USE INFINITIVESAND GERUNDSCORRECTLY.ARIES; PARTS OF SPEECH; AND PAR...

5. Use infinitivesand gerundscorrectly.aries; parts of speech; and parallel structure.Approximately one-third of the questions on the GEDIndefinite Pronounswriting test will be about sentence structure. Here areTo remember singular indefinite pronouns, note thatsome tips for tackling questions about sentence structure:someone, anyone, everyone, and no one all contain theword one. One, of course, is singular. Indefinite pronouns

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Look for words that signal relationships andbeginning with some,any, everyand noare all singular.make connections: subordinating conjunctions,coordinating conjunctions, and conjunctiveAgreementadverbs. These words help describe the relation-When it comes to agreement, think of sentences as a scaleship between ideas and determine sentencewith subjects on one side and verbs on the other, or withboundaries and punctuation.antecedents on one side and pronouns on the other. The

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Look carefully at word order. Are modifiers closesubjects and verbs need to agree in order for the scale toto the things they modify?be balanced. Likewise, the pronouns need to agree with

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Look for grammatical patterns. Is there—ortheir antecedents to balance the scale.should there be—parallel structure at work in thesentence?Pronouns

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Could sentences be combined effectively?It’s so easy to make a mistake with pronouns and con-

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If you suspect a sentence fragment, isolate thattractions because we show possession of nouns with ansentence and see if it makes sense on its own. Ifapostrophe (Ralph’s car). With pronouns, however, pos-not, it probably needs to be combined withsession does not require an apostrophe. If you get con-another sentence or revised to be complete.fused, think of a possessive pronoun that doesn’t get

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If you suspect a run-on sentence, look at eachconfused with contractions, like myor our. These do notclause. Is it independent? If so, is there stronghave apostrophes; other possessive pronouns shouldn’t,enough punctuation or connecting wordseither.between the clauses?And here’s one way to remember to use that whenreferring to things: both words begin with the letter t.

U s a g e

Prepositional IdiomsIf prepositional idioms tend to give you problems, tryAnother third of the questions on Part I will be aboutwriting sentences with the idioms to give yourself extrausage: the rules that govern the form of the words we usepractice. Create a worksheet for yourself or someone elseand how we put those words together in sentences.who may also need extra idiom review.Chapter 7 reviewed the usage rules you should know forthe exam. Here are some specific tips for questions aboutusage.

M e c h a n i c s

VerbsAbout one-fourth of the questions on Part I will beBecause verbs are the driving force in every sentence, andabout mechanics: the rules that govern punctuation,because verbs can take so many different forms, you cancapitalization, and spelling. Chapter 8 reviewed punctu-be sure that many usage questions will be about verbs.ation guidelines, rules for correct capitalization, andHere are five tips to help you prepare for those questions:

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spelling for contractions and possessive pronouns as wellFor example:as homonyms. Here are some specific tips for handlingstationary vs. stationery:Remember thatquestions about mechanics.“stationery” is the one to write on because it’sspelled with an “er” like the letteryou arePunctuationRemember that punctuation marks are used to separatewriting.sentences, show the relationships between ideas, revealtone, and clarify meaning. Each punctuation mark has a(See page 22 for more about mnemonic devices.)For a list of over 700 pairs of homonyms, visitspecific function and should only be used in specific sit-uations. Take the time to memorize the uses for eachwww.cooper.com/alan/homonym_list.html. You can alsopunctuation mark. Here are some tips to help you learnfind homonym quizzes and worksheets at https://traloihay.net.

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Pay attention to how punctuation is used as youread. Now that you know the rules, the more you

O r g a n i z a t i o n

see them in action, the easier it will be to remem-ber them.Finally, a smaller portion of the questions on Part I will

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Write your own sentences with each punctuationmark and each comma rule. Notice how punctua-be about organization: how writers arrange their ideas.Chapter 9 reviewed essay structure and organizationaltion can change the impact and meaning ofpatterns, effective paragraphs, and transitions. When yousentences.encounter a GED question about organization, these

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Teach the punctuation rules to someone else.guidelines can help you identify the correct answer.Capitalization