Grammar Review 1—The Basics

Gain a solid mastery of the basics, avoid mistakes that land agencies in court, and write documents that stand up to scrutiny.

Do the 400-page grammar reference manuals provide what you need, the way you need it, when you’re working quickly under pressure? Unlikely.

What you need is a system of making the right grammar call every time without spending lots of time referencing obscure rules. You must get it right—workplace writing has no room for error. Your documents must stand up to scrutiny.

So how do we solve this problem?

We focus on patterns and purpose to make grammar rules easy to understand, remember, and apply correctly in any context. We plain talk the Gregg Reference Manual to create useful, direct guidance that works for busy people who want to get it right.

Start with Grammar Review Part 1, then build your advanced skills in Grammar Review Part 2. Both courses stand alone and cover different scopes, but they’re better together.

Course Duration: 1 Day |7 hours
Participants: Up to 28
Audience: Public sector employees who write, edit, proofread, or prepare final copy for distribution or publication.

Course Scope

This one-day workshop covers the basics of grammar, word choice, and sentence structure to include nouns by classification; capitalization; plurals of general words, unfamiliar words, and abbreviations; singular and plural possessives; punctuate phrases and clauses; and sentence fragments, run-ons, and comma splices.

Note: This course supports the principles of Plain Talk.

Performance Objectives

A blend of lecture, activity, exercises, feedback, and discussion helps learners gain the following knowledge and skills.

  • Understand the use of grammar in writing.
  • Define and locate nouns by classification.
  • Follow rules on when and when not to capitalize words.
  • Form plurals of general words, unfamiliar words, and abbreviations.
  • Learn recent changes in forming singular and plural possessives.
  • Identify and punctuate phrases and clauses.
  • Find sentence fragments, run-ons, and comma splices.
  • Write complete sentences in plain talk.

Competencies covered in this course: Written Communication

Resources

Write Words provides a computer lab for live revision courses within 50 miles of Olympia, WA. Laptops provided for regional agencies beyond 50 miles when possible, by request. We also provide workbooks and all materials needed.

Host agencies provide a projection system that we can use to present from a laptop. We can use anything you have: a Smartboard, smart TV, or projector system with Display Port, HDMI, wireless, or VGA connection.

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