Podcast #145 A Sea Story
Original Version
A pirate walks into a bar and the bartender says, "Hey, I
haven't seen you in three years. What happened? You look
terrible!"
"What do you mean?" the pirate replies, "I'm fine."
The bartender says, "But what about that wooden leg? Three
years ago you didn’t have that."
"Well," says the pirate, "We were in a battle at sea. A cannon
ball hit my leg. But the surgeon fixed me up. I'm fine, really."
"Yeah," says the bartender, "But what about that hook? You
used to have two hands."
"Well," says the pirate, "We were in another battle. We
boarded the enemy ship. I was in a vicious sword fight. My
hand was cut off . But I replaced it with this hook. I feel
great, really."
"Oh," says the bartender, "What about that eye patch? Three
years ago you had both eyes."
"Well," says the pirate, "Some birds were flying over the
ship. I looked up. One of them pooped in my eye."
"So?" replied the bartender, "what happened? A little bird
poop didn’t take out your eye."
"Well," says the pirate, "I really wasn't used to the hook yet."
Podcast #145 A Sea Story
Choose the correct word or term
A pirate walks into a bar and the (bartender says – the
bartender he says), "Hey, I (didn’t – haven't) seen you in
three years. What happened? You (looks – look) terrible!"
(“What you mean?” – "What do you mean?" ) the pirate
replies, "I'm fine."
The bartender says, "But (what– what is) about that wooden
leg? Three years ago you (not– didn’t ) have that."
"Well," says the pirate, "We were in a battle (at sea– on sea).
A cannon ball hit my leg. But the surgeon (fixed me up– fixed
me through). I'm fine, really."
"Yeah," says the bartender, "But what about that hook? You
(used to have – used to be having) two hands."
"Well," says the pirate, "We were in (an other – another)
battle. We boarded the enemy ship. I was in a vicious sword
(fight – fite). My hand was cut off . But I replaced (him – it)
with this hook. I feel great, really."
("Oh," – “O,”)says the bartender, "What about that eye
patch? Three years ago you had both eyes."
"Well," says the pirate, "Some birds (was – were) flying over
the ship. I looked up. One of them (pooped – popped) in my
eye."
"So?" replied the bartender, "what happened? A little bird
poop (not – didn’t ) take out your eye."
"Well," says the pirate, "I really wasn't (used yet to the hook
– used to the hook yet.)"
Podcast #145 A Sea Story
Practice with incorrect or missing articles, indefinite
pronouns, and verbs.
In the following version of the story, circle or underline
places where (a) a grammatically incorrect article is used,
(b) an incorrect verb tense is used, or (c) any of the
following is missing:
a grammatically required article (a, an, the)
a personal pronoun (for example, he)
a possessive pronoun (for example, his)
an indefinite pronoun such as some or any
a form of the verb to be (for example, was)
The first sentence has been underlined to show where you
would circle or underline a word or phrase.
Pirate walks into bar and bartender says, "Hey, I haven't
seen you in three years. What happened? You look terrible!"
"What you mean?" pirate replies, "I'm fine."
Bartender says, "But what about wooden leg? Three years
ago you didn’t have that."
"Well," says pirate, "We were in the battle at sea. A cannon
ball hit my leg. But surgeon fixed up. I'm fine, really."
"Yeah," says bartender, "But what about hook? You used to
have two hands."
"Well," says pirate, "We were in another battle. We boarded
enemy ship. I was in vicious sword fight. Hand was cut off .
But I replaced it with hook. I feel great, really."
"Oh," says bartender, "What about eye patch? Three years
ago you had both eyes."
"Well," says pirate, "Some birds were flying over ship. I
looked up. One of them pooped in eye."
"So?" replied the bartender, "what happened? Little bird
poop didn’t take out eye."
"Well," says the pirate, "I really wasn't used to the hook yet."
