Anker Susan. Real Essays with Readings with 2009 MLA Update

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EDITING ESSAYS

Chapter 25 • Problems with Subject-Verb Agreement 447

Questions

In questions, the verb or part of the verb comes before the subject. To

ﬁ nd the subject and verb, you can turn the question around as if you were

going to answer it.

Where is the nearest gas station? The nearest gas station is . . .

Are the keys in the car? The keys are in the car.

Language Note: Forming questions correctly is difﬁ cult for

many people, especially those whose ﬁ rst language is not English.

For charts that summarize how to correctly form questions, see

Chapter 26.

Sentences That Begin with Here or There

When a sentence begins with here or there, the subject always follows the

verb. Turn the sentence around to ﬁ nd the subject and verb.

Here are the hot dog rolls. The hot dog rolls are here.

There is a ﬂ y in my soup. A ﬂ y is in my soup.

Language Note: There is and there are are common in English.

If you have trouble using these expressions, see page 588.

PRACTICE 8 CORRECTING A SENTENCE WHEN THE VERB

COMES BEFORE THE SUBJECT

Correct any problems with subject-verb agreement in the following sentences.

If a sentence is already correct, write “OK” next to it.

are

EXAMPLE: There is several openings for bilingual applicants.

1. Where is the corporation’s main ofﬁ ces located?

2. There is branch ofﬁ ces in Paris, Singapore, and Tokyo.

3. How well do the average employee abroad speak English?

4. What do the company manufacture?

5. How many languages are the manual written in?

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EDITING ESSAYS

448 Part Four • The Four Most Serious Errors

6. Does the company employ college graduates as translators?

7. There is some machines that can do translation.

8. Does learning a second language give an applicant a special advantage?

9. There is never a disadvantage in knowing another language.

10. Here is the names of several qualiﬁ ed people.

Edit Paragraphs and Your Own Writing

As you edit the following paragraphs and your own writing, use the Criti-

cal Thinking guide that follows. You may also want to refer to the chart

on page 451.

CRITICAL THINKING: EDITING FOR SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT

FOCUS

• Whenever you see one of the ﬁ ve trouble spots in your writing,

stop to check that the subject and the verb agree.

ASK

• Where is the subject in this sentence? Where is the verb?

• Do the subject and verb agree in number? (Are they both singular

or both plural?)

EDIT

• If you answer “no” to the agreement question, you need to correct

the sentence.

Find and correct any problems with subject-verb agreement that you

ﬁ nd in the following paragraphs.

EDITING REVIEW 1 (7 errors)

(1) School systems around the country is embracing educational

standards. (2) The idea of standards sound reasonable. (3) Does anyone

want to argue that students should not have to meet certain requirements

to graduate? (4) A national standard for all American students have

many supporters, too. (5) If the requirements for graduation in Oregon

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EDITING ESSAYS

Chapter 25 • Problems with Subject-Verb Agreement 449

and Tennessee is the same, everyone with a high school diploma gets a

similar education. (6) There is a catch, of course. (7) Not everyone with

a professional or personal interest in school quality is able to agree on

these requirements. (8) Mathematics and writing is important, but so is

music and physical education. (9) How is parents, teachers, and adminis-

trators ever going to ﬁ nd standards that everyone accepts?

EDITING REVIEW 2 (9 errors)

(1) Agreeing on school standards are only part of the battle over edu-

cation. (2) How is students going to prove that they have met the standards

before graduation? (3) The answer, in many cases, are testing. (4) School

tests that are required by state law is becoming more and more common.

(5) These tests are standardized, so all of the students taking an eighth-

grade test in a particular state is given the same test. (6) Both the indi-

vidual student and his or her school district is evaluated by the scores.

(7) The parents of a student learns not only what their child’s score is but

also how the school compares with others around the state. (8) Then,

children who need extra help is supposed to receive it, and schools with

very low scores year after year becomes eligible for additional resources.

EDITING REVIEW 3 (6 errors)

(1) In reality, standardized tests for schools have many problems.

(2) Most school districts that have a testing program uses tests that can be

scored by a computer. (3) Computers cannot read, so the tests that they

grade usually offers multiple-choice questions. (4) A multiple-choice test

in science or mathematics do not allow students to demonstrate critical

thinking. (5) How does students show their writing ability on such a test?

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EDITING ESSAYS

450 Part Four • The Four Most Serious Errors

(6) There is tricks to answering multiple-choice questions that many stu-

dents learn. (7) Frequently, a high score on such a test says more about the

student’s test-taking ability than about his or her knowledge of a subject.

(8) Nevertheless, the quick results and low cost of a computer-graded

multiple-choice test means that this imperfect testing system is used in

many school systems.

EDITING REVIEW 4 (7 errors and 4 formal

English errors)

(1) Another problem with standardized tests are that test material cn

begin to change the curriculum. (2) Everyone who teaches want his or her

students 2 get high scores on the tests. (3) For one thing, a teacher of un-

derperforming students are likely to be criticized for not preparing them

btr. (4) One result of teachers’ fears are that they spend most of the

class time preparing students for the test. (5) In some cases, the phenom-

enon of “teaching to the test” become school policy. (6) A creative teacher

or one who has been teaching for years are no longer trusted to engage

students with a subject. (7) Skul ofﬁ cials, who also want high scores for

their districts, encourage teachers to focus on material that the test will

cover. (8) Other material, which may be fascinating to students, are ig-

nored because the test does not require it.

PRACTICE 9 EDITING YOUR OWN WRITING FOR

SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT

As a ﬁ nal practice, edit for subject-verb agreement in a piece of your own

writing — a paper you are working on for this class, a paper you’ve already

ﬁ nished, a paper for another course, or a recent piece of writing from your

work or everyday life. Use the Critical Thinking guide on page 448 and the

chart on page 451 to help you.

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EDITING ESSAYS

Chapter 25 • Problems with Subject-Verb Agreement 451

HOW TO FIND AND CORRECT PROBLEMS

WITH SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT

If you ﬁ nd one of these trouble spots in your writing . . .

Verb is a form

of be, have,

or do

(see p. 436).

Words come

between subject

and verb

(see p. 440).

Subject is an

indeﬁ nite

pronoun

(see p. 444).

Sentence has

a compound

subject

(see p. 443).

Verb comes

before subject

(see p. 446).

Make sure you have found the real subject and the

real verb of the sentence.

Read them aloud to make sure they sound

right together.

If you are unsure about the correct form of the verb,

check the charts in this chapter and the next one.

Correct any problems you ﬁ nd with

subject-verb agreement.

Five trouble spots can cause problems

with subject-verb agreement.

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452

Verb Problems

Avoiding Mistakes in Verb Tense

Understand What Verb Tense Is

Verb tense tells when the action of a sentence occurs — in the present,

in the past, or in the future. Verbs change their form and use the helping

verbs have or be to indicate different tenses.

To choose the correct form and tense, consider whether the subject is

singular or plural and when the action occurs.

PRESENT TENSE Teresa and I talk every day. [Plural subject]

PRESENT TENSE She also talks to her mother every morning. [Singular

subject]

PAST TENSE Yesterday, they talked for two hours. [Plural subject]

FUTURE TENSE Tomorrow, they will talk again. [Plural subject]

■ IDEA JOURNAL

Write about

something you did

yesterday. Then, write

about it again as

if you are going to

do it tomorrow.

■ For more on

subject-verb agree-

ment and singular

versus plural verb

forms, see Chapter 25.

Language Note: Remember to add the endings on present-tense

and past-tense verbs, even if they can’t be heard in speech.

PRESENT TENSE Krystal plays varsity basketball.

PAST TENSE She played in the game yesterday.

Regular verbs follow a few standard patterns in the present and past

tenses, and their past-tense and past-participle forms end in -ed or -d.

■ In the examples

throughout this

chapter, the subject is

underlined once, and

the verb is underlined

twice.

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EDITING ESSAYS

Chapter 26 • Verb Problems 453

Irregular verbs change spelling in the past-tense and past-participle

forms. (For more on irregular verbs, see pp. 467–75.)

REGULAR VERB: WALK IRREGULAR VERB: EAT

Past tense walked [I walked.] ate [I ate.]

Past participle walked [I have/had eaten [I have/had

walked.] eaten.]

In the Real World, Why Is It Important

to Use Correct Verbs?

Errors in verb tense can create a negative impression of the writer, as the

following example shows.

SITUATION: A student that Shawn has been working with shows him the

script for an oral presentation he has to give in school the following week.

Here is what the student wrote as an introduction:

Last week I done gone to the awards day for Diamond Educators

and receive my ﬁ rst prize ever. I receive the prize because last semester

I work with younger kids to help them do things right, like doing their

homework and why it be important to go to school. Before I meet people

at Diamond, I never understand why school matter. I believe that only

fools cared about school, but now I know education can change my life.

Trying to get a good education don’t mean selling out: It mean making

something of myself.

RESPONSE: The student has great ideas here, but there are lots of errors

that will make people ignore his good ideas. He’s writing more like he talks

informally, and I tell people over and over that they need to know how and

when to use “formal” English. It is important to achieving their own goals

and to getting a better life.

Use Correct Verbs

Verbs have several tenses to express past, present, and future time. This

section will explain what those tenses are and how to use them correctly

when you write.

Shawn Brown

Founder, Diamond

Educators

(See Shawn’s

Proﬁ le of Success

on p. 303.)

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EDITING ESSAYS

454 Part Four • The Four Most Serious Errors

Regular Verbs

To avoid mistakes with regular verbs, understand the basic patterns for

forming the present, past, and future tenses.

Present Tense

The simple present tense is used for actions that are happening at

the same time that you are writing about them and about actions that

are ongoing. There are two forms for the simple present tense of regular

verbs — -s ending or no added ending. Use the -s ending when the sub-

ject is she, he, or it, or the name of one person or thing. Do not add any

ending for other subjects.

Regular Verbs in the Simple Present Tense

SINGULAR PLURAL

First person I laugh. We laugh.

Second person You laugh. You laugh.

Third person She/he/it laughs. They laugh.

The baby laughs. The babies laugh.

PRACTICE 1 FINDING VERB ERRORS

Find and underline the eleven errors in the student’s writing on page 453.

PRACTICE 2 USING THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

OF REGULAR VERBS

In each of the following sentences, ﬁ rst underline the subject, and then circle

the correct verb form.

EXAMPLE: Most elevator riders ( share / shares ) a common

complaint.

1. Too often, elevator doors ( open / opens ) at practically every ﬂ oor even

when there are just a few people in the car.

■ For answers to

odd-numbered prac-

tice exercises, see

pages A-1–A-19 at the

back of the book.

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EDITING ESSAYS

Chapter 26 • Verb Problems 455

2. Now, guests at one big hotel ( enjoy / enjoys ) faster, more direct elevator

rides, thanks to a new “smart elevator” system.

3. The system ( work / works ) so well because it knows where people want

to go before they get into their elevator car.

4. Whenever someone ( want / wants ) to take an elevator, he or she must

ﬁ rst punch in the desired ﬂ oor number at a keypad in the lobby.

5. A digital display then ( indicate / indicates ) the letter of the elevator car

that will directly go to a ﬂ oor close to the person’s destination.

6. To ensure that guests don’t get confused with the new system, employees

of the hotel ( help / helps ) guests to use it correctly.

7. The hotel’s managers ( claim / claims ) that the system reduces the aver-

age trip time by up to 30 percent.

8. However, some guests ( express / expresses ) irritation with the system.

9. They sometimes ( wait / waits ) a long time for an elevator, and then they

cannot get into the ﬁ rst car that comes because it is not going near their

ﬂ oor.

10. Still, most people who use the system ( consider / considers ) it to be a

welcome improvement in elevator technology.

Two other present-tense forms are the present progressive tense and

the present perfect tense. The present progressive tense is used to

describe actions that are in progress. It is formed as follows:

Present-tense form of be

(helping verb)

Main verb with

-ing ending

■ For more practice

with verbs, visit

Exercise Central at

bedfordstmartins

.com/realessays.

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EDITING ESSAYS

456 Part Four • The Four Most Serious Errors

PRACTICE 3 USING THE PRESENT PROGRESSIVE TENSE

In each of the following sentences, underline the helping verb (a form of be),

and ﬁ ll in the correct form of the verb in parentheses.

EXAMPLE: My grandmother is

looking

(look) into our family history.

1. She is (start) with my grandfather’s side of the family, the

Mancinis.

2. To learn more about the Mancinis, she is (contact) several of

my grandfather’s relatives to get birth documents and other information.

3. Also, she is (gather) information about the Mancinis through

genealogy sites on the Internet.

4. She is (learn) a lot about my grandfather’s ancestors; for in-

stance, they were peasants who ﬂ ed Italy around 1910 because of difﬁ cult

living conditions.

5. My sister and I are (help) our grandmother by looking at online

records from Ellis Island.

Present Progressive Tense

SINGULAR PLURAL

First person I am laughing. We are laughing.

Second person You are laughing. You are laughing.

Third person She/he/it is laughing. They are laughing.

The baby is laughing. The babies are laughing.

Language Note: Some languages, such as Russian, do not use the

progressive tense. If your ﬁ rst language does not use the progressive

tense, pay special attention to this section.

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