Introduction vii
Section I Grammar and Sentence Structure 1
Chapter 1 The Parts of Speech 3
Chapter 2 Sentence Parts and Patterns 27
Chapter 3 Verb Forms and Tenses 49
Chapter 4 Helping Verbs, Infinitives, and Other Tricky Matters 73
Chapter 5 Subject-Verb Agreement 95
Chapter 6 Pronoun Agreement, Reference, and Case 113
Chapter 7 Modifiers and Their Placement 135
Chapter 8 Sentence Fragments and Run-Ons 155
Chapter 9 Parallelism and Active versus Passive Voice 171
Section II Style and Usage 189
Chapter 10 Effective Word Choice 191
Chapter 11 Being Appropriate 205
Chapter 12 Being Concise 219
Chapter 13 Commonly Confused Words 237
Section III Punctuation and Mechanics 261
Chapter 14 Commas 263
Chapter 15 Semicolons, Colons, Dashes, and Quotation Marks 283
Chapter 16 End Marks, Apostrophes, and the Rest 301
Section IV Cumulative Test 323