Many students struggle with the English language when writing a paper

The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon. You can always do it better, find the exact word, the apt phrase, the leaping simile. __ Robert Cormier

§

Writing Checklist:
Have I read it out loud to myself?

§Do I have any fragments or run-on’s?

§Can the sentences be stronger?

§Can I omit any words? (that, the)

§Do I repeat words or phrases significantly?

§Do I repeat concepts?

§Is there a topic sentence in each paragraph?

§Do I stay in the correct verb tense?

§Do my verbs agree with my nouns?

§Did I use any contractions?

§Did I run spell check?

§Have I asked a different person to read it for clarity?

Many students struggle with the English language when writing a paper. I searched the internet for help on grammar and found the following website to be FANTASTIC! All of the following information can be found on the following website:

Website homepage: http://ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/index.htm (Click on address)
Author and Host: Professor Charles Darling and Capital Community College

The specific information can be found by following the links from the above homepage, or by typing in the following addresses:

http://ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/tenses.htm

	Singular	Plural
Simple tenses Indicate that an action is present, past or future relative to the speaker or writer.
Present
1st person	I walk/draw	we walk/draw
2nd person	you walk/draw	you walk/draw
3rd person	he/she/it walks/draws	they walk/draw
Past
1st person	I walked/drew	we walked/drew
2nd person	you walked/drew	you walked/drew
3rd person	he/she/it walked/drew	they walked/drew
Future
1st person	I will walk/draw	we will walk/draw
2nd person	you will walk/draw	you will walk/draw
3rd person	he/she/it will walk/draw	they will walk/draw
Perfect tenses Indicate that an action was or will be completed before another time or action.
Present perfect
1st person	I have walked/drawn	we have walked/drawn
2nd person	you have walked/drawn	you have walked/drawn
3rd person	he/she/it has walked/drawn	they have walked/drawn
Past perfect
1st person	I had walked/drawn	we had walked/drawn
2nd person	you had walked/drawn	you had walked/drawn
3rd person	he/she/it had walked/drawn	they had walked/drawn
Future perfect
1st person	I will have walked/drawn	we will have walked/drawn
2nd person	you will have walked/drawn	you will have walked/drawn
3rd person	he/she/it will have walked/drawn	they will have walked/drawn
Progressive tenses Indicate continuing action.
Present progressive
1st person	I am walking/drawing	we are walking/drawing
2nd person	you are walking/drawing	you are walking/drawing
3rd person	he/she/it is walking/drawing	they are walking/drawing
Past progressive
1st person	I was walking/drawing	we were walking/drawing
2nd person	you were walking/drawing	you were walking/drawing
3rd person	he/she/it was walking/drawing	they were walking/drawing
Future progressive
1st person	I will be walking/drawing	we will be walking/drawing
2nd person	you will be walking/drawing	you will be walking/drawing
3rd person	he/she/it will be walking/drawing	they will be walking/drawing
Present perfect progressive
1st person	I have been walking/drawing	we have been walking/drawing
2nd person	you have been walking/drawing	you have been walking/drawing
3rd person	he/she/it has been walking/drawing	they have been walking/drawing
Past perfect progressive
1st person	I had been walking/drawing	we had been walking/drawing
2nd person	you had been walking/drawing	you had been walking/drawing
3rd person	he/she/it had been walking/drawing	they had been walking/drawing
Future perfect progressive
1st person	I will have been walking/drawing	we will have been walking/drawing
2nd person	you will have been walking/drawing	you will have been walking/drawing
3rd person	he/she/it will have been walking/drawing	they will have been walking/drawing

http://ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/irregulars.htm

COMMON IRREGULAR VERBS

The verb forms provided in the table below are as follows:

· the base form, which you would find in the infinitive: to fly;

· the third-person, singular, present tense: he flies;

· the third-person past tense: he flew;

· and the past participle: he has flown

Base Form	Present Third Person	Past Third Person	Past Participle
arise be bear begin bite blow break bring buy catch choose come creep dive do drag draw dream drink drive drown eat fall fight fly forget forgive freeze get give go grow hang hide know lay lead lie light lose prove ride ring rise run see seek set shake sing sink sit speak spring steal sting strike swear swim swing take tear throw uses wake wear write	arises is bears begins bites blows breaks brings buys catches chooses comes creeps dives does drags draws dreams drinks drives drowns eats falls fights flies forgets forgives freezes gets gives goes grows hangs hides knows lays leads lies lights loses proves rides rings rises runs sees seeks sets shakes sings sinks sits speaks springs steals stings strikes swears swims swings takes tears throws used wakes wears writes	arose was/were bore began bit blew broke brought bought caught chose came crept dived/dove did dragged drew dreamed/dreamt drank drove drowned ate fell fought flew forgot forgave froze got gave went grew hung hid knew laid led lay lit lost proved rode rang rose ran saw sought set shook sang sank sat spoke sprang stole stung struck swore swam swung took tore threw used woke/waked wore wrote	arisen been borne begun bitten/bit blown broken brought bought caught chosen come crept dived done dragged drawn dreamt drunk driven drowned eaten fallen fought flown forgotten forgiven frozen got/gotten given gone grown hung hidden known laid led lain lit lost proved/proven ridden rung risen run seen sought set shaken sung sunk sat spoken sprung stolen stung struck sworn swum swung taken torn thrown used woken/waked/woke worn written

http://ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/consistency.htm

Tense Consistency

Remember that if you're writing in the present tense, don't shift to the past tense (or vice versa) unless you have a good reason to do so. For instance, in the sentences below there is no reason to switch from the present tense. This is especially true when writing papers about literature: wherever possible, stay in the present tense.

Confusion	In Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, the narrator is one of the few truly successful characters in terms of moral development. However, she was also seriously flawed in some ways.
Repair Work	In Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, the narrator is one of the few truly successful characters in terms of moral development. However, she is also seriously flawed in some ways.
Confusion	She intended to play for the team during the upcoming season, but then she blows out her knee. [Shifting to the present tense this way would be common in casual speech; it will not do, however, in writing.]
Repair Work	She intended to play for the team during the upcoming season, but then she blew out her knee.

Pronoun Reference

Remember that if you're referring to you, or we, or I, or one, try to remain consistently within the same case.
~~One~~ You should observe this carefully whenever you write.

The cases of nouns and pronouns are reviewed in a table.

Confusion	In Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, we find the narrator to be one of the few successful characters in terms of moral development. However, even the narrator, you soon realize, is seriously flawed. [We've shifted from the first-person plural "we" (quite common when writing about literature) to the second-person, singular "you."]
Repair Work	In Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, we find the narrator to be one of the few successful characters in terms of moral development. However, even the narrator, we soon realize, is seriously flawed.
Confusion	People enjoy themselves immensely at UConn women's basketball games. You don't have to be an expert in basketball to get caught up in the crowd's enthusiasm. [In these sentences, we've gone from a third-person, plural reference, "People," to second-person "you."]
Repair Work	[We could write, instead:] People enjoy themselves immensely at UConn women's basketball games. One doesn't have to be an expert in basketball to get caught up in the crowd's enthusiasm. [However, the "one," after a while, is going to feel overly formal, stuffy.]
Repair Work	[Most writers would probably prefer this:] People enjoy themselves immensely at UConn women's basketball games. It isn't necessary to be an expert in basketball to get caught up in the crowd's enthusiasm.