| Table of Contents |
| | Acknowledgements | xiii |
| | Preface | xv |
| | Introduction Language is a river | 1 |
| | Origins | 2 |
| | Benefits and detriments | 4 |
| | Curiosities | 5 |
| | Inventing words | 5 |
| | Who's in charge? | 7 |
| | What is "correct"? | 8 |
| | The perilous free fall ahead | 9 |
| | Devoured by the black hole | 11 |
| | Accountable to a higher standard | 11 |
| Lesson 1 | Parts of Speech A very good place to start | 15 |
| 1.1. | Nouns | 17 |
| | Common | 17 |
| | Proper | 17 |
| | Collective | 17 |
| | Concrete | 18 |
| | Abstract | 18 |
| | Count | 18 |
| | Noncount | 18 |
| | Infinitive | 18 |
| | Gerund | 19 |
| | Appositive | 20 |
| 1.2. | Pronouns | 21 |
| | Personal | 22 |
| | Possessive | 22 |
| | Interrogative | 22 |
| | Demonstrative | 22 |
| | Indefinite | 23 |
| | Reciprocal | 23 |
| | Reflexive | 23 |
| | Intensive | 23 |
| 1.3. | Verbs | 23 |
| | Regular | 24 |
| | Irregular | 24 |
| | Transitive | 24 |
| | Intransitive | 24 |
| | Linking | 24 |
| | Helping | 24 |
| | Compound | 24 |
| | Infinitive | 25 |
| 1.4. | Adjectives | 25 |
| | Generally | 25 |
| | Cumulative | 25 |
| 1.5. | Adverbs | 26 |
| | Comparative and superlative forms of adjectives and adverbs | 27 |
| 1.6. | Articles | 30 |
| | The, a, or an | 30 |
| | When to use "the" | 31 |
| | When to use "a" | 31 |
| | When to use "an" | 31 |
| 1.7. | Prepositions | 31 |
| 1.8. | Conjunctions | 34 |
| | Coordinating | 34 |
| | Correlative | 35 |
| | Subordinating | 35 |
| 1.9. | Interjections | 35 |
| | Conclusion | 36 |
| Lesson 2 | Verb Properties In the mood | 39 |
| | Action/status | 39 |
| | Forms | 40 |
| | Regular/irregular | 41 |
| 2.1. | Number | 45 |
| 2.2. | Person | 45 |
| 2.3. | Tense | 48 |
| 2.4. | Voice | 52 |
| 2.5. | Mood | 55 |
| 2.6. | Contractions | 57 |
| Lesson 3 | Singular vs. Plural One lump or two? | 61 |
| 3.1. | Making nouns plural | 61 |
| | General rule | 61 |
| | Irregular plurals (men, children, geese, etc.) | 62 |
| | Words that are only plural (media, data, information) | 65 |
| 3.2. | Determining whether a noun is singular or plural | 66 |
| 3.3. | The difference between plural and possessive nouns | 67 |
| 3.4. | Article agreement for count and noncount nouns | 69 |
| 3.5. | Pronoun declension | 70 |
| 3.6. | Singular and plural indefinite pronouns | 71 |
| 3.7. | Pronoun/antecedent agreement | 72 |
| 3.8. | Number in expressing fractions and percentages | 76 |
| Lesson 4 | Punctuation and Mechanics Directing traffic | 79 |
| 4.1. | Stops | 81 |
| | Periods | 81 |
| | Question marks | 81 |
| | Exclamation points | 81 |
| 4.2. | Yields | 82 |
| | Commas | 82 |
| | Semicolons | 87 |
| | Colons | 89 |
| 4.3. | Hazards | 91 |
| | Apostrophes | 91 |
| | Hyphens | 94 |
| | Ellipses | 96 |
| 4.4. | Detours | 96 |
| | Parentheses | 96 |
| | Brackets | 98 |
| | Quotation marks | 98 |
| | Dashes | 103 |
| | Slashes | 103 |
| 4.5. | Traffic jams | 104 |
| | Comma plague | 105 |
| | Comma splices | 106 |
| | Reckless endangerment of apostrophes | 107 |
| | Abuse of quotation marks | 108 |
| | Frantic dashes | 109 |
| 4.6. | Mechanics | 109 |
| | Capitalization | 109 |
| | Abbreviations | 114 |
| | Spelling | 116 |
| | Italics and underlining | 118 |
| Lesson 5 | Using Words to Convey Meaning What's in a name? | 123 |
| 5.1. | Select the best word | 124 |
| 5.2. | Use words accurately | 130 |
| 5.3. | Use words consistently | 132 |
| 5.4. | Avoid nominalization | 132 |
| 5.5. | Avoid unnecessary words | 134 |
| 5.6. | Use gender neutral words | 137 |
| 5.7. | Resolve confusion: homonyms | 139 |
| Lesson 6 | Agreement Let's get along | 143 |
| 6.1. | A sentence must have a subject and verb and express a coherent thought | 143 |
| 6.2. | A verb must agree with its subject | 149 |
| 6.3. | Agreement between a pronoun and its antecedent | 154 |
| Lesson 7 | Composing Sentences A kaleidoscope of moving pieces | 157 |
| 7.1. | Identify the components of a sentence | 157 |
| | Subject | 157 |
| | Predicate | 159 |
| | Direct object | 160 |
| | Indirect object | 161 |
| | Subject complement | 161 |
| | Independent clauses | 162 |
| | Subordinate clauses | 162 |
| | Prepositional phrases | 163 |
| | Verbal phrases | 164 |
| | Appositive phrases | 165 |
| 7.2. | Recognize typical patterns for composing a sentence | 166 |
| 7.3. | Types of sentences categorized by purpose | 169 |
| | Declarative | 170 |
| | Imperative | 170 |
| | Interrogative | 171 |
| | Exclamatory | 171 |
| 7.4. | Types of sentences categorized by syntax | 171 |
| | Simple | 171 |
| | Compound | 172 |
| | Complex | 172 |
| | Compound/complex | 173 |
| 7.5. | Choosing the correct verb form for compound and complex sentences | 174 |
| Lesson 8 | Variety in Composing Sentences The spice of life | 177 |
| 8.1. | Provide variety in legal writing (except in legal drafting) | 178 |
| | Begin with an adverb or adverbial phrase | 179 |
| | Begin with a prepositional phrase | 180 |
| | Begin with a verbal phrase | 181 |
| | Begin with an appositive | 181 |
| | Begin with an introductory series | 181 |
| | Begin with brief modifying ideas, then subject and verb | 181 |
| | Invert the sentence structure | 182 |
| | Use rhetorical questions | 183 |
| | Vary sentence length | 183 |
| | Use passive voice | 184 |
| 8.2. | Combine and coordinate simple sentences of equal importance | 185 |
| 8.3. | Subordinate dependent clauses | 188 |
| 8.4. | Use parallelism | 191 |
| 8.5. | Avoid convoluted sentence structures | 192 |
| Lesson 9 | Composing Paragraphs Strategic alliances | 197 |
| | Paragraphs have three parts | 197 |
| | Topic sentence | 197 |
| | Body | 197 |
| | Concluding sentence | 197 |
| 9.1. | Develop the main point | 199 |
| 9.2. | Connect ideas coherently | 200 |
| | Chronological order | 201 |
| | Spatial order | 202 |
| | Order of importance | 203 |
| | Logical order | 203 |
| | Question/answer | 203 |
| 9.3. | Elaborate effectively according to the paragraph's objective | 204 |
| | Description | 204 |
| | Narration | 205 |
| | Illustration | 206 |
| | Definition | 207 |
| | Cause and effect | 208 |
| | Persuasion | 209 |
| | Comparison and contrast | 210 |
| | Analogy | 211 |
| | Classification and division | 212 |
| 9.4. | Create smooth transitions | 214 |
| 9.5. | Link paragraphs by repeating key words and using transitional cues | 216 |
| Lesson 10 | Composing a Legal Memorandum Finish the drill | 219 |
| 10.1. | Assemble paragraphs in a logical order | 220 |
| 10.2. | Traditional IRAC format | 220 |
| 10.3. | ESF: RAC | 221 |
| | Executive Summary | 221 |
| | Facts | 221 |
| | Rule | 221 |
| | Application | 222 |
| | Conclusion | 222 |
| 10.4. | Executive Summary | 222 |
| 10.5. | Just the facts, ma'am | 224 |
| 10.6. | Rule, application, conclusion | 226 |
| 10.7. | Analysis | 228 |
| | Cumulative elements | 229 |
| | Alternative elements | 229 |
| | Guiding factors | 229 |
| | Balancing factors | 230 |
| | Exceptions to a general rule | 230 |
| | Deductive reasoning | 231 |
| | Inductive reasoning | 231 |
| | Comparing and contrasting | 231 |
| 10.8. | Logical fallacies | 233 |
| | Generalization | 233 |
| | Non sequitur | 233 |
| | Oversimplification | 233 |
| | Post hoc ergo propter hoc | 233 |
| | Circular reasoning | 233 |
| | False analogy | 233 |
| Lesson 11 | Faux pas Miscellanea | 235 |
| 11.1. | Irregardless | 235 |
| 11.2. | Apostrophes vs. plurals | 236 |
| 11.3. | Split infinitives | 236 |
| 11.4. | Double negatives | 238 |
| 11.5. | And/or | 238 |
| 11.6. | Provisos | 239 |
| 11.7. | Have got | 242 |
| 11.8. | Dangling modifiers | 242 |
| 11.9. | Archaic phrases | 243 |
| 11.10. | Hyperbole | 243 |
| 11.11. | Cliches | 244 |
| 11.12. | Mixed metaphors | 246 |
| 11.13. | Excessive use of adverbs | 246 |
| 11.14. | Oxymora | 247 |
| 11.15. | Mixed constructions | 249 |
| 11.16. | Shifts in point of view | 250 |
| 11.17. | Verse v. versus | 251 |
| 11.18. | Mother, may I? | 251 |
| 11.19. | Me, Myself, and I | 252 |
| Lesson 12 | Extra Credit for Grammar Maestros | 257 |
| 12.1. | Gerund possessives | 257 |
| 12.2. | Use of "a" or "an" with words beginning with an "h" | 258 |
| 12.3. | Who's zooming whom? | 260 |
| 12.4. | That vs. which | 261 |
| 12.5. | Whether (or not) | 261 |
| 12.6. | The good, the bad, and the ugly | 262 |
| 12.7. | An (un)happy ending | 264 |
| 12.8. | Beginning sentences with "and," "but," or "however" | 265 |
| Appendix A | Irregular Verbs | 267 |
| Appendix B | Sample Legal Memorandum | 275 |
| | Index | 283 |
