Act exam success_3 potx

The transitive verb lay, on the other hand, is an action that the subject of the sentence performs upon an object: He lay the baby down in the crib.. Verbs, for example, should agree wit

PRESENT PAST PAST PARTICIPLE

THREE DISTINCT FORMS

PRESENT PAST PAST PARTICIPLE

THREE DISTINCT FORMS

S AME PRESENT AND PAST PARTICIPLE FORMS

In English, as in many other languages, the essential verb to be is highly irregular:

HELPING VERBS

Helping verbs (also called auxiliary verbs) are essential to clear communication They help indicate exactly

when an action took place or will take place They also suggest very specific meanings, such as the subject’sability or intention to do something The following table lists the helping verbs, their forms, and theirmeanings

PRESENT

Rose could not believe her luck.

Might we go to the party together?

should should + have + recommendation We should leave a good tip.

past participle

They should have offered us a ride home.

must, have (to) had (to) necessity I must go to the dentist.

I had to have two teeth pulled.

PRESENT

should should + have + expectation They should be here any minute.

past participle

They should have been here by now.

might might + have + possibility They might be a little late.

traffic.

Practice 8

1 He should have knowed better than to do that.

a NO CHANGE

b should had known

c should have known

d would have known

2 The blinds were drawed to keep out the sun.

5 The ship sunk in a matter of minutes.

The subjunctive mood is one of the verb forms we often forget to use in conversation, and therefore we often

neglect to use it correctly in our writing Like helping verbs, the subjunctive is used to express a specific

mean-ing, indicating something that is wished for or that is contrary to fact It is formed by using were instead of was, as in the following examples:

If she were a little older, she could watch the children (She is not a little older.)

If I were rich, I would travel the world (I am not rich.)

The key to knowing which verb to use is remembering which verb takes an object In each pair, one verb

is transitive—an object “receives” the action—while the other is intransitive—the subject itself “receives”

or performs the action For example, lie is an action that the subject of the sentence “performs” on itself: I will lie down The transitive verb lay, on the other hand, is an action that the subject of the sentence performs upon an object: He lay the baby down in the crib In the following examples, the subjects are in bold and the

objects are underlined

lie: to rest or recline (intransitive—subject only)

lay: to put or place (transitive—needs an object)

I will lie down for a while.

Will you please lay the papers down on the table.

sit: to rest (intransitive—subject only)

set: to put or place (transitive—needs an object)

Why don’t we sit down and talk this over?

He will set the record straight.

rise: to go up (intransitive—subject only)

raise: to move something up (transitive—needs an object)

The sun will rise at 5:48 A.M tomorrow.

He raised the rent to $750 per month.

The basic forms of these verbs can also be a bit tricky The following table shows how each verb is jugated

Practice 9

Choose the correct verb from the italicized pairs in the sentences below

1 He wished he was/were closer to his destination so he could rest.

2 If I was/were taller, I might be better at basketball.

3 She was/were hoping to get a better offer.

4 He decided to lay/lie down because he felt ill.

5 The papers have been laying/lying in the driveway for days now.

6 The interest rates have risen/raised considerably in the last week.

7 She sat/set the keys on the table.

8 I have lain/laid here long enough; it’s time to get up.

Answers

1 He wished he were closer to his destination so he could rest.

2 If I were taller, I might be better at basketball.

3 She was hoping to get a better offer.

4 He decided to lie down because he felt ill.

5 The papers have been lying in the driveway for days now.

6 The interest rates have risen considerably in the last week.

7 She set the keys on the table.

8 I have lain here long enough; it’s time to get up.

Now that you have reviewed verb conjugation and tense formation, it is time to talk about two key issues withverb usage: consistent tense and subject-verb agreement

Consistent Verb Tense

One of the quickest ways to confuse readers, especially if you are telling a story or describing an event, is to

shift verb tenses To help readers be clear about when actions occur, make sure verbs are consistent in tense.

If you begin telling the story in the present tense, for example, stay in the present tense; do not mix tenses asyou write Otherwise, you will leave your readers wondering whether actions are taking place in the present

or took place in the past

Incorrect: He got on the bus and realizes he has forgotten his briefcase.

Correct: He got on the bus and realized he had forgotten his briefcase.

Incorrect: When we work together, we got better results.

Correct: When we work together, we get better results.

Subject-Verb Agreement

In English grammar, agreement means that sentence elements are balanced Verbs, for example, should agree

with their subjects: if the subject is singular, the verb should be singular; if the subject is plural, the verb should

be plural

Incorrect: Erik do really good work (singular subject, plural verb)

Correct: Erik does really good work (singular subject, singular verb)

Incorrect: They gets really upset when telemarketers calls at dinnertime.

(plural subjects, singular verbs)Correct: They get really upset when telemarketers call at dinnertime.

(plural subjects, plural verbs)

Of course, to make sure subjects and verbs agree, you need to be clear about who or what is the subject

of the sentence For example, what is the subject in the following sentence, and which is the correct verb?

Only one of the projects [was/were] completed on time.

In this sentence, the subject is one, not projects Though it seems as though projects are performing the action of being completed, projects cannot be the subject because it is part of a prepositional phrase (of the

projects), and subjects are never found in prepositional phrases Thus, the verb must be singular (was, not

were) to agree with one In addition, it is only one of the projects—not all—that was completed on time, so

again, the verb must be singular

Here are some other important guidelines for subject-verb agreement:

■ If a compound, singular subject is connected by and, the verb must be plural.

Both Dr Holt and Dr Weinberg agree that this is an important discovery.

■ If a compound, singular subject is connected by or or nor, the verb must be singular.

Neither Dr Holt nor Dr Weinberg feels that this is an important discovery.

■ If one plural and one singular subject are connected by or or nor, the verb agrees with the closest

subject

Neither Dr Holt nor the researchers feel that this is an important discovery.

Neither the researchers nor Dr Holt feels that this is an important discovery.

■ In an inverted sentence, the subject comes after the verb, so the first step is to clearly identify the

sub-ject (Sentences that begin with there is and there are, for example, as well as questions, are inverted

sen-tences.) Once you correctly identify the subject, then you can make sure your verb agrees The correctsubjects and verbs are underlined below

Incorrect: There’s numerous examples of this phenomenon.

Correct: There are numerous examples of this phenomenon.

Incorrect: Here is the files you requested.

Correct: Here are the files you requested.

Incorrect: What is the long-term effects of this decision?

Correct: What are the long-term effects of this decision?

Gerunds and Infinitives

Gerunds and infinitives have given many students of English a grammar headache, but they are not so

dif-ficult to master Gerunds, as we noted earlier, look like verbs because they end in -ing, but they actually

func-tion as nouns in sentences:

Tracy loves camping.

Here, the “action” Tracy performs is loves The thing (noun) she enjoys is camping In the following tence, however, camping is the action Tracy performs, so it is functioning as a verb, not as a gerund:

sen-Tracy is camping in the Pine Barrens next week.

Words ending in -ing can also function as adjectives:

Some of our camping gear needs to be replaced before our trip.

Here’s another example of how the same word can have three different functions:

Verb: He is screaming loudly.

Gerund (noun): That screaming is driving me crazy!

Adjective: The screaming boy finally stopped.

What this means is that you cannot count on word endings to determine a word’s part of speech Lots

of things that look like verbs may not be—it’s how they function in the sentence that counts

Infinitives are the base (unconjugated) form of the verb preceded by to: to go, to discover, to challenge.

They are often part of a verb chain, but they are not the main verb (main action) of a sentence:

Alfred likes to run early in the morning.

In this example, likes is the main verb; what Alfred likes (the action he likes to take) is to run early in

the morning

WHEN TO USE INFINITIVES AND GERUNDS

In many situations, you may be uncertain whether to use an infinitive or a gerund Which statement is

cor-rect: I like to swim or I like swimming? In this case, both are correct; like, hate, and other verbs that express

preference can be followed by either an infinitive or gerund But other verbs can only be followed by one orthe other Here are a few helpful guidelines:

■ Always use a gerund after a preposition.

He built the robot by recycling old appliances.

Renaldo was excited after seeing his test results.

■ Always use a gerund after the following verbs:

appreciate enjoy put off

can’t help finish recall

consider imagine resist

discuss postpone tolerate

I can’t help feeling that I should have done more.

Don’t risk losing your money by investing in that company.

Ralph quit smoking over a year ago.

The witness recalled hearing the defendant discuss the crime.

■ In general, use an infinitive after these verbs:

I promise to return your car by noon.

Abby decided to leave before the speech had ended.

The offer failed to meet my expectations.

■ When a noun or pronoun immediately follows these verbs, use an infinitive:

forceneedorderpersuade

remindrequiretellurge

wantwarn

Ian asked his mother to play the video again.

I need you to help me right now.

Wilson reminded his sister to water the plants while he was gone.

Practice 10

1 When I was cleaning the chimney, I find that it needs serious repairs.

a NO CHANGE

b When I am cleaning the chimney, I find that it needed serious repairs.

c When I was cleaning the chimney, I found that it needed serious repairs.

d When I cleaned the chimney, I found that it needs seriously to be repaired.

2 After we went to the movies, we come home to find that someone has broken into our house.

f After we go to the movies, we come home to find that someone is breaking into our house.

g After we went to the movies, we come home to find that someone is breaking into our house.

h After we went to the movies, we came home to find that someone has broken into our house.

j After we went to the movies, we came home to find that someone had broken into our house.

3 Neither of us feel that this is an effective solution.

a NO CHANGE

b Neither of us feels that this is an effective solution.

c Neither of us felt that this is an effective solution.

d Neither of us are feeling that this is an effective solution.

4 We both agree that he should attend this program.

f NO CHANGE

g We both agrees that he should attend this program.

h We both agree that he should attended this program.

j We both agreeing that he should attend this program.

5 Only one of the students have finished the book.

a NO CHANGE

b Only one of the students did finished the book.

c Only one of the students have finish the book.

d Only one of the students has finished the book.

6 The members of the committee says we should go ahead as planned.

f NO CHANGE

g The members of the committee say we should go ahead as planned.

h The members of the committee have say we should go ahead as planned.

j The members of the committee say we should have go ahead as planned.

7 What are the cost of these packages?

a NO CHANGE

b What cost is of these packages?

c What is the cost of these packages?

d What are these packages costing?

8 I will not tolerate lying in this house.

f NO CHANGE

g I will not tolerate to lie in this house.

h I will not to tolerate lying in this house.

j I will not tolerating lying in this house.

9 Please allow me help you.

a NO CHANGE

b Please allow me helping you.

c Please allow me to helping you.

d Please allow me to help you.

10 I always avoid saying things that I might regret.

f NO CHANGE

g I always avoid to say things that I might regret.

h I always avoid saying things that I might to regret.

j I always avoid having said things that I might regret.

Pronouns, as we noted earlier, replace nouns, thus keeping us from having to repeat names and objects overand over But pronouns can be a bit tricky at times This section reviews the different kinds of pronouns andthe rules they follow

P ERSONAL P RONOUNS

Personal pronouns refer to specific people or things They can be either singular (I ) or plural (we); they can

be subjects (I ) or objects (me).

■ Always use the object pronoun in a prepositional phrase Pronouns and nouns in prepositional

phrases are always objects.

The package was addressed to both my sister and me.

Between you and me, I don’t think she’s very talented.

■ Always use the subject pronoun when the pronoun is the subject of the sentence

I am the man for the job.

She and I are the same age.

■ Always use the subject pronoun in a than construction (comparison) When a pronoun follows than, it

is usually part of a clause that omits the verb in order not to repeat unnecessarily

Patty is older than I [than I am]

I am more detail-oriented than he [than he is]

INDEFINITE PRONOUNS

Unlike personal pronouns, indefinite pronouns, such as anybody and everyone, do not refer to a specific

per-son The following indefinite pronouns are always singular and require singular verbs:

anyone, anybody everyone, everybody no one, nobody

one

I believe someone is trying to get your attention.

Everybody has cast his or her vote.

Neither doctor knows what caused the rash.

Does anyone know the answer?

Nobody has offered a satisfactory explanation.

The following indefinite pronouns are always plural:

Both are happy with the terms of the agreement.

Many have tried and failed.

These indefinite pronouns can be singular or plural, depending upon the noun or pronoun to whichthey refer:

Some extra time is needed to complete the task.

Some students need extra time to complete the task.

None of the windows work.

None of my money is where I left it.

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

Just as subjects (both nouns and pronouns) must agree with their verbs, pronouns must also agree with their

antecedents—the words they replace For example, in the following sentence:

Porcupines will stay with their mates for their entire adult lives.

One of the most common mistakes we make when speaking and writing is an error of

pronoun-antecedent agreement We often say sentences like the following:

Does everyone have their passport?

Most people make this mistake because it’s easier (shorter and faster) to say their—but it’s not correct.

When the antecedent is singular, the pronouns must be singular, too:

Does everyone have his or her passport?

The word porcupines is the antecedent and is replaced by their twice in the sentence Because porcupines

is plural, their must also be plural Indefinite pronouns can also be antecedents Singular indefinite pronouns

require singular pronouns:

Everyone must have his or her ticket before boarding.

Someone left his or her book on the table.

Neither of the doctors could find her notes from the lecture.

Plural indefinite pronouns, on the other hand, require plural pronouns, just as they need plural verbs:

Both of them have done their best work so far.

Many have found their free time has all but disappeared.

Only a few are still in their original cases.

Finally, those pronouns that can be either singular or plural, depending upon the noun or pronoun towhich they refer, should take the pronoun that matches their referent If the antecedent is singular, the pro-noun and verb must also be singular If the antecedent is plural, they must be plural:

All of the chocolate is gone It was delicious!

All of the cookies are gone They were delicious!

Most of that jewelry collection is worthless; it’s mostly fake.

Most of those jewels are worthless; they’re fake.

None of the information is accurate; it’s all out of date.

None of the facts are accurate; they’re all out of date.

Some of the money looks like counterfeits.

Some of these coins look like counterfeits.

POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS

The possessive pronouns its, your, their, and whose are often confused with the contractions it’s (it is or it has),

you’re (you are), they’re (they are), and who’s (who is) Because we use apostrophes to show possession in nouns

(Ted’s car, the dog’s bone), many people make the mistake of thinking that pronouns use apostrophes for

pos-session, too But possessive pronouns do not take apostrophes When a pronoun has an apostrophe, it always

shows contraction.

their belonging to them Their tickets are right behind home plate.

CONTRACTION

The pronouns who, that, and which are also often confused Here are the general guidelines for using

these pronouns correctly:

■ Use who or whom when referring to people:

She is the one who fixed my computer.

■ Use that when referring to things:

This is the computer that is having problems.

■ Use which when introducing clauses that are not essential to the information in the sentence, unless

they refer to people In that case, use who.

Mark is in Toronto, which is his favorite city.

Rosa, who writes for the school paper, wants to interview me for a story.

Practice 11

Circle the correct form of the italicized pronouns in the following sentences

1 You’re/Your dog is growling at me.

2 He’s/His the one that/who won the prize.

3 Someone left their/his or her lights on.

4 Does anybody know who’s/whose cell phone this is?

5 This is Ellen, which/that/who reminds me of my mother.

6 Where are your/you’re shoes?

7 Neither of the choices sound/sounds good to me.

8 Most of the stamps in the collection is/are gone.

9 He feels more strongly about it than me/I.

10 To who/whom shall I address this letter?

Answers

1 Your dog is growling at me.

2 He’s the one who won the prize.

3 Someone left his or her lights on.

4 Does anybody know whose cell phone this is?

5 This is Ellen, who reminds me of my mother.

6 Where are your shoes?

7 Neither of the choices sounds good to me.

8 Most of the stamps in the collection are gone.

9 He feels more strongly about it than I.

10 To whom shall I address this letter?