Monday, November 7, 2011

Grammar: Subject-Verb AgreementWriting: The Writing Process;

Revision and Editing

Housekeeping

• Hand in your work from Chapter 2, Activity 1, 4, or 5.

• Monday is not a holiday

Subject-Verb Agreement, p. 464-467

• Singular subjects must take a singular verb.

– I walk fast

– you walk fast

– he/she walks fast

• Plural subjects must take a plural verb.

– We walk fast

– they walk fast

Mistakes in Subject-Verb Agreement. . .

. . . usually occur in the following situations:

1. When words come between the subject and verb

2. When a verb comes before a subject

3. With compound subjects

4. With indefinite pronouns

1. When words come between the subject and verb (p. 464) . . .

. . . subject-verb agreement does not change.

Ex: The noisy dogs get on my nerves.

Ex: The noisy dogs in my neighbourhood get on my nerves.

(plural subject) (plural verb)

The words “in my neighbourhood” form a prepositional phrase that does not affect s-v agreement.

Reminder: Prepositional phrases

• Prepositions are words that usually indicate time and space relationships.

Ex: before, under, with, behind, in, of, etc.

• Prepositional phrases are word groups that begin with prepositions

(they usually include an object and adjectives or adverbs)

Ex: during class, behind the old bridge

• When trying to find the subject of a sentence, it can help to cross out the prepositional phrases:

Nell, with her three dogs close behind, runs around the park every day.

The seams in my new coat have split after only two years.

When words come between the subject and verb (Cont’d.)

Activity 1, p. 464

Do as many others as you can finish in 5 minutes.

1. The decisions of the judge seem/seems . . .

2. The flakes in this cereal taste/tastes . . .

3. The woman with the dark sunglasses is/are . . .

4. Many people in Europe speak/speaks . . .

5. A hamburger with a large order of fries is/are . . .

2. When a verb comes before a subject . . .

. . . it must still agree with the subject!

Ex: On Sasha’s desk were two books.Ex: There are many sushi restaurants in Vancouver.

To try to find the subject, ask yourself who or what does the verb refer to.

Ex: Q: What was on Sasha’s desk?A: The books.

(Two books were on Sasha’s desk)

So, the verb must agree with “books” (plural) not Sasha (singular)!!

Activity, p. 465

Do as many others as you can finish in 5 minutes.

1. What is/are . . .

2. Among the guests was/were . . .

3. Where do/does . . .

4. There is/are . . .

5. In that grave rest/rests . . .

3. With compound subjects, p. 466

Situation 1: When two subjects are joined by and they take a plural verb:

Ex: Maple syrup and sweet butter taste delicious on pancakes.

Ex: Mike and Sharon have a lot of work to do.

With compound subjects, p. 466

Situation 2: In contrast, when subjects are joined by either . . . or, neither . . . nor, not only . . . but also, the verb agrees with the subject closest to the verb:

(plural) (singular) (singular)Ex: Either the students or the teacher takes a day off every month.

(singular) (plural) (plural)Ex: Either the teacher or the students take a day off every month.

Activity, p. 466.

Do as many others as you can finish in 5 minutes.

1. Our cats and dog stays/stay . . .

2. Is/Are the birthday cake . . .

3. Staples and Scotch tape holds/hold . . .

4. Rent and car insurance was/were . . .

5. Neither the students nor the instructor wants/want . . .

4. With indefinite pronouns

• These words always take singular verbs:

• However: “both” always takes a plural verb!

“-one” words “-body” words

“-thing” words

NoneOneAnyoneEveryoneSomeone

NobodyAnybodyEverybodySomebody

NothingAnythingEverythingSomething

EachEitherNeither

Activity 4, p. 467

Do as many others as you can finish in 5 minutes.

1. Everybody at my new school is/are . . .

2. Neither of those mattresses feel/feels . . .

3. Nobody in my family knows/know . . .

4. Each of the children needs/need . . .

5. Something about Robbie’s story sounds/sound . . .

Break

HomeworkEnglish Skills Chapter 2, p. 18-32

• Hand-in the prewriting assignment (Choice of 1, 4, or 5) /5 marks

• We will review the answers for activities 6, 7, and 8 now

Chapter 2, p. 18

The Writing Process • Prewriting• Drafting• Revising• Editing

See the purple box on p. 18

Example of Freewriting

• I am so tired but iam starting to get more energy I should have had a snack at the break starting to feel awake oh I see out of the corner of my eye Sandra is writing and I just heard ionnis laugh. well hmm. I was going to give the topic occupyb vancouver just leave the mistake stehre.

Writing a First Draft, p. 27

Activity 61. topic sentence/main idea2. ten hours; two ten-minute breaks3. physicaly (answers may vary)4. end5. Details

Revising, p. 28-30

Activity 7, p. 301. first of all, finally2. unity, At the same time . . . loaded3. support, over sixty hours a week, on the loading dock,

near-zero-degree temperatures4. that made the job a worst one5. an unpaid half hour for lunch6. because7. I felt this isolation8. an ugly, bitter

Editing, p. 32

Activity 81. spelling2. commas3. plus just a quarter extra4. spelled (or written) out5. spent two hours by myself cleaning

Chapter 2, p. 18

The Writing Process

• Prewriting

• Drafting

• Revising [Check Unity, Support, Coherence]

• Editing [Check Sentence Skills]

Revision and Editing Assignment (Homework)

1. Review my feedback on your paragraph.

2. Refer to the handout “Editing Marks” for help; then ask me if you need more explanation.

3. Revise: make changes to improve the content of the paragraph . [Unity, Support, Coherence]

4. Edit: make changes to improve the grammar, punctuation, usage, and spelling of the paragraph. [Sentence Skills]

5. You should do step 5 and 6 in two separate “passes.” [stages]

6. Hand in your all of your work, with your final version stapled on the top.

Marks: /10 marks

Homework

For this Wednesday

• Be prepared to do in-class writing about “The Tell-Tale Heart”• Bring the other two short stories and your “Fiction Terms”

handout to class

For Monday

• Revision and Editing Assignment (See previous slide)

• Read English Skills, Chapter 14 “Description” (p. 268-272); complete the questions on p. 271-272

• Complete the rest of the Subject-Verb Agreement activities in Chapter 464-469; Answers will be provided on the website