WORD LIST
Below is the list of words presented since February 19.
Can you remember their meanings?
Acquiescence, acquisitive, apostasy, carnage, derisive, destitution, diatribe, disparagement, ebullient, extirpate, incorrigible, indolence, indolent, lassitude, oblivious, obstreperous, presage, prestigious, pugnacious, reprove, succubus, surreptitious, vagary, veracity, vestigial.
DON'T FORGET
Monday is a special day.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Friday, April 4, 2008
CHECK THIS!
INFAMOUS/NOTORIOUS/FAMOUS
"Infamous", "notorious" and "famous" are clearly different in meaning.
Explain the differences in meaning of the three words and use each in a sentence.
TODAY'S WORD
The word for today is "pugnacious".
Define "pugnacious" and use it in a sentence.
CORRECTIONS & EXPLANATIONS
Corrections and explanations for this week's entries will be posted Sunday.
SATURDAY SPECIAL
Tomorrow will be a "Special Review Day".
I will post a list of all words presented since the last list compilation on February 19.
Review the list to see how many of those words you can remember and use.
MONDAY
Next Monday is a very special day. Visit the blog to "get the skinny".
"Infamous", "notorious" and "famous" are clearly different in meaning.
Explain the differences in meaning of the three words and use each in a sentence.
TODAY'S WORD
The word for today is "pugnacious".
Define "pugnacious" and use it in a sentence.
CORRECTIONS & EXPLANATIONS
Corrections and explanations for this week's entries will be posted Sunday.
SATURDAY SPECIAL
Tomorrow will be a "Special Review Day".
I will post a list of all words presented since the last list compilation on February 19.
Review the list to see how many of those words you can remember and use.
MONDAY
Next Monday is a very special day. Visit the blog to "get the skinny".
Thursday, April 3, 2008
"PSHAW! PSHAW!"
FULFILLING MY MANDATE
Fix the errors in the following sentence.
"Groups or rows or trees could be planted further back from that clear zone, depending of the location of roadside ditches, said county engineer Tom Bateman."
Gary Rennie, "Trees banned along roads", The Windsor Star, Thursday, April 3, 2008.
TODAY'S WORD
The word for today is "acquisitive".
Defince "acquisitive" and use it in a sentence.
Fix the errors in the following sentence.
"Groups or rows or trees could be planted further back from that clear zone, depending of the location of roadside ditches, said county engineer Tom Bateman."
Gary Rennie, "Trees banned along roads", The Windsor Star, Thursday, April 3, 2008.
TODAY'S WORD
The word for today is "acquisitive".
Defince "acquisitive" and use it in a sentence.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
DOES ANYBODY EVER PROOFREAD?
EVEN THE BIG BOYS
Correct the errors in the following examples.
"There are a variety of colours to choose from."
Chrysler Canada TV Commercial, "Canada's Choice Event", April 1, 2008.
"An alarming number of them are dropping out [of high school]."
Brian Williams, NBC News, High School Dropout Story, NBC TV, April 1, 2008, 6:33 pm.
TODAY'S WORD
The word for today is "acquiescence".
Define "acquiescence" and use it in a sentence.
Correct the errors in the following examples.
"There are a variety of colours to choose from."
Chrysler Canada TV Commercial, "Canada's Choice Event", April 1, 2008.
"An alarming number of them are dropping out [of high school]."
Brian Williams, NBC News, High School Dropout Story, NBC TV, April 1, 2008, 6:33 pm.
TODAY'S WORD
The word for today is "acquiescence".
Define "acquiescence" and use it in a sentence.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
PAY CLOSE ATTENTION
SUMMERY/SUMMARY
Explain the difference between "summery" and "summary".
WORD OF THE DAY
The word for today is "epitome".
Define "epitome" and use it in a sentence.
How many syllables are there in "epitome"? What syllable is stressed? How often, when reading "epitome", do you mispronounce it?
NEXT MONDAY - A SPECIAL DAY
Log on next Monday to learn why.
Explain the difference between "summery" and "summary".
WORD OF THE DAY
The word for today is "epitome".
Define "epitome" and use it in a sentence.
How many syllables are there in "epitome"? What syllable is stressed? How often, when reading "epitome", do you mispronounce it?
NEXT MONDAY - A SPECIAL DAY
Log on next Monday to learn why.
Monday, March 31, 2008
LATIN SKILLS CHALLENGE
ALUMNUS/ALUMNI/ALUMNA/ALUMNAE
Can you distinguish the different meanings of "alumnus", "alumni", "alumna" and "alumnae"? Explain and give examples.
TODAY'S WORD
The word for today is "incorrigible".
Define "incorrigible" and use it in a sentence.
Can you distinguish the different meanings of "alumnus", "alumni", "alumna" and "alumnae"? Explain and give examples.
TODAY'S WORD
The word for today is "incorrigible".
Define "incorrigible" and use it in a sentence.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
CORRECTIONS & EXPLANATIONS - March 30, 2008
Here are the corrections and explanations for last week's postings.
Monday
Find and correct the errors in the following sentences.
"Leamington police Sgt. Mike Symons said the crash occurred at 9:17 p.m. in the 200 block of County Road 37, where a group of teens were standing in the rural area."
“Group”, the subject of the sentence, is singular, so the verb must also be singular.
"Leamington police Sgt. Mike Symons said the crash occurred at 9:17 p.m. in the 200 block of County Road 37, where a group of teens was standing in the rural area."
"None of their injuries are life-threatening, Symons said."
“None”, the subject, is singular, so the verb must also be singular.
"None of their injuries is life-threatening, Symons said."
Tuesday
RULE: SUBJECTS AND THEIR VERBS MUST AGREE!
If the subject is singular, the verb MUST be singular.
If the subject is plural, the verb MUST be plural.
Do the subjects and predicates agree in the following?
"Staff Sgt. Ed McNorton said earlier this month that the number of robberies so far this year have far outpaced the number up to this point last year."
No! They do not agree.
“Number” is singular, so the verb must also be singular.
"Staff Sgt. Ed McNorton said earlier this month that the number of robberies so far this year has far outpaced the number up to this point last year."
"A majority of those robberies, he said, were at convenience stores and committed by people looking for drug money."
The subject, “majority” is singular, so the verb must be singular.
"A majority of those robberies, he said, was at convenience stores and committed by people looking for drug money."
Wednesday
The VERB is the word that expresses the action of the clause or sentence.
The SUBJECT is the word that identifies the doer of the action.
The VERB and the SUBJECT must agree.
What is correct in the example below? Explain your choice.
The group of citizens (want/wants) to serve.
“Group” is a collective singular noun; therefore, the verb must also be singular.
The group of citizens wants to serve.
Thursday
HOW MANY?
Can you identify the writing gaffs in the following examples?
Hint: think "four", but think "sense".
Hint: there are no "typos" in the examples.
Sorry! I lied. There was a “typo”. If you didn’t catch it, too bad; I fixed it.
I do promise to be more diligent in my proofing.
"He's not one of those guys whose always there hooking, hooking and trying all the time."
Spellcheck will not detect misused words that are spelled correctly. “Whose” is spelled correctly but is an interrogative pronoun. The sense is “who is”.
Does the sentence even make sense? Is the guy a loser because he is never successful? Is he a street walker trying to make a buck? You fix it. I can’t.
"He's not one of those guys who is (or “who’s) always there hooking, hooking and trying all the time."
"The number of personal and business bankruptcies in Windsor and Essex County have shot up by 30 per cent over last year, a trend that is expected to get worse before it gets better, industry experts say."
Again, Spellcheck will not detect misused words that are spelled correctly.
The meaning is “30 percent” not “per ‘individual’ cent.
"The number of personal and business bankruptcies in Windsor and Essex County has shot up by 30 percent over last year, a trend that is expected to get worse before it gets better, industry experts say."
ENOUGH OF THIS SUBJECT/VERB AGREEMENT/DISAGREEMENT.
START GETTING IT RIGHT!
Friday
REAL/REALLY
“Real” is an adjective, a word that modifies a noun or a pronoun.
His fear is real. (“Real” describes or modifies “fear”.)
“Really” is an adverb that modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb. It cannot be used to modify a noun.
His fear is really real. (“Really” describes or modifies the adjective “real”.)
He really likes chocolate. (“Really” describes the verb “likes”.)
He really, really likes girls. (The first “really” describes the second “really”, an adverb. The second “really“ describes the verb “likes“.)
THIS WEEK'S QUOTE
"The best portion of a good man's life,
His little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love."
William Wordsworth
THIS WEEK’S WORDS
“Extirpate" (v.) means to get rid of by destroying or to eradicate.
“Indolence" (n.) means laziness or lethargy.
“Lassitude" (n.) means torpor, sluggishness or lethargy.
“Disparagement" (n.) means disrespect or disapproval.
“Excoriate" (v.) means to condemn or decry.
Monday
Find and correct the errors in the following sentences.
"Leamington police Sgt. Mike Symons said the crash occurred at 9:17 p.m. in the 200 block of County Road 37, where a group of teens were standing in the rural area."
“Group”, the subject of the sentence, is singular, so the verb must also be singular.
"Leamington police Sgt. Mike Symons said the crash occurred at 9:17 p.m. in the 200 block of County Road 37, where a group of teens was standing in the rural area."
"None of their injuries are life-threatening, Symons said."
“None”, the subject, is singular, so the verb must also be singular.
"None of their injuries is life-threatening, Symons said."
Tuesday
RULE: SUBJECTS AND THEIR VERBS MUST AGREE!
If the subject is singular, the verb MUST be singular.
If the subject is plural, the verb MUST be plural.
Do the subjects and predicates agree in the following?
"Staff Sgt. Ed McNorton said earlier this month that the number of robberies so far this year have far outpaced the number up to this point last year."
No! They do not agree.
“Number” is singular, so the verb must also be singular.
"Staff Sgt. Ed McNorton said earlier this month that the number of robberies so far this year has far outpaced the number up to this point last year."
"A majority of those robberies, he said, were at convenience stores and committed by people looking for drug money."
The subject, “majority” is singular, so the verb must be singular.
"A majority of those robberies, he said, was at convenience stores and committed by people looking for drug money."
Wednesday
The VERB is the word that expresses the action of the clause or sentence.
The SUBJECT is the word that identifies the doer of the action.
The VERB and the SUBJECT must agree.
What is correct in the example below? Explain your choice.
The group of citizens (want/wants) to serve.
“Group” is a collective singular noun; therefore, the verb must also be singular.
The group of citizens wants to serve.
Thursday
HOW MANY?
Can you identify the writing gaffs in the following examples?
Hint: think "four", but think "sense".
Hint: there are no "typos" in the examples.
Sorry! I lied. There was a “typo”. If you didn’t catch it, too bad; I fixed it.
I do promise to be more diligent in my proofing.
"He's not one of those guys whose always there hooking, hooking and trying all the time."
Spellcheck will not detect misused words that are spelled correctly. “Whose” is spelled correctly but is an interrogative pronoun. The sense is “who is”.
Does the sentence even make sense? Is the guy a loser because he is never successful? Is he a street walker trying to make a buck? You fix it. I can’t.
"He's not one of those guys who is (or “who’s) always there hooking, hooking and trying all the time."
"The number of personal and business bankruptcies in Windsor and Essex County have shot up by 30 per cent over last year, a trend that is expected to get worse before it gets better, industry experts say."
Again, Spellcheck will not detect misused words that are spelled correctly.
The meaning is “30 percent” not “per ‘individual’ cent.
"The number of personal and business bankruptcies in Windsor and Essex County has shot up by 30 percent over last year, a trend that is expected to get worse before it gets better, industry experts say."
ENOUGH OF THIS SUBJECT/VERB AGREEMENT/DISAGREEMENT.
START GETTING IT RIGHT!
Friday
REAL/REALLY
“Real” is an adjective, a word that modifies a noun or a pronoun.
His fear is real. (“Real” describes or modifies “fear”.)
“Really” is an adverb that modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb. It cannot be used to modify a noun.
His fear is really real. (“Really” describes or modifies the adjective “real”.)
He really likes chocolate. (“Really” describes the verb “likes”.)
He really, really likes girls. (The first “really” describes the second “really”, an adverb. The second “really“ describes the verb “likes“.)
THIS WEEK'S QUOTE
"The best portion of a good man's life,
His little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love."
William Wordsworth
THIS WEEK’S WORDS
“Extirpate" (v.) means to get rid of by destroying or to eradicate.
“Indolence" (n.) means laziness or lethargy.
“Lassitude" (n.) means torpor, sluggishness or lethargy.
“Disparagement" (n.) means disrespect or disapproval.
“Excoriate" (v.) means to condemn or decry.
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