Advanced Grammar & Stylistic Mastery

Front

What is the subjunctive mood and when is 'were' required?

Back

A verb mood used to explore conditional or imaginary situations. In contrary-to-fact clauses (statements using 'if' or 'wish' that are not currently true), use 'were' instead of 'was' for all subjects, including singular ones.

Front

Define correlative conjunctions and the rule for parallel structure.

Back

Pairs of conjunctions that connect equal elements in a sentence, such as 'either/or,' 'neither/nor,' and 'not only/but also.' The grammatical structure following the first conjunction must exactly match the structure following the second.

Front

Explain the difference between a restrictive and non-restrictive clause.

Back

A restrictive (essential) clause defines the noun's identity and uses no commas (e.g., 'The book *that I read* was good'). A non-restrictive (non-essential) clause adds extra info and is set off by commas (e.g., 'The book, *which I read yesterday*, was good').

Front

How do you use commas with coordinate adjectives?

Back

Use a comma between two adjectives that modify the same noun equally. A quick test is to swap the adjectives or put 'and' between them. If the meaning stays the same, they are coordinate and need a comma (e.g., 'a long, winding road').

Front

What is a dangling modifier?

Back

A word or phrase that modifies a word not clearly stated in the sentence, often causing illogical meanings. It usually occurs when a participial phrase at the start of a sentence does not logically modify the subject immediately following it.