grammar rules

Question 1

collective nouns

Answer 1

a number of = plural
the number = singular
each = singular
every one = singular
gerunds used as subjects = singular

Question 2

would v will

Answer 2

sentences w/ verbs in past tense should not contain will
sentence w/ verbs in present tense should not contain would
would should not appear in a clause beginning with if

Question 3

gerund v infinitives

Answer 3

when switching a gerund with an infinitive, you must place preposition before gerund for a sentence to make sense

Question 4

simple past

Answer 4

used for actions that began and ended in the past

past participle never used to replace simple past

Question 5

past perfect

Answer 5

used to indicate that one of the actions occurred before the other

Question 6

pronouns

Answer 6

singular of they will always be given as the phrase he or she when gender is not specified

Question 7

missing antecedent

Answer 7

any pronoun in a sentence must have a clear antecedent that is a noun, pronoun, or gerund
if no gerund phrase, do it is incorrect (do so)
adjective as trick antecedent
noun has to appear in sentence!!

Question 8

pronoun case

Answer 8

what goes for singular goes for plural (see if pronoun can stand on its own)
any pronoun that follows a preposition must be an object pronoun

Question 9

parallelism

Answer 9

each itme should appear in the exact same format (v, v, v; n,n,n; gerund, gerund gerund)

Question 10

idioms

Answer 10

a fixed phrase such as familiarity with is an idiom; not correct for any reason
(accept questions [from] and respond to…)

Question 11

faulty comparisons

Answer 11

compare things to things and people to people

Question 12

plural faulty comparisons

Answer 12

plural faulty comparisons should be correct with the phrase “those of”
the inclusion of an author or artist’s name in a sentence usually includes faulty comparison

Question 13

exception to person v. thing rule

Answer 13

make sure the two things being compared are truly equivalent (train =! length)

Question 14

word pairs

Answer 14

either…or
neither…nor
not only…but also
both…and
as…as
between…and
so/such…that
more/less…than
just as…so
from…to
at once…and
no sooner…than

Question 15

noun agreement

Answer 15

nouns must agree in number when connected by a linking verb (to be, to become)
usually includes phrase “as a + profession”; any time a profession is mentioned, check noun agreement

noun agreement + faulty comparison errors are the two frequent errors involving underlined nouns

Question 16

comparative v superlative

Answer 16

comparative= -er form of adj. or MORE + ADJ
(smaller, larger, etc.); only used to compare 2 things

superlatives= -EST form of adj. or MOST + ADJ
(smallest, largest, etc.) used to compare 3+ things

when comparative underlined, replace w/ superlative & vice versa

Question 17

who v which

Answer 17

use who, not which when referring to people
which = comma, that = no comma

preposition + which is almost always correct
which by itself = usually wrong

Question 18

which v that

Answer 18

“which” is preceded by comma and used to set off non-essential clause

“this” is never preceded by a comma and is used to set off an essential clause

Question 19

where

Answer 19

places only = where

events = in which

Question 20

when

Answer 20

when is for times/time periods

Question 21

conjunctions

Answer 21

continuers: and, in addition, furthermore, and, etc
- indicates sentence is continuing in direction it began

contradictors: but, yet, however
- shifting direction

cause and effect: so, for, therefore, b/c, etc.
-indicate action/occurrence is causing particular result or vice versa

consider clauses joined by conjunction to see whether to contain same idea or opposing idea

only one conjunction necessary to connect 2 clauses

Question 22

redundancy

Answer 22

annual…per year

means the same thing, only necessary to include one

Question 23

diction

Answer 23

created by switching 2 similar or identical sounding but differently spelled words
insists…consists

Question 24

a means of

Answer 24

nothing wrong with this phrase

means = singular, not plural

Question 25

long since

Answer 25

perfectly acceptable

Question 26

that as a part of a subject

Answer 26

the phrase “the fact that” can be reduced to that

ex. That Mark Twain made substantial contributions…

Question 27

what as a part of a subject

Answer 27

nothing wrong with starting sentence with what

what always takes a singular verb

Question 28

herself/himself/itself

Answer 28

all words are correct when used for emphasis, just make sure they agree with the noun they emphasize

Question 29

alike

Answer 29

it’s fine

Question 30

(al)though + adj. or past participle

Answer 30

pronoun and verb in the first clause is optional

“Though known…”
“Though he is known…”
^ both correct

Question 31

in that

Answer 31

in that = because

^ fine

Question 32

strategies

Answer 32

gerund switched with infinitives
look for the subject when identifying verbs
tenses (date/time period + verb agreements)
adjectives switched with adverbs
you v. one consistency
doing so usually never wrong, problem is usually with doing it
what’s being compared to what?