SENTENCE GRAMMAR

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Pronoun Case Examples Use the subjective form after a form of the verb to be. FORMAL: It is I. INFORMAL: It is me. Use whom in the objective case. FORMAL: To whom am I talking? INFORMAL: Who am I talking to?

Pronouns in the COMPLEMENT OR predicate nominative predicate nominative In standard written English, the personal pronouns in the predicate nominative are the same as they would be in the subject.predicate nominativesubject Most Americans do not speak this way, but it is grammatically correct. The nominative case follows a linking verb to rename the subject.case Incorrect: The winner was her. (Objective case) Correct: The winner was she. (Nominative case)

Who and Whom Who and whom correspond to he and him. Who is the subject or predicate nominative. Whom is the object.subject predicate nominative Correct: Who are you? (Subject) Correct: Whom do you see? (Direct object)Direct object Correct: Whom did you give it to? (Object of preposition to)preposition Correct: Who did that? (Subject)

Gerund A gerund is a verb ending in -ing and used as a noun. Sports are often referred to in gerund form. Examples: I like playing baseball. Doing the audit is duty, not pleasure. A gerund phrase is a noun phrase made up of a gerund plus any complements of the gerund plus any modifiers of either the complement or the gerund. In the first example, playing baseball is the gerund phrase (the gerund, playing plus its direct object baseball.) In the second example, the gerund phrase is doing the audit (the gerund doing, its direct object audit, and the, which modifies the direct object).

HOMEWORK PLEASE REVIEW

possessive case pronouns Use possessive case pronouns with gerunds. Reminder: A gerund is a verb form ending in -ing, used as a noun. EXAMPLES Their yelling Their yelling upset him. I don’t like your arriving late.

Run-ons - Comma Splices - Fused Sentences Run-ons, comma splices, and fused sentences are all names given to compound sentences that are not punctuated correctly.

The best way to avoid such errors is to punctuate compound sentences correctly by using one or the other of these rules-- 1. Join the two independent clauses with one of the coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet), and use a comma before the connecting word. _________________________, and _________________________. He enjoys walking through the country, and he often goes backpacking on his vacations. 2. When you do not have a connecting word (or when you use a connecting word other than and, but, for, or nor, so, or yet between the two independent clauses) use a semicolon (;). __________________________;_____________________________. He often watched TV when there were only reruns; she preferred to read instead. or __________________________; however,____________________. He often watched TV when there were only reruns; however, she preferred to read instead.

run-ons and fused sentences continued So, run-ons and fused sentences are terms describing two independent clauses which are joined together with no connecting word or punctuation to separate the clauses. Incorrect: They weren't dangerous criminals they were detectives in disguise. Correct: They weren't dangerous criminals; they were detectives in disguise. Incorrect: I didn't know which job I wanted I was too confused to decide. Correct: I didn't know which job I wanted, so I was too confused to decide.

Pronoun Reference Pronouns usually refer to other words, called their antecedents because they (should) come before the pronoun. A pronoun's antecedent may be either a noun or another pronoun, but in either case, it must be clear what the antecedent is. Consider this example:Pronounsnoun –Micheline told Ruth that she would take Jerry to the barn dance. It is not clear whether the pronoun "she" in this sentence refers to Ruth or Micheline. Unless pronouns refer unmistakably to distinct, close, and single antecedents, the reader will never be sure who's going to the square dance with whom.sentence (This is vague pronoun reference.) A pronoun should have only one possible antecedent.

Pronouns continued –[WRONG] Jerry found a gun in the knickers which he wore. "Which he wore" could modify "knickers" or "gun." –[WRONG] Jerry called Steve twelve times while he was in Reno. The pronoun "he" could refer either to "Jerry" or to "Steve."

More on VAGUE PRONOUN REFERENCE A pronoun should not refer to an implied idea. Make sure that the pronoun refers to a specific rather than to an implicit antecedent: When you leave the antecedent implied instead of stating it explicitly, the reader has to try to guess your sentence's meaning: [WRONG] John put a bullet in his gun and shot it. The pronoun "it" can refer either to the noun "gun" or to the implied object of the verb "shot.“ object [WRONG] If I told you had a beautiful body would you hold it against me? The pronoun "it" can refer to the noun "body" or to the entire statement. [WRONG] The craftspersons' union reached an agreement on Ruth's penalty, but it took time. The pronoun "it" can refer to the noun "union" or to the implied process of decision making.

More on VAGUE PRONOUN REFERENCE Use "it," "they," and "you" carefully. In conversation, people often use expressions such as "It says in this book that..." and "In my home town they say that...". These constructions are useful for information conversation because they allow you to present ideas casually, without supporting evidence; for academic writing, however, these constructions are either too imprecise or too wordy.

Pronoun Antecedent Agreement If possible, begin your sentences in plural: for example, Students must pay their fees soon. Instead of Every student must pay his/her fees soon.

FRAGMENTS HOMEWORK: STUDY at

Fragments with verbals Verbal fragments are fragments that use verbals—gerunds, infinitives, or participles—in the place of actual verbs; therefore, verbal fragments lack a verb. If the only word that seems to be functioning as a verb in a sentence ends in "ing" or is preceded by "to," the word group is most likely a fragment. Running outside in the winter. (gerund) To run along the beach. (infinitive) In both of these fragments, forms of the verb "run" are functioning as nouns, not as verbs. The third type of verbal fragment occurs when a writer uses a participle as if it were a verb. Elected to the presidency in (In this case, the past participle is functioning as a modifier.) To correct verbal fragments, writers can choose between two options: 1- The writer can change the verbal to a verb and add a subject. 2- The writer can attach the fragment to a related independent clause (stand-alone sentence).

MISPLACED MODIFIERS and DANGLING MODIFIERS HOMEWORK Study At ace.acadiau.ca/english/grammar/mmodifier And

MISPLACED MODIFIERS and DANGLING MODIFIERS EXAMPLES We saw several blue jays looking out our front window. I found a huge boulder taking a shortcut through the woods. We could see corn growing from our car window.

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