Midlevel Errors

1
Midlevel Errors

• Check the correctness of pronouns, verbs,
  parallels, and modifiers.

2
What are the midlevel errors?

• Pronoun mismatch errors are the most common.
• Which option is correct?
• Everyone has their own ways.
• Other mid errors are in
• 1. Verbs forms
• Erin has drove the car home.
• 2. Parallel items
• Ruby ate the pizza, the salad, and she got a
  cinnamon roll.
• 3. Modifiers
• Jon all the time reads books.

3
What about pronouns and gender?

• Pronoun-antecedent agreement can create gender
  problems.
• Which alternate creates gender conflict?
• A student must see his advisor.
• A student must see his or her advisor.
• Students must see their advisors.

• Which are correct?
• Sara went to the post office, but they were
  already closed.
• Sarah went to the post office, but it was already
  closed.
• Rick ate the cookies although it wasnt good for
  him.
• Rick ate the cookies although they werent good
  for him.

The plural option is best.
4
What about pronouns and gender?

• Pronoun-antecedent agreement can create gender
  problems.
• Which alternate best avoids gender conflict?
• A student must see his advisor.
• A student must see his or her advisor.
• Students must see their advisors.

• Which are correct?
• Sara went to the post office, but they were
  already closed.
• Sarah went to the post office, but it was already
  closed.
• Rick ate the cookies although it wasnt good for
  him.
• Rick ate the cookies although they werent good
  for him.

The plural option is best.
5
Can you avoid vague pronoun use?

• Can you edit these pronoun errors?
• I dont agree, but everyone is entitled to their
  opinion.
• If one of the librarians isnt busy, maybe they
  can help.
• Few of the students finished his or her test on
  time.
• Nobody has received their grades from the last
  term.
• Somebody messaged you, but they didnt leave a
  name.

How well fed is the kid?
6
What about shifting point of view?

• You can fix pronoun errors
• Leon does not like to check book out of the
  library because he has to return them after just
  two weeks.
• The numerous astute members of the class need to
  get together to study their notes.
• Maxine drinks fruit juice first thing every
  morning because it is so good for her.

Just who is this you?
7
Can you avoid weak pronoun use?

• Brian watched the giraffe you could sense the
  animals contentment.
• Neither babysitter was sure that they could work
  Saturday.
• The pups at the sale had not had its shots.
• Each of the vying presidential candidates said
  they enjoyed working with people.

• Someone left their car door open.
• Connie sits near the door because you are the
  first one to leave.
• Everyone has their own way to cope with losses.
• Kim navigated the internet while her daughter
  instructed this amused Kims husband.

8
You can avoid weak pronoun use!

• Brian watched the giraffe he could sense the
  animals contentment.
• Neither babysitter was sure that she could work
  Saturday.
• The pups at the sale hadnt had their shots.
• Each of the vying presidential candidates said he
  enjoyed working with people.

• Someone left his car door open.
• Connie sits near the door because she is the
  first one to leave.
• Everyone has his own way to cope with losses.
• Kim navigated the internet while her daughter
  instructed this situation amused Kims husband.

More
9
What are the types of verb errors?
1. Subject-verb misfits Eddie and Bonnie
knows/know it. 2. Verb tense shifts They wanted
to say it, but they cant/ couldnt. 3. Wrong
verb tense Later, they tell/told the teacher. 4.
Irregular verb errors They had come/came up with
an error.
Is there a time shift here?
10
Can you use the right verb form?

• Student writers often confuse the present, past,
  and past participle verb forms.
• Which one is right?
• 1. I had went/gone down.
• 2. She has took/taken it.
• 3. He done/did the work.
• 4. She saw/seen it there.
• 5. Then she run/ran there.
• 6. They came/come to me.

11
What errors are in irregular verbs?

• The policeman had seen the arsonist once.
• The policeman saw the arsonist once.
• Jason wrote the essay yesterday.
• Jason had wrote the essay yesterday.
• Marisa took the test twice last week.
• Marisa had took the test twice last week.

• Which verb choice is the right one?
• For a long time, some have known that 9/11 was a
  horrible hoax.
• For a long time, some knew that 9/11 was a
  horrible hoax.
• Eva saw Josie many times this year.
• Eva has seen Josie many times this year.

Is there a time shift here?
12
Here are the correct verb choices

• The policeman had seen the arsonist once.
• The policeman saw the arsonist once.
• Jason wrote the essay yesterday.
• Jason had wrote the essay yesterday.
• Marisa took the test twice last week.
• Marisa had took the test twice last week.

• These verb choices are the right ones
• For a long time, some have known that 9/11 was a
  horrible hoax.
• For a long time, some knew that 9/11 was a
  horrible hoax.
• Eva saw Josie many times during this year.
• Eva has seen Josie many times during this year.

Is there a time shift here?
13
What are parallel structures?

• Parallel structure means repeating the same
  pattern of words to show that two or more ideas
  have the same level of importance.
• Parallel structures make writing easier to read
  and understand.
• The usual way to join parallel structures is with
  the coordinating conjunctions "and" or "or."

Is there a time shift here?
Have you learned parallels?
14
How do we use parallel forms?

• Parallel structure repeats the ing form
• Amber likes hiking, swimming, and cycling.
• Parallel structure also repeats to phrases
• Amber likes to hike, to swim, and to ride cycles.
  -or-
• Amber likes to hike, swim, and ride cycles.

Hows his parallel form?
15
Can you find the correct parallel?

• Which one is parallel?
• __1. The coach told the players that they should
  get a lot of sleep, that they should not eat too
  much, and that they should do some warm-up
  exercises before the game.
• __2. The coach told the players that they should
  get a lot of sleep, that they should not eat too
  much, and to do some warm-up exercises before the
  game.

16
You can find the correct parallel

• This alternate uses correct parallel form
• X_1. The coach told the players that they should
  get a lot of sleep, that they should not eat too
  much, and that they should do some warm-up
  exercises before the game.
• __2. The coach told the players that they should
  get a lot of sleep, that they should not eat too
  much, and to do some warm-up exercises before the
  game.

17
Can you find the correct parallel?

• Which one is parallel?
• __1. The salesman expected that he would present
  his product at the meeting, that there would be
  time for him to show his slide presentation, and
  that questions would be asked by prospective
  buyers.
• __2. The salesman expected that he would present
  his product at the meeting, that there would be
  time for him to show his slide presentation, and
  that prospective buyers would ask him questions.

18
You can find the correct parallel

• This one is parallel
• __1. The salesman expected that he would present
  his product at the meeting, that there would be
  time for him to show his slide presentation, and
  that questions would be asked by prospective
  buyers.
• X_2. The salesman expected that he would present
  his product at the meeting, that there would be
  time for him to show his slide presentation, and
  that prospective buyers would ask him questions.

19
What are misplaced modifiers?

• Misplaced modifiers are words that modify
  something you did not intend.
• The most-often misplaced modifier is only because
  it is the easiest to misplace.
• Which sentence alternate below means that I
  didnt wash the veggies?
• __1. I ate only vegetables.
• __2. I only ate vegetables.
• __3. Only I ate vegetables.

Misplaced modified veggies!
20
Here is the well-placed modifier

• Misplaced modifiers are words that modify
  something you did not intend.
• The most-often misplaced modifier is only because
  it is the easiest to misplace.
• The marked sentence alternate below means that I
  didnt wash the veggies
• __1. I ate only vegetables.
• X_2. I only ate vegetables.
• __3. Only I ate vegetables.

Whats misplaced here?
21
Where should modifiers be placed?

• It's easiest to get modifiers right when you keep
  them as close as possible to the thing they are
  modifying.
• When you're working with one-word modifiers, for
  example, they usually go right before the word
  they modify.

Are remotes easily misplaced?
22
Which modifier is well-placed?

• It makes a huge difference where modifiers are
  placed!
• Which sentence alternate means that I passed only
  few if any of my various art classes?
• __1. I almost failed every art class that I ever
  took.
• __2. I failed every art class that I almost ever
  took.
• __3. I failed almost every art class that I ever
  took.

23
This modifier is well-placed

• This sentence alternate means that I passed only
  few of my art classes
• __1. I almost failed every art class that I ever
  took.
• __2. I failed every art class that I almost ever
  took.
• X_3. I failed almost every art class that I ever
  took.
• The modifier, almost, acts on what directly
  follows italmost failed versus almost every
  class.

24
How do we avoid dangling modifiers?

• To avoid dangling modifiers, make sure that the
  modifier refers to something in the sentence!
• Which alternate is correct?
• __1. Driving 60 mph on Walnut Avenue, along came
  a police car.
• __2. Along came a police car, driving 60 mph on
  Walnut Avenue.
• __3. Driving 60 mph on Walnut Avenue, Sam saw a
  police car.

25
How we avoid dangling modifiers

• To avoid dangling modifiers, make sure that the
  modifier refers to something in the sentence!
• This alternate is correct
• __1. Driving 60 mph on Walnut Avenue, along came
  a police car.
• __2. Along came a police car, driving 60 mph on
  Walnut Avenue.
• X_3. Driving 60 mph on Walnut Avenue, Sam saw a
  police car.