Intermediate Grammar

Paragraphs are the next organizational level in writing beyond sentences.  Begin with an indentation on a new line to indicate a new paragraph.  On webpages, because of the myriad different ways in which browsers parse spacing, it has become acceptable to start new paragraphs by skipping a line.  Browsers respect vertical spacing, but some will ignore redundant horizontal spacing.  This was particularly an issue with the advent of newer operating systems and devices with unstandardized screen sizes. 

Paragraphs help to add structure and variety to a piece of writing.  They are groups of sentences containing related ideas.  There is no rule governing how long or short a paragraph should be; however, longer works such as essays, short stories, or articles consisting of only a single paragraph are considered poorly structured.  

There are special paragraph rules regarding dialogue.  When a new speaker begins, one begins a new paragraph.  For example:

The magic lizard said, "If you pull my tail, I will grant you three wishes."


"But won't your tell just come off if I pull it?" responded Griseldabrand.

The best way to improve your writing structure is to read prolifically (sound familiar?) and practice writing frequently. 

Another important idea to address is active voice versus passive voice in writing.  You have a choice of writing most sentences either way.  In writing a speech, a story, or an essay, active voice is generally preferred, but you may occasionally use passive voice.  In writing a lab report or a research paper (especially in a section on procedures) you will find that passive voice is often preferred.  For example.​

She added 250 milliliters of water to the reaction vessel. 

250 milliliters of water was added to the reaction vessel by her.


In the passive voice, we move the subject to the end of the sentence or omit it entirely.  We make the object the subject of the action of the sentence with a form of the verb "to be".  We'll use a slightly simpler variation of the above sentences to make the transformation more obvious.​

She added water.

Water was added (by her).
​
The parenthetical portion may or may not be important depending on the context of the passive voice used.  Active voice is considered more engaging while passive voice is considered more neutral and informative.  Recipes, instructions, and methodologies are often written in the passive voice.  Passive voice, in many circumstances, is more clear to read in these cases.  It does, however, result in extremely repetitive and unexciting reading.  

We will cover several often abused bits of punctuation here:

the ellipsis …

quotation marks “

the apostrophe ‘

the ampersand &

brackets [ ]

parentheses ( )

​

The ellipsis is used to indicate several things.  The most frequent and important usage of the ellipsis is the omission of quoted material.  If you are leaving out words or quotes from a person or a source, then use an ellipsis to join the portions together from the beginning of the omission to the end.  For example:

​

Martin Luther King Jr. said “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

​

Martin Luther King Jr. said “I have a dream that… all men are created equal.”

​

In dialogue ellipsis indicates a trail off- often an incomplete thought or sentence due to interruption or forgetfulness.

​

Jordan whispered, “I am not terribly fond of dark…” as an unusual noise interrupted him.

​

Quotation marks are used to indicate either dialogue or the writings or speech of another person.

​

Richard Dawkins coined the term “meme”.

​

Cindy said, “I am very fond of the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke.”

​

​

The apostrophe is used to indicate possession or in contractions.  It is also used to indicate quoted text within a quotation.

​

Jason said, “Martin Luther King Jr. said ‘I have a dream that… all men are created equal.'”

​

Jason reminds you that you shouldn’t use contractions in formal writing.

​

The ampersand is among the simplest punctuations.  It replaces the word end and is generally used for brevity.

​

You have learned about the use of the ellipses, quotations marks, & ampersands.

​

​

Brackets are used either to amend a confusing reference in a quotation or to attribute a citation.  Note that depending on the style guide you are using parentheses may be acceptable for both of these uses, but, in my experience, brackets are currently predominate. 

​

“I have a dream” [Martin Luther King Jr., Speech, August 28th, 1963]

​

“[Martin Luther King Jr. has] a dream.”

​

​

The primary use of parentheses is to deliver information that is relevant to a sentence, but could be omitted for a reader that is familiar with the scenario.

​

Jor-El (the father of super man who saved him from the destruction of the planet Krypton) was a hero in his own right.  

​

The parenthetical portion may or may not be important depending on the context of the passive voice used.  Active voice is considered more engaging while passive voice is considered more neutral and informative.  Recipes, instructions, and methodologies are often written in the passive voice.  Passive voice, in many circumstances, is more clear to read in these cases.  It does, however, result in extremely repetitive and unexciting reading.  

Colloquialisms are generally familiar phrases or words that are particular to a region, group of people, or discipline but are not widely known or understood across the English speaking world.  Slang, for instance, is generally considered colloquial as are regional sayings.

​

Let’s consider some examples:

He put his baggy green in the boot.  =

He placed his Australian national commemorative cricket hat into the trunk of a car.

​

That scaper is skijoring. =

That small animal is being pulled on skies.  

​

Ish, he’s going to put that on pump too?

[Expression of disgust], he is going to put that on his tab as well?

​

We need to use PCRs instead of western blots because they are faster and cheaper even if the accuracy is diminished.

We need to use [specific diagnostic test for DNA or RNA] instead of [a different diagnostic test for DNA or RNA] because they are faster and cheaper even if the accuracy is diminished.

​

The first one involves international English slang and the second two involve modern American slang (2022).   The last example is problematic because it uses language that is specific to biochemistry and the average person is unfamiliar with the tools of biochemistry.  The rule for colloquialisms is that they are largely fine in fiction writing- especially if you are trying to give a sense of period and place.  They are not to be used in formal writing without substantial explanation unless you can expect your audience to already know and understand them.  For instance, I do not to explain what the Riemann Zeta function is if I’m publishing in a journal dedicated to the study of number theory.  However, if I’m publishing in a mathematics journal that is not number theory and I mention the Riemann Zeta function, then I must explain what it is.  You have to consider your audience.

​

When speaking publicly you are best advised to avoid colloquialisms.  Certainly, you might intentionally incorporate one or two (provided you offer some explanation of them).

Clichés are phrases or statements that generally well-known to your audience, but overused and add little value to your writing.  Most clichés are considered forms of padding one’s writing to reach a word count or a sign of a poor writer.  Colloquialisms can also be clichés. 

​

For example:

The new drug was a real gamechanger in the pharmaceutical industry.

Here, “gamechanger” is both a reference to sport’s history, but is widely understood largely because its extreme overuse.  Try another word or phrase like “pivotal” or “paradigm shift”.

​

Other common examples are phrases like:

Don’t judge a book by its cover.

All that glitters isn’t gold.

a diamond in the rough

Every cloud has it’s silver lining.

​

There are very many possible clichés that one could use in English, but they are best avoided.  At best, they make your writing look amateurish and, at worst, they make passages difficult read and boring while making the writer seem incompetent.

Commas are among the most versatile of English punctuation.  They serve a myriad of different functions and have proven themselves so valuable that they have been incorporated or paralleled in many other modern languages that did not did have a similar punctuation before contact with English (or similar languages).

​

Appositives are grammatical structures set aside with commas to rename a noun.  They yield additional information about a topic.

Examples are listed below.

My lawyer, the hyper-chicken from outer space, was not very competent.

​

Kiff, Zap Branigan’s trusted friend, did not particularly care for the hyper-chicken.

​

The staff of the Planet Express Delivery Company, Professor Farnsworth, Fry, Leela,

and Bender, watched the trial.

​Commas are also used to separate lists.  You can see a list in the last of the previous three examples.  Because of the use of appositives in the English language, it is good practice to use a comma to separate the final “and” or “or” that occurs in a list.  The words, “and” and “or” often demarcate a sequence of nouns as a list.  Observe the following examples.

Lizards, turtles, and alligators are all reptiles.

My favorite foods are cookie dough, cookie cake, and cookies.

To the right, we see an example of why oxford commas (the comma that comes before the final and) are important.  They distinguish between lists and appositives. 

Commas also separate an individual who is being addressed by a sentenced.  Notice the difference between the following two examples:

​

Let’s eat grandpa.                             

​

Let’s eat, grandpa.

​

The first sentence describes the picture to the left.  The second is an invitation to dinner directed at grandpa.