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110 views57 pagesSentence Correction: The Resource Center
The document defines basic grammatical terminology like nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns, and clauses. It provides examples of sentences that demonstrate these terms. It then discusses common types of errors like unclear pronoun references, issues with subject-verb agreement, and inconsistent verb tenses. Finally, it covers quantity words and commonly used idioms in sentences.
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
110 views57 pagesSentence Correction: The Resource Center
The document defines basic grammatical terminology like nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns, and clauses. It provides examples of sentences that demonstrate these terms. It then discusses common types of errors like unclear pronoun references, issues with subject-verb agreement, and inconsistent verb tenses. Finally, it covers quantity words and commonly used idioms in sentences.
Uploaded by
vishwanathCopyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Sentence
Correction
The Resource Center
Basic Terminology
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Noun
a word used to name a person,
place, thing or idea
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Adjective
a word that modifies a noun
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Pronoun
a word that replaces a noun
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Verb
a word that expresses action
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Adverb
a word that modifies a verb
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Clause
a group of words containing a
subject and a verb.
Clauses are dependent or
independent.
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Example
Rachel opened the box.
“Rachel” and “box” are nouns,
and “opened” is the verb.
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Example
Rachel quickly opened the big
box.
“Quickly” is the adverb, and
“big” is the adjective.
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Example
Because she was famished,
Rachel quickly opened the big
box of chocolates.
“She” is a pronoun, which
refers to Rachel.
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Example
Because she was famished,
Rachel quickly opened the big
box of chocolates.
“Rachel quickly opened the big box of
chocolates” is an independent clause.
“Because she was famished” is an
dependent clause.
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Verbal knife
The sentence can be
expanded further, such as
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“Because she was absolutely
famished, middle-aged Rachel
quickly opened the big box of
Swiss cream chocolates that
her younger brother’s eminent
lawyer friend had sent her last
week by special courier from
Zurich”.
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Verbal knife
But remember, the core
sentence remains the same -
“Rachel opened the box”.
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Common Types of Error
Following are some common
types of errors that we tend to
make.
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Example
Samantha and Tanya went
shopping, but she couldn’t find
anything she liked.
Here which of the two girls the pronoun
“she” refers to is unclear.
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Example
The average male moviegoer
expects to see at lease one
scene of violence per film, and
they are seldom disappointed.
Here the reference is clear, but a plural
pronoun “they” refers to a singular noun
“the average male moviegoer”.
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A List of Pronouns
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Singular Pronouns
I, me, he, him, she, her, you, it,
each, another, either, neither,
one, other, such, mine, yours,
his, hers, ours, this, that
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Plural Pronouns
we, us, they, them, both, some,
these, those, that
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Common (singular and
plural) Pronouns
none, any, you, who, which,
what, theirs
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Example
Coming out of the department
store, John’s wallet was stolen.
Here the sentence means that John’s
wallet was coming out of the
department store on its own.
How can we correct this?
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Example
On leaving the department
store, John’s wallet was stolen.
Here again, the sentence means that
John’s wallet was leaving the
department store on its own.
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Example
Frail and weak, the heavy
wagon could not be budged by
the old horse.
“frail and weak” should apply to the
horse, but because of the sentence
construction, they apply to the wagon.
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Example
An organization long devoted to
the cause of justice, the mayor
awarded a medal to the
American Civil Liberties Union.
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Example
Originally written in 1961,
Joseph Heller scored a literary
hit with his comedic first novel,
Catch 22.
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Example
Before designing the park, the
public must be considered.
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Example
Among the reasons cited for
the Mayor’s decision not to
contest the election were the
high cost of campaign, the lack
of support from her party and
desiring to spend more time
with her family.
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Example
To say that the song patterns of
the common Robin are less
complex than those of the
Indigo Bunting is doing a great
disservice to both birds.
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Tense
All the tenses in the sentence
should be the same (all should
be Present, or simple Past or
Present Continuous and so on).
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Exceptions
There are two exceptions to
this rule.
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First Exception
When there are two actions
happening in the past, but one
preceding the other, then the
first action is in past perfect,
and the following action is in
simple past.
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Example
He had reached Lonawala on
his bike when it ran out of gas.
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Second Exception
When one action clearly
precedes another action, then
one can use present and past
tenses in the same sentence.
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Example
The dinosaurs are extinct now,
but they were once present on
the earth in large numbers.
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Example
The number of arrests of
drunken drivers are increasing
every year.
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Singular nouns
• Name of (city / state / country)
• two singular nouns connected
by “or” (Tom or John)
• the family / the audience
• politics
• the number / the amount
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Singular Pronouns
• either
• neither
• each
• everyone
• everybody
• nobody The Resource Center
Example
Many political insiders now
believe that the dissension in
congress over health issues
decrease the likelihood for
significant action being taken
this year to combat the rising
costs of health care.
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Example
The people in my office are
smarter than other offices.
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Example
Synthetic oil burns less
efficiently than natural oils.
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Example
Doctors sometimes have
difficulty diagnosing viral
pneumonia because the early
symptoms of this potentially
deadly illness are often quite
similar to the common cold.
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Quantity Words
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Two Items
• between
• more
• better
• less
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More than two items
• among
• most
• best
• least
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Countable
• fewer
• number
• many
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Non countable
• less
• amount
• quantity
• much
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Example
On the flight to Los Angeles,
Nancy had to choose
among two dinner menus.
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Example
Of the many decisions facing
the energy commission as it
meets to decide on new
directions for the next century,
the question of the future of
nuclear energy is for certain the
more perplexing.
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Idioms
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Commonly used idioms
• not only… but also...
• not so much… as…
• defined as
• regard as
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Commonly used idioms
• based on
• modeled after
• a result of
• to result in
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Commonly used idioms
• a debate over
• a responsibility to
• responsible for
• different from
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Commonly used idioms
• a consequence of
• so… as to be
• so… that
• depicted as
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Commonly used idioms
• as great as
• distinguish from
• attribute to
• credited with
• as good as or better than
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Example
The administration of a small
daily dose of aspirin has not
only been shown to lower the
risk of heart attack, and it has
also been shown to help relieve
the suffering of arthritis.
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