UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO AT HUMACAO

COLLEGE BOARD ENGLISH

ADVANCED LEVEL SEMINAR

NOVEMBER 17, 2006

GRAMMAR REVIEW

• PARALLEL STRUCTURE• CONNECTIVE WORDS• PRONOUNS• VERBS (TENSES, SUBJECT-VERB

AGREEMENT)• REPORTED SPEECH• TYPES OF QUESTIONS• MISPLACED AND DANGLING

MODIFIERS

PARALLEL STRUCTURE

• Nouns line up with nouns, verbs line up with verbs

• Shows order, clarity and rhythm• Creates a sense of balance and provides

a sense of the relative importance of the information

• Required in lists and series, in compound structures, in comparisons and in contrasting elements

STRATEGIES FOR CORRECTING UNPARALLEL

STRUCTURES

• Skim your paper, pausing at the words "and" and "or." Check on each side of these words.

• If you have several items in a list, put them in a column to see if they are parallel.

• Listen to the sound of the items in a list or the items being compared. Do you hear the same kinds of sounds?

PRACTICE EXERCISES

• http://athena.english.vt.edu/~IDLE/Gym2/workout18/e18.01.01.html

• http://www.chompchomp.com/structure01/structure01.htm

CONNECTIVE WORDS

• linguistic units that link two other constituents together.

• describe relationships

• give a sense of time

• form the logical bridges between ideas

WORDS THAT DESCRIBE RELATIONSHIPS

• ALSO • HOWEVER• ALTHOUGH• INCIDENTALLY• THEREFORE

• BESIDES• LIKEWISE• THUS• MEANWHILE• MOREOVER

• USUALLY• FURTHERMORE• NEXT• WHATEVER• GENERALLY

• YET• ACCORDINGLY• NEVERTHELESS• INSTEAD• IN CONTRAST• FOR EXAMPLE

WORDS THAT GIVE A SENSE OF TIME

• FIRST• SECONDLY• FINALLY• NOW

• ONCE• WHEN• ULTIMATELY• EVENTUALLY

• THEN• SOON• FORMERLY• SOMETIMES

• LASTLY• LATER• MEANWHILE• PREVIOUSLY

OTHER CONNECTORS

• TO BEGIN WITH• ON THE OTHER HAND• IN BRIEF• IN GENERAL• IN SUMMARY

• MORE SPECIFICALLY• INSTEAD OF• IN ADDITION TO• IN OTHER WORDS• ANOTHER WAY TO

• FOR THE SAME REASON

• NO MATTER WHAT

• THAT'S WHAT (WHY)IN FACT

• SUMMING UP

• WHAT'S MORE• IN THE SAME WAY• ON THE CONTRARY• CONVERSELY• AS A RESULT

Another connective words chart

broad meaning

connective adverbs and phrases

conjunctions

addition also, too, even, similarly, let alone

in addition, indeed

and, as, like

opposition however, though, nevertheless, on the other hand, in contrast, even so

alternatively, yet, anyway, in fact,

but, or, (al)though, whereas, while

reinforcing besides, anyway, after all

explaining for example, for instance, in other words, that is to say, i.e., e.g.

in that

listing first(ly),second(ly)first of all, finally, lastly, for one thing, for another, in the first place, to begin with, next, in sum, to conclude, in a nutshell

and

indicating result

therefore, consequently, as a result, so, then

because, since, as, for, if, unless, now (that), so (that), in case, provided (that), whether ... or ...

indicating time

then, meanwhile, later, afterwards, before (that), since (then), meanwhile

when, before, after, since, until, till, while, as, once, whenever

PRACTICE EXERCISES

• http://www.rit.edu/~seawww/expressinglogical/el09guided_1.html

PRONOUNS

• Agree in number If a student parks a car on campus, she

has to buy a parking sticker. • Agree in person When a person comes to class, she

should have her homework ready. • Refer clearly to a specific noun You are one of those people who like to

keep their skeletons in the closet.

STEPS TO ACHIEVE AGREEMENT IN NUMBER

• Identify the antecedent

• Identify if the antecedent is singular or plural

• Match the pronoun to the antecedent

Students must fill out an evaluation sheet after their conference.

STEPS TO ACHIEVE AGREEMENT IN PERSON

• Decide if you are going to write in the first person, second person or third person.

• Be consistent (in the sentence, paragraph or paper).

• Beware of mismatches between pronouns and antecedents.

STEPS TO REFER CLEARLY TO A SPECIFIC NOUN

• Make sure that it is clear what the antecedent is.

• Make sure you are referring to the correct noun.

WORDS THAT MAKE AGREEMENT HARDER TO

FIGURE OUT• Indefinite pronouns (anybody,

anyone, each, either, everybody, everyone, neither, nobody, no one, somebody, someone) are considered singular

• Compound antecedents are considered plural when joined by and. They are considered singular when joined by or or nor.

• If the compound antecedents differ in number, the pronoun should agree with the closer antecedent.

• Collective nouns- You can use either the singular or the plural pronoun, depending on the emphasis.

PRACTICE EXERCISES

• http://chompchomp.com/hotpotatoes/proref01.htm

• http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/pronouns.htm

VERBS• Four Verb Forms

Base form-write

Past form -wrote

Present participle-writing

Past participle -written• Passive and Active Voices

The executive committee approved the new policy or The new policy was approved by the executive committee.

• MOODIndicative-Makes a statement of asks a question.

Imperative-Gives a directive, order

Subjunctive-Expresses a wish or begins with as, as

if, as though • Auxiliary Verbs and Modal Auxiliaries-

Be, Have/has, do/does, can, could, should, would,

may, might, must

• VERB TENSE SEQUENCE

There are as many as thirty tenses and, except for two (simple present and simple past), all of them are marked by auxiliaries. http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/tenses.htm

• Six basic tenses:

Simple Present, Present Perfect,

Simple Past, Past Perfect, Future

Future Perfect

• Sequence of TensesWith Infinitives and Participles

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/sequence.htm#modal_sequence

Subject-Verb Agreement: Trouble Spots

• If there are intervening components of the sentence, identify the subject.

The group of bizarrely dressed youths is taking over the cafeteria.

• Two subjects joined by "and" use a plural verb

My mother and father are coming to visit.

• If the subjects are joined by "or," the verb must agree with the nearest subject.

Either Sherlock Holmes or the Hardy Boys are capable of solving this crime

• Collective nouns such as "family" take

singular verbs when the sentence deals with the group as a whole.

The Torres family is going on vacation this year.

• If the sentence deals with the group as individuals, then a plural form is used.

The Torres family are going to fight all the way through their vacation.

• Linking verbs in subjective completions agree with the subject, not the completion.

My favorite thing to buy is compact discs.

Compact discs are my favorite thing to buy.

• “-body,” “-thing” and “-one” pronouns, as well as “each,” “either” and “neither,” always take a singular verb.

Everyone is going on a picnic.

• If you have “either…or” or “neither…nor,” make the verb agree with the subject closest to it.

Either the mailman or the workers are causing the dog to bark.

VERB PRACTICE

• http://a4esl.org/q/j/kf/mc-svad.html

• http://a4esl.org/q/h/9901/cw-svagreement.html

REPORTED SPEECH

• Also referred to as Indirect Speech- a sentence reporting what someone has said.

• If the reporting verb (i.e. said) is in the past, the reported clause will be in a past form. This form is usually one step back into the past from the original.

He said the test was difficult.

• If simple present, present perfect or the future is used in the reporting verb (i.e. says) the tense is retained.

He says the test is difficult. She has said that she watches TV

every day. • If reporting a general truth the

present tense will be retained. The teacher said that phrasal verbs

are very important.

• Change the pronouns to match the subject of the sentence when necessary.

Jack said, "My wife went with me to the show." BECOMES Jack said his wife had gone with him to the show.

• Change time words when referring to present, past or future time to match the moment of speaking.

"I want to bring my children tomorrow." BECOMES She said she wanted to bring her children the next day.

Indirect Questions • Pay attention to sentence order. When

reporting yes/ no questions connect the reported question using 'if'. When reporting questions using question words use the question word.

Dave asked, "Where did you go last weekend?" BECOMES Dave asked me where I had gone the previous weekend.

He asked, "Why are you studying English?" BECOMES She asked me why I was studying English.

PRACTICE EXERCISE

• http://a4esl.org/q/j/dt/mc-vancouver.html

TYPES OF QUESTIONS• There are 3 basic types of questions:

Yes/No Questions (the answer to the question is "Yes" or "No")

Do you want dinner? Yes, I do.

Question Word Questions (the answer to the question is "Information")

Was Raúl home? No, he wasn't.

Choice Questions (the answer to the question is "in the question")

• Tag Questions

It is a statement followed by a mini-question. The whole sentence is a "tag question", and the mini-question at the end is called a "question tag".

• We use tag questions at the end of statements to ask for confirmation.

You are coming, aren't you?  We have finished, haven't we?

MISPLACED AND DANGLING MODIFIERS

• Misplaced modifiers are phrases that are not located properly in relation to the words they modify.

• Dangling modifiers occur with –ing modifiers and they dangle when they are not logically connected to the main part of the sentence.

Examples:

The professor posted the notes for the students covered in class.

Walking through the park, the grass tickled my feet.

HOW TO CORRECT MISPLACED MODIFIERS

Misplaced modifier- A small book sat on the desk that Sarah had read.

• place any modifiers as close as possible to the words, phrases, or clauses they modify.

Correct – A small book that Sarah had read sat on the desk.

HOW TO CORRECT DANGLING MODIFIERS

• State the subject right after the dangling modifier, or

• Add the subject to the dangling phrase.

Walking through the park, the grass tickled my feet.

The grass tickled my feet as I walked through the park.

Apply this simple test: Read the sentence:

Having neglected repairs, the car broke down.

• Identify the opening modifier:Having neglected repairs

• Ask who or what it modifies. The answer follows the comma:Who neglected repairs? the car(the car didn't repair anything)

• Devise corrected versions:The neglected car broke down.Neglected for years, the car broke down.

PRACTICE EXERCISES

• http://rwc.hunter.cuny.edu/reading-writing/on-line/mismod-a.html

• http://wwwnew.towson.edu/ows/exercisemm.htm

THE END