backpack in the library. In sentence 4, extremely describes the adjective wise. So thinner is the comparative form of thin. There (is, was, will be) also a severe drought that (affects, affected, will affect) the region. Use the following lines or your own sheet of paper to write six sentences that practice each basic sentence pattern. I have no idea ________ left the iron on, but I am going to find out. Communications written in precise, complete sentences are not only more professional but also easier to understand. You can check multiple drafts of your writing without any limitation on the number of checks even in the freemium version. Incorrect: The dog growled at the vacuum cleaner. You can easily fix a fragment by adding the missing subject or verb. Correct: The patient with stomach pains was referred to the physician. You will often read a sentence that has more than one noun or pronoun in it. Badly is always an adverb. Underline the subjects, and circle the prepositional phrases. Complete sentence: The accident closed both lanes of traffic; we waited an hour for the wreckage to be cleared. If it is not connected to a complete sentence, it is a fragment, and you will need to fix this type of fragment by combining it with another sentence. You may encounter a group of words that includes a preposition with a noun or a pronoun. As you write and proofread, make sure your all your verbs are correct and the tenses are consistent. Regular verbs follow regular patterns when shifting from the present to past tense. No one should suffer ________ pains alone. I (buyed, bought, buy) several items of clothing at the thrift store on Wednesday. I wonder who came up with that terrible idea! Recognizing the sources of common errors in subject-verb agreement will help you avoid these errors in your writing. As you look more closely at your past writing assignments, you may notice that some of your sentences are not complete. Tell a family story. Finish checking your text. Correct: He has been seeing a physical therapist since the accident. Because people is plural, all is plural. Every summer, they picked up litter from national parks. A complete sentence needs both a subject and a verb. 3. Another error in sentence construction is a fragment that begins with an infinitive. My dog and cats chases each other all the time. A compound sentence contains at least two independent clauses. Use who or whoever when the pronoun performs the action indicated by the verb. by Jenifer Kurtz is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. For instance, you might say, Me and Donnie went to a movie last night. However, when you are writing or speaking at work or in any other formal situation, you need to remember the distinctions between subject and object pronouns and be able to correct yourself. Once you locate the subject of a sentence, you can move on to the next part of a complete sentence: the verb. In the current economy, nobody wants to waste ________ money on frivolous things. Complete sentence: Although we took the elevator, the others got there before us. The commencement speaker said that each student has a responsibility toward ________. A semicolon allows you to keep the two closely related ideas together in one sentence. Charlie spotted a stray puppy driving home from work. While looking in the mirror, the towel swayed in the breeze. Sentences fail to form complete paragraphs and instead form one block of text without clear organization. When early settlers (move, moved, will move) into this area, they (remove, removed, will remove) the natural prairie grasses in order to plant crops and graze their cattle. Correct: As Jane was riding in the sports car, the world whizzed by rapidly. On your own sheet of paper, write five proper nouns for each common noun that is listed. How does Bertrand sing? When you see a preposition, check to see that it is part of a sentence containing a subject and a verb. 3. These subjects are called compound subjects. Diana and I have been close ever since she was young. Two plural subjects: Neither the kids nor the adultswant to eat at that restaurant. Merlin never came when he was called, and he chased his tail and barked at rocks. the answer is one that both the Author and the reader are hungry to discover. Impress employers with a strong resume without any mistakes to distract from your qualifications. The accuracy offered by our online grammar finder is much higher than its competitors in the marketplace. I has three years of experience as a receptionist in a company that is similar to yours. Most likely, your coworkers will not correct your verb tenses or call attention to grammatical errors, but it is important to keep in mind that errors such as these do have a subtle negative impact in the workplace. Fragments that begin with a preposition or a dependent word can be corrected by combining the fragment with another sentence. Agreement in speech and in writing refers to the proper grammatical match between words and phrases. Otherwise, your listener might judge you harshly. For example, happily, comfortable, and jealous would become more happily, more comfortable, and more jealous in the comparative. To fix the problem, you can add such a fragment to the beginning or end of a sentence. In the second sentence, the verb describes the boys appearance. If either one of either one of those phrases were missing and the to were removed, it would be ungrammatical: Such cooperation can prepare students understand the value of other people's perspectives. It is important to use the proper verb tense. My mothers singing group has ________ rehearsals on Thursday evenings. A grammar check is a making sure your writing is grammatically correct: using active voice, being concise and specific, using punctuation correctly, making sure you use the right verb tense, and . What are the rules for writing in Spanish? Hectors most ________ possession was his fathers bass guitar from the 1970s. Remember better and worse compare two persons or things. Want to create or adapt books like this? Like the coordinating conjunctions, dependent words show a relationship between two independent clauses. Do not capitalize nouns for people, places, things, streets, buildings, events, and titles when the noun is used in general or common way. Finish and send documents sooner with peace of mind that your writing doesnt have any typos. Our online grammar checker offers numerous features and capabilities required to correct the sentences and make your writing perfect. The dust storms during The Dust Bowl (cause, caused, will cause) irreparable damage to farms and the environment for a period of several years. Packing for a trip, a cockroach scurried down the hallway. A compound subject can be made of singular subjects, plural subjects, or a combination of singular and plural subjects. The writer must tell the reader! You may encounter sentences in which the subject comes after the verb instead of before the verb. Notice in the incorrect sentence it sounds as if her head were too large! They ________ front-row tickets to the show. 8. I run This is a complete sentence because it expresses a complete thought. Pronoun agreement errors occur when the pronoun and the antecedent do not match or agree with each other. Complete sentence: I told her about the broken vase. Complete sentence: Cobwebs covered the furniture because the room hadnt been used in years. If you can substitute the word they for the compound subject, then the sentence takes the third person plural verb form. Figure 8.9 Forms of To Have Present Tense. I could not help myself. Comma splice: We looked outside, the kids were hopping on the trampoline. He ________ a great Elvis impersonation. By the way, technical writing involves working with different difficult words. You can identify an independent clause by reading it on its own and looking for the subject and the verb. We had to stand in the back. 6. My physician, dr. alvarez, always makes me feel comfortable in her office. Diana knows how much I love butterflies, so it was their special present to me. Verb: Which word shows an action or links the subject to a description? You can finally submit with confidence a 100% error-free paper that will meet the standards of your readers. Us and our friends have game night the first Thursday of every month. 6. Jackie is the loudest cheerleader on the squad. 3. Many singular subjects can be made plural by adding an -s. Most regular verbs in the present tense end with an s in the third person singular. My sister and brother cleans up after themselves. Present Tense: Timewalks to the store. ________________________________________________________________, 2.________________________________________________________________, 3.________________________________________________________________, 4.________________________________________________________________, 5.________________________________________________________________, 6.________________________________________________________________. The indefinite pronoun everybody takes a singular verb form because everybody refers to a group performing the same action as a single unit. Grammar checking is making sure you use the correct words and punctuation in your writing and that its clear, concise, and inclusive. The book was filled with notes from class. Regular verbs follow regular patterns when shifting from present to past tense. Learn the forms of these verbs in the present tense to avoid errors in subject-verb agreement. ________ are you going to recommend for the internship? The school of education plans to train ________ students to be literacy tutors. In other, more formal forms of communication, however, knowing the basic rules of capitalization and using capitalization correctly gives the reader the impression that you choose your words carefully and care about the ideas you are conveying. To accept contradictions and correction cheerfully. Where does the river lead these explorers? The hockey team played ________ (badly) than it did last season. Very accurately. Correct: When we (1st) go to a restaurant, I should (1st) should leave a tip. Key: independent clause = yellow, bold; comma or semicolon = pink, regular font; coordinating conjunction = green, underlined Here are a few examples: Luckily, Grammarly can help you improve both. But once you've drafted your story or article, it's important to take a step back and make sure your sentences are constructed correctly. In the following sentences, the linking verbs are in italics. 3. Write confidently almost anywhere you type. Singular subject, singular verb: The catraces across the yard. Correct: The museum has a new butterfly exhibit. Correct: The coming thunderstorm looked bad. Copy the completed sentence onto your own sheet of paper. Although both sentences use the same verb, the two sentences have completely different meanings. I guess I was angrier about a bad grade that I received, so I decided to pick on poor little Merlin. Placing the cold cuts on the bread, the lettuce was placed on top. Complete the following sentences by selecting the correct form of the verb in simple present, simple past, or simple future tenses. "I do" is the shortest sentence in the English language. I looks forward to speaking with you in person. Compound subject pronouns are two or more pronouns joined by a conjunction or a preposition that function as the subject of the sentence. Text messages, casual e-mails, and instant messages often ignore the rules of capitalization. Complete the following sentences by selecting the correct form of the irregular verb in simple present, simple past, or simple future tense. 2. Incorrect: To win the spelling bee, Luis and Gerard should join our team. In some sentences, the subject and verb may be separated by a phrase or clause, but the verb must still agree with the subject. 9. You may also look for a helping verb. For example, He is an expert in his sphere, professional with many years of experience, and hard-working would be wrong, as hard-working is an adjective and wont be consistent with the rest of the list. Capitalize Days of the Week, Months of the Year, and Holidays. In the workplace, you want to present a professional image. I remember ________ won the Academy Award for Best Actor last year. If the word is not used as a verb or if no helping verb is used with the ing verb form, the verb is being used as a noun. Correct: Saul prepared for his presentation. Complete the following sentences by writing the correct present tense form of be, have, or do. 10. the subject of the sentence is separate from the verb; the subject of the sentence is an indefinite pronoun, such as, the subject of the sentence is a collective noun, such as. 1. As you read or write, you may come across a sentence that contains a phrase or clause that separates the subject from the verb. Sometimes, complete sentences are also called independent clauses. Identify the word as an adjective or an adverb (Adj, Adv). I heard that there was a robbery on the evening news. 5. Incorrect: The president of the united states will be speaking at my university. Thats because the modifier is too far from the word it modifies, which is kitten. We wont be planting any tulips this year. The sentence must contain a subject and a verb, otherwise, it will be considered a sentence fragment, not a complete sentence. Answer: when the subject is masculine then the adjective ends with an "o". In addition to helping you correct mistakes and fix grammar errors, Grammarly's suggestions can also help you learn and improve your writing over time. In these sentences, the subject is a person: Malik. 2. The emphasis is on the ball. One Spanish rule that may help you know if a sentence is grammatically correct or not is that in Spanish all items have a gender, which is usually indicated by the last letter and will alter its prefix. These verbs are called irregular verbs. Paying careful attention to grammatical details ensures professionalism that clients will recognize and respect. Sentences with Correction, Correction in a Sentence in English, Sentences For Correction 1. Two complete sentences cannot be joined without proper punctuation. Steve was shaking ________ from the extreme cold. Without clear and concise sentences, it is difficult to find the information you need. Its fast and free. Fragment: Told her about the broken vase. You likely have several family stories to choose from, but pick the one that you find most interesting to write about. To write fluently in English, you also need to know the complicated nuances of the English language. With Grammarly checking your writing, you can feel confident your work is polished and your message is communicated clearly, concisely, and powerfully. What the writer means is that the patient has stomach pains. 6. See clearer and more polished ways to say what you mean. Correct: Cecilia felt that she had never done so well on a test. will have their (plur.) For both students and professionals, clear communication is important. The computer lab is where we will work. Historians today (consider, considered, will consider) The Dust Bowl to be one of the worst weather of events in American history. Rolling down the mountain, the explorer stopped the boulder with his powerful foot. Everyone appreciate when I go the extra mile to get the job done right. We do! Correct the errors in subject-verb agreement in the following paragraph. This section covers the subject-verb agreement errors in more detail. Fragments and run-on sentences are two common errors in sentence construction. People often think of grammar as something relatively elementary, something that they learned a long time ago and that doesnt have a huge effect on the quality of their writing as long as it sounds right when they read it. Read the following sentences. Every sentence must have a subject, which usually appears at the beginning of the sentence. I am going to the comedy club with Yolanda and she. Study the different forms of the verb to do in the present tense.