9 th Grade Grammar Review

1. 9th Grade Grammar Review Part II

2. What can go wrong in a sentence? • Subject – Verb Agreement • Pronoun – Antecedent Agreement • Incorrect Pronoun Case • Modifiers (misplaced and dangling) • Lack of parallelism • Unclear Pronoun Reference (ambiguous, general and weak) • Run ons – Comma splice and Fragments • Active – Passive Voice

3. Do you remember? The opposing attorneys, Mr. Kourabas and Mr. Martin, went to the courthouse that A morning determined to use the new law B to promotehis client’s interests. No error. C D E

4. Work in specialized fields such as A bacteriology, public health, and animal husbandry require at least a bachelor’s B degree, and for a career in management or research, a master’s degree or even a doctorate is C D required. No error. E

5. To the aviator flying along the Hudson in A early autumn, every bend in the river offers B theirown panorama of changing colors. C D No error. E

6. The collective thoughts, reflections, memories, and opinions expressed by the A seniors in the pages of the student B magazine represent the diversity and C uniqueness that characterizes River Dell High D School. No error. E

7. Tolstoy said that happiness derives from living for others and that, should one fail to A B serve others in some fashion, when life’s C end approaches, they will die with regret. D No error. E

8. What we will cover today… • Subject – Verb Agreement • Pronoun – Antecedent Agreement • Incorrect Pronoun Case • Modifiers (misplaced and dangling) • Lack of parallelism • Unclear Pronoun Reference (ambiguous, general and weak) • Run ons – Comma splice and Fragments • Active/Passive voice

9. Incorrect Pronoun Case Three cases for pronouns: Subjective, Objective and Possessive Subjective pronouns are the subject of the verb. Objects are acted upon by the subject. Possessive goes before a gerund.

10. Singular I You He/She/It Who Plural We You They Who Subject Pronouns

11. Subjective Form Use: If the pronoun is the SUBJECT of the action: use the Subjective form of the pronoun. __________ want a cookie. __________ stole his cookie? __________ ate that cookie. Use I or Me?

12. When someone calls your house…. asking for you…and you answer the phone. What do you say? This is ___________________. (he or him) Use the subjective form to refer to the subject of “is.” This and “he/she” are the same. (predicate nominative) Another example: I looked at the picture, but I couldn’t believe it was _______. (he or him)

13. Understood verbs Sometimes a verb is not there, but is understood to be there…especially in comparisons When I looked at Janet, she always appeared to be taller than (I or me). When Joe and Chuck played, Joe always seemed to be meaner than (he or him).

14. Singular Me You Him/Her/It Whom Plural Us You Them Whom Object Pronouns

15. Objective Form Use: Can you answer who or what after the verb? If so, use the objective form of the pronoun. Ex: I surprised ______ yesterday. He told ________ the secret. They planned to show ________ the secret tomorrow.

16. Who vs. Whom (relative pronouns) Who is the Subject form: Is the WHO doing the action? Who went to the store? Who wants pizza? Whom is the Object form: Janet, whom I admire, is not happy with Jill. The receptionist asked, “Whom do you want?”

17. Possessive Pronouns Singular My Your His Her its Plural Our Their

18. Possessive Form Use the possessive form of the pronoun before a gerund. Gerund – a verb form ending in –ing that is used as a noun. Examples of gerunds: Walking is a healthful exercise. Writing improves from much practice.

19. Possessive Forms and Gerunds If you want to emphasize the action in the –ing word, use the possessive form of the pronoun that precedes it. There is some question about his taking the ACT again to improve his score. I saw him taking the ACT this morning.

20. Possessive Form Use: Do you use him or hisin the following examples? ____________ talking annoyed the teacher and caused him to get into trouble. I heard ___________ talking to a friend in class.

21. More practice: Do you use I, me or my? _______________ singing was off key and hurt everyone’s ears. Did you hear ________ singing that song? We, Maureen and ________, were singing our favorite song.

22. The false alarm had frightened everyone in A the condo, and she more than the other B residents who lived there, since she had C D once lived in a building that was destroyed by fire. No error. E

23. The confrontation between he and his family A forced him to leave home, and he saw B neither his mother nor his sister again. C D No error. E

24. Modifiers Modifiers must be placed so that they modify the right words and no others.

25. Modifiers Misplaced Modifiers: Every time he goes to the bathroom outside, John praises his new puppy for being so good.

26. What is wrong here? Rose was delighted to find the guitar she’d been looking for walking by a Westport pawn shop. Can you rewrite it?

27. Misplaced Modifier Walking by a Westport pawn shop, Rose was delighted to find the guitar she had been looking for.

28. Dangling Participles (modifiers) Sometimes a modifier has no word in the sentence to modify Climbing the ladder, Pete’s head knocked over the paint can. Rewrite:

29. More Dangling Modifiers Planning to stay indoors, my jacket was flung into the closet. Rewrite:

30. One more… Still sound asleep at noon, my mother thought I might be sick. Rewrite:

31. Subject – Verb Agreement • Pronoun – Antecedent Agreement • Incorrect Pronoun Case • Modifiers (misplaced and dangling) • Lack of parallelism • Unclear Pronoun Reference (ambiguous, general and weak) • Run ons – Comma splice • Active – Passive Voice