This three-day comprehensive course is an opportunity to review and improve your familiarity with essential grammar rules and techniques for efficient, effective editing. You’ll practice writing clear, correct sentences to ensure your readers can quickly and easily understand your message, and you’ll develop confidence in using correct punctuation, capitalization, spelling, verb forms, and pronouns. You’ll also survey the grammatical principles embedded in the Federal Plain Language Guidelines and identify valuable writing resources, including style guides and editing software/programs. Finally, you’ll define and practice a structured editing process to ensure a more complete, standardized, and thorough review of all your written communication.
Target Audience
Individuals who wish to review and improve essential grammar and usage rules.
What You'll Learn at a Glance
- Analyze the significance of creating clear, concise written products at work, following correct usage and grammar principles.
- Recognize subject-verb agreement and hidden verbs.
- Explain the correct use of pronouns and pronoun-antecedent agreement.
- Use punctuation correctly in writing.
- Demonstrate proper spelling in written work.
- Apply appropriate grammar usage in writing.
- Investigate advanced topics in grammar, including parallelism and active voice.
- Identify resources to use for grammar help, including style guides and editing software/programs.
Course Syllabus
Module 1: Why Grammar Matters
- Understand the role of grammar in professional credibility and clear communication
- Identify risks associated with poor grammar and miscommunication
- Improve clarity and reader engagement through correct usage
Module 2: Agreement Matters
- Apply subject-verb agreement rules with singular and plural subjects
- Handle tricky agreement cases with compound subjects and indefinite pronouns
- Understand collective noun usage and agreement in complex structures
Module 3: Energetic Writing
- Use active voice to enhance clarity and conciseness
- Identify and eliminate hidden verbs and redundancy
- Revise bloated or passive writing for energy and impact
Module 4: Using Pronouns
- Identify pronoun types and their grammatical roles
- Ensure pronoun-antecedent agreement and clarity
- Avoid vague or ambiguous pronoun references
Module 5: Modifiers
- Correct misplaced and dangling modifiers
- Apply the rule of parallel structure in lists and series
