Knowledge of Language Quiz
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Terms in this set
- Verb Tense & Consistency Verb forms place actions in time — simple past/present/future, progressive (ongoing: was walking), and perfect (completed relative to another time: had walked) — and tense should stay consistent unless the meaning requires a shift.
- Active & Passive Voice In active voice the subject performs the action (the nurse gave the medication); in passive voice the subject receives it (the medication was given by the nurse), built from a form of 'be' plus a past participle.
- Formal vs. Informal Language Choosing language to fit audience and purpose: formal writing avoids slang, contractions, and casual phrasing for academic and professional contexts; informal language suits personal notes and dialogue.
- Transitions in Writing Words and phrases that connect ideas and signal their relationship: addition (furthermore), contrast (however), cause and effect (therefore), example (for instance), and sequence (finally).
- Paragraph Development A well-built paragraph has one controlling idea in a topic sentence, supporting sentences that develop it with evidence and explanation, and unity — every sentence belongs to the same idea.
- The Writing Process The five stages of producing a piece of writing: prewriting (brainstorming and planning), drafting, revising (reworking ideas and organization), editing (fixing grammar and mechanics), and publishing.
- Misplaced & Dangling Modifiers A modifier must sit next to the word it describes: a misplaced modifier attaches to the wrong word ('she served cake to the children on paper plates'), and a dangling modifier describes a word missing from the sentence entirely.
- Clarity & Conciseness Saying exactly what is meant in the fewest words that preserve the meaning — cutting redundancy (free gift, end result), filler (due to the fact that), and needless repetition.