Name ___________________________________
English
Period _________
Date Completed ____________________________
50 Writing/Grammar “Rules”
Throughout the year we will be discussing various writing/grammar do’s and don’ts. Your assignment
will be to take this document and show me what you’ve learned through the year. At the end of the
year, you will turn in this same document; it will be marked with annotations, comments to self,
drawings to help you remember, etc.
DO NOT THROW THIS COPY AWAY—PUT IT IN YOUR BINDER.
THIS IS AN ONGOING PROJECT. YOU NEED TO READ THESE “RULES” NOW AND BE THINKING ABOUT
THEM ANYTIME YOU SEE WORDS IN FRONT OF YOU.
Eventually, these ideas will just be things know you know. You probably know many of these ideas right
now.
By the end of the year I will expect to see mini write-ups explaining the following:
 Why I think this entire document is funny.
 How you know what you know—what did we talk about during the year? You aren’t a lump—
pay attention, you’ll see how I’m telling you, and you’ll make your own connections.Write them
down when you have them.
 Examples to prove/disprove the “rules.” Not all of these are firm—where is there flexibility?
How would accepting/rejecting the rules make your writing better/worse?
 How you have internalized the ideas. You need to be actively thinking while you write; in doing
so, you’ll be able to prove how you are becoming a better writer.
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Verbs HAS to agree with their subjects.
Never use a preposition to end a sentence with.
And don't start a sentence with a conjunction.
It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
Avoid cliches like the plague.
Also, always avoid annoying alliteration.
Be more or less specific.
Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary.
Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies endlessly over and over again.
No sentence fragments.
Contractions aren't always necessary and shouldn't be used to excess so don't.
Foreign words and phrases are not always apropos.
Do not be redundant; do not use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous and can be
excessive.
14. All generalizations are bad.
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Don't use no double negatives.
Avoid excessive use of ampersands & abbrevs., etc.
One-word sentences? Eliminate.
Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
The passive voice is to be ignored.
Eliminate commas, that are, not necessary. Parenthetical words, however, should be enclosed in
commas.
Never use a big word when substituting a diminutive one would suffice.
Don't overuse exclamation points!!!
Use words correctly, irregardless of how others use them.
Understatement is always the absolute best way to put forth earth-shaking ideas.
Use the apostrophe in it's proper place and omit it when its not needed and use it correctly with
words' that show possession.
Don't use too many quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I hate quotations.. Tell me what
you know."
If you've heard it once, you've heard it a billion times: Resist hyperbole; not one writer in a
million can use it correctly. Besides, hyperbole is always overdone, anyway.
Puns are for children, not groan readers.
Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
Even IF a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
Who needs rhetorical questions? However, what if there were no rhetorical questions?
Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
Avoid "buzz-words"; such integrated transitional scenarios complicate simplistic matters.
People don't spell "a lot" correctly alot of the time.
Each person should use their possessive pronouns correctly.
All grammar and spelling rules have exceptions (with a few exceptions)....Morgan's Law.
Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.
The dash - a sometimes useful punctuation mark - can often be overused - even though it's a
helpful tool some of the time.
Proofread carefully to make sure you don't repeat repeat any words.
In writing, it's important to remember that dangling sentences.
Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
Avoid cliches like the plague.
Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
One should never generalize.
Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
Be more or less specific.
Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
Research shows that you should not be involved in your research paper.
1 thing to think about is how numbers are used when writing..