Search results for 'tag:Predicates tag:Punctuation' matching tags 'Predicates' and 'Punctuation'

Please Check My Answers

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 00:47:54 GMT

1. An adjective modifies a:
A. verb. B. noun. C. pronoun. D. both b & c.
Answer D.

2. Adverbs modify:
A. verbs. B. adjectives. C. other adverbs. D. all the above
Answer D.

3. The purpose of a preposition is to connect:
A. nouns to other words in the sentence. B. pronouns to other words in the sentence. C. a group of words acting as a noun to another word in the sentence. D. all of the above
Answer D.

4. Which of the following words is not a preposition?
A. aboard B. by C. beside D. himself
Answer D.

5. The main parts of a sentence are:
A. the subject and the predicate. B. an adjective and adverb. C. a verb and adverb. D. the capital and punctuation.
Answer A.

6. A sentence fragment may be lacking :
A. a subject. B. a verb. C. both a subject and a verb. D. all of the above.
Answer D.

7. Phrases and clauses are incorrectly used when they are:
A. deleted. B. left dangling. C. misplaced. D. both b & c
Answer D.

8. A dangling modifier is a word or group of words that:
A. does not seem to modify any word in a sentence. B. can be placed anywhere in a sentence. C. both a & b D. neither a nor b
Answer A.

Compound Predicate

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 09:19:41 GMT

Is the following an example of a compound predicate, and if it is, is the punctuation correct?

"I tried all of the classes but didnât like any of them."

Re: An incorrect sentence formation or incorrect punctuation?

Clive — Thu, 24 May 2007 00:51:47 GMT

Hi,

in these two expressions, there is no verb in either phrase to express a predicate. so, does the error lie in an incorrect formation of a sentence <<< YES or an incorrect use of a punctuation? thank you.

the lad from belfast; the one and only george best.

the legend of christmas; the one and only santa clause.

These are not sentences. They are just phrases.

It's like saying 'The table' or 'The table; the chair'.

Best wishes, Clive

An incorrect sentence formation or incorrect punctuation?

Dan01 — Thu, 24 May 2007 00:27:56 GMT

in these two expressions, there is no verb in either phrase to express a predicate. so, does the error lie in an incorrect formation of a sentence or an incorrect use of a punctuation? thank you.

the lad from belfast; the one and only george best.

the legend of christmas; the one and only santa clause.

Different questions

MIA6 — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 18:43:28 GMT

1. A modifying subordinate clause that interrupts or concludes a main clause is not set off with punctuation when it is essential to the meaning of the word or words it modifies. Here i don't understand what "essential" means.

2. Absolute phrases consist of a noun or pronoun and a participle, plus any modifiers. e.g. The immigrants having learned English, their opportunities widen. The underlined part is absolute phrase, but i didn't find the modifier in that part, so i am not sure that if absolute phrase must have modifier.

3. Their future more secure, these citizens will make room for new arrivals. I don't know why there is no Be-verb between "future" and "more".

4. A main clause has a subject and a predicate (but no subordinating word at the begining) and makes a complete statement. My question is: e.g. For you are late, you need to clean the whole classroom. What is main clause: For you are late Or you are late? Can a main clause include a Coordinating word? not a subordinating word?

Thanks for replying!

Re: Comma

paco2004 — Sat, 01 Apr 2006 07:48:24 GMT

Sunu wrote:
The comma is only required after the subordinate clause where it meets its main clause. Have I got that right?
In the following sentence where the conjunction is not coordinating two independent clauses:
ããããI am going to the movies and will catch a cab if it rains and snows.

Yes, you are correct in punctuation. This sentence is a single sentence made up of two predicates and the if-clause is subordinate to the second predicate. We need no comma for this sentence.

Sunu wrote:
But, if we were to rewrite it as:
I am going to the movies and, if it rains and snows, will catch a cab.
Would we need a comma between the coordinating 'and' and subordinate clause?

This is also perfect, in my opinion. The if-clause is a sub clause inserted into the second predicate, and the Third RULE is that any inserted phrase or clause should be in between two commas. So your punctuation is correct.

paco

Need help with grammar questions.

Anonymous — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 06:41:44 GMT

Hi,

I have the following grammar questions. Do please help me with the correct answers to the following questions. Thanking you in anticipation,

Regards,

Manu.

1. Choose the sentence that illustrates the correct agreement of subject and verb.

A. Either the students or the teacher have made a mistake.

B. Either the student or the teacher has made a mistake.

C. Neither Holly nor her sisters is going to the party.

2. Thousands of years ago, fish were caught in nets and traps. (Is the underlined word years a)

A. Verb B. Interjection C. Noun

3. Daedalus and his son Icarus were imprisoned in a great maze.( is the underlined word were imprisoned a..)

A.Adverb phrase B. Simple predicate C. Verbal

4. He made Icarus and himself a pair of wings (Is the undlerlined word Icarus and himself a)

A. Simple subject B. Indirect object C. Object of preposition

5. Her brother was the teacher, and her sister was the psychiatrist.( Is this scentence a ...)

A. Simple B. compound C. Complex

6.Determine which punctuation mark should be used in the scentence below.

In high school I enjoyed the following subjects--------shop, art class, lunch, and study hall

A. Colon B. Semicolon C. Ellipses

Thank you for all the continued help

steves5a — Fri, 01 Jul 2005 02:40:32 GMT

I would like to thank everyone for the help that has been given to me thus far in my mission to achieve my Associates Degree in Business Management. I know that I need all the help that I can get.

Here are some tips that I found very useful and thought that I would pass them along to the group:

"To fix run-on sentences: rewriting the sentence or adding punctuation between two independent clauses".
"Correct Sentence fragments: addthe missing subject or predicate to phrases or subordinate clauses".
"Eliminate faulty agreement: make subjects and predicates agree in person and number.
combine short,choppy sentences for a smooth style".

These are just a few tips for writing proper Grammer.

Take care and good Luck

Steven

Re: VERY

Mister Micawber — Thu, 16 Jun 2005 11:00:28 GMT

And I will respond to the punctuation question. Here is the Short Course:

VERY SHORT PUNCTUATION GUIDE

Very basic points about punctuation marks:

A COMMA isolates groups of words in a sentence in order to make the sentence meaning clear. If you don't need one, don't use it. If you need too many, you should re-arrange the sentence elements.

'My father, an old soldier, found, to his surprise, that his uniform, including his hat, had become, for some reason, too small.'

'To his surprise, my old soldier father found that his hat and uniform had become to small, for some reason.'

A PERIOD and a SEMICOLON serve the same purpose: they separate two complete ideas (subject + predicate). A semicolon separates two more closely related ideas than does a period (a semicolon can often replace 'and').

'I went shopping yesterday; I bought a new pair of socks.'

'I went shopping yesterday. It was cold, so I took my car.'

A COLON separates a general statement on its left from details, explanation, or examples on its right.

'There are three main types of land transportation: buses, cars and trains.'

I don't understand women: some say what they think, while others don't think what they say.'

Re: Copular verb

Casi — Sun, 12 Dec 2004 05:00:50 GMT

Yes, exactly. And what a pleasure it is to be able to discuss this issue with you, MrP. I appreciate your style. Your posts provide delectable food for thought for a healthy discussion. It's truly an immovable feast. Thank you.

I more than agree that there's a problem with the tutor's claim, be it fundamental or semantics, and thank you for using numbers as an example, but I feel the addition may lead us away from syntax-semantic interchange and into the realm of (philosophical) Logic. That is, given the equation X = Y, the assumption, at least in linguistics, is that X is not equated to Y as in Logic or Mathmatics, but rather serves as a representation of X, and the reason for the terms predicate nominative, which renames the subject, and predicate adjective, which adds meaning to the subject.

So with regards to the equation 2.1167(X) = 2.1392(Y)--what follows is supposed to be fun, so please do not take it seriously--Y could renaming X or Y could be adding meaning to X:

2.1167(X) = 2.1392(Y)
=> Santa is really Pat. (Predicate nominative)

2.1167(X) = 2.1392(Y)
=>Santa is high on milk and cookies. (Predicate adjective)

We could of course use negative numbers (-2.1392), or words that have a negative connotation (liar):

2.1167(X) = -2.1392(Y)
=>Santa is a liar.

but result would be the same. Y renames or adds meaning to X, be that meaning positive or negative. The equation X = Y, at least in grammar, has Y serving as a representation of (X), and not serving as its equal--as in Math. (Plato would have loved copulars!)

For the sake of argument, or research or whatever it's called these days, I'm rather interested in finding out what's up with grammatical copulars (=)? For example, what is the function of the grammatical equals sign (e.g., Santa is really Pat)? Moreover, what differentiates the "locative use" of BE (e.g., We are in the house) from the non-locative use of BE (e.g., Santa is really Pat; Coke is probably it)?

The following are excellent examples of constructs that house both a copular and an adverb,

Coke is probably it.
Probably, Coke = it.
Coke = it, probably.

but how do we determine what the adverb is modifying? That is, if BE lacks semantic content, which so far appears to be true (e.g., We are located in the house; wherein 'in the house' modifies the participle, not the copular), then what is it that 'really' and 'probably' are modifying? What semantic context, be it in the copular or outside the copluar, is missing from the examples above?

Note reason for edits, punctuation symbols tend to shown up as emoticons.