Editing Text
Don’t mistake a word in a prepositional phrase for the subiect of a sentence: Be sure
the verb agrees with the subject and not with the object of the preposition¯
,. ¯
When you edit, you make sure that your words and sentences say what ~.ou w.ant them
’to say. You also make sure that your sentences make sense and your words are right,
Before you share your writing with re£ders, you want to check it thoroughly for error~.
We ~an’t list every possible writing error, but the checklist below covers many kinds of
.errors that writers are likely to make.
..
The shade from the trees covers us.
The apples in ¯the basket taste tart.
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Verb Tense
¯
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The tenses of a verb are the forms that help indicate time. The simple tenses are as follows:
Editing Checldist
~ present
~ past
~ future
Preseut lense Use the present tense to express action that takes place now or that
¯occurs over and over. If the subject is he, she, it, or a singular noun, you form the present
tense of most verbs by adding -s or -es.
Do all verbs agree with their subjects?
Are verb tenses correct?
Are all the words spelled correctly?
Are all necessary words capitalized?
Is punctuation clear and .correct: end punctuation, commas, colons, semicolons,
apostrophes, and quotation marks?
, Are there anysentence fragments or run-ons?
~
~
~
~
,
Tie enjoys her ~olu’nteer work at a local hospital. She goes there after school.
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Past tense Use the past tense to express an action that was started and completed in
the past. You form the past tense of most verbs by adding -ed or -d.
The athlete jumped high.
Future tense Use the future tense to express an action that will occur in the future. One
common way to form this tense is to use will or shall with the main verb.
Subject-Verb Agreement
A complete sentence has a subject and a verb. The subject is the key noun or pronoun
that tells what a sentence is about. The verb or verb phrase tells what the subject is doing.
Rachel will audition for the play. Carlos shall direct the production.
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Subject
Bill Cosby
Who
Not.hing
Verb
was speaking.
will win?
happened..
A subject and its v.erbmust agree in number. Use th~ singular form of a verb with a
singular subject. Use the plural form of a verb with a plural subject.
Singular
Plural
Singular noun
Plural noun
Form of verb
Form of verb
Doctors
The doctor
examine patients.
examines patients.
There are also three perfect tenses made up of the past,participle and a form of the
helping verb have. The three perfect tenses are as follows:
~ present perfect
~ past perfect,
~ future perfect
Presenl perfeC! teilse U.se the present perfect tense to express an action that began in the
past and continues into the present.
She has studied music for many years.
Her teachefs have noticed her talent.
Past perfect tense Use the past perfect tense to indicate that one past action began and
ended before another past action started.
A compound subject consists of two or more subjects joined by and, or, .or nor. If and
joins the subjects, use the plural form of the verb.
By the time the ticket booth opened, a line had formed.
Piural
Compound subject Form of verb
The man and the woman are dancing.
With compound subjects joined by or or nor (or by eith~r...or or neither...nor), the verb
always agrees with the subject nearer to it.
Plural: Neither the man nor the women are dancing,
Siugular: The man or the woman is dancing.
Either the men or the woman is d.ancing, .
HSPA Success in La.nguage Arts Literacy
The coach liked what he saw.
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Before Dora came to the United States, she had lived in Spain for a year.
Future perfect tense Use the future perfect tense to express one future action thai will
begin and end before another future event starts.
By the time I finish this course, l will have read seven novels.
The band will have performed fifteen concerts by the end of the school year.
22
HSPA Success in Language Arts Lileracy
Correct any errors in subject-verb agreement in the following paragral~l~i
~
The eating habits of the lizard and the snake .~s~similar. The diet of lizards~
consis~of insect’s, spiders, snails, worms, mice, young birds, and even other
lizards. Snakes eat very much the same foods as lizards. Neither the sna.l~e
,
nor the lizard use~teeth to chew food. Rather, the~ seize their vtt~ms and~
then swallowg them whole. Snakes, unl~ke I~zards, ~ ec~al jaws. The jaws of
a snake enable/~t to open its mouth so w~de that it can swallow an animal
much larger than ~tselq As the snake swallowsthe food, ~ts ~ody stretches to
accommodate the size of the prey.
Remember that a subject and its verb must agree in number. For compound subjectsi
with and, us~ the plural form of the verb. For compound subjects with or or nor, ~
make sure that the verb agrees with the subject nearer to it. And make sure that theI
verb agrees with the subject and not with the object of a preposition. "
j
For each of the following verb forms, write a sentence using the verb in parentheses.
~1. present tense (play)
b. past tense (defeat)
C. future tense (finish)
d. present perfect tense (arrive)
e. past perfect tense (work)
f. future perfect tense (increase)
HSPA Success in Lanouage Arts Literacy
23
Name
Date
Period
25.
,
He AND ME?
One of the confusing aspects of usage is when to use certain pronouns. Add up the numbers
below the answers you’ve chosen when you finish with each group. If you have selected the
correct pronoun in each sentence, the totals for both groups will be the same.
GROUP ONE
A
He and2 me) can do the work faster.
B. The winners ar
C. Hal, the boy (who,
).
2
you chose, is here.
D. Is it((~ them)?
E. Molly bought both Bob and (I,
eakers.
R My friend and ~~h~[) arrived a~ ~he same ~ime.
Total number:
GROUP TWO
A. This is a secret between (she and !, her and I,
B. Take the gift t~i~ob and she).
)9 happy
C. (My sister and thern~M_v sister and -thev)~-~re
now.
D. He is as tall a~(~_m:~).
E. Neither he no~ (I,~) can be there at that time.
\~Y 3
Total number:
137
Date
Name
Period
’"DON’T SAY, ’EACH GIRL HAS THEIR PURSE.’"
One of the most difficult usage problems involves agreement. We should say, "Each girl has
her purse,"for correct agreement of pronoun and antecedent. Subject and verb agreement can
also be tricky. Is the word "measles" singular or plural? This activity will help clear up some
of these questions. Circle the correct word in each sentence. Then use the first letter of the
correct answers to identify the names of two countries of the world.
ead) his own musical piece.
1. Each of the students
2. Many articles in the newspaper~are}is) interesting.
3. None of the students (punt,
4. All of the
5.
e ball as well as Bob.
betters) their scores this way.
obody) have received their awards already.
6. The news of her accomphshmen
, please) us.
7. Alex and his brothers (is~ coming home
today.
....
8.
ome) of the charts is here now.
9. The animals in the cag
educates) one another.
10. Ken, along with his classm
see) why it is done that way.
11. Neither Lyle nor his friends(~(resP0nd)~___j answers)promptly.
12. Either the players or their coach (tease~’~ds)~arold.
13. Mathematie~(expands~iinerease) my knowledge.
14. Most of the ehildren((yell, i~ereams) during scary movies¯
and !i)(l