<p>Grammar
This part of the writing section includes
TYPE OF Q. NO. OF Q.s TIME ALLOTED
identifying sentence errors 18
improving sentences 25
improving paragraphs. 6
Total writing q.s 49 35
[There will be one 25-minute section and one 10-minute section with each section having a mix of all question types.]</p>
<p>Identifying sentence errors:
Use your ear for the language.
10-20 % of the sentences contain no errors.
Improving sentences
Pay attention to the shorter, direct choices with correct prose. Do not feel that the longer a sentence, the better its prose.
Eg.
The first biography of author Eudora Welty came out in 1998 and she was 89 years old a the time.
(A) and she was 89 years at the time.
(B) At the time when she was 89
(C) Upon becoming an 89 year old
(D) When she was 89
(E) At the age of 89 years old.
The correct answer: (D) since it is grammatically correct and succinct.</p>
<p>However this rule does not apply every time, for example:
Eg. Being as I studied for the test with a tutor, I was confident.
(A) being as I had studied for the test
(B) being as I studies for the test
(C) since I studied for the test
(D) since I had studied for the test
(E) because I studied for the test
the correct answer is (D) . even though (C) and (E) is less verbose, the latter two have the same tense and since and because are interchangeable. Thus both are correct and sat doesnot have two answers to one question.
Thus we also see that if you get two possible answers for one question, then you should probably ignore both.</p>
<p>Improving paragraphs:
Use the same rules as those for the reading comprehension section in critical reading test.</p>
<p>Noun
A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or idea. Whatever exists, we assume, can be named, and that name is a noun.</p>
<p>collective nouns, which can take a singular form but are composed of more than one individual person or items (jury, team, class, committee, herd).</p>
<p>Adjectives
Adjectives are words that describe or modify another person or thing in the sentence.
the tall professor
the lugubrious lieutenant
a solid commitment
a month’s pay
Verbs carry the idea of being or action in the sentence.
I am a student.
The students passed all their courses.</p>
<p>Adverb
Adverbs are words that modify
a verb (He drove slowly. How did he drive?)
an adjective (He drove a very fast car. How fast was his car?)
another adverb (She moved quite slowly down the aisle. How slowly did she move?)
Articles
An article precedes a noun where needed eg. A, an, the.</p>
<p>Pronoun
Generally pronouns stand for (pro + noun) or refer to a noun, an individual or individuals or thing or things
Eg. Hers, his, you , me ,she ,he we, they, who, me, mine.</p>
<p>Prepostitions
preposition describes a relationship between other words in a sentence. They usually come before nouns to indicate position-in the hospital, at the hospital.
Eg. Between, among ,amongst, for, under, over, by, below, above.etc.</p>
<p>General errors to be identified or improved are
- errors in he case of Pronouns and noun and in pronoun-number agreement
- Errors in Subject-Verb and agreement
3.error in Parallelism and construction - error in modification and word order
5.error in Idioim - error in diction</p>
<li>ERRORS IN HE CASE OF PRONOUNS AND NOUN AND IN PRONOUN-NUMBER AGREEMENT</li>
</ol>
<p>pronouns can get tricky. Lets first have a look at the some of them
Subject
Form Possessive
Form Object
Form
They
Who
I
You
She
He
It
We
Mine
Yours truly, his
Hers
Its
Ours
Theirs
Whose
It
Us
Them
Whom
Me
You
Him
Her</p>
<p>Generally the subject of the verb does the actions and the object had the action done to it.</p>
<p>Eg. The ■■■■■ sends the chef his compliments.
Ask the question who? before the verb.
Who sends his compliments?
The ■■■■■
Hence ■■■■■ is the subject
Ask what or whom after the verb.
To whom does the ■■■■■ send his compliments?
The chef
Thus the chef is the object.</p>
<p>A] compound subjects:
A compound subject is two or more subjects linked by and
Eg. talitha and I are taking a course in asian history.
Here one should ignore one of the pronouns and test the rest of the sentence.
Make sure it sounds right.</p>
<p>B]compound objects
Here two or more objects are linked by and.
Some verbs have direct objects,indirect objects and object of preposition.</p>
<p>A direct object is the receiver of action within a sentence, as in “He hit the ball.”</p>
<p>The indirect object identifies to or for whom or what the action of the verb is performed. The direct object and indirect object are different people or places or things. The direct objects in the sentences below are in boldface; the indirect objects are in italics.
The instructor gave his students A’s.
Grandfather left Rosalita and Raoul all his money.
Jo-Bob sold me her boat.
Tom spoke about me in his thank-you speech
Here me is the object of the preposition about.
Here to check if the sentence is correct, you have to pronouns individually.</p>
<p>C]Pronoun predicatetes
After Is, am ,are,was, were, be, being, been put subject pronouns.
Eg.
The lady who fell down the stairs is she over there.
It could have been she in the theatre with Ron.
After a gerund[noun ending with ing] put object prepositions.
Eg. Anita was troubling her sister.</p>
<p>D]Pronoun in apposition
An appositive is the renaming or amplification of something earlier in the sentence.</p>
<p>If the appositive is renaming something that functions as a subject, the pronoun should take the subject form; if the appositve is renaming something that functions as an object, the pronoun must take the object form.
The two people in charge of the symposium, Micki and I, will help pay for the damages. (where “Micki and I” renames the subject, “two people”)
Great Grandmother Etherea left her money to her favorite people, Jayden and me. (where “me” agrees with the object of the preposition “people”)
The bank credited two different groups, the Stamp Club and us, with making deposits on the same day. (where “us” agrees with the object “groups”)
E]Pronouns in comparison: usually prepositions take objects. The exception to the rule are prepositions than and as.eg. I am smarter than she. usually we say- I am smarter than her. however this is wrong. I am smarter than she is is a correct sentence where is is usually unsaid.
F]Who and whom
One of the most frequently asked questions about grammar is about choosing between the various forms of the pronoun who: who, whose, whom, whoever, whomever. The number (singular or plural) of the pronoun (and its accompanying verbs) is determined by what the pronoun refers to; it can refer to a singular person or a group of people:
The person who hit my car should have to pay to fix the damages.
The people who have been standing in line the longest should get in first.
It might be useful to compare the forms of who to the forms of the pronouns he and they. Their forms are similar:
Subject
Form Possessive
Form Object
Form
Singular he
who his
whose him
whom
Plural they
who their
whose them
whom </p>
<p>To choose correctly among the forms of who, re-phrase the sentence so you choose between he and him. If you want him, write whom; if you want he, write who.
Who do you think is responsible? (Do you think he is responsible?)
Whom shall we ask to the party? (Shall we ask him to the party?)
Give the box to whomever you please. (Give the box to him.)
Give the box to whoever seems to want it most. (He seems to want it most. [And then the clause “whoever seems to want it most” is the object of the preposition “to.”])
Whoever shows up first will win the prize. (He shows up first.)
Whose can be used to refer to inanimate objects as well as to people
“I remember reading a book whose title I can’t recall right now about a boy and a basenji.”
G]Possessive pronouns and adjectives
possessive pronouns are its, ours,mine, yours,theirs, whose,his hers possessive adjectives are your, my, his, her, out, their, whose.
Do we say “I can’t stand him singing in the shower,” or do we say “I can’t stand his singing in the shower”? Well, you have to decide what you find objectionable: is it him, the fact that he is singing in the shower, or is it the singing that is being done by him that you can’t stand? Chances are, it’s the latter, it’s the singing that belongs to him that bugs you. So we would say, “I can’t stand his singing in the shower.”
We see that possessive pronouns are required in front of gerunds[noun ending in ing]
The need for pronoun-antecedent agreement can create gender problems. If one were to write, for instance, “A student must see his counselor before the end of the semester,” when there are female students about, nothing but grief will follow. One can pluralize, in this situation, to avoid the problem:
Students must see their counselor before the end of the semester.
Or, one could say
A student must see his or her counselor. . . .
H]pronoun-number agreementPossessive forms should agree with quantity of the noun to which they refer .
Eg. All the cyclists put their cycles in place.</p>