Usage Errors in Writing

1. Usage Errors in Writing OBJ-Recognize usage errors occurring within context (i.e., subject-verb agreement, pronoun case, double negatives, comparative/superlative forms, troublesome words: {to/too/two, their/there/they’re, its/it’s, sit/set, lie/lay, affect/effect, may/can, leave/let, teach/learn, accept/except, capitol/capital, principle/principal, between/among, rise/raise, stationary/stationery, where/were, which/that/who}) within context.

2. Double Negatives “Failure is only the opportunity to begin again, only this time more wisely.”Anonymous Created by José J. González, Jr.Spring 2002STCC

3. These are grammatically incorrect sentences because they contain double negatives. • I don’t want no water. • There aren’t no apples in the refrigerator. • I haven’t none. • We weren’t hardly able to sleep. If you read these sentences quickly, you might think that they are correct. But they are not. So what is wrong with them? Check next slide for answers. Created by José J. González, Jr.Spring 2002STCC

4. Corrections • I don’t want no water. • I don’t want any water. • There aren’t no apples in the refrigerator. • There aren’t any apples in the refrigerator. • I haven’t none. • I haven’t any. • We weren’t hardly able to sleep. • We were hardly able to sleep. Created by José J. González, Jr.Spring 2002STCC

5. So what are the rules about double negatives? • Do not use two or more negative words in the same sentence. Two negatives contradict each other and make an positive. Negative words: No never Scarcely hardly Only none Nobody no one Nothing neither Not n’t But(meaning only) Created by José J. González, Jr.Spring 2002STCC

6. Let’s practice: • Marisol hadn’t never heard of the movie. • I haven’t no money for such things. • I have never seen any tanks. • There wasn’t no opportunity to go to the opera. • He isn’t hardly able to run to the bus. • I didn’t find nobody at the swimming pool. • I haven’t any bananas today. • He didn’t like none of these. • We weren’t but four players on the field. Created by José J. González, Jr.Spring 2002STCC

7. Corrections: • Marisol had never heard of the movie. • I haven’t any money for such things. • I have never seen any tanks. • There wasn’t any opportunity to go to the opera. • He is hardly able to run to the bus. • I didn’t find anybody at the swimming pool. • I have no bananas today. He didn’t like any of these. • We were but four players on the field. Created by José J. González, Jr.Spring 2002STCC

8. More practice: • I couldn’t hardly speak. • She hasn’t no food. • I am sure they didn’t have no other car. • Dad can’t hardly hear me from my room. • Rover won’t bite nobody. • I am sure she hasn’t no books for us. • I didn’t run into no one I knew at the game. • Tommy hasn’t done nothing today. • Grandma didn’t have no chocolate yesterday. • I didn’t see the kite nowhere. Created by José J. González, Jr.Spring 2002STCC

9. Corrections: • I could hardly speak. • She has no food. • I am sure they didn’t have any other car. • Dad can hardly hear me from my room. • Rover won’t bite anybody. • I am sure she hasn’t any books for us. I didn’t run into any one I knew at the game. • Tommy hasn’t done anything today. • Grandma didn’t have any chocolate yesterday. • I didn’t see the kite anywhere. Created by José J. González, Jr.Spring 2002STCC

10. Assignment: • Carlos didn’t see nobody around. • Can’t you find no milk? • He was not allowed to go nowhere. • Dad say she can’t never trust him. • The boys haven’t any clothing to wear. • It wasn’t hardly midnight when we saw the moon. • In the beginning, they weren’t hardly surprised. • There wasn’t nobody in school so late. • It was so warm the dog couldn’t scarcely move. • It don’t make no difference anyway. • It don’t matter no how. • Didn’t you notice that there was no oil in the car. • I wasn’t no where to be found. Created by José J. González, Jr.Spring 2002STCC

11. COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE ADJECTIVES

12. SOME RULES ABOUT FORMING COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES • One syllable adjectives generally form the comparative by adding -er and the superlative by adding -est, e.g.:

13. SPELLING RULES • Note that if a one syllable adjective ends in a single vowel letter followed by a single consonant letter, the consonant letter is doubled, e.g.: thin → thinner, big → biggest. • If an adjective ends in -e, this is removed when adding -er/-est, e.g.: wide → wider/widest. • If an adjective ends in a consonant followed by -y, -y is replaced by -i when adding -er/-est, e.g.: dry → drier/driest.

14. TWO SYLLABLE ADJECTIVES • two syllable adjectives which end in -y usually form the comparative by adding -er and the superlative by adding -est, (note the change of -y to -i in the comparative/superlative) e.g.:

15. TWO SYLLABLE ADJECTIVES • two syllable adjectives ending in -ed, -ing, -ful, or -less always form the comparative with more and the superlative with the most, e.g.:

16. THREE SYLLABLE ADJECTIVES • Adjectives which have three or more syllables always form the comparative and superlative with MORE and THE MOST, e.g.: • The only exceptions are some three syllable adjectives which have been formed by adding the prefix -un to another adjective, especially those formed from an adjective ending in -y. These adjectives can form comparatives and superlatives by using more/most or adding -er/-est, e.g.:unhappy – unhappier – the unhappiest/ the most unhappy

17. IRREGULAR ADJECTIVES

18. USE OF COMPARATIVES • Comparatives are very commonly followed by than and a pronoun or noun group, in order to describe who the other person or thing involved in the comparison is, e.g.: • John is taller than me. • I think that she’s more intelligent than her sister.

19. OTHER USES OF COMPARATIVES • Comparatives are often qualified by using words and phrases such as much, a lot, far, a bit/little, slightly etc., e.g.: • You should go by train, it would be much cheaper. Could you be a bit quieter? I’m feeling a lot better. Do you have one that’s slightly bigger? • Two comparatives can be contrasted by placing the before them, indicating that a change in one quality is linked to a change in another, e.g.: The smaller the gift, the easier it is to send. The more stressed you are, the worse it is for your health. Two comparatives can also be linked with and to show a continuing increase in a particular quality, e.g.: • The sea was getting rougher and rougher. • Her illness was becoming worse and worse. • He became more and more tired as the weeks went by

20. USE OF SUPERLATIVES • Like comparatives, superlatives can be placed before nouns in the attributive position, or occur after be and other link verbs, e.g.: • the most delicious chocolate cake I’ve ever eaten • Annabel was the youngest • This restaurant is the best • As shown in the second two examples, superlatives are often used on their own if it is clear what or who is being compared. If you want to be specific about what you are comparing, you can do this with a noun, or a phrase beginning with in or of, e.g.: • Annabel was the youngest child • Annabel was the youngest of the children • This restaurant is the best in town.

21. THE OPPOSITES OF COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVES • we use the forms less (the opposite of comparative more), and the least (the opposite of superlative the most). • Less is used to indicate that something or someone does not have as much of a particular quality as someone or something else, e.g.: • This sofa is less comfortable. • I’ve always been less patient than my sister. • The least is used to indicate that something or someone has less of a quality than any other person or thing of its kind, e.g.: • It’s the least expensive way to travel. • She was the least intelligent of the three sisters.

22. Write 3 sentences about this picture using comparative and superlatives.

23. Troublesome Words • to/too/two, their/there/they’re, its/it’s, sit/set, lie/lay, affect/effect, may/can, leave/let, teach/learn, accept/except, capitol/capital, principle/principal, between/among, rise/raise, stationary/stationery, where/were, which/that/who}) • https://jeopardylabs.com/play/troublesome-word-pairs2

24. Practice You will construct a story using all of the troublesome words incorrectly. Then we will pass to a peer to make corrections.