however.

• a. Always say both words: it's, you've, you're, they've, we've, he's, they're, who's, etc... b. Impact: contractions are less formal, less emphatic, and less urgent. c. Who's v. Whose i. There's the guy, who's an achiever, not a slacker. ii. There's the guy, whose effort should lead to many scholarships.

• a. If one owner: 's one boy's baseball glove b. If more than one owner: s' two boys' baseball glove c. men's, women's, children's, and people's are always 's.

GR 7 Contractions.

• a. Always say both words: it's, you've, you're, they've, we've, he's, they're, who's, etc... b. Impact: contractions are less formal, less emphatic, and less urgent. c. Who's v. Whose i. There's the guy, who's an achiever, not a slacker. ii. There's the guy, whose effort should lead to many scholarships.

• a. Semicolon ; = , and (bracketed by two complete thoughts). b. Colon : = example(s) to follow (a complete thought precedes a colon). c. Hyphen or dash - = a comma or a semicolon.

• a. One will find that the library is a great place for one to study. b. If you have quit playing an instrument, you can undo that horrible decision.

• a. prepositional phrases (show direction/time) b. adjectives (describe) c. adverbs (end in LY) d. extra info (surrounded by commas or dashes)

GR 8 Semicolons, colons, and dashes.

• a. Determine the tense, then plug it into these sentences: i. Today I (present tense). ii. Yesterday I (past tense). iii. For years I have (perfect tense). Perfect = Past Perfect

• a. Use ; or , and i. Ed went to the store, and he bought some gum. (if you just use a comma it becomes a comma splice, which is a grammatical error.)

• a. Semicolon ; = , and (bracketed by two complete thoughts). b. Colon : = example(s) to follow (a complete thought precedes a colon). c. Hyphen or dash - = a comma or a semicolon.

• a. irregardless (regardless) b. funner (more fun) c. where at (where) d. its' (it's or its) e. could of (could have) f. thier (their)

GR 9 Commonly confused words.

• A. Principal vs. Principle Your principal goal is to please your principal, your Pal. Your principles are your bedrock, heart-felt values. i. Graduating from college is my principal motive. ii. My principles won't let me do that. B. Effect vs. Affect Effect is a noun while to affect is a verb. i. Your score should affect your college cost. ii. Apathy will have an effect on your future. C. Then vs. Than Then - time Than - comparison

• a. Show time or direction b. about, above, across, after, against, around, along, among, at, behind, before, beneath, beside, between, beyond, by, down, during, except, for, from, in, near, of, off, on, opposite, out, outside, over, past, regarding, round, since, to, through, under, until, up, with, within, etc... c. Prepositional phrases begin with prepositions and end with nouns, but never have subjects.

• a. It must be clear what the pronoun refers to (must have a clear antecedent). i. Bob and Jim shopped. They bought some jeans. b. Must agree in number and gender with its antecedent. i. Sally and George work hard. They are happy. c. Cross out the names and the word 'and' around the pronouns: isolate the pronoun. i. Give the books to Ed, Rob, Barb, and me. ii. Please study with Ralph and me. d. Think of something identical, simple to understand: final resort when torn between two. i. This is just between you and me. e. Comparisons with a pronoun at end: add the verb. f. The verb 'to be': am, is, are, was, were, has been, had been, could (should, would, can, may, shall, might, must) be, could (should, would, may, might, must) have been, will be, will have been.

• a. Two consistent thoughts: consequently, thus, therefore, because of i. He studies. Thus, he gets rewarded. b. Two consistent thoughts then magnified: furthermore, in fact, indeed, moreover. i. Graduating matters. Moreover, it's vital. c. Two inconsistent thoughts: conversely, despite, ironically, however, still, though, yet, nonetheless, in spite of, nevertheless i. Sally interviewed for the job. However, she did not write a thank you note.

GR 10 How to put two sentences into one sentence.

• For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So (FANBOYS) neither....nor either....or not only....but also a. Identical word order follows each conjunction. i. He received neither the attention deserved nor the support required. ii. Either go to your Grandma's house or go to the store.

• a. irregardless (regardless) b. funner (more fun) c. where at (where) d. its' (it's or its) e. could of (could have) f. thier (their)

• a. Use ; or , and i. Ed went to the store, and he bought some gum. (if you just use a comma it becomes a comma splice, which is a grammatical error.)

• a. prepositional phrases (show direction/time) b. adjectives (describe) c. adverbs (end in LY) d. extra info (surrounded by commas or dashes)