Grammar Detective
Which word group is an infinitive in the sentence below?
"She plans to visit her grandmother this weekend."
A. plans
B. to visit
C. her grandmother
D. this weekend
What is "B" to visit?
50 Point Bonus: How is an infinitive formed?
"Reading is beneficial to students for a number of reasons. It can help them make sense of the world, it can help them become more empathetic, and it can even help improve mental help. Reading improves vocabulary, and it helps students in every class--even math!"
In the sentence "Reading improves vocabulary, and it helps students in every class--even math!" is reading acting as a subject or an object?
What is a subject?
50 Point bonus: What are the two *actual* verbs in the final sentence?
What verb mood is used in the sentence below?
"Finish your assignment before leaving."
A. Indicative
B. Conditional
C. Interrogative
D. Imperative
What is "D" and/or "imperative"?
50 point bonus: Why is the sentence imperative?
Which sentence is the most grammatically correct?
A. She enjoys to swim.
B. She enjoys swimming.
C. She enjoys swim.
D. She enjoys swam.
What is "B" and/or "She enjoys swimming."
50 point bonus: What type of verbal is used in the sentence?
In the sentence below, waht is the function of "drawing"?
"Kayla enjoys drawing in her notebook."
A. Subject
B. Direct object
C. Adjective
D. Adverb
What is "B" or "direct object"?
50 point bonus: What is the *actual* verb in the sentence AND what is the *actual* subject in the sentence?
"Laughing loudly, the students entered the classroom."
Is "laughing" a present or past partciple and what part of speech is it acting as?
What is present participle and adjective?
"She brought a book to read on the trip."
In the sentence above, what is the function of "to read"?
A. Subject
B. Direct object
C. Adjective
D. Adverb
What is "C" and/or "adjective"?
Read the passage, then answer the question.
"Wow, I feel like they're playing really bad," Jack said.
"I know, it seems like they're struggling," Bill answered.
"Did the team practice before the game?" Mike asked.
"I don't know. Go ask," Bill said.
What verb mood does Mike use and what clues show this?
What is interrogative, question format, and/or punctuation?
What is the error in the sentence, and how could it be corrected?
"The running water was froze."
What is froze should be changed to frozen to make it a correct past participle
Read the sentence then answer the question below.
"The cracked phone screen made it difficult to read messages."
Is "cracked" a present or past participle?
What is past participle?
Which sentence contains a past participle functioning as an adjective?
A. The barking dog woke us up.
B. The broken window needed repair.
C. She is running late.
D. It is fun to bake cookies.
What is "B" and/or "the broken window needed repair"?
Read the sentence, then answer the question:
"The glowing sun distracted him."
What type of participle is "glowing," and what is its function?
A. Past participle; noun
B. Present participle; adjective
C. Present participle; adverb
D. Gerund; subject
What is "B" and/or "Present participle; adjective"
Read the sentence then answer the question.
"If she studies, she will pass the test."
Why is this conditional rather than indicative?
A. The speaker does not ask a question
B. It provides a command
C. The outcome depends on the condition being met
D. A past action is described as fact
What is "C" and/or the outcome depends on the condition being met?
In the sentence below, what is the problem?
“Walking into the room, the lights were too bright.”
A. Incorrect verb tense
B. Missing subject
C. Dangling participle
D. Incorrect mood
What is "C" and/or "dangling participle"?
DAILY DOUBLE: Why is this a dangling participle?
Read the sentence, then answer the question below.
"Smiling at her friend, Lila waved across the room."
Which answer best describes "smiling"?
A. Gerund acting as subject
B. Present participle acting as adjective
C. Past participle acting as adjective
D. Infinitive acting as adverb
What is "B" and/or "present participle acting as adjective"?
Read the sentence, then answer the question:
"“Walking along the trail, Marcus noticed the fallen leaves covering the ground.”
Which option correctly identifies BOTH a present participle and a past participle?
A. Walking (present), fallen (past)
B. Walking (past), fallen (present)
C. Covering (past), walking (present)
D. Fallen (present), covering (past)
What is "A" and/or "Walking (present), fallen (past)"?
Identify the participles in the sentence below and classify each as present or past.
"Excited by the results, Maya shared the surprising news."
What is excited past; surprising present?
Read the sentence, then answer the question below.
"If I were more prepared for my recital, I would feel confident, but I didn't and now I'm stuck."
Why is were used instead of was?
A. Were shows past tense
B. It agrees with the subject, "I"
C. Were forms a demand
D. It expresses a hypothetical
What is "D" and/or "it expresses a hypothetical"?
50 point bonus: What verb mood is being used?
Mary wants to fix a mistake in her paper. She makes the following change in her sentence. What grammatical mistake did Mary fix?
"The book was wrote by a famous author."
"The book was written by a famous author."
A. She switched the infinitive to a gerund
B. She changed the primary object to become an adjective
C. She corrected the past participle
D. She changed the verb mood from conditional to subjunctive.
What is "C" and/or "she corrected the past participle"?
Read the passage, then answer the questions.
"(1) After finishing the race, he collapsed from exhaustion. (2) If he were stronger, he might continue running. (3) Have you ever felt that tired? (4) I want to walk more, but I am scared I'll pass out like he did.
Which answer best supports the passage above for the first two sentences?
A. 1) finishing, present participle; 2) subjunctive mood
B. 1) Indicative mood; 2) running, present participle
C. 1) finishing, past participle; 2) running, gerund
D. 1) Interrogative mood; 2) running, past participle
What is "A" and/or "finishing, present participle; subjunctive mood"?
Identify all participles and classify them as present or past, including the part of speech they act as. "Having completed the assignment, the exhausted student turned in her work."
What is having completed adjective, past participle; exhausted adjective, past participle?
“Her favorite activity is swimming in the ocean while surrounded by friends.”
Which option correctly explains the function of BOTH verbals?
A. “swimming” = subject; “surrounded” = verb
B. “swimming” = gerund; “surrounded” = past participle
C. “swimming” = direct object; “surrounded” = gerund
D. “swimming” = adjective; “surrounded” = adverb
What is "B" and/or "Swimming = gerund; "surrounded" = past participle?
In the sentences below, determine the verb mood and explain the function of each.
"1) Submit your work on time. 2) If you were unsure last night, you should have asked questions. 3) Are you ready to begin now?"
What is
1. Imperative, to make a demand
2. Subjunctive, showing a hypothetical that did not occur
3. Interrogative, to ask a question
Read the sentence below, then answer the question.
"Running down the hallway, the bell ringing loudly startled the students."
Explain the error and revise the sentence.
What is a dangling/misplaced participle and "as the students were running down the hallway, the loudly ringing bell startled them" (or similar)?
Read the passage, then answer the questions.
"(1) After finishing the race, he collapsed from exhaustion. (2) If he were stronger, he might continue running. (3) Have you ever felt that tired? (4) I want to walk more, but I am scared I'll pass out like he did.
Which answer best supports the passage above for the last two sentences?
A. 3) conditional mood; 4) gerund, walk
B. 3) imperative mood; 4) conditional mood
C. 3) indicative mood; participle, walk
D. 3) interrogative mood; 4) infinitive, to walk
What is "D" and/or "interrogative mood; infinitive, to walk"?