ACCUPLACER Writing flashcards
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32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Sentence fragment
- A word group punctuated as a sentence that lacks a subject, a working verb, or a complete thought. Dependent clauses and participial phrases standing alone are typical fragments.
- Comma splice
- Two independent clauses joined by only a comma. It is repaired with a period, a semicolon, or a comma plus a coordinating conjunction such as and or but.
- Fused sentence
- Two independent clauses run together with no punctuation and no conjunction between them. It is repaired exactly like a comma splice: period, semicolon, or comma plus conjunction.
- Coordinating conjunctions
- The seven words for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so, often remembered as FANBOYS. Only these can join two independent clauses with a single comma before them.
- Subordinating conjunction
- A word such as because, although, when, if, since, while, or unless that makes a clause dependent. When the dependent clause opens the sentence, a comma follows it.
- Restrictive clause
- An adjective clause essential to the meaning of the sentence. It takes no commas and is usually introduced by that for things or who for people.
- Nonrestrictive clause
- An adjective clause that supplies extra, nonessential information. It is set off by commas and is typically introduced by which rather than that.
- Dangling modifier
- An opening descriptive or participial phrase that does not logically describe the subject of the main clause, as in Walking home, the rain began.
- Parallel structure
- Items in a series, or items joined by correlatives like either...or and not only...but also, must share the same grammatical form, such as all nouns or all gerunds.
- Independent clause
- A group of words containing a subject and a working verb that expresses a complete thought and can stand alone as a sentence.
- Relative pronoun
- One of the pronouns who, whom, whose, which, or that, used to begin an adjective clause and link it to the noun being described.
- Subject-verb agreement
- The verb must match its subject in number. Phrases that fall between the subject and the verb, especially prepositional phrases, never change the verb's number.
- Indefinite pronoun agreement
- Each, either, neither, everyone, anybody, nobody, and someone are singular; both, few, many, and several are plural; all, some, most, and none depend on the noun after of.
- Collective noun agreement
- Words such as team, committee, jury, and family take a singular verb when the group acts as one unit and a plural verb when the members act separately.
- Pronoun case
- Use subject pronouns such as I, he, she, they, and who for subjects, and object pronouns such as me, him, her, them, and whom for objects of verbs or prepositions.
- Who versus whom
- Who is the subject form and whom is the object form. Test the choice by substituting he or him: if him fits the slot, use whom.
- Affect versus effect
- Affect is normally a verb meaning to influence, while effect is normally a noun meaning result. Effect used as a verb means to bring something about.
- Its versus it's
- Its shows possession and carries no apostrophe; it's is a contraction of it is or it has and never shows possession.
- Fewer versus less
- Use fewer with countable items, as in fewer chairs, and less with quantities that cannot be counted one by one, as in less water.
- Adjective versus adverb
- Adjectives modify nouns and pronouns, while adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs and often end in -ly, as in well versus good.
- Double negative
- Two negatives in one clause, such as didn't see nothing, cancel each other. Standard written English uses one negative, as in didn't see anything.
- Present perfect tense
- Formed with has or have plus the past participle, this tense describes action continuing up to the present or past action at an unspecified time.
- Semicolon use
- A semicolon joins two independent clauses that have no conjunction between them, and it also separates series items that already contain commas.
- Colon use
- A colon follows a complete independent clause and introduces a list, an explanation, or a quotation. It never comes directly after a verb or a preposition.
- Comma after introductory element
- A comma follows an introductory word, phrase, or dependent clause that precedes the main clause, as in After the storm, the power returned.
- Singular possessive apostrophe
- Add an apostrophe and s to a singular noun to show possession, as in the dog's collar or the class's project.
- Plural possessive apostrophe
- For a plural noun already ending in s, add only the apostrophe, as in the students' essays. Irregular plurals take apostrophe plus s, as in children's.
- Apostrophe with plurals
- An apostrophe is never used to form a plural. Write the 1990s, CDs, and three cats rather than 1990's, CD's, or cat's.
- Quotation mark punctuation
- Commas and periods go inside closing quotation marks. Question marks and exclamation points go inside only when they belong to the quoted words themselves.
- Dash use
- A dash marks a sharp break in thought or sets off an emphatic aside. A pair of dashes can replace parentheses when stronger emphasis is wanted.
- Comma in a series
- Commas separate three or more items in a list, and a comma before the conjunction in the series helps prevent a misreading of the items.
- Hyphen in compound adjectives
- Hyphenate a compound adjective that comes before the noun it modifies, as in a well-known author or a two-week vacation; drop the hyphen after the noun.