–S E N T E N C E S T R U C T U R E–4 5 PART OF noun names a person, place, thing, or concept water, Byron, telephone, Main Street, tub, virtue pronoun takes the place of a noun so that
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PART OF
noun names a person, place, thing, or concept water, Byron, telephone, Main Street, tub,
virtue
pronoun takes the place of a noun so that the noun I, you, he, she, us, they, this, that, themselves,
does not have to be repeated somebody, who, which
verb describes an action, occurrence, or state wait, seem, be, visit, renew
of being helping verb combines with other verbs (main verbs) forms of be, do, and have; can, could, may,
(also called to create verb phrases that help might, must, shall, should, will, would
auxiliary verb) indicate tenses
adjective describes nouns and pronouns; green, round, old, surprising; that (e.g., that
can also identify or quantify elephant); several (e.g., several elephants)
adverb describes verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, dreamily, quickly, always, very, then
or entire clauses preposition expresses the relationship in time or space in, on, around, above, between, underneath,
between words in a sentence beside, with, upon (see the list below).
Placement of Modifiers
As a general rule, words, phrases, or clauses that describe
nouns and pronouns should be as close as possible to the
words they describe The relaxing music, for example, is
better (clearer, more concise, and precise) than the music
that is relaxing In the first sentence, the modifier
relax-ing is right next to the word it modifies (music).
When modifiers are not next to the words they
describe, you not only often use extra words, but you
might also end up with misplaced or dangling modifier
and a sentence that expresses something other than what was intended This is especially true of phrases and clauses that work as modifiers Take a look at the follow-ing sentence, for example:
Racing to the car, I watched him trip and drop his bag.
Prepositions: A Short List
Prepositions are extremely important; they help us understand how objects relate to each other in space
and time Recognizing them can help you quickly check for subject–verb agreement and other gram-matical issues Below is a list of the most common prepositions See page 60 for notes about the most common prepositional idioms
about
above
across
after
against
around
at before behind below beneath beside
besides between beyond by down during
except for from in inside into
like near of off on
out outside over since through
throughout till
to toward under
until up upon with without
Trang 2Who was racing to the car? Because the modifier
rac-ing to the car is next to I, the sentence says that I was
doing the racing But the verb watched indicates that he
was the one racing to the car Here are two corrected
versions:
I watched as he raced to the car and dropped
his bag.
I watched as, racing to the car, he dropped his bag.
In the first sentence, the phrase racing to the car has
been revised to raced to the car and given the
appropri-ate subject, he In the second sentence, racing to the car is
right next to the modified element (he).
Here’s another example:
Growling ferociously, I watched as the lions
approached each other.
It’s quite obvious that it was the lions, not the speaker,
that were growling ferociously But because the modifier
(growling ferociously) is not right next to what it modifies
(the lions), the sentence actually says that I was growling
ferociously Here’s the corrected version:
I watched as the lions, growling ferociously,
approached each other.
Again, the sentence is clearer now because the
modi-fier is right next to what it modifies
Sometimes, these errors can be corrected simply by
moving the modifier to the right place (next to what it
modifies) Other times, you may need to add a subject
and verb to clarify who or what is modified by the
phrase Here are some more examples of misplaced and
dangling modifiers and their corrections:
Incorrect: Worn and tattered, Uncle Joe took
down the flag.
Correct: Uncle Joe took down the flag, which
was worn and tattered OR Uncle Joe took down the worn, tat-tered flag.
Incorrect: While making breakfast, the smoke
alarm went off and woke the baby.
Correct: While I was making breakfast, the
smoke alarm went off and woke the baby OR
The smoke alarm went off and woke the baby while I was making breakfast.
P a r a l l e l S t r u c t u r e
Parallel structure is an important part of effective writing.
It means that words and phrases in the sentence follow the same grammatical pattern This makes ideas easier to follow and expresses ideas more gracefully Notice how parallelism works in the following examples:
Not parallel: We came, we saw, and it was
con-quered by us.
(The first two clauses use the active we + past
tense verb construction; the third uses a passive
structure with a prepositional phrase.)
Parallel: We came, we saw, we conquered.
(All three clauses start with we and use a past
tense verb.)
Not parallel: Please be sure to throw out your
trash, place your silverware in the bin, and your tray should go on the counter.
(Two verbs follow the to + verb + your + noun
pattern; the third puts the noun first, then the verb.)
Parallel: Please be sure to throw out your
trash, place your silverware in the bin, and put your tray on the counter.
(All three items follow the to + verb + your +
noun [+ prepositional phrase] pattern.)
Parallelism is most often needed in lists, as in these
examples, and in the not only/but also sentence pattern.
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Trang 3Hermione’s nervousness was exacerbated not only
by the large crowd, but also by the bright lights.
(Each phrase has a preposition, an adjective, and
a noun.)
Their idea was not only the most original; it was
also the most practical.
(Each phrase uses the superlative form of an
adjective—see page 59 for more information on
superlatives.)
A c t i v e a n d P a s s i v e Vo i c e
In most cases, effective writers will use the active voice as
much as possible In an active sentence, the subject
per-forms the action:
James filed the papers yesterday.
Jin Lee sang the song beautifully.
In a passive sentence, on the other hand, the subject
is acted upon rather than performing the action:
The papers were filed by James yesterday.
The song was sung beautifully by Jin Lee.
Active sentences are more direct, powerful, and clear They often use fewer words and have less room for confusion There are times when the passive voice is preferred, such as when the source of the action is not known or when the writer wants to emphasize the recip-ient of the action rather than the performer of the action:
Protective gear must be worn by everyone entering this building.
As a general rule, however, sentences should use the active voice whenever possible
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Trang 5U SAGErefers to the rules that govern the form of the words we use and how we string those words
together in sentences Correct grammar and usage are essential for clear and effective communication
In this section, you will review the following areas of basic grammar and usage:
1 Verb conjugation and usage
2 Consistent verb tense
3 Subject–verb agreement
4 Gerunds and infinitives
5 Pronoun cases
6 Pronoun agreement
7 Comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs
8 Prepositional idioms
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C H A P T E R
ON THE GED, questions about usage will cover topics such as
subject–verb agreement, correct verb tense and conjugation, and proper pronoun use This chapter will review these grammar rules and more so that you will be prepared for the exam
Trang 6Ve r b s
Verbs are the “heart” of a sentence They express the
action or state of being of the subject, telling us what the
subject is doing, thinking, or feeling
She yelled out the window (action)
I am happy to be here (state of being)
We feel very lucky to be alive (state of being)
I should ask Winston what he thinks (action)
Verbs have five basic forms:
1 Infinitive: This is base form of the verb plus the
word to.
to go to be to dream to admire
To indicate tenses of regular verbs (when the
action of the verb did occur, is occurring, or will
occur), we use the base form of the verb and add
the appropriate tense endings
2 Present tense: This verb form expresses what is
happening now
I am sorry you are not coming with us.
Jessica does yoga every morning.
The present tense of regular verbs is formed as
follows:
SINGULAR PLURAL
first person base form base form
second person base form base form
third person base form + base form
(he/she/it/they) –s/–es (believes) (believe)
3 Present participle: This verb form describes
what is happening now It ends in –ing and is
accompanied by a helping verb such as is.
Jessica is doing a difficult yoga pose.
The leaves are falling from the trees.
Note: Words that end in –ing don’t always
function as verbs Sometimes, they act as nouns
and are called gerunds They can also function as adjectives (called participial phrases).
Present participle (verb): He is loading the boxes into the car.
Gerund (noun): This parking area is for loading only.
Participial phrase (adjective): The loading dock is littered with
paper.
(You will learn more about gerunds later in this section.)
4 Past tense: This verb form expresses what
hap-pened in the past
It snowed yesterday in the mountains.
I felt better after I stretched and did some deep breathing.
5 Past participle: This verb form describes an
action that happened in the past It is used with a
helping verb, such as has, have, or had.
It has not snowed all winter.
I have waited as long as I can.
Regular Verbs
Most English verbs are “regular”—they follow a standard set of rules for forming the present participle, past tense, and past participle
■ The present participle is formed by adding –ing.
■ The past tense and past participle are formed by
adding –ed.
■ If the verb ends with the letter e, just add d.
■ If the verb ends with the letter y, for the past tense, change the y to an i and add –ed.
Some examples appear on the next page
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