The Essentials of English Contents   PART 1 The Basics 1 Words a Nouns   b Pronouns c Verbs d Adjectives e Articles f Adverbs g Prepositions h Conjunctions i Interjections 2 Phrases a Noun phrases b Infinitive phrases c Gerund phrases d Prepositional phrases e -ing and -ed phrases f Appositive phrases 3 Clauses a Independent clauses b Dependent clauses 4 Sentences a Sentence parts b Sentence patterns c Question patterns d Kinds of sentences PART 2 Clear Sentences 5 Connecting Ideas a Coordination b Subordination c Coordination or subordination? 6 Connecting Ideas by Coordination a Making compound sentences b Connecting words coordinating conjunctions c Connecting words with correlative conjunctions d Using parallel forms 7 Connecting Ideas by Subordination a Making complex sentences b Using appositives c Using -ing and -ed phrases d Using shortened adverb clauses 8 Common Sentence Problems a Fragments b Run-together sentences c Choppy writing d Overuse of and, but, and so 9 Word Order a Normal word order b Inverted (verb-subject) word order c Word order of direct and indirect objects   d Varying sentence openings   10 Word Choice a Dictionaries and thesauruses b Informal language and slang c Gender-sensitive (sexist) language PART 3 Grammar 11 Verb Forms and Tenses   a Verb forms   b Verb tenses   c Special tense combinations     d Modals   e Passive voice 12 Special Situations with Verbs   a Gerunds     b Infinitives     c Gerunds vs. infinitives   d Phrasal verbs 13 Subject-Verb Agreement   a Singular subject     b Singular or plural subjects     c Plural subjects   d Confusing situations 14 Nouns: Count and Noncount   a Count nouns   b Noncount nouns   c Count or noncount nouns     d Expressing quantity   15 Articles a For generic nouns: a, an, or no article (Ø)   b For indefinite articles: a, an, or some     c For definite nouns: the     d Idiomatic uses of articles     e Choosing the right article   16 Pronouns a Subject, object, and possessive forms   b Special situations     c Myself, ourselves     d Each other and one another   17 Pronoun Agreement a With indefinite pronouns: someone, everybody   b With generic nouns: a student, an employee     c With collective nouns: team, class     d With either …or and neither ... nor   18 Pronouns: Unclear Reference 19 Adjectives and Adverbs: Position a Position of adjectives b Position of adverbs 20 Special Situations with Adjectives a Agreement of adjectives   b Order of adjectives     c Participial adjectives: boring or bored?   21 Comparisons a Equal degree: as big as, the same size as   b Comparative and superlative degrees: bigger than, the biggest; more difficult than, the most difficult     c Parallel forms with comparisons   22 Negatives a No vs. not b Double negatives 23 Adjective Clauses a Subject pronouns: who, which, that   b Object pronouns: whom, which, that, Ø (no pronoun)     c Possessive pronoun: whose     d Relative adverbs: where and when     e Punctuation of adjective clauses   PART 4 Punctuation 24 End Punctuation a Periods   b Question marks     c Exclamation points   25 Commas a In compound sentences   b After introducers     c Around extra-information modifiers     d With transition signals     e With direct quotations     f With items in a series     g Other uses of commas   26 Semicolons a In compound sentences   b In compound sentences with transition signals     c In a series containing commas   28 Apostrophes a With possessives   b In contractions and in years     c With special plurals   29 Quotation Marks a With direct quotations   b Other uses of quotation marks   30 Parentheses 31 Dashes 32 Brackets and Ellipses PART 5 Mechanics 33 Capital Letters a Pronoun I   b First word of a sentence     c Proper nouns and most proper adjectives     d Titles and subtitles of works     e Greetings and closings in letters     f Certain abbreviations   34 Hyphens a In compound words   b Dividing words at the end of a line   35 Underlining and Italics a Titles of long works   b Foreign words     c Numbers, letters, and words used as words   36 Abbreviations a Titles of people   b Dates and times     c Familiar abbreviations     d Postal codes     e Latin abbreviations     f Words usually not abbreviated   37 Numbers a Numbers written as words   b Numbers written as numerals     c Forming plural numbers   38 Spelling a ei or ie rule   b Adding suffixes     c Forming plurals     d British and American spelling   PART 6 Writing and Revising 39 Writing in English 40 The Writing Process a Creating   b Organizing     c Writing     d Polishing   41 Paragraphs   a Topic sentence     b Supporting sentences     c Paragraph unity     d Paragraph coherence     e Concluding sentence     f Patterns of paragraph organiz   42 Essays a Introduction   b Body     c Conclusion     d Patterns of essay organization   PART 7 Formats 43 Writing on a Computer 44 Document Formats a Academic papers (MLA style)   b Lab reports     c Business documents     d E-mail   45 Research Papers a Making a schedule   b Taking a library tour     c Choosing a topic     d Collecting information     e Reading and taking notes     f Writing and revising the paper     g Citing your sources (MLA style)     h Sample research paper   46 Irregular Verbs 47 Verb + Prepositions Combinations 48 Phrasal Verbs 49 Adjective + Preposition Combinations 50 Pairs of -ing / -ed Adjectives 51 Proper Nouns with The 52 Connecting Words 53 Transition Signals 54 Troublesome Words 55 Editing Symbols 56 APA Style Answer Key