| subject-verb agreement |
| |
- singular nouns w/ singular verbs
- Pulkit
lose/loses his key every other day.
- The Mole-man diligently digs/
dig his hole every morning.
- plural nouns w/ plural verbs
- They want/
wants more food.
- The vicious, mutant amphibians kill/
kills sharks for food.
- ignore any extra words coming between the verb and noun
- The group of highly intellectual but obscenely short Martians always
speak/speaks highly of Earth.
- That buff dude, one of many members of the illustrious sports clubs in Los Angeles, lifts/
lift heavy weights with ease.
- noun may come after the verb
- According to the many books in the library, there is/
are gold hidden in the mountains.
- Hidden deep in the caves of the South
lie/lies the great treasure of Hakeem Sufaria.
- isolate the noun and verb, then determine agreement
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| fake compound subjects |
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- only "and" can make 2 singular nouns into a plural compound noun
- "neither__nor__" "either__or__"
- Neither Heather nor Emily was/
were my secret admirer.
- Either John or Joe subscribes/
subscribe to Playboy every year.
- Neither diseases nor injuries stop/
stops him from playing. (subjects are already plural)
- "along with" "as well as" "in addition to"
- Bad grooming, as well as few showers and shortages of deodorant, guarantees/
guarantee that he will smell gross.
- Baseballs, in addition to a basketball and a football, were/
was only a few of things thrown through that window.
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| simple past, past participle confusion |
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- past participles require helping verbs
- simple past forms can stand alone
- past participle endings
- -en (I was awaken by the storm)
- -wn (The important package was flown in yesterday)
- -ung (He could have sung if he wanted to)
- -unk (Once the boat hit the reef, I knew it was sunk)
- -un (I have finally run a mile)
- -um (I have swum a mile too)
- -ome (The time had come for me to face the music)
- -one (The deed was done)
- simple past endings
- -oke (I easily choke on chips)
- -oze (I doze off to sleep in class daily)
- -ot (I got the answer very quickly)
- -ode (The idiotic knight rode off into battle without a sword)
- -ose (He might overdose on Tylenol if you don't watch him)
- -ove (She dove into the water in search of her lipstick)
- -ote (That was all she wrote)
- -ang (My sister sang in the choir)
- -ank (The boat sank quickly)
- -an (I ran a mile)
- -am (Did I ever mention that I swam a mile too?)
- -ame (Dare you tame the violent beast?)
- -ew (I threw the football back to him)
- -ook (I took the pokemon cards without permission)
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| wrong word use |
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- words that sound alike but have different meanings
- accept/except
- adapt/adopt
- affect/effect
- afflict/inflict
- allusion/illusion
- emigrate/immigrate
- eminent/imminent
- lay/lie
- raise/rise
- set/sit
|
| wrong tense |
| |
- look for logical relationships between verbs if more than 1 found in a sentence
- make sure verb tenses match if more than 1 verb used in the sentence
- present perfect tense - for action starting in past, continuing to present
|
| number agreement |
| |
- noun and words describing noun must be both plural or singular
- Only astronauts with high school diplomas/
a high school diploma could apply.
- Armed with their
gun/guns, 150 members of the NRA spent 3 hours shooting at a squirrel.
- singular pronouns referring to singular nouns, plural pronouns for plural nouns
- A normal high school student often has some problems settling in to his or her/
their new school.
- Even the strongest of world economies can have problems recovering from its/
their economic downfall.
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| pronoun form |
| |
- isolate pronouns from compounds, then see if the sentence still makes sense
- don't shift pronoun in person or number
- should be obvious what noun the pronoun is referring to
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| wrong comparisons |
| |
- 2 things in a comparison must be logically compared
- 2 things being compared need to be in the same form
- To run away is smarter than to stay and fight/
staying and fighting.
- isolate the things being compared
|
| adjective/adverb use |
| |
- adjectives modify nouns
- adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs
|
| double negative |
| |
- never use 2 negatives together
|
| idiomatic uses |
| |
- no grammatical rule
- based on whether a section sounds right
- prepositions before/after the verb
| abide by |
consist of |
object to |
| abide in |
contribute to |
participate in |
| accuse of |
count on |
pray for |
| agree with |
decide on |
prohibit from |
| agree on |
depend on |
protect from |
| apologize for |
differ from |
provide with |
| apply to |
differ with |
recover from |
| apply for |
differ over |
rely on |
| approve of |
differ about |
rescue from |
| argue with |
discriminate against |
respond to |
| argue about |
distinguish against |
respond |
| arrive at |
dream of |
stop from |
| believe in |
dream about |
subscribe to |
| blame for |
escape from |
substitute for |
| care about |
excel in |
succeed in |
| care for |
excuse for |
thank for |
| charge for |
forget about |
vote for |
| charge with |
forgive for |
wait for |
| compare to |
hide form |
wait on |
| compare with |
hope for |
work with |
| complain about |
insist on |
worry about |
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| run-on sentences |
| |
- 2 independent clauses put together either without punctuation or just a comma
- separate 2 independent clauses w/ period, semicolon
- change 1 independent clause into a subordinate clause if the 2 clauses are related
- combine the 2 independent clauses into 1 if both have the same subject
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| sentence fragments |
| |
- parts of sentences, can't stand by themselves
- could be missing a subject or verb
- could be a subordinate clause due to an added subordinating conjunction
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| misplaced modifier |
| |
- adjectives or adverbs may be modifying the wrong nouns or verbs
- noun or verb being described usually follows immediately before/after a modifying phrase
- modifying phrase should refer to nearest noun/verb
- change order of words as appropriate
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| faulty parellelism |
| |
- sentences w/ parallel construction should have same grammatical structure in both parts
- items in a series should have same structure
- neither...nor
- either...or
- both...and
- the better...the better
- the more...the more (less)
- not only...but also
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| faulty coordination/subordination |
| |
- usually due to incorrectly used conjunction/subordinating conjunction
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