UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO

RICO AT HUMACAO
COLLEGE BOARD
ENGLISH
ADVANCED LEVEL
SEMINAR
NOVEMBER 17,
2006

GRAMMAR REVIEW

PARALLEL STRUCTURE
CONNECTIVE WORDS
PRONOUNS
VERBS (TENSES, SUBJECT-VERB
AGREEMENT)
REPORTED SPEECH
TYPES OF QUESTIONS
MISPLACED AND DANGLING
MODIFIERS

PARALLEL STRUCTURE
Nouns line up with nouns, verbs line up
with verbs
Shows order, clarity and rhythm
Creates a sense of balance and provides
a sense of the relative importance of the
information
Required in lists and series, in
compound structures, in comparisons
and in contrasting elements

STRATEGIES FOR
CORRECTING UNPARALLEL
STRUCTURES
Skim your paper, pausing at the words
"and" and "or." Check on each side of
these words.
If you have several items in a list, put
them in a column to see if they are
parallel.
Listen to the sound of the items in a list
or the items being compared. Do you
hear the same kinds of sounds?

PRACTICE EXERCISES
http://athena.english.vt.edu/~IDLE
/Gym2/workout18/e18.01.01.html
http://www.chompchomp.com/structu
re01/structure01.htm

CONNECTIVE WORDS
linguistic units that link two other
constituents together.
describe relationships
give a sense of time
form the logical bridges between
ideas

WORDS THAT DESCRIBE

RELATIONSHIPS

ALSO
HOWEVER
ALTHOUGH
INCIDENTALLY
THEREFORE

BESIDES
LIKEWISE
THUS
MEANWHILE
MOREOVER

USUALLY
FURTHERMORE
NEXT
WHATEVER
GENERALLY

YET
ACCORDINGLY
NEVERTHELESS
INSTEAD
IN CONTRAST
FOR EXAMPLE

WORDS THAT GIVE A SENSE

OF TIME
FIRST
SECONDLY
FINALLY
NOW

THEN
SOON
FORMERLY
SOMETIMES

ONCE
WHEN
ULTIMATELY
EVENTUALLY

LASTLY
LATER
MEANWHILE
PREVIOUSLY

OTHER CONNECTORS

TO BEGIN WITH
ON THE OTHER HAND
IN BRIEF
IN GENERAL
IN SUMMARY

MORE SPECIFICALLY
INSTEAD OF
IN ADDITION TO
IN OTHER WORDS
ANOTHER WAY TO

FOR THE SAME

REASON
NO MATTER WHAT
THAT'S WHAT (WHY)IN
FACT
SUMMING UP

WHAT'S MORE
IN THE SAME WAY
ON THE CONTRARY
CONVERSELY
AS A RESULT

Another connective words

chart
broad
meaning

connective
adverbs and
phrases

conjunctions

addition

also, too, even,

and, as, like
similarly, let alone
in addition, indeed

opposition

however, though,
nevertheless, on
the other hand, in
contrast, even so
alternatively, yet,
anyway, in fact,

but, or,
(al)though,
whereas, while

reinforcing besides, anyway,

after all
explaining for example, for
instance, in other
words, that is to
say, i.e., e.g.
listing

in that

first(ly),second(ly)fir and
st of all, finally,
lastly, for one thing,
for another, in the
first place, to begin
with, next, in sum,
to conclude, in a
nutshell

indicating
result

therefore,
consequently,
as a result, so,
then

because, since,
as, for, if, unless,
now (that), so
(that), in case,
provided (that),
whether ... or ...

indicating
time

then,
meanwhile,
later,
afterwards,
before (that),
since (then),
meanwhile

when, before,
after, since, until,
till, while, as, once,
whenever

PRACTICE EXERCISES
http://www.rit.edu/~seawww/expres
singlogical/el09guided_1.html

PRONOUNS
Agree in number
If a student parks a car on campus, she has
to buy a parking sticker.
Agree in person
When a person comes to class, she should
have her homework ready.
Refer clearly to a specific noun
You are one of those people who like to
keep their skeletons in the closet.

STEPS TO ACHIEVE
AGREEMENT IN NUMBER
Identify the antecedent
Identify if the antecedent is singular
or plural
Match the pronoun to the
antecedent
Students must fill out an evaluation
sheet after their conference.

STEPS TO ACHIEVE
AGREEMENT IN PERSON
Decide if you are going to write in
the first person, second person or
third person.
Be consistent (in the sentence,
paragraph or paper).
Beware of mismatches between
pronouns and antecedents.

STEPS TO REFER CLEARLY

TO A SPECIFIC NOUN

Make sure that it is clear what

the antecedent is.
Make sure you are referring to
the correct noun.

WORDS THAT MAKE

AGREEMENT HARDER TO
FIGURE OUT
Indefinite pronouns (anybody,
anyone, each, either, everybody,
everyone, neither, nobody, no one,
somebody, someone) are
considered singular
Compound antecedents are
considered plural when joined by
and. They are considered singular
when joined by or or nor.

 If the compound antecedents differ in

number, the pronoun should agree
with the closer antecedent.
Collective nouns- You can use either
the singular or the plural pronoun,
depending on the emphasis.

PRACTICE EXERCISES
http://chompchomp.com/hotpotatoe
s/proref01.htm
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/gr
ammar/pronouns.htm

VERBS
Four Verb Forms
Base form-write
Past form -wrote
Present participle-writing
Past participle -written
Passive and Active Voices
The executive committee approved the
new policy or The new policy was
approved by the executive committee.

 MOOD
Indicative-Makes a statement of asks a question.
Imperative-Gives a directive, order
Subjunctive-Expresses a wish or begins with as, as
if, as though

Auxiliary Verbs and Modal AuxiliariesBe, Have/has, do/does, can, could, should, would,
may, might, must

 VERB TENSE SEQUENCE

There are as many as thirty tenses and,
except for two (simple present and simple
past), all of them are marked by
auxiliaries.
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar
/tenses.htm
Six basic tenses:
Simple Present, Present Perfect,
Simple Past, Past Perfect, Future
Future Perfect

 Sequence of Tenses
With Infinitives and Participles
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/gra
mmar/sequence.htm#modal_seque
nce

Subject-Verb Agreement:
Trouble Spots
If there are intervening components
of the sentence, identify the subject.
The group of bizarrely dressed
youths is taking over the cafeteria.
Two subjects joined by "and" use a
plural verb
My mother and father are coming to
visit.

 If the subjects are joined by "or," the verb

must agree with the nearest subject.
Either Sherlock Holmes or the Hardy Boys
are capable of solving this crime
Collective nouns such as "family" take
singular verbs when the sentence deals
with the group as a whole.
The Torres family is going on vacation this
year.

 If the sentence deals with the group as

individuals, then a plural form is used.
The Torres family are going to fight all the
way through their vacation.
Linking verbs in subjective completions
agree with the subject, not the
completion.
My favorite thing to buy is compact discs.
Compact discs are my favorite thing to buy.

 -body, -thing and -one

pronouns, as well as each,
either and neither, always take
a singular verb.
Everyone is going on a picnic.
If you have eitheror or
neithernor, make the verb agree
with the subject closest to it.
Either the mailman or the workers are
causing the dog to bark.

VERB PRACTICE
http://a4esl.org/q/j/kf/mc-svad.html
http://a4esl.org/q/h/9901/cwsvagreement.html

REPORTED SPEECH
Also referred to as Indirect Speecha sentence reporting what someone
has said.
If the reporting verb (i.e. said) is in
the past, the reported clause will be
in a past form. This form is usually
one step back into the past from the
original.
He said the test was difficult.

 If simple present, present perfect or

the future is used in the reporting
verb (i.e. says) the tense is
retained.
He says the test is difficult.
She has said that she watches TV
every day.
If reporting a general truth the
present tense will be retained.
The teacher said that phrasal verbs
are very important.

 Change the pronouns to match the

subject of the sentence when
necessary.
Jack said, "My wife went with me to
the show." BECOMES Jack said his
wife had gone with him to the show.
Change time words when referring
to present, past or future time to
match the moment of speaking.
"I want to bring my children
tomorrow." BECOMES She said
she wanted to bring her children the
next day.

Indirect Questions
Pay attention to sentence order. When
reporting yes/ no questions connect the
reported question using 'if'. When
reporting questions using question words
use the question word.
Dave asked, "Where did you go last
weekend?" BECOMES Dave asked me
where I had gone the previous weekend.
He asked, "Why are you studying
English?" BECOMES She asked me why
I was studying English.

PRACTICE EXERCISE
http://a4esl.org/q/j/dt/mcvancouver.html

TYPES OF QUESTIONS
There are 3 basic types of questions:
Yes/No Questions (the answer to the
question is "Yes" or "No")
Do you want dinner? Yes, I do.
Question Word Questions (the answer to
the question is "Information")
Was Ral home? No, he wasn't.
Choice Questions (the answer to the
question is "in the question")

 Tag Questions
It is a statement followed by a miniquestion. The whole sentence is a "tag
question", and the mini-question at the
end is called a "question tag".
We use tag questions at the end of
statements to ask for confirmation.
You are coming, aren't you? We have
finished, haven't we?

MISPLACED AND DANGLING

MODIFIERS
Misplaced modifiers are phrases that
are not located properly in relation to
the words they modify.
Dangling modifiers occur with ing
modifiers and they dangle when they
are not logically connected to the
main part of the sentence.

Examples:
The professor posted the notes
for the students covered in
class.
Walking through the park, the
grass tickled my feet.

HOW TO CORRECT
MISPLACED MODIFIERS
Misplaced modifier- A small book
sat on the desk that Sarah had
read.
place any modifiers as close as
possible to the words, phrases, or
clauses they modify.
Correct A small book that Sarah
had read sat on the desk.

HOW TO CORRECT DANGLING

MODIFIERS
State the subject right after the
dangling modifier, or
Add the subject to the dangling
phrase.
Walking through the park, the
grass tickled my feet.
The grass tickled my feet as I
walked through the park.

Apply this simple test:

Read the sentence:
Having neglected repairs, the car
broke down.
Identify the opening modifier:
Having neglected repairs
Ask who or what it modifies. The
answer follows the comma:
Who neglected repairs? the car
(the car didn't repair anything)
Devise corrected versions:
The neglected car broke down.
Neglected for years, the car broke
down.

PRACTICE EXERCISES
http://rwc.hunter.cuny.edu/readingwriting/on-line/mismod-a.html
http://wwwnew.towson.edu/ows/exe
rcisemm.htm

THE END