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Correction of Errors Some Definitions and Clarifications

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Correction of Errors Some Definitions and Clarifications Correction of errors Some definitions and clarifications CASE Case refers to the use of nouns and pronouns in the subject, object or possessive forms. It is particularly relevant to the pronoun, as the noun does not physically change except in the possessive form (use of apostrophe + s). SUBJECT The subject is the agent of the finite verb and what the rest of the sentence is about (who or what before the verb, the “do-er”). This is the subjective case or the nominative case. To be a subject is a function of, for example, a noun. OBJECT The object is what the agent acts on through the finite verb (the “receiver” of an action), but can also relate to a non-finite verb. (Kicking the ball, I slipped.) The noun/pronoun following a preposition in a phrase is also treated as an object. The objective case is also called the accusative case. To be an object is a function of, for example, a noun. Where there appears to be two objects the first is normally the indirect object and the second is the is the direct object: Sam gave Jackie[indirect] roses[direct]. (What did Sam physically give? Roses) COMPLEMENT The complement completes the predicate in a sentence. There are two kinds of complements: object complements and subject complements. An object complement follows the direct object and modifies or refers to the direct object. An object complement can be an adjective, a noun, a word, or a group of words which acts as an adjective or noun: The students elected Mary president. ("President" is an object complement referring to the direct object "Mary.") A subject complement follows a linking verb and modifies or refers to the subject. A subject complement can be an adjective, a noun, a pronoun, a word, or a group of words which acts as an adjective or noun: I am an engineer, but I am not yet experienced. ("Engineer" and "experienced" are both subject complements that modify the subject "I.") CONCORD The rule of concord states that a verb must agree with its subject in number and person. Number: singular or plural The horse gallops. The horses gallop. Person: 1st person I run (speaker) 2nd person You run (spoken about) 3rd person He runs (spoken about) The trick is to be able to identify the subject of the verb and it is NOT always the closest noun. SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD This is used to reflect or express the hypothetical. These are “what if…” statements and the verb takes the were form. If I were the queen… If you were the only person… If he were to lose all his money… Other relevant moods: Imperative (commanding) Sit down. Keep quiet. Interrogative (questioning) Why are you making a noise? PARTICIPLE A participle is a non-finite verb, i.e. cannot on its own take a subject, but can combine with, for example, an auxiliary verb to form a finite verb (verb cluster). Participles also have adjectival functions and are useful in combining two sentences into one. There are three types: Present: -ing Past: -ed, -en mostly Perfect: having –ed, -ed Examples of present participles in a sentence: Can you help me fix the leaning column of blocks? Arriving late, Mary sat in the back row. Speeding toward the finish line, Will was going to win the race. The girl, dreaming of being a doctor, decided to take an extra science class. Examples of past participles in a sentence: The broken glass cut my foot. Ben, exhausted after a long day, took a nap on the couch. The boat, moving toward the dock, carried soldiers returning from war. DANGLING PARTICIPLE This occurs where a participle appears at the start of a sentence, one should expect that: a. A comma appears at the at the end of the phrase b. What follows the comma should then be whatever was carrying out the action indicated by the participle. If not, then it is dangling. This means it is misrelated or even unrelated Running along, a stone tripped me. Running along, I tripped over a stone. SPLIT INFINITIVE The infinitive is a non-finite verb identified by the to plus verb. “The rule” says that these should not be separated by, for example, an adverb (to quickly run to the shop) but perhaps a more pragmatic approach would be to decide which way leaves the sentence more fluent, less fussy, less obscure, clearer etc. Really long splits are obviously to be avoided. GERUND A gerund is a non-finite verb looking exactly like a present participle (-ing), but having strong noun qualities as it generally describes/denotes an action/activity. “The rule” says that in certain structures, a possessive form must appear before a gerund: Do you mind my smoking? (not me) Do you mind his leaving junk around? (not him) PREPOSITIONS “The rule” says do not end a sentence on a preposition, which is used to introduce a phrase. COMMA SPLICE This occurs when two main clauses are joined by a comma. It can be prevented by using conjunctions, a semi-colon or separating the sentences. PRONOUNS A pronoun replaces or stands in place of a noun. Its function, therefore, is similar to that of a noun. Personal pronouns: they replace nouns that refer to people, things, or qualities. Subject of a Verb Object of a Verb or preposition Singular Plural Singular Plural 1st person (person I we me us speaking) 2nd person (person you you you you spoken to) 3rd person (person He, she, it they Him, her, it them spoken about) Relative pronouns: A relative pronoun stands for the noun or pronoun that goes before it. SUBJECT OBJECT OWNING Who Whom Whose Which Which Whose That That “Who” refers to persons. “Which” refers to things, animals and plants, etc. “That” refers to persons, things, animals and plants, etc. When to use “who” and “whom”: Whom should be used to refer to the object of a verb or preposition. Who should be used to refer to the subject of a sentence. Whom should be used to refer to the object of a verb or preposition. How can you tell when your pronoun is the object of a verb or preposition? Try substituting “he” or “she” and “him” or “her.” If “he” or “she” fits, you should use who. If “him” or “her” fits, you should use whom. Keep in mind that you may have to temporarily rearrange the sentence a bit while you test it. Who/whom ate my sandwich? Try substituting “she” and “her”: She ate my sandwich. Her ate my sandwich. “She” works and “her” doesn’t. That means the word you want is who. Who/whom should I talk to about labelling food in the refrigerator? Try substituting “he” and “him”: I should talk to he. I should talk to him. “Him” works, so the word you need is whom. You can also use questions to determine when to use who and when to use whom. Are you talking about someone who is doing something? Possessive pronouns: They show ownership or possession e.g. his, hers, ours, mine, its Reflexive pronouns: They refer back to a noun or pronoun mentioned previously e.g. himself, themselves, itself Interrogative pronouns: They ask questions e.g. What? Who? Whose? From whom? Demonstrative pronouns: They demonstrate or point to specific nouns or pronouns e.g. this, these, those Indefinite pronouns: They refer to nouns that have not been definitely identified e.g. someone, anyone, no-one DUE TO/OWING TO There is a difference between "Due to" and "Owing to" in meaning. "Due to" means "caused by", however, "Owing to" means "because of" and it comes always at the beginning of the sentence. Besides "owing to" as a result or consequence of something. Here are examples for better understanding: 1. Owing to illness, he missed the exam. (because of illness etc.) 2. His absence was due to illness. (His absence was caused by...) Possessive adjective: A possessive adjective modifies a noun or a pronoun to show who (or what) owns something. For example: Possessive adjectives include: my, your, his, her, its, our, their, whose Possessive Adjective Example I my I like my new car. you your You can leave your hat on. he his He accidentally cut his finger. she her She plays to her strengths. it its It will show its teeth. we our We have our reasons. they their They washed their hands. who whose Whose writing is this? WORDS AND WORD COMBINATIONS TO AVOID - Could of, should of, would of Could have, should have, would have - Alot a lot - Use to, suppose to Used to, supposed to - She didn’t owe me nothing Do not use a double negative: She didn’t owe me anything. - The boy played good Carl Lewis runs quick Do not use an adjective for an adverb when the verb is being described: The boy played well. Carl Lewis runs quickly EXERCISES Question 1 THE RIGHT WAY TO WRITE Candidates who neglect their setwork studies sometimes produce very strange “answers” in the literature examination. Such an effort, by a candidate who knew neither the set books nor how to write about them, might even start like this: I think Hamlet and Macbeth both suck, so i’m just going to give them a skip and fill you in on Romeo and Juliet instead, which I smaak a whole lot more. It’s about this romantic young guy who falls in love with this babe he meets at a rave that her old man throws, but there families are always feuding and fighting and stuff.
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