Subject-verb agreement: A singular subject takes a singular verb: The dog barks Plural subject: A plural subject takes a plural verb: The dogs bark Compound subjects with and: Take a plural verb: Tom and Sara are here Compound subjects with or: The verb matches the nearer subject: Neither Tom nor the girls are here Collective noun: Usually takes a singular verb: The team is ready Everyone, somebody, each: Indefinite pronouns that take singular verbs: Everyone is here Both, few, many: Take plural verbs: Both are ready I vs. me: Use I as a subject, me as an object: Sam and I went; she gave Sam and me a gift Who vs. whom: Who is the subject; whom is the object: Who called? To whom did you speak? Fewer vs. less: Fewer for things you count, less for amounts: fewer cookies, less milk Between vs. among: Between for two, among for three or more Good vs. well: Good is an adjective, well is an adverb: She sings well Lie vs. lay: Lie means to rest; lay means to place something down Sit vs. set: Sit means to be seated; set means to put something Bring vs. take: Bring toward the speaker; take away from the speaker Its vs. it's: Its shows ownership; it's means it is Your vs. you're: Your shows ownership; you're means you are Their, there, they're: Their shows ownership, there is a place, they're means they are Whose vs. who's: Whose shows ownership; who's means who is Then vs. than: Then is time; than compares Double negatives: Avoid two negatives: I have no apples, not I don't have no apples Pronoun agreement: Pronouns match their antecedents in number Parallel structure: Use the same form in a list: running, jumping and swimming Dangling modifier: A modifier that does not clearly attach to what it describes Misplaced modifier: A modifier placed too far from the word it describes Sentence fragments: Every sentence needs a subject and a verb and a complete thought Run-on sentences: Fix with a period, semicolon, or a comma plus conjunction Verb tense consistency: Keep the same tense unless time changes Active voice: Prefer subject doing the action: Maria wrote the letter Adjectives before nouns: Opinion, size, age, shape, color, origin, material, purpose Comparatives with -er: Short adjectives: taller, faster Comparatives with more: Longer adjectives: more beautiful Superlatives with -est: Short adjectives: tallest, fastest Irregular comparisons: good, better, best; bad, worse, worst A vs. an: Use an before a vowel sound: an hour, a university Adverbs end in -ly: Often, but not always: quickly, but fast Possessive pronouns have no apostrophe: his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs Singular possessive: Add 's: the girl's bike Plural possessive: Add ' after plural s: the girls' bikes Irregular plural possessive: Add 's: the children's toys Prepositions at the end: It is acceptable in plain speech: What are you looking at? Split infinitive: Putting a word between to and the verb: to boldly go; usually fine Capitalizing the first word: Every sentence starts with a capital letter Ending punctuation: Statements end with a period, questions with a question mark Gerund as subject: Takes a singular verb: Swimming is fun Conditional sentences: If it rains, we will stay home Reflexive pronouns: Use only when the subject also receives the action: I hurt myself Redundancy: Avoid saying the same thing twice: not "very unique" Absolute adjectives: Words like unique, perfect, complete cannot be compared Past participle: Used with have: have gone, not have went Irregular verbs: go, went, gone; see, saw, seen; eat, ate, eaten Subjunctive: Use were for wishes: I wish I were taller Apostrophe in contractions: Shows missing letters: don't = do not Nonrestrictive clause: Extra information set off with commas Restrictive clause: Needed information with no commas Passive voice: Subject receives the action; use when the doer is unknown Pronoun case: Use the case that fits the pronoun's job in the sentence Comparative with than: Use than after comparisons: taller than me Quantity words: Many for count nouns, much for mass nouns: many books, much water Amount vs. number: Amount for things you cannot count, number for things you can Farther vs. further: Farther for distance, further for degree Should have, not should of: Write should have, would have, could have Free flashcards from Peabody at peabody.kids/flashcards/la-grammar-rules