COMMON GRAMMAR ERRORSSENTENCE PROBLEMS, USAGE, TENSES, AND AGREEMENT

FOUR FUNCTIONS OF A SENTENCE

1. Declarative – States an idea and ends with a period. 2. Interrogative – asks a question and ends with a

question mark. 3. Imperative – gives an order or a direction and ends

with either a period or an exclamation mark. 4. Exclamatory – conveys strong emotion and ends with

an exclamation mark.

SENTENCE FRAGMENTS

A sentence fragment is a group of words that is not a complete idea; a fragment is only part of a sentence.

Ex. In the early evening.

Ex. Felt happy and relaxed.

Ex. Seemed to be particularly fond of it.

Professional writers sometimes use sentence fragments. They do so for special effect – to add emphasis or convey dialogue.

However, you should avoid sentence fragments.

RUN-ON SENTENCES

A run-on sentence is two or more complete sentences written as though they are one sentence.

1. “Comma Splice” – two main clauses separated by a comma instead of a period or semi-colon. Ex. Tanya and Naoko are both going to work as camp counselors this summer, they are looking forward to the experience.”

2. When two main clauses are written with no punctuation. Ex. “Tanya and Naoko feel the job has many advantages working with children is one of them.”

3. When a comma is left out before a coordinating conjunction that joins two main clauses. Ex. “They will enjoy what they will be doing and they will be earning money too.”

MISPLACED MODIFIERS

A phrase or clause that acts as a modifier – an adjective or adverb – should be placed close to the word it modifies.

Ex. We rented a house in the mountains with a view. (Misplaced)

Who or what has “a view”?

Ex. We rented a house with a view in the mountains. (Clear)

Or

Ex. In the mountains, we rented a house with a view. (Clear)

MORE MISPLACED MODIFIERS

Ex. Dugout canoes were used by people that were made out of hallow logs. (misplaced)

Who or what was made out of hallow logs?

Ex. Dugout canoes that were made out of hallow logs were used by people. (correct)

Ex. Mr. Spock serves aboard the Enterprise a logical science officer. (misplaced)

Who or what is a logical science officer?

Ex. Mr. Spock, a logical science officer, serves aboard the Enterprise. (correct)

DANGLING MODIFIERS

Dangling modifiers do not modify any word in a sentence. You can correct this error by supplying a word that can be modified.

Ex. Digging in the field, a Native American village was found. (Dangling)

Who or what was digging in the field and found a village?

Ex. Digging in the field, archeologists found a Native American village. (Clear)

DOUBLE NEGATIVES

Do not use double negatives – two negative words in a sentence.

Ex. Silvia didn’t invite nobody. Ex. I haven’t no time now. Ex. She never told us nothing about her party.

USAGE

Certain usages of English are preferred by most educated speakers and writers.

Refer to your textbook: 8th pg. 352—354. 10th pg. 691—700.

GRAMMAR QUIZ #9

Know the four functions of a sentence and their ending punctuations.

Be able to identify and correct: sentence fragments and run-ons.

Be able to identify and correct: misplaced modifiers, double-negatives, and improper usage.

VERB TENSES: INDICATE TIME

Principal Parts: the base form, present participle, past form, and past participle.

Verb tenses are formed from the principal parts.

For example:

“Carpenters work.” [base or present form]

“Carpenters worked.” [past form]

“Carpenters are working.” [present participle with the auxiliary verb are]

“Carpenters have worked.”[past participle with the auxiliary verb have]

REGULAR AND IRREGULAR VERBS

A regular verb forms its past form and past participle by adding –ed or –d to the base form.

An irregular verb forms its past form and past participle in some way other than adding –ed or –d to the base form.

PRESENT TENSE

The same form as the base form (except for Be).Expressed constant, repetitive, or habitual action

or condition. Also, a general truth, or an action or condition that

exists only now.

PAST TENSE

Expresses action already started and completed in the past.

Ex. “The team defeated its opponents.” Ex. “The rivalry seemed fierce.”Except for be, nearly all verbs – regular and irregular –

have just one past-tense form, such as climbed or became: was (singular) or were (plural).

FUTURE TENSE

Used to express an action or condition that will occur in the future.

To form the future tense:1. Use shall or will with the base form. Ex. “You shall see

me tomorrow.”2. Use going to with the present tense of be and the base

form of a verb. Ex. “Angela is going to the mall.”

PERFECT TENSES

Present Perfect Tense – expresses an action or condition that occurred at some indefinite time. (Have, Has) Ex. She has listened to the recording. Ex. They have bought a new home.

Past Perfect Tense – used to indicate that one past action or condition began and ended before another past action started. (Had) Ex. She had worked as a manager before I took the job.

Future Perfect Tense – to express one future action or condition that will begin and end before another future event starts. (Will have, Shall have) Ex. By June I will have worked here for a year.

PROGRESSIVE/EMPHATIC

Each of the six tenses has a progressive form that expresses a continuing action.

Be + the present participle of the verb (-ing).

Present Progressive: is/are listening; Past Progressive: was/were listening; Future Progressive: will be listening; Present Perfect Progressive: have/has been listening; Past Perfect Progressive: had been listening; Future Perfect Progressive: will have been listening.

Emphatic forms add special force or emphasis.

Do, does, or did + the base form.

Ex. I did listen.

ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE

Voice is a verb form that shows whether or not the subject is performing the action.

A verb is in the active voice when its subject performs the action.

Ex. Sharon is conducting a survey.

A verb is in the passive voice when its subject does not perform the action.

Ex. The survey is being conducted by Sharon.

GRAMMAR QUIZ #10

SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT

A verb must agree with its subject in person and number (singular or plural).

To show agreement, most verbs change form only in the present tense by adding –s or –es:

Ex. She learns/ They learn, Ex. He watches/ They watch

The exception is Be, which changes form in both the present tense and the past:

Ex. The dog is happy/ The dogs are happy, Ex. The dog was sad/ The dogs were sad.

SUBJECT – VERB AGREEMENT CONTINUED

Keep in mind: a prepositional phrase that comes between a subject and verb does not affect subject-verb agreement.

Ex. The poster of combat planes fills the wall. Also: A compound subject joined by and is usually

plural. However, subjects joined by or/nor are singular.

PRONOUN-ANTECEDENT AGREEMENT

A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number (singular, plural) and gender (masculine, feminine).

Ex. Emily Bronte published her novel, Wuthering Heights, in 1847.

Ex. Emily, Charlotte, and Anne Bronte published their collected poems in 1846.

Further, a pronoun must agree in person with its antecedent

Do not use the second person “you” to refer to an antecedent in the third-person.

USING PRONOUNS

Personal Pronouns have three cases: Nominative (I, we, you, he, she, it, they) for subjects Objective (me, us, you, him, her, it, them) as direct

objects, indirect objects, and objects of a preposition. Possessive (my, mine, ours, your, yours, his, her,

hers, its, their, theirs) to show ownership.

WHO OR WHOM?

Use “who” for subjects.Ex. “Who called this morning”?Ex. “Tell us who is in charge.”Use “whom” for direct or indirect objects. Ex. “Whom did you give the report?” Ex. “Jaime asked her whom is had invited to the

party.”

COMPARISONS