PREVIOUS GRAMMAR QUESTION

My sons teacher talked to my husband and I about the difficulty he was having with reading, writing and he couldn’t complete the math homework. He said some testing is required.

1. Possessive noun: an apostrophe is missing from son’s.

2.  Pronoun: “my husband and I” are the object of the verb “talked”, so the pronoun needs to be in the objective case—“me”.

3. Ambiguity: who does the first usage of the pronoun “he” refer to? The nearest appropriate antecedent is the noun “husband”, but that doesn’t make sense. The noun “son”  needs to be specified.

4. Parallel construction: reading, writing and ?? these are gerunds, and  next noun needs to be a gerund, too: “completing math homework” would work.

5. Ambiguity: The second usage of “he” is also ambiguous. It should refer to the teacher.

6. Direct or indirect speech: The final sentence can be either direct speech in which case quotation marks are needed (The teacher said, “Some ….”) or indirect speech (The teacher said that some ….”).

Possible Answer: My son’s teacher talked to my husband and me about the difficulty our son was having with reading, writing and completing the math homework, The  teacher said that some testing is required.

GRAMMAR QUESTION, Jan. 31st, 2013

Much stores and shopping centres prepare for chinese new year and Valentines day, there is a special display, traditionally Chinese food, and decoration, although chocolate and flowers for Valentines day,  greetings cards, and cloths with hearts and roses are common.

PUZZLE, Jan. 31st, 2013

Previous Puzzle

Congratulations to Sarah for being the first to solve the puzzle.

The following list of words has been altered from the original word list:

Change the first letter of each word above with the first letter of another word in the list.
What are the words in the new list? See below. Is there a theme to this new list? Food.  And which one word which does not fit the theme? Test.

heat (meat)      jeans (beans)    ram (ham)           silk (milk)             mice (rice)           malt (salt)           
pest (test)         belly (jelly)      tears (pears)      drapes (grapes)       bill (dill)              gutter (butter) 

New Puzzle       

Use real names to find the common words that is the name of their son or daughter:

Example: Mr and Mrs Voyant - Clare (as in Clairvoyant)

1. Mr and Mrs Tress =
2. Mr and Mrs Nasium =
3. Mr and Mrs Tate =
4. Mr and Mrs Anthemum =
5. Mr and Mrs Mander =
6. Mr and Mrs Mite =
7. Mr and Mrs Time =

ALL CHANGE! Jan. 31st, 2013

Change the words in the sentence below as indicated. You can only change the exact word in the sequence given; after someone else has posted the next change, then you can post another change. For instance, student 1 writes #1 Subject Noun, and changes the subject noun; Student 2 writes #2 Direct Object Noun, and changes that noun. Each student only makes one change at a time and keeps to the order indicated.If you complete all 7 changes, then start making more changes again from 1 to 7. Each student should build on the changes that the previous students make.

Tom usually gives red roses to his wife on Valentine’s Day.

Changes: #1 Subject noun      #2  Direct object noun         #3 Indirect object noun          
#4 Adjective               #5 Adverb          #6 Verb name                  #7 Verb tense

Please number the change you make.

COMPLETE THE SENTENCE, Jan. 31st, 2013

Use the type of clause, phrase, or grammar indicated to complete the following sentence; you can add the phrase or clause before or after the clause below:

... Valentine’s Day is on a Thursday this year…

Sentence 1. Add a phrase

Sentence 2. Add a dependent clause

Sentence 3. Add an independent clause

VOCABULARY, Jan. 31st, 2013

Vocabulary building is important for both reading comprehension and writing. Use the following two words (note the part of speech) in one sentence.

disproportionate      (adjective)     +       antipathy      (noun)

ACTIVE & PASSIVE, Jan. 31st, 2013

Use the verb with the base form of discover in two different sentences. Sentence 1 should be in the active voice; sentence 2 should reword the sentence to the passive voice.

SENTENCE COMBINATION, Jan. 31st, 2013

Learning to combine ideas into more complex sentences is an important skill in writing. There are many ways to do this--many possible bonus points! Combine the following three sentences.

Sentence 1: The snowfall lay heavily on the ground.

Sentence 2: People were shovelling driveways and sidewalks and piling up snow into snow mountains.

Sentence 3: There was little traffic on the roads until the snow ploughs had cleared the major routes.

PREVIOUS GRAMMAR QUESTION

I wasn’t understanding what he means when in a speech he has given Mr Harper was saying the funding will help them suffering from mental illness and their family’s.

1. The underlying meaning: what were people suffering from? The current wording means that both mental illness and their families were the cause of suffering. Add wording after “and”: for instance “and also help their families.”

2. Verb tense:  instead of the past progressive tense which indicates that something continued to happen over time, use the simple past tense indicating that it happened at a point in time: change “wasn’t understanding” to “didn’t understand”.

3. Tense consistency: With the first verb in the simple past, keep others in the simple past, too, unless there is a good reason to change: instead of “means” (simple present tense) use “meant” (simple past tense); instead of “has given” (present perfect) use “gave” (simple past); and instead of “was saying” (past progressive) use “said” (simple past).

4. Modal: for future possibility use “would”, not “will”.

5. Pronoun: “them” is the 3^rd person plural, direct object pronoun; here use “those” to refer to people already mentioned or “understood”.

6. Plural: use the plural form “families” and not the possessive “family’s”.

7. Punctuation: remember to set off a non-essential (not grammatically needed) clause such as “in a speech he has given”, and remember to use a period after Mr.--it is an abbreviation.

Suggested solution: I didn’t understand what he meant when, in a speech he gave, Mr. Harper said the funding would help those suffering from mental illness and also help their families.

GRAMMAR QUESTION, Jan. 18, 2013

My sons teacher talked to my husband and I about the difficulty he was having with reading, writing and he couldn’t complete the math homework. He said some testing is required.

PUZZLE, Jan. 18th, 2013

Previous Puzzle Congratulations to Alesha for being the first to solve it.

Given the following four definitions, what are the corresponding doublets?

1) a current gift = PRESENT PRESENT
2) a secure bank vault=SAFE SAFE
3) a short formal statement=BRIEF BRIEF
4) a fragile supply ship= TENDER TENDER

New Puzzle

The following list of words has been altered from the original word list:

heat              jeans                     ram                        silk                          mice                      malt      
pest              belly                      tears                      drapes                     bill                        gutter               
Change the first letter of each word above with the first letter of another word in the list.
What are the words in the new list? Is there a theme to this new list? And which one word which does not fit the theme.

The first correct answer gets the point!

ALL CHANGE! Jan. 18th, 2013

Change the words in the sentence below as indicated. You can only change the exact word in the sequence given; after someone else has posted the next change, then you can post another change. For instance, student 1 writes #1 Subject Noun, and changes the subject noun; Student 2 writes #2 Direct Object Noun, and changes that noun. Each student only makes one change at a time and keeps to the order indicated.If you complete all 7 changes, then start making more changes again from 1 to 7. Each student should build on the changes that the previous students make.Please number the change that you make.

My friend quickly bought new clothes in the sales this month. 

Changes: #1 Subject noun        #2  Direct object noun          #3 Indirect object noun          
 #4 Adjective               #5 Adverb                  #6 Verb name              #7 Verb tense

SENTENCE COMPLETION, Jan. 18th, 2013

Use the type of clause, phrase, or grammar indicated to complete the following sentence; you can add the phrase or clause before or after the clause below:

...there were many bargains in the after-Christmas sales...

Sentence 1. Add a phrase

Sentence 2. Add a dependent clause

Sentence 3. Add an independent clause

VOCABULARY, Jan. 18th, 2013

Vocabulary building is important for both reading comprehension and writing. Use the following two words (note the part of speech) in one sentence.

predilection      (noun)      +      ingenuous      (adjective)

ACTIVE & PASSIVE, Jan. 18th, 2013

Use the verb with the base form of consume in two different sentences. Sentence 1 should be in the active voice; sentence 2 should reword the sentence to the passive voice.

SENTENCE COMBINATION, Jan. 18th, 2013

Learning to combine ideas into more complex sentences is an important skill in writing. There are many ways to do this--many possible bonus points! Try to combine the following three sentences.

Sentence 1: We are at the beginning of a new year.

Sentence 2: The weather is wintery, but we hope it is almost half over.

Sentence 3: Some of us are thinking ahead to what the new year will bring and that includes warmer  weather.

PREVIOUS GRAMMAR QUESTION

On those short winter days over the Christmas and new year holiday, much people enjoying resting at home and eat traditional ly foods; turkeys and all trimmings, the fruit cakes, the plum pudding, and minced meat pies. To sit by the fire is also a benefit as the weathers usually cold than but some people are liking participating in winter sport.

1. Determiner error: as we are in winter right now, the short days are close at hand, so use “these instead of “those.”

2. Capitalization: New Year is a proper noun, so it needs capital letters.

3. Quantifier error: “much” is used with noncount  nouns; because “people” can be counted, use “many.”

4. Verb form: the correct form of the present progressive verb “rest” is “are resting.”

5. Parallel construction: The word ‘and” joins two equal ideas. When “are resting” is used before “and” then use “eating” after “and”. Note that “are” is understood before the second verb because of parallel construction.

6. Word form error: Before a noun use an adjective not an adverb—change “traditionally” to “traditional.”

7. Plural or singular: Most people need only one turkey and one fruit cake—even one can last a long time—so keep these nouns singular.

8. Word form: This is tricky—the correct word is “mincemeat”—it sounds the same as “minced meat” but is quite different. There is no meat involved, and mincemeat is a mixture of fruit in a sweet sauce.

9. Gerund or infinitive: although “to sit” is grammatically correct, it is more usual to say “sitting” in this context.

10. Noun or adjective: “a benefit” is correct, but the more usual usage here would be the adjective “beneficial.”

12. Word form: “weathers” is not a plural; here the meaning is “weather is” which can be contracted to “weather’s.”

13. Word confusion: when you are referring to a time, use “then;” “than” is a word used in comparisons.

14. Verb tense: When something is generally true use the simple present tense and not the present progressive—change  “are liking” to “like.”

15. Punctuation: “but” introduces an independent clause; use a comma before it.

Suggested solution: On these short winter days over the Christmas and New Year holiday, many people enjoy resting at home and eating traditional  foods; turkey and all trimmings, the fruit cake, the plum pudding, and mincemeat pies. Sitting by the fire is also beneficial as the weather’s usually cold then, but some people  like participating in winter sport.

GRAMMAR QUESTION, Jan. 3rd, 2013

Correct the errors in the following sentence--it's based on something I heard our Prime Minister actually say on the radio:

I wasn’t understanding what he means when in a speech he has given Mr Harper was saying the funding will help them suffering from mental illness and their family’s.

There are many possible ways to correct this sentence--lots of bonus points for everyone!

PUZZLE, Jan. 3rd, 2013

Previous Puzzle:  There were many good, correct answers to the “Merry Christmas” puzzle. Thanks and congratulations to all of you who participated.

New Puzzle: Some words can be used as both nouns and adjectives. In this teaser, you will be given a definition. That definition can be replaced by a single word that is used twice, once as an adjective, the other as a noun.

For example: "a 12 inch podiatrist specialty" is a "foot foot". Given the following four definitions, what are the corresponding doublets?

1) a current gift
2) a secure bank vault
3) a short formal statement
4) a fragile supply ship

The first completely correct answer gets the bonus point!

ALL CHANGE, Jan. 3rd, 2013

Change the words in the sentence below as indicated. You can only change the exact word in the sequence given; after someone else has posted the next change, then you can post another change. For instance, student 1 writes #1 Subject Noun, and changes the subject noun; Student 2 writes #2 Direct Object Noun, and changes that noun. Each student  makes one change at a time and keeps to the order indicated.If you complete all 7 changes, then start making more changes again from 1 to 7. 

Each student should build on the changes that the previous students make.

In January, people often resolve to give more money to charity .

Changes: #1 Subject noun      #2  Direct object noun       #3 Indirect object noun   

#4 Adjective     #5 Adverb     #6 Verb name      #7 Verb tense

PLEASE NUMBER THE CHANGE THAT YOU MAKE.

SENTENCE COMPLETION, Jan. 3rd, 2013

Use the type of clause, phrase, or grammar indicated to complete the following sentence; you can add the phrase or clause before or after the clause below:

...the Christmas and New Year’s celebrations are over for another year...

Sentence 1. Add a phrase

Sentence 2. Add a dependent clause

Sentence 3. Add an independent clause

VOCABULARY, Jan. 3rd, 2013

Vocabulary building is important for both reading comprehension and writing. Use the following two words (note the part of speech) in one sentence.

complement      (verb)      +       substantive      (adjective)