EASY ERROR CORRECTION
with
Professors Deborah Singer Pires
and
Susan C. Khodabakhshi
Union County College
©pires/khodabakhshi 2012
X- Word Grammar
 Part of a larger grammatical description of the English language called Sector Analysis
 Developed by Robert L. Allen of Teachers College, Columbia University in the 1960’s
 Describes the language more accurately than traditional grammar
 Gives teachers tools to correct students’ errors
 Gives students tools to self-analyze and self-correct

4 basic systems: x-words, verbs, word order, sentence combining
from: Get Healthy – Learn English, Pires/Khodabakhshi, 2012
 After today’s presentation, you will know everything you need to know about x-word
grammar and these systems.
pires/khodabakhshi 2012
ERROR CORRECTION FOR ESL STUDENTS
How would you explain these grammar mistakes to your
students? How would you help them make corrections?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
He last month went to a podiatrist.
In England rains a lot.
We been studying present perfect all semester.
Because is snowing.
What did you bought at the bookstore?
She grew up with her sisters, they always took care of each other.
ALL ABOUT X-WORDS
 Choose a secretary for your group. Only the secretary will
write the questions.
 Write twenty questions that can be answered ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
 Start each question with a different word. Do not use
contractions.
 Do not use negatives.
ALL ABOUT X-WORDS
There are a few systems in English.
This is the Auxiliary System or the X-Word System.
It is especially important in writing.
There are twenty X-Words. They are divided into four families.
BE FAMILY
HIDDEN
FAMILY
HAVE
FAMILY
MODAL
FAMILY
am
do
have
can
is
does
has
shall should
are
did
had
will
would
may
might
was
were
could
must
WHAT DO X-WORDS DO?
X-Words tell us about the structure of English
 X-Words make Yes/No Questions.
 X-Words make Information Questions.
 X-Words make negatives.
 X-Words make statements.
 X-Word Families determine the tense verb form.
“Once you master the form, you can produce content
endlessly.” – Stanley Fish, from his book,
How to Write a Sentence
MAKING QUESTIONS
Move the x-word in front of the subject to make the yes/no and wh questions.
Ellen has exercised her whole life.
Has Ellen
What has Ellen
exercised her whole life?
done
her whole life?
Jim and Carlo have bought healthy food since they started exercising.
Have Jim and Carlo
bought healthy food since they started exercising?
Why have Jim and Carlo
bought healthy food since they started exercising?
QUESTION WORD ORDER IS DIFFERENT FROM STATEMENT WORD ORDER:
Put the x-word BEFORE the subject.
MAKING QUESTIONS WITH
HIDDEN X-WORDS
 The x-words in this family make questions the same way that all x-words
make questions.
 They move in front of the subject to make the question.
 However, they are HIDDEN INSIDE THE VERB in the affirmative statement.
 We see them in the question, in the short answer, and in the negative
statement.
QUESTION WORD ORDER IS DIFFERENT FROM STATEMENT WORD ORDER:
Put the x-word BEFORE the subject.
MAKING QUESTIONS WITH
HIDDEN X-WORDS
1.
They
feel stressed.
S (Hidden X-Word)
Do
X
2.
they
feel stressed?
They don’t feel relaxed.
X
She meditates
every day.
(Hidden X-Word)
Does she meditate_
every day?
X
She doesn’t get nervous anymore.
X
3.
He
Did
X
walked
a mile
(Hidden X-Word)
he
walk_
a mile
He didn’t sleep late.
X
Yes, they do.
X
Yes, she does.
X
this morning.
this morning
Yes, he did.
X
MAKING NEGATIVES
x-word + not = negative
Present Perfect:
have, has, had + not = negative
Examples:
Ellen’s husband hasn’t exercised for several years.
We haven’t gone to the dentist since last year.
VERB FORMS
There are five forms of every verb:
V
= the “base form”
Vs = the “third person singular” form (simple present)
Ving = the “ing” form
Ved = the “simple past” form
Vpp = the “past participle” form
The x-word family determines the verb form that immediately
follows the x-word.
X-WORDS
Be Family
am, is are
was, were
Hidden Family
Invisible
+
(do)
(does)
(did)
Visible
do, does, did
Have Family
have, has, had
+
+
Modal Family
can, could, shall, should, will, would,
may, might, must +
EXAMPLE SENTENCES
Ving (active)
Vpp (passive)
No Verb
The doctor is examining the patient.
The patient was seen by two doctors.
I am happy about my test results.
V
Vs
Ved
I live near a hospital.
He lives near a hospital.
I joined a gym last week.
We don’t live near a gym.
V
Does she exercise regularly?
They didn’t see a doctor.
Vpp
We have just joined a gym.
He has been taking yoga classes.
He hadn’t exercised before.
V
I can’t pay for a gym membership.
He may join that health club.
They should be exercising more.
VERB TENSES
 X-words and verbs give information about time.
There are three time frames in English – past, present, and future.
 Each time frame is divided into three parts – perfect, simple, and continuous.
PAST
perfect simple continuous
before
in
during
PRESENT
perfect simple continuous
before
in
during
FUTURE
perfect simple continuous
before
in
during
THREE WAYS OF TALKING ABOUT THE PAST
 Past Perfect:
She had suffered from tension
headaches for several years
before she learned to meditate.
Past Perfect Continuous: She had been meditating for
twelve minutes when the
phone rang.
 Past Simple:
She meditated for six minutes
in class yesterday.
 Past continuous:
She was meditating when her
mother asked her to take out
the garbage.
THREE WAYS OF TALKING ABOUT THE
PRESENT
Present Perfect:
She has not had any tension
headaches for a long time.
Present Perfect Continuous:
She has been doing twominute exercises for a month.

Present Simple:
She practices her relaxation
exercises every morning
before work.

Present Continuous:
Please don’t make any noise.
She is meditating.

THREE WAYS OF TALKING ABOUT THE
FUTURE

Future Perfect:
By 8:30 A.M., she will have
completed her relaxation exercises.
Future Perfect Continuous:
By 8:20 A.M., she will have been practicing her exercises for
five minutes.

Future simple:

Future continuous:
She will practice her exercises at the
same time tomorrow.
She will be practicing her exercises
tomorrow morning while we are
eating breakfast.
WHAT IS A SIMPLE ENGLISH STATEMENT?
 A simple English statement is a group of words with one subject and one x-word.
It begins with a capital letter and ends with a period.
Example: Who is from Brazil? Juliana is.
S X [complete statement]
 There must be a subject and an x-word in every statement.
 A statement may also have a verb, object, place, or time.
 Word order is important in English. If you mix up the word order, people will not understand
you.
Punctuation:
How do we know where one sentence ends and the next one begins?
A NEW SUBJECT + A NEW X-WORD = A NEW SENTENCE
WORD ORDER
Subject X-Word Verb
Object
Place
Time.
S
X
V
O
P
T
Susan and
Mike
are
going to
ride
their bikes
in the park
after work.
Victoria
won’t
eat
fast food.
Juliana and
Nick
haven’t
gone
to the gym
since last
year.
Sophie
(hidden
x-word)
left
her cell
phone
at work.
Time can come at the beginning of the statement, usually followed by a comma if
it’s more than two words.
PHRASES AND CLAUSES

SIMPLE SENTENCES
Every simple sentence has one subject and one x-word.
Example: Jane will listen to music.
S
x

SOPHISTICATED SENTENCES:
Two ways to make sophisticated sentences:
1. Add information into a simple sentence with prepositions:
Prepositions can introduce phrases.
Example: Jane will listen to music on her iPod after dinner.
Preposition
Prep.
2. Combine two or more simple sentences with clause words:
Clause words can introduce clauses. Each clause has a subject and an x-word.
Example: Jane will listen to music because it relaxes her.
S X
Clause Word S (X)
PHRASE
A group of words that does NOT have a subject, x-word, or verb
Examples:
at the doctor’s office
during the operation
Prepositions can introduce phrases.
Prepositions can be followed by a noun.
CLAUSE
A group of words that has a subject, x-word, and maybe a verb
Examples: she went home
she was sick
 Add capital letters and periods, clauses become simple sentences.
 Make sophisticated sentences by combining simple sentences with a clause word.
She went home
because
S (x)
clause word
she was sick.
s x
CLAUSE WORDS
 Clause Words introduce clauses
 Clause words can combine two or more simple sentences
to make one sophisticated sentence.
 Each time we add a sentence, we need to add another
clause word or one of these connectors:
and but or so
 Get Healthy - Learn English, Pires/Khodabakhshi, 2012
Deborah S. Pires
E-mail: [email protected]
Susan C. Khodabakhshi
E-mail: [email protected]