Grade 10 grammar review and resources

Please use this site as your reference for all things grammatical. It is one of the best resources online for English grammar assistance, and is used by the University of Waterloo's writing center:

November 2, 2013

3:34 PM

These are the grammar aspects that I will be marking on the test:

#1. Noun and verb tense agreement: The rules for verb tense agreement are these:

  • the first verb tense is (generally) the tense that the entire answer/essay should be in. Example: if you begin your answers by saying "Hannah has a gift as a pianist" then all the subsequent references to Hannah or her situation should be in present tense.
  • Talk about the events in a novel, short story or poem in the present tense. This is called the "literary present". Here is a summary of the rules for this use of verb tenses:

"The Literary Present"

When you quote directly from a text or allude to the events in a story (as in a brief plot summary), you should use "the literary present." We write about written works as if the events in them are happening now, even though the authors may be long dead. Quoting an essay, you would write,

Annie Dillard wrotePilgrim at Tinker Creekwhen she lived in Virginia's mountains. In the book's chapter, "Seeing," Annie Dillard contends that "vision... is a deliberate gift, the revelation of a dancer who for my eyes only flings away her seven veils" (17).

Here, both "wrote" and "lived" are in the past tense since they refer to Dillard's life, not her writings. "Contends," however, appears in a statement about Dillard's writing, so it is in the present tense.

When you write about fiction, you will also want to use the present tense.

At the end ofOf Mice and Men, Lennie sees an enormous rabbit that chastises him, making him to think of George.

Mrs. Mallard, in "The Story of an Hour," whispers "'free, free, free!'" after learning of her husband's supposed death.

The above examples are a plot summary and a direct quotation, both of which use the literary present. You can remember to write about literature in the present tense because you are currently reading or thinking about it. Every time you open a book it seems as though the events are currently happening; every time you read an essay it is as though you are currently speaking to the writer.

Pasted from <

  • #2. Use of capital letters:

Please review this page online:

You are responsible for knowing all of the times that you should use capital letters in the test.

  • #3. Indenting: when writing paragraph answers, always indent the first line of your answer. Get in the habit of indenting the beginning of everything you write, whether it is an answer on a test, or a paragraph in an essay or article.