Music swells Siblings squabble Owls hoot I am Grammar is And just like that two words can become a SENTENCE The information in a short sentence can be expanded by adding more words that give vivid descriptions or specific reactions Where should those words be placed How does a writer know what PUNCTUATION to use What does all of that mean anyway Words fall into place more easily when one has an understanding of grammar a system of rules that gives writers the foun dation for producing acceptable formal expression It is that acceptable form that appropriate grammar which helps readers comprehend what has been written Grab a tennis ball and give it a toss That’s right toss it A probable result The ball flies through the air and slams into something Or we could say the ball a noun flies a verb through a preposition the an article air a noun and a conjunction slams a verb into a preposition the wall your buddy a plant or a window all nouns Each noun could be further described by an adjective In Latin ad means toward and jacere means throw and these form the root for the English word adjective which describes characteristics of nouns and their substitutes pronouns When you throw an adjective toward a noun you’re hoping it 4
will stick that it will modify and change the noun into whatever you want it to be whether that noun is a Ping-Pong ball a tennis ball a baseball or a medicine ball that connects with a freshly painted wall a snoozing buddy a blooming plant or perhaps a new window Like adjectives prepositions are also used to describe nouns But unlike adjec tives prepositions cannot stand on their own as MODIFIERS Words such as at by for and to need a noun or pronoun to complete their relationships to the other words in the sentence as in The salesman at the door was persistent The prepositional phrase at the door is related to sales man However sometimes prepositions are so firmly attached to adjectives in an expression that they almost sound like one word Wherever they appear in a sen tence though adjectives and prepositions work together to add meaning and value to the sentence as a whole 5
PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT W and pronouns then you can look for words to modify them If you wanted to talk about an you lob fling pitch heave hen you throw a ball do launch or propel it Writers word choices animal for instance what words would you can enhance or detract from a sentence’s choose to associate with it Take a look at how meaning and better-written sentences use Scottish veterinarian and author James Herriot exact verbs and nouns How can you find the 1916 95 handles this in the following words that will say what you mean to say A excerpt from the semi-autobiographical novel THESAURUS in book form or on a computer is The Lord God Made Them All 1981 Try to an invaluable resource for locating precise identify the nouns the people places and verbs nouns and modifiers Adjectives things and then look for the adjectives in particular must be carefully chosen not used simply as filler in flowery expression Where should an adjective be placed First identify the nouns Herriot uses to describe an incident involving a dog with a chicken bone caught in its mouth Also watch for Herriot’s five-year-old son Jimmy’s reaction 6
The little man Mr Anderson lips tight eyes like slits bent and extended trembling hands towards his dog Venus but each time he touched her she slithered away from him until with a great shuddering sigh he flopped face down on the tiles floor Jimmy giggled Things were looking up what Mr Anderson I’ll give her a I helped the barber to his feet I’ll tell you short-acting anaesthetic Just leave her to me and come back for her in about an hour I slid the needle into the vein and within seconds her fighting pose relaxed No trouble now Jimmy lad I said I pushed the teeth apart ef fortlessly with finger and thumb gripped the bone with the forceps and lifted it from the mouth All done My son nodded briefly Events had gone dull again He had been hoping for great things when Mr Anderson draped himself along the surgery floor but this was tame stuff He had stopped smiling My own satisfied smile too had become a lit tle fixed I was watching Venus carefully and she 7
