8.1 Answers to Exercises

Ex. 1

The correct word is in red.

1. The news predicts good weather for our trip.
2. My little cousin turns two years old tomorrow.
3. The next-door neighbor’s dog is quite loud. He barks constantly.
4. Your mother called this morning to talk about the party.
5. I like to wear unique clothing from thrift stores with no company logos.
6. I would rather eat a slice of chocolate cake than eat a chocolate muffin.
7. Everyone goes through hardships in life.
8. I don’t care who’s coming to the party.
9. Do you have any loose change to pay the parking meter?
10. Father must have left his briefcase at the office.
11. Marjorie felt like she was being led on a wild goose chase, and she did not like it one bit.
12. Before playing ice hockey, I was supposed to read the contract, but I only skimmed it, which may affect my understanding.
13. The party they’re hosting will be in June at their ranch.
14. Except for Ajay, we all had tickets to the game.
15. It must be fall, because it’s getting darker earlier.

Ex. 2

The slang words that should be changed are “airhead,” “bombed,” “going off,” “wow,” “boo,” and “guts.”

Ex. 3

The clichés that need replacing are “ax to grind,” “wit’s end,” “bottom line,” “make ends meet,” “my brain is fried,” “pulling an all-nighter,” and “tongue tied.”

Ch. 2.3

Ex. 1

The proper nouns in these sentences are as follows:

1. Catholic, Church of England
2. Dad, Mom
3. none
4. Aquarius
5. none

The common nouns in these sentences are as follows:

1. sister
2. gifts, toaster, blender, bathrobe
3. telephone, indicators, types, messages
4. astrology, sign
5. wind, night, house

Ex. 2

The correct pronouns are in red.  The antecedent is identified in the parentheses that follows.

1.  In the current economy, workers don’t want to waste their money.  (The  antecedent of  “their” is “workers.”)
2. If my sister goes to medical school, she must be prepared for the long hours.  (The antecedent of “she” is “sister.”)
3. The plumbing crew did their best to repair the broken pipes.  (The antecedent of “their” is “crew.”)
4. The commencement speaker said students have an opportunity to improve their lives.  (The antecedent of “their” is “students.”)
5. Aunt Norma was a talented gardener and she worked in the yard nearly every day.  (The antecedent of “she” is “Aunt Norma.”)
6. My computer is nearly ten years old. It really needs to be replaced.  (The antecedent of “It” is “computer.”)

Ex. 3

The pronoun errors are crossed out and any necessary changes are inserted in red.

1. The eighth grade students they were behaving mysteriously.
2. Twyla and me I went to the circus on Friday.
3. The instructor gave her notes to Marilyn her notes.
4. Juan is a man that who has high standards.
5. A gardener is Gardeners are only successful if he or she has they have good soil.

Ex. 4

The correct verb form is in red.

1. The Dust Bowl was a name given to a period of destructive dust storms in the United States during the 1930s.
2. Today, historians consider The Dust Bowl to be one of the worst weather events in American history.
3. The Dust Bowl mostly affected Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico.
4. Dust storms continue to occur in these dry regions, but not to the devastating degree of the 1930s.
5. The Dust Bowl era finally came to end in 1939 when the rains arrived.

Ch. 2.4

Ex. 1 & Ex. 2

In Ex. 1, you labeled the common and proper nouns and the pronouns.  Then you identified any adjectives that modified those nouns or pronouns and drew an arrow from the adjective to the word it modified.

In Ex. 2, you identified which words were verbs.  Then, you found any adverbs that modified verbs, adjectives or other adverbs and drew an arrow from the modifier to the word modified.

(I have labeled conjunctions and prepositions and enclosed prepositional phrases in parentheses, for your information; that was not required on the assignment.)

Ex. 3

In this exercise, you identified prepositional phrases by enclosing them in parentheses. Then you labeled the words in the prepositional phrase: the preposition, the nouns or pronouns, and any adjectives or adverbs.

Ex. 4

This exercise asked you to find and label any conjunctions.

Ch. 3.1

Ex. 1

You labeled all the nouns or pronouns in the sentence.  Then, you decided which nouns or pronouns were the sentence subject and underlined subjects once.  Finally, you identified what the subject was doing the sentence (the verb) and underlined verbs twice.

Ex. 2

Complete sentences are marked.  Fragments have missing information explained.  Corrections will vary from student to student.

1. The band arrived in a limo with their guitars in the trunk.  Complete.
2. Entered the classroom and took off his backpack.  Missing a subject.  Who entered the classroom?
3. Taking a family cruise to Puerto Vallarta.  Missing a subject.  Who is taking the cruise?
4. A kite in the shape of an eagle.  Missing a verb.  What is the kite doing?
5. In the park last night, I saw a bat.  Complete.
6. Bentley, the next door neighbor, likes.  This has a subject and a verb, but it doesn’t have a complete thought.  What does Bentley like?
   
7. Blew down in the high wind, but the maple tree was unharmed.  Missing a subject.  What blew down?

Ch. 3.2

Ex. 1

Corrections to subject-verb agreement errors are in red.

1. My dog and cat chases chase each other in the house.
2. The books in my library is are the best I have ever read.
3. There is are the newspapers I was supposed to deliver.
4. Some of the clothes is are packed away in the attic.
5. Crows in my white maple tree and on the electrical line is are annoying.

Ex. 2

Misplaced modifiers have been corrected in red.

1. The young lady on the telephone was walking the dog on the telephone.
2. I heard on the evening news there was a robbery on the evening news.
3. Rolling down the mountain, the explorer stopped the rock rolling down the mountain with his foot.
4. We are looking for a babysitter who doesn’t smoke and owns a car for our six-year-old who doesn’t smoke and owns a car.
5. The teacher served cookies wrapped in aluminum foil to the children wrapped in aluminum foil.
6. Driving home from work, Charlie spotted a stray puppy driving home from work.

Ex. 3

There are several ways to correct the dangling modifiers in these sentences.  The answers presented are one option.

1. Playing a guitar in the bedroom, the cat was seen under the bed.  While playing a guitar in the bedroom, I saw a cat under the bed.
2. Packing for a trip, a cockroach scurried down the hallway. As Marnie was packing for a trip, she saw a cockroach scurry down the hallway.
   
3. While driving to the veterinarian’s office, the dog nervously whined. The dog nervously whined as he was being driven to the veterinarian’s office.
4. Piled up next to the bookshelf, I chose a romance novel.   From the books piled next to the shelf, I chose a romance novel.
5. Chewing furiously, the gum fell out of my mouth.  The gum fell out of my mouth as I chewed furiously.

Ex. 4

There are several ways to correct the parallel structure in the following sentences.  These answers present one option.

1. I would rather work at a second job to pay for a new car than a loan.  I would rather work at a second job to pay for a new car than take out a loan.
2. How you look in the workplace is just as important as your behavior.  How you look in the workplace is just as important as how you behave.
3. Indian cuisine is tastier than the food of Great Britain.  The food of India is tastier than the food of Great Britain.
4. Jim’s opponent in the ring was taller, carried more weight, and not as strong.  Jim’s opponent in the ring was taller and heavier but weaker.
5. Working for a living is much harder than school.  Working for a living is much harder than going to school.

Ch. 4.1

Ex. 1