21.1 gerunds and gerund phrases answers

w

• Sentence Parts • • and Patterns • • Basic Grammar 190

• Verbs 212

• Pronouns 246

• Modifiers 262

Sentence Faults 280

Sentence Parts and Patterns

Basic Grammar

Ea Parts of Spee( 190 a Nouns 190 b Pronouns 191 c Verbs 192 d Adjectives and adverbs 194

Connecting words: preposi- tions and conjunctions 194

f Interjections 197

pm The Sentence 197 a Subject and predicate 197 b Predicate patterns 200

Ea Phrases and Subordinate Clauses 203

a Phrases 203 b Subordinate clauses 208

24 Sentence Types 211

a Simple sentences 211 b Compound sentences 211 • Complex sentences 211 d Compound-complex

sentences 212

Verbs

Ea Forms 213 a Sing/sang/sung and other

irregular verbs 213 b Sit/set; lie/lay; rise/raise 216 • -s and -ed forms 217

d Be, have, and other helping verbs 218

e Verbs + gerund or infinitive: stop eating vs. stop to eat 223

f Verb + particle: look up, look over, etc. 226

26 Tenses 227

a Present tense: sing 229 b Perfect tenses:

have/had/will have sung 229

c Progressive tenses: is/was/will be singing 230

d Consistency 231 e Sequence 232

Fjj Mood 234 a Subjunctive: I wish I

were 235 b Consistency 235

28 Voice 236

a She wrote it (active) vs. It was written (passive) 236

b Consistency 238

29 Subject-Verb Agreement 239

a -s and -es endings 239 b Intervening words 240 c Subjects with and 241 d Subjects with or or nor 241

188

p • • • • • • • •

e Everyone and other indefinite pronouns 241

f Team and other collective nouns 242

g Who, which, that as subjects 243

h News and other singular nouns ending in -s 243

i Verb preceding subject 244 j Is, are, and other linking

verbs 244 k Titles and words being

defined 244

Pronouns

30 Case 246

a She and I vs. her and me 247

b It was she vs. It was her 248

c Who vs. whom 249 d Other constructions 251

El Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement 253

a Antecedents with and 253 b Antecedents with or or nor

254 c Everyone, person, and other

indefinite words 254 d Team and other collective

nouns 256

El Pronoun Reference a Clear reference 258 b Close reference 258 c Specific reference 258 d Appropriate you 260 e Consistency 260

Modifiers

Eal Adjectives and Adverbs 262

a Adjective vs. adverb 262 b Adjective with linking verb:

felt bad 263 c Bigger, most talented, and

other comparisons 264 d Double negatives 266 e Present and past participles:

boring vs. bored 267 f A, an, the, and other

determiners 268

34 Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers 273

a Misplaced modifiers 273 b Dangling modifiers 278

Sentence Faults

El Fragments 280 a Tests 280 b Revision 282 c Acceptable fragments 283

36 Comma Splices and Fused Sentences 285

a Main clauses without and, but, etc. 287

b Main clauses with however, for example, etc. 288

257 pg Mixed Sentences 291 a Reason is because and other

mixed meanings 291 b Tangled grammar 292 c Repeated subjects and other

parts 293

189

Basic Grammar

1, ••

•• ••

••

Grammar describes how language works, and understanding it

can help you create clear and accurate sentences. This section ex-

plains the kinds of words in sentences (Chapter 21) and how to build

basic sentences (22), expand them (23), and classify them (24).

Grammar checkers A grammar checker can both offer assistance

and cause problems as you compose sentences. Look for the cautions

and tips for using a checker in this and the next part of this book.

For more information about grammar checkers, see 1 pp. 32-33.

21 Parts of Speech

All English words fall into eight groups, called parts of speech:

nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunc-

tions, and interjections. Note In different sentences a word may serve as different parts

of speech. For example:

The government sent aid to the city. [Aid is a noun.] Governments aid citizens. [Aid is a verb.]

The function of a word in a sentence always determines its part of

speech in that sentence.

Recognizing nouns

Nouns name. They may name a person (Helen Mirren, Jesse Jack-

son, astronaut), a thing (chair, book, Mt. Rainier), a quality (pain,

mystery, simplicity), a place (city, Washington, ocean, Red Sea), or an

idea (reality, peace, success). The forms of nouns depend partly on where they fit in certain

groups. As the following examples indicate, the same noun may ap-

pear in more than one group.

■ A common noun names a general class of things and does not

begin with a capital letter: earthquake, citizen, earth, fortitude,

army.

comp

190

Visit mycomplab.com for more resources and exercises

on the parts of speech.

•• ••

•• ••

•• ••

• gram Pronouns 21b 191

• A proper noun names a specific person, place, or thing and be- gins with a capital letter: Angelina Jolie, Washington Monument, El Paso, US Congress.

■ A count noun names a thing considered countable in English. Most count nouns add -s or -es to distinguish between singular (one) and plural (more than one): citizen, citizens; city, cities. Some count nouns form irregular plurals: woman, women; child, children.

• A noncount noun names things or qualities that aren't consid- ered countable in English: earth, sugar, chaos, fortitude. Non- count nouns do not form plurals.

■ A collective noun is singular in form but names a group: army, family, herd, US Congress.

In addition, most nouns form the possessive by adding - 's to show ownership (Nadia's books, citizen's rights), source (Auden's poems), and some other relationships.

Recognizing pronouns

Most pronouns substitute for nouns and function in sentences as nouns do: Susanne Ling enlisted in the Air Force when she graduated.

Pronouns fall into groups depending on their form or function:

■ A personal pronoun refers to a specific individual or to indi- viduals: I, you, he, she, it, we, and they.

■ An indefinite pronoun does not refer to a specific noun: any- one, everything, no one, somebody, and so on. No one came. Noth- ing moves. Everybody speaks.

■ A relative pronoun relates a group of words to a noun or an- other pronoun: who, whoever, which, that. Everyone who attended received a prize. The book that won is a novel.

■ An interrogative pronoun introduces a question: who, whom, whose, which, what. What song is that? Who will contribute?

• A demonstrative pronoun identifies or points to a noun: this, these, that, those, and so on. Those berries are ripe. This is the site.

• An intensive pronoun emphasizes a noun or another pronoun: myself himself itself themselves, and so on. I myself asked that question. The price itself is in doubt.

■ A reflexive pronoun indicates that the sentence subject also receives the action of the verb: myself himself itself themselves, and so on. He perjured himself They injured themselves.

The personal pronouns I, he, she, we, and they and the relative pronouns who and whoever change form depending on their func- tion in the sentence. (See Chapter 30.)

21b

M i t e ••

•• ••

•• ••

Parts of speech

21c Recognizing verbs Verbs express an action (bring, change, grow, consider), an occur-

rence (become, happen, occur), or a state of being (be, seem, remain).

Forms of verbs

Verbs have five distinctive forms. If the form can change as de-

scribed here, the word is a verb:

■ The plain form is the dictionary form of the verb. When the

subject is a plural noun or the pronoun I, we, you, or they, the

plain form indicates action that occurs in the present, occurs

habitually, or is generally true.

A few artists live in town today. They hold classes downtown.

■ The -s form ends in -s or -es. When the subject is a singular

noun, a pronoun such as everyone, or the personal pronoun he,

she, or it, the -s form indicates action that occurs in the present, occurs habitually, or is generally true.

The artist lives in town today. She holds classes downtown.

■ The past -tense form indicates that the action of the verb oc-

curred before now. It usually adds -d or -ed to the plain form,

although most irregular verbs create it in different ways (see

pp. 213-16).

Many artists lived in town before this year. They held classes downtown. [Irregular verb.]

■ The past participle is usually the same as the past-tense form,

except in most irregular verbs. It combines with forms of have

or be (has climbed, was created), or by itself it modifies nouns

and pronouns (the sliced apples).

Artists have lived in town for decades. They have held classes downtown. [Irregular verb.]

■ The present participle adds -ing to the verb's plain form. It

combines with forms of be (is buying), modifies nouns and pro-

nouns (the boiling water), or functions as a noun (Running

exhausts me).

A few artists are living in town today. They are holding classes downtown.

The verb be has eight forms rather than the five forms of most

other verbs:

192

Common helping verbs Forms of be: be, am, is, are, was, were, been, being Forms of have: have, has, had, having Forms of do: do, does, did

be able to could may ought to used to be supposed to had better might shall will can have to must should would

• gram

Verbs 21c 193 • Plain form be

Present participle being

410 Past participle been I he, she, it we, you, they

Present tense am is are Past tense was was were

• • • • • • • •

Helping verbs

Some verb forms combine with helping verbs to indicate time, possibility, obligation, necessity, and other kinds of meaning: can run, was sleeping, had been working. In these verb phrases run, sleep- ing, and working arc main verbs—they carry the principal meaning.

Verb phrase

Helping Main

Artists can train others to draw. The techniques have changed little.

The most common helping verbs are listed in the box below. See pp. 218-23 for more on helping verbs.

• • • Exercise 21.1 Identifying nouns, pronouns, and verbs Identify the words that function as nouns (N), pronouns (P), and verbs (V) in the following paragraph.

Example: N N V

Ancestors of the gingko tree lived 175 to 200 million years ago.

1 The ginko tree, which is one of the world's oldest trees, is large and picturesque. 2 Gingko trees may grow to over a hundred feet in height. 3 Their leaves look like fans and are about three inches wide. 4 The leaves turn yellow in the fall. 5 Because it tolerates smoke, low tempera- tures, and low rainfall, the gingko appears in many cities. 6 A shortcom- ing, however, is the foul odor of its fruit. 7 Inside the fruit is a large white seed, which some people value as food. 8 The fruit often does not ap- pear until the tree is twenty years old. 9 The tree's name means "apri- cot" in the Japanese language. 10 Originally, the gingko grew only in China, but it has now spread throughout the world.

gram

21e

21d

194

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Parts of speech

Recognizing adjectives and adverbs

Adjectives describe or modify nouns and pronouns. They spec-

ify which one, what quality, or how many.

old city generous one two pears

adjective noun adjective pronoun adjective noun

Adverbs describe or modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs,

and whole groups of words. They specify when, where, how, and to

what extent.

nearly destroyed too quickly adverb verb adverb adverb

/Th■ very generous Unfortunately, taxes will rise.

adverb adjective adverb word group

An -ly ending often signals an adverb, but not always: friendly is

an adjective; never and not are adverbs. The only way to tell whether

a word is an adjective or an adverb is to determine what it modifies.

Adjectives and adverbs appear in three forms: positive (green, an-

grily), comparative (greener, more angrily), and superlative (greenest,

most angrily). See Chapter 33 for more on adjectives and adverbs.

Exercise 21.2 Identifying adjectives and adverbs

Identify the adjectives (ADD and adverbs (ADV) in the following para-

graph. Mark a, an, and the as adjectives.

Example: ADV

Stress can hit people when they least expect it.

1 You can reduce stress by making a few simple changes. 2 Get up

fifteen minutes earlier than you ordinarily do. 3 Eat a healthy breakfast,

and eat it slowly so that you enjoy it. 4 Do your more unpleasant tasks

early in the day. 5 Carry a book or magazine when you know you'll have

to wait in line somewhere. 6 Make promises sparingly and keep them

faithfully. 7 Plan ahead to prevent the most stressful situations—for ex-

ample, carrying spare keys so you won't be locked out of your car or

house. 8 See a doctor and dentist regularly. 9 And every day, do at least

one thing you really enjoy.

Recognizing connecting words:

Prepositions and conjunctions

Connecting words are mostly small words that link parts of sen-

tences. They never change form.

21e

Common prepositions

about before except for of throughout above behind excepting off till according to below for on to across beneath from onto toward after beside in on top of under against between in addition to out underneath along beyond inside out of unlike along with by inside of outside until among concerning in spite of over up around despite instead of past upon as down into regarding up to aside from due to like round with at during near since within because of except next to through without

Prepositions and conjunctions

gram 21e 195

I II M

PO W

U W

M F V

V IF

V - 5 0 • • • • • •

Prepositions Prepositions form nouns or pronouns (plus any modifiers) into

word groups called prepositional phrases: about love, down the stairs. These phrases usually serve as modifiers in sentences, as in The plants trailed down the stairs. (See p. 204.)

CULTURE The meanings and uses of English prepositions LANGUAGE can be difficult to master. See 3 pp. 174-76 for a

discussion of prepositions in idioms. See pp. 226-27 for uses of prepositions in two-word verbs such as look after or look up.

Subordinating conjunctions Subordinating conjunctions form sentences into word groups

called subordinate clauses, such as when the meeting ended or that she knew. These clauses serve as parts of sentences: Everyone was relieved when the meeting ended. She said that she knew. (See pp. 208-09.)

Common subordinating conjunctions

after even if rather than until although even though since when as if so that whenever as if if only than where as long as in order that that whereas as though now that though wherever because once till whether before provided unless while

196

gram

21e Parts of speech

( EULTURE) Subordinating conjunctions convey meaning with- LANGUAGE out help from other function words, such as the

coordinating conjunctions and, but, for, or so:

Faulty Even though the parents are illiterate, but their children may read well. [Even though and but have the same meaning, so both are not needed.]

Revised Even though the parents are illiterate, their children may read well.

Coordinating and correlative conjunctions

Coordinating and correlative conjunctions connect words or word groups of the same kind, such as nouns or sentences.

Coordinating conjunctions consist of a single word:

Coordinating conjunctions

and

nor

for

yet

but

or

so

ReM80111Mm

Biofeedback or simple relaxation can relieve headaches. Relaxation works well, and it is inexpensive.

Correlative conjunctions are combinations of coordinating con- junctions and other words:

Common correlative conjunctions

both . . . and neither . . . nor

not only . . . but also whether . . . or

not . . . but as . . . as either . . . or

Both biofeedback and relaxation can relieve headaches.

The headache sufferer learns not only to recognize the causes of head- aches but also to control those causes.

Exercise 21.3 Adding connecting words

Fill each blank in the following paragraph with the appropriate connect- ing word: a preposition, a subordinating conjunction, or a coordinating conjunction. Consult the lists on p. 195 and above if you need help.

Example:

A Trojan priest warned, "Beware Greeks bearing gifts."

(preposition)

A Trojan priest warned, "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts."

• • • • • • • • • • •

Subject and predicate

1 Just about everyone has heard the story the Trojan Horse. (preposition) 2 This incident happened at the city of Troy was planned by the Greeks. (coordinating conjunction) 3 The Greeks built a huge wooden horse a hollow space big enough to hold many men. (preposition) 4 At night, they rolled the horse to the gate of Troy left it there filled with soldiers. (coordinating conjunction) the morning, the Trojans were surprised to see the enormous

horse. (preposition) 6 They were amazed they saw that the Greeks were gone. (subordinating conjunction) 7 they were curi- ous to examine this gift from the Greeks, they dragged the horse into the city and left it outside the temple. (subordinating conjunction) 8 In the middle of the night, the hidden Greeks emerged the horse and began setting fires all over town. (preposition) 0 the Trojan soldiers awoke and came out of their houses, the Greeks killed them one by one. (subordinating conjunction) 10 By the next morning, the Trojan men were dead the women were slaves to the Greeks. (coor- dinating conjunction)

21f Recognizing interjections Interjections express feeling or command attention. They are

rarely used in academic or business writing.

Oh, the meeting went fine. They won seven thousand dollars! Wow!

22 The Sentence The sentence is the basic unit of expression. It is grammatically

complete and independent: it does not serve as an adjective, adverb, or other single part of speech.

22a Recognizing subjects and predicates Most sentences make statements. First the subject names some-

thing; then the predicate makes an assertion about the subject or de- scribes an action by the subject.

Subject Predicate

Art thrives.

comp

Visit mycomplab.com for more resources and exercises on the sentence.

197

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J L

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_

1 0

1 1 0 0 0 0 0

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The sentence

The simple subject consists of one or more nouns or pronouns,

whereas the complete subject also includes any modifiers. The sim-

ple predicate consists of one or more verbs, whereas the complete

predicate adds any words needed to complete the meaning of the

verb plus any modifiers. Sometimes, as in the short example Art thrives, the simple and

complete subject and predicate are the same. More often, they are

different:

Subject Predicate complete complete

simple simple

Some contemporary art stirs controversy.

complete complete r- ,-- simple 4r—simple

Congress and the media discuss and dispute its value.

In the second example, the simple subject and simple predicate

are both compound: in each, two words joined by a coordinating

conjunction (and) serve the same function.

Note If a sentence contains a word group such as that makes it

into museums or because viewers agree about its quality, you may

be tempted to mark the subject and verb in the word group as the

subject and verb of the sentence. But these word groups are subor-

dinate clauses, made into modifiers by the words they begin with:

that and because. See pp. 208-09 for more on subordinate clauses.

ICCULTURE ) The subject of a sentence in standard American .."1..ANGUAGE English may be a noun (art) or a pronoun that

refers to the noun (it), but not both. (See p. 293.)

Faulty Some art it stirs controversy.

Revised Some art stirs controversy.

Tests to find subjects and predicates

The tests below use the following example:

Art that makes it into museums has often survived controversy.

Identify the subject.

Ask who or what is acting or being described in the sentence.

Complete subject art that makes it into museums

Isolate the simple subject by deleting modifiers—words or word

groups that don't name the actor of the sentence but give informa-

tion about it. In the example, the word group that makes it into muse-

ums does not name the actor but modifies it.

Simple subject art

198

gram 22a

• Subject and predicate

S I

• • • S • • Exercise 22.1 Identifying subjects and predicates

• Identify the subject and the predicate of each sentence below. Then use each sentence as a model to create a sentence of your own.

• Example: subject predicate

• An important scientist / spoke at commencement. Sample imitation: The hungry family ate at the diner.

4 They examined each apple carefully for quality. 5 Over a hundred people will buy cider at the roadside stand.

1 The leaves fell. 2 October ends soon. 3 The orchard owners made apple cider.

Exercise 22.2 Identifying subjects and predicates In the following sentences, insert a slash between the complete subject and the complete predicate. Underline each simple subject once and each simple predicate twice.

Example:

The pony, the light horse, and the draft horse / are the three main types of domestic horses.

1 The horse has a long history of service to humanity but today is mainly a show and sport animal. 2 A member of the genus Equus, the domestic horse shares its lineage with the ass and the zebra. 3 The do- mestic horse and its relatives are all plains-dwelling herd animals. 4 The modern horse evolved in North America. 5 It migrated to other parts of the world and then became extinct in the Americas. 6 The Spaniards reintroduced the domestic horse to the Americas. / North American wild horses are actually descended from escaped domestic horses. 8 According to records, North Americans hunted and domesticated horses as early as four to five thousand years ago. 9 The earliest ancestor of the modern horse may have been eohippus, approximately 55 million years ago.

gram

22a 199

Identify the predicate.

Ask what the sentence asserts about the subject: what is its action, or what state is it in? In the example, the assertion about art is that it has often survived controversy.

Complete predicate has often survived controversy

Isolate the verb, the simple predicate, by changing the time of the subject's action. The simple predicate is the word or words that change as a result.

Example Art . . . has often survived controversy. Present Art . . . often survives controversy. Future Art . . . will often survive controversy. Simple predicate has survived

Direct object

the city.

Subject complement: noun or adjective

chaos.

Direct object

aid.

Indirect object

the city The sent government

a disaster. The considered the earthquake

citizens

2. Subject

The earthquake

Verb (transitive)

destroyed

Verb (transitive) 4. Subject

Direct object 5. Subject

Verb (transitive)

The sentence

22b Recognizing predicate patterns

All English sentences are based on five patterns, each differing in the complete predicate (the verb and any words following it).

...SJLTURE) Word order in English sentences may not corre- LANGuAGE spond to word order in the sentences of your na-

tive language or dialect. English, for instance, strongly prefers sub- ject first, then verb, whereas some other languages prefer the verb

first.

The five basic sentence patterns

Subject Predicate

Verb 1. Subject (intransitive)

The earth trembled.

Object complement:

noun or adjective

Pattern 1: The earth trembled.

In the simplest pattern the predicate consists only of an intran-

sitive verb, a verb that does not require a following word to com-

plete its meaning.

ma al

l.1 6■

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U 4

•• ••

• ••

•• ••

••

gram

22b 200

Verb (linking)

The result was

3. Subject

• • Predicate patterns 201 41, Subject Predicate intransitive verb •

The earth trembled. The hospital may close.

11 Pattern 2: The earthquake destroyed the city. •

In pattern 2 the verb is followed by a direct object, a noun or pronoun that identifies who or what receives the action of the verb.

• A verb that requires a direct object to complete its meaning is called transitive.

• Subject Predicate

•

Transitive Direct verb object

• The earthquake destroyed the city. Education opens doors.

• CULTURE LANGUAGE

Only transitive verbs may be used in the passive voice: The city was destroyed. Your dictionary will

1110 indicate whether a verb is transitive or intransitive. For some verbs (begin, learn, read, write, and others), it will indicate both uses.

• Pattern 3: The result was chaos.

• In pattern 3 the verb is followed by a subject complement, a

word that renames or describes the subject. A verb in this pattern is called a linking verb because it links its subject to the description following. The linking verbs include be, seem, appear, become, grow, remain, stay, prove, feel, look, smell, sound, and taste. Subject com- plements are usually nouns or adjectives.

Subject Predicate

Linking Subject verb complement

The result was chaos. The man became an accountant.

Pattern 4: The government sent the city aid.

In pattern 4 the verb is followed by a direct object and an in- direct object, a word identifying to or for whom the action of the verb is performed. The direct object and indirect object refer to dif- ferent things, people, or places.

- Key term

passive voice The verb form when the subject names the receiver of the verb's action: Bad weather was predicted. (See p. 236.)

202

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41) 0 0 0 1 1 4 ,1

1 • 0 0 • • • •

gram 22b The sentence

Subject Predicate

Transitive Indirect Direct verb object object

The government sent the city aid.

One company offered its employees bonuses.

A number of verbs can take indirect objects, including send and

offer (preceding examples) and allow, bring, buy, deny, find, get, give,

leave, make, pay, read, sell, show, teach, and write.

CULTURE Some verbs are never followed by an indirect LANGUAGE object—admit, announce, demonstrate, explain, in-

troduce, mention, prove, recommend, say, and some others. How-

ever, the direct objects of these verbs may be followed by to or for

and a noun or pronoun that specifies to or for whom the action

was done: The manual explains the new procedure to workers. A

video demonstrates the procedure for us.

Pattern 5: The citizens considered the earthquake a disaster.

In pattern 5 the verb is followed by a direct object and an ob-

ject complement, a word that renames or describes the direct ob-

ject. Object complements may be nouns or adjectives.

Subject Predicate

Transitive Direct Object

verb object complement

The citizens considered the earthquake a disaster.

Success makes some people nervous.

Exercise 22.3 Identifying sentence parts

In the following sentences identify the subject (S) and verb (V) as well as

any direct object (DO), indirect object (10), subject complement (SC), or

object complement (OC).

Example:

S V V DO

Crime statistics can cause surprise.

1 The number of serious crimes in the United States decreased.

2 A decline in serious crimes occurred each year. 3 The Crime Index measures serious crime.

4 The FBI invented the index. 5 The four serious violent crimes are murder, robbery, forcible rape,

and aggravated assault.

6 The Crime Index calls auto theft, burglary, arson, and larceny-theft

the four serious crimes against property.

7 The Crime Index gives the FBI a measure of crime.

8 The index shows trends in crimes and the people who commit

them.

•• ••

•• ••

•• ••

gram

Phrases 23a 203 9 The nation's largest cities showed the largest decline in crime.

10 However, crime actually increased in smaller cities, proving that the decline in crime is unrepresentative of the nation.

Exercise 22.4 Identifying sentence patterns In the following sentences, identify each verb as intransitive, transitive, or linking. Then identify each direct object (DO), indirect object (10), subject complement (SC), and object complement (OC).

Example:

transitive verb 10 DO DO

Children give their parents both headaches and pleasures.

1 Many people find New York City exciting. 2 Tourists flock to New York each year. 3 Often they visit Times Square first. 4 The square's lights are astounding. 5 The flashing signs sell visitors everything from TVs to underwear.

Phrases and Subordinate 23 Clauses

Most sentences contain word groups that serve as adjectives, adverbs, or nouns and thus cannot stand alone as sentences.

A phrase lacks either a subject or a predicate or both: fearing an accident; in a panic. A subordinate clause contains a subject and a predicate but begins with a subordinating word: when prices rise; whoever laughs.

23a Recognizing phrases

II

Prepositional phrases A prepositional phrase consists of a preposition plus a noun, a

pronoun, or a word group serving as a noun, called the object of the preposition. A list of prepositions appears on p. 195.

comp II

Visit mycomplab.com for more resources and exercises on phrases and subordinate clauses.

gram

204 23a

Phrases and subordinate clauses

Preposition Object of spaghetti on the surface

with great satisfaction

upon entering the room from where you are standing

Prepositional phrases usually function as adjectives or adverbs.

Life on a raft was an opportunity for adventure. adjective phrase adjective phrase

Huck Finn rode the raft by choice. adverb phrase

With his companion, Jim, Huck met many types of people. adverb phrase adjective phrase

Exercise 23.1 Identifying prepositional phrases

Identify the prepositional phrases in the following passage, and under-

line the word that the phrase modifies.

Example:

After an hour I finally arrived at the home of my professor.

On July 3, 1863, at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, General Robert E.

Lee gambled unsuccessfully for a Confederate victory in the American

Civil War. The battle of Pickett's Charge was one of the most disas-

trous conflicts of the war. 3 Confederate and Union forces faced each

other on parallel ridges separated by almost a mile of open fields. •1 After

an artillery bombardment of the Union position, nearly 12,000 Confed-

erate infantry marched toward the Union ridge. 5 The Union guns had

been silent but suddenly roared against the approaching Confederates.

o Within an hour, perhaps half of the Confederate soldiers lay wounded

or dead.

Exercise 23.2 Sentence combining: Prepositional phrases

To practice writing sentences with prepositional phrases, combine each

group of sentences below into one sentence that includes one or two

prepositional phrases. You will have to add, delete, and rearrange words.

Some items have more than one possible answer.

Example:

I will start working. The new job will pay the minimum wage. I will start working at a new job for the minimum wage.

I The slow loris protects itself well. Its habitat is Southeast Asia. It pos-

sesses a poisonous chemical.

2 The loris frightens predators when it exudes this chemical. The chem-

ical comes from a gland. The gland is on the loris's upper arm.

The loris's chemical is highly toxic. The chemical is not like a skunk's

spray. Even small quantities of the chemical are toxic.

mas a,a

,iiA mw

o• ■ ••

•• ••

• ••

•

• • • • • • • •

Phrases

4 A tiny dose can affect a human. The dose would get in the mouth. The human would be sent into shock.

5 Predators probably can sense the toxin. They detect it at a distance. They use their nasal organs.

Verbal phrases

Certain forms of verbs, called verbals, can serve as modifiers or nouns. Often these verbals appear with their own modifiers and objects in verbal phrases.

Note Verbals cannot serve as verbs in sentences. The sun rises over the dump is a sentence; The sun rising over the dump is a sen- tence fragment. (See p. 281.)

• Participial phrases

• A participle is a verb form ending in -ing (walking) or, often, -d

or -ed (walked). Participles and participial phrases serve as adjectives.

•

• Note With irregular verbs, the past participle may have a dif-

410 ferent ending—for instance, hidden funds. (See pp. 213-16.) For verbs expressing feeling, the present and past •

participles have different meanings: It was a boring lecture. The bored students slept. (See p. 267.)

Gerund phrases

A gerund is the -ing form of a verb when it serves as a noun. Gerunds and gerund phrases can do whatever nouns can do.

sentence ,— subject

Shopping satisfies personal needs. noun

(-;_ object of preposition,

Malls are good at creating such needs. noun phrase

Infinitive phrases

An infinitive is the plain form of a verb plus to: to hide. Infini- tives and infinitive phrases serve as adjectives, adverbs, or nouns.

sentence subject subject complement

To design a mall is to create an artificial environment. noun phrase noun phrase

Malls are designed to make shoppers feel safe. adverb phrase

205

41111 Strolling shoppers fill the malls. adjective

They make selections

▪

determined by personal taste. adjective phrase

Phrases and subordinate clauses

The environment supports the impulse to shop. adjective

CULTURE Infinitives and gerunds may follow some verbs LANGUAGE and not others and may differ in meaning after a

verb: The cowboy stopped to sing. The cowboy stopped singing. (See pp. 223-25.)

Exercise 23.3 Identifying verbals and verbal phrases

The following sentences contain participles, gerunds, and infinitives as well as participial, gerund, and infinitive phrases. Identify each verbal or verbal phrase.

Example:

Laughing, the talk-show host prodded her guest to talk.

1 Written in 1850 by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter tells the story of Hester Prynne. 2 Shunned by the community because of her adultery, Hester endures loneliness. 3 She is humble enough to withstand her Puritan neighbors' cutting remarks. 4 Enduring the cruel treatment, the determined young woman refuses to leave her home. S By living a life of patience and unselfishness, Hester eventually becomes the com- munity's angel.

Exercise 23.4 Sentence combining: Verbals and verbal phrases

To practice writing sentences with verbals and verbal phrases, combine each of the following pairs of sentences into one sentence. You will have to add, delete, change, and rearrange words. Each item has more than one possible answer.

Example:

My father took pleasure in mean pranks. For instance, he hid the neighbor's cat.

My father took pleasure in mean pranks such as hiding the neighbor's cat.

1 Air pollution is a health problem. It affects millions of Americans. 2 The air has been polluted mainly by industries and automobiles. It

contains toxic chemicals. 3 Environmentalists pressure politicians. They think politicians should

pass stricter laws. 4 Many politicians waver. They are not necessarily against environ-

mentalism. 5 The problems are too complex. They cannot be solved easily.

Absolute phrases

An absolute phrase consists of a noun or pronoun and a par- ticiple, plus any modifiers. It modifies the entire rest of the sentence it appears in.

206

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

•• ••

•• ••

• ••

•• •

• gram

23a 207 absolute phrase Their own place established, many ethnic groups are making way for

new arrivals.

Unlike a participial phrase (p. 205), an absolute phrase always contains a noun that serves as a subject.

participial phrase

Learning English, many immigrants discover American culture.

absolute phrase

Immigrants having learned English, their opportunities widen.

Exercise 23.5 Sentence combining: Absolute phrases

To practice writing sentences with absolute phrases, combine each pair of sentences below into one sentence that contains an absolute phrase. You will have to add, delete, change, and rearrange words.

Example:

The flower's petals wilted. It looked pathetic. Its petals wilted, the flower looked pathetic.

1 Geraldine Ferraro's face beamed. She enjoyed the crowd's cheers after her nomination for Vice President.

2 A vacancy had occurred. Sandra Day O'Connor was appointed the first female Supreme Court justice.

3 Her appointment was confirmed. Condoleezza Rice became the first female national security adviser.

4 The midterm elections were over. Nancy Pelosi was elected the first female minority leader of the House of Representatives.

5 The election was won. Elizabeth Dole was the first woman to be- come a US senator from North Carolina.

Appositive phrases

An appositive is usually a noun that renames another noun. An appositive phrase includes modifiers as well.

.4.---- appositive phrase ,

Bizen ware, a dark stoneware, is produced in Japan.

Appositives and appositive phrases sometimes begin with that is, such as, for example, or in other words.

appositive phrase — Bizen ware is used in the Japanese tea ceremony, that is, the Zen Buddhist

observance that links meditation and art.

Exercise 23.6 Sentence combining: Appositive phrases

Combine each pair of sentences into one sentence that contains an ap- positive phrase. You will have to delete and rearrange words. Some items have more than one possible answer.

Phrases

Phrases and subordinate clauses

Example:

The largest land animal is the elephant. The elephant is also one of the most intelligent animals.

The largest land animal, the elephant, is also one of the most intelli- gent animals.

Some people perform amazing feats when they are very young. These people are geniuses from birth. John Stuart Mill was a British philosopher. He had written a history of Rome by age seven. Two great artists began their work at age four. They were Paul Klee and Gustav Mahler. Mahler was a Bohemian composer of intensely emotional works. He was also the child of a brutal father. Paul Klee was a Swiss painter. As a child he was frightened by his own drawings of devils.

Exercise 23.7 Identifying phrases

In the paragraphs below, identify every verbal and appositive and every verbal, appositive, prepositional, and absolute phrase. (All the sentences include at least two such words and phrases.)

With its many synonyms, or words with similar meanings, English can make choosing the right word a difficult task. 2 Borrowing words from early Germanic languages and from Latin, English acquired an un- usual number of synonyms. With so many choices, how does a writer decide between motherly and maternal or among womanly, feminine, and female?

4 Some people prefer longer and more ornate words to avoid the flatness of short words. 5 Indeed, during the Renaissance a heated debate occurred between the Latinists, favoring Latin words, and the Saxonists, preferring Anglo-Saxon words derived from Germanic roots. c Today, students in writing classes are often told to choose the shorter word, usually an Anglo-Saxon derivative. ; Better advice, wrote William Hazlitt, is the principle of choosing "the best word in common use." S Keeping this principle in mind, a writer would choose either womanly, the Anglo-Saxon word, or feminine, a French deriva- tive, according to meaning and situation. 0 Of course, synonyms rarely have exactly the same meaning, usage having created subtle but real differences over time. 10 To take another example, the Old English word handbook has a slightly different meaning from the French de- rivative manual, a close synonym.

23b Recognizing subordinate clauses A clause is any group of words that contains both a subject and

a predicate. There are two kinds of clauses, and the distinction be- tween them is important.

208

gram

23b

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

•

• Subordinate clauses 209

• A main clause makes a complete statement and can stand alone as a sentence: The sky darkened. A subordinate clause is just like a main clause except that it begins with a subordinating word: when the sky darkened;

411/

whoever calls. The subordinating word reduces the clause from a complete statement to a single part of speech: an adjective, 4110

adverb, or noun. Use subordinate clauses to support the ideas in main clauses, as described in 3 pp. 150-52.

• Note A subordinate clause punctuated as a sentence is a sen-

11111 tence fragment. (See p. 282.)

4111 Adjective clauses

An adjective clause modifies a noun or pronoun. It usually be-

41, gins with the relative pronoun who, whom, whose, which, or that. The relative pronoun is the subject or object of the clause it begins.

• The clause ordinarily falls immediately after the word it modifies.

adjective clause -,

41110 Parents who cannot read may have bad memories of school. adjective clause 110

One school, which is open year-round, helps parents learn to read.

Adverb clauses

An adverb clause modifies a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or a whole word group. It always begins with a subordinating con- junction, such as although, because, if or when (see p. 195 for a list).

adverb clause

The school began teaching parents when adult illiteracy gained national

attention.

adverb clause clause —

Because it was directed at people who could not read, advertising had to

be inventive.

Noun dauses

A noun clause replaces a noun in a sentence and serves as a sub- ject, object, or complement. It begins with that, what, whatever, who, whom, whoever, whomever, when, where, whether, why, or how.

sentence subject

Whether the program would succeed depended on door -to-door adver- tising. noun clause

object of verb Teachers explained in person how the program would work.

noun clause

• • • • • • • • • • • •

Phrases and subordinate clauses

Exercise 23.8 Identifying clauses

Underline the subordinate clauses in the following paragraph and iden- tify each one as adjective (ADD, adverb (ADV), or noun (N) by determin- ing how it functions in its sentence.

1 The Prophet Muhammad, who was the founder of Islam, was born about 570 CE in the city of Mecca. 2 He grew up in the care of his grandfather and an uncle because both of his parents had died when he was very young. 3 His extended family was part of a powerful Arab tribe that lived in western Arabia. 4 When Muhammad was about forty years old, he had a vision while he was in a cave outside Mecca. 5 He believed that God had selected him to be the prophet of a true religion for the Arab people. 6 Viewed as God's messenger, Muhammad attracted many followers before he lost the support of the clans of Mecca. 7 He and his followers moved to Medina, where they established an organized Mus- lim community that sometimes clashed with the Meccans and with Jewish clans. 8 Throughout his life Muhammad continued as the reli- gious, political, and military leader of Islam as it spread in Asia and Africa. 9 He continued to have revelations, which are recorded in the sacred book of Muslims, the Koran.

Exercise 23.9 Sentence combining: Subordinate clauses

To practice writing sentences with subordinate clauses, combine each pair of main clauses into one sentence. Use either subordinating conjunctions or relative pronouns as appropriate, referring to the lists on pp. 191 and 195 if necessary. You will have to add, delete, and rearrange words. Each item has more than one possible answer.

Example:

She did not have her tire irons with her. She could not change her bicycle tire.

Because she did not have her tire irons with her, she could not change her bicycle tire.

1 Moviegoers expect something. Movie sequels should be as exciting as the original films.

2 A few sequels are good films. Most sequels are poor imitations of the originals.

3 A sequel to a blockbuster film arrives in the theater. Crowds quickly line up to see it.

4 Viewers pay to see the same villains and heroes. They remember these characters fondly.

5 Afterward, viewers often grumble about filmmakers. The filmmakers rehash tired plots and characters.

gram

210 23b

• •

• • • • • • • •

24b

24a

• • The four basic sentence structures vary in the number of main

and subordinate clauses. Each structure gives different emphasis to the main and supporting information in a sentence.

Recognizing simple sentences

A simple sentence consists of a single main clause and no sub- ordinate clause. main clause

Last summer was unusually hot.

main clause The summer made many farmers leave the area for good or reduced them

to bare existence.

Recognizing compound sentences

A compound sentence consists of two or more main clauses and no subordinate clause.

c— main clause—, main clause

Last July was hot, but August was even hotter.

main clause main clause The hot sun scorched the earth, and the lack of rain killed many crops.

24c Recognizing complex sentences A complex sentence consists of one main clause and one or

more subordinate clauses.

,— main clause —,, subordinate clause Rain finally came, although many had left the area by then.

main clause subordinate clause Those who remained were able to start anew because the government

subordinate clause

came to their aid.

comp

Visit mycomplab.com for more resources and exercises on sentence types.

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• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

gram 212 24d Sentence types

24d Recognizing compound-complex sentences

A compound-complex sentence has the characteristics of both the compound sentence (two or more main clauses) and the com- plex sentence (at least one subordinate clause).

subordinate clause main clause

When government aid finally came, many people had already been reduced

main clause

to poverty and others had been forced to move.

Exercise 24.1 Identifying sentence structures

Mark the main clauses and subordinate clauses in the following para- graphs. Then identify each sentence as simple, compound, complex, or compound-complex.

Example:

main clause , subordinate clause — The human voice is produced in the larynx, which has two bands

called vocal cords. [Complex.]

1 Our world has many sounds, but they all have one thing in common. 2 They are all produced by vibrations. 3 Vibrations make the air move in waves, and these sound waves travel to the ear. 4 When the waves enter the ear, the auditory nerves convey them to the brain, and the brain interprets them. 5 Some sounds are pleasant, and others, which we call noise, are not. 6 Pleasant sounds, such as music, are pro- duced by regular vibrations at regular intervals. 7 Most noises are pro- duced by irregular vibrations at irregular intervals; an example is the barking of a dog.

8 Sounds, both pleasant and unpleasant, have frequency and pitch. o When an object vibrates rapidly, it produces high-frequency, high- pitched sounds. 10 People can hear sounds over a wide range of frequencies, but dogs, cats, and many other animals can hear high frequencies that humans cannot.

Verbs

Verbs express actions, conditions, and states of being. The basic uses and forms of verbs are described on pp. 192-93. This section ex- plains and solves the most common problems with verbs' forms (Chapter 25), tenses (26), mood (27), and voice (28) and shows how to make verbs match their subjects (29).

•• ••

• ••

•• Use the correct forms of sing/sang`sung and

other irregular verbs.

Most verbs are regular: they form their past tense and past par- ticiple by adding -d or -ed to the plain form.

Plain form Past tense Past participle

live lived lived act acted acted

About two hundred English verbs are irregular: they form their past tense and past participle in some irregular way. Check a dic- tionary under the verb's plain form if you have any doubt about its other forms. If the verb is irregular, the dictionary will list the plain form, the past tense, and the past participle in that order (go, went, gone). If the dictionary gives only two forms (as in think, thought), then the past tense and the past participle are the same.

Common irregular verbs

Plain form Past tense Past participle be was, were been become became become begin began begun bid bid bid bite bit bitten, bit blow blew blown break broke broken bring brought brought burst burst burst buy bought bought catch caught caught choose chose chosen come came come cut cut cut dive dived, dove dived do did done dream dreamed, dreamt dreamed, dreamt

(continued)

25a

comp I

Visit mycomplab.com for more resources and exercises on verb forms. 213

Verb forms

Common irregular verbs (continued)

Plain form Past tense Past participle

drink drank drunk

drive drove driven

eat ate eaten

fall fell fallen

find found found

flee fled fled

fly flew flown

forget forgot forgotten, forgot

freeze froze frozen

get got got, gotten

give gave given

go went gone

grow grew grown

hang (suspend) hung hung

have had had

hear heard heard

hide hid hidden

hold held held

keep kept kept

know knew known

lead led led

leave left left

lend lent lent

let let let

lose lost lost

pay paid paid

ride rode ridden

ring rang rung

run ran run

say said said

see saw seen

shake shook shaken

shrink shrank, shrunk shrunk, shrunken

sing sang, sung sung

sink sank, sunk sunk

sleep slept slept

slide slid slid

- Key terms

plain form The dictionary form of the verb: 1 walk. You forget. (See p. 192.)

past-tense form The verb form indicating action that occurred in the

past: 1 walked. You forgot. (See p. 192.)

past participle The verb form used with have, has, or had: I have walked. It may serve as a modifier: It is a forgotten book. (See p. 192.)

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W Ir

M ilW ' n

0 • • •

• • • • • • • •

• Irregular verbs

vb 25a

Plain form Past tense Past participle speak spoke spoken spring sprang, sprung sprung stand stood stood steal stole stolen swim swam swum swing swung swung take took taken tear tore torn throw threw thrown wear wore worn write wrote written

01011004.11111110.4

Grammar checkers A grammar checker may not flag incorrect forms of irregular verbs. For example, a checker flagged The runner stealed second base (stole is correct) but not The runner had steal second base (stolen is correct). When in doubt about the forms of ir- regular verbs, refer to the preceding list or consult a dictionary.

CULTURE Some English dialects use distinctive verb forms LANGUAGE that differ from those of standard American Eng-

lish: for instance, drug for dragged, growed for grew, come for came, or went for gone. In situations requiring standard American Eng- lish, use the forms in the list here or in a dictionary.

Exercise 25.1 Using irregular verbs For each irregular verb in brackets, supply either the past tense or the past participle, as appropriate, and identify the form you used.

1 The world population had [grow] by two-thirds of a billion people in less than a decade. 2 Recently it [break] the 6 billion mark. 3 Population experts have [draw] pictures of a crowded future, predicting that the world population may have [slide] up to as many 10 billion by the year 2050. 4 The supply of food, clean water, and land is of particular con- cern. 5 Even though the food supply [rise] in the last decade, the share to each person [fall]. 6 At the same time the water supply, which had ac- tually [become] healthier in the twentieth century, [sink] in size and quality. 7 Changes in land use [run] nomads and subsistence farmers off their fields, while the overall number of species on earth [shrink] by 20 percent.

8 Yet not all the news is bad. 9 Recently some countries have [begin] to heed these and other problems and to explore how technology can be [drive] to help the earth and all its populations. 10 Population control has [find] adherents all over the world. 11 Crop management has [take] some pressure off lands with poor soil, allowing their owners to produce food, while genetic engineering promises to replenish food supplies that have [shrink]. 12 Some new techniques for waste processing have [prove] effective. 13 Land conservation programs have [give] endangered species room to reproduce and thrive.

215

vb

216 25b Verb forms

25 b Distinguish between sit and set, lie and lay, and rise and raise.

The forms of sit and set, lie and lay, and rise and raise are easy to confuse.

Plain form Past tense Past participle

sit sat sat set set set

lie lay lain lay laid laid

rise rose risen raise raised raised

In each of these confusing pairs, one verb is intransitive (it does not take an object) and one is transitive (it does take an object). (See pp. 200-201 for more on this distinction.)

Intransitive

The patients he in their beds. [Lie means "recline" and takes no object.]

Visitors sit with them. [Sit means "be seated" or "be located" and takes no object.]

Patients' temperatures rise. [Rise means "increase" or "get up" and takes no object.]

Transitive

Orderlies lay the dinner trays on tables. [Lay means "place" and takes an object, here trays.] Orderlies set the trays down. [Set means "place" and takes an object, here trays.] Nursing aides raise the shades. [Raise means "lift" or "bring up" and takes an object, here shades.]

Exercise 25.2 Distinguishing between sit/set, lie/lay, rise/raise Choose the correct verb from the pair given in brackets. Then supply the past tense or past participle, as appropriate.

Example: After I washed all the windows, I [lie, lay] down the squeegee and then I [sit, set] the table.

After I washed all the windows, I laid down the squeegee and then I set the table.

1 Yesterday afternoon the child [lie, lay] down for a nap. 2 The child has been [rise, raise] by her grandparents. 3 Most days her grandfather has [sit, set] with her, reading her stories. 4 She has [rise, raise] at dawn most mornings. 5 Her toys were [lie, lay] on the floor.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

M W

Ir fI

M IF

W I F

I F

• • 0

• • • • • • • •

•

vb -s and -ed forms 25c 217

25c when they are required.

Speakers of some English dialects and nonnative speakers of English sometimes omit the -s and -ed verb endings when they are required in standard American English.

Grammar checkers A grammar checker will flag many omitted -s and -ed endings from verbs, as in he ask and was ask. But it will miss many omissions, too.

Required -s ending Use the -s form of a verb when both of these situations hold:

■ The subject is a singular noun (boy), an indefinite pronoun (everyone), or he, she, or it. These subjects are third person, used when someone or something is being spoken about.

■ The verb's action occurs in the present.

The letter asks [not ask] for a quick response. Delay costs [not cost] money.

Be especially careful with the -s forms of be (is), have (has), and do (does, doesn't). These forms should always be used to indicate pres- ent time with third-person singular subjects.

The company is [not be] late in responding. It has [not have] problems. It doesn't [not don't] have the needed data. The contract does [not do] depend on the response.

In addition, be has an -s form in the past tense with I and third-person singular subjects:

The company was [not were] in trouble before.

I, you, and plural subjects do not take the -s form of verbs:

I am [not is] a student. You are [not is] also a student. They are [not is] students, too.

Fl Required -ed or -d ending The -ed or -d verb form is required in any of these situations:

a The verb's action occurred in the past:

The company asked [not ask] for more time.

The verb form functions as a modifier:

The data concerned [not concern] should be retrievable.

Use the -s and -ed forms of the verb

11111v13 1111 218 25d Verb forms

The verb form combines with a form of be or have:

The company is supposed [not suppose] to be the best. It has developed [not develop] an excellent reputation.

Watch especially for a needed -ed or -d ending when it isn't pro- nounced clearly in speech, as in asked, discussed, mixed, supposed, walked, and used.

Exercise 25.3 Using -s and -ed verb endings *p4ct*

Supply the correct form of each verb in brackets. Be careful to include -s

and - ed (or -d) endings where they are needed for standard English.

Example:

Unfortunately, the roof on our new house already [leak].

Unfortunately, the roof on our new house already leaks.

1 A teacher sometimes [ask] too much of a student. 2 In high school

I was once [punish] for being sick. 3 I had [miss] a week of school be-

cause of a serious case of the flu. 4 I [realize] that I would fail a test unless

I had a chance to make up the class work, so I [discuss] the problem with

the teacher. 5 He said I was [suppose] to make up the work while I was sick. 6 At that I [walk] out of the class. 7 I [receive] a failing grade then,

but it did not change my attitude. 8 I [work] harder in the courses that

have more understanding teachers. 9 Today I still balk when a teacher

[make] unreasonable demands or [expect] miracles.

Use helping verbs with main verbs LANGUAGE LAE CULTURE)

appropriately.

Helping verbs combine with main verbs in verb phrases: The

line should have been cut. Who was calling? Grammar checkers A grammar checker often spots omitted help-

ing verbs and incorrect main verbs with helping verbs, but some- times it does not. A checker flagged Many been fortunate and She

working but overlooked other errors, such as The conference will be occurred.

- Key terms

helping verb A word such as can, may, be, have, or do that forms a verb

phrase with another verb to show time, permission, and other meanings.

(See p. 193.)

main verb The verb that carries the principal meaning in a verb phrase:

has walked, could be happening. (See p. 193.)

verb phrase A helping verb plus a main verb: will be singing, would speak. (See p. 193.)

25d

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Helping verbs

111111 vb

25d 219

Required helping verbs Standard American English requires helping verbs in certain

situations:

■ The main verb ends in -ing:

Researchers are conducting fieldwork all over the world. [Not Re- searchers conducting. . . .]

The main verb is been or be:

Many have been fortunate in their discoveries. [Not Many been. . . .] Some could be real-life Indiana Joneses. [Not Some be. . . .]

The main verb is a past participle, such as talked, begun, or thrown.

Their discoveries were covered in newspapers and magazines. [Not Their discoveries covered.. . .]

The researchers have given interviews on TV. [Not The researchers given.. . .]

The omission of a helping verb may create an incomplete sen- tence, or sentence fragment, because a present participle (conduct- ing), an irregular past participle (been), or the infinitive be cannot stand alone as the only verb in a sentence (see p. 280). To work as sentence verbs, these verb forms need helping verbs.

El

Combination of helping verb + main verb

Helping verbs and main verbs combine into verb phrases in specific ways.

Note The main verb in a verb phrase (the one carrying the main meaning) does not change to show a change in subject or time: she has sung, you had sung. Only the helping verb may change.

Form of be + present participle The progressive tenses indicate action in progress. Create them

with be, am, is, are, was, were, or been followed by the main verb's present participle:

She is working on a new book.

• • • • • •

Key terms [

present participle The -ing form of a verb: flying, playing. (See p. 192.) progressive tenses Verb tenses expressing action in progress —for in- stance, I am flying. I was flying. 1 will be flying. (See p. 230.)

220 vb

25d Verb forms Be and been always require additional helping verbs to form pro- gressive tenses:

can might should have could must will be working has been working may shall would had

When forming the progressive tenses, be sure to use the -ing form of the main verb.

Faulty Her ideas are grow more complex. She is developed a new approach to ethics.

Revised Her ideas are growing more complex. She is developing a new approach to ethics.

Form of be + past participle The passive voice of the verb indicates that the subject receives

the action of the verb. Create the passive voice with a form of be (be, am, is, are, was, were, being, or been) followed by the main verb's past participle:

Her latest book was completed in four months.

Be, being, and been always require additional helping verbs to form the passive voice:

have am was

has

been completed is were being completed had

are

will be completed

Be sure to use the main verb's past participle for the passive voice:

Faulty Her next book will be publish soon.

Revised Her next book will be published soon.

Note Only transitive verbs may form the passive voice:

Faulty

A philosophy conference will be occurred in the same week.

[Occur is not a transitive verb.] Revised A philosophy conference will occur in the same week.

Key terms

past participle The - d or - ed form of a regular verb: hedged, walked. Most irregular verbs have distinctive past participles: eaten, swum. (See p. 192.)

passive voice The verb form when the subject names the receiver of the verb's action