PREVIOUS GRAMMAR QUESTION

Studying on my own pace is a lot of benefit for me do to I am not needing to be worrying about no time for attend class. Being a single parent, the classes allows me working and studying and to spend time with my children.

1.      Preposition usage: the wording is “studying at” not “studying on”.

2.      Wording: “a lot of benefit” is not idiomatic; use “beneficial”.

3.      Word confusion: Although they sound the same, do not confuse “do to” with “due to”. Either replace this connective with a different one, or use “due to the fact that …”.

4.      Verb form/tense: with a negative verb form, use the auxiliary verb “do”; also note that for something that is generally true, use the simple present tense. The verb phrase then becomes “do not need”.

5.      Infinitive: the correct form of the following infinitive is “to worry”.

6.      Double negative: There is already a negative form with the verb, and in English, a double negative means the opposite (becomes a positive), so omit the second negative “no”. Replace it with “having”.

7.      Preposition usage: While “time for something” is correct, when there is a verb, the usage is “time to do (attend) something (class).

8.      Word confusion: Here you need the preposition “to” not the adverb “too”.

9.      Word usage: “never minding “ is not idiomatic; use “without regard” or “without worrying about”.

10.  Word confusion: “Whether” is a word to do with choice; in this sentence the noun “weather”, as related to climate, is needed.

11.  Dangling modifier: What is the subject of “being a single parent”? The next clause starts with the subject “the classes”, but that’s not the subject for the previous phrase—you have to supply a subject: e.g. As I am a …

12.  Subject-verb agreement: The plural “classes” requires a plural verb “allow.”

13.  Gerund/infinitive: in this context, use the infinitives “to work” and “to study.”

14.  Parallel structure: With infinitives in place, use parallel structure to simplify the clause: …to work, study, and spend time… .

Possible Answer: Studying at my own pace is beneficial to me as I do not need to worry about having time to attend class or travelling to and from class without regard for the weather. As I am a single parent, the classes allow me to work, study and spend time with my children.

GRAMMAR QUESTION,May 2nd, 2013

Correct the errors in the following sentence:
There were a lot of applauses at the oscars; and they had rose most when the winner of the best movie had been announced and them receiving the direct was going to the stage as quick as possible.

There are many possible answers--many possible bonus points!

Bonus Grammar Question

This was heard on a flight announcement. The first person to explain the error and correct it gets an extra point!
The use of mobile devices are now permitted.

PUZZLE, May 2nd, 2013

Previous puzzle: Congratulations to Yadiriny for being the first to solve the previous puzzle.
1a. trap                        b. meat                        2a. rapt                        b. team                        3a. part                        b. tame

This week’s puzzle:

Guess the words below, which contain the following letters in them: "BO"

Fill in the blanks using the list of letters below--use each letter once:
A, A, D, D,  D, E, E,  E, I, L, L, M, N, N, O, R, R, R, R, R, S, S U, V, W, Y

1. BO_ _ _
2. BO _ _ _
3. BO _ _
4. _ BO_ _

5. BO_ _ _

6. BO _ _ _ _

7. BO _ _ _ _

8. _ _ _ BO _

ALL CHANGE! May 2nd, 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 you make!

Mira happily gave friendly Omar a birthday gift.

Changes: 1. subject noun          2. direct object noun                       3. indirect object noun                       4. adjective(s)      5. adverb(s)         6. verb name           7. verb tense

COMPLETE THE SENTENCE, May 2nd, 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 (not both) to the clause below:

... I have mixed feelings about Mother’s Day ... 

Sentence 1. Add a phrase            
Sentence 2. Add a dependent clause       
Sentence 3. Add an independent clause

VOCABULARY, May 2nd, 2013

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

expedite      (verb)      +      myriad      (noun)

SENTENCE COMBINATION, May 2nd, 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: The French were the first Europeans to settle in what is now Canada.
Sentence 2: Many of the British who came to Canada went to the New England colonies first.
Sentence 3: The American War of Independence prompted many Loyalists to leave the colonies and head for Canada as it was still under British control.

HALF-WAY THERE CHALLENGE! May 2nd, 2013

This exercise is advanced sentence combining; it is designed for students who have completed Lesson 9 of  Engl 177:

Sentence 1: The students eagerly exchanged information about how to work together on the presentation they were making.
Sentence 2: They posted their information and ideas to a wiki they had created specifically for that presentation.

Grammar: 1. Use a gerund to combine the sentences.                                                                                               2. Use an infinitive to combine the sentences.