CORRECTIONS & EXPLANATIONS - May 19, 2007.

Ha! Ha! I made a mistake and no one caught it, so you will have to reread this week’s entries if you want to discover it. (You will not find it among the corrections below.)

THIS WEEK’S GAFFS

He felt badly that the Maple Leafs missed the playoffs again.
He felt bad that the Maple Leafs missed the playoffs again.
“Bad” is an adjective describing “he”.

"...none of the fire fighters who were injured are back to work yet."
"...none of the fire fighters who were injured is back to work yet."
“None” is a singular noun and subject of the singular verb “is”.

"...that would be pretty important."
"...that would be very important."
“Pretty”, which means “becoming”, is commonly misused.

"Nurses taking part in these types of situations."
"Nurses are taking part in these types of situations."
The original is an incomplete thought as worded; “taking” needs the auxiliary verb “are”.

What is the difference between bias and prejudice?
We are biased for something or someone and prejudiced against someone or something.

He had a small amount of worms left in his fishing box.
He had a small number of worms left in his fishing box.
“Number” must be used with quantities that can be counted one at a time; “amount” is used with quantities that are not countable.

She said she was sorry but she could of been more sincere.
She said she was sorry but she could have been more sincere.
“Could of” does not exist. One must say “could have”.

THIS WEEK’S WORDS

“Grandiose” means pompous, or grand in an imposing way.
The actor’s grandiose gestures were way too melodramatic.

“Fatuous” means silly, unreal or foolish.
Paris Hilton is a fatuous and low-watted light bulb.

“Egalitarian” means asserting the equality of all.
Michael is an egalitarian in his critiques of professional writers.

“Integrity” means honesty, uprightness, soundness of moral principal and character.
He admired the girl’s integrity for refusing to cheat on an exam.

“Abstruse” means hidden, esoteric or difficult to understand.
His rationale for his cruel actions was abstruse and psychopathic.

BASIC LANGUAGE

What is a noun?
A noun is a word that names a person, place or thing.

What are the various types of nouns?
There are common nouns and proper nouns. “Tree” is a common noun. “John” is a proper noun and must be capitalized.

What is a pronoun?
A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun in a sentence.

Identify the various types of pronouns.
Pronouns can be personal, reflexive, relative interrogative, indefinite, intensive and demonstrative.

Nouns and pronouns will be demonstrated next week.