 |  English Skills with Readings, 5/e John Langan,
Atlantic Community College
The Fourth Step in Writing
Key Terms
| active verb | a verb that shows the subject of the sentence doing something (e.g.,
Hakim turned on the computer); active verbs are
distinguished from passive verbs, which show something being done
to the subject of the sentence (e.g., The computer was turned
on by Hakim).
| | | | | clause | a word group that contains a subject and a verb (e.g., The dog ran.)
| | | | | concise writing | simple and clear writing; the opposite of wordiness
| | | | | consistency | an important feature of good writing: verb tense (past/present/future, etc.)
and pronouns (point of view: I, you, he/she/it, etc.) should be kept consistent
in order to avoid confusing the reader.
| | | | | dependent clause | a clause that does not express a complete thought in and of itself;
it requires an independent clause to complete its meaning.
| | | | | editing | checking a paper carefully for errors in grammar, punctuation, mechanics,
usage, and spelling
| | | | | independent clause | a clause that expresses a complete thought in and of itself; it requires
no other clause to complete its meaning.
| | | | | parallelism | balance; parallel structure, or balanced structure, is important
in order to make your writing read smoothly.
| | | | | proofreading | checking the final, edited draft of your paper closely for typos
and other careless errors
wordiness
| | | | | wordiness | using more words than necessary to express a meaning
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2002 McGraw-Hill Higher Education