2. Sentence Structure

Question 1

Look at the following sentences:

• Each of you have been given a pencil.*
• Each of you has been given a pencil.*

Which is correct, and why?

Answer 1

The second example is correct. ‘Each’ is a singular pronoun, and therefore ‘has’ should be used as it refers to one person or thing.

Question 2

‘Each’, ‘everyone’, ‘nobody’, ‘anything’ and ‘something’ are all examples of _______ pronouns.

Answer 2

Each, everyone, nobody, anything and something are all examples of singular pronouns.

Question 3

Look at the following sentence:

Everyone has their own books.

Why is this sentence grammatically incorrect, and how would you correct it?

Answer 3

‘Everyone’ is singular, whereas ‘their’ and ‘books’ are plural. Singular pronouns must always agree with the rest of the sentence.

You can correct this sentence like so:

Everyone has his or her own book.

Question 4

Look at the following sentence:

The Government are planning a new divorce Bill.

Why is this sentence grammatically incorrect, and how would you correct it?

Answer 4

As with singular pronouns, collective nouns like ‘Government’ must always be followed by the singular form of the verb.

You can correct it as follows:

The Government is planning a new divorce Bill.

The plural of a collective noun can be followed by the plural form of the verb:

The Governments of France and England are both democratic.

Question 5

What is a clause?

Answer 5

A clause is the section of the sentence containing a noun or pronoun and one finite verb.

Question 6

What are conjunctions?

Answer 6

Conjunctions are words that link two parts of the sentence together. If there is more than one finite verb in a sentence, a conjunction is usually necessary to link the clauses.

Question 7

Look at the following sentence:

She was late for work she missed the train.

What is wrong with it, and how would you correct it with

a) punctuation, or
b) conjunctions?

Answer 7

She was late for work she missed the train.

This is wrong as there are two finite verbs (‘was’ and ‘missed’) and no punctuation mark or conjunction.

a) She missed the train. She was late for work.
* She missed the train; she was late for work.*
b) e.g. She missed the train so she was late for work.
* She was late for work because she missed the train.*

Question 8

Give some examples of conjunctions.

Answer 8

e.g. although, when, if, while, as, before, unless, where, after, since, whether, that, and, but.

Question 9

If there is only one clause in a sentence, it is a _____ clause.

Answer 9

If there is only one clause in a sentence, it is a main clause.

Question 10

If a sentence starts with a conjunction, the conjunction must be followed by _____ ______, separated by a _____.

Answer 10

If a sentence starts with a conjunction, the conjunction must be followed by two clauses, separated by a comma.

e.g. Because she missed the train, she was late for work.

Question 11

What is a dependent clause?

Answer 11

A clause which ‘depends’ on the main clause.

e.g. Although he had been unsuccessful, he was not discouraged

or He was not discouraged although he had been unsuccessful.

When her daughter came to stay, she put flowers in the spare room.

She put flowers in the spare room when her daughter came to stay.

Question 12

• This is the coat that I prefer.*
• This is the coat I prefer.*

These sentences are both correct, but why?

Answer 12

When ‘that’ is used in this way, it can sometimes be omitted without damaging the sentence. In the example ‘This is the coat I prefer’, the ‘that’ is understood and does not need to be included.

Question 13

What makes ‘and’ and ‘but’ different from other conjunctions?

Answer 13

‘And’ and ‘but’, unlike other conjunctions, should not usually be used to start a sentence. Their place is between clauses and they join together main clauses.

Question 14

• I waited for two hours but she did not come.*
• He sat at the computer and wrote this article.*

In these examples, what are the conjunctions ‘and’ and ‘but’ being used to do?

Answer 14

To join together main clauses.

Question 15

How would you use the conjunction ‘and’ in a list of main clauses?

Answer 15

‘And’ can be used at the end of a list of main clauses.

e.g. The radio was on, the baby was banging her spoon on the table, Peter was stamping on the floor and Susan was throwing pieces of paper out of the window.

Question 16

Give an example of the conjunction ‘or’ being used to join clauses.

Answer 16

e.g. For your birthday, you may have a party or you can visit Alton Towers.

Question 17

On what condition can commas be used to separate main clauses?

Answer 17

Commas may be used to separate main clauses provided the last clause is preceded by ‘and’.

Question 18

What are relative pronouns?

Answer 18

Relative pronouns have a similar function to conjuctions. They link dependent clauses to main clauses and usually follow a noun. They are the same words as the interrogative pronouns.

e. g. which, who, whose, whom, that
e. g. The house, which had once been beautiful, was now a ruin. In this example, ‘which’ is a relative pronoun because it and the dependent clause both follow the subject of the sentence (the house). It is placed in the middle of the main clause and commas are used to separate it.

‘That’ can be either a conjunction or a relative pronoun. It depends on how it is used.

Question 19

• The man, who had been bitten by a dog, became very ill.*
• The boy, whose bike had been stolen, cried.*
• The player, whom I supported, lost the match.*

What are the underlined words examples of?

Answer 19

These are examples of relative pronouns.

Question 20

What is a phrase?

Answer 20

A phrase is a group of words that does not contain a finite verb.

e.g. Leaping off the bus.

This is a phrase as ‘leaping’ is the present participle. There is no subject or tense.

Question 21

What is a phrase used for in a sentence?

Answer 21

Phrases add information that is not essential to the sense of the sentence.

e.g. Mr Ransome, the retiring headmaster, made a stirring speech at his farewell dinner.

Leaping off the bus, Sheila rushed across the road.

Question 22

What are adjectives?

Answer 22

Adjectives are words that describe nouns. They add colour and flesh to your sentence.

Question 23

An adjective must always be related to a _____ .

Answer 23

An adjective must always be related to a noun.

e.g. He bit into the juicy apple.

Question 24

How do you construct a sentence with more than one adjective before the noun?

Answer 24

If there is a list of abjectives before a noun, separate them with a comma:

You are the most rude, unkind, objectionable person I have ever met.

If the list of adjectives is at the end of the clause, the last one will be preceded by ‘and’:

She was elegant, poised, self-confident and beautiful.

Question 25

Give examples of how present participles can be used as adjectives.

Answer 25

e. g.
* The crying child ran to its mother.*
* The howling dog kept the family awake.*

Question 26

Give examples of how past participles can be used as adjectives.

Answer 26

• The broken doll lay on the floor.*
• The wounded soldier died in hospital.*

Question 27

When using a participle as an adjective, how do you determine whether to use the past or the present participle?

Answer 27

The present participle is used when the subject is doing the action.

The bullying schoolboy appeared on television.

The past is used when something has been done to the noun.

The bullied schoolboy appeared on television.

Question 28

What can adverbs do? (3)

Answer 28

Adverbs:

• can describe or modify verbs (She dances beautifully. He hastily wrote the letter.)
• can be used to modify or help other adverbs (The doctor arrived very promptly.)
• can modify adjectives (The patient is much better today.)

Question 29

Give some examples of adverbs.

Answer 29

e.g. very, too, more, however, much, swiftly, carefully, thoughtfully

Question 30

What is a preposition?

Answer 30

A preposition is a word that governs a noun or pronoun, and usually comes before it. It indicates the relation of the noun or pronoun to another word.

e.g. I knew she was at home.

She ran across the road.

The clouds were massing in the sky.

Her book was under the table.

He told me about it.

Question 31

If you were to adhere to the often-ignored ‘rule’ that you should not end a sentence with a preposition, how would you alter the following sentence?

Who are you talking to?

Answer 31

To whom are you talking?

Note that this sounds more pompous, an example of why the rule is so often ignored.

Question 32

Give some examples of prepositions.

Answer 32

e.g. at, across, in, under, about, from, above, with, by, of, on, after, for, in, between.