The Daily News
1 Ah, so good to be back. Happy Wed-nes-day!
2 Or, more directly, Winds Day, if you are a Pooh fan.
3 Swift week.
4 Lots going on.
5 So.
6 I always considered Wednesday the best day of the week to teach, because it isn't Monday, and it isn't Friday, in 'Murica, at least, the two most unproductive days of the week.
7 Now if we just eliminate Tuesdays from the week altogether...
8 It occurs to me that I also promised to give some writing lessons up in here.
9 Easy enough. Allow me to deliver the goods, for once. See if you can follow these simple language tricks and rules. Here go:
10 Omit needless words. That's from Strunk and White's The Elements of Style.
11 Let's take item 8, above, and put it to work. Ready?
12
13 Here it is:
It occurs to me that I also promised to give some writing lessons up in here.
14 Let's apply the aforementioned writing rule: Omit needless words:
15 Here is the revised sentence:
I promised some writing lessons the other day.
Notice I replaced the deplorable up in here with the more concise and formal the other day. So it is okay to change needless words and to replace them with something better.
Notice I replaced the deplorable up in here with the more concise and formal the other day. So it is okay to change needless words and to replace them with something better.
16 Fun rule. Works every time.
17 Here is a fun grammar rule. Listen:
If you have a two-syllable word with the accent on the second syllable, AND it ends in a consonant/vowel/consonant, you double the final consonant before you attach a suffix.
18
19 Huh?
20 Haha! Mathematicians and scientists instantly understood that.
21 What about the visual learner?
22 You break it down with examples.
23 Quick. Name a two-syllable word with the stress on the second syllable AND that ends with a consonant/vowel/consonant.
24 Uh...Ummm...I know!!!
omit
25 Is the stress on the "o" or on the "mit?"
26 Uh...shoot...uh...on the "mit?"
27 Yes, because it is pronounced "oh-MIT." If you said the stress was on the "oh" you would be wrong.
28 The word would be pronounced "OH-mit."
29 Let us look at the next part of that rule.
If you have a two-syllable word with the accent on the second syllable (we do; we just established that), AND it ends with a consonant/vowel/consonant...
omit
m=consonant i=vowel t=consonant.
It does.
you double the final consonant before you attach a suffix.
30 And just what is a suffix? A suffix is a group of letters you might add to the end of the word to change tense, for example. Watch what we do with omit when we add a suffix:
I omit needless words. (omit remains itself, in the present form.)
I omitted needless words. (omit changes to a past form when you add --ed as a suffix.)
31 How does the rule work? I know that the past form of the word omit is omitted. I might not remember whether to double the "t" or not when I spell the word. I might spell it incorrectly:
INCORRECT: omited
CORRECT: omitted
How did the rule fit in there? Given: Omit is a two-syllable word with the stress on the second syllable AND it ends in a consonant/vowel/consonant. According to the rule, I double the final consonant (in this instance, the "t") before adding the suffix --ed). Do you see?
32 Quick exercise: I will give you a two-syllable word with the accent on the second syllable AND that ends in a consonant/vowel/consonant. I will give you a suffix. Add the suffix correctly to the given word:
a. admit (add the suffix --ed)
b. commit (add --ing)
c. upset (add --ing)
d. deter (add --ent)
e. repel (add --ent)
f. confer (add --ed)
g. rebel (add --ion)
33 Re-read the rule carefully, and then give it a go on a scrap of paper. The answers will be found towards the end of this DN. Try not to peek.
34 Fun stuff. I always thought grammar was fun, even as a student.
35 And I love old grammar books, but I am quite choosy as to which work best for normal people.
36 I find that the Warriner's English Grammar and Composition books, particularly the Fourth Course, are above and beyond all others.
37 Here is a current link. Hit the link, not the picture:
38 I put you through to a used copy. A new one is over $90. A used one is as little as $3.41 plus shipping, which is usually under five bucks. No rush, so for under ten dollars, you get an excellent book.
39 There are other places you can get these if you are an online shopper. I keep thinking these are going to disappear, but they seem to be available, and have been for a few years now. I may buy a few more just to have around.
40 One major drawback is you don't get an answer sheet to the exercises. If you are uncomfortable with that, then I suggest you buy a regular edition, and a Teacher's edition as well, even if they don't match up. Teacher's editions vary, but most explain the answers.
41 As a card-carrying egomaniac, I never worked with a Teacher's edition. I preferred trying to figure things out on my own. That's just me. Do whatever works for you. You're a grown-up now, even if you're still a kid.
42 And that one link isn't the only means of acquiring the books. Barnes and Noble, for example, also has links to the wide, wonderful world of grammar as it should be taught.
43 So when you have a few minutes, and a few dollars, get these. They are better than Grammarly, which didn't catch a lot of deliberate errors I threw on one of their sample pages. Grammarly works if you have a grasp of grammar, but if it has always bopped you in the nose, avoid it.
44 The Purdue Owl also has good grammar stuff. To me, nothing on the planet beats Warriner's.
45 Stephen King swears by both Strunk and White's The Elements of Style, and by Warriner's. I agree.
46 Avoid any grammar website that teaches it alphabetically. That makes about as much sense as teaching math or science alphabetically. Think about it. If you were to write a book about car repair, you would probably start with parts of the engine. You would then learn how the parts work in the engine. In writing, you learn the parts first: nouns, pronouns, adjectives, etc. Then you learn how they work in a sentence. The analogy works. Give it some time. You'll get better at writing, I promise.
47 I think I'll back off here. I'm still trying to go back and find my grammar lessons, but Google or someone keeps sending me this annoying message that has a dinosaur on it and says, "Oh, snap!..." and then shuts down my laptop. "Oh, snap..." Seriously?
48 As in, "Oh, snap! We once again have obliterated your train of thought because we haven't quite perfected this crap yet." Annoyingly un-cute.
49 So "Oh, snap!" I'm getting out of here before this laptop turns into a real dinosaur and starts swallowing me. But first, I need to give you the answers to the grammar exercise:
Here is the challenge:
a. admitted b. committing c. upsetting d. deterrent
e. repellent f. conferred g. rebellion
50 Gottago.
51 Don't really want to, but what can you do? Oh, snap. Google keeps popping me offline. Oh, snap. I think I'll do some gardening instead of wasting time with Google.
52 Hope you enjoyed this little stroll through grammar. See you tomorrow. Why is this the greatest grammar lesson you'll ever have? It took you to the Holy Grail of Grammar: Warriner's English Grammar and Composition, Fourth Course, an awesome resource for mere pennies, and in your grasp within a week. Name a better grammar lesson.
53 Have a GREAT day.
54 Peace.
d. deter (add --ent)
e. repel (add --ent)
f. confer (add --ed)
g. rebel (add --ion)
33 Re-read the rule carefully, and then give it a go on a scrap of paper. The answers will be found towards the end of this DN. Try not to peek.
34 Fun stuff. I always thought grammar was fun, even as a student.
35 And I love old grammar books, but I am quite choosy as to which work best for normal people.
36 I find that the Warriner's English Grammar and Composition books, particularly the Fourth Course, are above and beyond all others.
37 Here is a current link. Hit the link, not the picture:
38 I put you through to a used copy. A new one is over $90. A used one is as little as $3.41 plus shipping, which is usually under five bucks. No rush, so for under ten dollars, you get an excellent book.
39 There are other places you can get these if you are an online shopper. I keep thinking these are going to disappear, but they seem to be available, and have been for a few years now. I may buy a few more just to have around.
40 One major drawback is you don't get an answer sheet to the exercises. If you are uncomfortable with that, then I suggest you buy a regular edition, and a Teacher's edition as well, even if they don't match up. Teacher's editions vary, but most explain the answers.
41 As a card-carrying egomaniac, I never worked with a Teacher's edition. I preferred trying to figure things out on my own. That's just me. Do whatever works for you. You're a grown-up now, even if you're still a kid.
42 And that one link isn't the only means of acquiring the books. Barnes and Noble, for example, also has links to the wide, wonderful world of grammar as it should be taught.
43 So when you have a few minutes, and a few dollars, get these. They are better than Grammarly, which didn't catch a lot of deliberate errors I threw on one of their sample pages. Grammarly works if you have a grasp of grammar, but if it has always bopped you in the nose, avoid it.
44 The Purdue Owl also has good grammar stuff. To me, nothing on the planet beats Warriner's.
45 Stephen King swears by both Strunk and White's The Elements of Style, and by Warriner's. I agree.
46 Avoid any grammar website that teaches it alphabetically. That makes about as much sense as teaching math or science alphabetically. Think about it. If you were to write a book about car repair, you would probably start with parts of the engine. You would then learn how the parts work in the engine. In writing, you learn the parts first: nouns, pronouns, adjectives, etc. Then you learn how they work in a sentence. The analogy works. Give it some time. You'll get better at writing, I promise.
47 I think I'll back off here. I'm still trying to go back and find my grammar lessons, but Google or someone keeps sending me this annoying message that has a dinosaur on it and says, "Oh, snap!..." and then shuts down my laptop. "Oh, snap..." Seriously?
48 As in, "Oh, snap! We once again have obliterated your train of thought because we haven't quite perfected this crap yet." Annoyingly un-cute.
49 So "Oh, snap!" I'm getting out of here before this laptop turns into a real dinosaur and starts swallowing me. But first, I need to give you the answers to the grammar exercise:
Here is the challenge:
a. admit (add the suffix --ed)
b. commit (add --ing)
c. upset (add --ing)
d. deter (add --ent)
c. upset (add --ing)
d. deter (add --ent)
e. repel (add --ent)
f. confer (add --ed)
g. rebel (add --ion)
Here are the solutions:
f. confer (add --ed)
g. rebel (add --ion)
Here are the solutions:
a. admitted b. committing c. upsetting d. deterrent
e. repellent f. conferred g. rebellion
50 Gottago.
51 Don't really want to, but what can you do? Oh, snap. Google keeps popping me offline. Oh, snap. I think I'll do some gardening instead of wasting time with Google.
52 Hope you enjoyed this little stroll through grammar. See you tomorrow. Why is this the greatest grammar lesson you'll ever have? It took you to the Holy Grail of Grammar: Warriner's English Grammar and Composition, Fourth Course, an awesome resource for mere pennies, and in your grasp within a week. Name a better grammar lesson.
53 Have a GREAT day.
54 Peace.
~H~
fin.
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