340 Index
Regardless, irregardless, 257
Relative pronouns, 61, 67–70
Roman numerals, capitalization of, 131
Run-on sentences, 5, 8–11, 175
Salutations, business letter, colons and, 117
Semicolons, 104–11
clarity and, 104–5
commas vs., 107–8
with conjunctive adverbs, 109
elements of equal weight and, 104
independent clauses and, 104
joining complete thoughts with, 105–7
rules for, 104–5
serial, 108
Sentence building, punctuation in, 171–72
Sentence fragments, 5–6
in e-mail, 10–11
in informal English, 7–8
Sentences. See also Balanced sentences;
Clarity
complex, 179–83
compound, 174–78
compound-complex, 183–86
conjunctions to add meaning to, 178–79
creating well-connected, 160–62
periods after, 91–93
run-on, 5, 8–11, 175
simple, 172–73
trimming unnecessary words from,
167–70
writing clearer, 188Serial semicolons, 108
Simple sentences, 172–73
Simultaneous actions, 55–56
Singular indefi nite pronouns, 71–73
Smothered verbs, 193–95
Spelling, 229–30
accent changes and, 237
adding suffi xes that begin with vowels,
235
basics, 232–33
-ceed endings, words with, 240–41
I before e except after c, 238
one-syllable words and, 236
plurals and, 238–40
prefi xes and, 234–35
suffi xes that begin with consonants, 235
suffi xes that change spelling of words
that end in -y, 236
techniques for improving skills, 231–33
tips for improving skills, 241
two-syllable words and, 236–37
types of learners and, 231–32
Style. See Balanced sentences; Clarity
Subject and verb agreement
determining, with prepositional phrases,
17–18
in number, 12–17
with prepositional phrases, 17–18
in time, 12–13
Subject pronouns, 27, 43
Subjects, 4–5
Subordinating conjunctions, 179–80
Suffi xes, spelling and, 235–36Take, bring, 259
That, 68–70
Their, there, 247
Time
colons for showing, 117
conjunctive adverbs for expressing, 165