Grammar is often talked about to write well, so I thought I would post a good reminder of some grammar things that I found useful! Grammar might come as second-nature to you but it's always good to go back and look for any mistakes 
Problems usually occur when there are words separating the subject and the
verb, usually (but not always!) a prepositional phrase.
Example: Winners of the state contest (go or goes?) to the national finals.
Take out the prepositional phrase of the state contest, and the answer is easy:
Winners go to the national finals.
Your red-flag word is "of," which signals the beginning of a prepositional phrase.
Some of the most common prepositions that begin prepositional phrases are: to, of, about, at, before, after, by, behind, during, for, from, in, over, under, with.
Other examples:
One of the problems (is or are?) broken equipment.
One of the problems is broken equipment.
Other words that can get in the way of easily matching the verb to the subject are: including, together with, along with, accompanied by, in addition to, except and as well as.
These are also discounted in subject-verb agreement.
For example:
The moon, as well as Venus, (is or are?) visible in the night sky.
The moon, as well as Venus, is visible in the night sky.
Example:
The senior class nervously awaits final exams. (senior class acting as a unit)
The senior class were fitted for their graduation robes today. (senior class acting as individuals)
The couple in blue is engaged. (Couple is a single unit.)
The couple say their vows tomorrow. (Separate actions for each person in the couple.)
Common indefinite pronouns
Always use plural verbs:
Always use singular verb:
Singular or plural depending on context:
The singular forms for these are criterion, bacterium, and phenomenon.
Use plural verbs:
The bacteria multiply rapidly (not multiplies)
These are important criteria (not This is an important criteria).
In Latin, data and media are plural nouns. Although in spoken words, it is common to make them into singular nouns, in formal writing, they should be plural nouns with a plural verb.
Dangling Participles
A participial phrase that comes at the beginning of the sentence is always followed by a comma and modifies the subject of the sentence.
Example: Removing his coat, Jack rushed to the river.
Participial phrases sometimes appear to modify a word that they cannot logically modify.
The word it should modify does not appear in the sentence, thus causing what is known as a dangling participle.
A dangling participle is one that the speaker really intends to describe something other than the grammatical subject of the sentence.
DANGLING: "Riding along on my bicycle, a dog knocked me over." (A dog was riding?)
In this sentence it appears that the participle riding must relate to dog, so we end up with a dog that has first stolen a bicycle and then ridden it carelessly! The speaker really means riding to relate to me.
CORRECTED: "A dog knocked me over as I rode my bicycle."
Modifying the wrong subject or actor is a common mistake. Check your sentences to be sure you're not "dangling"!
For example, if you are communicating bad news or negative feedback, use of passive voice can take the sting out of the message.
Example:
Active: You are past due on your registration payment.
Passive: Your registration payment is past due.
The passive example is less confrontational. It takes the actor out of the sentence so that the message does not appear to blame someone.
Use passive voice:
Hope this was useful! Maybe we could make this thread a grammar tip one?
Subject-verb Agreement: words between subject and verb
Problems usually occur when there are words separating the subject and the
verb, usually (but not always!) a prepositional phrase.
Example: Winners of the state contest (go or goes?) to the national finals.
Take out the prepositional phrase of the state contest, and the answer is easy:
Winners go to the national finals.
Your red-flag word is "of," which signals the beginning of a prepositional phrase.
Some of the most common prepositions that begin prepositional phrases are: to, of, about, at, before, after, by, behind, during, for, from, in, over, under, with.
Other examples:
One of the problems (is or are?) broken equipment.
One of the problems is broken equipment.
Other words that can get in the way of easily matching the verb to the subject are: including, together with, along with, accompanied by, in addition to, except and as well as.
These are also discounted in subject-verb agreement.
For example:
The moon, as well as Venus, (is or are?) visible in the night sky.
The moon, as well as Venus, is visible in the night sky.
Collective Nouns: A collective noun names a group of people or things, such as family, group, audience, class, number committee, team, etc.
The rule is when the group acts as one unit, use a singular verb. When the members of the group act individually, use a plural verb.Example:
The senior class nervously awaits final exams. (senior class acting as a unit)
The senior class were fitted for their graduation robes today. (senior class acting as individuals)
The couple in blue is engaged. (Couple is a single unit.)
The couple say their vows tomorrow. (Separate actions for each person in the couple.)
Common indefinite pronouns
Always use plural verbs:
- both
- many
Always use singular verb:
- another
- anybody
- anyone
- anything
- each
- either
- every
- everybody
- everyone
- everything
- neither
- nobody
- no one
- nothing
- one
- somebody
- someone
- something
Singular or plural depending on context:
- all
- any
- more
- most
- none
- some
Plural Nouns That Look Singular
Some words look as though they are singular when they are in fact plural, especially words ending in -a (eg. criteria, bacteria, and phenomena, etc.)The singular forms for these are criterion, bacterium, and phenomenon.
Use plural verbs:
The bacteria multiply rapidly (not multiplies)
These are important criteria (not This is an important criteria).
In Latin, data and media are plural nouns. Although in spoken words, it is common to make them into singular nouns, in formal writing, they should be plural nouns with a plural verb.
Dangling Participles
A participial phrase that comes at the beginning of the sentence is always followed by a comma and modifies the subject of the sentence.
Example: Removing his coat, Jack rushed to the river.
Participial phrases sometimes appear to modify a word that they cannot logically modify.
The word it should modify does not appear in the sentence, thus causing what is known as a dangling participle.
A dangling participle is one that the speaker really intends to describe something other than the grammatical subject of the sentence.
DANGLING: "Riding along on my bicycle, a dog knocked me over." (A dog was riding?)
In this sentence it appears that the participle riding must relate to dog, so we end up with a dog that has first stolen a bicycle and then ridden it carelessly! The speaker really means riding to relate to me.
CORRECTED: "A dog knocked me over as I rode my bicycle."
Modifying the wrong subject or actor is a common mistake. Check your sentences to be sure you're not "dangling"!
Using Active Versus Passive Voice
Passive voice is more appropriate in certain instances, especially in business communications. We use passive voice to purposefully leave out the actor or subject of the sentence in an effort to sound more diplomatic.For example, if you are communicating bad news or negative feedback, use of passive voice can take the sting out of the message.
Example:
Active: You are past due on your registration payment.
Passive: Your registration payment is past due.
The passive example is less confrontational. It takes the actor out of the sentence so that the message does not appear to blame someone.
Use passive voice:
- When you don't know the actor (eg. The door was left unlocked.)
- When the actor is unimportant to the point you're making (eg. The office will be open on Monday.)
- When the emphasis is clearly not on the actor but on the acted upon (eg. What happened to the employee who took that money from Petty Cash? The employee was fired.)
Hope this was useful! Maybe we could make this thread a grammar tip one?
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