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Grammar

 

Links

The Blue Book	This site is concise, but it can be used as a quick reference. It has a couple of quizzes.
Grammar Slammer	Much more detailed and useful. Organized and easy to browse.
Grammar, Punctuation, and Spelling	The part of the Purdue Online Writing Lab. Lots of useful stuff there.
Online Writing Support	Another awesome site. It's extra awesome because it uses pictures and charts to explain stuff. This site has a LOT of exercises. Very useful.
Guide to Grammar & Writing	Text version here. Also a great site.
Sexed-Up Grammar Guide	Hey, I had to include this, obviously. Actually, this site can be useful for checking your basic knowledge.
The Elements of Style	That's Strunk and White's Elements of Style. But you've read that, right? Right? Please do read Elementary  Principles of Composition at least. And do check out Bartleby; especially the English Usage page.

 

Tense shifts

 

Yeah. I have very little to say on this subject as I'm hardly an expert. I can merely give you links. I didn't find much, so I suggest that if you feel you're really bad at keeping your tenses straight, read some well-written stories carefully and see how this is done correctly.

This is a cool site that uses charts to explain, and this one is reasonably detailed. If someone has a link to a cool essay, please point out.

Golden rule: Pick a tense and stick with it. What does that mean? You have two options: you can write in present tense OR past tense. If you choose to write in present tense . . . good luck. I'd advise that if you're unsure in your grammar abilities then stick to past tense. The problem is that sometimes you CAN and should shift tenses, and whens and whys can be a little unclear in present tense.

The following example is stolen from the second link.

PAST TENSE: By the time Tom noticed the doorbell, it had already rung three times. As usual, he had been listening to loud music on his stereo. He turned the stereo down and stood up to answer the door. An old man was standing on the steps. The man began to speak slowly, asking for directions. PRESENT TENSE: By the time Tom notices the doorbell, it has already rung three times. As usual, he has been listening to loud music on his stereo. He turns the stereo down and stands up to answer the door. An old man is standing on the steps. The man begins to speak slowly, asking for directions.

1.) Watch out for your auxiliary verbs. If you're writing in past tense, then your am/is should be was and your are should be were. Your do/does should be did and your have/has should be had.  

2.) Watch out for simple tenses. There's no room for opens, closes and walks in your past tense narrative. Words you're looking for are opened, closed and walked. (Yes, yes. You can use Present Simple to state facts, but this doesn't mean you get to claim that Draco loves Harry is a fact and should be stated in present tense.)

3.) Watch out for your modal auxiliary verbs. If you're writing in past tense, you're talking about past possibilities and future in the past, so your will should be would, your can should be could, and your may should be might.

4.) Careful with your passive tense. If you're writing in past tense and say that Draco is slammed against the wall, just because you've written slammed not slams doesn't mean this is right. Remember that your is should be was.

5.) Careful with your Past Perfect. (Er . . . this instruction is for me.)

Disclaimer: A skillful author can use tense shifts to his or her benefit.

Possessives and Plurals

DO NOT FORM PLURALS WITH AN APOSTROPHE! If your noun doesn't OWN anything then just forget about apostrophes.

RULES:

1.) Singular nouns

• Form the possessive of a singular noun by adding 's. Examples: baby's, hero's, woman's.

• Form the possessive of nouns singular in meaning, plural in form by adding an apostrophe ('). Examples: politics', species'.

2.) Plural nouns

• Form the possessive of plural nouns ending in "s" by adding an apostrophe ('). Examples: babies', families', politics'.

• Form the possessive of plural nouns not ending in "s" by adding 's. Examples: men's, women's, children's.

SINGULAR	POSSESSIVE	PLURAL	POSSESSIVE
dog	dog's	dogs	dogs'
tree	tree's	trees	trees'
turtle	turtle's	turtles	turtles'
beach	beach's	beaches	beaches'
fox	fox's	foxes	foxes'
wish	wish's	wishes	wishes'
echo	echo's	echoes	echoes'
auto	auto's	autos	autos'
hero	hero's	heroes	heroes'
memo	memo's	memos	memos'
potato	potato's	potatoes	potatoes'
family	family's	families	families'
story	story's	stories	stories'
baby	baby's	babies	babies'
summary	summary's	summaries	summaries'
man	man's	men	men's
woman	woman's	women	women's
child	child's	children	children's
person	person's	people	people's
mother	mother's	mothers	mothers'
father	father's	fathers	fathers'
parent	parent's	parents	parents'
thief	thief's	thieves	thieves'
roof	roof's	roofs	roofs'
medium	medium's	media	media's
species	species'	species	species'
politics	politics'	politics	politics'
economics	economics'	economics	economics'

 

Exceptions (sometimes you CAN form plurals with an apostrophe):

1.  Form the plural of lowercase letters and abbreviations with two or more interior periods with an apostrophe and an s. Examples: Dot your i's and cross your t's; Ph.D.'s (or PhD's).

2. 's can be used to form plurals of words and capital letters if it will help avoid confusion. Examples: the three A's; the no's echoed in the hall. (As might be read as as, and noes might sound like you're a troll. Oh noes!)

3. It's considered acceptable (by some) to form all plurals of numbers, capital letters, and words used as words with an apostrophe and an s. Examples: the two 1's; the three R's; the if's and but's. But this isn't necessary. This should be: the two 1s; the three Rs; the ifs and buts.

4. Form the plural of a word or phrase in quotation marks by adding an apostrophe and an s before the closing quotation mark. Example: Aren't "The end's" sad? NOT: Aren't "The end"s sad?

Omitting the s in the possessive singular:

Strunk and White's The Elements of Style says: 

 

Form the possessive singular of nouns with 's.   Follow this rule whatever the final consonant. Thus write,

Charles's friend Burns's poems the witch's malice

Exceptions [to the "form the possessive singular of nouns with 's" rule] are the possessives of ancient proper names in -es and -is, the possessive Jesus', and such forms as for conscience' sake, for righteousness' sake. But such forms as Achilles' heel, Moses' laws, Isis' temple are commonly replaced by

the heel of Achilles the laws of Moses the temple of Isis

So. Albus's, Scorpius's, Lucius's, James's, Sirius's, Marx’s and Inez’s are correct.

This rule is the standard, but omitting the s on all words ending in s is considered acceptable. So Albus', Scorpius', Lucius', and Sirius' are not mistakes. (Note, however, that the Harry Potter books use "Sirius's motorbike" not "Sirius' motorbike.")

IMPORTANT!

These rules apply to family names as well.

 

SINGULAR	POSSESSIVE	PLURAL	POSSESSIVE
Draco Malfoy is a bad boy.	Draco Malfoy's dog is cute.	The Malfoys are bad.	The Malfoys' peacock is pretty.
Harry visited Ron Weasley.	Harry stopped by Ron Weasley's flat.	Harry visited the Weasleys.	Harry stood in the Weasleys' kitchen.
Harry doesn't like Dudley Dursley.	Harry doesn't like Vernon Dursley's attitude.	Harry doesn't like the Dursleys.	Harry doesn't like to live in the Dursleys' home.
Harry likes Susan Bones.	Susan Bones's aunt is awesome.	Harry visited the Boneses.	The fire was lit in the Boneses' fireplace.

You might want to say, "Harry visited the Bones family," not "Harry visited the Boneses," as this plural is awkward. Same goes for Jones (Joneses), Waters (Waterses) or Rogers (Rogerses). But Bones', Jones', Waters', and Rogers' are the singular possessive forms, NOT plural.

Remember,

The Malfoys are evil but not as evil as the Malfoy's.

Also, don't forget pronouns! Remember not to mix up its and it's.

Prepositions and Phrasal Verbs

Here's a dictionary of phrasal verbs and verbs+preposition constructions. if you're unsure which preposition to use with your verb, this is where you can look. And here's an abbreviated list of words and prepositions that give writers trouble; taken form Chicago Manual of Style (none (transitive) means that no preposition is used when a verb is transitive).

abide (vb.): with [stay]; by [obey]; none (transitive) absolve (vb.): from [guilt]; of [obligation] accompanied (adj.): by (not with) [something else] accord (vb.): in or with [an opinion]; to [a person] account (vb.): to [a person]; for [a thing or a person] acquiesce (vb.): in [a decision]; to [pressure] acquit (vb.): of (not from) [a charge]; none (transitive) adept (vb.): at [an activity]; in [an art] admit (vb.) (“acknowledge”): none (not to) (transitive) admit (vb.) (“let in”): to, into admit (vb.) (“allow”): of agree (vb.): to, on, upon [terms]; about [concur]; with [a person]; in [a specified manner (e.g., in general or in principle)] answer (vb.): to [a person]; for [an act] anxious (adj.): about [a concern] (preferably not to [do something]) argue (vb.): with [a person]; over, about [a situation or thing]; for, against [a position] badger (vb.): into [doing something]; about [a situation] based (adj.): on (preferably not upon) [a premise]; in [a place; a field of study] bestow (vb.): on (preferably not upon) [an honoree] binding (adj.): on (preferably not upon) [a person] caution (vb.): about [a situation]; against [doing something] center (vb.): on, upon (not around) [a primary issue] coerce (vb.): into [doing something] coincide (vb.): with [an event] comment (n.): on [a thing]; about [another person]; to [a person] commiserate (vb.): with [a person] compare (vb.): with (literal comparison); to (poetic or metaphorical comparison) comply (vb.): with (not to) [a rule; an order] confide (vb.): to, in [a person] consider (vb.): none (transitive); as [one of several possible aspects (not as a substitute for “to be”)]; for [a position] consist (vb.): of [components (said of concrete things)]; in [qualities (said of abstract things)] convict (vb.): of, for [not in] depend (vb.): on (preferably not upon) differ (vb.): from [a thing or quality]; with [a person]; about, over, on [an issue] different (adj.): from (but when an independent clause follows different, the conjunction than is a defensible substitute for from what: “movies today are different than they were in the fifties”) dissent (n. & vb.): from, against (preferably not to or with) dissimilar (adj.): to (not from) enamored (adj.): of (not with) equivalent (adj.): to, in (preferably not with) identical (adj.): with (preferred by purists); to [something else] impatience (n.): with [a person]; with, at, about [a situation] impose (vb.): on (preferably not upon) [a person] independent (adj.): of (not from) [something else] infringe (vb.): none (transitive); on (preferably not upon) [a right] inquire (vb.): into [situations]; of [people]; after [people]; about [a thing] oblivious (adj.): of (preferred); to [a danger; an opportunity] off (prep. & adv.): none (not of) predominate (vb.) (not transitive): in [a field]; over [a rival] preferable (adj.): to [not than] pregnant (adj.): with [the child]; by [the father] reconcile (vb.): with [a person]; to [a situation] shiver (vb.): from [cold]; at [something frightening] skillful (adj.): at, in [an activity]; with [tools] succeed (vb.): in [an endeavor]; to [an estate]; as [a person in some position] trade (vb.): for [swap]; in [sell]; with [do business with]; at [patronize]; on [buy and sell at] undaunted (adj.): in [a task]; by [obstacles] unequal (adj.): to [a challenge]; in [attributes] used (adj.): to [accustomed]; for [applied] vexed (adj.): with [someone]; about, at [something]

Capitalization in Titles

I couldn't really find a great link. All I found is this: General Capitalization Rules, but not to trust wiki too much, here are a couple of rules from Chicago Manual of Style, because they changed their minds in the 15th edition:

1. Always capitalize the first and last words both in titles and in subtitles and all other major words (nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and some conjunctions).
2. Lowercase the articles the, a, and an.
3. Lowercase prepositions, regardless of length, except when they are stressed (through in A River Runs Through It), are used adverbially or adjectivally (up in Look Up, down in Turn Down, on in The On Button, etc.), are used as conjunctions (before in Look Before You Leap, etc.)
4. Lowercase the conjunctions and, but, for, or, nor.
5. Lowercase the words to and as in any grammatical function, for simplicity’s sake.

If you are not sure what grammatical function a word is performing (or even if you are), try reading the title aloud: if you would stress the word, capitalize it; if not, lowercase it.

Prepositions

This site has awesome explanations (useful for ESL people, I think).

And I'd just like to mention something (quoted from Chicago Manual of Style):

Ending a sentence with a preposition The traditional caveat of yesteryear against ending sentences with prepositions is, for most writers, an unnecessary and pedantic restriction. As Winston Churchill famously said, “That is the type of arrant pedantry up with which I shall not put.” A sentence that ends in a preposition may sound more natural than a sentence carefully constructed to avoid a final preposition. Compare Those are the guidelines an author should adhere to with Those are the guidelines to which an author should adhere. The “rule” prohibiting terminal prepositions was an ill-founded superstition.

Of course, you can't write this: 

That's where it's at.
He's outside of the door.
She jumped off of the cliff.

Because you don't need those prepositions. But please stop abusing the word which?

Punctuation

Links

All these links above have loads to say about punctuation. I especially recommend Online Writing Lab and this. And, again, much love for Towson Online Writing Support. They have charts! Every link is worth clicking. Look at their Dependent Clauses page and Conjunctions page. And everything on these pages: Sentence Structure, Punctuation and Usage. Seriously, great site. Oh, don't forget to go here and test your knowledge.

Also, here's an essay by calanthe_fics. You might want to read it as she points out some differences and tricky rules.

Basic Rules

Here's just a quick guide. All these rules have buts and you should look at the links above or style guides for further clarifications. Rules adapted from the Penguin Guide To Punctuation.

Commas

1. Listing Comma

It can always be replaced by the word and or or.

Draco was sleeping, Harry was showering, and the fangirls were anxiously waiting for the action to begin. 

Draco was sleeping and Harry was showering makes perfect sense.

2. Joining Comma

It must be followed by one of the connecting words such as and, or, but, nor, for, yet or so and a complete sentence.

Harry and Draco will have sex, but we have to wait a little longer.

Two complete sentences joined by a connecting word.

3. Gapping Comma

It indicates that you've decided not to repeat some words which have already occurred in the sentence.

DADA is Harry's best subject and Potions, the worst.

4. Bracketing Comma

They always come in pairs, unless one of them would come at the beginning or at the end of the sentence, and they always set off a weak interruption which could be removed from the sentence.

Draco, who hated the Weasleys, always refused to visit them.

Draco always refused to visit them makes sense on its own; Who hated the Weasley, doesn't (well, unless it's a question, but never mind).

After Harry and Draco have sex, we'll be happy.

We'll be happy makes sense on its own; After Harry and Draco have sex, doesn't.

Draco is pretty, if not clever.

Draco is pretty makes sense on its own; if not clever, doesn't.

Note: My sister, wearing a red coat, set off for the city.

But,

The woman wearing a red coat is my sister.

Not,

The woman, wearing a red coat, is my sister. 

Colons, semicolons, and dashes

1. Use a colon to separate a general statement from following specifics.

Draco was faced with a difficult choice: Should he have sex with Harry now, or later?

2. Use a semicolon to connect two complete sentences not joined by and, or, but, yet, or while, but use them when connecting words are such as however, thus, hence, nevertheless, consequently, besides, and therefore.

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.

Draco wanted to sleep longer; however, he knew he had to get up.

DADA is Harry's best subject; Potions, the worst.

3. Use a semicolon as a super comma, if you must (if the elements in a series contain inner punctuation).

4. A pair (or just one if the other would go at the end of the sentence) of dashes separates a strong interruption (one which violently disrupts the flow of the sentence) from the rest of the sentence.

Draco's friends—that is, his acquaintances—didn't like him very much.

Would you—oh, never mind.

This was true—or was it?

Direct Address

"That's stupid, Potter," Draco said. "Potter, that's stupid," Draco said. "That's stupid, Potter, and I'll tell you why," Draco said.

See those commas? They need to be there. If I replace Potter with you idiot, they still need to be there.

"That's stupid, you idiot, and I'll tell you why," Draco said.

 

If you write this:

"That's stupid Potter," Draco said.

I immediately want to say, "Oh really? So where's clever Potter?"

Also,

"Tell me, my dear Harry, why . . ."

Draco addressed Harry with this whole expression. He called him "my dear Harry."

Not this:

"Tell me, my dear, Harry, why . . ."

This would mean Draco addressed Harry and another person he called "my dear." So this construction should be used in that instance.

Careful, if Draco is talking to Pansy and says:

"I hate Potter," said Draco.

There's no comma before Potter here, because Draco is not addressing him directly. He's talking about him.

Dialogue Punctuation

I didn't find any site that explains this properly. Oddly enough, even style guides avoid this problem. Everything I've seen on this topic is very concise. So I've written a too long essay on the subject. The essay is here: Punctuating Dialogue. WARNING: The essay has about 8000 words and is not betaed.

Also, here's an essay about breaking dialogue with action: The Interrupter: Blending Action and Dialog Dynamically by gabe_speaks.

And I'm VERY fond of this essay: Making The Talking Sound Like Talking by deird1. Lots of useful advice on how to write natural sounding dialogue.

Spelling

Links

Here's a very detailed page about Common mistakes. Also, this one. And here's a longer list on Spelling, Vocabulary, and Confusing Words. Also, an awesome, comprehensive list here: Common Errors in English.

Dictionaries

 

Merriam-Webster	This is a good resource, obviously.
Dictionary.com	This is a popular resource.
The Free Dictionary	I like the "References in classic literature" feature. But things like these happen here: give free reign. (REIN!)
Urban Dictionary	If someone said something like: "I totes h8 WiPs," then if you don't know what he or she said, look it up.  "I totes h8 WiPs."
OneLook Reverse Dictionary	OneLook's reverse dictionary lets you describe a concept and get back a list of words and phrases related to that concept. Your description can be a few words, a sentence, a question, or even just a single word. Just type it into the box above and hit the "Find words" button. Keep it short to get the best results. In most cases you'll get back a list of related terms with the best matches shown first.
Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus	Obvious.
Latin Dictionary and Grammar Aid	For those tricky spells.
English (British) - American Dictionary	What the title says.
Spelling differences between American and British English	Everything is neatly arranged.
The Best of British	The American's guide to speaking British.
Sex Lexis	Dictionary of sexual terms.
RhymeZone	If you're tempted to rhyme.
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations	You might need this.

Note: Just because a word is listed in a dictionary, it doesn't mean this is the word you are looking for. Always read the usage notes if you are uncertain. All these dictionaries list irregardless, but they all point out (even UD) that it's nonstandard.

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Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar | Writing Fanfiction | Technicalities | Recommended Reading

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