Grammar help

There are some very good tutorials on the Bedford/St. Martins Exercise Central at http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/exercisecentral/tutorials.html . Look at the list of tutorials and choose the one that names the grammatical problem you want to learn how to fix. After you look at the tutorial, you can try the Exercises which all give you immediate feedback on whether you selected the correct answers. You will have to register for the site. Do not include your instructor's email address, since this is not required for a class.

Links to the Guide to Grammar and Writing website at http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar and to Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing at http://grammar.qdnow.com/

To get better at writing, you should try to learn how to fix the common grammar, mechanics, and punctuation errors you have in your papers. It takes a lot of practice to break a bad habit, so don't get discouraged you keep having trouble with a particular type of error. Your goal is to have fewer errors as you get more practice recognizing and fixing your errors.

Here are some of the errors I might have identified in your papers. I have linked the errors to the website Guide to Grammar and Writing, which has explanations of the rule with practice quizzes which give you immediate feedback so you know if you are understanding the rule correctly. Also, some of the errors have Powerpoint explanations of the rules which are easier to understand than regular text explanations. You can also listen to podcasts and audiofiles from Grammar Girl.

Common Grammar, Punctuation, Mechanics Errors
Name of Error	Guide to Grammar link. If you scroll down to the end of the explanation, you will find a quiz to test your understanding of the rules.	Powerpoint Presentations to download. You must have Powerpoint installed on your computer to view these.	Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing Podcasts and audiofiles to listen to
Basic Grammar terms to review if you don't know what the grammar terms are	Definitions of Basic Sentence Parts	The Parts of Speech There is also a Powerpoint on Sentences (Basic Parts), but it's not complete.
Verb Tense Shift	Consistency of Tense and Pronoun Reference
Pronoun Reference	Consistency of Tense and Pronoun Reference
Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement	Pronouns and Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
Fragments	Fragments	Avoiding Sentence Fragments
Comma Splices	Run-On Sentences, Comma Splices	Avoiding Run-On Sentences	Comma Splice Run-On Sentences
Subject-Verb Agreement	Subject-Verb Agreement	Subject-Verb Agreement
Colons			Rollin' Rollin' Colon
Semicolon use or misuse	The Semicolon	Our Friend, the Semicolon	Semicolons
Comma Problems	Rules for Comma Usage	The English House of Commas	Serial Comma
Apostrophe use or misuse	Possessive Forms	The Mighty Apostrophe	Apostrophe Catastrophe (Part One) Apostrophe Catastrophe (Part Two)
Dashes			Dashing Through the Snow
Capitalization	Capitalization	A Capital Idea
Faulty Parallelism	Parallel Form
Active vs. Passive Voice	The Passive Voice		Active Voice vs. Passive Voice
Misplaced or Dangling Modifiers	Modifier Placement		Misplaced Modifiers The The --The Double The

OTHER GOOD GRAMMAR WEBSITES

The OWL (Online Writing Lab) at Purdue at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl

Complete listing of Grammar handouts at the Purdue OWL at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/index2.html

The Guide to Grammar and Writing at http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/

Bedford/St. Martin's Exercise Central tutorials and interactive quizzes at http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/exercisecentral/. You should register for basic student access without an instructor unless your instructor is registered for the site and is using a Bedford/St. Martin's textbook that comes with special exercises on the site.

If English is your second language and you have trouble with verbs, try The English Page tutorial on verbs at http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbtenseintro.html

Podcasts available from Grammar Girl at http://grammar.qdnow.com/