Serious Errors

1. Serious Errors A Letter Grade Off

2. Misspelling • Spell check! • Look for words like form and from. • Its and it’s

3. Subject-Verb Disagreement • A singular subject must agree with a singular verb. • Singular verbs end in s! • Plymouth Plantation provides an example of our country’s earliest horticulture. • Watch out for intervening phrases. • Gardening for the early settlers was a difficult task.

4. Subject-Verb Disagreement • A plural subject must agree with a plural verb. • A plural verb does not end in s! • The landscapes of Plymouth Plantation provide an insight into the lives of the people. • Watch out for intervening phrases. • American settlers, not the Indian population, were discouraged during the winter.

5. Subject-Verb Disagreement • Some predicate nouns differ in number from the subject. • The settlers’ gardens were an area divided into specific parts. • One part of the gardens was medicinal plants.

6. Subject-Verb Disagreement • Watch out for inverted order. • The words there and here will never be subjects. • Was a garden a necessity for early settlers? • Here are several dead plans without flowers.

7. Subject-Verb Disagreement • Singular- billiards, checkers, molasses, measles, news, Niagara Falls, the United States • Plural- clothes, glasses, goggles, contacts, contact lenses, pants, slacks, pliers, proceeds, riches, shears, scissors, soapsuds, suds, thanks, tights, tweezers

8. Subject-Verb Disagreement • If a collective noun refers to a group as a unit, it takes a singular verb. • The landscape committee is leaving the assembly room. • If a collective noun refers to the individual members within the group, it takes a plural verb. • The landscape committee are arguing about the decision to plant trees.

9. Subject-Verb Disagreement • Titles, quotations, and amounts take singular verbs. • Anne of Green Gables is a favorite of many readers. • Yours is what you meant to write, not your’s. • “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks” does not apply to my grandfather. • Ten dollars was a reasonable price. • Two quarters (is, are) on the floor where Kyle dropped them.

10. Subject-Verb Disagreement: Indefinite Pronouns • Always singular- one, body, thing, another, each, either, neither, little, less, much • Always plural- both, few, fewer, many, several • Either singular or plural- all, any, more, most, none, some

11. Subject-Verb Disagreement: Indefinite Pronouns • Everyone (is, are) going to the soccer game. • Several (is, are) injured and cannot play the game. • Some of my homework (is, are) not completed for tomorrow. • Some of the assignments (was, were) finished on time.

12. Subject-Verb Disagreement • Measure words (half, part, and percent) follow the rules of a singular or plural indefinite pronoun. • Half of the team is in the locker room right now. • Half of the required hours for graduation are taken in the first two years.

13. Subject-Verb Disagreement • A relative pronoun takes the number of its antecedent. • The students who proofread typically receive higher grades. • The student who proofreads typically receives higher grades.

14. Subject-Verb Disagreement • Singular- the number of, the only one of • The number of times that we rode the new roller coaster was twelve. • She is the only one of the students who studies diligently. • Plural- a number of, one of the • A number of people ride the roller coaster at the same time. • She is one of the students who study diligently.

15. Subject-Verb Disagreement • Compound subjects joined by and take a plural verb. • Overseeding and adequate fertilization were necessary for success. • Both utilitarian plants and flowers decorate our gardens today.

16. Subject-Verb Disagreement • Exception: If the two words joined by and refer to the same person, thing, or idea, they are considered a singular unit and take a singular verb. • Today apple pie and ice cream is an American tradition. • Macaroni and cheese is one of my favorites.

17. Subject-Verb Disagreement • Compound subjects joined by or ornor take a verb that agree with the closest subject. • Neither James nor his friends are staying after school to study. • Neither James, his friends, nor Peter is staying after school to study.

18. Practice • Human brains (weighs, weigh) about three pounds. • A person on a diet often (misses, miss) sweets. • The best workers in the bookkeeping department (has, have) received raises. • Either Tybalt or the Capulets (threaten, threatens) Romeo’s life.

19. Pronoun-Antecedent Disagreement • An antecedent is a noun a pronoun replaces. • If an antecedent is singular, the pronoun needs to be singular too. • The storm has destroyed may houses in its path. • If an antecedent is plural, the pronoun needs to be plural too. • As a result of the rain, the rivers have overrun their banks.

20. Pronoun-Antecedent Disagreement • A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in gender. • Robert rescued his outdoor animals from the coming storm. • Dr. Rachel Roth, the meteorologist, made her prediction for the storm’s path. • The storm made its way up the coast in only a few hours.

21. Pronoun-Antecedent Disagreement • If a singular antecedent does not indicate a specific gender, use both to be politically correct (unless you go to Pensacola). • The book report presenter must include his/her opinion of the book during his/her presentation. • Often, it is easier to change to the plural form. • The book report presenters must include their opinions of their books during their presentations.

22. Pronoun-Antecedent Disagreement • If two antecedents are joined by and, use a plural pronoun. • As a result of the storm’s destruction, the parents and their children went to their relatives’ house. • If two antecedents are joined by or ornor, use the antecedent closest to the pronoun to determine the number and gender. • Either the twin boys or their older brother will lay out his sleeping bag upstairs. • Neither Dad nor the children could close their eyes while the wind blew violently.

23. Pronoun-Antecedent Disagreement • If a collective noun that acts as a single unit is the antecedent, use a singular pronoun. • The rescue unit does its best to rescue an endangered family pet. • If a collective noun refers to the individuals of that group, use a plural pronoun. • The rescue unit perform their jobs with speed and precision.

24. Pronoun-Antecedent Disagreement • Indefinite pronouns may function as antecedents. • If the indefinite pronoun is always singular, use a singular pronoun. • Everyone takes his/her book along to class. • If the indefinite pronoun is always plural, use a plural pronoun. • Both of the students brought their books.

25. Pronoun-Antecedent Disagreement • If the indefinite pronouns is either singular or plural, look at the sentence’s context to determine number (i.e. an of prepositional phrase). • Most of the students brought their books.

26. Pronoun-Antecedent Disagreement • Again it might be less awkward to change the antecedent to a plural indefinite pronoun. • Everyone brought his/her book to class and took out his/her assignment notebooks to write the assignment down. • All of the students brought their books to class and took out their assignment notebooks to write the assignment down.

27. Practice • Life in the poorest tropical countries is horrible. They are often very short and miserable. • All need to have basic services. He needs food, clothing, and shelter. • A higher birth rate and a greater survival rate are modern trends. Together, it makes the words population double in thirty-five years.

28. The Fragment • A group of words wrongly punctuated as a sentence • Remember a sentence has a subject, verb, and complete thought. • Some fragments are missing an element such as the subject, the verb, and/or a complete thought. • Effectively campaigning for office.

29. Fragments • Some fragments cannot stand alone as a sentence. They have a subject and verb but are missing the complete thought. They usually begin with subordinating conjunctions. • As though he were the only candidate. • Although they studied long into the night.

30. Fragments • Some fragments are incorrectly punctuated with a semicolon. • I like to run on trails rather than on street roads; because asphalt is hard on my knees. • Although you could get hit by lightning during a thunderstorm; you have a better chance of getting in a car wreck. • Senator James conducted an honest campaign; and won the election.

31. Permissible Fragments? • Professional writers often use fragments effectively for emphasis or effect. • However, you are not a professional writer so do not use fragments.

32. Practice! • One of my friends, who won a contest by playing a variety of instruments. • Freddy stayed up late. Working on an overdue assignment. • Before he knew exactly what God wanted him to do.

33. Review • Each sentence must have a capital letter beginning the sentence, a subject, a corresponding verb, a complete thought, and an end mark (. ? !). • To join two sentences you may use a comma and a conjunction (FANBOY), a semicolon (;), or a colon (:).

34. Comma Splices • Comma splices are two sentences that are joined together with simply a comma. • Remember when you want to join two sentences with a comma, the comma must be before a coordinating conjunction (FANBOY- for, and, nor, but, or, yet). • The weather was calm and still, only a soft breeze rustled the leaves.

35. Fused Sentences • Fused sentences are two sentences that are joined together improperly, without a comma. • The sky was dark we feared a storm would soon be upon us.

36. Practice! • In 1976 Americans enthusiastic about CB radios discovered that First Lady Ford shared their fetish, she often broadcast in the CB world under the name “First Mama.” • Congress approved the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline in 1973 oil production began in June of 1977.