Booher's Rules of Business Grammar - Dianna Booher 2009
Index
a or an, 93—94
a or the, for numbers, 50—51
—able or —ible, spelling, 263—264
Active-voice verbs, 121—124
Adjectives, 95—112
defined, 95, 97
—er or —est, 102—103
hyphens, 229—231, 272—273
incomplete comparisons, 109—112
less or fewer, 105—106
less or least, 103
to modify nouns or pronouns, 97—99
more or most, 102—103
over or more than, 107—108
paired, and redundancy, 200—201
punctuation of distinct, 151
unique, round, square, surrounded, or perfect, 104
well or good, 100—101
(See also Modifiers)
Adverbs:
defined, 87, 96—97
to modify verbs, 97—99
one word or two, 87—90
(See also Adjectives; Modifiers)
affect or effect, spelling, 274—276
Almanac (Franklin), 130
Amounts (See Numbers)
an or a, 93—94
Analogy method for capitalization, 245—246
Apostrophes, 173—174, 181—182, 188—189
are contractions, 220
are not contractions, 219—222
Articles:
a, an, the, 93—94
assessment, xxii, 255, 288
assure, insure, or ensure, spelling, 277—278
Author contact information, xxii, 255
Balance (See Parallelism and balance)
British placement of quotation marks, 167—168
Capitalization, 245—253
analogy method, 245—246
conjunctions, 251—253
lowercase, compared to, 251—253
prepositions, 251—253
rule method, 246—247
rules for, 245—248
titles and positions, 249—250
—ceed/—cede/—sede spelling, 266
Clauses:
common sentence starters, 84
redundant that, 203—205
“switch” clauses, 72
that or which, 71—72
with that or which, 136—138
who or whom, 64—65
without, 240—242
Collective nouns and verbs, 44—45
Colloquialisms, 217—218
Colons:
before a list, 156—158
quotation mark placement, 165
Comma Sense: A Fun-damental Guide to Punctuation (Lederer and Shore), 129
Commands, softened, punctuation for, 161—162
Commas, 133—146
clauses with that or which, 136—138
for direct address, 139—141
enclosing, 153—155
for introductions, 144—146
quotation mark placement, 165
salutations, 142—143
to separate equal things, 150—152
unnecessary, 133—135
Comparisons:
—er or —est, 102—103
incomplete, 109—112, 236—237
less or least, 103
more or most, 102—103
(See also Adjectives; Adverbs)
Compound words:
hyphens, 269—270, 272—273
plural forms, 269—270
Conjunctions and capitalization, 251—253
Consonant, words that begin with, and articles a or an, 93—94
Contractions;
are, 220
are not, 219—222
is, 220
of, 219—222
will, 220
would, 220
Correlative links, 232—233
Crosby, Norm, 213
Dangling modifiers, 80—86
Dashes, 225—228
Descriptive possessives, 188—189
Direct address, commas for, 139—141
Doublespeak, 202
effect or affect, spelling, 274—276
e.g. or i.e., 281
—ei and —ie spelling, 263, 266
either/or, 52—53, 232—233
eminent or imminent, spelling, 284
Enclosing commas, 153—155
ensure, insure or assure, spelling, 277—278
—er or —est, 102—103
et cetera, redundancy, 206—207
Exclamation points, and quotation mark placement, 165
Expletives, 33—35
Extra —s, 91—92
fewer or less, 105—106
Fillers, 217—218
First-person viewpoint, 118
Fractions, verbs with, 48—49
Fragment, sentence, 159—160
Franklin, Ben, 130
Gerunds, possessives before, 183—185
got or have/has, 223—224
Grammar, reasons for concern about, xvii—xxi
have/has or got, 223—224
Helping verbs, 12—13, 17—18
Hyphens:
compound words, 269—270, 272—273
dashes, compared to, 225—226
plural forms for compound words
written as two words or hyphenated, 269—270
with prefixes, 264—265
and related adjectives, 229—231
salutations, 142—143
usage in words, 225—226
I or you as objective pronouns, 57—59
—ible or —able, spelling, 263—264
Ideas, redundancy in, 195—196
i.e. or e.g., 281
if/neither, 232—233
imminent or eminent, spelling, 284
Incomplete comparisons, 109—112
Indefinite pronouns, 46—47
Independent clauses, punctuation, 151
Indirect questions, punctuation, 161—162
Indirect quotations, punctuation, 163—164
Infinitive(s), split, 238—239
insure, ensure or assure, spelling, 277—278
Intentional sentence fragment, 159—160
Introductions, punctuation for, 144—146
Irregular nouns, plural spellings, 267—268
Irregular verbs:
common, 7—9
and helping verbs, 12—13, 17—18
is contractions, 220
to come, 15—16
to do, 10—11
to go, 12—14
to see, 17—18
Items in a series, punctuation, 151
it’s or its, 175—176
Joint ownership, possessives, 181—182
lay or lie, 20—21
least or less, 103
Lederer, Richard, 129
less or fewer, 105—106
less or least, 103
lie or lay, 20—21
Linking verbs, 42—43
Linking words and, but, so, or, for, nor, yet, 151
Little-word padding and redundancy, 193—197
Lowercase, compared to capitalization, 251—253
Malapropisms, 213
may or might, 36—37
Meaning, quotation marks to change, 169—170
Memory Tips, xxi-xxii
Metaphors, mixed, 234—235
might or may, 36—37
Misplaced modifiers, 77—79
Mispronunciation, 213—214
Misspelled words:
—able or —ible, 263—264
affect or effect, 274—276
—ceed/—cede/—sede, 266
compound words, 272—273
e.g. or i.e., 281
—ei and —ie, 263, 266
eminent or imminent, 284
ensure, insure, or assure, 277—278
extra —s, 91—92
frequently misspelled, 257—263
hyphens, 272—273
nauseated or nauseous, 282—283
one word or two, 87—90
plurals, 267—271
prefixes, 264—265
principal or principle, 279—280
suffixes, 263—266
Mixed metaphors, 234—235
Modifiers, 75—94
articles a or an, 93—94
dangling, 80—86
defined, 75
extra —s, 91—92
misplaced, 77—79
one word or two, 87—90
which, dangling, 85—86
(See also Adjectives; Adverbs)
Money, verbs with, 48—49
more or most, 102—103
more than or over, 107—108
nauseated or nauseous, spelling, 282—283
neither/nor, 52—53, 232—233
Nominative pronouns, 60—61
Nonwords, 217—218
not only/but also, 52—53, 232—233
Nouns:
adjectives to modify, 97—99
collective nouns and verbs, 44—45
hyphens:
in compound words, 272—273
and related adjectives, 229—231
paired, and redundancy, 200—201
plural form spelling, 267—269
plural forms for words ending in:
—f or —fe, 268
—o, 269
—s, —ss, —z, —sh, —ch, or —x, 268
—y, 269
unclear pronoun references, 68—70
into verbs, 3—6
Numbers:
a or the, 50—51
possessives, 186—187
starting sentence with, 215—216
verbs with, 48—51
Objective pronouns, you or I, 57—59
of contractions, 219—222
One of a kind/one of a category, 38—39
over or more than, 107—108
Paired nouns, adjectives, or verbs, and redundancy, 200—201
Parallelism and balance:
active-voice verbs, 121—124
defined, 113
either/or, neither/nor, not only/but also agreement, 52—53, 232—233
as pair of ideas, 115—116
passive-voice verbs, 121—124
tense changes, 23—25, 125—127
viewpoints, 117—120
Passive-voice verbs, 121—124
Past participles, common, 8—9
Past perfect tense:
irregular verb to come, 16
irregular verb to go, 13
Past tense:
common irregular verbs, 7—9
irregular verb to come, 16
Percentages, verbs with, 48—49
Period:
to end sentence, 151
quotation mark placement, 165
Plural forms:
compound words written as two words or hyphenated, 269—270
foreign words, 270—271
irregular nouns, 267—268
nouns, 267—269
nouns ending in:
—f or —fe, 268
—o, 269
—s, —ss, —z, —sh, —ch, or —x, 268
—y, 269
possessives, compared to, 179—180
spelling, 267—271
subject-verb agreement, 42—43
Positions and titles, capitalization, 249—250
Possessives, 173—190
amounts, 186—187
apostrophes, 173—174, 181—182, 188—189
descriptive, 188—189
before gerunds, 183—185
it’s or its, 175—176
joint ownership, 181—182
numbers, 186—187
plurals, compared to, 179—180
time, 186—187
whose or who’s, 177—178
Prefixes, spelled, 264—265
Prepositional phrases, 243—244
Prepositions:
capitalization, 251—253
redundancy, 208—209
Present perfect tense:
irregular verb to come, 16
irregular verb to go, 13
Present tense:
common irregular verbs, 8—9
irregular verb to come, 16
irregular verb to do, 10—11
principal or principle, spelling, 279—280
Pronouns, 55—74
adjectives to modify, 97—99
following than, 66—67
indefinite pronouns, 46—47
nominative, 60—61
objective, you or I, 57—59
reflexive —self, 62—63
subject, 60—61
that or which, 71—72
unclear references, 68—70
uses, 55
who and verb agreement, 38—39
who or that, 73
who or whom, 64—65
Punctuation, 129—172
apostrophes, 173—174, 181—182
colons, 156—158, 165
commas, 133—146
importance of, 129—132
indirect questions, 161—162
indirect quotations, 163—164
for introductions, 144—146
period, 151, 165
quotation marks, 163—172
run-on sentences, 147—149
for salutations, 142—143
semicolons, 147—149, 151, 165
sentence fragment, 159—160
softened commands, 161—162
Quantities, verbs with, 48—49
Question marks, and quotation mark placement, 165
Quotation marks:
British placement, 167—168
to change tone or meaning, 169—170
indirect quotations, 163—164
placement, 165—168
single quotation marks, 171—172
Quotations, indirect, 163—164
Redundancy, 191—210
doublespeak, 202
et cetera, 206—207
in ideas, 195—196
little-word padding, 193—197
paired nouns, adjectives, or verbs, 200—201
prepositions, 208—209
so forth, 206—207
that, 203—205
verb add-ons, 198—199
Reflexive —self pronouns, 62—63
The Rivals (Sheridan), 213
Rule method for capitalization, 246—247
Run-on sentences, 147—149
Salutations, punctuation for, 142—143
Second-person viewpoint, 118
—sede/—ceed/—cede spelling, 266
—self reflexive pronouns, 62—63
Semicolon, 147—149, 151, 165
Sentences:
common sentence starters, 84
fragment, 159—160
number, starting with, 215—216
punctuation to end sentence, 151
run-on, 147—149
Sheridan, Richard, 213
Shore, John, 129
Similes, 234—235
Single quotation marks, 171—172
So forth and redundancy, 206—207
Softened commands, punctuation for, 161—162
Spelling (See Misspelled words)
Split infinitives, 238—239
Subject:
compound, and phrasal prepositions, 243—244
either/or, neither/nor, not only/but also agreement, 52—53, 232—233
nominative pronouns, 60—61
objective pronouns, you or I, 57—59
verb agreement, 40—41
(See also Nouns; Pronouns)
Subject pronouns, 60—61
Subject-verb agreement and plurals, 42—43
Subjunctive-mood verbs, 27—32
Suffixes, misspelled words, 263—266
“Switch” clauses, 72
Tense:
changes in, 23—25, 125—128
lie or lay, 20—21
parallelism and balance, 125—127
past perfect tense:
irregular verb to come, 16
irregular verb to go, 13
past tense:
common irregular verbs, 7—9
irregular verb to come, 16
present perfect tense:
irregular verb to come, 16
irregular verb to go, 13
present tense:
common irregular verbs, 8—9
irregular verb to come, 16
irregular verb to do, 10—11
than, pronouns following, 66—67
that or which, 71—72, 136—138
that or who, 73
that redundancies, 203—205
the or a, for numbers, 50—51
Third-person viewpoint, 118
Thoreau, Henry David, 127
Time:
possessives, 186—187
verbs with, 48—49
Titles and positions, capitalization, 249—250
to do irregular verb, 10—11
to go irregular verb, 12—14
to see irregular verb, 17—18
Tone, quotation marks to change, 169—170
Unique, round, square, surrounded, or perfect, 104
Uppercase (See Capitalization)
Verbosity (See Redundancy)
Verbs, 1—53
active voice, 121—124
add-ons and redundancy, 198—199
adverbs to modify, 97—99
and collective nouns, 44—45
either/or, 52—53, 232—233
and expletives, 33—35
finding precise word, 3—4
with fractions, 48—49
helping verbs, 12—13, 17—18
hyphens in compound words, 272—273
imperative-mood verbs, 26
indefinite pronouns, 46—47
indicative-mood verbs, 26
infinitives, split, 238—239
irregular (See Irregular verbs)
lie or lay, 19—22
linking verbs, 42—43
may or might, 36—37
with money, 48—49
mood, 27—32
neither/nor, 52—53, 232—233
not only/but also, 52—53, 232—233
into nouns, 3—6
with numbers, 48—51
one of a kind/one of a category, 38—39
paired, and redundancy, 200—201
passive voice, 121—124
with percentages, 48—49
with quantities, 48—49
redundancy, 198—199
strength of, 5—6
subject agreement, 40—41
subjunctive-mood verbs, 27—32
tense changes, 23—25, 125—128
with time, 48—49
who, 38—39
Versus, 223—224
Vowel sounds, words that begin with, articles a or an, 93—94
Web site of author, xxii, 255
well or good, 100—101
which, dangling, 85—86
which or that, 71—72, 136—138
who, and verb agreement, 38—39
who or that, 73
who or whom, 64—65
whose or who’s, 177—178
will contractions, 220
without, 240—242
would contractions, 220
you or I as objective pronouns, 57—59