CORRECTIONS & EXPLANATIONS - October 28, 2007

Here are the corrections and explanations for last week's entries.

Monday

HEIGHTH/HEIGHT

“Heighth” is not an acceptable word. The only correct form is “height”.
“So check your height today to see if you have grown.”

Tuesday

WHAT'S WRONG?

Explain the errors in the sentences below?

“He wants out of the contract.”

“The cat wants in.”

“Want” cannot be followed by a preposition or adverb indicating direction. The sentences have to be rewritten.

Corrected Versions

“He wants to get out of the contract.”
“The cat wants to come in.”

Wednesday

POOR PROSE BY THE PROS

Example 1

"County Road 25 north of County Road 46 is lined with dozens of mature trees on the road allowance. That's what Chevalier would like to see more of."
You cannot end a sentence in a preposition. It must be reworded.

Corrected Version

"County Road 25 north of County Road 46 is lined with dozens of mature trees on the road allowance. More of that is what Chevalier would like to see."

Example 2

"Most often, though, trees are located on the side of the ditch furthest from the road, with occasional exceptions made for mature trees that are left alone even though they are technically too close to the road by county standards."
“Furthest” does not indicate distance; it means “in addition”. “Farthest" must be used.

Corrected Version

"Most often, though, trees are located on the side of the ditch farthest from the road, with occasional exceptions made for mature trees that are left alone even though they are technically too close to the road by county standards."

Thursday

LAY/LIE

“You lie down to rest.”
“A chicken lays an egg.”

They are not interchangeable.

Friday

MORE POOR PROSE BY THE PROS

Example 1

"Her band of eight students were studying how to depict a group of trees."
The noun “students” is plural. It demands the plural verb “was”.
A number of trees is not called a group; it is a “grove’ or a “copse” or a “forest”.

Corrected Version

"Her band of eight students was studying how to depict a grove of trees."

Example 2

"They call themselves North Preston's Finest (NPF) after the small Nova Scotia community northeast of Halifax were they hail from."

“Were” does not substitute for “where”.
You cannot end a sentence in a preposition. Didn’t I just say that? So, “from” at the end of the sentence is incorrect. It must be reworded.
A third error is that places are not named “after’.

Corrected Version

"They call themselves North Preston's Finest (NPF) for the small Nova Scotia community northeast of Halifax from which they hail."

MORE PARSING

"The boy, Tom, in the back of the room constantly disrupted the the teacher with disgusting noises."

WHAT is the action word? “disrupted”. (Verb) predicate.
WHAT did the action? “Boy” - noun, subject of the verb.
WHAT received the action” “Teacher” - indirect object.
WHEN did the action occur? “constantly” - adverb modifying the verb disrupted.
HOW did the action occur? “With disgusting noises - adverb phrase modifying the verb.
WHAT qualifies the subject? “In the back” - adjective phrase modifying the noun boy.
WHAT is “Tom? A noun in apposition to the subject “boy”. (Something new.)
WHAT is “of the room”? An adjective phrase modifying the noun “back”.
WHAT are “in”, “of” and “with”? Prepositions starting phrases and each taking its own object.

This is laborious but it sets up the structure of a sentence and all sentences use the same rules.



LAST WEEK’S WORDS

“Bemused" (v.) is a verb meaning confused or addled emotionally.

“Satiate" (v.) means to fill, usually overfill, or to consume.

“Flippant" (adj.) means treating things too lightly or not treating with proper gravity.

“Salacious" (adj.) means lewd or suggestive of moral looseness, indecency.

“Intrepid" (adj.) means dauntless, without fear of reprisal or brash