Verbal - Sentence Correction

Question 1

When can a possessive adjective (eg. His/Hers) precede a verb ending in -ing?

Answer 1

When that V+ing acts as a noun.
For example:

“He now dismisses all thoughts of his ever acting again.”

Question 2

Sentence Correction Stop Signs

Answer 2

1) A long, complex subject or a great distance between subject and verb.
2) A plural subject made up of singular nouns that are connected by and
3) A pseudo-plural singular subject
4) An unconjugated verb used as a subject noun (considered singular).
5) An X of Y subject
6) The verb precedes the subject
7) non- count articles (much, less, the amount of, etc)
8) Reported speech with a reporting verb in past tense.
9) Every pronoun in the underlined portion of the sentence.
10) not only, but also
11) either or, neither nor
12) a is/means b
13) a rather than b
14) a and/or/but b
15) like, unlike, than, as - comparisons
16) if/unless
17) dangling modifier
18) relative clause - that, which, whose, whom etc
19) singular noun + “one of” + plural noun + that/which/who + plural verb
20) X or even more than X
21) amount to a sum
22) opposition words - though/although/even though / despite/ in spite of … Later followed by but/yet/still/nevertheless
23) annual + year
24) one, two, three, four times
25) reason and conclusion words - because / since/ due to /as… Followed by so/therefore/thus/consequently
26) double negative
27) the reason + because
28) as well as
29) propose/recommend/require/request/insist/suggest/mandate/ask/demand THAT
30) a split construction: verb a + and/or + verb b + object

Question 3

Sentence Correction Work Order

Answer 3

Read and eliminate
Original mistake
Grammatical ERrors
Illogical
Stylistic
MEANing change
doesn't FIT

ROGER IS MEAN and FIT

Question 4

What word(s) joining two singular nouns (subject) automatically make the subject plural?

Answer 4

Only “and”

If other words, such as “as well as” or “along with” connect singular nouns that make up the subject, the subject is the FIRST NOUN ONLY.

Question 5

What are two reasons a singular subject appears to be plural (a pseudo-plural singular subject)?

Answer 5

1) Ends in “S”
eg - news, thesis, hypothesis, analysis, politics, physics, mathematics, economics, athletics, crisis.

2) Collective Nouns
eg - audience, committee, group, team, flock, congregation.

Both are considered singular subjects.

Exception: “police” is a plural subject. Eg- The police are searching for the suspect.

Question 6

What is an unconjugated verb and when used as subject noun, is it plural or singular?

Answer 6

An unconjugated verb takes the form “Verb+ing” or “to Verb” and is considered singular.

Question 7

What is an “X of Y subject” and is it plural or singular?

Answer 7

Examples include

“Three members of an organization”

“A set of 20 plates”

It could be singular or plural. In these cases the verb should agree with the X part of the subject - the part that comes before “of.”

Four members of the jury are women.

Question 8

Past simple tense

Answer 8

Examples

John ate

Question 9

Past progressive

Answer 9

John was eating

Question 10

Past perfect

Answer 10

John had eaten

Question 11

Past perfect progressive

Answer 11

John had been eating

Question 12

Present simple

Answer 12

John eats

Question 13

Present progressive

Answer 13

John is eating

Question 14

Present perfect

Answer 14

John has eaten

Question 15

Present Perfect progressive

Answer 15

John has been eating

Question 16

Future simple

Answer 16

John will eat

Question 17

Future Progressive

Answer 17

John will be eating

Question 18

Future perfect

Answer 18

John will have eaten

Question 19

Future perfect progressive

Answer 19

John will have been eating

Question 20

Future-past simple

Answer 20

John would eat

Question 21

Future-past progressive

Answer 21

John would be eating

Question 22

Future-past perfect

Answer 22

John would have eaten

Question 23

Future-past perfect progressive

Answer 23

John would have been eating.

Question 24

Missing Article Mistake

Answer 24

A singular count noun must be preceded by an article:

Incorrect: John is sitting on chair.

Correct: John is sitting on a chair.

Question 25

What are examples of count and non-count articles?

Answer 25

Non-count: much, a little, little, less, the amount of

Count: many, fewer, few, a few, the number of, several

Count and non-count articles must be matched to count and non-count nouns respectively.

Example: less milk, fewer chairs

Question 26

How do you test when a Verb+ing as a noun or adjective replacement is incorrect?

Answer 26

1) First check the the Verb+ing is actually attempting to replace a noun/adjective.
2) Then check that a suitable noun or adjective actually exists.

POE the answer choice only when both tests are positive.

Eg - The presenting went well.
Correction: The presentation went well.

Question 27

What are the two ways to express possession and when do you use them?

Answer 27

End with “ ‘s “ or use “of”

Abstract nouns should always use “of”

Question 28

Describe when is the present simple tense is used and give an example.

Answer 28

1: Actions that occur at a frequency.
2: Facts and generalizations

It rains here often
I am frequently chilly.

These expressions indicate present simple tense:

Always, all the time, usually, generally, regularly, often, sometimes, rarely, seldom, hardly ever, never, every(second, week, winter, etc.), one (a day, a century, in a while).

Question 29

How is present progressive usually structured?

Answer 29

Usually first verb is “is, am, are” and the second verb is in V+ing form. This indicates a current action happening and continuing to happen.

They are running the race now.

The surgeon is operating at the moment.

Question 30

How do you choose between past simple and present perfect?c

Answer 30

Use present perfect when Te time in the past is unknown or unspecified. Past simple only refers to specific times in the past (yesterday, last year, etc.)

Question 31

Past Perfect

Answer 31

Used to describe actions that had been completed before a certain point or another action in the past.

Form is: had + verb in third form (V3)

“Bob and Francis had met only 1 week before they eloped.”

Indicators: before, after, by the time, until