FROM GRAMMAR TO WRITING PART 1 Editing Advice 1. Some plural forms are irregular and don’t take -s. There were a lot of childrens at the Thanksgiving dinner. 2. Use a singular noun and verb after every.
es
Every readings teach us something new. ^ 3. Use the plural form of the noun after one of.
s
One of my neighbor made a pumpkin pie. ^ 4. Don’t use a or an before a plural noun.
(some)
The code talkers had to create a new words. 5. Don’t put a or an before a noncount noun.
(some)
Clovis Boy’s bones give us a useful information about the past. 6. A noncount noun is always singular. The American Indians gave the Pilgrims a lot of advices. 7. Use there is or there are to introduce a noun.
There are
Are a lot of Navajo Indians in the Southwest.
8. Don’t use a specific noun after there is/there are.
is
T
There’s the Grand Canyon in Arizona. ^ 9. Include of with a unit of measure.
of
We used one cup sugar in the cranberry sauce. ^ 10. Omit of after a lot when the noun is omitted. You ate a lot of turkey, but I didn’t eat a lot of. 11. Use a little/a few to mean “some.” Use (very) little/(very) few to mean “not enough.”
(very)
He went to a big city to find a job because there were a few jobs on the reservation. 12. Don’t use too much or too many if the quantity doesn’t present a problem.
a lot of
She loves to go back to the reservation because she has too many friends there. 13. Don’t confuse too and too much/too many. The potatoes are too much salty. I can’t eat them. 14. Don’t use a double negative.
a
The Navajo language doesn’t have no word for “submarine.” or
The Navajo language has no word for “submarine.”
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