Grammar
As college-level students constantly pelted with writing opportunities or obligations, have you already asked yourselves what constitutes good grammar? Proper grammar is not merely relying on the computer to fix everything. In order to ensure that a piece of writing is grammatically correct in its entirety, what can be done? Aside from going to the Vesalius Writing Centre, there are ways to check one’s own grammar for errors.
Where To Start
Reading the piece aloud is a good place to start. People often tend to be so tuned into oral/aural channels that when it comes to writing, it is easy to lose sight of what is right over what is wrong. Hearing what is written aloud can help trigger better judgment.
That is not to say that written English is exactly the same as spoken English. As you learned to speak English by hearing what sounds correct, read English to know what ‘looks’ correct.
Syntax (Word Order)
The standard order of words in an English sentence is as follows: Subject, Verb, Object. This is however a very general model, and these are only the basic parts of a sentence. If you can read this page, you are probably beyond the basics of English grammar, so let’s try some more advanced issues of word order.
Which
Adjectives go in the following order, usually before the noun they modify:
[Article] (evaluation) (size) (shape) (age) (color) (nationality) (religion) (material or composition) {noun}
- A curious, wide-eyed 10-year old Italian girl…
- The last big red egg-laying hen...
When
Expressions of time or frequency can usually be placed at the beginning of the sentence or after the verb phrase. The difference between the two is a matter of authorial emphasis.
- Everyday before dawn, the wide-eyed girl fed the chickens
- The wide-eyed girl fed the chickens everyday before dawn.
- Sometimes, she was late and the hens would be impatient.
How
Other adverbs are more flexible and may be placed mid-sentence as well. (Note: these adverbs generally come after the first part of the verb unless there is only one part.)
- The curious girl always looked for eggs.
- The eggs were usually lying underneath the sittings hens.
- The girl did not often miss an egg.
Subject-Verb Agreement
A correct verb form must be used with each subject noun or pronoun. In English, there are usually only two choices of verb form in any given tense (singular or plural) so the real challenge comes when trying to identify the head subject. In the examples below, the core subject and the matching verb are highlighted.
- Class meets twice a week.
- My parents live in a house built in the 1920's.
- Uncle Paul and Aunt Jeanine, until recently, had been looking for a new babysitter.
- One of our neighbours is going to run for city council.