TalonRider Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 This section is lengthy, so I'm breaking i up into smaller sections. Otherwise I might bore you to death. Sentence Construction Part 1 Create good sentence structure by using the acronym SVC (subject, verb, completer). Subjects: Subjects come first to tell you who or what you re talking about. Subjects are nouns or pronouns. Nouns name people, places, things, qualities, concepts, and ?active? things including gerunds (actions that are things). People: Bill, secretary, mother, child Places: office, Chicago, Georgia Things: car, television, memo, desk Qualities: truthfulness, honesty, attentiveness ?Active? things: singing, running, traveling Pronouns: A pronoun may ?pitch it? for a noun so that the same people, places and things are not repeated over and over. Without pronouns, this statement is awkward and redundant: The manager went into the manager?s office to prepare the manager?s report for the meeting at which the manager planned to present the manager?s new budget request. Pronouns allow a more concise and clear statement: The manager went into her office to prepare her report for the meeting at which point she planned to present her new budget request. Caution: A pronoun must agree with its ?antecedent? (the word for which it stands). Incorrect: Each of the boys liked their teacher. Correct: Each of the boys liked his teacher. Pronouns that act as subjects: I........................ we You.....................they He......................who She.....................it Pronouns that act as objects (objects of verbs or objects of prepositions): Me......................us You.....................them Him....................whom Her.....................it Pronouns that show ownership (possessives): My, mine........................our, ours Your, yours.....................their, theirs His.................................her, hers Caution: Who and whom should not be used interchangeably. To figure out whether to use who or whom, replace the word with he or him. If he sounds right, use who. If him sounds right, use whom. Reflexive pronouns: Her............................it Myself........................ourselves Yourself, yourselves....themselves Himself.......................itself Herself Reflexive pronouns are used in three main situations: When the subject and object are the same. As the object of a preposition, referring to the subject. When you want to emphasize the subject. Caution: Do not use a reflexive pronoun unless the sentence contains the noun to which it refers. For example, myself would only appear in a sentence containing I. Incorrect: Jim, Esperanza, and myself were planning a trip. Correct: Jim, Esperanza, and I were planning a trip. Exercise 2 ? Pronouns: Reflexive, Subject/Object Choose the correct word to finish each of the following sentences. 1. Kai, Chandra, and _____________(I, me, myself) are headed to the conference now. 2. Give the paperwork to _____________(she, her, herself) so that it can be submitted this pay period. 3. Edward stayed all weekend to finish that report all by _____________(he, him, himself). 4. Anders gave a copy of that memo to Jim, Tom, and _____________(I, me, myself). 5. To _____________(who, whom) should the packages be addressed? 6. The company?s analysts _____________( they, their, themselves) knew what _____________(they, them, their) predictions were based on, but no one else understood_____________(them, their, themselves). 7. Just between you and_____________(I, me), I think this is the best work we?ve ever done. 8. Jonquil wondered why _____________(she, her) employees complained about a lack of vacation since _____________(she, her) __________(hers, herself) never took a day off. Link to comment
sumbloke Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 This section is lengthy, so I'm breaking i up into smaller sections. Otherwise I might bore you to death.Sentence Construction Part 1 [... snipped for brevity] Pronouns that show ownership (possessives): My, mine........................our, ours Your, yours.....................their, theirs His.................................her, hers And its. The caution with its is that as a possessive pronoun there is no apostrophe. Reflexive pronouns:Her............................it These two aren't reflexive. I think this is a typo. Great post - explaining English grammar is no easy task but this is a nice clear grammar snippit. Thanks. Link to comment
sat8997 Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 Ooohh multiple choice. I always liked these. 1. Kai, Chandra, and I are headed to the conference now. 2. Give the paperwork to her so that it can be submitted this pay period. 3. Edward stayed all weekend to finish that report all by himself. 4. Anders gave a copy of that memo to Jim, Tom, and I. 5. To whom should the packages be addressed? 6. The company?s analysts themselves knew what their predictions were based on, but no one else understood them. 7. Just between you and me, I think this is the best work we?ve ever done. 8. Jonquil wondered why her employees complained about a lack of vacation since she herself never took a day off. I?m not happy with question #4. I would have preferred to re-word the whole thing. Sharon Link to comment
Tanuki Racoon Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 4. Anders gave a copy of that memo to Jim, Tom, and I. Sorry. The answer is "me" He gave a copy to Jim. He gave a copy to Tom He gave a copy to Me. Link to comment
TalonRider Posted February 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 And its. The caution with its is that as a possessive pronoun there is no apostrophe.These two aren't reflexive. I think this is a typo. Great post - explaining English grammar is no easy task but this is a nice clear grammar snippit. Thanks. If it's a typo, it's on the publisher of the book and not me. Link to comment
TalonRider Posted February 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 Sorry. The answer is "me"He gave a copy to Jim. He gave a copy to Tom He gave a copy to Me. Well done, Sharon. And thanks to you Wibby, for demonstrating how to work it out. Jan Link to comment
sat8997 Posted February 6, 2007 Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 I still would prefer to reword the entire sentence. Even though placing ?me? in the blank space is correct, the sentence sounds awkward in my head. Granted it sounded awkward with the ?I? also. Therefore, I flipped a mental coin. Next time I'm using eenie, meenie, minie, moe.... Sharon Link to comment
Tanuki Racoon Posted February 6, 2007 Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 I still would prefer to reword the entire sentence. Even though placing 'me' in the blank space is correct, the sentence sounds awkward in my head. Granted it sounded awkward with the 'I' also. Therefore, I flipped a mental coin. Next time I'm using eenie, meenie, minie, moe.... Yeah, it's a crappy sentence to begin with. No argument. However my point was to give a class on how to break something down. It's actually three sentences (AND). Step one is to nuke a prepositional phrase, then see what you've got lost. Keep breaking it down until it's so simple you have it. When I saw the original post I just *knew* someone would get it wrong, and I waited (scumbag that I am). The problem with contrived exercises is that you can make sentences that sound horrid regardless. :) (I am less than perfect, so I probably shouldn't talk anyway.) Link to comment
sat8997 Posted February 6, 2007 Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 Lying in wait for some poor unsuspecting soul?..how diabolical. I?ve decided I?m going to like you. Sharon Link to comment
Tanuki Racoon Posted February 6, 2007 Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 Lying in wait for some poor unsuspecting soul?..how diabolical. I've decided I'm going to like you. If you like Evil, you have found it. Welcome, disciple. I will train you well. Link to comment
Cole Parker Posted February 6, 2007 Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 A cautionary note: don't leap on the Wibby bandwagon too eagerly. Raccoons can turn rabid and bite. Wait till you have him edit your work! There is an easier way to parse that sentence to find the correct pronoun form, if I can enter the fray. I like things as simple as possible. You don't need to say it three ways to know what is correct. You can subsititiue just one word. Instad of He gave a copy to blank, then to blank, then to me, think of it as, he gave a copy to we, or he gave a copy to us. "Us" is obviously the correct word. As "us" is objective rather than nomiinative, "me" would be the correct work rather than the nominative "I". Clear? Cole Link to comment
Tanuki Racoon Posted February 6, 2007 Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 As "us" is objective rather than nomiinative, "me" would be the correct work rather than the nominative "I". Clear? Nearly as clear as Bush's foreign policy. In other words: Not at all. Link to comment
Cole Parker Posted February 6, 2007 Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 Sorry. It was very clear to me. You do recognize the difference between "us" and "we," don't you?<g> Cole? Link to comment
sumbloke Posted February 6, 2007 Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 If it's a typo, it's on the publisher of the book and not me. Well, they aren't reflexive pronouns on any account so the publisher is negligent. sumbloke Link to comment
Trab Posted February 7, 2007 Report Share Posted February 7, 2007 Cole, it's the linking of "us" and "me", "I" and "we" that's the problem with your explanation. Or was that "us" and "I" and "we" and "me". Whatever. Link to comment
DesDownunder Posted February 7, 2007 Report Share Posted February 7, 2007 My lord, I am frightened to even write this post. You guys are scaring us, me and the cat. Link to comment
Trab Posted February 7, 2007 Report Share Posted February 7, 2007 Scaring you? Like in an involuntary wee wee? Aye, aye, aye! Link to comment
DesDownunder Posted February 7, 2007 Report Share Posted February 7, 2007 Scaring you? Like in an involuntary wee wee? Aye, aye, aye! I'm OK, hang on I'll check the cat. Cat's OK too. Link to comment
Cole Parker Posted February 7, 2007 Report Share Posted February 7, 2007 Trab: Sorry if the explanation was confusing. While that system might not work for others, it works well for I. Cole Link to comment
colinian Posted February 8, 2007 Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 A cautionary note: don't leap on the Wibby bandwagon too eagerly. Raccoons can turn rabid and bite. Wait till you have him edit your work!There is an easier way to parse that sentence to find the correct pronoun form, if I can enter the fray. I like things as simple as possible. You don't need to say it three ways to know what is correct. You can subsititiue just one word. Instad of He gave a copy to blank, then to blank, then to me, think of it as, he gave a copy to we, or he gave a copy to us. "Us" is obviously the correct word. As "us" is objective rather than nomiinative, "me" would be the correct work rather than the nominative "I". Clear? Cole When I was in 8th grade in intermediate school, my Creative Writing teacher gave us this rule: Drop all of the extra prepositional phrases and write the sentence so there's only one. Then it's clear: "He gave a copy to me." "He gave a copy to Mary, two copies to John, and a copy to me." And: "He gave a copy to us." "He gave a copy to the administrative staff, a copy to the school board, and a copy to us." That rule has always made it easy for me to pick the correct pronoun. Colin Link to comment
TalonRider Posted March 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 Sorry, I just realized I never posted the answers to this exercise. Exercise 2 ? Pronouns: Reflexive, Subject/ObjectChoose the correct word to finish each of the following sentences. 1. Kai, Chandra, and _____________(I, me, myself) are headed to the conference now. 2. Give the paperwork to _____________(she, her, herself) so that it can be submitted this pay period. 3. Edward stayed all weekend to finish that report all by _____________(he, him, himself). 4. Anders gave a copy of that memo to Jim, Tom, and _____________(I, me, myself). 5. To _____________(who, whom) should the packages be addressed? 6. The company?s analysts _____________( they, their, themselves) knew what _____________(they, them, their) predictions were based on, but no one else understood_____________(them, their, themselves). 7. Just between you and_____________(I, me), I think this is the best work we?ve ever done. 8. Jonquil wondered why _____________(she, her) employees complained about a lack of vacation since _____________(she, her) __________(hers, herself) never took a day off. 1. I 2. her 3. himself 4. me 5. whom 6. themselves, their, them 7. me 8. her, she, herself Link to comment
TracyMN Posted June 17, 2010 Report Share Posted June 17, 2010 Certainly some squabbling was to be expected, Des. You can't buy this kind of entertainment. Cole, your explanation worked for me. That ought to scare you. Wibby, yours did, too, but that's to be expected. But I don't get the her/it thing at all. I'll just avoid that one. Easy enough in conversation. Written conversation-easier yet. Next lesson awaits. Thanks, Jan, all. Tracy Link to comment
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