Sentence Resources

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Sentence Resources Links

Adjectives & Adverbs | Verbs | Nouns | Spelling | Prepositions |
Sentence Structure | Pronouns | More

Adjectives and Adverbs

What's an Article and which do I use, when?

The Use and Non-Use of Articles
(Purdue Online Writing Center) Link includes chart for visual clarification and two exercises with answer keys.

When do I use "A" or "An" with a noun?

A or An
(Purdue Online Writing Center) Link includes an exercise and answer key.

What's the difference between an adjective and an adverb?

Adjective or Adverb
(Purdue Online Writing Center) Link includes exercises with answer keys.

Which Adjective do I use with count and non-count nouns?

Adjectives With Count and Non Count Nouns
(Purdue Online Writing Center)



Nouns

When do I capitalize words?

A Little Help with Capitals
(Purdue Online Writing Center)

What's the difference between a count noun and a non-count noun (mass nouns)?

Count and Non Count Nouns (with plurals, articles and quantity words)
(Purdue Online Writing Center) Link offers visuals to call attention between distinction of count/non-count nouns.

When do I use an article with a noun?

Count and Non-Count Nouns with Articles
Link includes a chart for visual aid and an exercise with an answer key.

When do I spell out a number?

Writing Numbers
(Purdue Online Writing Center) Link includes exercise and answer key.



Prepositions

What are Prepositions?

Prepositions of Direction:
To, On (to), In (to);

Prepositions of Time, of Place, of Location and to Introduce Objects;

Prepositions of Spatial Relationships.

Each of these Links from the Purdue Owl use graphics to illustrate points. The first two links also have exercises with answer keys.


Pronouns

What are pronouns and how do I use them?

Pronoun Case
(Purdue Online Writing Center) Link provides charts for pronoun case, and outlines typical problems with pronoun use.

How do I make my pronouns agree?

Using Pronouns Clearly
(Purdue Online Writing Center)


Verbs

What are active and passive verbs?

Active Verb Tenses
(Purdue Online Writing Center) Link provides visual illustration of concepts.

Passive Verb Tenses
(Purdue Online Writing Center) Link provides visual illustration of concepts.

What are the different verb tenses and when do I use them?

Verb Tenses, a Chart of Tenses and Sequence of Verb Tenses
(Purdue Online Writing Center)

Why does my verb tense need to be consistent?

Verb Tense Consistency
(Purdue Online Writing Center) Link includes exercise with answer key.

What are irregular verbs?

Irregular verbs
(Purdue Online Writing Center) Link provides visual illustration of concepts.

How do I use Helping Verbs?

Verbs with Helpers
(Purdue Online Writing Center)

What's the difference between a gerund and a participle?
(Purdue Online Writing Center)


Spelling and Word Usage

How do I decide between words that sound alike?

Common Words that Sound Alike
(Purdue Online Writing Center)

When do I use "ie" rather than "ei"?

Spelling IE/EI
(Purdue Online Writing Center)

What plural ending do I use?

Spelling: Noun Plurals
(Purdue Online Writing Center) Link uses chart to illustrate ideas.

How do I know when to use "able" versus "ible"?

Able and Ible Words
(Purdue Online Writing Center) Link uses chart to illustrate idea.


Sentence Structure

What are the basics for sentence structure?

Sentence Structure by Bob Leroy

What is an appositive?

Appositives
(Purdue Online Writing Center) Link provides exercise and answer key.

What's a Dangling Modifier?

Dangling Modifiers
(Purdue Online Writing Center)

What are clauses?

Dependent and Independent Clauses
(Purdue Online Writing Center) Link defines types of clauses and shows how to punctuate when using them.

How do I make my subjects agree with my verbs?

Making Subjects and Verbs Agree
(Purdue Online Writing Center)

What is parallel Sentence Structure?

Parallel Sentence Structure
(Purdue Online Writing Center)

How do I avoid run-on sentences?

Run-ons, Comma Splices, and Fused Sentences
(Purdue Online Writing Center)

What are sentence fragments and how do I eliminate them?

Sentence Fragments
(Purdue Online Writing Center)Link includes three exercises with answer keys.

How do I make my sentences clear and concise?

Strategies for Improving Sentence Clarity
(Purdue Online Writing Center) Link discusses pronoun clarity, active verbs, clause placement, parallelism, wordiness.

How do I avoid wordiness?

Conciseness
(Purdue Online Writing Center) This page suggests a variety of ways to condense wordy sentences.

How do I emphasize ideas in my sentences?

Adding Emphasis
(Purdue Online Writing Center) This page suggests several way to highlight ideas ranging from punctuation choices to use of clauses and order of ideas.

How do I make my sentences and ideas more interesting to readers?

Sentence Variety
(Purdue Online Writing Center) This page suggests ways to eliminate monotony from your writing through varying sentence length & style, as well as through variety in word choice. Discusses coordination and subordination of ideas.

Also see: Metaphors
(Purdue Online Writing Center) This link defines metaphors, gives examples and suggests ways that they may enliven your sentences.

How do I avoid sexist language?

Using Non-Sexist Language
(Purdue Online Writing Center) This page offers examples of sexist writing and alternatives to eliminate it.



For Additional Grammar and Punctuation Resources

Purdue Online Writing Center
In addition to the handouts linked above, Purdue's site offers a number of exercises and answer keys.

Grammar, Mechanics and Usage
From Texas A&M University. Many of their handouts have tutorials, which include an exercise and an answer key.

For more information about the Writing Center, e-mail, stop by or call 503.399.7179.