Transcript No error - River Dell Regional School District

th
9
Grade Grammar
Review
Part II
What can go wrong in a sentence?
Subject – Verb Agreement
Pronoun – Antecedent Agreement
Incorrect Pronoun Case
Modifiers (misplaced and dangling)
Lack of parallelism
Unclear Pronoun Reference (ambiguous,
general and weak)
 Run ons – Comma splice and Fragments
 Active – Passive Voice
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Do you remember?
The opposing attorneys, Mr. Kourabas and
Mr. Martin, went to the courthouse that
A
morning determined to use the new law
B
to promote his client’s interests. No error.
C
D
E
Work in specialized fields such as
A
bacteriology, public health, and animal
husbandry require at least a bachelor’s
B
degree, and for a career in management or
research, a master’s degree or even a doctorate is
C
required. No error.
E
D
To the aviator flying along the Hudson in
A
early autumn, every bend in the river offers
B
their own panorama of changing colors.
C D
No error.
E
The collective thoughts, reflections,
memories, and opinions expressed by the
A
seniors in the pages of the student
B
magazine represent the diversity and
C
uniqueness that characterizes River Dell High
D
School. No error.
E
Tolstoy said that happiness derives from
living for others and that, should one fail to
A
B
serve others in some fashion, when life’s
C
end approaches, they will die with regret.
D
No error.
E
What we will cover today…
Subject – Verb Agreement
Pronoun – Antecedent Agreement
Incorrect Pronoun Case
Modifiers (misplaced and dangling)
Lack of parallelism
Unclear Pronoun Reference (ambiguous,
general and weak)
 Run ons – Comma splice and Fragments
 Active/Passive voice
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Incorrect Pronoun Case
Three cases for pronouns:
Subjective, Objective and Possessive
Subjective pronouns are the subject of the verb.
Objects are acted upon by the subject.
Possessive goes before a gerund.
Subject Pronouns
Singular
Plural
I
You
He/She/It
Who
We
You
They
Who
Subjective Form Use:
If the pronoun is the SUBJECT
of the action: use the
Subjective form of the pronoun.
__________ want a cookie.
__________ stole his cookie?
__________ ate that cookie.
Use I or Me?
When someone calls your house….
asking for you…and you answer the phone. What do you say?
This is ___________________. (he or him)
Use the subjective form to refer to the subject of “is.” This and
“he/she” are the same. (predicate nominative)
Another example: I looked at the picture, but I couldn’t believe it was
_______. (he or him)
Understood verbs
Sometimes a verb is not there, but is understood
to be there…especially in comparisons
When I looked at Janet, she always appeared to
be taller than (I or me).
When Joe and Chuck played, Joe always seemed
to be meaner than (he or him).
Object Pronouns
Singular
Plural
Me
You
Him/Her/It
Whom
Us
You
Them
Whom
Objective Form Use:
Can you answer who or what after the verb? If
so, use the objective form of the pronoun.
Ex: I surprised ______ yesterday.
He told ________ the secret.
They planned to show ________ the secret
tomorrow.
Who vs. Whom (relative pronouns)
Who is the Subject
form:
Whom is the Object
form:
Is the WHO doing the
action?
Janet, whom I admire,
is not happy with Jill.
Who went to the
store?
Who wants pizza?
The receptionist
asked, “Whom do
you want?”
Possessive Pronouns
Singular
Plural
My
Your
His
Her
its
Our
Their
Possessive Form
Use the possessive form of the pronoun before a
gerund.
Gerund – a verb form ending in –ing that is used as a
noun.
Examples of gerunds:
Walking is a healthful exercise.
Writing improves from much practice.
Possessive Forms and Gerunds
If you want to emphasize the action in the
–ing word, use the possessive form of the
pronoun that precedes it.
There is some question about his taking the
ACT again to improve his score.
I saw him taking the ACT this morning.
Possessive Form Use:
Do you use him or his in the following
examples?
____________ talking annoyed the teacher and
caused him to get into trouble.
I heard ___________ talking to a friend in class.
More practice:
Do you use I, me or my?
_______________ singing was off key and hurt
everyone’s ears.
Did you hear ________ singing that song?
We, Maureen and ________, were singing our favorite
song.
The false alarm had frightened everyone in
A
the condo, and she more than the other
B
residents who lived there, since she had
C
D
once lived in a building that was destroyed
by fire. No error.
E
The confrontation between he and his family
A
forced him to leave home, and he saw
B
neither his mother nor his sister again.
C
D
No error.
E
Modifiers
Modifiers must be placed so that they modify
the right words and no others.
Modifiers
Misplaced Modifiers:
Every time he goes to the bathroom outside,
John praises his new puppy for being so
good.
What is wrong here?
Rose was delighted to find the guitar she’d
been looking for walking by a Westport
pawn shop.
Can you rewrite it?
Misplaced Modifier
Walking by a Westport pawn shop, Rose
was delighted to find the guitar she had
been looking for.
Dangling Participles (modifiers)
Sometimes a modifier has no word in the
sentence to modify
Climbing the ladder, Pete’s head knocked over
the paint can.
Rewrite:
More Dangling Modifiers
Planning to stay indoors, my jacket was flung
into the closet.
Rewrite:
One more…
Still sound asleep at noon, my mother thought I
might be sick.
Rewrite:
Subject – Verb Agreement
Pronoun – Antecedent Agreement
Incorrect Pronoun Case
Modifiers (misplaced and dangling)
Lack of parallelism
Unclear Pronoun Reference (ambiguous,
general and weak)
 Run ons – Comma splice
 Active – Passive Voice
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