English 11 Grammar Focus Correction Areas

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English 11 Grammar Focus Correction Areas

1. Subject-Verb (Hamlet Q3)
2. Verb-Tense (Romantic Poetry Q3)
3. Pronoun-Antecedent (Frankenstein Q3)
4. Punctuation (Satire Q4)
5. Parallelism (Post-Colonialism Q4)
6. Misplaced Modifiers (WWI Poetry Q4)

• Second Semester

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Subject-Verb Agreement
Subject The noun that the sentence is about. The
noun that is acting in the sentence. Verb or
Simple Predicate The action that is happening in
the sentence. The cat jumped on the
couch. Jack and Jill ran up the hill. Van Gogh
is my favorite painter.
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Verb-Tense Agreement
Verb tense means using the right form of the
verb. The verb needs to match the tense of the
subject and the other verbs in the piece. We is
going to the mall after school. We are going to
the mall after school. We bought new jeans. We
are going to the mall after school. We will buy
new jeans.
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Exercise (Purdues OWL site)
Choose the correct form of the verb that agrees
with the subject. 1. Annie and her brothers (is,
are) at school. 2. Either my mother or my father
(is, are) coming to the meeting. 3. George and
Tamara (doesn't, don't) want to see that
movie. 4. Benito (doesn't, don't) know the
answer. 5. One of my sisters (is, are) going on a
trip to France. 7. The players, as well as the
captain, (want, wants) to win.
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Exercise (www.English-grammar.at)
1. They ___________________ in Chicago for 20
years (be). 2. I ___________________ a wonderful
film in the cinema last night. (see) 3. The sun
___________________ at 638 yesterday morning
(rise) 4. The sun ___________________ when the
climber reached Mount Everest. (shine) 5. I
promise that I ___________________ this secret to
anyone (not tell) 6. Unfortunately, just as we
got to the airport their plane ___________________
off (take). 7. They ___________________ to the
movies only once in a while (go) 8. I was tired
yesterday because I ___________________ well the
night before (not sleep).
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Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
A pronoun replaces another noun in a sentence.
The antecedent is the noun that is being
replaced. They need to match. Bob went to the
store to buy his groceries. Bob- Antecedent
His- Pronoun Their cannot replace his or
her. Their is plural (more than one). Each
student should turn in their project. Each
student should turn in his or her project.
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Comma Introductory Phrase
Place a comma after an introductory phrase. This
is a group of words at the start of a sentence
that is outside the subject and predicate. It
can be removed without changing the main meaning
of the sentence. First, I went to the
store. After the movie, I went to dinner.
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Comma Appositive Phrase
Place commas around an appositive phrase. This
is a group of words in the middle of a sentence
that is outside the subject and predicate, but
gives more information about a noun. It can be
removed without changing the main meaning of the
sentence. Frank, who is a dog, likes to eat
steak. Sally, who is a vegetarian, does not like
to eat steak.
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Semicolon Two Independent Clauses
A semi-colon can be used to connect two related
independent clauses. These could stand as
sentences on their own. It is interchangeable
with a period and coordinating conjunctions (like
and, but, or, for) I like Girl Scout cookies
the best kind is Thin Mints.
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Semicolon List with commas
Use a semi-colon to separate items in a list when
the items have commas in them. This eliminates
confusion. I have visited Boise, Idaho Los
Angeles, California and Nashville, Tennessee.
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Colon
A colon is used to connect a list or example to
the end of an already complete sentence. What is
in front of the colon must be a complete sentence
first. We read many books in English 11 Hamlet,
Beowulf, and The Canterbury Tales. RIGHT! I
bought shoes, a skirt, and a shirt. WRONG!
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Parallel Structure
Parallel structure means using the same pattern
of words throughout a sentence. Mary likes
hiking, swimming, and bicycling. PARALLEL! Mary
likes hiking, to swim, and bicycling. NOT
PARALLEL! I was asked to write my report
quickly, accurately, and thoroughly. PARALLEL! I
was asked to write my report quickly, accurately,
and in a detailed manner. NOT PARALLEL!  
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Misplaced Modifier
A misplaced modifier is when a group of words
tell us more about something in the sentence, but
it is unclear. With no names, the teacher was
confused about the assignments. WRONG! The
teacher was confused about the assignment with no
names. RIGHT!
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Titles
Put short stories, articles, and short poems in
quotes. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight The
Pardoners Tale Dulce Et Decorum Est A
Modest Proposal Invictus (poem) Put whole
works, books, movies in italics or
underline. Beowulf The Princess Bride Lord of
the Flies Invictus (film)