Modifiers, Pronouns , Punctuation, and Review

1. Modifiers, Pronouns, Punctuation, and Review

2. Q: Modifiers: 100 • What is a misplaced modifier?

3. A: Modifiers 100 • A modifier that is too far from the word or words it refers to, making the meaning of the sentence unclear. • Example: The instructor explained why plagiarism is wrong on Friday.

4. Q: Modifiers 200 • What is a dangling modifier and where do they often appear?

5. A: Modifiers 200 • A dangling modifier is one that has nothing to refer to in the sentence. • They are often at the beginning of a sentence and begin with –ing or to. • Example: Reaching the top of the hill, the view was beautiful. What is doing the reaching? The view??

6. Q: Modifiers: 300 Is this a misplaced or dangling modifier? Correct it. The robber was described as a tall man with a black moustache weighing 150 pounds.

7. A: Modifiers 300 • It is a misplaced modifier. • The robber was described as a six-foot-tall man weighing 150 pounds with a black moustache.("150 pounds" describes the man, not the moustache.)

8. Q: Modifiers 400 • Is this a misplaced or dangling modifier? Correct it. • After reading the textbook, the material remains confusing.

9. A: Modifiers 400 • Dangling! • After reading the textbook, I remain confused about the material. • Who did the reading? I did! Not the material.

10. Q: Pronouns 100 • How can you test whether or not you’re using the correct pronoun as the subject of a sentence when the you have a compound subject?

11. A: Pronouns 100 • Try each subject alone: • Carol and him decided to study together. • Carol decided to study • Him decided to study • He decided to study. • Carol and he decided to study together.

12. Q: Pronouns 200 • Is the following sentence correct? If not, fix it. • The CAT bus left Sheryl and I because we were late.

13. A: Pronouns 200 • Incorrect! • The CAT bus left Sheryl. • The CAT buss left I. • The CAT bus left me. • The CAT bus left Sheryl and me because we were late.

14. Q: Pronouns 300 • Read the following sentence. Is it correct? Why or why not? If not, fix it. • I hope somebody will let me borrow their textbook, so I can do the homework due tomorrow.

15. A: Pronouns 300 • Incorrect. • This is a pronoun agreement error. The antecedent in the sentence is Somebody, which is an indefinite pronoun, which is singular. Thus, it requires a singular pronoun, like he/she. • I hope somebody will let me borrow her textbook.

16. Q: Pronouns 400 • Read the following sentence. Is it correct or not? Explain. If incorrect, fix the sentence. • Please give the textbook to whom it belongs.

17. A: Pronouns 400 • Correct! • The word whom is used here because it is the object of the sentence. • We can check by substituting him for whom: • Give the textbook to him (whom). • Give the textbook to he (who).

18. Q: Commas 100 • When should you use a comma with a coordinating conjunction? • 50 point bonus: name all the coordinating conjunctions (other team can steal bonus points if wrong)

19. A: Commas 100 • When it is used to combine two independent clauses! • For • And • Nor • But • Or • Yet • So

20. Q: Commas 200 • When should you use commas with who, whose, which, when, or there?

21. A: Commas 200 • Whenever the information is not necessary to understanding the main point of the sentence (non-restrictive). • Ms. Beattie, who is my English teacher, lives in Anderson. • Main point: Ms. Beattie lives in Anderson—that she teaches English is not relevant—it’s extra!

22. Q: Commas 300 • Decide whether or not this sentence needs commas. Tell me where. • I lost my textbook so I cannot do my homework tonight.

23. A: Commas 300 • Needs commas! • I lost my textbook, so I cannot do my homework tonight. • Why? Two independent clauses (can stand alone as sentences) are combined with a coordinating conjunction.

24. Q: Commas 400 • Does the following sentence need any commas? If so, where? • According to my classmates my English class the last one of the day is very fun exciting and interesting! ;-)

25. A: Commas 400 • It needs 5 commas! • According to my classmates, my English class, the last one of the day, is very fun, exciting, and interesting!

26. Q: Major Errors 100 • What TYPE of error is below? • 50 point bonus: fix it! • Since becoming a student a Tri-County Tech. I have learned many new and wonderful things.

27. A: major errors 100 • Fragment! • Since becoming a student a Tri-County Tech, I have learned many new and wonderful things. • I have learned many new things since becoming a student at Tri-County Tech.

28. Q: Major Errors 200 • What’s the problem here? • 100 point bonus: fix it! • My friend Miranda is a junior majoring in criminal justice she plans to go to law school.

29. A: major Errors 200 • Run-on—fused sentence! • My friend Miranda is a junior majoring in criminal justice; she plans to go to law school. • My friend Miranda is a junior majoring in criminal justice. She plans to go to law school. • My friend Miranda is a junior majoring in criminal justice, andshe plans to go to law school.

30. Q: Major Errors 300 • Is there anything wrong with the sentence below? If so, what? • If it’s wrong, there’s a 100 point bonus to the team who fixes it! Each of the students are responsible for doing their homework.

31. A: Major errors 300 • There are actually two errors: • 1) subject-verb agreement (150) • 2) pronoun-antecedent agreement (150) • Each of the students are is responsible for doing their his or her homework (50 points per correction)

32. Q: Major Errors 400 • Is there anything wrong with what’s written below? If so, what? (400) • 400 point bonus for correcting it. • Learning grammar is important you need to know it to write clearly. The agreement of subjects and verbs are particularly important. Even though it is important it is difficult to learn all the rules! There are lots of rules about punctuation marks such as commas semi-colons and colons. Some rules are easy to remember. Such as “never write a fragment.” However knowing what they are makes it easy to avoid mistakes! I guess practice make perfect.

33. A: Major Errors 400 Learning grammar is important; you need to know it to write clearly. The agreement of subjects and verbs are is particularly important. Even though it is important, it is difficult to learn all the rules! There are lots of rules about punctuation marks, such as commas, semi-colons, and colons. Some rules are easy to remember, such as “never write a fragment.” However, knowing what theythe rules are makes it easy to avoid mistakes! I guess practice makes perfect.