CORRECTIONS & EXPLANATIONS - October 21, 2007

Monday

SPECIAL/ESPECIAL

“Especial” is very formal and could be used when meaning “particular”. The more common uses of the words are as the adverbs “specially” and “especially”.

Tuesday

PRINCIPAL/PRINCIPLE

“Principal” (n. or adj.) means the highest of rank or importance.

“Principle” (n.) means a rule or standard and is used in terms of doctrine or law.


Wednesday, Thursday, Friday

LET US PARSE

Parsing a sentence is easy if you remember a few simple guidelines.

1. Identify the verb. (That's the word that expresses the action. We will expand on this later.)

2. Remember the following word: "What".

3. Ask "What" when looking at each word.

THE METHOD

1. What is the action? The verb.

1.a. What qualifies the action? Adverbs, that modify verbs. They answer the questions, "Where?" "When?", "Why?" and "How?"

2. What (who) does the action? The subject of the verb. (Usually a noun.)

2.a. What qualifies the subject? Adjectives, that modify nouns.

3. What receives the action? The object of the verb. (Usually a noun.)

3.a. What qualifies the object? Adjectives, that modify nouns.

CONCLUSION

To be able to parse you must remember one word, "WHAT?" and apply it logically.

Parse the following sentence.

"The little old lady planted some daisies in her garden."

FOLLOW THE METHOD

WHAT is the action? "Planted" (verb).

WHAT (who) does the action? "Lady" (noun, subject of the verb).

WHAT receives the action? "Daisies" (noun, object of the verb).

WHAT qualifies (modifies) the action? The phrase "in her garden" which answers "WHERE" the planting occurred. Therefore, "in her garden" is an adverb phrase modifying the verb "planted".

WHAT qualifies (modifies) the subject? The adjectives "little" and "old".

WHAT qualifies (modifies) the object? The adjective "some".

WHAT is "the"? A definite article designating the noun "lady".


THE PHRASE

What is a "phrase" and how does it function?

A phrase is a group of words beginning with a preposition and having a noun as its object; for example, “in her garden” is a phrase that begins with the preposition “in” and its object “garden”. “Garden” is the object of “in” because it answers the question “WHAT” after “in”.


THIS WEEK’S WORDS

“Prissy" (adj.) means prudish, puritanical, excessively fastidious or overly prim.

“Iconoclast" (n.) means an image destroyer or one who attacks cherished beliefs as superstition.

“Salient" (adj.) means outstanding, prominent or eye-catching.

“Fallacious" (adj.) Means unsound reasoning, deceptive or false argument. The root is the Latin “fallacia” or “fallacy”.

“Xenophobia" (n.) means a fear of foreigners or strangers.