November 8, 2010

Grammar: Subject-Verb AgreementWriting: Sentence Skills Revision

Housekeeping

Hand in today:• Cause and Effect Practice Paragraph

Wednesday:• You should be up to p. 168 in the novel• Novel Quiz• Novel Vocabulary Paragraph Due (I will try to

remember to put up some sample sentences on the website!!)

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

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

. . . subject-verb agreement does not change.

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, p. 464

• Do as many others as you can finish in 5 minutes.1. seem2. taste3. is4. speak5. is6. looks 7. is 8. need 9. overflows10. sleeps

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.

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. is 2. was3. do 4. are5. rest6. were7. are8. stands9. are10. were

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. stay2. are3. hold4. were 5. wants6. are7. were8. visit9. were10. act

With indefinite pronouns

• These words always take singular verbs:

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

“-one” words “-body” words

“-thing” words

OneAnyoneEveryoneSomeone

NobodyAnybodyEverybodySomebody

NothingAnythingEverythingSomething

EachEitherNeither

Activity, p. 467

• Do as many others as you can finish in 5 minutes.1. is 2. feels3. knows4. needs5. sounds6. pitches7. was8. provides9. likes10. steals

BREAK

Writing

• Handing back– exemplification paragraphs– process paragraphs

Topic Sentences

Remember• A single paragraph begins with one clear topic sentence.

• Topic sentences must

– state who or what the paragraph is about

– what the writer (you) think about the topic

Examples:

My friend Alice is very forgetful.

You can make a healthy soup in a few simple steps.

Writing a Topic Sentence II, p. 69-70

For each number, 1) select one of the limited topics, and 2) decide what you want to say about that

topic. 3) Write a topic sentence that includes 1 and 2

above.

Student Sentences1. In my school there are special courses for disabled students. (topic is clear, but needs to include writers

opinion about it – is it beneficial? useful? not useful?)

There are some strict policies in our school that we have to follow. (the writer’s opinion could be even clearer: The policies we have to follow in our school are too strict)

Text answer: Business Writing 101 (topic) has proved to be the most useful (writer’s opinion) college course I’ve taken.

2. The working conditions in my last job were very poor.

The working conditions at the construction site were very poor.

My duties at work are too many for the low salary. (OR: I have too many duties at my work. [the low salary is not really the focus of the paragraph])

3. I am looking for a better way to save money faster. (What will the paragraph focus on? the new ways or the old ones? TRY: I am exploring several different ways of saving money faster. )

Being limited with money when you have small children is hard. (The writer’s opinion [is hard] is clear, but the topic could be stated a bit more clearly: It is hard to take care of children with limited money).

Revision for Sentence Skills• rewrite your paragraph, making the corrections

suggested

• use the editing marks handout to try to figure out what my correction mark mean

• if you’ve tried but can’t figure out what my mark means or how to correct the error, THEN, and only THEN, you can ask me for help

Revised paragraphs are worth up to 3 bonus marks each:1 = you tried, but you missed several corrections or corrected

them incorrectly! ;-) 2 = you made most of the corrections correctly3 = you did every correction and you did them correctly

HomeworkDue Wednesday:

• You should be up to p. 168 in the novel

• Novel Quiz

• Novel Vocabulary Paragraph Due

Due Monday:

• Read English Skills, Chapter 11 Comparison or Contrast, p. 222-232.

• Answer the questions throughout the chapter. Answer keys will be posted online.

• Do Writing Assignment #1 on p. 233 (for practice and feedback).