Grammar Questions Regarding Gerund, Infinitive and Diction

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<p>Hey guys</p>

<p>I just have several questions to ask if you don’t mind taking a look… :)</p>

<li>Gerund: I’m so confused about this.lets try a question first</li>
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<p>(Delivering) pizza, editing my high school newspaper, babysitting (my nephew), and doing my homework (leave) me with (scarcely any) free time.
( ) indicates the underlined parts.</p>

<p>the answer is no error…</p>

<p>but I have read book which said when several gerunds are connected by and/or, etc, the verb should be in the form of singular.</p>

<p>can anyone tell me which one on earth is right?</p>

<li><p>When you use the infinitive( to do)
eg. I decided to sleep and eat
Or I decided to sleep and to eat…( actually I found different books say the different things, I don’t know which one to believe?)</p></li>
<li><p>For the Diction, will it appear as a type of questions on the actual SAT?</p></li>
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<p>o, I have another question,</p>

<p>In Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, the main character and the novelist, who (serves) as the narrator, share a vital experience: At different points, the narrative (depicts) each one in a fight (for) (their) life in the Alaskan wilderness.</p>

<p>the answer is their…
but I don’t understand why using serves but not serve…cuz its followed by share which implies a plural form of the verb serve…</p>

<p>sorry for so many questions, but I will be appreciated if you can contribute your input…</p>

<p>thanks in advance :)</p>

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<p>I can answer #3! The clause that you are talking about is, "who (serves) as the narrator". This clause is refering to a single person, specifically "the novelist". </p>

<p>I think that's right...</p>

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<ol>
<li><p>I've never seen the rule you're talking about. (What book is it?) Singles gerunds take singular verbs, but when connected by an "and" they become compound subjects and therefore plural. eg "Walking is a fun activity" but "Walking and skiing are fun activities."</p></li>
<li><p>Either sentence is correct, but you second is a bit redundant. In your first example, "I decided to sleep and eat", the "to" applies to both "sleep" and "eat". The sentence is really saying: "I decided to...." do two things. Your second example repeats the "to" unnecessarily, but it's grammatically ok.</p></li>
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<p>I don't understand #3...could you clarify?</p>

<p>banana is right about "who serves" having a single antecedent. That phrase only refers to the novelist, while both the novelist and main character are subjects of the verb "share". "Their" is wrong because it refers to "each one", and "each" is singular.</p>

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<p>O thank you guys</p>

<p>ok, never mind what I said about the book, I can't find it, but I think is something form the CB,,,,,maybe I was just being stupid... :)</p>

<p>O, for the 3rd question, it has nothing to do with the question under it....</p>

<p>so I mean...
say, sometimes we should use effects instead of affect, or incredible instead of indubious..
will this kind of questions appear on the SAT?</p>

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<p>thanks again ,banana and PeteSAT :)</p>

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<p>Yes, the SAT does have word-choice questions (effect vs affect, incredible / indubious) etc.</p>

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<p>ok, thank you ILoveBrown :)</p>