Midterm Preparation

1
Midterm Preparation

• Content Identification of POS Identifying
  Correcting Run-Ons and Fragments Use of
  Subordinate Word Groups as Nouns, Adjectives,
  Adverbs Identifying simple subjects, subject
  complements, direct/indirect objects, and object
  complements Subject Verb Agreement Possessives
  Apostrophes
• Points 40q/2pt per item 20q/1pt per item
• Preparation Review Exercises will be distributed
  Thursday.
• Optional Review Session Friday (Time TBD)

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Review Common Linking Verbs

• appear remain am
• become seem is
• feel smell was
• get stay were
• grow sound are
• Look taste
• prove turn

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Remember to Check for Activity

• She looked unhappy.
• She looked out the window.
• He appeared unsure.
• He appeared onstage.
• The cassoulet tasted odd.
• The judges tasted the cassoulet.

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Subject Verb Agreement

• In the present tense, verbs agree with their
  subjects in number (singular or plural) and in
  person (first, second, third) I dance, you
  dance, he dances, we dance, they dance. Most of
  the time, native speakers can naturally recognize
  the correct form of the verb. There are, however,
  as we saw in the homework, some tricky scenarios.

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Subject Verb Agreement mini review

• First person singular I
• Second person singular you
• Third person singular he, she, it
• (includes all singular nouns lotus, mortar,
  opus)
• First person plural we
• Second person plural you (all)
• Third person plural they
• (includes all plural nouns temples, Sheikhs,
  labyrinths)

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For Terminological Facility

• Subject Pronouns Object Pronouns
• I Me
• You You
• He, She, It Him, Her, It
• We Us
• You (all) You (all)
• They Them

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Subject Verb Agreement

• Prepositional phrases cannot contain a sentences
  subject. First, cross out all prepositional
  phrases and isolate subordinate word groups. Then
  check for participles acting as adjectives. See
  whats left and determine the bare bones.
• The wild flowers from the field sitting on the
  dresser fill the room with color and the smell of
  spring.
• Despite its being closed, the box of wildflowers
  on top of the dresser that my mother gave me
  fills the room with the scent of spring.
• Behind the boxes under the bed in the second
  guest room my most treasured journals lie hidden.
• Extra credit what is hidden doing in this
  sentence?

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Unbreakable Rule

• The object of a preposition cannot be the subject
  of a sentence.
• Review your prepositions. The object of a
  preposition may be a noun, a pronoun, a gerund or
  even a subordinate clause.
• Even under the watchful eyes of her older
  brothers friends, she ate a spoonful of pepper
  without sneezing.
• The student with some family turmoil submitted
  his paper without completely finishing it.
• We had no concept of what was about to befall us.

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• The poaching of elephants for their tusks has
  been the subject of legal debate.
• as well as, along with, together with, in
  addition to, and accompanied by do not make a
  singular subject plural.
• As elegant as can be, the aerialist along with an
  elephant strides into the ring.
• (Note this follows the preposition rule)

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Plural Subjects

• My dog and my cat (they) sleep together.
• Flea and tick medicine is necessary.
• Fleas and ticks infest untreated animals.
• Special cases when the two parts of the subject
  refer to a single unit, treat the subject as
  singular.
• The old ball and chain is at it again.
• Liver and onions makes me nauseous.

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Proximity Matters

• With subjects joined by or or nor
• (and eitheror or neithernor), make the verb
  agree with the subject closest to the verb.
  Simple!
• Neither the girl nor her parents are willing to
  compromise.
• Neither the bullies nor the girl is willing to
  negotiate. (Hacker says put the plural subject
  second to avoid awkwardness.)

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The Doozies

• Indefinite Pronouns are pronouns that do not
  refer to specific persons or things.
• The following are always singular
• Anybody, anyone, anything, each, either,
  everybody, everyone, everything, neither, nobody,
  no one, nothing, somebody, someone, something.
• They appear to have plural meaning, but you can
  imagine that they are emphasizing single bodies
  or things among a group.
• Every(single)one is proud to be on this team.
• Each(one)of the essays is stellar in its own
  right.

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The Doozies

• The indefinite pronouns both, few, many, others,
  and several are always plural.
• Others are noticing the strange cracks in the
  wall.
• Several of us have become concerned.
• Both have decided to settle peaceably.

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The Doozies

• And then we have all, any, more, most, some, and
  none.
• All the sautéed rattlesnake was devoured.
• (The singular subject all requires the singular
  verb was.)
• All the seats were occupied. (The plural subject
  all requires the plural verb were.)

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All of the pizza is gone!

• Imagine a stack of empty pizza boxes piled to the
  ceiling.
• All of the pizzas have been devoured!
• Now imagine one empty box with nothing but crumbs
  and some remnants of cheese sticking to the
  cardboard.
• All of the pizza has been devoured!

16
The Exception to the Unbreakable Rule

• With words that indicate portionspercent,
  fraction, part, majority, some, all, none,
  remainder, and so forth look at the object of
  the preposition, (i.e. the noun in the of
  phrase) to determine whether to use a singular
  or plural verb. If the object of the preposition
  is singular, use a singular verb. If the object
  of the preposition is plural, use a plural verb.
• One third of the citys inhabitants are
  unemployed.
• One third of the city is unemployed.

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None is and None are.

• None is a special case. It can follow the
  aforementioned portion rule, but it can also be
  determined based upon what you want to emphasize.
• None of the eligible bachelors is willing to give
  up his independence.
• None of the eligible bachelors are willing to
  give up their independence.

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Practice

• Economics (depends/depend) heavily on
  mathematics.
• The light at the end of the tunnel (are/is) the
  headlight of an approaching train.
• News of a layoff (causes/cause) many people to
  get worried.
• Millions of Americans watched the high-speed
  chase and most (was/were) mesmerized by the
  event.
• Some people believe that TV rots your brain
  others, in contrast, (believes/believe) that TV
  can teach us important social lessons.
• Both of those cities (were/was) on my vacation
  route.
• The commuters wait at the bus stop. A few
  (sleep/sleeps) standing up.
• One of our satellites (is/are) lost in space.
• The supply of beta-endorphins in the brain
  (is/are) increased during exercise.
• Too many onions in a stew often (causes/cause) an
  upset stomach.

19
Possessives and Gerunds

• Can you identify a problem in any of the
  following sentences?
• 1. I appreciate you taking the time to read our
  year-end report.
• 2. The revised plan would result in the family
  paying for services that previously would have
  been covered by the public insurance program.
• 3. All child safety seats must be properly
  installed to reduce the risk of a child being
  injured.

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• 1. I appreciate your taking the time to read our
  year-end report.
• 2. The revised plan would result in the familys
  paying for services that previously would have
  been covered by the public insurance program.
• 3. All child safety seats must be properly
  installed to reduce the risk of a childs being
  injured.

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Does it Matter?

• Whitaker did not like the woman standing in front
  of him at the parade.
• Whitaker did not like the womans standing in
  front of him at the parade.

22

• Student Led HW Review

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14.1

• 2. Williams, who was named most valuable player
  twice in his career, was listed as the
  eighth-best baseball player of all time by the
  Sporting News in 1999.
• 4. Williams surprised many people with his 1966
  Hall of Fame induction speech, which called for
  recognition of Negro League players and their
  inclusion in the Hall of Fame.

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14.2

• As I bent down to crawl into the bunker I noticed
  that the sky was glowing
• 2. The Market Inn, located on North Wharf,
  doesnt look very impressive from the outside,
  but the food is excellent.
• 4. Eryn and Maeve, who have known each other
  since kindergarten, have decided to start a
  business renovating homes
• 5. The first football cared set, released by the
  Goudey Gum Company in 1933, featured only three
  players Red Grange, Bronko Nagurski, amd Knute
  Rockne.

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• All revisions for 14-1, 2, 3, and 4 are
  available in the back of the book.

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Shades of Infinitives and Other Gray Areas

• Things are not always as they seem. Direct
  objects, for example, are nouns, but nouns are
  not always simple and obvious single words (cat,
  thumb, girl, school). Remember, certain verbals
  (e.g. infinitives and gerunds) and subordinate
  word groups can function as nouns. This means
  that such phrases and clauses can function as
  direct objects, subject complements, and object
  complements. Lets take a look. Remember,
  identifying aspects of grammar is a question of
  function before form. Appearances may be
  deceiving thus when examining sentence
  components we must ask, what function is it
  serving? What work is it doing?

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• Direct Objects
• Do you want to rest?
• Children like to run and play.
• She tried to read a good book.
• Would you prefer to go to a movie today or to eat
  out tomorrow?
• He seemed to have all his ducks in a row.
• One contestant appears to lack self-confidence.

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• Subject Complement/Predicate Nominative
• Their goal will be to survive.
• Her job was to hire the best people available.
• To strive is to succeed.

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• Some Object Complements may designate action but
  they are not functioning as verbs
• She made them stay after school.
• He heard someone come in the back door.
• We watched the red sun sink below the horizon.

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Main Verbs

• Main verbs express the action of the subject.
  Remember, clauses have subjects and verbs too,
  and phrases may have one or the other (but not
  both). You must be careful to identify the
  subject of the independent clause.
• The dog slept deeply after he devoured the
  turkey. The stuffed and satisfied dog
  nonchalantly snored despite having been smacked
  with a newspaper by his disgruntled owner for his
  bad behavior.

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Midterm Preparation

• Content Identification of POS Identifying
  Correcting Run-Ons and Fragments Use of
  Subordinate Word Groups as Nouns, Adjectives,
  Adverbs Identifying simple subjects, subject
  complements, direct/indirect objects, and object
  complements Subject Verb Agreement Possessives
  Apostrophes
• Points 40q/2pt per item 20q/1pt per item
• Preparation Review Exercises will be distributed
  Thursday.
• Optional Review Session Friday (Time TBD)