Topic 1 Flashcards
Common Sentence-Level Errors: Grammar (25 cards)
Gerund
A verbal; the -ing form of the verb used as a noun.
Ex. I love dancing
Infinitive
A verbal; “to” plus the base form of the verb.
Ex. I love to dance
Participle
A verbal; the -ing or -ed form of a verb used as an adjective.
Ex. I love dancing bears
Verbals
Words formed from verbs that often express action; these include gerunds, infinitives, and participles
Helping Verbs
These common verbs can either stand alone or help other verbs: - Be (am, are, was, were, being, been) - Have (has, having, had) - Do (Does, did) Ex. I was angry. Ex. I was growing angry.
Indefinite Pronouns
A word that refers to people and things that are not named or specific. Many (such as nobody, nothing) take a singular verb. Others (both, few) take plural verbs
Pronoun Agreement
Correspondence in number between the pronoun and the noun it replaces. Ex. Sudents enrolled in the art class must prove that they can paint.
Pronoun Reference
The relationship between the pronoun and the noun in the sentence to which it refers
Ex. (Incorrect) Lucy was annoyed when they ticketed her for speeding.
Ex. (Correct) Lucy was annoyed when the police officers ticketed her for speeding.
“His or hers” vs “their”
- “Their” is not currently accepted as a grammatically correct word choice
Ex. Everybody in the club must pay their fees. - Use “his or hers”
Ex. Everybody in the club must pay his or hers fees.
Or… Rewrite in the plural
Ex. Club members must pay their fees.
Subject Pronouns
Pronouns that function as the subject of verbs
Ex. He is wearing an artificial arm.
Object Pronouns
Pronouns that function as the objects of verbs or prepositions
Ex. Tony helped me.
Possessive Pronouns
Pronouns that show ownership or possession
Ex. The keys are mine.
Demonstrative Pronouns
Pronouns that point to or single out a person or thing
Only include “this”, “that”, “these”, and “those”
Subject Pronoun Rule 1
Use a subject pronoun when you have a compound subject (more than one subject)
Ex. (Incorrect) My brother and me are friends.
Ex. (Correct) My brother and I are friends.
Subject Pronoun Rule 2
Use a subject pronoun after forms of the verb “be”
Ex. It is he.
Subject Pronouns Rule 3
Use subject pronouns after “than” or “as”
Ex. You play better than I (play).
Avoid mistakes by mentally adding the missing verb at the end of the sentence
Well vs Good
Good is an adjective; it describes nouns.
Well is usually an adverb; it describes verbs.
Well is used instead of good as an adjective when describing health.
Dependent-Word Fragment
Fragments that begin with a dependent word.
Ex. After, before, as, even if, when, who, whenever, since, how. (Etc.)
Fixing Dependent-Word Fragments
- Add a sentence after the fragment and add a comma.
Ex. After I cashed my paycheck, I treated myself to dinner. - Attatch a sentence before the dependent word and leave out a comma.
Ex. I won’t leave the house until I hear from you.
-ing and “to” Fragments
When an -ing word and “to” appears at or near the start, it will often be a fragment.
Ex. Ellen walked all over town. Trying to find her dog, Bo.
How to fix:
Ellen walked all over town trying to find her dog, Bo.
Added-Detail Fragments
Added-detail fragments lack a subject and a verb
Often begin with:
Also, like, especially, including, except, such as, for example.
Ex. Before a race, I eat starchy foods. Like baked potatoes.
Missing-Subject Fragments
Missing-subject fragments are dependent word groups that lack a subject
Ex. Kendall is allergic to dairy. She goes into anaphylactic shock. And loses her ability to breathe.
Dependent/Subordinate Clause
A group of words having a subject and a verb that does not express a complete thought and is not able to stand alone
Independent Clause
A group of words having a subject and a verb that expresses a complete thought and is able to stand alone
