Grammar Grab-Bag

1. Grammar Grab-Bag Using the Sentence Patterns Effectively

2. Subject Verb Agreement • Sentence Pattern 8 (Interrupting Cows) and Intervening Preposition Phrases make Subject-Verb Agreement tricky. • Example: • The men, each one a lover of one woman, areextraordinary. • Explanation: Menis plural, so needs a plural verb: are. • The platypus by the dinosaur statue weighs one metric ton. • Explanation: Platypus is singular, so needs a singular verb: weighs. • Why does the second example (the one with the platypus) not have commas?

3. Consistent Verb Tense • Another issue that can be confusing is making sure your verb tense is consistent. • Only shift tenses when you need to let your reader know that events happened in a specific time frame. • Example: • Lexi passed the exam; an excellent student, she had studied the night before. • Notice: the helping verb “had”. What does it inform the reader about what happened and when it happened.

4. Consistent Verb Tense The following passage has a verb tense crisis… As a teacher, I knew that Jaime could not learn with hunger foremost in his mind. For him, the purpose of school is not only to learn the three Rs of reading, writing, and arithmetic, but it was also to serve as a social function. Since Jaime wasan only child, he is also starved for interaction with other children his age.

5. Consistent Verb Tense The verbs must be consistently in the present tense. As a teacher, I know that Jaime can not learn with hunger foremost in his mind. For him, the purpose of school is not only to learn the three Rs of reading, writing, and arithmetic, but it is also to serve as a social function. Since Jaime is an only child, he isalso starved for interaction with other children his age. Or the verbs must be consistently in the past tense: As a teacher, I knew that Jaime could not learn with hunger foremost in his mind. For him, the purpose of school was not only to learn the three Rs of reading, writing, and arithmetic, but it was also to serve as a social function. Since Jaime wasan only child, he was also starved for interaction with other children his age.

6. Pronoun Agreement Because a pronoun REFERS to a noun or TAKES THE PLACE OF that noun, you have to use the correct pronoun so that your reader clearly understands which noun your pronoun is referring to. • RULE 1 • Agree in number • Singular Pronouns with Singular antecedents. • If a student parks a car on campus, he or she has to buy a parking sticker. • (NOT: If a student parks a car on campus, they have to buy a parking sticker.) • Remember: the words everybody, anybody, anyone, each, neither, nobody, someone, a person, etc. are singular. • Everybody ought to do his or her best. (NOT: their best) • Neither of the girls brought her umbrella. (NOT: their umbrellas)

7. Pronoun Agreement • RULE 2 • Agree in person • If you are writing in the "first person" (I), don't confuse your reader by switching to the "second person" (you) or "third person" (he, she, they, it, etc.). Similarly, if you are using the "second person," don't switch to "first" or "third." • When a person comes to class, he or she should have his or her homework ready. • (NOT: When a person comes to class, you should have your homework ready.)

8. Subject-Verb Agreement • Subjects and Verbs must agree in number • Singular verbs with singular subjects • Thedogprofesseshis love to the cat. • Plural verbs with plural subjects • Thecats laugh at the love-struck dog. • Some subjects can be either singular or plural • Someof the beadsare missing. (countable/plural) • Someof the wateris gone. (not countable/singular)

9. Indefinite Pronouns Indefinite pronouns refer to one or more unspecified beings, objects, or places.

10. More Indefinite Pronouns • When determining if an indefinite pronoun is singular or plural – look at the antecedent. • Allof the men areangry. • Men is plural. • Allof the newspaper ispoorly written. • Newspaper is singular. • Write 4 sentences using Indefinite Pronouns: • One with a singular pronoun • One with an plural pronoun • Two with a pronoun that switch hits.

11. Agreeable Practice 1.  The piano as well as the pipe organ ____________ to be tuned for the big concert.  • HAS • HAVE 2.  The mayor, together with his two brothers, ____________ going to be indicted for accepting bribes.  • IS • ARE 3.  Neither of my two suitcases ____________ adequate for this trip.  • IS • ARE 4.  There ____________ a list of committee members on the head-table.  • IS • ARE 5.  Everybody in the class ____________ done the homework well in advance.  • HAS • HAVE

12. More Agreeable Practice 6.  The jury ____________ their seats in the courtroom.  • TAKE • TAKES 7.  Neither the teacher nor the students ____________ to understand this assignment.  • SEEM • SEEMS 8.  ____________ either my father or my brothers made a down-payment on the house?  • HAS • HAVE 9.  Hartford is one of those cities that ____________ working hard to reclaim a riverfront.  • IS • ARE 10.  Some of the grain ____________ gone bad.  • HAS • HAVE

13. Choosing the Right Word • Its vs. It’s • Itsis possessive like his/hers • A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on. (Winston Churchill) • It’s= It is • There is nothing in the world like the devotion of a married woman. It's a thing no married man knows anything about.  (Oscar Wilde) • Which it’sis wrong? • It's one of the hardest courses in it'shistory. • Write a Sample Sentence using It’sand Itscorrectly.

14. Choosing the Right Word • Their vs. They’revs. There • Theiris possessive like his/hers/its • Forgive your enemies, but never forget theirnames. - John F. Kennedy • They’re= They are • Leaders aren't born; they’remade. And they’remade just like anything else, through hard work. -Vince Lombardi • Thereis a place, but also has various functions. • Thereare known knowns. These are things we know that we know. Thereare known unknowns. That is to say, thereare things that we know we don't know. But thereare also unknown unknowns. Thereare things we don't know we don't know. - Donald Rumsfeld

15. Choosing the Right Word • Whovs. That vs. Which • RULE 1 • Who refers to people.  • That and which refer to things. • Marshall is the one who rescued the bird. • Robyn is on the team that won first place.  • Ted is an architect, whichis a job I once dreamt of having. • But that’s not all…

16. Choosing the Right Word • Whovs. That vs. Which • RULE 2 • That introduces essential clauses • Which introduces nonessential clauses. • I do not trust products that claim "all natural ingredients" because this phrase can mean almost anything. • We would not know which products were being discussed without thethatclause. • The product claiming "all natural ingredients," which appeared in the Sunday newspaper, is on sale. • The product is already identified. Therefore, which begins a nonessential clause. • NOTE: Essential clauses do not have commas surrounding them while nonessential clauses are surrounded by commas.

17. Choosing the Right Word • Whovs. Whom • Whois a subject • Whois throwing the ball to Kyle? • Whomis an object • Kyle is throwing the ball to whom? • TRICK • The “M” Posse • Substitute HIM. If it fits, WHOMis right.