Sentence Correction Flashcards
Which
Needs to be preceded by a comma and refer to the noun just before the comma, or else its use is wrong (except when it follows a preposition, as in the phrase “in which”
Where
Must refer to an actual location
When
Must refer to an actual time
Subjunctive Mood : Orders/Recommendations
Orders and recommendations: with verbs such as ORDER, RECOMMEND, DEMAND, INSIST, what follows the verb should be THAT + New Subject + Infinitive form of Verb
He DEMANDED THAT the DOOR BE opened
Subjunctive Mood : Hypothetical
when contemplating hypothetical or contrary to fact situations, use WERE and WOULD
If I WERE rich, I WOULD quit my job.
Clauses and Connectors
- with compound and complex sentences
- clause: group of words that contains a subject and verb
- when two clauses appear in a sentence, the clauses should be connected by one, and ONLY ONE, connector (because, although, as, but…) and should make sense with the rest of the sentence
Comparisons
- items being compared must be both grammatically correct and logically comparable
- must have parallel form
- make sure that the comparisons are correct and avoid any possibility of ambiguity
- don’t let intervening phrases or clauses distract you from what is being compared
Parallelism
- items in a list must have parallel structure
- many two part constructions set up parallel elements (not only A but also B, from A to B, either A or B)
- analogies, metaphors, similes, and other comparisons all require parallel structure
Verbs - subject/verb agreement
Singular subject has singular verb and plural subjects have plural verbs
Common subject-verb agreement issues
- long modifying phrases or clauses following subject
- phrases and clauses in commas between subject and verb
- subjects joined with either/or, neither/nor
- sentences in which verb proceeds noun
Collective nouns take singular verb when:
Members of the collective act as a unit or are non-countable
ex. Flock of geese, a lot of water
Collective nouns take plural verb when:
Members of the collective act as individuals
ex. a number of solutions are possible
Verb tense
Indicates the order in which separate actions/events occur
Make sequence of events clear
To determine whether verbs are in proper tense:
Pick 1 event as standard and measure every event against it
Are the other events supposed to have happened before, after, or during standard event
ING
Only reason to use ING - to emphasize an action is continuing or that 2 actions are occurring simultaneously
Avoid ING as much as possible
Simple present
For an action happening NOW with no contextual info about whe. It started
I am
Simple past
For an action that happened at a SPECIFIED time in the past
I was
Simple future
For an action that will happen in the future
I will
Past perfect
For an action that happened BEFORE another a past action
I had been…before I realized I realized…
Pres
B
Present perfect
An action that started in started in the past BUT is still continuing now
I have been…going!
OR for past events that occurred at an unspecified time
Present progressive
ING
Pronouns - Reference
A given pronoun does NOT refer to - or stand for - a specific noun or pronoun
It, its, they, their, them, which, that
Pronouns - Agreement
Pronoun MUST agree (if noun is in singular form, pronoun must be in singular form) in number and gender
When you see pronoun underlined in original sentence:
Focus on that pronoun and determine whether it is being used correctly
Never use they to refer to 3rd person singular noun
Even if you don’t know/don’t want to specify gender
Modification
Should be placed as CLOSE as possible to whatever it is modifying
- asks modify nouns/adverbs modify everything else
Common modification errors
- modifier appears to describe a word it actually doesn’t
- long modifier at beginning of the sentence that should modify subject but doesn’t
- long modifier that appears in the middle or at the end of sentence that doesn’t modify the word that comes immediately BEFORE or AFTER it
- sentences beginning or ending with descriptive phrases
- that/which clauses (especially ones that come at end of sentence)
When particular modifying word or phrase appear in many different positions in answer choices:
Determine exactly what is meant to be modified and pick the choice that places it where it belongs
Key comparison words
Like,as, compared to, less/more than, that/those of
