Rule or Fool
Sparts of Peech
War of the Words
Passive Aggressive
Punctuate This!
100
Rule or Fool? A sentence must have a noun phrase and a verb phrase.
Rule. One without the other would be an incomplete sentence. Subject and predicate.
100
This is a person, place, thing, or idea.
What is a noun.
100
I vs. me If you give Renetta and _______ some money, we'll buy everyone pizza.
Me I = subject, me = object Shortcut: Take the other person out of the sentence and see how it sounds. (i.e. If you give me some money...)
100
Is the following sentence in passive or active voice? He fixed the wobbly table by putting an old pizza box under one of the legs.
Active. The doer is the subject, followed by the verb and the receiver of the action, the object.
100
Does this sentence require punctuation? If so where and why? He turned on his car and he put his foot on the break.
Yes. He turned on his car, and he put his foot on the break. If the clause after "and" has a complete subject and predicate, a comma before and is required.
200
Rule or Fool? Passive Voice should always be avoided in academic writing.
Fool. Passive voice is appropriate in many situations, including in the statement above. Here a few legitimate reasons to use passive voice: 1. Old information should come first in a sentence. For example: While the ninja avoided death for many years, he was finally killed by an old enemy. 2. The actor is unknown or unimportant: My car was stolen! 3. The actor is understood: My car was towed. 4. The noun phrase is long: I was cut off by a red car with a license plate that said "RAVENS" and a bumper sticker that said "My other car is a broom." References Cowan, R. (2008). The teacher's grammar of English. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
200
This part of speech modifies a verb or an adjective.
What is an adverb. Modifies adjective - This question is incredibly easy. Modifies verb - He skillfully swallowed the sword.
200
Who vs. Whom? _______ do you love?
Whom. Who = Subject, Whom = Object Shortcut: "Him" ends with "m." If the question can be answered with "him," then use whom (i.e. I love him). References Fogarty, M. (2007, March 9). Who versus Whom. (Web log post). Retrieved from http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com.
200
Change the following sentence to passive voice. That car nearly hit my dog!
My dog was nearly hit by that car! or My dog was nearly hit! My dog = receiver of action That car = doer.
200
I can't wait to eat pizza (especially if it has pepperonis)
I can't wait to eat pizza (especially if it has pepperonis). If the parenthetical statement is a complete sentence, the punctuation goes inside the parentheses. I can't wait to eat pizza. (I also love pepperonis.) References Fogarty, M. (2011, February 21). Periods and parentheses. (Web log post). Retrieved from http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com.
300
Rule or Fool? Avoid starting sentences with "However."
Fool It is fine! However.... However (no comma) = in whatever manner, to whatever extent: However hard I try, I can never seem to get anywhere on time! However, = Nevertheless: Skydiving is incredibly fun. However, I would never do it again because I really thought I was going to die. References Fogarty, M. (2011, March 10). Can you start as sentence with “However?”. (Web log post). Retrieved from http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com.
300
This determiner is a definite article.
What is the
300
That vs. Which The "60 minutes" episode __________ featured UMBC was my favorite episode of 60 minutes.
That Use "that" for restrictive clauses (when the clause following "that" is necessary for the meaning of the sentence). Use "which" for everything else. Shortcut: Since restrictive clauses do not use commas, if there is a natural pause in the sentence, you probably need to use "which". References Fogarty, M. (2008, March 1). Which versus that. (Web log post). Retrieved from http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com.
300
Should you change this passive voice sentence to active voice? Why or why not? I need a new iPhone. Mine was stolen last year.
No. We are not concerned about whomever stole the iPhone. We really only care about the iPhone. Also it is implied that an unknown person stole it - so no need to mention it. In this case, passive voice is preferred.
300
Capitalize this: Yes or No? Dr. Robert Deluty, assistant dean of the graduate school answered our questions.
No. Titles are not capitalized when they stand alone. They are capitalized directly before names, however: Dean Deluty References Fogarty, M. (2011, June 9). Capitalizing titles. (Web log post). Retrieved from http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com.
400
Rule or Fool? Use "a" before words beginning with consonants and "an" before words beginning with vowels.
Fool. It works according to pronunciation not spelling. Therefore, "an hour" is correct because the "h" is silent. A one-armed man is correct because "one" is pronounced starting with a "w" sound. Also, I am receiving an MA in Biology.
400
In the following sentence, there is a problem related to parts of speech. What is the problem? Compromise, from both the Democrats and the Republicans, remain difficult to reach.
What is subject and verb? This is a problem with subject/verb agreement. Compromise remains difficult to reach.
400
i.e. vs e.g. There are so many things I love about being a graduate student, ____ making tons of money, having all the time in the world, and getting plenty of sleep.
e.g. e.g. means exampli gratia or for example i.e. means id est or in other words... (for clarification or specification of an idea)
400
Should the passive voice sentence be changed to active voice? Why or why not? Many people are working to make our city better. Ways to bring blue collar jobs back to Baltimore are being figured out by those people.
Yes. The sentence is awkward because new information is introduced before old information. Also it is vague. In an academic paper it would be stronger to be more specific about who these people are. A good rule of thumb is - if passive voice makes your point vague, leaves out helpful information or you find yourself using it to avoid including information that you don't exactly know, you should probably try to write it in active voice. Passive voice also forces you to use "be" which is a boring verb.
400
Should the sentence in parentheses be capitalized? The author states, "thousands of birds perish each year from encounters with wind turbines."
Yes. The author states, "Thousands of birds perish each year from encounters with wind turbines." If you are quoting a complete sentence the beginning of the quote is always capitalized. If you integrate a part of the sentence into your quote it does not need to be capitalized: The author believes that birds die from "encounters with wind turbines" and other dangerous circumstances. You also do not need to capitalize when you have broken up the quote: "Many birds die each year," says the author, "from encounters with wind turbines."
500
Rule or Fool? Avoid ending sentences with prepositions.
Fool. It is okay to do this. It is more common in speech to end a sentence with a preposition than in academic writing. Example (1) I have no one to go to the movie with. (2) I have no one with whom to go to the movie. Phrasal verbs end with prepositions (give up, give in) and it is okay to end sentences with these. Often it sounds unnatural and awkward not to end sentences with prepositions: "That is the issue about which I am writing." When it does not sound painfully awkward, still try to avoid ending sentences with prepositions in academic or professional documents. References Fogarty, M. (2011, March 31). Ending a sentence with a preposition. (Web log post). Retrieved from http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com.
500
The following describes the order in which you can write different categories of this part of speech: judgement, measurement, description, attribute
What is an adjective? We can order adjective like so without using commas: The terrible old hairy math professor. It doesn't work in another order: The old terrible math hairy professor. If it is the same type of adjective, commas are required: The short, hairy professor References Cowan, R. (2008). The teacher's grammar of English. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
500
Less or Fewer The pizza will be delivered in thirty minutes or ________.
Fewer Minute is a count noun. Less = noncount nouns Fewer = count nouns
500
In what voice is the following sentence? The show was finished.
This is in medium voice. The show was finished, but no doer made the show finish. References Cowan, R. (2008). The teacher's grammar of English. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
500
Does the text in quotes need punctuation? Original text: "This game is fun but I have work to do and I need to I need to go home." Quote: "This game is fun but I need to go home."
Ellipses are needed. "This game is fun but. . . I need to go home. Technically there is a space between each dot. Capitalization with ellipses should reflect the original quote. References Fogarty, M. (2011, June 10). Ellipses. (Web log post). Retrieved from http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com.
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