The Grammar Grind~The Sem;colon

This Phat Beat I'm Bustin' is for MC Brenda Dyer...

Everytime you see me, I'm just so hype; I'm dope on the floor and I'm magic on the mic.

-MC Hammer, You Can't Touch This

Did you just bop your head up and down; recall trying to master the MC Hammer or his infamous typewriter? I bet you had a pair of Hammer Pants, didn't you? Hee hee. I did.

The Semicolon is

not a semi-automatic weapon;

a semi-formal; 

a semi-truck;

or the Movie Semi-Pro.

I wouldn't suggest getting a tattoo.

Just read my post.

This is a SEMICOLON.

The following lesson is from my FAVE Grammar Site- GRAMMAR BYTES.

I highly reccomend visiting this site. Their motto is: GRAMMAR WITH ATTITUDE. How me!

They even have lessons on YOUTUBE.

They have exercises where they explain the answer, right or wrong! Here is the link to the lesson on semicolons below.

Recognize a semicolon when you see one.

The semicolon [ ; ] is a powerful mark of punctuation with three uses.

The first appropriate use of the semicolon is to connect two related sentences. The pattern looks like this:

complete sentence + ; + complete sentence.

Here is an example:

Grandma still rides her Harley motorcycle; her toy poodle balances in a basket between the handlebars.

A semicolon can also team up with a transition—often a conjunctive adverb—to connect two sentences close in meaning. The pattern looks like this:

complete sentence + ; + transition + , + complete sentence.

Check out this example:

My father does not approve of his mother cruising around town on a Harley motorcycle; however, Grandma has never cared what anyone thinks.

Finally, use the semicolon to avoid confusion when you have complicated lists of items. The pattern looks like this:

item + , + more information + ; + item + , + more information + ; + and + item + , + more information

Read the following example:

On a Harley motorcycle, my grandmother and her poodle have traveled to Anchorage, Alaska; San Francisco, California; and Tijuana, Mexico.

Keep these three things in mind when you use a semicolon:

The two main clauses that the semicolon joins should be closely related in meaning.

Don't capitalize the word that follows the semicolon unless that word is a proper noun, one that is always capitalized.

Limit your use of semicolons; you should not scatter them wantonly throughout your writing. Semicolons are like glasses of champagne; save them for special occasions.

PURDUE University has a wonderful online Writing Lab. Eventhough it is geared for their students it has great refreshers and tips for ALL writers. Here you can peruse handouts and print great resources. A must read site!

Semicolons-from the PURDUE OWL Website:

Semicolon (;)

Use a semicolon when you link two independent clauses with no connecting words. For example:

I am going home; I intend to stay there.
It rained heavily during the afternoon; we managed to have our picnic anyway.
They couldn't make it to the summit and back before dark; they decided to camp for the night.

You can also use a semicolon when you join two independent clauses together with one of the following conjunctive adverbs (adverbs that join independent clauses): however, moreover, therefore, consequently, otherwise, nevertheless, thus, etc. For example:

I am going home; moreover, I intend to stay there.
It rained heavily during the afternoon; however, we managed to have our picnic anyway.
They couldn't make it to the summit and back before dark; therefore, they decided to camp for the night.

OK. CHALLENGE: Do I use the SEMICOLONS CORRECTLY at the beginning of the post? You will see them enlarged.

Shoo. Go practice. 

I'm not so perfect with PAST PERFECT~GRAMMAR GRIND

I'd rather iron than brush up on my grammar. I'd rather be domestic. I am not that domestic. This is how much I hate GRAMMAR. But the judge from that contest is still in the back of my mind. "Once you get a better understanding of the English language..." Whatever, so here I am, learning with you.

Apparently when you write in the third person, I do, and your character recalls something they did in the past, you need the tense of the verb in the sentence to be PAST PERFECT. As soon as I heard that I cringed. VERB TENSES. This was the part of class where I'd raised my hand to go to the ladies room and check out my hair.

I had some eye opening crits when I started this whole writing thing and realized something. Somehow I mistook being PASSIVE for PAST PERFECT. I was GRAMMATICALLY INCORRECT.

I still struggle with PAST PERFECT as I write but at least I am conscious of it now. Grr, I hate grammar!

So, what I have been doing is READING. Not for pleasure but for research. I came across an excerpt in Domestic Affairs by Eileen Goudge. A great read BTW. Here PAST PERFECT made a little more sense to me.  (Below this passage you will find a text book grammar lesson. YAWN but necessary.)

"Vaughn tried to recall how he'd felt at the time. He hadn't been just another happy horny teenaged boy looking to score, that much he knew. The truth was, he'd been in love with Abigail. He had been, secretly, for quite some time before he'd made his move."

Here is the best lesson on PAST PERFECT I found on the web. For me it was the easiest to understand. I will post other links at the end of this post. The lesson is below.
http://www.wordpower.ws/grammar/gramch06.html



The Past Perfect tense is used to refer to a non-continuous action in the past, which was already completed by the time another action in the past took place. In the following examples, the verbs in the Past Perfect tense are underlined.

e.g. She had heard the news before I saw her.

I had finished my work by the time the clock struck twelve.

In the preceding examples, the verbs had heard and had finished are in the Past Perfect tense, and the verbs saw and struck are in the Simple Past. The use of the Past Perfect tense indicates that the actions of hearing the news and finishing the work were already completed by the time the actions expressed by the verbs in the Simple Past took place.

Formation

The Past Perfect tense is formed from the Simple Past of the auxiliary to have, followed by the past participle of the verb.

The Simple Past of to have is had. In spoken English, the auxiliary had is often contracted to 'd. For example, the Past Perfect of the verb to work is conjugated as follows:

Without Contractions With Contractions:

I had worked- I'd worked
you had worked -you'd worked

he had worked -he'd worked

she had worked -she'd worked

it had worked- it'd worked

we had worked- we'd worked

they had worked- they'd worked

The contraction it'd is less frequently used than the other contractions, since it is more difficult to pronounce.

Questions and negative statements

As is the case with other English tenses, questions and negative statements in the Past Perfect tense are formed using the auxiliary.

Questions are formed by placing the auxiliary before the subject. For example:

Affirmative Statement Question

I had worked. Had I worked?

They had worked. Had they worked?

Negative statements are formed by placing the word not after the auxiliary. For example:

Affirmative Statement Negative Statement

I had worked. I had not worked.

They had worked. They had not worked.

In spoken English (erm Dialogue for us), the following contraction is often used:

Without Contraction With Contraction

had not hadn't

Negative questions are formed by placing the auxiliary before the subject, and the word not after the subject. However, when contractions are used, the contracted form of not follows immediately after the auxiliary. For example:

Without Contraction With Contraction

Had I not worked? Hadn't I worked?

Had they not worked? Hadn't they worked?

Tag questions are formed using the auxiliary. In the following examples, the negative tag questions are underlined. Contractions are usually used in negative tag questions.

Affirmative Statement Affirmative Statement with Tag Question

I had worked. I had worked, hadn't I?

They had worked. They had worked, hadn't they?

The Past Perfect Continuous tense is used to refer to a continuous, ongoing action in the past which was already completed by the time another action in the past took place. In the following examples, the verbs in the Past Perfect Continuous tense are underlined.

e.g. I had been waiting for two months by the time I received the reply.

He had been thinking about his friends shortly before they called.

In the preceding examples, the verbs had been waiting and had been thinking are in the Past Perfect Continuous tense, and the verbs received and called are in the Simple Past. The use of the Past Perfect Continuous tense indicates that the actions of waiting and thinking were continuous, and were completed by the time the actions expressed by the verbs in the Simple Past took place.

\OKAY, I am confused but no longer so lost, if that makes sense. YOU GRAMMAR GURUS OUT THERE, PLEASE CHIME IN. I NEED YOU. Eh-hem. Especially, if all this is wrong!

Other great links on PAST PERFECT:

http://eslus.com/LESSONS/GRAMMAR/POS/pos3.htm
http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/
http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/pastperfect.html

The Grammar Grind~Comma Splices

Ahh, summer is unofficially over. Labor Day has passed and its back to school time. This is my New Year's. Maybe its the former teacher in me. September has always been the month I make my own resolutions, start anew.

This school year I will be brushing up on my GRAMMAR. I received some interesting contest results last week. One judge said that once I have a better grasp of the English Language she is sure my MS will improve.

*GULP* Gees, thanks lady. Why do I feel like Sister Edward William was the judge? I can see her standing there with her pointer making me diagram sentences until my arm falls off. But those Nuns were onto something apparently. I should've paid more attention to my Voyages in English textbook rather than checking my teased out Bon Jovi hair and electric blue mascara.

Wikipedia defines grammar as: In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of sentences, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics, and pragmatics. Linguists do not normally use the term to refer to orthographical rules, although usage books and style guides that call themselves grammars may also refer to spelling and punctuation.

BORING. YAWN. No wonder I spent more time on my hair back then.

My recent trip down Grammar memory lane was for those run-on sentences, the ones that Judge found so annoying. Apparently my gaffe was the COMMA SPLICE. Ouch, sounds painful.

I got this from http://chompchomp.com/csfs01/csfs01.htm. It's a great site created for classrooms. For us, it's perfect. Below is an exercise from their site.

Here is the deifinition of a comma splice and why it's so bad:

A comma splice contains two main clauses illegally joined by a comma. The problem looks like this:

main clause + , + main clause =  :(

A fused sentence, on the other hand, contains two main clauses illegally run together with no punctuation whatsoever. The problem looks like this:

main clause + Ø + main clause = :( 

As a writer, you must keep in mind that comma splices and fused sentences make you look like an amateur. They tell your reader that you cannot control the construction of a sentence, the most basic building block of a piece of writing. Learning to identify comma splices and fused sentences is the first step to fixing the problem.

Example:

Julie is a real hypochondriac when her stomach hurts, she is certain that she has a bleeding ulcer, and if she has a backache, she believes that she has cancer of the spine.

For a sentence to be a comma splice, you must have two complete sentences joined with a comma. In the example above, there is no comma. Julie is a real hypochondriac is one sentence. When her stomach hurts, she is certain ... begins the second sentence. Because there is only empty space between the two, you should call this error a fused sentence.

Remember that both comma splices and fused sentences are major errors. They make your reader think that you cannot write a correct sentence. Because the sentence is the most basic building block of a piece of writing, comma splices and fused sentences make you look like an amateur!

To fix the problem above, you could put a period after hypochondriac and begin when with a capital W.

Julie is a real hypochondriac. When her stomach hurts, she is certain that she has a bleeding ulcer, and if she has a backache, she believes that she has cancer of the spine.

Head over to their site and see how well you do.

I AM NO GRAMMAR GURU. I will be getting a refresher with you, summoning years of Catholic School lessons. Tune in Sunday for more of the GRAMMAR GRIND. What topics would you like me to cover next?