Adjective or Adverb

Choose the correct item:

1. He (correct, correctly) defined the terms. The answer sounded (correctly, correct).

2. She (quickly, quick) adjusted the fees. She adapted (quick, quickly) to any situation.

3. He measured the floor (exact, exactly). They proved to be (perfectly, perfect) (exact, exactly)
measurements.

4. The stillness of the tomb was (awfully, awful). The tomb was (awfully, awful) still.

5. It was a (dangerously, dangerous) lake to swim in. The man was (dangerous, dangerously) drunk.
The gas smelled (dangerously,dangerous).

6. She performed (magnificent, magnificently). It was a (magnificent, magnificently) beautiful

performance.

7. Her voice sounds (beautifully, beautiful). She sang the song (exact, exactly) as it was written. We
heard it (perfectly, perfect).

8. He was a very (sensibly, sensible) person. He acted very (sensible, sensibly).

9. Mike wrote too (slow, slowly) on the exam. He always writes (slow, slowly).

10. Talk (softly, soft) or don't talk at all. The music played (softly, soft).

11. Andrea knows the material very (good, well). She always treats us (good, well).

12. You must send payments (regular, regularly). We deal on a (strictly, strict) cash basis.

13. The mechanic's tools were (well, good). The foreman said that his work was (good, well) done.

14. She worked (careful, carefully) with the sick child. She was a very (careful, carefully) worker.

15. He did not pass the course as (easy, easily) as he thought he would.

16. I find this novel very (interesting, interestingly). It was (interesting, interestingly) written.
Appositive
Encircle and punctuate the appositives in the following sentences. Not all require punctuation.

1. My son, the policeman, will be visiting us next week.

2. The captain ordered the ship's carpenters to assemble the shallop, a large rowboat.

3. Walter, the playboy and writer, is very attached to his mother, Mrs. Hammon.

4. Paul Newman the famous American actor directed five motion pictures.

5. Elizabeth Teague, a sweet and lovable girl, grew up to be a mentally troubled woman.

6. Sweetbriar a company known throughout the South is considering a nationwide advertising

campaign.

7. As an above-average student and talented musician John made his family proud.

8. The extremely popular American film Titanic was widely criticized for its mediocre script.

9. Citizen Kane the greatest American film ever made won only one Academy Award.

10. 60 Minutes the TV news magazine program featured a story on the popular singer Whitney
Houston.
Articles
Directions: Fill in the blank with the appropriate article, a, an, or the, or leave the space blank if no
article is needed.

1. I want ____ apple from that basket.

2. ____ church on the corner is progressive.

3. Miss Lin speaks ____ Chinese.

4. I borrowed ____ pencil from your pile of pencils and pens.

5. One of the students said, "____ professor is late today."

6 Eli likes to play ____ volleyball.

7. I bought ____ umbrella to go out in the rain.

8. My daughter is learning to play ____ violin at her school.

9. Please give me ____ cake that is on the counter.

10. I lived on ____ Main Street when I first came to town.

11. Albany is the capital of ____ New York State.

12. My husband's family speaks ____ Polish.

13. ____ apple a day keeps the doctor away.

14. ____ ink in my pen is red.

15. Our neighbors have ____ cat and ____ dog.

Count and Noncount Nouns
On the basis of the rules for using articles discussed in the OWL file "Count and Noncount Nouns,"
which combinations of words below are permitted and which ones aren't? Put an X next to the
incorrect combinations.

1. a table

2. these person

3. this furniture

4. that assignment

5. a boy

6. the poetry

7. a difficulty

8. a research

9. this eggs

10. those argument

Prepositions of Direction
Complete the following sentences with the correct preposition:

to, toward, on, onto, in, or into. Some sentences may have more than one possible correct answer.
Remember that a few verbs of motion take only "on" rather than "onto."

1. Anna has returned ______ her home town.

2. The dog jumped ______ the lake.

3. Are the boys still swimming ______ the pool?

4. Thomas fell ______ the floor.

5. The plane landed ______ the runway.

6. We drove _____ the river for an hour but turned north before we reached it.

7. The kids climbed ______ the monkey bars.

8. Joanna got ______ Fred's car.

9. The baby spilled his cereal ______ the floor.

10. We cried to the man on the ladder, "Hang ______!"

11. I went ______ the gym.

12. Matthew and Michelle moved the table ______ the dining room.

13. Allan left your keys ______ the table.

14. Dr. Karper apologized for interrupting us and told us to carry ______ with our discussion.

15. I walk ______ the amusement park.

16. Pat drove Mike ______ the airport.

17. Glenn almost fell ______ the river.

18. The waitress noticed that there was no more Diet Pepsi ______ Marty's glass.

19. Lee and Sarah took the bus that was heading ______ the university.

20. Mary Sue jumped ______ the stage and danced.

Tense Consistency
Recognizing Shifts in Sentences

Check the following sentences for confusing shifts in tense. If the tense of each underlined verb
expresses the time relationship accurately, write S (satisfactory). If a shift in tense is not appropriate,
write U (unsatisfactory) and make necessary changes. In most cases with an inappropriate shift, there
is more than one way to correct the inconsistency. Reading the sentences aloud will help you
recognize differences in time.

___ 1. If the club limited its membership, it will have to raise its dues.

___ 2. As Barbara puts in her contact lenses, the telephone rang.

___ 3. Thousands of people will see the art exhibit by the time it closes.

___ 4. By the time negotiations began, many pessimists have expressed doubt about them.

___ 5. After Capt. James Cook visited Alaska on his third voyage, he is killed by Hawaiian islanders in
1779.

___ 6. I was terribly disappointed with my grade because I studied very hard.

___ 7. The moderator asks for questions as soon as the speaker has finished.

___ 8. Everyone hopes the plan would work.

___ 9. Harry wants to show his friends the photos he took last summer.

___ 10. Scientists predict that the sun will die in the distant future.

___ 11. The boy insisted that he has paid for the candy bars.

___ 12. The doctor suggested bed rest for the patient, who suffers from a bad cold.
Punctuations
Put in semicolons, colons, dashes, quotation marks, Italics (use an underline), and parentheses where
ever they are needed in the following sentences.

1. The men in question Harold Keene, Jim Peterson, and Gerald Greene deserve awards.

2. Several countries participated in the airlift Italy, Belgium, France, and Luxembourg.

3. There's no room for error, said the engineer so we have to double check every calculation.

4. Judge Carswell later to be nominated for the Supreme Court had ruled against civil rights.

5. In last week's New Yorker, one of my favorite magazines, I enjoyed reading Leland's article How
Not to Go Camping.

6. Yes, Jim said, I'll be home by ten.

7. There was only one thing to do study till dawn.

8. Montaigne wrote the following A wise man never loses anything, if he has himself.

9. The following are the primary colors red, blue, and yellow.

10. Arriving on the 8 10 plane were Liz Brooks, my old roommate her husband and Tim, their son.

11. When the teacher commented that her spelling was poor, Lynn replied All the members of my
family are poor spellers. Why not me?

12. He used the phrase you know so often that I finally said No, I don't know.

13. The automobile dealer handled three makes of cars Volkswagens, Porsches, and Mercedes Benz.

14. Though Phil said he would arrive on the 9 19 flight, he came instead on the 10 36 flight.

15. Whoever thought said Helen that Jack would be elected class president?

16. In baseball, a show boat is a man who shows off.

17. The minister quoted Isaiah 5 21 in last Sunday's sermon.

18. There was a very interesting article entitled The New Rage for Folk Singing in last Sunday's New
York Times newspaper.

19. Whoever is elected secretary of the club Ashley, or Chandra, or Aisha must be prepared to do a
great deal of work, said Jumita, the previous secretary.

20. Darwin's On the Origin of Species 1859 caused a great controversy when it appeared.
Apostrophes
Punctuate the following sentences with apostrophes according to the rules for using the apostrophe.

1. Whos the partys candidate for vice president this year?

2. The fox had its right foreleg caught securely in the traps jaws.

3. Our neighbors car is an old Chrysler, and its just about to fall apart.

4. In three weeks time well have to begin school again.

5. Didnt you hear that theyre leaving tomorrow?

6. Whenever I think of the stories I read as a child, I remember Cinderellas glass slipper and Snow
Whites wicked stepmother.

7. We claimed the picnic table was ours, but the Smiths children looked so disappointed that we found
another spot.

8. Its important that the kitten learns to find its way home.

9. She did not hear her childrens cries.

10. My address has three 7s, and Tims phone number has four 2s.

11. Didnt he say when he would arrive at Arnies house?

12. Its such a beautiful day that Ive decided to take a sun bath.

13. She said the watch Jack found was hers, but she couldnt identify the manufacturers name on it.

14. Little girls clothing is on the first floor, and the mens department is on the second.

15. The dogs bark was far worse than its bite.

16. The moons rays shone feebly on the path, and I heard the insects chirpings and whistlings.

17. Theyre not afraid to go ahead with the plans, though the choice is not theirs.

18. The man whose face was tan said that he had spent his two weeks vacation in the mountains.

19. I found myself constantly putting two cs in the word process.

20. Johns 69 Ford is his proudest possession.

Comma Exercise 2
Place commas wherever they are needed in the following sentences.

1. There was no question that John's painting a huge colorful and ugly mural was the worst entry in
the art exhibit.

2. Werner von Braun Willy Ley and Edward Teller noted authorities in the field of rocket development
have done much to guide the missile program of the United States.

3. Mr. Cready's ability to say the wrong thing at the wrong time is I believe amazing.

4. Running around the house the dog was abruptly stopped by a fence.

5. If the opposition should win our candidate would never have any political future.

6. Gracefully lightly and daintily the ballerina moved across the stage.

7. Glamour the woman's fashion magazine recently incorporated with Charm another fashion journal.

8. Joe was born on May 7 1955 and his best friend was born exactly two months later on July 7 1955.

9. Mr. and Mrs. Kwon my parents' best friends sat in front of us at the football game.

10. November 11 1918 the armistice ending World War I was signed.
Eliminating Wordiness
Revise these sentences to state their meaning in fewer words. Avoid passive voice, needless
repetition, and wordy phrases and clauses. The first sentence has been done as an example.

1. Many local farmers plan to attend next Friday's meeting.

2. Although Bradley Hall is regularly populated by students, close study of the building as a structure
is seldom undertaken by them.

3. He dropped out of school on account of the fact that it was necessary for him to help support his
family.

4. It is expected that the new schedule will be announced by the bus company within the next few
days.

5. There are many ways in which a student who is interested in meeting foreign students may come to
know one.

6. It is very unusual to find someone who has never told a deliberate lie on purpose.

7. Trouble is caused when people disobey rules that have been established for the safety of all.

8. A campus rally was attended by more than a thousand students. Five students were arrested by
campus police for disorderly conduct, while several others are charged by campus administrators with
organizing a public meeting without being issued a permit to do so.

9. The subjects that are considered most important by students are those that have been shown to be
useful to them after graduation.

10. In the not too distant future, college freshmen must all become aware of the fact that there is a
need for them to make contact with an academic adviser concerning the matter of a major.

11. In our company there are wide-open opportunities for professional growth with a company that
enjoys an enviable record for stability in the dynamic atmosphere of aerospace technology.

12. Some people believe in capital punishment, while other people are against it; there are many
opinions on this subject.
Subject and Verb Agreement Exercise
Choose the correct form of the verb that agrees with the subject.

1. Annie and her brothers (is, are) at school.

2. Either my mother or my father (is, are) coming to the meeting.

3. The dog or the cats (is, are) outside.

4. Either my shoes or your coat (is, are) always on the floor.

5. George and Tamara (doesn't, don't) want to see that movie.

6. Benito (doesn't, don't) know the answer.

7. One of my sisters (is, are) going on a trip to France.

8. The man with all the birds (live, lives) on my street.

9. The movie, including all the previews, (take, takes) about two hours to watch.

10. The players, as well as the captain, (want, wants) to win.

11. Either answer (is, are) acceptable.

12. Every one of those books (is, are) fiction.

13. Nobody (know, knows) the trouble I've seen.

14. (Is, Are) the news on at five or six?

15. Mathematics (is, are) John's favorite subject, while Civics (is, are) Andrea's favorite subject.

16. Eight dollars (is, are) the price of a movie these days.

17. (Is, Are) the tweezers in this drawer?

18. Your pants (is, are) at the cleaner's.

19. There (was, were) fifteen candies in that bag. Now there (is, are) only one left!

20. The committee (debates, debate) these questions carefully.

21. The committee (leads, lead) very different lives in private.

22. The Prime Minister, together with his wife, (greets, greet) the press cordially.

23. All of the CDs, even the scratched one, (is, are) in this case.