Here are the corrections and explanations for last week's abbreviated entries.
Tuesday
Find and correct the three errors in the following entries.
“There were a total of 168 passengers on the plane.”
The verb “were” must be in agreement with “total”, the singular subjective completion.
“There was a total of 168 passengers on the plane.”
“‘I use to live in Amherstburg and get to see a lot of people I've not seen in a long time.’”
“Use” is incorrect. It should be “used”.
“Used”, the verb of the principal clause, is past tense, so the verb, “get”, in the second clause must also be past tense.
To remain consistent, the verb in the third clause should be the past perfect tense, not the present perfect tense.
Because I thoroughly dislike the word “got” and all its forms and since I think that “got” should be banned from the English language, I am recommending changing it.
Because “a lot” is such a trite expression, it should be changed to “many”.
“‘I used to live in Amherstburg and I saw, at the gathering, many people I had not seen in a long time.’”
Wednesday
The construction of both entries below is weak. Determine what is incorrect and could be improved.
Read the second entry closely. Does it even make sense? Explain.
“Renaud said staff at America's Most Wanted have told her they will try and have his case featured on the broadcast version of the show.”
In the context of the sentence, “try and have” does not make sense. It should be changed to “try to have”.
“Renaud said staff at America's Most Wanted have told her they will try to have his case featured on the broadcast version of the show.”
“Police believe he may have been depressed when he went missing but not to the event of being suicidal.”
People and things do not “go missing”; to say that they do is inane!
“To the event” is completely incorrect. It is akin to using “prostrate” when meaning “prostate”.
Does the second clause even connect to the first? You be the judge; but read it very carefully.
“Police believe he may have been depressed when he disappeared but not to the extent of being suicidal.”
Friday
UNCHARTERED/UNCHARTED
“Unchartered” (adj.) means lacking a charter, lawless or unregulated.
“Uncharted” (adj.) means unmapped or unexplored.
LAST WEEK’S WORDS
“Prescience” (n.) means the power to foresee the future or the knowledge of things before they exist.
“Evocation” (n.) means an imaginative recreation, a calling forth or a summoning.
“Deleterious" (adj.) means having adverse effects on living things, injurious, noxious or abusive.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment