Handy grammar guide

POSTED BY: PhoenixRose
UPDATED: Friday, August 17, 2007 18:08
VIEWED: 25478
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FARFLY

Sunday, October 29, 2006 7:42 PM

ireadsomewherethatallgrammarrulesweresuspendedwhileusingtheinternet?

Also, according to the following item, spelling errors are OK.

"Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. "

MAZAEN

Sunday, October 29, 2006 10:22 PM

Linking words

A really useful tool is to build on sentences in your documents. One way you can build on sentences is to use a linking word.

eg Firefly has many characters. (I'll pick the linking word 'character')One of the characters is Wash. (I'll pick linking word Wash but will use a similar phrase to describe 'Wash'.) This blonde-haired, entertaining character pilots the ship, which is called Serenity. (I'll pick the linking word 'Wash')Wash is a funny guy who's married to Zoe, who is another crew member on the ship.

MAZAEN

Sunday, October 29, 2006 10:45 PM

I was wondering if someone kmew about tense. I'm having trouble with tense. I've been told you should always use the same tense when you write a document. If you are going to use past tense, you use past tense throughout the document. If you are going to use present tense you use present tense throughout the doucment. I have written the paragraph below in all present tense, but it doesn't seem to make sense. Does anyone know why?

As Mal is standing, he looks outside the window of Serenity and into the blackness and the stars. He remembers looking up to the same stars when he has been in the war. On one night in the war, he has fought with Zoe against the alliance. When Zoe and Mal have been fighting, alliance planes have flown over Zoe and Mal's position. The planes have shot at Mal's troops, lasers placing colourful stripes over the landscape.

PHOENIXROSE

Monday, October 30, 2006 2:43 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by mazaen:
As Mal is standing, he looks outside the window of Serenity and into the blackness and the stars. He remembers looking up to the same stars when he has been in the war. On one night in the war, he has fought with Zoe against the alliance. When Zoe and Mal have been fighting, alliance planes have flown over Zoe and Mal's position. The planes have shot at Mal's troops, lasers placing colourful stripes over the landscape.

Brain hurty!
Ok, I'm not sure how to explain... Um, this paragraph involves memory, so it would go into the past tense. I'll see if I can write it properly...
"Mal is standing on the bridge of Serenity, looking out the window into the stars and blackness. He remembers looking up at the same stars when he was in the war. He was fighting against the Alliance; Zoe was there with him then. Mal remembers the planes flying over his position, shooting at his troops, the lasers painting colourful stripes over the landscape."
This describes, in the present tense, Mal remembering something from the past, which has to be in the past tense. I find it much easier to write (and read) stories all in past tense, personally.
Er, I hoped this helped. It's really hard to describe all those niddly little rules that can take years to absorb.

As for grammar rules not applying on the internet, that's just being lazy. It's written communication and is easier to understand if it's correct. Even l33t speak has its own grammar to it, in my experience. Everyone has the same frame of reference so everyone can understand what is being said. However, this is mostly a resource for fic writers. Grammar rules do apply when you're writing a story. If people want to use it for their day-to-day posting and communication, I will not mind at all, but I started this thread mostly for the fic writers (hence its location).

"Languages are not just sets of symbols. They also often conform to a rough grammar, or system of rules, used to manipulate the symbols. While a set of symbols may be used for expression or communication, it is primitive and relatively unexpressive, because there are no clear or regular relationships between the symbols. A language that also has a grammar can manipulate its symbols to express clear and regular relationships between them."

PHOENIXROSE

Sunday, January 14, 2007 8:09 AM

*sneaks in and bumps thread*

I've also added a few things to the top post.

ODDNESS2HER

Monday, January 15, 2007 8:59 PM

This will be a great help to the aspiring writers in our midst. There are a couple of additions you could make to your "bore, boar" entry:

boor (n) a churlish, rude or unmannerly person (like Jayne!)

Boer (n) a South African of Dutch extraction

Fun with words!

NEWOLDBROWNCOAT

Tuesday, January 16, 2007 8:28 PM

I got one. I hate to pick on Gwenfrewi, but she used this sentence in her Mal Love-Bot piece, which is otherwise excellent.

Quote:

Sneaking quietly into the cargo bay was easy since Simon had taken to sharing Kaylee’s bunk, but opening the box would be tricky, but she wasn’t a genius for nothing.

Shouldn't put 2 dependent clauses , both starting with " but", in the same sentence.
I got no problems with run-on sentences, sometimes they are the way to show pace or thought process.

PHOENIXROSE

Wednesday, January 17, 2007 11:11 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by NewOldBrownCoat:
I got one. I hate to pick on Gwenfrewi, but she used this sentence in her Mal Love-Bot piece, which is otherwise excellent.
Quote:

Sneaking quietly into the cargo bay was easy since Simon had taken to sharing Kaylee’s bunk, but opening the box would be tricky, but she wasn’t a genius for nothing.

Shouldn't put 2 dependent clauses , both starting with " but", in the same sentence.

I always liked the word 'however' for these kinds of things. Definitely a snarled sentence no matter what, though.

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FLATTOP

Wednesday, January 17, 2007 12:10 PM

Bump.
Just because I like the subject.
Grammar, spelling, diction, and penmanship are not just for fanfic.
Make your grandmother's day, send her a piece of snail-mail that you've written in your finest hand.

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PHOENIXROSE

Wednesday, January 24, 2007 5:29 PM

I have added poor, pour, and pore to the first post. Came across an error with that one (several times) in a professional novel. Really unbelievable.

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