22.4 misplaced modifiers practice 1 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

iff ill

Ia ll6

1, •

0 • • •

0 0 0

•0 0 0

0 *

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

i i

ll if

fi A

J L

/A k Ii _i

_

1 0

1 1 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0

0 0 0 *

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■

JIJ UI

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

A li

0 0

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).