2 SR Student Exercises Activities

EXERCISES
AND ACTIVITIES
Name
Grade/Class
Table of Contents—Exercises and Activities
Page
Unit One—Recognizing Verbs and Their Subjects

Getting There is Half the Fun......................................................................................... 1
Exercise 1—Selecting a Precise Verb ............................................................................. 2
Exercise 2—Choosing More Precise Verbs ..................................................................... 3
Exercise 3—Choosing More Colourful Verbs ................................................................. 4
Exercise 4—Sports Writers’ Thesaurus.......................................................................... 5
Exercise 5—Defenestration is Bad for Your Health ...................................................... 6
Exercise 6—Active Verbs................................................................................................. 7
Exercise 7—Talk Talk Talk............................................................................................. 8
Exercise 8—A Penny For Your Thoughts..................................................................... 10
Exercise 9—Recognizing Verbs ..................................................................................... 11
Exercise 10—Recognizing Verbs Even When They Don’t Make Sense ...................... 13
Exercise 11—What Are the Subjects?........................................................................... 13
Exercise 12—Missing Verbs .......................................................................................... 14
Exercise 13—Recognizing the Function of a Word ...................................................... 16
Exercise 14—Would you Like to See? ........................................................................... 17
Exercise 15—Distinguishing Between a Verb and a Noun ......................................... 18
Exercise 16—Recognizing Verbs and Their Subjects................................................... 20
Exercise 17—Recognizing Verbs and Identifying Subjects ......................................... 22
Unit Two—Recognizing Other Sentence Components

Exercise 18—Identifying Verbs and Their Objects...................................................... 24
Exercise 19A—Filling in Verbs and Their Objects ...................................................... 26
19B—Taking a Vocabulary-Building Digression .......................................... 28
19C—More Vocabulary Building.................................................................... 29
Exercise 20—Recognizing Subjects, Verbs, and Objects ............................................. 31
Exercise 21—Recognizing Objects and Indirect Objects ............................................. 32
Exercise 22—Good Enough to Eat ................................................................................ 33
Exercise 23—Writing Directions................................................................................... 34
Exercise 24—Using Prepositional Phrases .................................................................. 35
Exercise 25—Recognizing Prepositional Phrases ........................................................ 36
Exercise 26—Adjective and Adverb Phrases................................................................ 38
Exercise 27—Using Prepositional Phrases .................................................................. 39
Exercise 28—Identifying Prepositional Phrases.......................................................... 40
Exercise 29—Sayings Without Vowels ......................................................................... 42
Exercise 30—Recognizing Subject-Verb-Adverb Sentences ........................................ 44
Exercise 31—Adding Adverbs ....................................................................................... 45
Exercise 32—Playing With Adverbs ............................................................................. 46
Exercise 33—A Violent Review ..................................................................................... 48
Exercise 34—Recognizing Linking Verbs..................................................................... 49
Exercise 35—Reviewing Sentence Patterns................................................................. 50
Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Exercises and Activities

Permission to reproduce student materials granted to purchasing school for individual classroom use only. i
Page
Exercise 36—Playing With Parts of Speech ................................................................. 52

Exercise 37—Using Adjectives...................................................................................... 53
Exercise 38—If Someone Said You Had a Bovine Expression,
Would You Be Insulted?......................................................................... 54
Exercise 39—Parts of Speech ........................................................................................ 56
Exercise 40—Parts of Speech in Advertising ............................................................... 57
Unit Three—Correcting Errors in Usage
1. Correcting Errors in the Use of Verbs

Exercise 41—Principal Parts of Irregular Verbs ................................................ 58
Exercise 42—Correcting Errors in Principal Parts............................................. 59
Exercise 43—Choosing the Correct Principal Part ............................................. 61
Exercise 44—Singular and Plural Subjects......................................................... 62
Exercise 45—Subject-Verb Agreement ................................................................ 63
Exercise 46—Making Verbs Agree With Their Subjects .................................... 64
Exercise 47—Subject-Verb Agreement ................................................................ 66
Exercise 48—Correcting Errors in Subject-Verb Agreement ............................. 68
Exercise 49—Recognizing the Appropriate Verb Tense ..................................... 70
Exercise 50—Choosing the Appropriate Verb Tense .......................................... 71
Exercise 51—Proofreading to Correct Shifts in Verb Tense............................... 72
Exercise 52—Maintaining Consistency ............................................................... 74
2. Correcting Errors in the Use of Pronouns and Nouns

Exercise 53—Choosing the Correct Pronoun ...................................................... 75
Exercise 54—Checking to Ensure That Pronouns Agree ................................... 76
Exercise 55—Proofreading to Correct Shifts in Pronoun Reference .................. 77
Exercise 56—Checking Verb and Pronoun Agreement ...................................... 79
Exercise 57—Correcting Verb and Pronoun Disagreements.............................. 80
Exercise 58—Proofreading for Consistency......................................................... 81
Exercise 59—Using the Correct Case of Pronouns ............................................. 82
Exercise 60—Using the Apostrophe..................................................................... 83
Exercise 61—Famous Possessives ....................................................................... 85
Exercise 62—Possessives and Contractions ........................................................ 86
Exercise 63—Using the Apostrophe Correctly .................................................... 88
3. Correcting Errors in the Use of Adjectives and Adverbs

Exercise 64—Choosing the Correct Modifier....................................................... 89
Exercise 65—Choosing the Correct Adjective or Adverb .................................... 90
Exercise 66—Using Adverbs and Adjectives ....................................................... 92
Exercise 67—Good, Better, Best .......................................................................... 94
Exercise 68—What’s Wrong?................................................................................ 95
Exercise 69—Placing Modifiers Clearly .............................................................. 96
Exercise 70—Revising to Avoid Ambiguity ......................................................... 98
Exercise 71—Correcting Dangling Modifiers .................................................... 100

ii Permission to reproduce student materials granted to purchasing school for individual classroom use only.
Page
4. Achieving Grammatical Parallelism

Exercise 72—Using Parallel Structure in Definitions ...........................101
Exercise 73A—Changing the Form of Words .........................................102
73B—Changing the Form of Words .........................................104
Exercise 74—Making Items in a List Parallel........................................106
Exercise 75—Parallel Poster ...................................................................107
Exercise 76—Jelly Bellies for the Mind ..................................................108
Exercise 77—Flexibility Training ...........................................................110
Exercise 78—Forming Adjectives............................................................111
Exercise 79—Forming Verbs ...................................................................115
Exercise 80—Forming Nouns ..................................................................117
Exercise 81—Recognizing Parallel Forms ..............................................123
Exercise 82—Making Items in a List Parallel........................................124
Exercise 83—Correcting Faulty Parallelism ..........................................125
Exercise 84—Maintaining Parallel Structure ........................................131
Unit Four—Recognizing a Sentence and Its Parts
1. Recognizing Phrases
Exercise 85—Identifying Phrases ...................................................................... 136
2. Recognizing Clauses
Exercise 86—Identifying a Main Clause ........................................................... 138
Exercise 87—Recognizing Subordinate Clauses ............................................... 139
Exercise 88—Identifying Subordinate Clauses................................................. 142
Exercise 89—Identifying Subordinate Clauses................................................. 143
Exercise 90—Combining Sentences ................................................................... 144
3. Recognizing Types of Sentences

Exercise 91—Recognizing Types of Sentences .................................................. 147
Unit Five—Correcting Major Sentence Errors

Exercise 92—Correcting Sentence Fragments........................................................... 150
Exercise 93—Recognizing and Correcting Sentence Fragments .............................. 153
Exercise 94—Correcting Sentence Fragments........................................................... 158
Exercise 95—Proofreading an Essay for Sentence Fragments ................................. 162
Exercise 96—Recognizing and Correcting Comma Splices ....................................... 164
Exercise 97—Add a Phrase or a Clause ..................................................................... 166
Exercise 98—Identifying and Correcting Comma Splices......................................... 168

Permission to reproduce student materials granted to purchasing school for individual classroom use only. iii
Page
Unit Six—Improving Mechanics

Exercise 99—Correct the Spelling .............................................................................. 170
Exercise 100—Proofreading to Correct Spelling or Usage Errors ............................ 173
Exercise 101—Spelling Challenges ............................................................................ 176
Exercise 102—Adding Prefixes and Suffixes ............................................................. 180
Exercise 103—Choosing the Correct Word................................................................. 185
Exercise 104—Sometimes a Verb—Sometimes a Noun ............................................ 187
Exercise 105—Distinguishing Between Commonly Confused Words ...................... 188
Exercise 106—Fun With Homonyms.......................................................................... 189
Exercise 107—Change the Punctuation ..................................................................... 191
Exercise 108—Using Commas .................................................................................... 192
Exercise 109—Using Commas and Semicolons ......................................................... 195
Exercise 110—Punctuating Dialogue ......................................................................... 198
Unit Seven—Refining Style

Exercise 111—Choosing More Precise Diction........................................................... 199
Exercise 112—Which is Which? .................................................................................. 201
Exercise 113—Distinguishing Among Subtle Differences in Words......................... 210
Exercise 114—Using Prefixes to Enhance Your Vocabulary .................................... 213
Exercise 115—Adding a Suffix.................................................................................... 218
Exercise 116—Choosing More Appropriate Language .............................................. 221
Exercise 117—Making Writing Concrete ................................................................... 224
Exercise 118—Adding Vivid Detail ............................................................................ 226
Exercise 119—Using the Active Voice ........................................................................ 228
Exercise 120—Making Sentences Balanced............................................................... 231
Exercise 121—Everyday Metaphors (Idioms) Have Become Clichés ....................... 232
Exercise 122—Not All Metaphors are Clichés ........................................................... 237
Exercise 123—Pruning Unnecessary Words .............................................................. 242
Exercise 124—Editing to Reduce Wordiness ............................................................. 245
Exercise 125—Making Relationships Clear and Economical.................................... 247
Exercise 126—Revising Sentence Structure .............................................................. 249
Exercise 127—Practising Subordination Techniques-Using Verbal Phrases .......... 251
Exercise 128—Practising Subordination Techniques-Using Adjective Clauses ...... 253
Exercise 129—Practising Subordination Techniques-Using Adverb Clauses.......... 255
Exercise 130—Practising Subordination Techniques-Using Appositives ................ 257
Exercise 131—Practising Subordination Techniques-Using Noun Substitutes ...... 259
Exercise 132—Sentence Combining—Varying Sentence Beginnings....................... 261
Exercise 133—Composing Sentences.......................................................................... 263
Exercise 134—Sentence Combining—Review............................................................ 265
Exercise 135—Sentence Combining—Part of the Revision Process ......................... 267
Exercise 136—Sentence Combining—Further Practice ............................................ 268
Exercise 137—Revising and Editing .......................................................................... 271
Exercise 138—Excerpts from an English Teacher’s Nightmare ............................... 275

iv Permission to reproduce student materials granted to purchasing school for individual classroom use only.
Page
Exercise 139—Supplementary Vocabulary Building/Spelling Exercises

Section One: Using Suffixes ............................................................................ 277
Section Two: Finding Antonyms ..................................................................... 282
Section Three: Spelling Demons ..................................................................... 285
Teachers please note:
It is not intended that all students be asked to complete the Exercises and Activities from
cover to cover. Teachers should use their professional discretion about the needs and abilities
of their students in order to select the appropriate number and types of exercises.

Permission to reproduce student materials granted to purchasing school for individual classroom use only. v
vi Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Exercises and Activities
Permission to reproduce student materials granted to purchasing school for individual classroom use only.
Exercise 1 — Selecting a Precise Verb
Getting There is Half the Fun

You can dash, saunter, stride, or swagger. You can sweep, hop, and slip. Or, if you prefer, try
skipping, mincing, or running. There are at least 100 ways of getting there on foot. All of them are
VERBS.
abscond elope meander shuffle stumble

amble file melt sidle swagger
bolt flee mince skip sweep
bounce float nip skulk tiptoe
bumble forge pace slide toddle
canter frolic parade slink totter
cavort gallop prance slip trail
chase gambol promenade slither traipse
clamber glide prowl slog tramp
clump hike ramble slouch tread
crawl hobble recoil slump trek
creep hop roam sneak trip
dance hunch run spring trot
dart inch rush sprint trudge
dash jog sail stagger waddle
dawdle lag saunter stalk wander
desert limp scamper stomp wiggle
dodge loiter scurry stride zigzag
drag lumber shamble stroll
drift march shrink strut
Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Exercises and Activities 1

Pick a verb from the previous list to suggest each of the following:
(Try not to use any verb more than once.)
1. overconfidence
2. aimlessness
3. weariness
4. drunkenness
5. old age
6. happiness
7. stealth
8. heaviness
9. children's movements
10. slowness
11. worry
12. gracefulness
13. shyness
14. hanging around
15. confusion
16. sexiness
17. suddenness
18. laziness
19. clumsiness
20. fear
21. anger
22. agility
23. unwillingness
24. speed
25. poor posture
2 Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Exercises and Activities

Exercise 2 — Choosing More Precise Verbs
Underline the verbs in the following sentences. Be prepared to explain why the verb
choices sound silly. Replace each verb with a more appropriate one.
1. The mortally wounded soldier strode toward the field hospital.
2. The elephant slithered through the thick bushes.
3. When all the guests of honour were seated on the platform, the principal toddled up to
the microphone.
4. The ballerina clumped airily across the stage.
5. The children trudged toward the presents under the tree, their faces flushed with
excitement.
6. The thief eloped with the $100 000.
7. The snake strutted up to the unsuspecting gopher.
8. To escape the hunter, the deer strolled toward the trees.
9. She jostled her way through the haunted house.
10. The burglar scampered around, checking all the windows.

Exercise 3 — Choosing More Colourful Verbs
Replace the verbs “walk” or “run” in the following sentences with more vivid verbs, either
from the previous list or from your own lexicon.
1. The outlaws ran from their ambush and attacked the sheriff's posse.
2. The prisoner walked up and down the isolation cell.
3. The victorious general walked in front of his legions.
4. The tiger walked very quietly toward the grazing antelope.
5. The mountaineers walked the last weary mile in silence.
6. After the teacher reamed him out, the class clown walked back to his desk.
7. The one-year-old walked over to the waiting arms of his mother.
8. The children ran around the ice cream man.
9. After being fired, Jim walked all five miles home.
10. The lions walked around the drought-stricken land in search of food.

Exercise 4 — Sports Writers’ Thesaurus
“Avalon Gorillas Whip Londonderry Pansies 95 to 3,” or you may prefer “Londonderry
Gorillas Trounce Avalon Pansies.” Sports writers drive themselves nearly crazy trying to
think up new ways of saying “defeat.” Read the sports pages or listen to the sports news
over the next few days and copy down at least ten different ways of rewriting the original
headline, each time substituting a fresh verb meaning “defeat.”
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Exercise 5 — Defenestration is Bad for Your Health
The verb “to defenestrate” means to kill by throwing someone out a window, a little known
method, but apparently popular in previous times in Czechoslovakia. What do the following
verbs for killing involve?
1. garrote
2. impale
3. disembowel
4. draw and quarter
5. asphyxiate
6. decapitate
7. flay

Exercise 6 — Active Verbs
Make a list of five verbs (for each) that are relevant to the following:
1. playing basketball
2. using a computer
3. being a dentist
4. conducting an opinion poll
5. putting on a play

Exercise 7 — Talk Talk Talk
Use this prepared list to complete the exercise below.
Here is a list of verbs that can be used to report what people say:
accuse concede flatter plead reveal

acknowledge confess forbid pledge rule
ad lib confirm foretell pray say
add consult gasp preach scream
address contend gossip predict shout
admit continue growl proclaim shriek
advice converse grumble prognosticate speak
agree convince guarantee promise spout
allege criticize harangue pronounce stammer
announce croak hint prophesy state
answer crow imply propose stipulate
argue cry improvise protest storm
ask debate indicate question stutter
assert declare inform rant suggest
assure decree inquire rave swear
banter deliberate insist reassure teach
beg demand instruct rebut tell
begin deny invite recall threaten
blurt describe jabber recite thunder
boast diagnose lecture recommend toast
burble dictate maintain record urge
call direct mention refuse utter
censure disclose mumble reiterate vow
chat discuss murmur remark wail
chatter dispute muse remind warn
chorus echo mutter reminisce whisper
claim eulogize note repeat write
command exclaim notify reply yammer
comment exhort object report yell
commune explain observe request
complain extemporize order respond
compliment fawn persuade retort
Turn as many of the preceding verbs as you can into nouns. For example, “accuse” can
become “accusation.” How many of the verbs on the list are also nouns? For example,
“address” is both a verb and a noun, though the pronunciation changes.

Which of the preceding verbs suggest the following?
1. ___________________________ talking without saying much of substance

2. ___________________________ speaking on the spur of the moment
3. ___________________________ a serious exchange with others to solve a problem or
reach an agreement
4. ___________________________ anger
5. ___________________________ speech impediment
6. ___________________________ passing on a lesson or moral
7. ___________________________ a humourous exchange
8. ___________________________ revealing secrets
9. ___________________________ shyness
10. ___________________________ long-windedness
11. ___________________________ compliment insincerely
12. ___________________________ excitement
13. ___________________________ not being audible
14. ___________________________ surprise
15. ___________________________ repetition of someone else's words
16. ___________________________ praise
17. ___________________________ lack of clarity in speech
18. ___________________________ making suggestions
19. ___________________________ seeking advice
20. ___________________________ offering a counter-argument
21. ___________________________ persuasion
22. ___________________________ comforting
23. ___________________________ suggesting guilt
24. ___________________________ speaking in unison
25. ___________________________ the future
26. ___________________________ setting down conditions
27. ___________________________ lack of self-control
28. ___________________________ thinking out loud
29. ___________________________ remembering
30. ___________________________ desperation
31. ___________________________ posthumous remarks
32. ___________________________ speaking without a text
33. ___________________________ discontent
34. ___________________________ giving in
35. ___________________________ conceit

Exercise 8 — A Penny For Your Thoughts
Here is a list of verbs to report someone’s thoughts:
accept doubt guess prefer speculate

agree day-dream hold presume suppose
assume dread hope propose surmise
anticipate dream imagine question think
believe envisage intend rationalize trust
brood envision know reason understand
comprehend envy mean recall vow
conceive estimate meditate reconsider want
concentrate evaluate mull reckon weigh
consider examine muse re-evaluate wish
contemplate expect note reflect wonder
decide fear overlook regret worry
deliberate feel plan remember yearn
desire figure ponder reminisce
determine foresee pray resolve
disregard forget predict ruminate
From the preceding list, choose a verb which suggests each of the following:
1. _____________________ to excuse or justify an action
2. _____________________ to give careful consideration to the facts
3. _____________________ to compare alternatives
4. _____________________ to think fondly of the past
5. _____________________ to feel uncertain
6. _____________________ to feel anxious
7. _____________________ to re-think a position
8. _____________________ to form a mental picture
9. _____________________ to imagine the future
10. _____________________ to feel conviction
11. _____________________ to long
12. _____________________ to make a guess
13. _____________________ to pay close attention
14. _____________________ to look forward to
15. _____________________ to think logically
16. _____________________ to determine merit

Exercise 9 — Recognizing Verbs
Underline the complete verbs (the main verbs plus the auxiliary verbs) in the following
sentences.
1. I am a teacher. You are a student.

2. Kirsten ought to have remembered her key, but as usual, she forgot.
3. Because you are dropping in your chemistry marks, you may not be allowed to play
basketball.
4. Howard Hughes died and did not leave a will. He died intestate.
5. Either Bev has grown two inches, or her skirts have shrunk two inches.
6. I prefer “Dilbert” to “Peanuts.”
7. The computer is revolutionizing the world of business and eliminating many jobs.
8. Young people are often much more proficient on the computer than are their parents.
9. Gambling, especially on video lottery terminals, can become addictive.
10. I eat my peas with honey;
I've done it all my life.
They do taste kinda funny,
But it keeps 'em on the knife.
11. When I finally graduated, my parents, my teachers, and the principal all gave a loud
cheer.
12. I came. I saw. I conquered. Then I slept for a week.
13. Along came John.
14. Cats are the crabgrass in the lawn of life.
15. Why is it that everything I enjoy is either sinful or fattening?
16. Don't eat mushrooms until you check that they are edible.
17. Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses
And all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.
18. Although happiness is healthy for the body, sorrow often strengthens the character.

19. What can I tell you, son of mine?
I could tell you of heartbreak, hatred blind,
I could tell of crimes that shame mankind,
Of brutal wrong and deeds malign,
Of rape and murder, son of mine;
But I'll tell instead of brave and fine
When lives of black and white entwine,
And men of brotherhood combine—
This would I tell you, son of mine.
—Noonuccal Oodgeroo, Australian poet and
Aboriginal rights activitist
20. Canadian writer Stuart McLean, in his story “School Days,” tells of Dave MacNeal’s
mother, a kindergarten teacher, who could burp the whole alphabet from A to Z:
“Many of the kids in kindergarten actually stopped breathing when they witnessed
this extraordinary feat.”
21. The movie Shakespeare in Love has attracted many young converts to the Bard. After
400 years, Shakespeare has become trendy again. In fact, the movie won the Academy
Award for “best picture” in 1999.
22. Too often, people’s lust for power or money blinds them to more important values.
23. “Procrastination” means delaying tasks that one should be doing.
24. Did you know that because people in the “baby boom” generation are approaching
fifty, publishers are producing books in larger print? A typical book thirty years ago
was published in 9-point type; now it is produced in 12-point type.
25. Many myths originated from early man’s attempts to explain natural phenomena that
he found mysterious or puzzling.

Exercise 10 — Recognizing Verbs Even When They Don’t Make
Sense
Underline the verbs plus their auxiliaries in the following nonsense sentences:
1. The cordubble should have splinkled.
2. One of the danzamanes is ampling at Zarantu.
3. Canzabar has been impling for three darps.
4. Anzale perlunks very slumply.
5. The mome raths outgrabe.
6. Each of the borogroves clandankled unkly.
7. Four pinkolons have darpled already.
8. You already will have prangulated when I dringe.
9. Kranklies don't zimulate after crinchla.
10. Drimp could have exbostulated if he had ranzumated.
Replace each of the nonsense words in the preceding sentences so that you create a
sentence that is understandable but also grammatically identical to the original.
Exercise 11 — What Are the Subjects?
Go back and circle the subjects of the verbs you underlined in the previous two exercises.

Exercise 12 — Missing Verbs
Fill in the verbs and verbals missing from the following proverbs:
1. Beggars _________________________ choosers.
2. Music _________________________ charm to _________________________ the savage beast.
3. One good turn _________________________ another.
4. _________________________ your chickens before they _________________________.
5. All that _________________________ is not gold
6. Sticks and stones _________________________ my bones. But names _________________________

me.
7. Birds of a feather _________________________ together.
8. Tall oaks from little acorns _________________________.
9. _________________________ that bridge when you come to it.
10. There is no use in _________________________ over spilt milk.
11. Haste _________________________ waste.
12. _________________________ ye rosebuds while ye may.
13. _________________________ is forearmed.
14. First _________________________ first _________________________.
15. The early bird _________________________ the worm.
16. Don’t _________________________ the hand that feeds you.
17. You cannot _________________________ an old dog new tricks.
18. _________________________ while the iron is hot.
19. A stitch in time _________________________ nine.
20. _________________________ the rod and _________________________ the child.

21. Slow and steady _________________________ the race.
22. Even rats _________________________ a sinking ship.
23. You_________________________ what you _________________________.
24. Never _________________________ till tomorrow what may be done today.
25. The end _________________________ the means.
26. _________________________ and let live.

Exercise 13 — Recognizing the Function of a Word
Identify whether “love” or any form of “love” is acting as a noun or a verb or an adjective
in each of the following sentences:
1. ______________ He did not realize that he loved Samantha until it was too late.
2. ______________ Loving someone can be painful.
3. ______________ Love is often confused with infatuation.
4. ______________ The Love of a Good Woman is Alice Munro's most recent collection of
stories.
5. ______________ Chemists are still searching for a love potion because it would be
worth a fortune.
6. ______________ They are loving their vacation in Egypt.
7. ______________ Some people love their jobs more than they love their families.
8. ______________ “Love” is one of those words that can act as a noun or a verb.
9. ______________ She has loved Shakespeare for as long as she can remember.
10. ______________ His loved one gave him a book of Robert Browning’s poetry for
Christmas.
11. _____________ The Lovin’ Spoonful is the name of a music group.
12. ______________ Love is a universal migraine.
13. ______________ Her love of music is surpassed only by her love of books.
14. ______________ During the early 1970’s, teenagers used to wear love beads and bell
bottoms.
15. ______________ Without love, life would seem empty.

Exercise 14 — Would You Like to See?
Because so many verbs and nouns can be interchanged, a game has evolved called “Would you like
to see?”
Examples: Would you like to see a belly flop?

Would you like to see a horse fly?
Now you fill in the missing verbs:
1. Would you like to see a cat _______________?

2. Would you like to see a jelly _______________?
3. Would you like to see a home _______________?
4. Would you like to see a keyhole _______________?
5. Would you like to see a doughnut _______________?
6. Would you like to see a ski _______________?
7. Would you like to see a board _______________?
8. Would you like to see a nose _______________?
9. Would you like to see a picket _______________?
10. Would you like to see a train _______________?

Exercise 15 — Distinguishing Between a Verb and a Noun
In each of the following pairs, identify which of the boldfaced words is a verb and which is
a noun. How can you tell?
1. a. The home run title was broken by Mark Macguire in 1998.
b. He will run the race of his life on Monday.
2. a. The prisoner breaks his fast on the fiftieth day.
b. The breaks in the school year allow both students and teachers to recharge their
psychological batteries.
3. a. His CALM mark doesn't count toward his average.
b. The count of the votes began at eight o'clock.
4. a. His parents' anger was predictable.
b. He angers his parents by his chronic lateness.
5. a. The tricks of the Russian skating bears were offensive to many Edmontonians.
b. She tricks her mother into thinking she is sick by holding the thermometer on the
hot water bottle.
6. a. Ferdinand sits all day and smells the flowers.
b. The smells from the kitchen permeated the house.
7. a. A prize fight is a barbaric form of sport.
b. Will you fight for what you believe in?
8. a. Parents usually chaperone the school dance.
b. Brad can dance better than anyone I know.
9. a. The bed springs creaked.
b. When you ask me what I want for my birthday, nothing springs to mind.
10. Turn the following 25 verbs to report someone’s thoughts into nouns:
accept __________ predict __________
assume __________ prefer __________
anticipate __________ propose __________
comprehend __________ rationalize __________
conceive __________ recall __________
concentrate __________ reflect __________
consider __________ remember __________
determine __________ reminisce __________
estimate __________ resolve __________
expect __________ suppose __________
foresee __________ think __________
intend __________ weigh __________
meditate __________

11. Make a list of five more words that can be used as both nouns and verbs, and use
each in two sentences to illustrate the difference in usage.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

Exercise 16 — Recognizing Verbs and Their Subjects
Underline the complete verbs (a verb plus its auxiliaries) in each of the following
sentences, and circle the subjects of each verb:
1. J.D. Salinger has written only four books, and the most famous is The Catcher in the
Rye.
2. She went up the Nile as far as the first crocodile.
3. I have never been able to remember the difference between an alligator and a
crocodile, or which one can be found wild in the United States.
4. Morning found him red-eyed and sick to his stomach.
5. Sigmund Freud said that people are destined to have an irreconcilable conflict
between their “id” and their “superego.”
6. Pooh was a bear of very little brain, but he had a very loving heart.
7. Alice in Wonderland was written by Lewis Carroll, the pseudonym of mathematician

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson.
8. “Carpe diem” is a Latin phrase that means “seize the day,” or enjoy life's present
pleasures.
9. Hitler's father was illegitimate.
10. Why do all unhealthful foods taste delicious?
11. One flew east, and one flew west,
And one flew over the cuckoo's nest.
12. My friends have very good taste in friends.
13. Out of school raced the children.
14. My mother doesn't understand me.

15. Jogging is the obsession of men who believe they can outrun their mortality.
16. Retro fashions and retro dances are a passing fad.
17. If a union settles its wage contract long after the former contract has expired, the
workers will receive retroactive pay.
18. Bringing back the strap is a retrogressive step.
19. What does the prefix “retro” mean?
20. Learning some common roots of words like “retro” will increase one's vocabulary.

Exercise 17 — Recognizing Verbs and Identifying Subjects
Underline the complete verb (or verbs) in the following sentences; then circle the
subject(s) and identify the type(s) of subject: noun, pronoun, gerund or gerund phrase,
infinitive or infinitive phrase, or noun clause.
1. One of my sisters dances in the National Ballet.
2. Criticizing the violence on television is a popular pastime.
3. Anne of Green Gables was written by Lucy Maud Montgomery.
4. Why you asked that question baffles me.
5. Turning over a new leaf is difficult. Consequently, most people do not follow through on
their New Year's resolutions. (What is the verb form of “resolution”?)
6. Snoopy thinks that he is the greatest flying ace of World War I. The Red Baron is his
nemesis.
7. Love makes the world go round. At least, that is the theory.
8. Neither of my guppies survived.
9. Shoplifting is no way to make your mark.
10. Anyone should be able to understand the rules against smoking at school because they
are explained so clearly.
11. Skydiving looks easier than it is. The hardest part is the first jump.
12. Democracy often frustrates people because progress appears so slow.
13. Each point needed fuller explanation.
14. Most of the sentences required careful revision.
15. To explain would take hours.

16. Joking about death makes some people feel uncomfortable.
17. Why Shakespeare couldn't have written in ordinary English mystifies me.
18. Flannel pajamas, which used to be something only your grandfather would wear, are
now very popular with the young.
19. Everyone who visits Candy Cane Lane should bring a donation for the Food Bank.
20. Many people think that “Frankenstein” was the name of the monster, not the name of
the doctor who invented the monster.
21. Blinging the flugey takes patience.
36. To soporink is to live.
23. Waddyahooey perlunked over Spinnyville.
24. One of the flipdoodles has been dollywabbled.
25. Varp if you imple.

Exercise 18 — Identifying Verbs and Their Objects
Label as “S”, “V”, and “O” the subject, verb, and object in the following sentences.
(Remember, sometimes the verb includes a preposition. If you need help, look this up in
the Grammar Handbook). Just to make life challenging for you, three of the sentences
contain no object. Which three?
1. Rogues and wretches, ruffians and riffraff, miscreants and malefactors, rapscallions
and hoodlums do bad things.
2. “Friends” portrays a thirty-something crowd.
3. Magpies screech in a most irritating fashion.
4. Cannibals devour their own kind.
5. Adjectives modify nouns.
6. The Walrus and the Carpenter devoured oysters.
7. Verbs express actions and states of being.
8. Rising wages and prices cause inflation.
9. Computers are taking over the world.
10. Vampires sleep during the day.
11. Lawrence of Arabia loved the desert.
12. Don’t add unnecessary words.
13. Transitive verbs take objects.
14. They blew up the building.
15. Most adverbs and adjectives are unnecessary.
16. Choose vivid verbs.

17. He loved to argue.
18. He hated being wrong.
19. Lexicographers write dictionaries.
20. Don’t hassle me.
21. He burped loudly.
22. Dream big dreams.
23. English spelling has some rules.
24. Not all words follow these rules.
25. A thesaurus provides synonyms.
26. Life consists of a series of problems and solutions.
27. Clichés lack freshness.
28. Europe uses a common currency.
29. Break up unwieldy sentences.
30. You deserve congratulations. You have reached the end. Have a good sleep!

Exercise 19A — Filling in Verbs and Their Objects
The following is a list of people who perform certain tasks or actions or feel certain
emotions. Using a dictionary when necessary, fill in a V (verb) and an O (object) to
describe what each person does.
For example: A dentist fills teeth.
V O
An anthropologist
An astrologer
An astronomer
A bibliophile
A bigamist
A bookie
A botanist
A cardiologist
A cartographer
An etymologist
A Francophile
A hedonist
A hypochondriac
A kleptomaniac
A lexicographer
A mortician
A narcissist
An obstetrician
An oceanographer

A pedagogue
A philanthropist
A philatelist
A prevaricator
A procrastinator
A radiologist
A regicide
A sadist
A seismologist
A taxidermist
A zoologist

Exercise 19B — Taking a Vocabulary-Building Digression
One way to increase your vocabulary and your proficiency in understanding new words is
by learning some roots, prefixes, and suffixes.
“Phobe,” for example, means “fear” or “hatred.” A hydrophobe fears water. And
“hydrophobia” is “fear of water.” And, would you believe, “arachibutyrophobia” is fear of
peanut butter sticking to the roof of one’s mouth!
What is each of the following afraid of? Again, express your answer in the form of a subject
(already given)-verb-object sentence pattern.
1. An androphobe
2. An autophobe
3. A ballistophobe
4. A chromophobe
5. A claustrophobe
6. An entomophobe
7. An ergophobe
8. A hematophobe
9. A pediphobe
10. A phobophobe
11. A pyrophobe
12. A zoophobe
13. An acrophobe
14. An agoraphobe

Exercise 19C — More Vocabulary Building
Answer the following questions:
1. What do “monochromatic” and “polychromatic” mean? What is the origin of chromosome?
2. Would a pediphobe become a pediatrician? Or a zoophobe become a zookeeper?
3. What do a pediatrician and a pedagogue have in common?
4. What does an “erg” measure?
5. Why is an autograph called an “autograph”?
6. What do a lexicographer and a cartographer have in common?
7. What is a pyromaniac? Would a pyromaniac be a pyrophobe or a pyrophile?

8. Why are orchestras sometimes called philharmonic orchestras?
9. What is a ballistics expert? A hematologist? An entomologist?
10. If regicide is the killing of a king, what is

Insecticide?
Infanticide?
Genocide?
Patricide?
Matricide?
Fratricide?
Sororicide?
What is a regent?
What does “regal” mean?
What is a “regime”?

Exercise 20 — Recognizing Subjects, Verbs, and Objects
Identify the following sentences as having either the S-V (Subject-Verb) or S-V-O (Subject-
Verb-Object) pattern:
1. The crown jewels could have been stolen.

2. A thief could have stolen the crown jewels.
3. The zamby was iggling and dilking.
4. The zampy iggled the womp.
5. Nervous men crack their knuckles.
6. Women have made great strides.
7. The lasagna should be cooked.
8. That tickled my funny bone.
9. Hildegard doesn't put up with any nonsense.
10. His gesture pleased me.
11. We will be paid.
12. He hit the sack.
13. Viruses cause the common cold and influenza.
14. I imagined the worst.
15. Did you eat your spinach?
16. We have been studying.
17. They ought to have been preparing for the exam.
18. Sweden has the world’s highest life expectancy.

19. No one likes a whiner.
20. She invited James and me. James and I accepted her invitation.
21. Steal not this book, my honest friend.

22. A poem is never finished.
23. You can burn a book but not its contents.
24. Play ball!
25. Edmonton City Council renamed the Capilano Freeway.
26. I thought that I might take a nap.

Exercise 21 — Recognizing Objects and Indirect Objects
Label as “S,” “V,” “IO,” and “O” the subject, verb, indirect object, and object in each of
the following sentences:
1. You owe your country loyalty.

2. France presented the United States the Statue of Liberty.
3. Faust pledged the devil his soul.
4. Herod promised Salome John the Baptist's head.
5. Did you offer him help?
6. The Olympics awards athletes gold, silver, and bronze medals.
7. Antony gave Cleopatra Cyprus, Phoenicia, Arabia, and Judea.
8. Cleopatra presented Caesar herself rolled in a rug.
9. The Greeks delivered the Trojans a huge wooden horse.
10. Prometheus gave man fire.
11. The gods gave Midas the golden touch.
12. Santa brings good girls and boys presents.
13. Shakespeare gave us the words “assassinate,” “critical,” “hurry,” “lonely,” “gnarled,”
and “dwindle.”
14. I owe you a debt of gratitude. You gave me my life.
15. The messenger told Mrs. Davis the bad news.
16. A dictionary will give you a word’s spelling, pronunciation, usage, and etymology.
17. Will you tell me the truth?
18. Withstanding pain gives people strength.
19. Will you lend me five dollars?
20. The company advanced him two weeks’ pay.
21. “Diamond Jim” Brady offered his love a gold-plated bicycle with mother-of-pearl
handlebars.
22. Artist Marc Chagall gave a Jerusalem medical centre twelve stained-glass windows.
23. She wouldn’t give him the time of day.
24. No one owes you a living.
25. Tell your teacher what you don’t understand.

Exercise 22 — Good Enough to Eat
Directions for recipes—or directions for doing almost anything—rely heavily on the
subject-verb-object-adverb sentence pattern. Pick out the verbs and their objects and
adverbs in the directions for the following recipe. In directions, the subject is always the
same: an implied “you.”
Lazy Day Cinnamon Buns
Ingredients
1/2 cup margarine

1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
2 cans of refrigerator biscuits
1 handful of raisins
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Grease well a ten-cup bundt pan.
Arrange biscuits around the pan.
Sprinkle the handful of raisins over the buns.
Melt margarine, brown sugar, and cinnamon together in the microwave.
Pour melted cinnamon mixture evenly over the buns.
Bake the buns for 20 minutes in the preheated oven.
Remove the buns to a plate. (Be careful: the butter mixture will be hot and sticky.)
Lick your fingers.
Share the buns immediately with family and friends.
Accept compliments graciously.

Exercise 23 — Writing Directions
Write out the directions for one of your family’s favourite recipes, or for any process that
you know how to do well, such as
1. moving a paragraph from one place to another when editing on a computer

2. weaseling out of doing the dishes (or cleaning your room)
3. wheedling money or gifts out of your parents
4. changing a tire on your bike
5. driving your teacher crazy
6. walking the dog
7. avoiding doing your homework
8. organizing a party
Remember, most of your sentences will be subject-verb-object-adverb sentences. (See

your Grammar Handbook for review.)

Exercise 24 — Using Prepositional Phrases
Description relies heavily on modifiers; spatial description uses frequent prepositional

phrases. (Refer to your Grammar Handbook for a list of common prepositions.)
Imagine you are a video camera panning around the walls of your room at home. What do
you see? Write a detailed description of this video tour, beginning with the wall
immediately to the right of the door and then panning in a clockwise direction. Your
description should be sufficiently precise that another person could almost draw your room.
When you are finished, underline all the prepositional phrases. Write your description on a
separate sheet of lined paper.
Example:
On the wall immediately to the right of the door is the first of two bedside tables
with a tall lamp on top flanked by my alarm clock and a picture of my cat,
Ginger. Immediately above the lamp is a print of a dance number from the
musical Cats. Beside the bedside table is my bed, topped with numerous navy
and red toss cushions and a plaid comforter. Beyond the bed is the second
bedside table overflowing with a disorderly pile of magazines, paperbacks,
crumpled-up Kleenexes, and gum wrappers as well as a second lamp with a
lopsided shade. Around the corner from this table is a tall white bookcase with
two doors on the bottom half.…
P.S. You may wish to tidy your room before you begin this exercise! When your mother,
amazed, asks what you are doing, you can honestly say that you are doing your homework.
She will be very impressed. Either that, or she will faint.

Exercise 25 — Recognizing Prepositional Phrases
Underline the prepositional phrases in the following sentences. The phrases have been
put in parentheses in the first five sentences to serve as examples. (Remember, prepositions
can sometimes be part of the infinitive form of a verb or a verb idiom. (See your
Handbook for review.) In this exercise, infinitives and verb idioms have been shown in
boldface type.
1. (From the depth) (of his soul) he prayed (for help).
2. (In the farthest corner) (of the room) sat a girl (in an enormous black hat) (with an
ostrich feather) (on top).
3. (Between you and me), this class is the most fascinating one (in the world).
4. He saw a body (alongside the house) (with the tottering chimney) (on its roof).
5. Work (without play) is like cereal (without cream)—or like T.V. (without popcorn).
6. In Tucson, Arizona, residents have invented a process for dyeing worms in bright
colours.
7. Odor specialists say that one molecule of skunk odor is smellable in 50 trillion
molecules of air.
8. He thinks by infection, catching an opinion like a cold.
9. Without a care in the world, she dangled her toes in the stream and soaked up the
sun.
10. I must tell you how I finally won over the town bully: thrusting my nose firmly
between his teeth, I threw him heavily to the ground on top of me. Then by a sudden
and adroit movement, I placed my left eye against his fist.
11. Calgary is growing faster in population than Edmonton is. This growth has caused the
prices in Calgary real estate to go up.
12. All tragedies are finished by death; all comedies are ended by marriage.
13. According to many notable scientists, man will pollute himself off the face of the earth
in the next century.
14. A giraffe must get up at six in the morning if it wants to have its breakfast in its
stomach by nine.
15. In a time of crisis, a person sometimes does not think clearly about his problems.

16. In springtime, magpies outside my window frequently wake me before six in the
morning.
17. Consider the inspirational example of the postage stamp; its usefulness consists in
the ability to stick to one thing until it gets to its goal.
18. Ring around the collar is considered shameful by our society, which values cleanliness.
19. “Humpty Dumpty” translated into German is “Wirgele Wargele,” according to a noted
linguist.
20. Tears caused by emotional upset are chemically different from tears caused by peeling
onions.
21. I have collected several thingamabobs that look like, well, you know, those doobiddies
that sit on the flingey-fingey, but don't confuse these with whatyacallits.
22. Mishimin-Pitossitchigan and Meshkawakoging-Bimaigan are favourite desserts of the

Ojibway Indians of Heron Bay reserve in Northwestern Ontario.
23. Flea circus fleas sell for five dollars per half-pound.
24. He lived a little to the west of East Overshoe somewhere between Hicksville and
Plunkitt.
25. The display of teddy bears each Christmas at the Provincial Museum is a favourite
with Edmontonians.
26. Throughout history, children have been afraid of bogeymen and things that go bump in
the night.
27. Nobody here but us chickens.
28. Do not confuse motion with action.
29. There was a little girl/ Who had a little curl/ Right in the middle of her forehead.
30. A dropped piece of bread and peanut butter will always land on a fuzzy carpet with the
peanut butter side down. This is one of the surer bets in life.
31. Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of
having nothing to do: once or twice, she had peeped into the book her sister was
reading, but it had no pictures or conversation in it, “and what is the use of a book,”
thought Alice, “without pictures or conversation?” —Lewis Carroll

32. Voltaire said, “Animals have these advantages over man: they never hear the clock
strike; they die without any idea of death; they have no theologians to instruct them;
their last moments are not disturbed by unwelcome ceremonies; their funerals cost
them nothing, and no one starts lawsuits over their wills.”
33. Engineering is a great profession. There is the fascination of watching a figment of the
imagination emerge through the aid of science to a plan on paper. But the great
liability of engineers . . . is that their works are out in the open where all can see them.
Their acts…are hard in substance. They cannot bury their mistakes in the grave like
the doctors. They cannot argue them into thin air or blame the judge like the lawyers.
They cannot, like architects, cover their failures with trees and shrubs.
—Herbert Hoover
Exercise 26 — Adjective and Adverb Phrases
Identify all the phrases in the previous exercise as either adjective or adverb.

Exercise 27 — Using Prepositional Phrases
Add one or more prepositional phrases to each of the following sentences, and identify
whether each phrase is an adjective phrase or an adverb phrase.
1. The cat climbed the tree.
2. Get up early.
3. The teacher gave instructions.
4. The girl sang.
5. The boy threw the ball.
6. He saw the car.
7. They walked.
8. His mother listened.
9. The bomb exploded.
10. We needed money.
11. The woman smiled.
12. The alarm rang.
13. The students gathered.

Exercise 28 — Identifying Prepositional Phrases
Identify and underline the prepositional phrases in the following proverbs, and explain
in your own words what the proverb means.
1. A stitch in time saves nine.
2. Do not throw out the baby with the bath water.
3. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
4. You cannot get blood from a stone.
5. Run it up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes.
6. You cannot make bricks without straw.

7. You can’t live in the fast lane without getting run over.
8. All roads lead to Rome.
9. Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.
10. You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

Exercise 29 — Sayings Without Vowels
How fast can you identify the preceding proverbs now that all the vowels have been taken
out?
1. YCNNTMKSLKPRSTFSWSR.
2. BRDNTHHNDSWRTHTWNTHBSH.
3. YCNNTMKBRCKSWTHTSTRW.
4. RNTPTHFLGPLNDSFNNSLTS.
5. STTCHNTMSVSNN.
6. YCNTLVNTHFSTLNWTHTGTTNGRNVR.
7. DNTTHRWTTHBBYWTHTHBTHWTR.
8. LLRDSLDTRM.
9. YCNNTGTBLDFRMSTN.
10. BWRFGRKSBRNGGFTS.
(Kind of makes you appreciate vowels, doesn’t it!)

Now try deciphering these common sayings—without any clues:
1. PPL WH LV N GLSS HSS SHLDNT THRW STNS.
2. HS BRK WS WRS THN HS BT.
3. TH PT SHLD NT CLL TH KTTL BLCK.
4. PNN SVD S PNN RND.
5. T TKS N T KNW N.

Exercise 30 — Recognizing Subject-Verb-Adverb Sentences
Label as “S”, “V”, “Adv” the subject, verb, and adverbs in each of the following sentences.
(Remember, a word, a phrase, or a clause can act as an adverb modifying the verb.)
1. Hitler marched on Poland in 1939.
2. The prime minister always went home for lunch.
3. Infuriated by the insult, Dave leapt from his seat.
4. Although exhausted, Chantel worked at math until midnight.
5. Lazily, Indira strolled toward the beach.
6. Without a thought, Lucas ran headlong into the auditorium.
7. Eat slowly; chew well.
8. Proceed with caution.
9. Because it was three in the morning, he tiptoed into the house without his shoes.
10. Katrina sang with all her heart and soul.
11. Joshua slid dangerously close to the edge.
12. Jack jumped nimbly over the candlestick.
13. I will gladly come if I can.
14. Whistling and with his hands in his pockets, Julian sauntered into the room.
15. When Hunter asked her to grad, Tara was thrilled down to her toes.
16. Look before you leap.
17. Whoever gossips to you will gossip about you.
18. If a donkey brays at you, don’t bray at him.
19. Phoebe was named after the Goddess of the Moon.
20. Liberty and Equality have not been accompanied by Fraternity.
21. Thought engenders thought. Place one idea upon paper, another will follow it, and still
another, until you have written a page. But if you neglect to think for yourself, and use other
people’s thoughts, you will never know what you are capable of. At first, your thoughts may
come out in shapeless lumps, but don’t worry about this. Time and practice will help you to
arrange and polish them. If you learn to think, you will learn to write.

Exercise 31 — Adding Adverbs
Make the following sentences into S-V-Adv sentences if they are not already. That is,
where necessary, add a word, a phrase, or a clause which answers the questions “Where?”
“When?” “Why?” “How?” “To what extent?” or “Under what condition?” about the verb.
1. The school bell rang at four o'clock.

2. The old man stumbled.
3. Santa slid down the chimney.
4. Trisha lied.
5. Arrive on time.
6. One of the enemy planes was hit.
7. The sun rose.
8. The garbage should have been collected.
9. All of the students complained.
10. Weakly, he rose from the bed.
11. The child ought to have been punished.
12. Don't speak to me.
13. The soldier was fatally wounded.
14. She had forgotten.
15. The young boy limped noticeably.
16. Billions of dollars have been spent.
17. Consume wisely.
18. The wombies zankled under the dangy.
19. Those wombies should have been stulping.
20. Without further ado, he left.
21. Take what you can.
22. Unless you eat breakfast, you won’t be able to think in math class.
23. I understand math.
24. We ought to have been studying, but we were playing video games.

Exercise 32 — Playing With Adverbs
“Tom Swifties” are puns using adverbs. After you have finished groaning at all the bad
puns, underline the adverbs and adverb phrases in the following sentences. Then, using
the examples as a model, make up ten more Tom Swifties using adverbs.
1. “I dropped my toothpaste,” said Tom in a crestfallen manner.

2. “I don't like sesame seeds,” said Ali Baba openly.
3. “The electricity has failed,” the agent said powerlessly.
4. “Give me the scissors!” Polly ordered sharply.
5. “Shall we camp here?” he asked tentatively.
6. “I need a drink,” he commented wryly.
7. “Whoa!” he yelled hoarsely.
8. “Let's do another transplant,” said Dr. Barnard patiently.
9. “I am Chief Sitting Bull,” he announced bravely.
10. “There has been no rain this year,” Gertrude remarked dryly.
11. “I need my crutches,” Tom said lamely.
12. “I broke the window!” I sobbed brokenly.
13. “I'll steal some pancakes,” he whispered surreptitiously.
14. “I love hotdogs,” he admitted frankly.
15. “These clothes are whiter than white!” she exclaimed as she folded them tidily.
16. “I work at the Storyland Valley Zoo,” he said cagily.

Write some Tom Swifties using adverbs.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Exercise 33 — A Violent Review
Identify each of the following sentences as:
S-V S-V-IO-O S-V-O-Adv
S-V-O S-V-Adv
1. The great white shark mercilessly attacked the Orca.
2. Cleopatra was killed by an asp.
3. Lucrezia Borgia gave her guests poison.
4. Brutus stabbed Caesar. (Beware the Ides of March!)
5. The Romanovs were overthrown and executed by the Communists during the
Russian Revolution. One of the daughters, Anastasia, may have escaped.
6. To avoid torture, spies sometimes take cyanide.
7. Many Canadians favour the death penalty.
8. Lizzie Borden “gave her mother forty whacks.”
9. Achilles’ heel was pierced by an arrow.
10. Without knowing his true identity, Oedipus killed his father and married his
mother.
11a. Familiarity breeds contempt:
11b. most murders are committed at home.
12. The guillotine was invented by a Dr. J.I. Guillotin as a more humane means of
execution during the French Revolution.
13. Jack the Ripper murdered prostitutes.
14. Texas has legalized personal handguns.
15. Hitler practised genocide against the Jews.
16. Alberta has the highest teen suicide rate in Canada.
17. “Foul deeds will rise though all the earth o’erwhelm them to men’s eyes.”
18. Vampires may be killed with a stake through the heart.
19. By this hand, I will supplant some of your teeth.
20. Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated President Kennedy. He was shot by Jack Ruby.

Exercise 34 — Recognizing Linking Verbs
After underlining the complete verb (a verb plus its auxiliaries), identify each of the
following sentences as either S-LV-C (Subject—Linking Verb—Complement) or as S-LV-Adj
(Subject—Linking Verb—Adjective).
1. He had been a mechanic.

2. Allison appeared angry.
3. The children seem tired.
4. Ammonia smells pungent.
5. He should have stayed a child.
6. You are a big gorilla.
7. Ye are a fat-kidneyed rascal.
8. Spaghetti tastes spicy.
9. He seemed a good friend.
10. Mel Gibson looks tough.
11. But he is a pussy-cat.
12. Her voice sounded monotonous.
13. You are a beetle-headed, flap-eared knave.
14. Robin Williams ought to have become a teacher. He would have been
great.
15. Life is creation.
16. Happiness is a new video game.
17. The artist is creative.
18. The evenings grew longer.
19. I felt cold and clammy.
20. You are a gross lout.
21. Lenin made a forceful leader.
22. The GST hasn’t been popular.
23. That dog is acting strange.
24. Anyone can be a success.
25. He sounds asthmatic.
26. This class grows tedious.
27. Herman will make a fine husband.
28. Robert de Niro looks menacing.
29. You are a giddy goose.
30. I feel exhausted.

Exercise 35 — Reviewing Sentence Patterns
Identify the sentence pattern of each of the following:
S-V
S-V-O
S-V-IO-O
S-V-Adv
S-V-O-Adv
S-LV-C
S-LV-Adj
1. The attorney looked through the evidence for some clue to motive.
2. The slave sounded the gong.
3. A picnic sounds great.
4. I can't smell any smoke. Can you?
5. He stayed home all night.
6. Aisha became an engineer.
7. Careful planning can prevent a disaster.
8. Roses smell too sweet.
9. You will look a fool.
10. Coffee tastes refreshing.
11. I can't taste anything when I have a cold.
12. He felt better.
13. The teacher appeared tense.
14. Carter seems annoyed.
15. Some Vancouver doctors want to legalize marijuana.
16. He grew daisies in his backyard.
17. Daisies grow wild.
18. He made the right choice.
19. She will make a good prime minister.
20. She will make cookies.
21. I did well in English this year.

22. The grammar study helped me to improve.
23. I still cannot spell “emberassed.”
24. Have you lost your mind?
25. I lost it during this exercise.
26. I don’t know what to do.
27. Shakespeare coined many new words to express his ideas.
28. “Bungalow” is a Hindu word.
29. Soap operas are boring. But some people watch them every day
because soaps give them vicarious pleasure.
30. The sundae was garnished with a cherry.

Exercise 36 — Playing With Parts of Speech
Write a diamond-shaped poem according to the following directions:
1. Write down one noun.

2. On the next line, write two adjectives.
3. On the third line, write three participles (verbals ending in “ing” or “ed”).
4. On the fourth line, write four nouns related to the subject.
5. On the fifth line, write three participles indicating change or development of the
subject.
6. On the sixth line, write two adjectives carrying on the idea of change or development.
7. On the seventh line, write one noun that is opposite to the subject in meaning.
Here is a sample:
Stranger
New, different
Seeing, meeting, talking
Acquaintance, associate, member, pal
Liking, enjoying, seeking
Familiar, trusted
Friend.
__________________
__________________, __________________
__________________, __________________, __________________
__________________, __________________, _________________, __________________
__________________, __________________, __________________
__________________, _________________
__________________

Exercise 37 — Using Adjectives
Fill in the missing adjectives in the following clichéd similes:
1. ____________________ as an arrow
2. ____________________ as a fiddle
3. ____________________ as a newborn babe
4. ____________________ as night and day
5. ____________________ as shooting
6. ____________________ as thieves
7. ____________________ as the nose on your face
8. ____________________ as a pin
9. ____________________ as a doornail
10. ____________________ as a cucumber
11. ____________________ as a mule
12. ____________________ as an ape
13. ____________________ as a fox
14. ____________________ as a bell
15. ____________________ as a breeze
16. ____________________ as a peacock
17. ____________________ as a lamb
18. ____________________ as a bat
19. ____________________ as a wolf
20. ____________________ as a hatter
21. ____________________ as silk
22. ____________________ as a sheet
23. ____________________ as a board
24. ____________________ as molasses in January
25. ____________________ as a bone
26. ____________________ as a button
27. ____________________ as pie

Exercise 38 — If Someone Said You Had a Bovine Expression,
Would You Be Insulted?
Match the animal with its adjective:
cat aquiline
ape asinine
bear avian
fish bovine
pig canine
wolf equine
cow feline
dog leonine
lion lupine
bird piscine
ass porcine
horse simian
bull taurine
eagle ursine
1. What do the following mean?
a. He had a leonine head of hair.

b. Our simian ancestors were less fashion-conscious.
c. I admired her feline grace.
d. He peered at me over his aquiline nose.
e. She had rather equine features.
2. What signs of the zodiac can you recognize from the list of adjectives?
3. What constellation is Ursa Major?
4. Why is an aviator called an “aviator”?

Exercise 39 — Parts of Speech
Identify each of the following words as a noun, an adjective, or a verb. Can any act as more than
one part of speech? Circle them.
1. __________ beri-beri 23. __________ nitty-gritty

2. __________ boogie-woogie 24. __________ no-no
3. __________ can-can 25. __________ ping pong
4. __________ chitchat 26. __________ pom-pom
5. __________ crisscross 27. __________ powwow
6. __________ dillydally 28. __________ ragtag
7. __________ dodo 29. __________ razzle-dazzle
8. __________ flibbertygibbet 30. __________ riffraff
9. __________ fuddy-duddy 31. __________ roly-poly
10. __________ gizmo 32. __________ seesaw
11. __________ goody-goody 33. __________ shilly-shally
12. __________ hanky-panky 34. __________ teeny-weeny
13. __________ hari-kari 35. __________ teepee
14. __________ helter-skelter 36. __________ tip-top
15. __________ hobnob 37. __________ tom-tom
16. __________ hodgepodge 38. __________ tutu
17. __________ humdrum 39. __________ twenty-twenty
18. __________ hurly-burly 40. __________ walkie-talkie
19. __________ itsy-bitsy 41. __________ wishy-washy
20. __________ knickknack 42. __________ yo-yo
21. __________ mishmash 43. __________ zigzag
22. __________ mumbo-jumbo

Exercise 40 — Parts of Speech in Advertising
In a study of television commercials in the 1980’s, apparently the twenty most common
verbs were
make look
get need
give love
have use
see feel
buy like
come choose
go take
know start
keep taste
Are advertisements at the turn of the century still using the same verbs?
You may want to work in pairs on this activity:
Find thirty or more advertisements from a particular type of magazine such as sports
magazines, women’s magazines, men’s magazines, teen magazines, news magazines,
celebrity magazines, business magazines—or any other category of your choice. Along with
the products being sold, list all the verbs in these thirty advertisements—then compare
notes with other classmates. Do different magazines produce different lists of verbs?
Or — Find thirty advertisements for one type of product such as cosmetics, cars, soft
drinks, computers, or food products, and list all the verbs. Again compare notes with your
classmates. Do different products produce different lists of verbs?
Now, using the same ads, repeat the process with all the nouns and all the
adjectives/adverbs. Can you make any generalizations from what you have found? Do ads
for minivans, for example, use different adjectives than ads for sports utility vehicles or for
luxury cars? Do men’s cosmetic ads use different adjectives than women’s cosmetic ads? Do
men’s magazine ads use more verbs than women’s magazine ads? Can you look at the
adjectives/adverbs and tell what type of product is being advertised? The possible questions
are endless.

Exercise 41 — Principal Parts of Irregular Verbs
Check in a dictionary for the principal parts of the following irregular verbs:
Present Past Past participle
1. break
2. build
3. buy
4. flee
5. fling
6. forget
7. hang
8. have
9. lend
10. lose
11. pay
12. rise
13. stink
14. wind

Exercise 42 — Correcting Errors in Principal Parts
Correct any errors in the use of principal parts in the following sentences. Mark with a
check those sentences that are correct as written.
1. Edmonton has grown a great deal over the last ten years.
2. The principal wanted to know who had rang the fire alarm.
3. Ben Johnson has ran his last race.
4. We have sang that same song at every concert this year. I have begun to get tired of
it.
5. The mayor has spoke at our school several times.
6. He swam as long as he could, but the waves finally dragged him under.
7. I had tore my rented tuxedo on the way to graduation.
8. It is embarrassing to have wrote to your English teacher and not to have wrote
correctly.
9. Had I known your fax number, I would have sent you a copy of my speech.
10. Because I had never rode a horse before, I was throwed to the ground almost
immediately.
11. A paranoid thinks everyone has seed his guilty conscience.
12. Was it your social studies teacher who throwed you out?
13. We should have took more money with us to cover parking.
14. Several pages have been tore from this book about the tribal customs of the Umba-
Gumba.
15. Tarzan swung himself by a vine across the crocodile-infested river.
16. Alex at once seen what the trouble was.
17. Someone must have stole my copy of Romeo and Juliet, though I can't understand who
would want it.
18. He had drunk at least a quart of milk at lunch.
19. My dad would have knowed what to do.
20. Have you wrote your essay on what you did in your summer holidays?
21. I was convinced no one could have swum that far.
22. I should have knowd better.
23. I would have took Michelle to the dance, but she said she wouldn't be catched dead
with me.
24. The Oilers should have beat the Flames easily.
25. My fingers had nearly froze by the time I made it back to the cabin.

26. We could not have went any further without food.
27. They had chosen Nigel captain because he owned the football.
28. She habitually came to school twenty minutes late, a habit which drived her math
teacher into a rage.
29. It is not possible that three boys could have drank all that beer.
30. Have you ever drunk papaya juice?
31. The sun hadn't shined for the whole of January.
32. Not many people have swam the English Channel.
33. I tore the note in half without even looking at it.
34. Derrick got a detention for having sweared at the principal.
35. The little frog creeped under the toadstool.
36. We have bit off more than we could chew.
37. The trapeze artist swung high above the centre ring.
38. I have spoke to your parents already about the field trip.
39. Lie that book on the table where you found it.
40. I have rode a bicycle since I was four.
41. The nanny was accused of having shook the baby.
42. Did you think I had forgot your birthday?
43. Cassandra was a Trojan princess who had foretelled that the Greeks would get into
Troy in a wooden horse, but they didn’t believe her.
44. In the story “The Lady or the Tiger,” no one knows whether the young man chose the
right door.
45. Many people had sank their life savings into Bre-X.
46. To escape punishment, he fleed the country.
47. He should have wore more appropriate clothes for the interview.
48. The water balloon bursted on his head.
49. She had payed for the gift with her money saved from babysitting.
50. He had finally began to understand grammar.

Exercise 43 — Choosing the Correct Principal Part
Write the appropriate form of the verb for each sentence.
1. begin I had already ____________ to work.

2. blow The wind has ____________ hard all day.
3. come They ____________ in last night at midnight.
4. drink Have you ____________ all the orange juice?
5. fall If I hadn't ____________, I would have won the race.
6. freeze The water hasn't ____________ yet.
7. ring The bell has already ____________.
8. run When the rain came, everyone ____________ for shelter.
9. sing Had she ____________ in the choir before?
10. speak Had I recognized you, I would have ____________.
11. choose Has everyone ____________ a partner?
12. beat We have ____________ Strathcona three times this year.
13. do Jarod ____________ the best he could.
14. break Was his leg ____________ by the fall?
15. go I wish I had ____________ with them to China.
16. give I could have ____________ her roses, but roses are so “common.”
17. fly Have you ever ____________ on the Concorde?
18. drive Gerry has ____________ since he was thirteen.
19. know Obviously, Sean hadn't ____________ what to do.
20. dive He ____________ into the icy water.
21. grow I am convinced you have ____________ six inches since I last saw you.
22. lead During World War II, General Eisenhower ____________ the Allied forces.
23. burst After the assembly yesterday, the girls ____________ a water balloon.
24. spring The boat had ____________ a leak before they were six feet from shore.
25. steal How many bases had he ____________ to break the record?

Exercise 44 — Singular and Plural Subjects
Note whether the following verbs take a singular or a plural subject. Put “S” for singular and
“P” for plural.
1. stand 17. teach

2. work 18. miss
3. breaks 19. finds
4. lose 20. moves
5. swim 21. sweep
6. studies 22. condescends
7. have 23. procrastinates
8. cross 24. purchase
9. lead 25. hesitates
10. cries 26. does
11. capitulates 27. bargain
12. taste 28. scratches
13. rolls 29. disappear
14. smoke 30. has
15. stretch 31. irritates
16. hurry 32. dabbles

Exercise 45 — Subject-Verb Agreement
Rewrite the following paragraph, changing “child” to “children,” and making all other
necessary changes.
A child does not naturally see others in competitive terms. He learns to be competitive once
he goes to school or joins a sports team. Up until that time, he does not understand the
concept of winning and losing. He races around a playground for the sheer joy of racing or
kicks a ball to see how far it will go. A child plays naturally because that is how he learns,
not because he hopes to earn an award or beat someone else. Games, with rules and
winners and losers, are something he has to be taught. Sadly, he is introduced to the law of
the jungle all too soon, and consequently, he spends the rest of his life seeing others as
rivals rather than allies.

Exercise 46 — Making Verbs Agree With Their Subjects
Use each of the following subjects with:

a) is or are
b) wasn't or weren't
c) doesn't or don't.
For example:
He is my brother. He wasn’t home for Christmas, because he doesn’t live in Canada.
1. You
2. Everyone in the class
3. A person
4. He and his twin sister
5. A set of encyclopedias
6. A pair of scissors
7. The scissors
8. Three of the crew
9. My sisters
10. Neither of my brothers
11. His choice of words

12. Many of those present
13. A load of Christmas trees
14. Half of the artichokes
15. Three-quarters of the period
16. A bunch of radishes
17. What I eat for breakfast
18. Snowboarding
19. One of the children
20. Eating out on weekends

Exercise 47 — Subject-Verb Agreement
Choose and circle the correct form of the verb in the following sentences:
1. There (is, are) many complex reasons why young people start smoking.
2. Two weeks (is, are) long enough for a trip to the coast.
3. Either Kevin or Darin (is, are) making the arrangements, I forget which.
4. (Does, Do) algebra or geometry demand greater intelligence?
5. Along with the tickets (go, goes) the prize of an Shania Twain CD.
6. Each of the security guards, along with the administrators, (was, were) checked for
concealed weapons.
7. Among the items in his locker (was, were) a rotting cheese sandwich and a dog-eared
copy of Macbeth.
8. Our best bargain (is, are) cargo pants.
9. Mumps (is, are) a highly infectious disease.
10. Too much attention in movies (go, goes) to special effects rather than to plot.
11. Quick! There (is, are) two members of the gang you said robbed you!
12. Now the jury (is, are) casting their votes.
13. Neither of your answers (is, are) correct.
14. Not one of the students (know, knows) how to spell “embarrassing.”
15. Twenty dollars (seems, seem) a fortune to me just before payday.
16. My favourite among music groups (is, are) the Mumbling Morons.
17. Two times five (is, are) ten.
18. The vegetable I most detest (is, are) lima beans.
19. There (is, are) a hat and gloves lying on the table.
20. Courtney, along with the other student council members, (is, are) organizing an anti-
litter campaign.
21. Where (has, have) your committee decided to hold its final meeting?
22. If I (was, were) a man, I would become a priest.
23. Each of the players (is, are) required to put up half the fare for the trip.
24. The jury (is, are) one of the oldest legal institutions.
25. If only I (was, were) wealthy, I wouldn't have to work for a living.

26. Neither the jury members nor the judge (was, were) paying attention.
27. Everybody (needs, need) somebody to love.
28. (Doesn't, Don't) each of the winners get a prize?
29. The chairman, as well as the committee members, (was, were) obviously bored by the
long-winded summations of the lawyers.
30. Even five years (is, are) an eternity when a person is young.
31. Here (comes, come) the bus full of fans.
32. Darrin is the only one of all the students who (understands, understand) the professor.
33. If Jay (was, were) fourteen, he could get his learner's permit.
34. One of the girls in the group (has, have) a baby alligator.
35. I wish I (wasn't, weren't) so tired.
36. Each of the boys and girls (was, were) waving a tiny Canadian flag.
37. The makeup of the performers in the school production of “Grease” (was, were) running
in the heat.
38. Big Bird, along with Oscar the Grouch, Ernie and Bert, and the Snuffle-upagus, (was,
were) coming to the Edmonton Exhibition.
39. Antony and Cleopatra (is, are) one of Shakespeare's tragedies.
40. Where (is, are) your ball and bat?
41. The twenty or so years it takes the average person to mature (is, are) trying ones for
most.
42. Five minutes (seems, seem) like an hour when a person is waiting for an important
phone call.
43. He (was, were) one of hundreds who (was, were) lined up all night for tickets to the
Rolling Stones concert.
44. Tiddlywinks (is, are) my favourite game.
45. If I (was, were) you, I would tell him what you think.
46. Eight minutes (remains, remain) before blast-off.
47. The basketball team (was, were) all chipping in a quarter each to buy the coach some
mouthwash.
48. (Doesn't, Don't) anybody want hamburgers?
49. Either one of the prisoners or one of the guards (has, have) been leaking stories to the
press about prison brutality.
50. The Truman Show, like Network, (satirizes, satirize) television values.

Exercise 48 — Correcting Errors in Subject-Verb Agreement
This exercise contains some errors in subject-verb agreement. If the sentence is correct
as it stands, put a check mark; if it contains an error, correct that error by changing the
verb. In each case, also underline the subject of the verb.
1. One out of every three car accidents are caused by a driver under twenty.
2. Neither of the suggestions by the student council was accepted by the principal.
3. Only one of his parents were at the game.
4. Where's the letters we received from Aunt Aggimuffin?
5. At some point, the law of diminishing returns begins to operate.
6. All in all, the advantages of participating in an extracurricular activity outweighs the
disadvantages.
7. The house appears to be new, but a glance at the worn steps tell a different story.
8. Wendy, not the other members of the student council, was responsible for the success of
graduation.
9. Every stick and stone have been cleared from the parade ground.
10. David, one of those extremely hyperactive youngsters who never seems to run out of energy,
drive his parents crazy.
11. It takes no great intelligence to realize that lasting prosperity and the well-being of all people
depends upon peace.
12. The move from the small pond of junior high to the ocean of high school are traumatic for
some students.
13. Why don't the school board reduce class size to twenty?
14. Both coffee and tea, as well as cola, contains caffeine.
15. The elm trees on our street is susceptible to Dutch Elm disease.
16. Twenty-five tonnes is too great a load for one truck.
17. Where's your parents today?
18. Our main irritation were the mosquitoes.
19. There's many reasons people don't save money for their retirement.
20. The mumps sometimes lead to serious complications, particularly in older children.
21. Her greatest worry was her children.
22. The book with the manual sell for twenty dollars.
23. Part of his expenses for the conference were paid for by the school.

24. Sean Connery, as well as Elvis Presley, were once employed as a truck driver.
25. Everyone on top of the Empire State Building were carrying either a camera or binoculars.
26. University life and high school life are vastly different.
27. The question of school fees don't belong in this discussion.
28. There seems to be many arguments on both sides of the abortion issue.
29. Measles is not exclusively a children's disease.
30. There's too many selfish people in the world.
31. It's a surprising fact that poor people give a higher percentage of their income to charity than
does wealthy people.
32. Fifteen minutes is enough time for you to complete your assignment.
33. Here's the car keys that I misplaced.
34. The number of girls studying engineering are increasing every year.
35. A pair of jeans were left behind in the locker room.
36. Did you know that the best predictor of success in medical studies are results in English
Diploma Exams?
37. The extent of his injuries from the accident have not been determined.
38. One of my best suggestions about how to improve their writing was totally ignored by the
students.
39. Is either your mother or your father home?
40. That he don't like literature is not surprising, given his reading difficulties.
41. A set of encyclopedias has been made obsolete by access to the Internet.
42. Where you get your money and how you spend it is your business.
43. Neither of his maternal grandparents are alive.
44. Princess Diana, along with her fiancé and her driver, were killed in a car crash in Paris.
45. A porpoise, like whales and dolphins, swim near the surface.
46. The number of A's on the test was disappointing.
47. Don't it bother you that he can ace the test without even studying?
48. The result of his experiments were never conclusive.
49. The ship, with its entire crew, was lost off the coast of Newfoundland.
50. Every one of the students have contributed to the Food Bank drive.

Exercise 49 — Recognizing the Appropriate Verb Tense
Correct any unnecessary shifts in verb tense in the following passage. Note: This
passage is tricky. You will need to use both present and past tenses to write the passage
correctly. In other words, some changes in verb tense in the passage are necessary. Can you
explain why?
We are all familiar with the story of Icarus, the son of an inventor named Daedalus. Icarus
lived with his father on the island of Crete at the court of King Minos. Unfortunately,
Minos becomes angry with Daedalus and imprisoned him along with Icarus in a labyrinth.
Although they escape from the labyrinth, they have no way to escape from the island. Their
doom seemed certain until Daedalus has a clever idea. He set about making a set of wings
so that they can fly from the island. These wings consisted of feathers held together with
wax. Before the father and son were to take off, Daedalus warns Icarus not to fly too high
lest the heat of the sun melt the wax on the wings. Icarus, however, is a rash young man
who did not listen to his father. He flew too near the sun, and as his father had predicted,
the sun melts the wax holding together the wings. Icarus crashed into the ocean.
Consequently, the ancient Greeks called the water where Icarus fell the Icarian Sea. Even
today, the small island where Daedalus buried his son still bears the name “Icaria.” And
the word “Icarian” has come into our language; it means “foolishly daring.”

Exercise 50 — Choosing the Appropriate Verb Tense
Like the word “Icarian,” many other words in our language have been derived from the
names of people or places, both historical and fictional.
Choose one of the following words and explain its origin, modeling your paragraph after the
one on Icarus. When you are proofreading, pay particular attention to your verb tenses.
(In your paragraph, you should use both the present and the past tenses of verbs
appropriately.)
1. echo 16. silhouette

2. Achilles tendon 17. panic
3. tantalize 18. ottoman
4, narcissistic 19. January
5. guillotine 20. volcano
6. diesel 21. galvanize
7. quixotic 22. derrick
8. mesmerize 23. Pandora’s box
9. mercurial 24. a Cassandra
10. sandwich 25. Olympics
11. Braille 26. lethargic
12. lynch 27. juggernaut
13. chauvinism 28. iridescent
14. boycott 29. fury
15. psyche 30. teddy bear

Exercise 51 — Proofreading to Correct Shifts in Verb Tense
Correct any unnecessary shifts in verb tense in the following passages:
1. Queen Elizabeth I was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. She resembles her
father in some respects, although she beheaded no husbands. Because she has no
husbands, she was compelled to behead outsiders. Queen Elizabeth was called the
“Virgin Queen” or “Good Queen Bess.” She is the most intelligent woman of her day and
she refused to get married in nine languages. She loved being proposed to, but she
always finds something wrong with her suitors. Queen Elizabeth has been quite a flirt
all her life, but she finally developed a bad habit of boxing her partners' ears and
shouting, “God's death, I'll have thy head!” This discourages some of her more sensitive
partners.
2. The sex education of a child is a delicate thing. None of us wants to make a mess of it. I
have always had a horror of ending up like the woman in the old joke who was asked by
her child where he comes from and after she explains the process in a well-chosen
medical vocabulary, he looked at her intently and says, “I just wondered. Mike came
from Winnipeg, Manitoba.”
3. I sit down at my desk early with intentions of spending the next four hours studying.
Before many minutes passed, I heard a great deal of noise down on the floor below me; a
water fight is in progress. I forgot about studying for half an hour, for it is quite
impossible to concentrate on French in the midst of all this commotion. After things
quieted down I began studying again. I have hardly started when a magazine salesman
came in my room. I had no sooner got rid of him than my roommate arrives back from a
date and wanted to tell me all the gory details. It took me half an hour to get her calmed
down. Now I'm too tired to study. I went to bed and am resigned to flunking French
tomorrow.

4. Pago Pago was fading out of sight in the distance when a strong wind comes out of the
west. Suddenly, beyond the murky waves, the spout of a whale is seen and the lookout
gave the signal. It seems as if the ship had been sleeping and was now suddenly awake.
Orders were shouted by the mates, and the men race to the whale boats and lowered
them into the water. The air was full of excitement as the chase begins. The long days of
waiting are over. Half a mile ahead of them the water churns angrily. The whale had
sensed his danger and dove to the bottom of the sea, where it is safe from all harm. But
the men continued to stand waiting, their harpoons ready in their hands.
5. While I was working on my homework, who saunters in but my classmate, Bob Roper.
He asked me why I am working so hard.
“Why, there's a test in chemistry tomorrow,” I answered, “and on Thursday, there's
one in social studies.”
“Humph!” replies Bob, “You'll pass those easily. Let's go down to the mall for a
couple of hours.”
I didn't need to be persuaded. “Okay,” I say, “let's get going.”
6. The Taming of the Shrew, which stars Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, was one of
the best movies I've ever seen. It is full of colour and life, involving as it did the classic
struggle between a very early Women's Libber and a determined male chauvinist. The
sparks just fly between the two of them; at the end, the audience wasn't sure who wins.
7. The duties of a babysitter are not always simple. There is much more to the job than
just changing diapers or entertaining the children. For example, I was frequently
expected to wash all the dinner dishes. Then occasionally there are the pets to coax in
and feed. Sometimes, mothers even asked me to prepare supper for three or four
children. At four dollars an hour, it just wasn't worth it. Working at a car wash is much
easier—and cleaner!

Exercise 52 — Maintaining Consistency
Choose one of the following sentences as your topic sentence and write a paragraph of about
5 or 6 sentences, maintaining consistency of verb tense.
The duties of an older brother (or sister) are not always simple.
The duties of a pet owner are not always simple.
The duties of a student are not always simple.
The duties of a best friend are not always simple.
Or devise your own occupation: The duties of a ____________ are not always simple.

Exercise 53 — Choosing the Correct Pronoun
Select and circle the correct pronoun from each set given in parenthesis.
The walls and ceilings in the apartment had lost (its, their) colour. Either Tom or
professional painters would have (his, their) job cut out for (him, them). Wanting to do the
job himself in order to save money, Tom decided that the best place to start painting was in
(his, their) kitchen. Of course, some people do not like to do (his, their) work alone, and Bill
quickly decided to ask three of (his, their) best friends to join him. Everyone was invited to
bring (his, their) paintbrush. But once they had arrived, neither his friends nor Tom really
wanted to do (his, their) share—especially on such a hot summer day. Instead, they wanted
to watch TV to see (its, their) hockey team play (its, their) weekly game. What could Tom
do? Should a person argue with all (his, their) best friends? He had a better solution to (his,
their) problem. He simply called two more friends and asked them to come over. As soon as
they arrived, the TV suddenly lost (its, his) audience. All of Tom's friends returned to (his,
their) painting. After all, who wanted to watch TV when two gorgeous young women were
painting in the kitchen?

Exercise 54 — Checking to Ensure That Pronouns Agree
Write a paragraph of approximately 200 words beginning with one of the following:
A good teacher is someone who…

An ideal parent (mother/father) or brother or sister or grandmother is
someone who…
A valuable coach is someone who…
A best friend is someone who…
An effective boss is someone who…
A good student is someone who…
An interesting person is someone who…
Develop your paragraph with colourful detail, and when you are proofreading, pay
particular attention to consistent pronoun reference.

Exercise 55 — Proofreading to Correct Shifts in Pronoun
Reference
Correct any shifts in general pronoun reference in the following passages. Remember, when
you change a pronoun subject, you will have to change its verb to ensure agreement.
1. The course content and standards of an English class must be realistically rigorous. If a
student obtains the marks which will gain them entrance to university, they must be
able to function successfully once he is there; one must be able to think, read, and write
at a fairly sophisticated level. It is not doing students any favor to delude them with
easy assignments or high marks when he in fact still has serious deficiencies in his
English skills. Such deficiencies potentially will hamper you for the rest of your life, so
basic are English skills to one's successful academic and professional performance.
2. Effective oral communication depends on a person’s having something thoughtful to say

on a topic about which they are enthusiastic. It also depends on one's feeling secure, on
your knowing that you are speaking in a non-threatening atmosphere. Therefore, oral
participation should never be forced on people. The purpose of oral work is the building
of a person's confidence, not the humiliation of reticent individuals.
3. The manipulator is skilled at deception. They use tricks, techniques, and manoeuvers.
He puts on an act, plays roles to create an impression. Their expressed feelings are
deliberately chosen to fit the occasion. Manipulators are also largely unaware of the
important concerns of living; he has tunnel vision; they see only what they want to see
and hear only what he wishes to hear. The manipulator plays life like a game of chess.
They appear relaxed, yet he is very controlled and controlling, concealing his motives
from his “opponent.” Finally manipulators are basically distrusting of himself and
others. Down deep he doesn't trust human nature. They see relationships with another
human as having two alternatives: to control or to be controlled.

4. “Life is a mystery, Charlie Brown. Do you know the answer?”
“A person should be kind; you shouldn't smoke; they should be prompt, smile a lot,
eat sensibly; we should avoid cavities and mark our ballot carefully; people should avoid
too much sun, send overseas packages early; we should love all creatures above and
below; you should insure your belongings and try to keep the ball low . . .”
5. In the presence of some people, like certain friends, teachers, relatives, or employers—
even a barber, sales clerk, or stranger on a train—an individual may feel more whole,
more worthwhile, surer of themselves, and perhaps unusually inspired with hope or
self-confidence. These therapeutic people may simply be good, sympathetic listeners. Or,
they may be busy people, strongly committed to the pursuit of some goals, as for
example artists, scientists, or athletes. Whatever his vocation, they tend to inspire hope
and imagination in the persons around them, such that a person feels more fully alive
and strongly motivated to cope with problems outside themselves. An individual feels
better for having known these people.
6. The well-written sentence requires little effort from the reader to comprehend their
message. They are clear and unambiguous. Even when it expresses a complex thought,
the simplicity brings clarity. But few can master them.

Exercise 56 — Checking Verb and Pronoun Agreement
Correct any errors in verb or pronoun agreement in the following sentences. Put a check
beside any sentence that is correct as it stands.
1. Jack Mason, as well as many of his friends, work at a second job to supplement their
income.
2. The mumps are easily recognizable because they cause a good deal of swelling.
3. Either of the innovations are sure to make their mark.
4. A person who is outspoken is often ostracized by society for their independent mind.
5. Every one of us have to learn to be articulate and tactful if they want to succeed.
6. Neither the principal nor the teacher are prepared to forgive Justin.
7. The ten pounds of potatoes are packed in their own air-tight plastic bag.
8. None are so smart as he who knows himself.
9. The class is protesting their status as non-adults.
10. John, as well as his two friends, secured his license.
11. Each man's crop of tomatoes have been gathered into their own storehouse.
12. Both man and dog contributed his share to winning the contest.
13. To try one's best and yet to lose adds up to a bitter disappointment.
14. An adult, as well as a child, will sometimes lose their temper.
15. A person should not eat before they swim, or they may get cramps.

Exercise 57 — Correcting Verb and Pronoun Disagreements
Correct any errors in verb or pronoun agreement in the following paragraph:
Following the war, the British Intelligence and the American Army survey the
world's greatest submarine assembly plant on the River Weser near Bremen. There are
every indication of repeated attempts to blast it, and yet the multitude of bombings, with
all its devastating power, has only scarred the surface of the structure. The size and weight
of the building, constructed of reinforced concrete, rivals the pyramid of Egypt. The roof,
fourteen feet thick in some places, twenty-two feet in others, together with the other parts
of the building, have survived the attacks of armor-piercing bombs dropped by
Superfortresses flying out of English bases. Neither the usual bomb nor the 20,000-pound
bomb have been able to smash the plant. Two of the latter does manage to bore and blast its
way through the roof in March 1945, but engineers say that the concrete had not solidified
at that time. Each of the dimensions of the building are stupendous: length—1460 feet;
height—75 feet; and width—340 feet. Without windows, and white in colour, the plant give
the impression of being a mammoth brick. Its estimated output of fifteen giant submarines
per month were never achieved because the war ended before the Germans were able to get
the plant into operation.

Exercise 58— Proofreading for Consistency
Correct any shifts in verb tense or pronoun reference in the following passage:
While a child seems to begin life “innocent and unburdened” by any limitations on their
possibilities, this ideal condition did not last. After a few years of exposure to contrasting
social expectations, they began to separate out into boys and girls. This separation is the
focus of Alice Munro's short story “Boys and Girls.” Through a variety of contrasting
characters, Munro suggested a paradox of sexual stereotyping: while a man had the freedom
to enter an apparently limitless world of action, they are restricted in their ability to express
feelings; women, who stay confined in a much narrower world, were allowed to express a
fuller range of emotions.
This contrast was first apparent in the parents of the protagonist. The father works
outside doing “important” work, which in his case is the raising and killing of foxes. This
work is permeated with the smell of blood, whether he was scraping the tiny clots of blood
from a pelt or shooting an old horse to provide fox food. Every time the father appears, he was
wearing a bloody apron, carrying a bucket of butchered meat, or carrying a gun. Initially, his
daughter perceived his world as exciting and “ritualistically important,” and she associates
the heroic adventurers pictured on the Hudson's Bay calendars with her father.
In fact, the father's world was not so much exciting as necessary: he does what he does
because he must; that is how the family survived. He works tirelessly and without complaint
or, for that matter, any other sign of emotion. The girl noted that when she worked alongside
her father, he does “not talk to [her] unless about the job we were doing.” The father's
conversation, in other words, was limited to practical matters. His favourite book, not
surprisingly, is Robinson Crusoe, a tale of a man surviving alone in a wilderness, a man self-
contained and silent. Whether having to spend an afternoon tracking down a runaway horse,
climbing a beam to rescue a son in danger, or killing and skinning foxes, the father remained
silent and apparently unperturbed. Even when his wife is talking to him, he remained
inscrutable, “listening politely as he would to a salesman or a stranger.” The father was not
an insensitive man, not a cruel man; he is simply matter-of-fact. When he learns that his
daughter has deliberately let a horse escape, he allowed himself only a short “snort of
disgust” at her tears and then resigns himself to the way things were: that his daughter is
“only a girl.”

Exercise 59 — Using the Correct Case of Pronouns
Circle the correct case (subjective or objective) of the pronoun in each of the following
sentences:
1. I realized that I respected the refugee more than I respected (she, her).
2. After a few weeks, I realized that I respected the refugee more than (she, her) did.
3. We chatted about (who, whom) we thought should win.
4. (We, Us) seniors are not very happy about the cancellation of our grad dance.
5. John dances better than (I, me).
6. The work was divided evenly between (she, her) and (I, me).
7. Since (she, her) and her clique have no use for (I, me), I have no use for (she, her) and
her clique.
8. To (who, whom) am I speaking?
9. Mother and (he, him) will be home later.
10. Leave (we, us) girls alone for a while.
11. The principal always supports (we, us) students.
12. Ask not for (who, whom) the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
13. Have you and (she, her) had an argument?
14. Do not annoy the driver or (I, me).
15. To (who, whom) shall I address the invitation?
16. I'll send you and (he, him) by different routes.
17. Choose (whoever, whomever) you like as your partner.
18. Show Dana and (I, me) your essay before you turn it in.
19. Are you expecting Jean and (she, her) for dinner?
20. Leave it to (I, me) to make the arrangements.
21. For (who, whom) are the flowers?
22. (Me and Hakim, Hakim and I, Hakim and me) have finished our report.
23. You are better organized than (I, me).
24. We are different in our tastes from (they, them).
25. (Who, whom) is your best friend?
26. (He and I, Him and me, Him and I) have been friends since grade six.

Exercise 60 — Using the Apostrophe
Rewrite each of the following phrases, making the underlined words possessive:
For example, “the club of girls” becomes “the girls' club.”
1. the conference of werewolves
2. the coven of witches
3. the boat of Mr. Dipsy and Mr. Doodle
4. the spells of Merlin
5. the brains of the students
6. the marbles of the children
7. the irritating habits of my sister-in-law
8. the instruments of the musicians
9. the uniforms of the band
10. the club of women
11. the opinion of the ladies
12. the verdict of the Attorney General
13. the visiting hours of the doctor

14. the wages of a week
15. the roar of a mouse
16. the bicycles of Tweedledum and Tweedledee
17. the cheer of the crowd
18. the vote of the people
19. the problems of society
20. the parents of everyone
21. the pompoms of the cheerleaders
22. the cries of men and women
23. the nest of the hummingbird
24. the weight of fifty pounds
25. the voyage of Columbus

Exercise 61 — Famous Possessives
Put a possessive proper noun before each of the following:
1. ____________________ Comet
2. ____________________ Cube
3. ____________________ heel
4. ____________________ Last Stand
5. ____________________ mother
6. ____________________ reindeer
7. ____________________ ark
8. ____________________ Rules of Order
9. ____________________ Thesaurus
10. ____________________ Adventures in Wonderland
11. ____________________ Travels
12. ____________________ Web
13. ____________________ Theory of Relativity
14. ____________________ Theory of Evolution
15. ____________________ Disease
16. ____________________ Fables
17. ____________________ box
18. ____________________ Law
19. ____________________ Dream
20. ____________________ Inferno

Exercise 62 — Possessives and Contractions
Correct the boldfaced words that should have ’s or s’ endings. Also correct any contraction
errors. Put a checkmark by any boldfaced words that are correct as they stand.
1. I would like to know whose car that was the ladies were driving; its headlights
weren't working properly.
2. Ulysses adventures were recorded in the poems of Homer.
3. The Ashanti peoples name means “united for war.”
4. Edmontons Folk Festival attracts tourists from all over the western provinces.
5. As the childrens shouts rang through the house, the Joneses neighbours closed
their window.
6. That wheelbarrow is theirs, but this one is ours.
7. Its not likely the unions officials will be successful in gaining a dollars increase.
8. The leaders proclaimed that they were declaring a peoples republic.
9. I know whos going to get into trouble for breaking those windows which belong to
the MacIntoshes.
10. The girls mother agreed that the early teens are especially trying; its during a teens
first couple of years that she feels a need to assert her independence from her
parents.
11. The sports page was full of photographs taken at last nights fight between the
worlds middleweight champion and his nearest rival.
12. Eric the Reds voyage to North Americas shores has not been as highly dramatized
as Columbus.
13. Ecuadors name has been derived from its closeness to the equator.
14. The houses of my parents-in-law are separated by only two blocks.
15. Thats just anybodys opinion. Everyones entitled to his own.

16. Your not going to get away with stealing the kings suspenders.
17. Mornings noises are friendlier than nights: the pancakes are frying; the bacons
sizzling; the toasts popping.
18. There going to get in trouble for their prank.
19. The city councillors decision on the ring road was final.
20. Societys values have a powerful influence on childrens values.
21. My mother is more lenient than hers.
22. He sees more than he lets on about whats going on in the classroom.
23. I know whose book that is.
24. Its a shame that the beaver lost its home when the bulldozers came.
25. The loss of three weeks wages was painful.

Exercise 63 — Using the Apostrophe Correctly
Check which of the following possessives are correctly formed. Correct those that are
incorrectly formed.
1. everyone’s friend ___________________________

2. bus’ brakes ___________________________
3. childrens’ toys ___________________________
4. this school’s reputation ___________________________
5. spectacles’ rims ___________________________
6. Is this your’s? ___________________________
7. Is it a girl’s or a boy’s school? ___________________________
8. The ship made it’s way to port. ___________________________
9. tree’s trunk ___________________________
10. Victory is our’s. ___________________________
11. a street of worker’s homes ___________________________
12. in the Brown’s yard ___________________________
13. that nation’s business ___________________________
14. women’s objections ___________________________
15. broke its back ___________________________
16. travelers’ passports ___________________________
17. a soldier’s story ___________________________
18. did it’s best ___________________________
19. Whose gum is that? ___________________________
20. Gulliver’s Travels ___________________________
21. The idea was theirs. ___________________________
22. the straw that broke the camel’s back ___________________________
23. people’s dreams ___________________________
24. two deer’s tracks ___________________________
25. Our’s is missing. ___________________________

Exercise 64 — Choosing the Correct Modifier
Circle the correct word—adjective or adverb—in each of the following sentences; be

prepared to explain why you have made this choice.
1. Because spring is finally here, I feel (good, well) today.

2. The teacher appeared very (sudden, suddenly).
3. Do your work as (careful, carefully) as you can.
4. I can finish this job (easy, easily) within an hour.
5. I can't forget how (cold, coldly) he looked at me.
6. The fruit tastes (bitter, bitterly).
7. What are you feeling so (sad, sadly) about today?
8. I did (good, well) in my last English essay.
9. Julia does her homework (regular, regularly).
10. He sneaked very (quiet, quietly) around the corner of the house.
11. The whole orchard smelled (fragrant, fragrantly).
12. The play ended (abrupt, abruptly).
13. She feels (miserable, miserably) about not being accepted for the job.
14. He did not appear as (brave, bravely) as his brother.
15. That first batch of fudge looked (horrible, horribly).
16. If you speak (sharp, sharply), the dog will behave.
17. Finish the test as (quick, quickly) as you can.
18. She budgeted her time (good, well).
19. The trip cannot be made as (rapid, rapidly) as you think.
20. His children attend a (new, newly) opened school in Riverbend.
21. If you don't take the problem more (serious, seriously), you can't hope to find a solution.
22. The upholstery looks (good, well) enough, but the price is too high.
23. Mrs. Harridan has (relative, relatively) little money but she manages to dress reasonably (good,
well).
24. I feel (bad, badly) about what happened to your father.
25. Canadian manufacturers cannot produce machinery as (cheap, cheaply) as the Mexicans.
26. They worked very (good, well) together.
27. That situation looks (bad, badly) for the team.
28. He looked (hopeful, hopefully) in my direction.
29. He looked (hopeful, hopefully) for the first time in months.
30. Some of the food tasted (bad, badly).

Exercise 65 — Choosing the Correct Adjective or Adverb
Correct any errors in the use of adjectives or adverbs in the following sentences. Put a
check mark beside those sentences that are correct as they stand.
1. The old car held up fairly well.

2. We were surprised to find him looking so well.
3. I always do my homework as quick as I can.
4. Work slow and you will make fewer mistakes.
5. Jean appeared quite happy.
6. I can do these questions easy.
7. Was Chris feeling very bad?
8. Adam’s clothes never fit him very good.
9. In her reference, I said how good she had done in science.
10. Nancy looks well in blue.
11. I was afraid you had been hurt bad in the car accident.
12. She went direct to the principal with her complaint.
13. We couldn't hear very good because of the thunderstorm.
14. The prisoners said they had been treated very cruel.
15. If food smells bad, throw it away.
16. Each of us wrote the assignment down separate.

17. She makes up her mind too slow.
18. I didn't believe he would behave as bad as that.
19. The entire menu looked good to us.

20. Eat moderate and you will lose weight.
21. Although he writes badly, his books are popular.
22. William arrived unexpected, and took charge immediately.

23. If negotiations proceed too slow, they'll never be completed this year.
24. I played hockey as good as he did.
25. Whatever she does, she does real well.

26. He understood her good because she enunciated clear.
27. Kate moves slow since hurting her leg.

28. She writes good for someone so young.
29. You are not near fast enough to make the team.
30. They felt bitterly about Uncle Dan’s will, which left them only his photographs.
31. Even when he loses, Kevin is a real good sport.
32. If you know her so well, why don’t you ask her for a loan?
33. He sang good enough on the talent show to earn a standing ovation.

Exercise 66 — Using Adverbs and Adjectives
Compose sentences using each of the following words, first as an adjective, then as an
adverb:
1. well
adjective:
adverb:
2. near
adjective:
adverb:
3. daily
adjective:
adverb:
4. fast
adjective:
adverb:
5. hard
adjective:
adverb:

6. high
adjective:
adverb:
7. kindly
adjective:
adverb:
8. straight
adjective:
adverb:
9. even
adjective:
adverb:
10. ill
adjective:
adverb:

Exercise 67 — Good, Better, Best
In the blanks, write the comparative form of the descriptive word at the beginning of each
sentence.
1. (lovely) That Japanese crabapple tree seems to grow ________________ with every
passing year.
2. (easy) Mr. Davis promised that the next math test would be ________________
than the last one.
3. (bad) I seem to do ________________ in science than in social studies.
4. (tired) As people get older, they also become ________________.
5. (bright) The room is much ________________ since you bought new lamps.
6. (quick) He ran ________________ than anyone expected.
7. (beautiful) She sings ________________ now that she is taking singing lessons.
8. (awkward) Your sentences are ________________ than usual.
9. (strong) Sarah is the ________________ of the two sisters.
10. (sudden) The arrival of the baby was ________________ than anyone expected.

Exercise 68 — What’s Wrong?
Explain what is wrong with the adjectives and adverbs in all the following sentences:
1. That vase is rounder than this one.
2. That rat is deader than a doornail.
3. That’s the most unique haircut I’ve ever seen.
4. Your essay is absolutely perfect.
5. That question is not as impossible as this question.

Exercise 69 — Placing Modifiers Clearly
Restructure the following sentences so that the modifiers, shown in boldface, are placed
near what they modify.
1. The car was completely searched and put back together ready for driving (within an
hour).
2. Hamlet swears to kill his uncle (in the first act).
3. Heated arguments often occurred (over technicalities) (in the middle of the game)
(between the referees).
4. The teacher decided to punish the students who cheated on the test (for very good
reasons).
5. He learned that his fiancée had died (by e-mail).
6. The company (only) guaranteed the Walkman for one year.
7. Anyone who hears him speak these words, (even the most insensitive), will be moved.

8. He drove the car home and (almost) polished it till it looked like new.
9. We are (just) asking for a little help.
10. Harriet liked to sing as she showered (at the top of her lungs).
11. (At birth), we all know a baby is completely helpless.
12. John asked her to meet him (when night fell) behind the gym.
13. Samantha was wounded while lying in bed (by a bullet which entered her house).
14. He wore a Garth Brooks-style cowboy hat (on his head), which had been bought at a
garage sale.
15. (At the age of nine), my parents sent me to a private school in Winnipeg.

Exercise 70 — Revising to Avoid Ambiguity
Rewrite the following sentences to eliminate ambiguities:
1. He told the truth to the jury on the witness stand.
2. She knew secretly that he wanted to go with her to the graduation dance.
3. He was so angry that he completely forgot what he was going to say when he met her
in the hallway.
4. He carried the package with the grenade in his hand.
5. She agreed on the way to work to give me a ride to the airport.
6. I told him I loved him when we were at the theatre.
7. I intended to write you often but I never did.
8. He was annoyed when he learned she was not buying the car from another dealer.
9. The student council could not examine the problem because it was too involved.

10. Jamie’s father died when he was fifteen.
11. When my wedding ring restricted the circulation in my finger, they said they would
have to cut it off.
12. When people hold dogmatic opinions, they are often difficult to deal with.
13. The ghost told Hamlet that he had been killed by his brother Claudius.

Exercise 71 — Correcting Dangling Modifiers
Each of the following sentences contains a dangling modifier. Rewrite each sentence to clear
up the misunderstanding.
1. Walking out on the stage, my trumpet fell with a resounding crash.
2. Standing on the runway, the jet crash-landed.
3. When only one year old, my family moved to Edmonton from Pakistan.
4. To write well, good books must be read.
5. Munching on chips and playing Trivial Pursuit, the evening passed very
pleasantly.
6. While fighting over our seats, the game began.
7. When in a wheelchair, a ramp is essential.
8. When only three, my mother gave birth to twins.
9. After having shoveled the walks, the snow began to fall again.
10. Before immigrating to Canada, vaccination for smallpox is required.

Exercise 72 — Using Parallel Structure in Definitions
Write grammatically parallel definitions for each of the following words:
1. An “iconoclast” is
2. “Procrastinating” means
3. “Indolence” is
4. A “peer” is
5. “To verify” is
6. “Juxtaposition” is
7. A “quixotic” person is
8. A “novitiate” is
9. “Sociology” is
10. “Gilding the lily” means

Exercise 73A — Changing the Form of Words
To make your sentences parallel, you frequently need to change one part of speech into
another; that is, you need to change a noun into an adjective, or an adjective into an
adverb, and so on.
Put the appropriate form of the words in brackets into each of the following sentences.
1. (monotone) The speaker was very dull because he spoke in a ____________________

tone of voice.
2. (prejudice) She was ____________________ against others simply because of the

colour of their skin.
3. (luxury) They lived in a ____________________ penthouse overlooking the river.
4. (credo) Although he swore he was telling the truth, his explanation was not
very ____________________.
5. (generous) His ____________________ toward charities was well known; in the

past year, he had donated over a million dollars.
6. (accommodate) They are going to have trouble finding ____________________ because

all the hotels are full.
7. (persuade) A good salesman needs to be very ____________________ to convince

customers to buy his product.
8. (hero) Ulysses was a ____________________ figure in Greek mythology.
9. (necessary) Food is a ____________________ for all living creatures.
10. (horizon) The opposite of “vertical” is ____________________.
11. (apology) After he stepped on her foot, he was very ____________________.
12. (unable) Her ____________________ to remember the “times” tables was an

obstacle in math.
13. (curious) The ____________________ of a two-year-old often causes him to

explore forbidden areas of the house.
14. (reveal) That he was good at acting came as a ____________________ to him.
15. (perceive) A ____________________ person is one who can see beyond the obvious.

16. (cynic) When we first meet him, Hamlet appears very ____________________
about of those around him.
17. (access) Unless your bed and breakfast is ____________________ to the Trans-
Canada Highway, you will not attract many guests.
18. (system) To learn about grammar, you must take a ____________________

approach.
19. (conspiracy) She had a ____________________ glint in her eye.
20. (cannot be revoked) You are making an ____________________ decision.
21. (intricate) The ____________________ of his argument made it difficult to follow.
22. (vacillate) Macbeth’s ____________________ about whether to kill Duncan

frustrates his wife.
23. (cannot be satisfied) Richard Burton had an ____________________ curiosity.
24. (strategy) The army made a ____________________ withdrawal.
25. (therapy) Pets have a ____________________ effect on people in senior citizens’

homes.
26. (spite) Willy Loman accuses his son Biff of being ____________________.
27. (sterile) The ____________________ of a hospital atmosphere can be

depressing.
28. (precise) Your ____________________ in the use of language will determine your
effectiveness as a writer.
29. (authority) The professor’s ____________________ manner intimidated his

students.
30. (frail) Her grandmother’s sudden ____________________ startled Janine.

Exercise 73B — Changing the Form of Words
Fill in the appropriate form of the word at the beginning of each sentence:
1. (acquire) Candida likes to shop; she is a very ____________________ person.
2. (scrutiny) The accountant was ____________________ the books.
3. (hyphen) When you join two words to form a single-word adjective, you must
____________________ them.
4. (analysis) To break a substance into its elements is to ____________________ it.
5. (apology) When the waiter dumped soup in my lap, he was very

____________________
6. (occur) The strange ____________________ left the scientists mystified.
7. (exclude) Anwar attended an ____________________ boys’ school in Toronto.
8. (collision) A van and a sports car ____________________ on the Whitemud

Freeway.
9. (initiate) Employers respect employees who exercise ____________________
10. (disillusion) When he learned his parents had lied to him, his
____________________ was profound.
11. (gullible) Macbeth’s ____________________ led him into trouble.
12. (mobile) People who have been raised to be competitive often value upward
____________________ more than job satisfaction.
13. (deity) Because of the influence of the mass media, particularly television and
film, we tend to ____________________ celebrities.
14. (clear) Can you ____________________ the situation?
15. (jeopardy) Not getting your application letter in on time may

____________________ your chances of being accepted into the faculty
of your choice.
16. (intervention) The NATO allies wondered whether Russia would __________________
in the conflict in Yugoslavia.

17. (ostracism) We frequently—and unfairly— ____________________ people simply
because they are different.
18. (acclaim) The chairman was elected by ____________________.
19. (impartial) No one questioned the judge’s ____________________.
20. (civil) In rush-hour traffic, the ____________________ of people’s behaviour

frequently declines.
21. (indiscreet) President Clinton’s ____________________ came back to haunt him.
22. (dictator) No one likes a teacher who is ____________________.
23. (catastrophe) The oil spill had a ____________________ effect on the environment.
24. (irony) It is ____________________ that most of us can see others’

shortcomings more easily than we can see our own.
25. (apathy) The teacher’s attempt to provoke a lively discussion got an

____________________ response.
26. (admonish) The girl does not listen to her grandmother’s ____________________ not
to slam doors or talk with her mouth full of food.
27. (retain) Salt tends to encourage the body’s ____________________ of water.
28. (notorious) The ____________________ of Al Capone lives on eighty years later.
29. (recite) Her ____________________ of the poem was animated.
30. (plagiarism) If you ____________________ your essay, you are cheating both yourself
and your reader.
31. (coincidence) My birthday and Christmas day ____________________.
32. (inscription) To attain a modest immortality, some graduates ____________________

their names on the side of a mountain.
33. (impediment) A flat tire will definitely ____________________ your progress.

Exercise 74 — Making Items in a List Parallel
When you are making a list, all of the items in that list must be parallel grammatically.
The items in the following student list of the characteristics of a good teacher are not
parallel as they stand. Revise the list so that at least all the first words are adjectives (or
participles)—and thus parallel.
1. understanding
2. creativity
3. has an open mind
4. keeps class interested
5. fairness
6. respects students
7. has organization
8. strict
9. gives encouragement
10. makes you think
11. can be approached
12. has an imagination
13. shows wisdom
14. honesty
15. can inspire students

Exercise 75 — Parallel Poster
The following sign was prepared by some students for a poster honouring well-behaved
students. Make the items in their list parallel. Then make your own list.
SHOWING OUR TRUE

Cooperation
Open-minded
Listening
Organized
Respect and Responsible
Share and care
SHOWING OUR TRUE

C
O
L
O
R
S

Exercise 76 — Jelly Bellies For the Mind
A. Write grammatically correct definitions for each of the following; each will have an
adjective followed by a noun which rhymes with the adjective.
Examples: A masculine large sea animal is a “male whale.”

A jovial sheep dog is a “jolly collie.”
A sufficient specimen is an “ample sample” or “enough stuff.”
1. An obese feline is
2. A cellar window is
3. A baked spirit is
4. One who dwells in a stream is
5. A criminal’s cantaloupes are
6. Poetry about death is
7. A group of vampires is
8. A fight between babies is
9. An imitation athlete is
10. An imagined pain is
11. A flexible person of extraordinary size is
12. Assistant rodents are
13. A racetrack is a
14. A buzzing Gesundheit is
15. An animals’ big dinner is
16. A Trojan horse is
17. A lotion to soothe when one feels let down is
18. A single telecommunications implement is
19. A speedy deception is
20. A Christmas quadruped is
21. An amphibian highway is
22. A Pepto Bismo thirst quencher is
23. A comedian rabbit is
24. A crimson mattress is
25. A loss of intellectual capacity is

B. Now that you have the idea, can you make up ten more of your own?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Exercise 77 — Flexibility Training
One of the most efficient—and challenging—ways of achieving several of goals at once is an

exercise in changing words from one part of speech to another:
1. It serves as spelling and pronunciation practice.
2. It provides a grammar review, especially if you use the newly formed words in
sentences.
3. It forces you to go to a dictionary and to reacquaint yourself with what you can find
there.
4. It builds vocabulary—providing not only an opportunity for you to meet new words
but a chance to look at the roots of familiar words and thus come to see their
relationships. Often, for example, you may be unaware that “acquire,” “acquisition” and
“acquisitive” are related.
5. It makes you more flexible when you are writing because you can fit a greater
variety of words into your sentence structure of choice: it helps to achieve parallelism,
and it often helps to reduce wordiness by allowing you to reduce “He got into a lot of
arguments” to “He was very argumentative.”
Change the forms of the following common literary or grammatical terms:
analyze (What is the noun form?) ____________________

irony (What is the adjective form?) ____________________
satire (What is the adjective form?) ____________________
metaphor (What is the adjective form?) ____________________
juxtapose (What is the noun form?) ____________________
symbol (What is the adjective form?) ____________________
subordinate (What is the noun form?) ____________________
alphabet (What is the adjective form?) ____________________
anachronism (What is the adjective form?) ____________________
criticize (What is the noun form?) ____________________
transition (What is the adjective form?) ____________________
unity (What is the verb form?) ____________________
parallel (What is the noun form?) ____________________
preposition (What is the adjective form?) ____________________
possess (What is the noun form? ____________________
What is the adjective form?) ____________________
parentheses (What is the adjective form?) ____________________
comedy (What is the adjective form?) ____________________
tragic (What is the noun form?) ____________________
ellipsis (What is the adjective form?) ____________________
pronounce (What is the noun form?) ____________________
connotation (What is the adjective form?) ____________________

Exercise 78 — Forming Adjectives
Form adjectives from the following verbs and nouns:
acquire _______________ corruption _______________

admire _______________ cycle _______________
argue _______________ cynicism _______________
aborigines _______________ debate _______________
alphabet _______________ deception _______________
aggression _______________ defame _______________
anachronism _______________ defiance _______________
ancestry _______________ demography _______________
antithesis _______________ despotism _______________
apathy _______________ detriment _______________
atrocity _______________ dictator _______________
autonomy _______________ disaster _______________
bible _______________ discretion _______________
breadth _______________ disdain _______________
bronchitis _______________ disobey _______________
business _______________ dissolve _______________
cancer _______________ division _______________
catastrophe _______________ dogmatism _______________
caution _______________ duty _______________
cavern _______________ ecstasy _______________
ceremony _______________ embryo _______________
circumstantial _______________ energy _______________
climate _______________ enigma _______________
climax _______________ envy _______________
coercion _______________ error _______________
collapse _______________ esteem _______________
colony _______________ eternity _______________
combustion _______________ ethics _______________
commemorate _______________ evasion _______________
communicative _______________ example _______________
compassion _______________ explode _______________
contempt _______________ fallacy _______________
controversy _______________ fantasy _______________
convalesce _______________ feud _______________

fibre _______________ labour _______________
fiend _______________ larceny _______________
fire _______________ legend _______________
fragment _______________ leisure _______________
function _______________ lethargy _______________
genealogy _______________ libel _______________
genesis _______________ luxury _______________
ghoul _______________ majesty _______________
giant _______________ manage _______________
glee _______________ margin _______________
graph _______________ maternity _______________
gratitude _______________ melody _______________
gravity _______________ metal _______________
habit _______________ metaphor _______________
heresy _______________ meteor _______________
homicide _______________ method _______________
identity _______________ metropolis _______________
illegibility _______________ microscope _______________
illusion _______________ migrate _______________
illustration _______________ minister _______________
impetus _______________ mischief _______________
impression _______________ mission _______________
inattention _______________ mistrust _______________
incidence _______________ mode _______________
incision _______________ molecule _______________
indecision _______________ monosyllable _______________
indolence _______________ monster _______________
induction _______________ monument _______________
infection _______________ moron _______________
information _______________ mountain _______________
insist _______________ move _______________
instinct _______________ mutiny _______________
intellect _______________ myth _______________
intention _______________ navigate _______________
interrogation _______________ nightmare _______________
introspection _______________ nonsense _______________
invention _______________ notice _______________
irony _______________ nucleus _______________
justify _______________ omen _______________

opera _______________ rectangle _______________
operation _______________ region _______________
opportunity _______________ relent _______________
organism _______________ remedy _______________
outrage _______________ reminisce _______________
palace _______________ remorse _______________
paradox _______________ repair _______________
pardon _______________ repel _______________
parent _______________ repent _______________
parish _______________ representation _______________
percussion _______________ repression _______________
peril _______________ reproach _______________
period _______________ reptile _______________
periphery _______________ resent _______________
perish _______________ resident _______________
permit _______________ residue _______________
pessimism _______________ resource _______________
pharmacy _______________ respect _______________
philosophy _______________ respiration _______________
picture _______________ response _______________
pivot _______________ restriction _______________
planet _______________ retention _______________
precaution _______________ retaliation _______________
prejudice _______________ retrogress _______________
prevail _______________ retrospect _______________
problem _______________ revenge _______________
profundity _______________ reverse _______________
progression _______________ revolt _______________
prohibition _______________ rhetoric _______________
promiscuity _______________ rhythm _______________
proprietor _______________ ridicule _______________
pyramid _______________ riot _______________
race _______________ romance _______________
radius _______________ ruin _______________
reaction _______________ sacrifice _______________
reason _______________ sacrilege _______________
rebellion _______________ sarcasm _______________
reception _______________ satire _______________
recognize _______________ scandal _______________

scenery _______________ symptom _______________
skepticism _______________ synonym _______________
scholar _______________ synthesis _______________
science _______________ system _______________
scruple _______________ tactics _______________
secrecy _______________ talk _______________
secretary _______________ technique _______________
sect _______________ telescope _______________
serpent _______________ tempest _______________
skeleton _______________ title _______________
skill _______________ tradition _______________
sorrow _______________ tragedy _______________
space _______________ traitor _______________
spasm _______________ transcend _______________
spectacle _______________ transfer _______________
speculate _______________ transience _______________
sphere _______________ transit _______________
spine _______________ transition _______________
spite _______________ treason _______________
statesman _______________ tribute _______________
statistics _______________ triumph _______________
statue _______________ tube _______________
strategy _______________ tumult _______________
structure _______________ type _______________
study _______________ tyrant _______________
style _______________ ulcer _______________
submit _______________ understand _______________
substance _______________ unit _______________
suicide _______________ valour _______________
superstition _______________ vehicle _______________
supervisor _______________ vengeance _______________
supplement _______________ venom _______________
surgery _______________ venture _______________
suspicion _______________ vigil _______________
symbolism _______________ viscera _______________
symmetry _______________ volition _______________
sympathy _______________ volume _______________
symphony _______________

Exercise 79 — Forming Verbs
Form verbs from the following nouns and adjectives:
acquisition _______________ evocative _______________

analysis _______________ excellence _______________
authority _______________ excessive _______________
apology _______________ exclusive _______________
bequest _______________ expulsion _______________
breath _______________ extradition _______________
compliant _______________ fabric _______________
contentious _______________ false _______________
conventional _______________ fulfillment _______________
certificate _______________ fusion _______________
citation _______________ grief _______________
clear _______________ half _______________
coincidence _______________ hindrance _______________
collision _______________ humility _______________
commission _______________ hyphen _______________
concession _______________ hypnosis _______________
convention _______________ ignition _______________
coward _______________ image _______________
criticism _______________ immigrant _______________
cannibal _______________ impediment _______________
cessation _______________ implication _______________
coercion _______________ imposition _______________
deity _______________ incapacity _______________
delegation _______________ inclusive _______________
denunciation _______________ influential _______________
demolition _______________ initiative _______________
derisive _______________ inscription _______________
destruction _______________ integrity _______________
detention _______________ intervention _______________
development _______________ intrusion _______________
device _______________ inverse _______________
diagnostic _______________ jeopardy _______________
diversion _______________ juxtaposition _______________
emergency _______________ liquid _______________

lubricant _______________ punitive _______________
magnification _______________ purification _______________
medical _______________ quality _______________
memory _______________ reciprocal _______________
misconception _______________ recognition _______________
misconstruction _______________ relief _______________
mobile _______________ repetition _______________
modification _______________ reproductive _______________
monopoly _______________ repulsive _______________
mystery _______________ retentive _______________
narrative _______________ reunion _______________
necessary _______________ revelry _______________
occurrence _______________ revolutionary _______________
offensive _______________ scrutiny _______________
omission _______________ severance _______________
orchestra _______________ solicitor _______________
ostracism _______________ solid _______________
paralysis _______________ solution _______________
patron _______________ specific _______________
penetrable _______________ stagnant _______________
perception _______________ standard _______________
perjury _______________ stimulant _______________
permeable _______________ subsidy _______________
plagiarism _______________ terrific _______________
precedence _______________ testimony _______________
preferable _______________ tolerance _______________
preparatory _______________ transmission _______________
prescription _______________ unification _______________
proclamation _______________ unity _______________
professor _______________ vacancy _______________
promotion _______________ vile _______________
pronunciation _______________ voluntary _______________
propulsion _______________ wary _______________
provocative _______________ worse _______________
public _______________

Exercise 80 — Forming Nouns
Form nouns from the following verbs and adjectives:
absorb _______________ bewilder _______________

acclaim _______________ bigoted _______________
accommodate _______________ bourgeois _______________
accompany _______________ brilliant _______________
achieve _______________ capable _______________
acquit _______________ capacious _______________
adapt _______________ carnivorous _______________
added _______________ catholic _______________
administer _______________ centennial _______________
admonish _______________ central _______________
adolescent _______________ certain _______________
allege _______________ certify _______________
ambiguous _______________ chaotic _______________
analogous _______________ characterize _______________
analyze _______________ civil _______________
anonymous _______________ clever _______________
anxious _______________ clinical _______________
artificial _______________ colossal _______________
aspire _______________ commendable _______________
assassinate _______________ comparable _______________
assume _______________ compatible _______________
attach _______________ competent _______________
audacious _______________ competitive _______________
authentic _______________ complacence _______________
averse _______________ complex _______________
banal _______________ conciliatory _______________
banish _______________ conclusive _______________
bankrupt _______________ confederate _______________
baptize _______________ constrictive _______________
barbarian _______________ contagious _______________
bequeath _______________ cosmic _______________
bereave _______________ courteous _______________
bestial _______________ cow _______________
betray _______________ credible _______________

criticize _______________ fallible _______________
culpable _______________ familiar _______________
decadent _______________ ferocious _______________
decompose _______________ fertile _______________
deliberate _______________ flex _______________
delicate _______________ flippant _______________
detect _______________ flirt _______________
disclose _______________ float _______________
disenchant _______________ fluctuate _______________
disillusion _______________ fluent _______________
disintegrate _______________ fluid _______________
disloyal _______________ foreign _______________
disperse _______________ formal _______________
displease _______________ fragrant _______________
distinct _______________ fragile _______________
disturb _______________ frail _______________
divine _______________ fraternal _______________
docile _______________ frequent _______________
emaciate _______________ frigid _______________
embody _______________ frivolous _______________
emphasize _______________ frugal _______________
endorse _______________ furious _______________
enhance _______________ futile _______________
enthusiastic _______________ gaily _______________
erudite _______________ gallant _______________
essential _______________ gelatinous _______________
estrange _______________ generous _______________
evangelical _______________ genial _______________
eventual _______________ grow _______________
exactly _______________ gullible _______________
expected _______________ hedonistic _______________
exhilarate _______________ heroic _______________
exonerate _______________ hierarchical _______________
expire _______________ hilarious _______________
explain _______________ homogeneous _______________
expropriate _______________ hospitable _______________
extradite _______________ hostile _______________
extreme _______________ hysterical _______________
facile _______________ hygienic _______________

iconoclastic _______________ lenient _______________
idolatry _______________ liberal _______________
illegal _______________ literate _______________
immediate _______________ local _______________
immense _______________ loyal _______________
immoral _______________ magnificence _______________
immune _______________ maintain _______________
impartial _______________ manly _______________
implied _______________ masculine _______________
impoverish _______________ matriarchal _______________
impure _______________ mature _______________
inadequate _______________ mechanical _______________
inane _______________ mediocre _______________
incoherent _______________ measurable _______________
incompatible _______________ mental _______________
independent _______________ merry _______________
indignant _______________ miscellaneous _______________
indiscreet _______________ miserable _______________
inert _______________ mix _______________
inexact _______________ monotonous _______________
infallible _______________ mortal _______________
infamous _______________ municipal _______________
informal _______________ mystic _______________
infringe _______________ naïve _______________
inquisitive _______________ necessary _______________
insecure _______________ neurotic _______________
insolence _______________ neutral _______________
inspire _______________ noble _______________
install _______________ nonchalant _______________
insubordinate _______________ normal _______________
intense _______________ notorious _______________
intent _______________ obligatory _______________
interpret _______________ oblivious _______________
intimate _______________ obscene _______________
inverse _______________ obscure _______________
irregular _______________ observe _______________
jealous _______________ omnipotent _______________
judicial _______________ opaque _______________
justify _______________ oppressive _______________

original _______________ ready _______________
ostentatious _______________ readjust _______________
parallel _______________ realistic _______________
partial _______________ realize _______________
pathetic _______________ rearm _______________
patriotic _______________ reassure _______________
peculiar _______________ rebut _______________
penal _______________ recede _______________
perform _______________ receive _______________
perpetual _______________ recite _______________
persevere _______________ reclaim _______________
persuade _______________ recommend _______________
peruse _______________ reconcile _______________
petrify _______________ recruit _______________
pious _______________ recur _______________
placid _______________ redeem _______________
plural _______________ reduce _______________
portray _______________ redundant _______________
possessive _______________ refer _______________
possible _______________ refine _______________
postpone _______________ refrigerate _______________
potent _______________ refuse _______________
preceding _______________ regenerate _______________
precise _______________ register _______________
pretentious _______________ regular _______________
private _______________ rehearse _______________
probable _______________ reincarnate _______________
proceed _______________ reinforce _______________
profane _______________ reiterate _______________
proficient _______________ rejuvenate _______________
propel _______________ relax _______________
protect _______________ relevant _______________
queasy _______________ remain _______________
radiate _______________ remember _______________
radioactive _______________ remind _______________
rapid _______________ reminisce _______________
rare _______________ remunerate _______________
ratify _______________ renew _______________
rational _______________ renounce _______________

renovate _______________ sedate _______________
repeat _______________ seduce _______________
repent _______________ seize _______________
replace _______________ selfish _______________
represent _______________ senile _______________
reproduce _______________ senior _______________
repudiation _______________ sentimental _______________
reputable _______________ serene _______________
require _______________ similar _______________
resemble _______________ simple _______________
resent _______________ singular _______________
reserve _______________ sober _______________
reside _______________ sociable _______________
resign _______________ solemn _______________
resist _______________ solicitous _______________
resolute _______________ solitary _______________
resolved _______________ sophisticated _______________
restore _______________ sovereign _______________
restraint _______________ special _______________
resurrect _______________ steadily _______________
resuscitation _______________ sterile _______________
retain _______________ suave _______________
reveal _______________ subdivide _______________
revere _______________ subjective _______________
reverse _______________ subjugate _______________
revise _______________ submerge _______________
revive _______________ subscribe _______________
rigid _______________ substitute _______________
rival _______________ subtle _______________
royal _______________ superfluous _______________
sanitary _______________ superior _______________
sane _______________ suppose _______________
satisfy _______________ suppress _______________
savage _______________ supreme _______________
scarce _______________ survive _______________
skeptical _______________ suggest _______________
secede _______________ suspend _______________
secrete _______________ tardy _______________
secure _______________ tedious _______________

tenacious _______________ variable _______________
tense _______________ veracious _______________
terminal _______________ verbose _______________
theological _______________ versatile _______________
therapeutic _______________ viable _______________
tranquil _______________ vibrant _______________
transact _______________ vicarious _______________
transfuse _______________ violate _______________
transgress _______________ virile _______________
treacherous _______________ virtuoso _______________
trivial _______________ viscous _______________
ubiquitous _______________ vivacious _______________
ugly _______________ vulgar _______________
ultimate _______________ vulnerable _______________
uniform _______________ wary _______________
universal _______________ wide _______________
urbane _______________ wise _______________
usurp _______________ young _______________
vacillate _______________
vain _______________

Exercise 81 — Recognizing Parallel Forms
One item in each of the following lists is not parallel grammatically. Circle the word and
then change it to make it parallel with the other three.
1. intelligence 6. subsidize
charm bequeath
reliable allot
integrity granted
____________________ ____________________
7. inadequate exercise
2. newpapers excessive fat
books drinking immoderately
going to the movies heavy smoking
magazines
____________________
____________________
8. clear thesis
3. dogmatic precise topic sentences
opinionated ensuring unity in paragraphs
prejudice smooth transitions
bigoted
____________________
____________________
9. chronology
4. underhandedness simultaneous
evasive parallel
duplicitous identical
deceitful
____________________
____________________
10. angry
5. disdainful hatred
contempt jealousy
scornful malice
derisive
____________________
____________________
11. angrily
cowardly
friendly
lively
____________________

Exercise 82 — Making Items in a List Parallel
Fill in the missing parallel elements in the following common threesomes.
1. ____________________, ____________________, and able

2. ____________________, ____________________, and barrel
3. ____________________, ____________________, and be merry
4. ____________________, ____________________, or thing
5. ____________________, ____________________, and charity
6. ____________________, ____________________, and collected
7. ____________________, ____________________, and delivered
8. ____________________, ____________________, and everywhere
9. ____________________, ____________________, and handsome
10. ____________________, ____________________, and a jump
11. ____________________, ____________________, and listen
12. ____________________, ____________________, and neuter
13. ____________________, ____________________, and nothing but the truth
14. ____________________, ____________________, and obey
15. ____________________, ____________________, and arithmetic
16. ____________________, ____________________, and sinker
17. ____________________, ____________________, and stars
18. ____________________, ____________________, and superego
19. ____________________, ____________________, and tears
20. ____________________, ____________________, action!
21. ____________________, ____________________, the candlestick maker
22. ____________________, ____________________, or draw
23. ____________________, ____________________, fraternity
24. ____________________, ____________________, gone!
25. ____________________, ____________________, It’s Superman!
26. ____________________, ____________________, or mineral
27. ____________________, ____________________, scissors
28. ____________________, ____________________, speak no evil
29. ____________________, ____________________, or show

Exercise 83 — Correcting Faulty Parallelism
Rewrite the following sentences to correct the faulty parallelism:
1. Most of us enjoy luxuries like eating gourmet food and designer clothes.
2. Initially, Macbeth not only defeated traitors but also invaders from Norway.
3. To me, an essay is like having an axe poised over my head.
4. Many young people in our society are unhappy because of their lack of money, they are
bored, and they do not feel useful.
5. Stress can be created by problems at home, at work, or financially.
6. Video lottery terminals are very similar to taking drugs.
7. The characteristics of a poem are just like a song.
8. Good writing is clear, fluent, and has economy and variation.

9. The spelling of students today is worse than older students.
10. Video games can be entertaining but also dangerous.
11. Willy Loman commits suicide because he hopes he will be remembered and to leave an
insurance settlement for his family.
12. People should be concerned not only about their own welfare but also the welfare of
others.
13. Private schools often have smaller class sizes, stricter standards, and they charge high
fees.
14. Her clothes were more stylish than the average person.
15. The boys taunt Piggy about his fat, exclude him from their games, and they eventually
kill him for sport.

16. Graduation planning involved many activities: renting the Jubilee Auditorium, raising
money, planning the banquet, take the grad pictures, invite the speakers, decorate the
auditorium, and countless others.
17. A dog is having a best friend.
18. The computer is neither a god nor will it be a saviour.
19. Cigarette smoking is expensive, dirty, addictive, causes cancer, emphysema, as well as
heart problems.
20. Give me liberty, or I will die trying.
21. The history of the world is both the history of great men and also great ideas.
22. She was neither a conformist nor someone who was an outcast.
23. I am confident that Jason will be a success in university and his personal life as well as
professionally.

24. Polished writing requires careful planning and then you must be rigorous in revision.
25. We have a choice: either events will control us, or we must try to take control of events.
26. In English class, I studied grammar and how to increase my vocabulary as well as
improving my spelling.
27. I recommend an increase in homework and that you employ a tutor.
28. He found reading literature more satisfying than to do laboratory work.
29. To have integrity is as important as achieving success.
30. Initially, Macbeth enjoyed both self-respect and others respected him.
31. You will find the detail in a large dictionary more comprehensive than a pocket
dictionary.

32. Dogs can catch birds as easily as cats.
33. His organizational skills were better than his sister.
34. The reaction of the staff to the new dress code was more resentful than the students.
35. At one time, Caroline tried engineering but later turning to fine arts.
36. I neither understood the teacher’s lesson on dramatic irony nor was what she wanted us
to do in the assignment clear to me.
37. Compare your grades for the first semester with the second semester.
38. Statistics prove that poverty in Canada is more widespread this year than last year.
39. Computer systems are convenient to use, but their maintenance will be expensive.

40. Hamlet not only was depressed but also reckless.
41. The student did not know whether the principal had summoned him or the vice
principal.
42. High schools have been accused of being too focused on university preparation and that
they ignore the average student.
43. Macbeth’s death in battle is more moving for the audience than Lady Macbeth, who
commits suicide.
44. An increase in health care spending is better for Canada than tax reductions.
45. Willy Loman was not only concerned with wealth but also status.

Exercise 84 — Maintaining Parallel Structure
Complete each of the following sentences with parallel details or ideas.
1. The doctor made three suggestions:
2. Tell me where ____________________ and
3. Adults often regard teenagers as (three things)
4. An ideal teacher has (three things)
5. An ideal teacher is (three things)
6. I enjoy not only
7. My pet peeves are (three things)

8. The audience understood neither the speaker’s words
9. Either do your homework
11. His improvement in basketball was developed by

and
11. We did not know whether
12. I was annoyed not so much by
13. Macbeth initially experiences a conflict between
14. I suggest you follow three rules for making your teachers happy:
15. My parents have only two expectations of me: that
16. The three main cliques in the school are those who
17. My mother was just as pleased by

18. I am frequently torn between
19. High school is both
20. The tee-shirt that I bought on sale is exactly like
21. The reaction of the students to the lengthening of the school year was more
22. I know what I like, but
23. The new student had a pleasant smile, (two more things)
24. Students in junior high are less
25. I am not only
26. We were not sure whether to go to Biggie Burger or

27. Two laws that should be passed are a law
28. You have two choices: either
29. That you are looking well does not necessarily mean
30. The candidate who has the most enlightened platform is not necessarily
32. Stealing a little bit of money from your parent’s wallet is not much different from
33. Three essential qualities in a graduation president are
34. Read the poem not only to
35. Three dangerous driving practices are
36. Either I will come on time
37. Winter brings not only

38. Come to class prepared to ____________________ and
39. Taking an oral test is usually more nerve-wracking than
40. We neither came late to his classes
41. Shakespeare is both prolific

Exercise 85 — Identifying Phrases
Put parentheses around all the phrases in the following sentences; then identify each
phrase as prepositional or verbal. (Note: some of these phrases may overlap one
another.)
1. Buck naked, a streaker sprinted across the stage of the Jubilee Auditorium.
2. At recess, a clique of girls always gathered by the swings and gossiped about those
outside their circle.
3. Few people accomplish climbing Mount Everest, but many want to make the attempt.
4. Joy Kogawa’s poem “What Do I Remember of the Evacuation” tells the story of a
Japanese Canadian girl from Vancouver who, along with her family, was interned in a
detention camp during World War II.
5. A good book should wake us like a fist hammering on our skulls.
6. You must look into people as well as at them.
7. By dyeing her hair purple and adopting a nose ring, she tried to attract attention to
herself.
8. The gods of Greek mythology lived on Mount Olympus and dined on nectar and
ambrosia.
9. The toddler with spaghetti in his hair and peanut butter on his nose still looked cute.
10. Swinging through the vines, Tarzan was always losing his car keys.
11. Spelling errors are like zits, blemishes on the face of writing.
12. In his narrative poem, “The Cremation of Sam McGee,” Robert Service wrote: “There
are strange things done in the midnight sun/By the men who moil for gold.”
13. After having braces installed in her mouth, she felt self-conscious.
14. A census taker is a man who goes from house to house increasing the population.
15. Don’t avoid opposition; a kite rises against the wind.
16. Having broken the sound barrier in his flying machines, man now wants to
circumnavigate around the world in a hot air balloon. (Why is the word “around” not
necessary in the previous sentence?)

17. Genius lies in recognizing the obvious before anyone else does.
18. The point of life is making mistakes; the secret is not making the same mistakes.
19. Everyone has a personal way of escaping from the everyday world. For some it's a book
in bed at 2 a.m. or it's music loud enough to shut out all the demands around you, or
it's cruising down open highways in the misty morning. Or it's simply walking down a
lane. I always take the dog along. The world may want to question my motives for
walking alone at night. He doesn't mind being used. There's a certain freedom about
walking without having a particular destination in mind and with no one else that you
have to talk to or listen to. You can enjoy being alive, all by yourself, without having to
explain your feelings or justify your reasons. It is simply walking.
Write a paragraph of six or seven sentences, using as your topic sentence the first
sentence of the previous paragraph: “Everyone has a personal way of escaping from the
everyday world.”
When you have finished writing the paragraph, underline all the phrases, both
prepositional and verbal.

Exercise 86 — Identifying a Main Clause
Underline the main clause(s) in each of the following sentences:
1. I love mucking about in puddles when spring comes.

2. When Sam Patch advertised that he was going to jump into Niagara Falls, over 10 000
people came to watch. Sam did not disappoint the crowd that had gathered. When he hit
the water, he was going about 96 km per hour. Unfortunately, after he tried a second jump
at Genesee Falls, he was killed.
3. Justin Cameron, who was sent to the office for putting a whoopee cushion on the teacher’s
chair, disappeared on the way and was never heard from again.
4. I made up my mind to visit Kilbourn where he lived because I was curious about the
rumoured ghost.
5. Now that professional sports are ruled by money, relatively small cities like Edmonton and
Calgary have trouble keeping top hockey players.
6. The form which you filled out last week has been misplaced.
7. Almost all of us, no matter how cool we are, have developed crushes on a big star such as
Brad Pitt or Sporty Spice.
8. When e-mail became popular, people stopped writing letters.
9. Once he was caught, the thief returned the jewelry, but the judge still sentenced him to
jail.
10. If an athlete wants to succeed, he must control his mind as much as he controls his body.
11. They fussed and fuzzled and wuzzled till they'd drunk all the tea in the teapot.
12. People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
13. If a four-year-old says, “I wish you were dead,” accept this statement as a communication
experiment. If you should die, he may think he did it and feel guilty.
14. Although the Titanic was the most expensive boat ever built, the owners did not install
enough life boats for more than half the passengers. Yet, when the boat was sinking, some
of the lifeboats were lowered only partially full.
15. The month that I turned fourteen was the most memorable—and saddest—year of my life
because that was the month my best friend was diagnosed with leukemia.

Exercise 87 — Recognizing Subordinate Clauses
Underline the subordinate clauses in the following student-written “boners,” and circle
the subordinate conjunctions.
1. I would like to speak on this topic today because I find that this is a very true
statement. It also makes me want to sit down and think about what it is really trying
to say. This is why I want to speak on this topic.
2. The parents believed that God would bring her back to life even after she was
embombed.
3. A “vacuum” is the palace where the Pope lives.
4. When I’m 75 years old, I’ll have wrinkles and a cane because I’m living at an old dage
penctioners.
5. The scientific method is not to believe anyone until you find it out for yourself.
6. Ludwig van Beethoven wrote music even though he was deaf. He was so deaf that he
wrote very loud music.
7. An “ultimatum” is the final offer that will be made until the next one is made.
8. If three sides of a triangle are identical, they equal each other as long as they are made
the same.
9. The chief value of Romeo and Juliet is that it teaches you how to handle yourself when
you are alone on a baloney with a man.
10. “Cubic” is the language that Cubans speak.
11. Latitude tells you where you are and longitude tells you how long that you have been
there.
12. A good newspaper is one where the arteries are easy to find and correctly wrote.
13. In Salem, 19 old women, a few of whom were men, were hung.

14. When the law of gravity was first passed, it was thought that our bodies would attract
each other. But when electricity was invented, we found out that only opposites attract.
15. “Poignant” is how you get before the stork comes.
16. Benjamin Franklin invented bifocals so that he could always see both sides of the
question.
17. If you think your heart has stopped beating, you should see a doctor.
18. The mountains are wearing down in certain parts because all the people ski over them
year after year.
19. Because so often sentences are not really sentences, it is important to make sure that
each sentence expresse a complete.
20. An election is when you go into a pole and vote for a mare and councillors.
21. While a molecule is a little iddy biddy piece of a thing, an atom is a teensy weensy
piece.
22. Richard the Lion Hearted was the king of England who led the third charade.
23. An “apology” is something that a person says that he doesn’t really mean.
24. The earth is a large planet that makes a resolution every twenty-four hours.
25. Parallel lines never meet unless you bend one or both of them.
26. Although the patient had never been fatally ill before, he woke up dead.
27. Farmers rotate their crops so that they may get sun on all sides.
28. When three shots rang out, two of the guards fell dead and the other went through his
hat.
29. Every morning, when my mother waves her arms, she stretches her abominable
mussels.
30. Napoleon presented Josephine with a jewel case, which had her entrails engraved upon
the lid.

31. Because Churchill was determined to resist Hitler, many people thought he was a war
mongrel.
32. Hamlet matured a lot in the play when he went from puberty to adultery.
33. After his father died and his mother remerried, Hamlet’s adulteration was troubled.
34. The clown in As You Like It was named Touchdown, which was very surprising because
touch football had not been invented.
35. The leading character in The Merchant of Venice, which is about prejudism, was
Skylark.
36. The Cricuble griped me intensely because of all the which trails.
37. When Homer was finished fighting at Troy, he wrote The Oddity.
38. Penelope was weaving a blanket so that Ulysses would be warm when he came home
because she was old.
39. A metaphor is a thing like a trumpet that the police shout threw when there is a noisy
riot.
40. If a clause is not subordinate, it is inordinate.
41. A passive verb is when the subject is the sufferer, for example, “I am loved by Dirk.”
42. An example of “first person pronoun” is Adam because he didn’t have a last name yet
since there weren’t any others, except Eve, who doesn’t count.
43. A preposition existed during the 1920’s when there wasn’t any alcohol, but Al Capone
had a very large bathtub with gin in it because he was a rich ganster who could afford
it.
44. “Transitive” means that you are homeless.
45. Last year in English we learned how we should interrupt poetry that we couldn’t
understand.

Exercise 88 — Identifying Subordinate Clauses
Underline all of the subordinate clauses in the following letter and circle the relative
pronouns and subordinate conjunctions.
Dear Mom and Dad:

It has now been five months since I left for college. I am sorry that I have not
written before. I will bring you up to date now, but before you read on, please sit down.
Do not read any further unless you are sitting down.
Well, I am getting along pretty well now. The skull fracture and the concussion that
I got when I jumped out of my dormitory when it caught fire shortly after my arrival
are pretty well healed now. I spent about two weeks in the hospital, and now I can see
almost normally and only get those blinding headaches about once a day.
Fortunately, the fire in the dormitory and my jump were witnessed by an attendant
at the gas station near the dorm, and he was the one who called the fire department
and the ambulance. He also visited me in the hospital and, since I had nowhere to live
because the dormitory was burned out, he was kind enough to invite me to share his
apartment with him. Although it's only a basement room, it's kind of cute. Because he
is a fine boy and we have fallen deeply in love, we are planning to get married. Since
my pregnancy will begin to show soon, we will be setting the date as soon as he can
arrange for his divorce.
Yes, Mother and Dad, I am pregnant. I know how much you are looking forward to
being grandparents, and I know that you will welcome the baby and give it the same
love and tender care that you gave me when I was a child. The reason for the delay in
our marriage is that my boyfriend’s first wife is giving him a hard time because he is
behind in his child support payments.
Now that I have brought you up to date, I want to tell you that there was no
dormitory fire and that I did not have a concussion or a skull fracture. I was not in the
hospital, and I am not pregnant. Also I am not engaged. However, I am getting a “D” in
math and an “F” in science. I wanted you to view these marks in the proper
perspective, because things could be a lot worse.
Your loving daughter,
Abigail

Exercise 89 — Identifying Subordinate Clauses
Underline all the subordinate clauses in the following student sample:
We were children. When we were alone, we shared something so special that

we did not discuss it with anybody. The magic of our play realm was our
carefully guarded secret. As we ate our suppers with our families, we were
careful not to disclose the proceedings of the day. Although we loved our parents,
they were adults, who, we were convinced, had lost all touch with this magical
aspect of their lives. We held in us something very special. We had a belief in the
power of imagination, and we vowed that we would never forget its magic; that
we would never cease to believe.
I cannot say when we lost this power, when we broke our vows. Perhaps it
was the abruptness of junior high school, the teenage revelations about boys and
make-up, dances and trendy clothing. Perhaps we lost this ability the day that
we discovered our first zit. In the urge to grow up, we threw away all aspects of
being a child. We lost our fantasies in the haste to mature. We lost touch. We
grew up.
This summer I found myself walking again along the very path that I had
traveled when I was a small child. Some unknown force propelled me until I was
sitting once more on the banks of my creek. I nestled myself into the lush foliage
and breathed in deeply the sweet air. I dreamed. As I lay under the canopy of
vivid leaves, I watched the sunbursts slowly turn into the glittering friends who
had soothed and caressed me years before. The magic hill was still my magic hill,
and around me fluttered the whispers of the forest. I still had a reason to believe.

Exercise 90 — Combining Sentences
Join the statements in each group into one sentence, making at least one of the statements
into a subordinate clause by connecting it to the main clause with an appropriate
subordinate conjunction. (See the list of subordinate conjunctions in your Grammar
Handbook.)
1. The bus broke down.

We were all late.
2. I will lend you my bike.

You will promise to lock it.
3. We raised our prices.

Our business increased.
4. He wanted to graduate from high school.

He could go to NAIT.
He could study information technology.
5. The field was muddy and our team was very light.
We lost the game.
6. We sat in the last row.

We were able to hear perfectly.

7. The school issued new uniforms.
The team would look impressive in the championship game.
8. She was ill.

She insisted on going ahead with the show.
She knew there would be talent scouts in the audience.
9. I had not studied any foreign language.

I was refused admission to the college of my choice.
10. The committee members could not agree.

The whole matter was referred to the principal.
11. I saved my money to buy a Razzle-Dazzle Super-Dooper.

I couldn’t get one.
12. Brian decided to consult his friends about his problem.

Everyone could express an opinion.
13. There was a great deal of talk.

Nothing was decided.
Finally, Dad intervened.
14. A decision is reached today.

The donors will not give us the money.

15. The Community League would build a new hockey rink.
The community could raise the money at a bingo.
16. I sat by the slide waiting for Kimberlee.

I noticed two older boys trying to break into the clubhouse.
17. She eventually learned to read.

Her parents got her a tutor.
18. You give me back the book you borrowed.

I will not lend you the CD.
19. Sharon was my best friend.

I had known her since kindergarten.
I did everything with her.
20. The decision had been made.

No one in the family was satisfied.
They kept silent.

Exercise 91 — Recognizing Types of Sentences
Identify each of the following sentences as simple, compound, complex, or compound-

complex.
1. On April 1, 1999, Paul Okalik, age 34, became the

youngest Canadian premier ever when he took over as
head of the territory of Nunavut.
2. In celebration of Nunavut’s birth, an estimated 2,000

politicians, journalists, and tourists descended on the
little capital Iqaluit on the southern tip of Baffin Island to
witness the swearing in of the territorial assembly.
3. What the world needs is a plaid pig.
4. Philo Farnsworth was only fourteen when he first

conceived of the idea of electronic television.
5. The idea of television came to him when he was plowing

a field, and he realized that an electron beam could scan
images, line by line, just as he went back and forth with
the plow.
6. One thing is certain about the next century: the pace of

discovery in science is sure to be even faster.
7. Many of us have grandparents who are suffering from

Alzheimer’s disease, a truly tragic affliction.
8. Francis Crick and James Watson discovered the “secret of

life” in the DNA molecule.
9. If you work hard and focus on a goal, you eventually will

be successful.
10. Henry VIII, by his own efforts, increased the population

of England by 40,000.
11. Saskatchewan has no junior high schools; instead,

elementary school covers from grades one to eight, and
high school covers grades nine to twelve.
12. Year-round schooling is not very popular with many

students, particularly not in Canada, where the summers
are so short.

13. Unconcerned about impressing anyone, I simply threw on
jeans and a ratty old sweatshirt.
14. “Rap” is a kind of spontaneous poetry for the masses.
15. Nero, a particularly nasty Roman emperor, murdered his

own mother and supposedly “fiddled” while Rome burned
to the ground.
16. I would like to introduce you to my friend Dimitri, who, I

believe, has already spoken to you on the phone about his
student visa.
17. I always play my stereo at top volume to irritate the

neighbours.
18. A completely bald professional wrestler, Jesse Ventura,

has been elected as governor of one of the American
states.
19. I still remember the first time I read Robert Frost’s poem
The Road Not Taken: it was in grade four, and it was
during a poetry unit in language arts.
20. As soon as the teacher left the room, our suppressed

giggles exploded into raucous laughter.
21. Some people use books to take them away from life;
others, to take them deeper into life.
22. An epigram should be, if right,

Short, simple pointed, keen, and bright.
23. Your dog will love you long after others have betrayed or
deserted you.
24. The figure turns round, and the light falls upon its face,
perfectly white, perfectly bloodless, with eyes like
polished tin, with lips drawn back to reveal teeth
projecting like those of some wild animal, hideously,
glaringly white and fang-like.
25. Have all the computers and all the printing presses of the
world multiplied the genius of our literary men so that
they might equal Shakespeare, who wrote all his plays in
longhand?

26. When donor hearts are so scarce, and when the waiting
list for heart transplants is so long, should people over 65,
and otherwise in good health, be eligible for a transplant?
27. Individual initiative and enthusiasm are absolutely

essential to the success of any enterprise from a high
school classroom to a multi-national corporation.
28. I hope that I shall not offend you.
29. If he opened one door, there came out of it a hungry tiger,

the fiercest and most cruel that could be procured, which
immediately sprung upon him and tore him to pieces as
punishment for his guilt; but if the accused person opened
the other door, there came forth from it a lady, the most
suitable to his years and station that his majesty could
select among his fair subjects.
30. Canadians are passionately attached to the principle of

public health care for rich and poor alike.

Exercise 92 — Correcting Sentence Fragments
A. By adding a main clause, rewrite the following fragments so that they are complete
sentences.
1. when I heard a piercing scream
2. hoping to improve my grades in science
3. the teacher, who was an avid hiker
4. after I called
5. the pirate hiding the treasure
6. Jennifer, an old friend of mine from elementary school
7. when Jim realized how much he had hurt his friend
8. embarrassing everyone in the audience by her vulgar language

9. curious about what lay behind the mysterious door
10. knowing they could not make it home in time
B. By removing or changing a word (or words), make the following fragments into
complete sentences.
1. the television, which was fully guaranteed
2. the principal, who always brought treats to the grade ones on the first day of school
3. If you hope to succeed in Language Arts, correcting your sentence fragments
4. which didn’t seem to make much difference in the long run
5. an example being the violence on television
6. their daughter, who never cleaned her room or helped with the dishes
7. denying his original story about where he was the night of the murder

8. which was not surprising considering his past record
9. Sherry, who was never on time
10. James, as he desperately fought back the onslaught of tears welling beneath his eyelids
11. To avoid being shot by hunters, wearing bright clothes
12. I heard a goofy pun this morning. A mushroom getting invited to all the parties
because he was a fungi
13. The big hit down in the garden being Elvis Parsley
C. Now, correct sentence fragments in 8, 9, and 10 above by adding a main clause.

Rewrite them below.
8.
9.
10.

Exercise 93 — Recognizing and Correcting Sentence
Fragments
Each of the following paragraphs contains one sentence fragment. Make your correction
by using one or more of the following methods:
− adding words
− taking out words
− connecting the fragment to another sentence in the paragraph
Be prepared to discuss the meanings of the words shown in boldface.
1. Dr. Arthur Cunningham’s article deals with a very interesting subject. The
development of techniques for cloning of animals in Britain. The author explores both
the methodology and the ethical problems of cloning.
2. Dr. Schweitzer was certainly a rare example of unselfishness. His work in Africa
showed him to be a truly altruistic man. A man who dedicated his life to combating
diseases. The doctor will always be remembered as a symbol of man's greatness.
3. I filled in the questionnaire quickly. Eager to meet the requirements for the job. I knew
I might not get the job. But I decided to remain optimistic.

4. I am writing to inquire about the job you advertised in last week’s Examiner, the job of
delivering flyers. Having just completed grade nine, I am anxious to earn some money
over the summer holidays. Hoping you will find my enclosed résumé satisfactory. I
look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible.
5. Although Dan was very friendly, he consistently suffered from loneliness. Whenever he
made a new acquaintance, he tried too hard to please the person. Apparently, this
excessive interest drove people away. Because Dan's obsequious attitude made them
feel uncomfortable.
6. Jesse James was a notorious outlaw. He used the trickiest and most furtive methods
of escape. But, in the end, being caught anyway. The old saying is true: crime does not
pay.
7. Students don’t work as hard as they used to. Especially during May and June when the
heat makes the students lethargic and anxious to be outside. Thus, air-conditioning
for schools is a good investment.

8. Trying to save a few dollars, Jim bought his car from “Solid Sam, the Used Car Man.”
In two days' time, the car broke down. Solid Sam denied any responsibility. Just what
one would expect from an unscrupulous car dealer. But Jim learned not to be so
gullible.
9. It was a touching sight. The children playing gently with the tiny puppy. It was a good
opportunity to take some pictures. These satisfying moments would be permanently
recorded.
10. Mike has demonstrated that a person can be too honest. As an experiment, he was
completely truthful for one week. Then he moved to another city. Leaving behind many
people with hurt feelings.
11. The history of French cuisine is filled with incredible characters. Some examples
being Louis XIV, the Sun King, whose stomach was three times larger than an
ordinary man's, and the chef Vatel, who committed suicide when a banquet he has
prepared turned out badly. Another was the gourmand Desessart, whose stomach was
so large one dueling opponent graciously drew a circle upon it, which he agreed would
be his only target. Of course, we must not forget the anonymous cook who served
Donkey's Brains à la Napoléon or the far-out chef who invented peanut butter and jelly
soup. The list is endless, but no French gourmand or murderer was more incredible
than Gourier—who literally dined men to death.

12. California is earthquake country. More than 1,000 miles of its coastline following the
Great Pacific Basin, where 80% of the world's earthquakes originate. The State, laced
with hundreds of geological faults, produces a thousand or more tremors annually.
13. Isadora Duncan, a beautiful yet tragic figure, one of the most revolutionary and
controversial personalities that the dance world has ever known. Even her death, when
she was near fifty, was unusual. On holiday in Nice, she was attracted by a young
Italian sent to demonstrate his new sports car. During the ride, the trailing end of the
long, red-fringed scarf she wrapped around her neck caught in the spokes of the rear
wheel of the car. Her neck was broken and she died instantly—as tragic in death as in
life.

14. The Dead Sea is not a sea at all, but a lake lying between Israel and Jordan. The lake
being so named because it contains no living organisms as a result of its very high salt
content.
15. Everything in Oz is different from Kansas. The funny little Munchkins, the dazzling
yellow brick road, and the unusual people like the talking Scarecrow, the Cowardly
Lion, and the Tin Woodman. Dorothy is both fascinated and frightened by this unusual
land.
16. Between the innocence of babyhood and the dignity of manhood. We find a delightful
creature called a boy. Boys coming in assorted sizes, but all having the same creed: to
enjoy every second of every minute or every hour. And to protest noisily when a parent
packs them off to bed at night.

Exercise 94 — Correcting Sentence Fragments
Put a check mark beside each complete sentence. Correct any sentence fragments.
1. They married, later becoming parents of a baby girl. Followed by twins the next year.
2. I waited in line all day. For books, pictures, I.D. card, program changes, and then for
food.
3. In elementary school, homework was practically unknown to me. That is, the kind of
homework expected of me in junior high school.
4. Assuming that you enjoy the outdoor life as much I do. I think you will enjoy the novel
Never Cry Wolf.
5. The meaning of “ambiguous” is not clear.
6. The team was defeated. Not to mention the fact that it was humiliated, ground into the
mud, and sent home demoralized.

7. I am often told to do things I don't like. Such as getting out of bed or cleaning up my
room.
8. He was still angry with me. His eyes glaring fiercely.
9. Much to my regret, I have no sister. Even though I've always wanted one.
10. We have now reached the end of our course. The period since World War I.
11. This was the mystery that haunted her. Not knowing who her parents were or where
she had come from.
12. I may have an inferiority complex, but it’s not very good.
13. The time when you are young and enthusiastic. That's when you should work. Leave
dreams to old men.

14. In the rising gloom, three shrouded figures crept across the park. All carrying rifles
under their arms and followed by a shadowy and silent dog.
15. I will make a few statements about my early life. Though there is little I can say on
such a dull subject.
16. We enjoyed the cool weather once we reached the mountains. Having just spent two
days driving across the desert, where the temperature was about 40 degrees.
17. Just to stand up in the face of life's problems. That takes courage.
18. Dine at Campus Cookery. Where the beans taste better than caviar.
19. Briefly, the answer is “NO!” More fully, the answer is “Absolutely no!”
20. I hope to learn French in one year. Since I am now living with a French family in
Quebec.

21. Find ten examples of sentence fragments used in advertisements.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.

Exercise 95 — Proofreading an Essay for Sentence Fragments
Proofread and correct any sentence fragments in the essay below.
My Hero
Excitement, frustration, enjoyment, disappointment. Some of the many feelings
experienced during the two most important activities of my life: hockey and golf. These are
not sports that I can learn at school or with friends. Because they are the kind that require
a lot of time, money, and practice. I am very grateful that my father introduced me to the
games he loves.
Ever since I could walk, I was learning how to skate and playing with toy golf clubs in
the front yard. Even before that, my father pushing me around the golf course in my
stroller, not wanting to give up his game on the weekend. Even today, I hear from many
that I was able to start golfing as a baby. When I was growing up in Toronto, one of the
things I enjoyed most was getting up at 4:30 in the morning on Saturdays to play golf with
my dad and his friends. I would beam with pride when he would say, “Good shot.” Not only
encouraging me but also providing me with the chance to become the player I am today by
getting the family a golf club membership. I spent my summers at the golf course, playing
and practising every day until my hands were sore. Hoping that I could become as good as
my dad.
Ever since he introduced me to hockey, my dad has been involved in my hockey career
in some form. As a coach, manager, teacher, fan, parent, sponsor, teammate, opponent, and
friend. My father has taught me as much as he can to make me a better hockey player. As a
kid, I would always want to tag along with my dad to the rink. And hang around in the
dressing room and on the bench. Finally, in the last few years, I have been able to play with

him. Some of the most fun that I can have playing hockey. When we're together, I love to
set him up for a goal, and when we're against each other, neither of us gives the other a
break.
My dad has been there for me ever since I started playing. His teachings and support
have been vital for my development into the player I am today. I can't remember a game
that he has missed without an honest reason. Although I've never admitted it, I'm always
glad he is there.
The dynamic between a father and son in sport cannot be easily explained. A bond
between us that cannot be described. We don't even talk about it, but it exists. Most of my
success and enjoyment in hockey, golf, and therefore, life, I owe to my dad. I should
probably thank him more.

Exercise 96 — Recognizing and Correcting Comma Splices
Note and correct any comma splices in the following passages:
1. In that split second of indecision, I caught Rob’s eyes, and he gave me such a look of
terror that I thought he’d explode, his eyes screamed for me to help him, to stop
those two brutes from degrading him further. But there was just no way, and I
thought, with shame, “Better him than me.”
2. A common belief in the last century was that a hat holds the brains in balance,
therefore, it is indispensable to a thinking man. If this belief is accurate, then why
won’t our teachers let us wear baseball caps in class?
3. I'll tell you the real secret of how to stay married. Keep the cave clean, they want the
cave clean and spotless, air-conditioned if possible. Sharpen his spear, stick it in his
hand when he goes out in the morning to spear that bear. When the bear chases
him, console him when he comes home at night, tell him what a big man he is, then
hide the spear so he doesn't fall over it and stab himself.
4. The true scientist never loses the faculty of amazement, this sense of wonder is the
essence of his being. Whoever cannot wonder is as good as dead.
5. Because we are inventors of machines, we think we are in control. We shape our

machines, thereafter, our machines shape us.
6. When you are writing, you must pay attention to how words sound. This advice may
seem funny to you because we read with our eyes, not our ears. But actually, when
we read, we hear the words with our inner ear, therefore, you must attend to the
sounds of words as much as to their meaning.

7. When a boy puts aside his Power Rangers for girls, he’s an adolescent, when he puts
away girls for the girl, he’s a man.
8. I’ve never been poor, only broke. Being poor is a state of mind, being broke is only
temporary.
9. One of the most famous among the Greek heroes was Hercules. Zeus himself was his
father, and his mother was Alcmene. Hera, Zeus’s wife, hated Hercules, and
throughout his life, her hatred followed him, bringing him many troubles. For
example, when he was a baby, Hera sent two serpents to kill him in his cradle,
however, he had great strength even as an infant, and he was able to strangle the
serpents with his baby fists. This feat infuriated Hera even more, but she swore to
break his spirit with a life of hardship and misery. But the challenges of his life only
made Hercules stronger, he took difficulties and dangers as all part of a day’s work.
10. Manliness is not all swagger and swearing and mountain climbing and beer
drinking, manliness is also tenderness, gentleness, and consideration. You men
think you can decide on who is a man, when only women can really know.

Exercise 97 — Add a Phrase or a Clause
Add a phrase or a clause to each of the following sentences. Identify what you have added
as either a phrase or a clause. Punctuate your sentences properly, making sure that you
do not have any comma splices. You may not use the subordinate conjunction
“because” more than once. You may place your phrase or clause before, after, or in the
middle of the sentence.
1. School is very boring.
2. Everyone deplores violence and brutality.
3. He sounds like a very conceited person.
4. I have seen several good movies this year.
5. Sales clerks treat teenagers unfairly.
6. Learning about grammar is so much fun.
7. Television is a powerful influence on young people.

8. There is one main reason why physical education should not be compulsory.
9. Most students are nervous about speaking out in class.
10. The Christmas shopping season usually starts right after Hallowe’en.
11. The study of literature is valuable.
12. Smoking should not be made illegal.
13. Students make a class interesting.
14. This exercise is difficult.
15. No one likes a self-centered person.

Exercise 98 — Identifying and Correcting Comma Splices
Identify the comma splices (run-on sentences) and revise them. Put a check beside any
sentence that is correct as it stands. Although many of the sentences can be corrected by
adding semicolons, try to correct at least five of the sentences by subordination of one of the
main clauses.
1. Neither the weather nor your warnings will make me change my mind, I still intend to
drive to Calgary.
2. There is one thing I simply must know is Joe as pompous as he seems?
3. A little knowledge makes us hunger for more, consequently, we are always growing
intellectually.
4. Please send me some money I am almost broke.
5. Although I quickly saw the error in Joe's argument, I did not challenge him, he would
only become flustered.
6. An agnostic is not sure whether there is a God, whereas an atheist positively denies
that there is a God.
7. Although he was annoyed with Mary's dogmatic attitude, the teacher listened quietly,
smiled politely, and held in his anger.
8. I have always admired Lee's special qualities, he manages to be articulate and tactful
at the same time.
9. An immoral person knows he is doing wrong but does it anyway, however, an amoral
person has no sense of right and wrong at all.
10. The deaths of Romeo and Juliet were tragically ironic, that is, they were “star-crossed
lovers.”
11. Television has weakened family relationships, undermined literacy in young people,
and fostered a society insensitive to violence.
12. The most fascinating crimes, of course, are those which are not proven beyond a
shadow of a doubt, for example, people will always be intrigued by such cases as Jack
the Ripper’s, Lizzie Borden’s, Sam Shepherd’s, Sacco and Vanzetti’s, Lee Harvey
Oswald’s.
13. Please do not condemn my actions I know what I’m doing.

14. You are a rotten dancer, have terrible taste in clothes, a boring personality, and
crumby friends, moreover, you have bad breath.
15. He failed math, and therefore he could not play basketball on the school team.
16. You must learn to postpone gratification otherwise you will constantly be in debt.
17. People who develop the habit of looking forward to the future, rather than living in the
present, have particular difficulty with aging because the future seems increasingly
ominous.
18. Eavesdroppers, it is said, never hear good about themselves.
19. Thinking is difficult, painful, and unpopular, therefore, you are best to avoid it.
20. The story of a play must be the story of what goes on inside the mind or heart of a man
or a woman, it cannot deal primarily with external events, these events are only
symbolic of what goes on within.

Exercise 99 — Correct the Spelling
Correct any misspelled words in the following sentences. Put a check mark beside any
sentence that is correct as it stands.
1. After the accident, I called for a toe truck from my sell phone.
2. What each of us dose to the enviroment effects everyone.
3. When we drive wrecklessly, we must relize there are many lifes at steak, not just are
own.
4. My mother likes to watch soup operas every afternoon.
5. I wood like to congradulate you on you’re acheivement.
6. A teacher’s critism of a student’s work is just as valuble as his praise.
7. She didn’t realize that her absense from school would affect other members of her grope.
8. There’s no buisness like show buisness.

9. After graduation, many students go there seperate ways to different colledges.
10. Budding in line is rude, but some people are so competive that they have to be first even
at the ticket wicket.
11. I’ve groan accostumed to your face. I can’t bare to be a part from you.
12. Most office buildings and schools are lit by fluorescent bulbs, which are cheaper than
incandescent bulbs because they last longer.
13. He was very disappointed when his favourite skateboard disappeared from his locker,
which he had forgotten to lock. He should of knowen better.
14. She is a fasinating person but also very conceited.

15. With the increase in digital cameras, pretty soon we will not have to devlope flim any
more; we can simply process pitchers on a home computer.
16. I admire anyone who is willing to cross a dessert on a cammel.

17. “February” is frequently mispelled and mispronounced. So is “burry.”
18. Do you have an explaination for you’re not having turned in your report.
19. Who’s that girl with the auburn hair over by the water fountain?
20. Democrasy may not be the most efficient form of goverment, but it is definately the most
fair.
21. Most people are becoming increasingly conserned about enviromental issues, but they
don’t want to committ themselves to reducing there own consumtion of fule.
22. How did you aquire this exquisite dinning room suite?
23. In language arts, we study literture and grammer. Personnally, I think we need to do
more writting.
24. I got in a furious arguement with my best friend about the best place to buy piza.
25. I am optomistic that the temperture will go above freezing tomorrow.
26. I hope to get my driver’s license sooner then my incompetant twin sister dose.
27. The principal was a man of principle.

28. The nucular arms race has slowed down, but that does not rule out the occurrence of an
accident at the Millenium.
29. Computer spell-check programs are not useful in detecting homonym errors.
30. Some people think that sceince fiction and fantacy books and movies are childish, but
often they are very thought-provoking.
31. Throughout the world, the most widely spoken language in business and technology is
english.
32. When he accidently nocked over a pile of books in the library, everyone staired at him as
though he were a criminal.

33. As she past the haunted house, she was surprised that she wasn’t the least bit
frightened.
34. My conscience bothered me after I cheated on the silly little quizz in math.
35. In the past, most heroes were warriors, but today they are more likely to be sports
figures.
36. When he got dressed up in a suit and tie, he felt very self-conscious.
37. I can certainly recommend you for the job of superintendant eventhough you have had
no previous experience.
38. Good disipline is a natural part of good teaching.
39. The study of mathamatics is very challenging for most people.
40. I am disatisfied with your preformance this year. You need to be more agressive in your
study habits.
41. I am truely sorry for any inconvenience I may have caused you by having adressed the
package with your cello in it incorrectly and causing it to go astray.
42. He constantly exaggerated his importance to the team.

43. Of course, no one could foresee what would happen to Terry on his trip across Canada in
a balloon.
44. I forbidd you to eat that sandwiche in class because the crums may attract mice.
45. The store gauranteed to exchange any merchandise within ten days of the purchase
date.
46. My acheivement in language arts has rissen ten per cent this year because I have really
decreesed the number of misspellings in my essayies.
47. Her stubborness got her into a great deal of trouble because she would never back down
from an argument.
48. I was very nervous before giving my speach because I didn’t know weather anyone
would think it was funny.
49. His teacher was prejudice against students wearing baseball caps or chewing gum with
there mouths open.
50. The odd occult occurance obviously obsessed Olivia.

Exercise 100 — Proofreading to Correct Spelling or Usage
Errors
Correct any spelling or usage errors in the following paragraphs:
Yesterday was certainly not my day. First of all, I stubbed my bear toe on the
nightstand. Then, I couldn’t find my favourite cloths and I had to chose ones I didn’t like.
Then as I set down for breakfast, the chair broke and I was soon laying on the floor. When I
had rose from the floor, I bumped my head on the table and let out a lowd mown. As I was
about to eat my cereal, I pored the milk in my lap and I had to assend to my bedroom once
more to change.
My troubles stayed with me in sceince class when the teacher was trying to learn me to
make acid. After he had demonstrated the process, I insisted, “Leave me do it now!” I mixed
the chemicals, lay the stirring spoon on the counter, and then sat the test tube in a mettle
holder. Suddenly, a loud explosion shooked the laboratory, and a large black clowd raised
from the counter. I was never going to past that coarse.
In the next class, english, my misery only got worser. The teacher asked if I had red the
short story for today’s lessen, and I had to admitt that the nite befour, I had fallen asleep
halve way thorough. I would of finished it at brakefast, but as your allready awear,
brakefast was a dissaster. To make matters more worse, I had forgot my english book at
home. The teacher was so exasperated that she scent me to the principle’s office for the rest
of the period. Their Mrs. Quackenbush made me wright lines: “I will not forgot to compleat
my homework again.”
As I road my bike home passed the park, I past a group of kids who had been
prosecuting me since grade too. They were lead by a nasty fellow who had once throne me

off the monky bars, braking my glasses. Today he sneared at me and seezed the handlebars
of my bike and adviced me to give him the bike—or else he would berry my head in the
sand. I already felt like I couldn’t breath. Because I new their was no point in argueing,
that I was bound to loose, I accepted his advice and fleed home defeeted. When my mother
saw my downcast face, she tryd to council me by offering to let me eat my desert before
dinner. But I didn’t except her offer because I wasn’t finished feeling miserable yet.
Yes, I really should have staid in bed yesterday.
P.S. If you want to take the time, type these paragraphs into a computer and find out what
spelling or usage errors are detected by the grammar and spell check program. You may be
startled to discover how few the computer is able to detect. Therefore, while a computer
may be able to defeat a human chess champion, it is still no match for your English teacher.

You may enjoy this little poem:
Put Knot You’re Trust in

the Spell Chequer
Owed two a Spell Chequer

(or, “Ode to a spell checker”)
Eye halve a spelling chequer;

It came with my pea sea;
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin not sea.
Eye strike a key and type a whirred

End weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong our write—
It shows me straight a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid

It nose bee fore two long,
And dye can put the era write
It’s rare lea ever wrong.
Eye have run this poem threw it;

I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh,
My spell chequer tolled me sew!
—Sores unknown
—adapted from multiple Internet sources

Exercise 101 — Spelling Challenges
In each of the blanks, fill in a word that matches the definition and contains the letters
OUGH.
1. a roadway _________________________
2. a tree branch _________________________
3. a pool of stagnant water _________________________
4. finished _________________________
5. a type of horse _________________________
6. a cold symptom _________________________
7. coarse _________________________
8. a constant burping _________________________
9. sufficient _________________________
10. where pigs eat _________________________
11. cast off something such as skin _________________________
12. difficult to chew _________________________
13. slang for “money” _________________________
14. complete _________________________
15. till a field _________________________
In each of the blanks, fill in a word matching the definition and containing the letters GHT
(in order—but not always together).
1. a time of severe water shortage _________________________

2. illumination _________________________
3. massive killing _________________________
4. past tense of “teach” _________________________
5. train carrying goods _________________________
6. to make afraid _________________________
7. past tense of “seek” _________________________
8. a response to a joke _________________________
9. the age of majority _________________________
10. battle _________________________

11. beer dispensed in pubs _________________________
12. slim _________________________
13. female offspring _________________________
14. spooky spirit _________________________
15. considerate _________________________
Fill in the blanks with words matching the definitions and containing no vowels besides I
and E. Both vowels are present in all the words, but they need not occur in sequence.
Needless to say, spelling counts!
1. people who steal _________________________

2. small insects found in the hair _________________________
3. covering for the face _________________________
1. capture; grab _________________________
2. strange _________________________
6. volcanic activity is known as _______ activity _________________________
7. not reliant on others _________________________
8. pliable; malleable _________________________
9. Santa’s horsepower _________________________
10. female relative _________________________
11. ropes for controlling a horse _________________________
12. the study of natural phenomena _________________________
13. the sound a horse makes _________________________
14. avoirdupois _________________________
15. strainer _________________________
16. 5-cent coin _________________________
17. bring back to life _________________________
18. turned to stone _________________________
19. poison for killing bugs _________________________
20. poison for killing vegetation _________________________
21. killing a king (or queen) _________________________
22. preacher _________________________
23. row of bleachers or layer _________________________
24. people who live in one’s vicinity _________________________
25. dock _________________________

26. third person possessive pronoun _________________________
27. vehicle with runners _________________________
28. body mutilation _________________________
29. airborne toy _________________________
30. believable _________________________
31. the tenure of a monarch _________________________
32. a type of gun _________________________
33. house; where one lives _________________________
34. condition suitable for consumption _________________________
35. repeat orally from memory _________________________
36. removing the soap from clothes or dishes _________________________
37. a British game involving a bat _________________________
38. proof of purchase _________________________
39. success _________________________
40. age of majority plus one _________________________
41. river running through Paris _________________________
42. medical sample _________________________
43. preparation for an exam _________________________
44. microscopic bug found in dust _________________________
45. postponement of a punishment or execution _________________________
46. word commonly found with “nor” _________________________
47. hand magic trick is known as _________________________
48. mourning _________________________
49. make changes in a composition _________________________
50. put up opposition to arrest _________________________
51. a word puzzle _________________________
52. mislead _________________________
53. to provide assistance to people
in need is to provide _________________________
54. vertical measurement _________________________
55. section; part _________________________
56. gripping tool _________________________
57. hanging frozen water _________________________
58. serious, often dangerous, situations _________________________

Fill in each blank with a word matching the definition and containing silent letters.
Underline the silent letter or letters.
1. slang for “stupid” _________________________

2. two different words meaning “go up” _________________________
3. eye doctor _________________________
4. underside of hand _________________________
5. stage between puberty and adulthood _________________________
6. disease of the lungs _________________________
7. part of the election process _________________________
8. hair implement _________________________
9. shadow picture of something _________________________
10. arms and legs _________________________
11. self-control; self-_______________ _________________________
12. two different cutting implements _________________________
_________________________
13. part of hand allowing one to grasp _________________________
14. not crooked _________________________
15. movement with regular recurrence of a beat _________________________
16. person who fights dragons _________________________
17. medical term for bleeding _________________________
18. tranquil, peaceful _________________________
19. cracker or cookie _________________________
20. Canadian law-making body _________________________
21. control over one’s own nation _________________________
22. to intrigue _________________________
23. something that can be tied _________________________
24. a type of small pickle _________________________
25. an ugly elf-like creature _________________________
26. particles found in the bottom of a toaster _________________________
27. an entrepreneur _________________________
28. utter tiredness _________________________
29. go down _________________________

Exercise 102 — Adding Prefixes and Suffixes
Adding a prefix to a word does not change the spelling of the word.
Add and underline the designated prefix to the following words:
Word Prefix
literate il _________________________
appear dis _________________________
satisfied dis _________________________
necessary un _________________________
understood mis _________________________
logical il _________________________
courage dis _________________________
commend re _________________________
daughter grand _________________________
natural un _________________________
mortal im _________________________
appoint dis _________________________
spelling mis _________________________
responsible ir _________________________
similar dis _________________________
mate room _________________________
keeper book _________________________
noticed un _________________________

When to double the consonant when adding suffixes to words:
Words of one syllable ending in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel double the
consonant before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel:
fit fitted fitting
When a suffix beginning with a consonant is added to such words, the final consonant is
not doubled: fitful
Words of one syllable ending with a silent “e” drop the “e” but do not double the final
consonant before adding a suffix: mine mining
Add the designated suffix to each of the following words:
Word Suffix
swat ed _________________________
write ing _________________________
plan ed _________________________
come ing _________________________
scoop ed _________________________
skate ing _________________________
dine ing _________________________
sad ly _________________________
sad est _________________________
drip ed _________________________
bite ing _________________________
sin ed _________________________
feel ing _________________________
brake ing _________________________
claim ed _________________________
hate ing _________________________
shine ing _________________________
bat ed _________________________
win ing _________________________
bike ing _________________________

drip less _________________________
hit ing _________________________
whine ing _________________________
gun ed _________________________
spit ing _________________________
boat ing _________________________
These same rules for doubling the final consonant apply to words of more than one syllable
when the accent falls on the final syllable:
pre fer preferred
However, when the accent falls on the first syllable, the final consonant is not doubled:
pro fit profited
Add “ed” or “ing” to the following verbs:
occur _________________________
commit _________________________
refer _________________________
happen _________________________
transfer _________________________
marvel _________________________
admit _________________________
compel _________________________
acquit _________________________
defer _________________________
enroll _________________________
forget _________________________

To drop the E or not to drop the E?
In words ending with a silent “e,” drop this “e” when adding a suffix beginning with a
vowel: fame famous
An exception is “acreage.”
In words ending with a silent “e,” keep this “e” when adding a suffix beginning with a
consonant.
Notable exceptions to this rule are “truly” and “argument” and “judgment.”
Also, after “c” or “g,” the final “e” is retained before suffixes beginning with “a” or “o.”
Add the designated suffix to the following words:

Word Suffix
come ing _________________________
care ful _________________________
courage ous _________________________
move able _________________________
combine ation _________________________
argue ing _________________________
place ment _________________________
confine ment _________________________
sincere ly _________________________
sincere ity _________________________
notice able _________________________
rude ness _________________________
ice y _________________________
prime ary _________________________
state ment _________________________
live able _________________________
lone ly _________________________
arrange ment _________________________
manage able _________________________
love able _________________________
animate ion _________________________
hope ful _________________________
use able _________________________
guide ance _________________________

Adding suffixes to words ending in “y.”
Words ending in “y” preceded by a consonant change the “y” to “i” before adding a suffix:.
cry cries
Words ending in “y” preceded by a vowel do not change “y” to “i”: valley valleys
Add the designated suffix to the following words:
Word Suffix
try es _________________________
easy er _________________________
mercy ful _________________________
key s _________________________
copy es _________________________
happy ly _________________________
turkey s _________________________
beauty ful _________________________
modify er _________________________
lucky est _________________________
study es _________________________
spray ed _________________________
merry er _________________________
pay s _________________________
defy ance _________________________
army es _________________________
trolley s _________________________
empty ed _________________________
rely ance _________________________
multiply es _________________________
satisfy ed _________________________

Exercise 103 — Choosing the Correct Word
Underline the correct word in each of the following sentences:
1. All Canada was watching when the court finally (persecuted, prosecuted) Paul
Bernardo for his heinous crimes.
2. These drugs will help to (lessen, lesson) your pain.
3. Everyone had been invited to her party (accept, except) me.
4. We have to install a new (waist, waste) disposal unit.
5. You may (waive, wave) your right to a court-appointed lawyer.
6. I think I will (lay, lie) down after lunch.
7. The murderer was (hanged, hung) at seven in the morning.
8. Where did you (lose, loose) your ring?
9. The (affects, effects) of decriminalizing the use of marijuana will probably increase its use in the
short run.
10. There were golden candlesticks on the (altar, alter).
11. The soldier (deserted, desserted) his comrades just before the battle began.
12. The (council, counsel) for the defense of David Berkowitz is obviously planning to make a great deal
of money from the case.
13. The seeing-eye dog (lead, led) his master across the busy (thoroughfare, throughfare).
14. David (slew, slough) Goliath.
15. Shakespeare is the most famous (playwright, playwrite) of all time; he is (red, read) in virtually every
language in the world.
16. He sat on the edge of the (peer, pier) fishing.
17. He (emigrated, immigrated) from Scotland at the age of six.
18. He was well (passed, past) thirty when he married.
19. The (decent, descent) was much simpler than the (ascent, assent) of the mountain.
20. Let me (cite, site, sight) you an example.
21. We must do the wiring before we can (precede, proceed) with the drywall.
22. If the washer won’t work, then I’ll have to (ring, wring) out all the clothes by hand.

23. The school seeks to (install, instill) the idea of responsibility in all its students.
24. I hope to make the honour (role, roll) this year.
25. Blackheads are caused by dirt lodging in the (pores, pours).
26. I can (assure, insure) you that I won't do it again.
27. Each of us has his own burdens to (bare, bear).
28. He wants to be elected to the city (council, counsel, consul).
29. It is very expensive to buy (cloths, clothes) for children today.
30. Speak louder. I can't (hear, here) you over the fans.
31. That will teach you to (medal, meddle, metal, mettle) in other people's business.
32. He gave his father a new wood (plain, plane) for Christmas.
33. Princess Anne was (throne, thrown) from her horse at the Olympics.
34. That is good (advice, advise) that he gave you.
35. Be careful, or you will (brake, break) the (brakes, breaks).
36. Lassie wasn't even a pure-(bred, bread) dog.
37. I have (chosen, choosen) green wallpaper for my study.
38. What would you like for (desert, dessert), cherries or peaches?
39. When he (past, passed) the girl, he saw that he (knew, new) her from somewhere.
40. The U.S. is talking about eliminating the (cent, scent, sent) from the currency.
41. Ye shall reap what ye (sew, sow, so).
42. He (sat, set) the jug down by the wall.
43. That is a very tall (tale, tail) that you tell about the trip.
44. It is wise to (ensure, insure, assure) your house for its replacement value.
45. I hope your decision won't (affect, effect) our plans for the holidays.
46. I'm sorry, but I cannot (accept, except) your offer.
47. Can you (council, counsel, consul) me about my course choices?
48. Stretching before them was an endless sandy (desert, dessert).
49. Everyone is afraid of (dyeing, dying) because of what lies after death: “the undiscovered country.”
50. Please (precede, proceed) with caution because the road is icy.

Exercise 104 — Sometimes a Verb—Sometimes a Noun
Identify each of the following words as either a noun or a verb: (Can any be both?) Be prepared to
explain what each word means and how you would use it in a sentence.
1. practise ____________________ 26. lessen ____________________

2. practice ____________________ 27. prays ____________________
3. licence ____________________ 28. praise ____________________
4. license ____________________ 29. waist ____________________
5. effect ____________________ 30. waste ____________________
6. affect ____________________ 31. soared ____________________
7. advice ____________________ 32. sword ____________________
8. advise ____________________ 33. suede ____________________
9. prophesy ____________________ 34. swayed ____________________
10. prophecy ____________________ 35. bear ____________________
11. hoard ____________________ 36. bare ____________________
12. horde ____________________ 37. cite ____________________
13. council ____________________ 38. sight ____________________
14. counsel ____________________ 39. site ____________________
15. beat ____________________ 40. lead ____________________
16. beet ____________________ 41. led ____________________
17. coward ____________________ 42. mall ____________________
18. cowered ____________________ 43. maul ____________________
19. meddle ____________________ 44. morn ____________________
20. medal ____________________ 45. mourn ____________________
21. heal ____________________ 46. ring ____________________
22. heel ____________________ 47. wring ____________________
23. pour ____________________ 48. passed ____________________
24. pore ____________________ 49. past ____________________
25. lesson ____________________

Exercise 105 — Distinguishing Between Commonly Confused Words
Underline the correct word from the pairs provided.
1. When Dahlia was ten she was taller (than, then) her eight-year-old brother, but even
(than, then), he was stronger.
2. You (to, too, two) girls have (to, too, two) many problems (to, too, two) list.
3. Drug addicts often suffer from collapsed (vanes, veins).
4. It is (quiet, quite) obvious who the culprit is.
5. Turkey and chicken are both kinds of (foul, fowl).
6. The (personal, personnel) officer in a company looks after the hiring of (knew, new)
employees.
7. (Its, It’s) none of my business what you do with your money.
8. In the good old days, a young woman and man could not speak until they had been
(formally, formerly) introduced.
9. Many children are no longer familiar with fairy (tails, tales) because their parents are
too busy to read to them every night.
10. I have found this (coarse, course) very interesting. In fact, I look (foreword, forward) to
coming every day.
11. Each of us would love to have a guardian (angel, angle) to look out for us.
12. The (moral, morale) of the soccer team suffered because they had lost seventeen (strait,
straight) games.
13. The (reign, rein, rain) of King Tootsiefloottle III was characterized by a growth of
interest in the arts, particularly music.
14. You should not have (throne, thrown) that paper airplane at the (principal, principle).
15. (Whose, Who’s) that girl with the natural curl (right, write, wright) in the middle of her
forehead?
16. Before we plan the picnic, we should find out (weather, whether) the (weather,
whether) will be warm and sunny.
17. (Cereal, Serial) killers hold a strange fascination for the public.
18. The Geneva Convention demands that prisoners of war be treated (humanely,
humanly).
19. I sit in the (forth, fourth) seat by the window.
20. Henrietta’s trips to the country restored her (peace, piece) of mind.
21. The (prophecy, prophesy) of the witches said that Macbeth would be king.

Exercise 106 — Fun With Homonyms
Fill in each definition with a homonym pair: For example, a “reasonable bus price” is a
“fair fare.” Or a “complete indentation” is a “whole hole.” Or an “ape revolutionary warrior”
is a “guerilla gorilla.”
1. a naked bruin __________________________

2. a tricky manoeuver with lower appendages __________________________
3. the strength of a mollusk __________________________
3. a chivalrous medieval fellow who goes out
only after dark __________________________
5. a cherished doe __________________________
6. the cry of a parsimonious chicken __________________________
7. the sound grass makes when it is cut __________________________
8. grief early in the day __________________________
9. stitch up a female pig __________________________
10. grab the oceans __________________________
11. a bargain in ship canvas __________________________
12. pants for chromosomes __________________________
13. abscond with metal __________________________
14. a horrible glass container __________________________
15. a tossed royal chair __________________________
16. look at a dock __________________________
17. a light-coloured bucket __________________________
18. masculine letters __________________________
19. an equine quadruped with a cold __________________________
20. an undecorated airliner __________________________
21. a corridor on an island __________________________
22. understanding a facial appendage __________________________
23. double sword fights __________________________
24. an illegal musical group __________________________
25. hide fruit under the ground __________________________
26. offer a prison compartment for sale __________________________
27. patching up the top of a room __________________________
28. the workers on the “Love Boat” __________________________
29. a monotonous pig __________________________
30. give advice to the elected group at city hall __________________________

Can you make up some more of your own?
a. ____________________________________
____________________________________ __________________________
b. ____________________________________
____________________________________ __________________________
c. ____________________________________
____________________________________ __________________________
d. ____________________________________
____________________________________ __________________________
e. ____________________________________
____________________________________ __________________________
f. ____________________________________
____________________________________ __________________________

Exercise 107 — Changing the Punctuation
Punctuate the following sentences in two different ways to illustrate two different
meanings. Be prepared to explain how the meaning changes with a change in punctuation.
For example:
Soldiers do not complain of hardships. (no punctuation — In this example, the soldiers
are being described in the third person.)
Soldiers, do not complain of hardships. (In this example, the soldiers are being
addressed directly; they are being admonished.)
1. Mr. Green your neighbour sent you these apples.

Mr. Green your neighbour sent you these apples.
2. A tenth man who carried a pistol was arrested at the gate.

A tenth man who carried a pistol was arrested at the gate.
3. Woman without her man is a savage.

Woman without her man is a savage.
4. Take that baseball cap off Peter.

Take that baseball cap off Peter.
5. Your mother asked me to call you darling.

Your mother asked me to call you darling.
6. The invited guests seated in the last three rows could neither hear nor see.
The invited guests seated in the last three rows could neither hear nor see.
7. Why don’t you sign your name as you were told to do?
Why don’t you sign your name as you were told to do?
8. Most of the grade 10 students for whom he had meant the review weren’t there.
Most of the grade 10 students for whom he had meant the review weren’t there.
9. The math teacher assigned only one problem which I couldn’t do.
The math teacher assigned only one problem which I couldn’t do.
10. When he proofread his essay he discovered another mistake on the last page.
When he proofread his essay he discovered another mistake on the last page.

Exercise 108 — Using Commas
Place commas appropriately in the following sentences.
1. If there were an Elizabethan Guiness Book of Records Shakespeare would be the

unchallenged record breaker in his use of language for nobody ever used so many
words so well. It is estimated that Shakespeare in his thirty-seven plays used over
25000 different words. To give you a sense of how extraordinary this is consider that
the King James Bible a very lengthy and beautifully written book uses only 6000
different words.
2. Because man has always been unhappy with his lot in life he has sought to make
changes. This dissatisfaction has led him to make all the significant improvements
that we call civilization but it has also led him on some absurd quests. Three
particular discontents have motivated man to seek control over his destiny: death
back-breaking work and uncertainty about the future. The first of these has led man
to seek out a way to avoid aging and death. Because of this desire man began the
search for the elixir of life the magic water that would guarantee him eternal youth.
This quest that began with the alchemists hundreds of years ago still continues in
genetics laboratories makeup factories and plastic surgeons’ offices. Similarly our
desire to earn wealth without toil which began with the search for the “philosopher’s
stone” as a means of turning all metals into gold has led in the present to the desire
for ever-more-sophisticated labour-saving devices. The third frustration uncertainty
about the future motivated the earliest fortune tellers and astrologers and the
search continues in daily horoscope columns relentless opinion polling and attempts
to avoid catastrophes at the Millennium. In his basic motivations therefore man has
not changed very much over the centuries.
3. When it swings nearest to the Earth the planet Mars is still thirty-four million miles
away. Despite the vivid imaginings of science fiction the most reputable astronomers
are doubtful that living beings could even exist on Mars let alone travel earthward
and arrive alive. Yet on Hallowe’en 1938 a fictitious Martian invasion of the Earth
broadcast nationally by the actor-director Orson Welles frightened a million
American radio listeners. People rushed from their homes their faces covered with
wet handkerchiefs and towels as protection against a gas attack. Physicians and
nurses called hospitals to volunteer their services in the emergency while city hall
officials made plans to evacuate the population. Police departments telephone
companies radio stations and newspaper offices were besieged by frantic telephone
calls. The hysteria was so high that in some places people swore they had actually
seen the invasion. Not until the CBS announcers reminded their listeners that the

broadcast was only a hoax a Hallowe’en adaptation of H.G. Wells’ The War of the
Worlds did the gullible listeners finally go trembling to their beds.
4. Writing is a lonely and an arduous task. Most writers therefore almost by virtue of
putting pen to paper offer an affirmation of the spirit of man, Of course there are the
pornographers those who have a debased image of man and who seek to degrade him
further. But these are the exception. Most serious writers respect man and wish to
preserve and inspire his great potential. This commitment does not mean that
writers inhabit a world of illusion a greeting card world with rosy cheeks playful
kittens and cloudless skies. Writers are keen observers of the human condition. They
know about the pettiness the selfishness the cowardice the self-deception the
hypocrisy and the cruelty of which man is capable. And they write about all these
things. Yet, despite their knowledge of the depths to which man can descend, most
have a deep-rooted reverence for the spirit of man for his tendency to pick himself up
no matter how many times he stumbles. In their putting pen to paper is a kind of
implicit faith that their writing can as William Faulkner observed “be one of the
props the pillars to help [man] endure and prevail.”
5. To survive in a hostile environment man often has had to repress his sensitivities
and adopt the tough code of the jungle. Because his survival has frequently
depended on cooperation with others part of that code has been a rigid conformity
particularly among men. Such conformity to a code of male behavior is the central
focus of Alden Nowlan's short story "The Glass Roses." Nowlan implies however that
this code while perhaps ensuring physical survival can be destructive to spiritual
survival. To make his point Nowlan sets his story in the very inhospitable
environment of a northern Canadian logging camp in the middle of winter. There
the wind howls the temperature freezes the darkness descends and the characters
are confined in a bleak make-shift cabin for weeks at a time; it is a primitive world
completely isolated from any refinement. It is also a world of men who repress all
signs of weakness—or humanity. Using contrasting details of setting as symbols
Nowlan suggests that although the pressures of conformity are very powerful
nevertheless man can sustain his human spirit through the power of imagination
and hope.
The isolation of the camp symbolizes how distant the men are from civilized values.
The wilderness camp is a place where "ox-like shoulders" count for more than does
good grammar where endurance in manual labour is valued above sensitivity where
the destructive power of an axe takes precedence over the fragile beauty of glass
roses. This is a primitive world of men a functional world "serious and purposeful"
dominated by a rigid code of behaviour.

Stephen the fifteen-year-old protagonist working his first job in the woods feels
completely isolated in this environment. He is told by his father: "You got to start
actin' like a man if you want to hold down a man's job...There ain't no room for kids
in the pulp woods." Implied by these words is the powerful if silent injunction on
Stephen to conform to a definition of manhood that is completely alien to him. Like
the other men he must repress his tiredness repress his dreams of "far places" and
pretend that cutting down a tree is "the most important thing in the world." As he
observes the "easy strength" of the other pulp cutters however Stephen is "more
certain...he [can] never become a man," that he can never fit in. To do so means
completely isolating himself from his own deepest needs.
The bunk that he shares with another worker, a "Polak" named Leka, is the only
escape Stephen has from the isolation he feels around the others. Steven and Leka
share not only a bunk but a status as the "clumsiest and weakest members" of the
crew. Their isolation from the others ironically produces a closeness between them a
closeness that none of the other men experience.

Exercise 109 — Using Commas and Semicolons
Place commas and semicolons where necessary in the following sentences. Place a check
mark beside those that are correct as they stand.
1. Assert your right to make a few mistakes if people can’t accept your imperfections
that’s their fault.
2. Winston Churchill claimed that “the only peace is a peace without victory only a peace
between equals can last.”
3. Telling the truth is not always easy but it is usually the wisest course of action.
4. Two students from Edmonton’s all-girls junior high school won the local science fair the
first time that two from the same school have done so the girls along with three other
winners will represent the Edmonton area at the national competition. With one
hundred schools competing at the local level it is unusual to have two students from
the same school reach the nationals.
5. Overuse of the semicolon can be as bad as not using it at all some beginning writers
use the semicolon with the same uncontrolled enthusiasm as a child with a new toy.
6. The secret of happiness is not to get what you want but to want what you get.
7. Much to my surprise when the day came for the band instruments to be passed out I
was handed a tuba an instrument almost as tall as I am.
8. On the last day of class before summer holidays the teacher passed out cookies that she
had baked herself.
9. Her mother told Megan that Karl Marx who developed the theory of Communism was
not one of the Marx Brothers comedy team.
10. He regularly used the following excuses for not coming to class: a missed bus a broken
alarm clock and a sudden death in the family.
11. In a sudden foolish impulse he shaved his head an action he regretted immediately.
12. No job in school not even the students’ is more difficult than that of the substitute
teacher in fact he should get combat pay.
13. When he was thirteen my son desperately wanted a moped so that he could get a job
delivering prescriptions for the local drug store.
14. Too many commas are as bad as too few.

15. The professor chuckled when he read the following student sentence: “By the time
someone gets to university good spelling should be taken for granite.” After he chuckled
however he failed the student.
16. Three-fingered Frank who they thought had done the murder was still at large.
17. They ran until they couldn’t run any more then breathing heavily they hid behind a
parked van.
18. In order to develop new schools in the suburbs Catholic and public school systems may
have to share the costs and the buildings.
19. Kevin will you take this letter down to the office.
20. Graduation will be held on Thursday May 20 in the gymnasium.
21. Undercover drug unit detectives made a number of cocaine purchases worth more than
$50 000 between January 30 and March 30 charges were laid on Friday against four
men.
22. Life is a beach why not build some sandcastles?
23. After a duck ordered a drink the waiter asked whether he wanted to pay in cash or by
credit card the duck replied “Just put it on my bill.”
24. Don’t date a guy who never takes his hat off.
25. Many of us are like walking billboards we wear logo shirts advertising everything from
blue jeans to computer programs.
26. In an article in Saturday Night Jay Teitel says that the people who go out to play these
days are not children but adults for example adults account for 80% of the time at
indoor hockey rinks and almost as much at indoor soccer facilities. He also noted that
children today are seldom allowed to play outside unsupervised.
27. By contrast with most other countries of the world Canada is underpopulated.
28. “Melissa” was a particularly dangerous computer virus because it came disguised as e-
mail from a trusted friend or colleague thus in a very short time it had reproduced
itself all over cyberspace and devastated many large corporations from Tokyo to New
York.
29. “It ain’t the things you don’t know what gets you into trouble it’s the things you know
for sure what ain’t so.” — American proverb
30. It’s strange how much you’ve got to know before you know how little you know.

31. The first paragraph of a business letter should state the purpose and the paragraphs
should be kept short.
32. The common cold is without prejudice it afflicts every nationality equally.
33. Anger no matter how deeply or honestly felt is rarely persuasive reason combined with
passion almost always is.
34. I had a wonderful English teacher in grade twelve: he took me seriously he asked me to
write about things that were important to me he opened me out. He assumed I could
write creatively in ways I never would have thought of and I could. With him as a
teacher I came to like writing to look forward to it to feel I was doing something
important when I put words on paper. Many people have experienced this kind of
teacher the kind who gives us confidence in ourselves the kind who demands our best
and gets it.
35. The connotations of synonyms vary that is what makes a thesaurus a trap for if you are
unfamiliar with a certain synonym or are unsure of its usage you may convey a
connotative meaning that undermines your purpose.

Exercise 110 — Punctuating Dialogue
Place commas, periods, and question marks appropriately in the following bits of
dialogue:
1. “Honestly the dog ate my homework” said the young man

“I’ve heard that excuse three times already today” replied the teacher “and I’m not
accepting it from you”
2. Laura asked “Do you have that new shade of lipstick Passionate Purple”
“No but I have Very Very Violet” answered the clerk “Would you like to try some It’s
on sale today ”
3. “Romeo Romeo wherefore art thou Romeo” lamented Juliet

“I’m not Romeo” the handsome young man assured her “I’m just delivering pizzas Is
this the Montague house”
“No” replied a disappointed Juliet “this is the Capulet house The Montagues live
across town”
4. “Thou drone thou snail thou slug thou sot” Bumpkin jeered, having recently
purchased a book of Shakespearean insults
“Prithee go hence” retorted his adversary not to be outdone “or I will bite thee by the
ear for that jest thou beetle-headed flap-ear’d knave thou flea thou nit thou logger head
How foul and loathsome is thine image”
5. We jumped down off the swings as our father’s shout echoed across the
neighbourhood
“Ah there you are” said my father striding up to us An older man with a wizened
face and piercing grey eyes followed him “Children I’d like you to meet my uncle Fred
Davidson You must call him ‘Uncle Fred’ He’s going to be living with us from now on”
Turning to Fred Father continued “Fred these are my kids as well-behaved and
refreshing as any”
Fred in a low voice said bluntly “Refreshing The world does not need refreshing kids
The world needs scientists engineers computer experts men of action” His voice rose in
excitement “If there were a nuclear war what good would refreshing kids be”
“What good would anybody be” muttered my father

Exercise 111 — Choosing More Precise Diction
Replace the vague word “good” (or phrase containing “good”) in each of the following
sentences with a more precise word (or phrase):
1. I have recently read a good (__________________) book.

2. Jamie hasn’t been feeling good (__________________) lately.
3. There is a lot of good (__________________) in a bowl of vegetable soup.
4. Our minister gave a good (__________________) sermon last week.
5. The good (__________________) woman gave the homeless man a “loonie.”
6. The child was good (__________________) at the party.
7. He is a good (__________________) hockey player.
8. My girlfriend comes from a good (__________________) family.
9. We had a good (__________________) time at the dance.
10. John is a good (__________________) man for the job.
11. The teacher said that Danielle wrote a good (__________________) essay.
12. His credit is good. (__________________)
13. This is a good (__________________) time to ask your dad for a raise in your allowance.
14. I have quit this job for good. (__________________)
15. My class is full of good (__________________) workers.
16. It is no good (__________________) trying to stop the spread of the fire.
17. This business deal certainly looks good (__________________) to me.
18. If the diamond is good (__________________) it will cut glass.
19. It is not good (__________________) for old people to live completely isolated from
others.
20. We were very impressed by the boy’s good (__________________) manners.
21. The three good (__________________) companions went on a holiday to Hawaii together.
22. The girls thought Dan was very good looking. (__________________)
23. His father gave him a good (__________________) licking.
24. Every parent hopes his child will make good. (__________________)
25. It is a good thing (__________________) you arrived.
26. I know a good (__________________) bargain when I see one.

27. He is good (__________________) intellectually, but he is no good (__________________)
with his hands.
28. That lasagna tasted good. (__________________)
29. I can tell from the odor that the fish is no good. (__________________)
30. To cut a smooth seam, you need a good (__________________) pair of shears.
31. A good (__________________) coach builds his team’s morale.
32. I left Canada for good. (__________________)
33. For the good (__________________) of his family, he got a second job.
34. I know a good (__________________) thing when I see it.
35. There is no good (__________________) to be got from crying over a mark on an essay.

Exercise 112 — Which is Which?
Illustrate the difference between the following pairs by using each word in a sentence.
1. ingenious — ingenuous
2. idea — ideal
3. stationary — stationery
4. historic — historical
5. prostate — prostrate
6. except — excerpt

7. potable — portable
8. disinterested — uninterested
9. transgress — trespass
10. unilateral — unilingual
11. posterity — prosperity
12. vicious — viscous
13. inhuman — non-human

14. childish — child-like
15. incredible — incredulous
16. solid — stolid
17. gentle — gentile — genteel
18. secede — succeed
19. consequently — subsequently
20. testament — testimonial

21. gilt — guilt
22. image — imagery
23. literal — literate — literary
24. dialogue — monologue — soliloquy
25. allude — elude
26. allusion — illusion
27. respectable — respectful

28. elicit — illicit
29. deceased — diseased
30. authoritarian — authoritative
31. illiterate — illegible — ineligible
32. censor — censure
33. definite — definitive
34. perpetuate — perpetrate

35. inflammable — inflammatory
36. rationality — rationalization
37. inscrutable — in superable
38. retrieve — reprieve
39. impudent — indolent
40. prescribe — proscribe
41. inhibition — prohibition

42. incite — insight
43. eminent — imminent
44. indigent — indigenous
45. emaciated — emancipated
46. motif — motive
47. idealize — idolize
48. anonymous — analogous — synonymous

49. verbal — oral
50. successfully — successively
51. willingly — willfully
52. momentary — momentous
53. invaluable — valueless
54. superficial — superfluous
55. famous — infamous

56. innocuous — inoculate
57. urban — urbane
58. confirm — conform
59. inedible — indelible
60. poise — pose
61. honourable — honourary

Exercise 113 — Distinguishing Among Subtle Differences in Words
Decide what all the words in each group have in common; then decide when you would use
each word in that group:
1. audience, congregation, class, mob

Common characteristic:
audience
congregation
class
mob
2. deflect, divert, refract, diverge, deviate

deflect
divert
refract
diverge
deviate
3. investigate, scrutinize, peruse, inspect, survey

investigate
scrutinize
peruse
inspect
survey
4. demonstrative, exhibitionist, ostentatious, gaudy

demonstrative
exhibitionist
ostentatious
gaudy
5. insurrection, mutiny, riot, revolution

insurrection
mutiny
riot
revolution

6. intricate, involved, complicated
intricate
involved
complicated
7. eradicate, exterminate, annihilate, obliterate, liquidate, abolish

eradicate
exterminate
annihilate
obliterate
liquidate
abolish
8. refute, debate, argue, disagree, question

refute
debate
argue
disagree
question
9. write, compose, transcribe

write
compose
transcribe
10. honest, candid, frank, outspoken

honest
candid
frank
outspoken

11. innocent, naïve, ignorant, gullible
innocent
naïve
ignorant
gullible
12. possible, probable, plausible, credible

possible
probable
plausible
credible
13. hope, optimism, faith

hope
optimism
faith
14. retort, reply, answer

retort
reply
answer
15. sea, ocean, river, lake, rivulet, stream, brook

sea
ocean
river
lake
rivulet
stream
brook

Exercise 114 — Using Prefixes to Enhance Your Vocabulary
One of the most efficient ways of expanding your vocabulary is by learning and applying
common prefixes.
A. The prefix “ex” means “out” or “out of.” Find words beginning with “ex” which match
each of the following definitions:
1. to eliminate offensive passages from a book

2. to enlarge upon in speaking or writing
3. to urge or encourage to action
4. to return an accused criminal for trial in his country of origin
5. to set free or disentangle
6. to erupt suddenly and forcefully
7. to show publicly
8. foreign; strange; not native
9. to drive out evil spirits
10. to banish from a country
11. to dig up a corpse from a grave
12. to spit
13. to make easy and quick
14. to force out
15. to lay bare or unprotected
16. to stretch out; make longer
17. to destroy completely
18. to blot out or erase
19. to obtain money by threats
20. to pull out or draw out with some effort
B. The prefix “in” means “into” or “not.” Find words beginning with “in” that match the
following definitions:
1. not able to be satisfied

2. not able to be counted
3. not able to be reformed
4. to bring a charge or accusation against
5. one who is the first to practise or bring in
6. not suitable for eating
7. to have an impact on someone

8. naïve
9. notorious
10. native to a region
11. harmless
12. not easy to read or understand
13. rigid; not flexible
14. not making sense
15. unbelievable
16. disguised; identity hidden
17. imprison
18. incapable of making a mistake
19. breathe in
20. dauntless; courageous
C. The prefix “re” means “back” or “again.” Find words beginning with “re” that match
the following definitions.
1. to go back
2. to make young again
3. superfluous
4. to bring back to life
5. to sum up what has been said
6. to take back a statement
7. to bring home to its native land
8. to restore to good condition
9. to slip back into a former state of health or behaviour
10. to send into custody
11. to think about past events
12. a rebirth
13. to fail to keep a promise; to go back on one’s word
14. make fresh again
15. pay for back/past services
16. to copy
17. witty reply
18. force or drive back
19. repay one injury with another
20. reserved/held back

D. The prefix “pre” means “before.” Find a word beginning with “pre” that matches
each of the following definitions.
1. an introduction to a speech or writing

2. care taken ahead of time to avoid error or danger
3. go before
4. to take a higher position or rank is to take
5. a steep cliff
6. shut out or make impossible
7. ordained beforehand
8. the part of a sentence containing the verb
9. prophesy
10. take possession of before someone else can
11. an introduction to a book
12. like better
13. adapted for seizing or grasping such as a monkey’s
tale or the thumb and forefinger
14. an opinion formed before one has all the facts
15. a word such as “in” or “behind” or “with” that comes
before a phrase
16. an idea assumed to be true and on which other
conclusions are drawn
17. a course required before another course can be
enrolled in
18. a right or privilege that nobody else has
19. order or direct
20. make believe
21. stop from happening
22. an advance showing of a movie
23. having greater force or influence
24. keep from harm or change
25. an amount of money paid for insurance

E. What does each of the following prefixes mean? Provide three words that begin with
each of the prefixes.
1. para – _________________ _________________ _________________

2. pro – _________________ _________________ _________________
3. com – or con – _________________ _________________ _________________
4. ante – _________________ _________________ _________________
5. ant – or anti – _________________ _________________ _________________
6. post – _________________ _________________ _________________
7. omni – _________________ _________________ _________________
8. mal – _________________ _________________ _________________
9. bene – _________________ _________________ _________________
10. ambi – _________________ _________________ _________________
11. de – or dis – _________________ _________________ _________________
12. en – or em – _________________ _________________ _________________
13. trans – _________________ _________________ _________________
14. ab – _________________ _________________ _________________
15. hyper – _________________ _________________ _________________
16. dia – _________________ _________________ _________________
17. eu – _________________ _________________ _________________
18. circum – _________________ _________________ _________________
19. mono – _________________ _________________ _________________
20. poly – _________________ _________________ _________________
21. super – _________________ _________________ _________________
22. sub – _________________ _________________ _________________
F. Transform each of the following words into its opposite by adding a prefix or
changing the prefix:
1. logical
2. understand
3. prologue
4. increase
5. moral
6. rational
7. symmetrical
8. continue
9. introverted

10. reverent
11. similar
12. embark
13. mount
14. explicit
15. responsible
16. assent
17. interior
18. legible
19. normal
20. apathetic
21. microcosm
22. adjusted
23. allow
24. revolutionary
25. precise
26. inflate
27. mobile
28. tangible
29. practical
30. religious

Exercise 115 — Adding a Suffix
Because suffixes, which are added to the ends of words, allow you to change the form of a
word from one part of speech to another, they are extremely useful in making you a more
flexible writer. The most common suffixes are as follows:
–y – as in “dirty” and “hairy”

–ar, –er, –or – as in “beggar,” “barber,” or “exhibitor”
–less – as in “effortless” or “listless”
–ly – as in “effortlessly” or “listlessly”
–ness – as in “effortlessness” or “helpless”
–ful – as in “helpful” or “shameful”
–an, –ian – as in “Cuban” or “Canadian”
–able, –ible – as in “bearable” or “laughable”
–ite – as in “anti-Semite” or “favourite”
–al – as in “reprisal” or “natural”
–en” – as in “toughen” or “harden”
–ic – as in “barbaric” or “epidemic”
–age – as in “carriage” or “courage”
–ary, –ery, –ory – as in “ burlary,” “bribery” or “reformatory”
–ate – as in “liquidate” or “abbreviate”
–ity – as in “authority” or “dignity”
–ous – as in “vicious” or “obsequious”
–ship – as in “citizenship” or “friendship”
–ance, –ancy – as in “reluctance” or “resistance”
–ence, –ency – as in “difference” or “efficiency”
–ize – as in “notarize” or “scrutinize”
–ure – as in “legislature” or “censure”
–cian – as in “beautician” or “musician”
–ist – as in “biologist” or “humanist”
–ism – as in “liberalism” or “barbarism”
–ile – as in “imbecile” or “docile”
–ish – as in “childish” or “foolish”
–fy – as in “terrify” or “ ratify”
–ee – as in “devotee” or “ fiancée”
–ine – as in “canine” or “feline”
–ology – as in “psychology” or “pathology”

Using suffixes from the preceding list, follow directions for each question:
1. Make two different nouns from the verb wreck.
2. What is the adjective form of the noun fraternity?

3. What would you call something in bad taste?
4. What would you call something in good taste?
5. What would you call the state of insomnia or not being
able to sleep?
6. A person from Libya is called what?
7. If someone has the capacity to do something, he is said to
be what?
8. What do you call a person who lives in the suburbs?
9. A person with strong powers of the intellect is called what?
10. What is the adjective form of the noun poet?
11. What is the adjective form of the noun prose?
12. If something can be salvaged, it is said to be what?
13. What is the noun form of the verb indict?
14. What is the noun form of the adjective adverse?
15. What is the noun form of the adjective ambiguous?
16. What do you call the skill of being a marksman?
17. What do you call the state of keeping a vigil?
18. What is a verb meaning to give someone a penalty?
19. What is the noun form of each of the following adjectives:
– fluent
– urgent
– deficient
– complacent
20. What is the noun form of the verb exist?
21. What is a verb meaning to make public?
22. What adjective would you call someone who has the
characteristics of a boor?
23. What do you call a pediatrics specialist?
24. What do you call someone who runs a mortuary?

25. What do you call someone who supports the monarchy?
26. What is an adjective meaning acting like an infant?
27. What is the noun form of the adjective volatile?
28. What is the verb form of the noun diversity?
29. What do you call someone who seeks refuge?
30. What adjective do you call someone who has the
characteristics of a male?
31. What do you call the study of bacteria?
32. What is the verb form of the noun unity?
33. What is a verb meaning to give close attention or
scrutiny to something?
34. What are two noun forms of the verb dominate?

Exercise 116 — Choosing More Appropriate Language
Rewrite the following sentences to eliminate clichés and slang which are shown in
boldface.
1. When my computer crashes, it drives me bananas.
2. I am really mad at her for her dumb remark about my braces.
3. A bunch of the guys were really goofing off when the sub. was here.
4. My Language Arts teacher gets really uptight when we forget to capitalize “English.”
5. Homework is such a hassle, especially on weekends.
6. I busted my butt in the basketball try-outs, but I still didn’t get picked for the team.
7. A baby takes to swimming like a duck to water.
8. Although I thought working at the local Biggie Burger was the pits, I figured I
needed the bucks.
9. John is really into skateboarding.
10. Donald Marshall got a bum rap.

11. The cops nailed the perp just around the corner from the break-in.
12. At some point, every kid wants to belong to the coolest clique.
13. My first couple of months at my new school were hard. I was all by my lonesome,
and I was kind of shy.
14. I wish you would stop beating around the bush and tell me what you think.
15. Jocks really think they’re hot stuff.
16. My Language Arts teacher says that comma splices are a no-no.
17. I really enjoy getting feedback from other students about my writing.
18. Too many young people get hooked on booze.
19. The claim that bottled water is healthier than tap water has been shot to pieces.
20. After she tried to off herself, she was sent to the psych ward.
21. In today’s society, people frequently worry about getting the axe.
22. Mel Gibson was awesome in Braveheart.
23. Grammar is a piece of cake.

24. It bugs me when people are two-faced.
25. My teacher’s compliment on my essay really upped my self-esteem.
26. We got up at the crack of dawn to go hunting.
27. When an airline bumps someone from a flight, it usually compensates him with a free
ticket to anywhere in North America.
28. Sometimes brothers can be real jerks.
29. If you want to get ahead in life, you need to be proactive.
30. Not all students are operating on a level playing field.
31. Hamlet was off his rocker with grief.
32. The death of Macbeth was a real downer.
33. Last but not least, I would like to thank my buddies for their always being there
for me.
34. Much of what politicians say is a crock.
35. Bugs in computer programs cause untold grief.

Exercise 117 — Making Writing Concrete
Rewrite the following sentences, substituting concrete, interesting details for the vague
generalization.
1. She had fun at the party.
2. The schoolroom was drab.
3. He looked depressed.
4. The lesson was boring.
5. West Edmonton Mall is huge.
6. The teacher was friendly.

7. The dog seemed contented.
8. He was clumsy.
9. The woman was kind.
10. The man was nervous.

Exercise 118 — Adding Vivid Detail
A. Rewrite portions of the following paragraphs, substituting concrete and vivid detail for
the general statements (boldfaced). Use a separate loose-leaf page.
When I was young, I took it upon myself to assume the role of teacher’s pet. I am
not sure it was a conscious decision so much as a natural docility and obedience. I
honoured my father and my mother and just about anyone else who possessed
authority. I even behaved well for substitute teachers. While the other kids were
behaving badly, I was being good. I was what you would call a “brown-noser.” I
would do anything to please. This was my tragic flaw, and it led, as such flaws
inevitably do, to my downfall.
This particular incident took place one day when we had a substitute teacher. As
usual, the other kids were in fine form. And, as usual, I was behaving myself. Our
substitute didn’t last long before she left to go to the principal.
I stopped working when the principal entered looking angry. I stopped, partly out
of respect, but mostly because I enjoyed the spectacle of my classmates getting in
trouble. I relished such moments, for I knew I was free from blame. From my desk in
the corner, I watched while Mr. Huffinpuff got angry. It was really a very good show. I
admired it from a distance, looking innocent.
It was a complete shock to me and to everyone else when Mr. Huffinpuff suddenly
turned on me.
“What are you smirking at?” he demanded.
I was at a loss. No one had spoken to me in that tone of voice before. I concluded in
a flash that he must be joking and changed my expression to one of innocent
incomprehension.
“Something funny, Miss?”
This was not what I had expected, but I continued smiling.
“For the last time,” screamed Huffinpuff, “Wipe that grin off your face!”
I tried, but discovered, to my horror, that I couldn’t. The smile was stuck.
The next little sequence of events has been mercifully blurred from my memory. All
I know is that Mr. H. took me out of the room. From the other side of the door, I heard
my classmates’ glee. The inmates of junior high are not renowned for their sensitivity.
They enjoyed the spectacle of one of their classmates getting in trouble as much as I had
earlier.

B. Write a paragraph in which you use a particular incident to illustrate your own tragic
flaw, a flaw that has got you into trouble. Whenever possible, replace general
statements with specific details.

Exercise 119 — Using the Active Voice
In the following student sentences, taken from a batch of paragraphs on Lord of the Flies,
change the passive voice to the active voice. The passive verbs are boldfaced in the first
five sentences.
1. When Jack is first seen, he is an ominous “creature,” dark and “bat-like.”
2. Through the imagery of Jack’s knife and his slashing of the candle buds, it is implied
that Jack will become destructive.
3. The island is first seen as beautiful; it is seen by the boys as a home away from
home.
4. Piggy is not liked by many of the boys, especially Jack.
5. Jack is initially seen by the reader leading the choir.
6. It can also be observed that Jack is angry when he is not chosen leader.
7. Violence is seen in the eyes of Jack as a way of surviving.
8. The first fire that the boys build is made to use as a rescue signal fire.
9. Jack is seen leading, “shout[ing] an order.”

10. When the fire is first mentioned by Ralph, order collapses.
11. Piggy’s glasses are forcibly taken from him by Jack.
12. It is decided that the “conch does not count on top of the mountain.”
13. The way the conch is immediately forgotten foreshadows the eventual breaking of the
conch.
14. Jack’s violence is also shown by the way he snatches Piggy’s glasses.
15. Piggy is considered an outsider.
Rewrite the following student paragraph, changing the passive to the active voice:
When the idiosyncrasies of an individual’s personality are understood,

sympathetic feelings are made possible. In “The Mask of the Bear,“ by
Margaret Laurence, Grandfather Connor’s initially unappealing
characteristics are misunderstood because his true feelings are hidden by the
mask he wears. On the exterior, he is seen as a rude and overbearing man, and
sensitivity is looked upon by him as a sign of weakness. Feelings of love or
tenderness cannot be expressed by him. His faults are pardoned, however,
once his cloaked features are revealed. It is implied by Laurence that greater
compassion toward a person is created by greater understanding.

Exercise 120 — Making Sentences Balanced
Complete the following aphorisms so that each sentence is balanced.
1. Easy come, .
2. The first to praise you is .
3. Sometimes the activity that promises least is .
4. Promises are easily made but .
5. The person that you can’t live without today is .
6. Do we exist to serve the government or .
7. Winners never quit; .
8. Some people eat to live; others .
9. Freedom is easy to talk about but .
10. Praise makes good men better and bad men .
11. A place for everything, and .
12. No pain; .
13. Out of sight, .
14. One man’s meat is .
15. Once bitten, .
16. Success is ten per cent inspiration and .
17. The more you have, the .
18. Life is short, and time .
19. Laugh and the world laughs with you; weep and .
20. It never rains but .
21. What’s sauce for the goose is .
22. Cleanliness is next to .
23. Men make houses; women .
24. You can lead a horse to water, but .
25. Wise men learn from other men’s mistakes; fools, .
26. Prosperity makes friends; adversity, .
27. Like father, .
28. Never trouble trouble till trouble .

Exercise 121 — Everyday Metaphors (Idioms) Have Become
Clichés
The following common expressions all revolve around the word “eye.” Do you know what
each means?
1. an eye for an eye
2. beauty is in the eye of the beholder
3. blue-eyed boy
4. bright-eyed and bushy-tailed
5. cockeyed
6. in my mind’s eye
7. to give one’s eye teeth for something
8. His eyes are bigger than his stomach.
9. His eyes popped.

10. He is the apple of my eye.
11. She is a sight for sore eyes.
12. She is all eyes.
13. That’s an eye opener.
14. That’s eye wash.
15. to be in the eye of the storm
16. to cast an eye over something to eyeball it
17. to cast sheep’s eyes at someone
18. to catch someone’s eye
19. to clap eyes on someone
20. to have an eagle eye

21. to have eyes in the back of one’s head
22. to have one’s eyes glued to something
23. to hit someone right between the eyes
24. to have stars in one’s eyes
25. to hit the bull’s eye
26. to keep one’s eye on the ball
27. to keep one’s eyes peeled
28. to make eyes at someone
29. to pull the wool over someone’s eyes
30. to rub one’s eyes
31. to see eye to eye with someone

32. to go eyeball to eyeball with someone
33. Wait till you see the whites of his eyes.
34. Wait to see the colour of someone’s eyes.
35. to turn a blind eye to something
36. to enter a situation with one’s eyes wide open
37. to be up to the eyeballs in something
38. to raise one’s eyebrows
39. to be an eyesore
40. not bat an eyelash
41. to hang on by the eyelids
42. Here’s mud in your eye.

43. to be only a gleam in someone’s eye
44. to open someone’s eyes to something
There are thousands of such metaphors that we use daily; so often, in fact, that they have
become clichés that we take for granted. Try coming up with some for each of the
following: (Then, if you like to play, you can work your way through the rest of the
anatomy.)
head
face
nose
mouth
ears
hair

Exercise 122 — Not All Metaphors Are Clichés
The following six compositions were written by students who used extended metaphors
to portray their school experience. Instead of describing school directly, these young writers
compared their experience with something else. In poetry or prose, write your own
extended metaphor about school.
Twelve Years of Goodies
What excitement in Grades One to Three,

adventurous like a bag of Jelly Bellies.
All kinds of colorful experiences and yummy new relationships:
Teachers you love, tasks you savour.
Show and Tell, Student-of-the-Week, recess
Blueberry, pina colada, strawberry daiquiri.
By Grades Four to Six,

what was exciting and new is now routine,
still very much enjoyed but not as adored.
From 36 exotic tangs to 8 popular flavors:
English, math, science
Orange, licorice, cherry.
Then in junior high,

You become cool and school becomes tedious,
assignments get harder and homework increases.
On the surface tart and stinging
like the first taste of a sour ball,
Its final flavor entices you back for more.
Once in senior high,

School is definitely work:
you must keep on chewing until graduation.
The minty, fresh taste begins to weaken
but then another year rolls around.
New subjects, new teachers, new flavors!

The Resistance
An outmanoeuvered army of pupils

Battles a relentless assault,
Defences depleted, stores spent, reinforcements delayed, defeat imminent:
The enemy advances, invading our minds,
Contaminating our once simple and innocent thoughts with history, algebra and geography,
Diluting our past and shaping our future.
Our resistance has crumbled;
The apocalyptic end is near, pushed forward by time.
Normandy, stormed and taken, soon knowledge will capture Berlin!
Face to face with the enemy, my comrades and I surrender,
Bow down before the juggernaut of knowledge.
Defense against learning is futile.
Hand to hand, for the ninth year in a row, I have fought a losing battle,
Knowledge, looting and burning as it goes,
Now consumes the smoldering village of my mind.
Bang Bang
Being in class is like playing a game of Russian Roulette. I never know when I am going to
be hit with a question. The gun is loaded with a certain question for me but I have no idea
when it is going to hit. The teacher is the pistol at my side who is shooting the questions for
everyone. Only one is for me, and it’s always the hardest to take. Trying to avoid the
situation, I focus on other things. My eyes begin to wander and I look at the collage of
pictures that surround me. I let my eyes hop from picture to picture, reading each of them
carefully. Some spark my interest while others strike me as funny. As I am in my own little
world of dreams, I can hear a voice calling my name. Snap! Back to reality. I look at the
teacher who is looking at me. I look around at everyone else all looking at me. I have been
shot. I knew it would happen sooner or later. I just didn’t know when. Everyone gets shot
sometime in the round, but you never know when it is going to be your turn.

The Carpenter
He builds
He builds with his hands
He builds with his hands because he has no tools.
He builds something small
He builds something simple
He builds
He builds with a hammer
He builds with a hammer, because a teacher gave him one.
He builds something simple into something complex
He builds something small into something large.
He now builds
He now builds with many tools
He now builds with many tools because many teachers have given him these
many tools
He will lose some of these tools
He will replace some of these tools
but he will always build with tools.

The Big Game
School is a game,
A game everyone must play,
Or be benched for eternity.
It is not a team game
‘Cause it's every man for himself,
Fighting for a decent future.
My game is lacking,
But my coaches say
I have potential.
They enforce more practice.
They say
It will enhance my game
in the long run.
Each day brings a different
Game plan composed
Of essays, exams, homework.
If I try to cheat in the game,
The referee blows his whistle.
Foul! Penalty! Suspension!
I hear a buzzer.
Daily.
It signifies the beginning and end
Of each game—and time-outs in between
Nine more months
And I will hear yet
One last buzzer.
This time, I move on.
A different playing field
Same strategy, same game.
Just more advanced.
My future.

The Yellow Monster
Standing on the curb I see it:

The yellow chariot of fire they call a bus.
I look back at the safe, familiar house,
My refuge for the past six years.
The long yellow serpent, taking me to the rest of my life,
Pulls up to the curb and opens its ghastly mouth.
Afraid to step in, I stand foolishly at the curb,
Waiting for my mother to save me from the beast.
But she waves from the porch.
I am alone.
Entering the mouth of the beast,
I peer deep into its belly,
Searching for something safe, something familiar.
The many ribs which line its belly,
The many victims staring back at me.
All just signs
Signalling there's no going back.
Forced to join the beast's prey,
I become one of them, staring back towards its mouth.
I feel pity as more of the beast's casualties enter,
All with the look of terror I had seen in myself
Just moments before.
The monster rumbles down the road,
Indifferent to our doom,
To a place where our destinies are marked off by
Grades and bells.
Then I saw it: the elementary school;
It could not be worse than the beast that took me there.
Could it?
The monstrosity came to a grinding stop,
Lurching us forward in our seats.
Spitting us out undigested like watermelon seeds.
Before us, the tall doors loomed.

Exercise 123 — Pruning Unnecessary Words
Cut any unnecessary words from the following sentences:
1. The very first of all circuses originated a long time ago in ancient Rome.
2. My main reason for buying a used car was for financial reasons to save money.
3. His mother’s support of his wish and desire to be a professional hockey player gave
him the reason to go on and continue.
4. We ascended up Castle Mountain when it was pouring with rain.
5. People in society today need to communicate together with each other.
6. Typically, on average, successful people who advance in their careers and jobs tend
to be taller in height than those people who are less successful.
7. In actual fact, Biggie Burger paid less money than the lowest minimum wage to the
employees who worked there in its company.
8. She lived in the near vicinity of a tall neighbourhood microwave tower.
9. Although my eighty-year-old grandfather is old, his hair is still black in colour and
the posture of his back is still straight.
10. The prime minister who heads the government was brought up and raised down east
in Shawinigan, Quebec.
11. It is a true fact that the first recorded consumption of sugar that we know of in
recorded history occurred in ancient India centuries ago around about 3000 B.C.
12. In Korea and China, to show their grief when someone has died, mourners wear
clothes of the colour white instead of the colour black.
13. The extinct dodo bird no longer exists because it died out a long time ago in 1681.
The origin of the name it is called comes from the Portuguese language and means
“simpleton.” That explains why we call someone by the name “dodo” when they are
behaving stupidly.
14. A useful and helpful book of words is the thesaurus, which will aid you in finding
synonyms that mean the same as the word you want to replace with a new word.

15. It goes without saying that what I am about to say is unnecessary because you
already know from your past experience and learning that “pride goeth before a fall.”
16. Advancement and progress in improving computer technology to make it better is

advancing rapidly.
17. My fellow classmates and peers are all voting for Samantha in the school election
that she is running in for student council president.
18. When a young person is growing up and getting older, he is full of confusing feelings
and emotions that confuse him because he has mixed feelings that contradict one
another and thus make him uncertain.
19. On the day after her thirteenth birthday, Jane’s father went away for the last time
for good and never again returned home again to see her once more.
20. He broke his upper leg above the knee while playing in a football game, and now he
limps quite a lot when he is walking on that leg that he broke.
21. Poverty, school failure, and youth crime are all interconnected together with each
other.
22. The employed workers would work steadily at their jobs at the Munchy Munchies
Factory all day long from morning till night.
23. By reading the words in books, newspapers, and magazines, you learn more than
you knew before and increase your knowledge about the contents that are written.
24. The best and finest quality of leather to be had can be found located in the leather
seats of expensive luxury cars that cost a lot of money.
25. A high unemployment rate among people without jobs could still be found in the
future to come in the next century because of a lack of jobs.
26. People who want to help to do something about increasing and improving road
safety on the highways often tend to over-exaggerate the dangers of those who speed
by going over the legal speed limit. In point of fact, the truth is that those overly
cautious drivers who drive too slow below the speed limit can be as much of a danger
and a hazard because they irritate and frustrate other drivers following behind
them. These drivers may then speed up and go faster to pass the car going slower.
27. After the holidays were over, we resumed school again.
28. When I was eight and still young, I returned back home to my native Ireland where
I was born as a baby.

29. In size and dimension, a big submarine is quite vast from one end to the other.
30. This nation of ours that we call Canada is noted and renowned for its kind and
humane treatment of refugees fleeing from oppression in lands located all over the
whole wide world. Most recently in time, Canada has agreed to take in 5,000
displaced and desperate refugees who no longer have a home in Kosovo.
31. The front side of the school faces in the direction of south, while the back side of the
school faces in the direction of north.
32. The end of my time in junior high school was coming to an end.
33. It is a reliable and true fact that people are frightened of any new change that will
be different from what they are used to. This fear of change in what is familiar is
particularly true of seniors who are getting older.
34. People who sit and watch a lot of television sometimes become so hypnotized by
constantly watching television all the time that they don’t notice what is actually
going on and completely lose all track of what is happening around them.
35. The hamster was the first rodent originating in the desert to become a popular pet
that many people wanted to own. One of the main and primary reasons for its being
popular is the fact that it has so very many offspring because it has the shortest
length of gestation time for any mammal—just a brief period of sixteen days, which
is not very long compared with other mammals.

Exercise 124 — Editing to Reduce Wordiness
A. Edit the following essay to prune unnecessary words.
When I was still young in the third grade at school, I spent substantial amounts of
time away from school at home sick with ear infections. My grade three teacher, Mrs.
Johnson, had a class partner-picking policy for when we worked together on joint
projects with fellow classmates in groups. We could pick only those students who were
present the particular day on which the group projects were assigned to the class, and if
anyone was absent from school, they were assigned to a group later when they returned
to school after their illness was over and done with.
When we were given an assignment to do a research project in the library to learn
more about crustaceans and arachnids, I was at home recovering from having been ill
with a painful ear ache. While I was away from school at home, a new boy moved from
Red Deer to Edmonton, and he was now enrolled as a new member of our grade three
class. Since this project on crustaceans and arachnids began about half way through the
grade three school year, we had all already picked our cliques and chosen who would be
our best friends for that year. The new boy, Zeke, was rather shy, and since he had
moved from Red Deer, and not some exotic faraway distant place like Thailand or
Portugal, people were hardly flocking around him to meet and talk to him or make
friends with him. By the time I returned back to school from my illness, the other grade
three students had cruelly labeled Zeke with the rude nickname “Zeke the Geek.”
Mrs. Johnson informed me when I returned that because I had been away from
school on partner-picking day and since Zeke, the new boy, was partnerless, we were
natural partners to work in a group together with each other. I thought my life was over
and done with. Here I was, ready to enter the second half of elementary, and now I had
been forced by my teacher, just because I was home sick with an earache, to study little
creepy-crawlies with Zeke the Geek. Not only was I not paired with my best friend
Allison, but also I was now paired with a BOY, Zeke the Geek no less. I was absolutely
and completely certain that the other grade threes and the entire school would be
making fun of me and laughing at me. I even asked and begged my mom to write an
explanatory note to my teacher explaining that I would be unable to complete the
project at school because I had open-heart surgery scheduled in a hospital the next day.
Mom, who obviously did not understand my desperation and urgency, figured Mrs.
Johnson would probably in all likelihood see right through my excuse to the lie that it
was. I would rather have done the whole report completely by myself alone than work
together with Zeke as my partner.

But there was no way out of it. Zeke the Geek was going to be my partner, whether I
liked or agreed with it or not. Still, despite my utter determination to make this a
completely unpleasant experience, I got to know Zeke and learned more about him once
I got to know him. As it turned out in the end, he was quite funny and humourous once
the shy, reserved guard he used to protect himself was put down and he stepped out
from behind his concealing mask that hid the person inside. Zeke had lived outside of
Red Deer on a farm where they raised sheep for a living, and he told me lots of neat
stories about having been raised and growing up where they constantly had animals
around all the time. By the time we had completed and presented our finished project to
the class, I had begun to see Zeke with new eyes and a fresh perspective.
Two days later, when it was my turn to be captain of Team Two in Chinese baseball,
I was the one who was in charge of picking from among the other players in my class
who would be my fellow team members for the game. When I picked Zeke on my first
rotation, everyone else’s mouth dropped absolutely wide open to the floor right down to
their pearly white running shoes, even Mrs. Johnson’s. Team Two annihilated Team
One, defeating them mostly because of Zeke’s amazing pitching. The other students
were amazed in total awe of Zeke’s talent and skill, even Brian, the former renowned
star athlete. Up until that point in time, Zeke had always been picked totally last and
been made to play way out in far, far left field. Even Stacey, who wore a prosthetic
artificial arm because she had lost hers, got picked first before Zeke.
After a couple of more gym classes and recess games, Zeke became a buddy with
almost everyone in the whole class of students. Looking back on this experience from
the past, I am now ashamed that I was so completely determined to get rid of Zeke as
my spider and bug report partner. I am glad I managed to rectify and change the
situation by picking him very first before others for my Chinese Baseball team. I
changed my view of Zeke to a new one by looking at him with my inner eye rather than
my outer eye. By the time Spring Break rolled around, “Zeke the Geek” was replaced
with “Zeke the Pretty Cool Guy.”
B. Using the student story of Zeke the Geek as a model, write your own account of a time
when you changed your negative impression of someone once you got to know that
person better. When you have finished your rough draft, edit ruthlessly to prune
unnecessary words. Use loose-leaf paper.

Exercise 125 — Making Relationships Clear and Economical
Combine the following sentences into single sentences to make precise the relationship
between ideas and to reduce wordiness.
1. I like Italian food. I like Chinese food even better.
2. Morning arrives. Chris is usually tired. He has stayed up too late watching David
Letterman or Jay Leno.
3. I will lend you my bicycle. You have to lend me your disc player.
4. My speech was over. I felt I had failed. The other students clapped.
5. Dara walked across the railroad bridge. She was afraid to look down. The water raged
beneath. It was at least forty feet to the water.
6. “Phantom of the Opera” is a musical. It was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It has
been running a long time. It was first produced in 1990.
7. Celine Dion is a singer. She is from Quebec. She is known all over the world. She
plans to take a break from singing. She is tired. She has done a lot of traveling.

8. My best friend is Dave. He has some irritating habits. He never returns things. He is
always late. I like him.
9. Some teachers expect too much. An example is Mrs. Grumps. Other teachers don’t
expect enough. An example is Mr. Noodle.
10. The Flames beat the Oilers. It was the final playoff game. The score was 3-2. The fans
were disappointed.

Exercise 126 — Revising Sentence Structure
Rewrite the following personal essay to achieve greater fluency and variety in sentence
length – and to reduce wordiness. Combine some of the shorter sentences, but remember
to leave some sentences short for emphasis.
The first step into a grade one classroom is a big one. Life is never the same again.
The whole magic of the day began weeks before. Mommy and I went shopping. We were
looking for new clothes for school. Never before had fashion played such a role in my life. I
now had several coordinating outfits. I felt infinitely more mature than my brother. He was
still comfortable in scruffy jeans and tee-shirts. The big day finally arrived. I was sporting a
red plaid skirt and matching red sweater. I was reassured by my father. He told me I would
be the best grade one student in the whole class. I had my mother at my side. She gave me
moral support. I was ready for my grade one debut.
I recalled my brother’s look of envy and admiration as we left. He now saw me as a

grown up. I decided not to hold my mother’s hand on the way to school. I had concluded
sacrifices would have to be made. I was pursuing Higher Education. I told myself I wasn’t
worried. I could handle it. I would be good at it. I was going to school! We neared the
school. I began to wonder if I would make friends. We got closer. I noticed several other
mother-child pairs. I noted that several children were crying. They were clinging to their
mothers. I felt confident. These pitiful specimens would gladly be my friends.
We went up the tall brick steps. I pushed open the immense glass door. I felt ten times
more independent. I was no longer a play-schooler. This trivial task assured me. It made
me feel I was deserving of this level of academic achievement. We made our way down the
corridor. I thought about my brother. He was probably mindlessly watching television. I felt
fortunate. I had an opportunity to fill my mind. I would be learning more important things.
I didn’t have a chance to ask my mother’s opinion on the subject. My mind began to
focus on the peculiar sensation in my stomach. It was a mixture of feelings. It was
anticipation. It was excitement. It was fear. It was like visiting the dentist on Christmas
morning. We found my classroom. We found my assigned desk. The feeling had increased.
My mother left for home. The feeling reached almost unbearable proportions. For the first
time that day, I began to worry. What if I get sick? Who would help me to the bathroom?
Where was the bathroom?
I didn’t have time to contemplate the answers. The teacher walked in. Class was
underway. Miss Smith was her name. I was glad. I knew I could remember it. The first
business was the distribution of books and pencils. It was my turn to receive supplies. Miss
Smith smiled at me. I was sure she liked me. I looked at the books on my desk. I felt much
more grown up. I had been an infant just hours before. These books were not picture books.
These were not like the ones Mommy was reading to my brother right now. These were like
the ones Daddy brought home from the office.

Next Miss Smith handed out paper and crayons. She instructed us to draw a picture of
our houses. I focused on the first assignment of the year. I was determined to draw the best
house. I wanted to prove that indeed I was the best grade one student. Miss Smith
circulated around the classroom. I scribbled intently. I hoped she would be impressed by my
artistic prowess. Finally, Miss Smith said she had found the drawing that she felt was very
well done. She began walking toward me. She was smiling. I beamed back. I was certain
that my picture would be her favourite. Mommy always said I drew the best pictures. I was
surprised. Miss Smith walked right by me. She stopped at a desk across from mine. She
was holding up this student’s pathetic drawing as an example of excellence.
I wanted to cry. I managed to restrain myself. I thought of those contemptible

creatures I had witnessed earlier that morning. Miss Smith continued on. She was
reviewing the alphabet as if nothing had happened. I thought about my brother. He was
probably helping Mommy bake cookies. Or he was watching Sesame Street (I wondered
what episode it was). Worse yet, he was probably playing with my toys. Suddenly, I wished
I were not older and luckier. Age and “luck” meant Miss Smith and alphabets and number
lines—and rejection.
Finally, the bell rang. Miss Smith informed us it was time to go home. I was relieved. I
made my way toward the door. I was walking out the door. Miss Smith smiled at me. She
said, “I liked your picture.”
I loved grade one. I could hardly wait to tell my brother.
Please notice the clever use of references to the brother to unify the essay and reflect
changes in the girl’s feelings.
Write a composition in which you describe a first-time experience of your own. If possible,
choose an experience that allows you to illustrate a change in feelings. Once you have
written your first draft, go back and do some sentence revision such as you did with the
first-day-of-school essay. Can you also include a unifying detail like the brother?

Exercise 127 — Practising Subordination Techniques — Using
Verbal Phrases
Combine the following sentences by turning one (or more than one) of them into a verbal
phrase (or phrases):
1. I was overcome by emotion. I burst into tears.
2. Hamlet was anguished by the death of his father. He vowed to seek revenge.
3. Macbeth is goaded by his wife. He resolves to kill Duncan.
4. He suffered from an agony of indecision. He was in conflict. He was torn between his
own needs and his desire to please his father.
5. Willy Loman plans to kill himself. He thinks that he is “worth more dead than alive.”
He thinks that his family can use the insurance money.
6. He restricts his daughter’s activities. He does not want her to grow up.
7. She believes that every man, regardless of colour, deserves a fair trial. She takes on
the case of an aboriginal man accused of murder.
8. Lady Macbeth faints. She is moved by her husband’s vivid description of the dead
Duncan.

9. He decides not to hand in the plagiarized essay. He does not want the teacher to lose
respect for him.
10. You need to improve your skill in subordination. This will allow you to vary your
sentence structure.
11. The girl lets the horse Flora escape. She does not understand why she does so.
12. The Joad family have been evicted from their farm. They travel to California. They are
looking for work.

Adjective Clauses
Combine the following sentences by turning one of them into an adjective clause
beginning with “who,” “whom,” “that,” or “which.”
1. I really admire that girl. She is sitting in the second seat from the front in the first
row.
2. Chad decided not to run for student council president. All of his friends had urged him
to run.
3. I had saved money for my first year’s university tuition. I blew it all on vacation to the
Bahamas.
4. Children are abused by their parents. They frequently grow up to be child abusers
themselves.
5. Macbeth plans to kill Macduff’s family. The witches have told him to “beware
Macduff.”
6. The problem of student tardiness will not be solved easily. It has been around for a
long time.
7. Writing skills will be useful to you for the rest of your life. You learn these skills in
English class.
8. The news will not be shown this evening. It is regularly scheduled at this time.

9. Hamlet no longer trusts anyone but his friend Horatio. Hamlet has been betrayed by
his uncle, his mother, and his girlfriend.
10. People are insecure. They often seek to belong to an “in” group.

Adverb Clauses
Combine the following sentences by changing one (or more) of them into a subordinate
adverb clause (or clauses).
1. Lady Macbeth has persuaded her husband to kill Duncan. She cannot do the deed
herself. Duncan resembles her father.
2. Macbeth does not trust Banquo. Banquo is his friend.
3. Hamlet swears to seek revenge for his father’s murder. The ghost of his father tells
Hamlet that he was murdered by Claudius.
4. The students loved chemistry class. There were always interesting experiments.
5. I will drive you to work. You must pay for the gas.
6. Willy Loman loves his sons. He teaches them destructive values.
7. You haven’t tried fried grasshoppers. Don’t knock them.
8. Effective teachers can laugh at themselves. Weak teachers take themselves too
seriously.

9. I was on my way to the office. I saw another student set off the fire alarm.
10. Winter keeps us snowed in for five months. We don’t complain. We enjoy cross country
skiing and tobogganing.

Appositives
Combine the following sentences by turning one of them into an appositive.
1. Mrs. Bumbledropsy is energetic. She is my physical education teacher.
2. The Godfather is a great movie. It is based on a best-selling novel about the Mafia.
3. Maria deserves the scholarship. She is an outstanding student. She is also a star
basketball player. She volunteers at the Food Bank.
4. Edmonton is a friendly city on the banks of the North Saskatchewan. It is home to the
popular Fringe festival. It is also the location of the famous West Edmonton Mall.
5. The Beatles were legends in their own time. They came from Liverpool.
6. Willy Loman has two sons for whom he eventually kills himself. Their names are Biff
and Happy.
7. Duncan has recently rewarded Macbeth with a title and lands. Macbeth murders
Duncan.

8. The Muttart Conservatory is located in Edmonton’s river valley. It is a collection of
three pyramidal glass buildings.
9. The Grapes of Wrath is set during the Depression. It was written by John Steinbeck.
He was an American author.
10. George Orwell’s novel 1984, is still popular. It is set in a repressive society. The
society controls people’s every action and thought.

Noun Substitutes
Combine the following sentences by changing one of them into a noun, a subordinate
noun clause, or a gerund phrase (a noun substitute).
1. Hamlet is inexperienced in the world of action. This makes his job of revenge more
difficult.
2. You take pride in your work. It is very satisfying.
3. Willy Loman depends on the approval of others. This threatens his self-respect.
4. You must plan before you begin to write. This is the sensible thing to do.
5. Hamlet procrastinates. It undermines his revenge.
6. You are my best friend. This is comforting to me.
7. He achieves top grades apparently without studying. This annoys me.
8. I like to collect antique clocks. It is my hobby.
9. He has money. I don’t know the source of that money.

10. Macbeth listens to his wife. She misleads him. He murders Duncan. It seems easy.
11. She had made a terrible mistake. That was clear.

Exercise 132 — Sentence Combining — Varying Sentence
Beginnings
Combine the following sentences to make precise the relationship between them and to
apply the direction given in parentheses.
1. My father made a suggestion. I should talk to Byron Jones. He ran a movie company. I
wanted to get a job. (Begin with “My father.”)
2. Monica was tired of studying. She had a chemistry test the next day. She slammed her
text shut. She turned on the television. (Begin with “Tired of studying.”)
3. Shane slouched down the hall. He had a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes. He was
walking toward me. (Begin with the word “With.”)
4. I will pay my own university tuition. I will wash dishes if I have to. It will not be
easy. I will also pay for room and board. (Begin with the phrase “Even though.”)
5. The principal questioned the girls thoroughly. He was convinced of their guilt. So he
suspended them from school for three days. (Begin with the word “Convinced.”)
6. Television dulls the brain. It doesn’t stimulate the brain. It is not like reading.
Television is a passive medium. (Begin with the word “unlike.”)

7. I was planning a birthday party. The party was for my husband. I hoped to surprise
him. I asked his friends not to say anything. (Begin with the word “hoping.”)
8. The child was embarrassed. Her face was red. She hid behind her mother. (Begin with
“Her face.”)
9. First figure out what Shakespeare’s words mean. You will almost instinctively know
how to say them. (Begin with the word “By.”)
10. Our school district has no boundaries. I go to the performing arts school. I take a bus.
The school is seven miles from my house. (Begin with “Because.”)
11. We learn from frustration and failure. Frustration and failure are painful. We learn
perseverance. (Begin with “Although.”)

Exercise 133 — Composing Sentences
Finish the following sentences:
1. It is only a matter of time until
2. Not until we
3. That you have taken the initiative
4. Situated as it is in the centre of the school
5. The reasons that I enjoy English
6. The time I remember best
7. Given your usual
8. If an individual cannot find a job
9. Unless
10. Without having
11. Although
12. Two examples of rude behavior
13. One of my greatest concerns is that
14. Unlike me
15. Because young people are exposed to violence in
16. Without
17. As a child,
18. My friend and

19. A student who
20. My mother is not only
21. To be sure of a good seat
22. If a person hopes to be a successful student
23. After finishing the rough draft of an essay
24. It is as difficult to
25. Along with
26. There’s

Exercise 134 — Sentence Combining — Review
Once you have decided how the sentences in each group are related, combine them into a
single sentence using the various subordination techniques you have practised. You
may change the phrasing and the order of ideas, but you must include all the ideas.
1. Adolescence is an invention. It is relatively recent. It did not exist until after the First
World War.
2. The young have a problem. They want to rebel and conform at the same time. They
have solved the problem. They defy their parents and copy one another.
3. Generally, young people are regarded as radicals. This is a misconception. They are
usually conservative.
4. I remember my youth. I remember the feeling. That feeling will never come back any
more. I felt I could outlast the sea, the earth, and all men.
5. I have discovered something about kids. They don’t care. You have walked five miles
to school in a blizzard.
6. There is a real danger. It is to deal with a five-year-old. It happens in no time at all.

You begin to sound like a five-year-old.
7. Adorable children belong to everyone. Rude children belong to their mothers.

8. This is an era of affluence and permissiveness. We have bred a nation of over-
privileged youngsters. They are saturated with vitamins, television, and plastic toys.
9. We spend less money on education. The education is for adolescents. We spend more
money on jails. The jails are for adolescents.
10. Youth has a privilege. Youth enjoys first. Youth suffers after.
11. We are young. We suffer sorrow. We think we are alone. We get older. We make a
discovery. Others have suffered too.
12. Other people see this. We have potential. We are young. We cannot see this potential.
It is unfortunate.
13. I was fifteen. I was disgusted. My parents were ignorant. I was eighteen. I was
surprised. My parents had become wise.
14. There is a horrible idea. The idea began with Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The idea is still
going strong in college classrooms. Natural man is naturally good. Anybody who has a
toddler knows better. This idea is nonsense.

Exercise 135 — Sentence Combining — Part of the Revision
Process
Once you have decided on the relationships between ideas, use your subordination skills
to rewrite the following three paragraphs by logically combining the shorter sentences. Also
provide natural transitions between the sentences and between the paragraphs. You
should have approximately four sentences in each paragraph when you are finished.
The Last Word
There were many myths. These myths had their origin in ancient times. Early man
attempted to explain natural phenomena. He found these phenomena mysterious. He found
these phenomena perplexing. One such physical phenomena was the echo. It was frequently
heard in the mountains of Greece. The ancient inhabitants lacked any knowledge of
physics. They must have been amazed and puzzled. The words they shouted came back to
them. We now have more knowledge. Echoes are produced naturally. Sound waves strike a
solid object. They bounce back through the air. Thousands of years ago, man had to use his
imagination. He imagined other explanations. These explanations were more fanciful.
There is one best-known tale. It explained the repetition of sound in the mountains. It is
about a mountain nymph. She was named Echo. She was a confidante of Hera. Hera was
the wife of Zeus. Echo chattered incessantly. This annoyed Hera. She punished the nymph.
She took away her power to initiate speech. She could only repeat the words of others. She
could only echo the words of others.
This was not enough misfortune. Echo was unlucky. She fell in love with Narcissus. He was
handsome. He was also self-centred. She tried to express her feelings. She could only repeat
Narcissus’s words. His words told her he would rather be dead than in her arms. Echo was
broken-hearted. Echo hid in the mountains. She hid in the forests. She hid in caves. She
refused to eat or sleep. Her body wasted away completely. All that remained was her voice.
Her voice has lasted to this day. Her voice endlessly repeats the words of others. Those
others venture into her lonely haunts.

Exercise 136 — Combining Sentences — Further Practice
Revise the following paragraphs by combining logically related ideas using techniques of
subordination you have been practising. Remember, one goal of revision is to make
precise the relationship between ideas both within and between sentences; another goal
is economy.
The Punishment Fits the Crime
Tantalus offended the Greek gods. He stole the food of the immortals. The food was
nectar and ambrosia. He gave the food to man. Zeus punished Tantalus. This
punishment would go on eternally. He was constantly frustrated. He was made to
stand in a pool of water. The water reached his chin. He was thirsty. He went to
drink the water. The water receded down to the mud. He stood up. The water
flooded back. He attempted to quench his thirst all over again. His attempts were
futile. The trees around Tantalus were laden with fruit. Tantalus reached for their
branches. The wind blew them out of reach. He remained frustrated. He was
deprived. He was in the midst of plenty. We have developed a word. The word is
derived from Tantalus’s name. The word is “tantalize.” It means to tease yet
remain unattainable.
“The Scottish Play”
No play on the English stage has been as cursed as Macbeth. Unpleasant events
seem to occur each time it is performed. Its first performance was on August 7,
1606. Hal Berridge played Lady Macbeth. He was a boy. He died backstage on
opening night. There have been innumerable later instances of bad luck. These
instances have affected the performers and stage hands. There have been car
accidents. There have been heart attacks. There have been mysterious illnesses.
There have been sword wounds. In 1849, there was a rivalry between two leading
actors playing Macbeth. One was American. The other was British. Each of them
had followers. The followers rioted one night. The riot took place outside the
theatre where the British actor was performing. Thirty-one people were killed. The
play was performed in Britain in 1934. The play went through four different
Macbeths. They all fell ill. Another 1937 production was particularly cursed. The
lead actress’s dog died. It died on opening night. She herself died a few days later.
The leading actor was Laurence Olivier. He barely escaped death. He was riding in
a taxi at the time. Another car struck the taxi. Another time, a stage sand-bag fell.
Olivier was nearly brained. He himself accidentally wounded several Macduffs.
The wounding took place in the final battle scene. The next year, the story was the
same same. There was more bad luck. One actor had both legs broken. He was hit
by a car. He was in the theatre parking lot at the time. Lady Macbeth also had a
car accident. She ran into a store window. A third actor was playing Macduff. He
fell off his horse. He had to be replaced. The understudy replaced him. These

events have caused superstition. The superstition is about the play. Actors do not
utter the name of the play. They call it the “The Scottish play.” They do not quote
from the play. They don’t speak the lines in the dressing room. They only speak the
lines onstage.
Revise this short analysis of a scene from Hamlet by combining logically related ideas.
Your goals are to reduce wordiness, to increase fluency, and to make precise the
relationships between ideas.
Brevity is the Soul of Wit
1. A drama is written to be performed on stage. The performance takes a

relatively short time. It must be very economical. Every bit of dialogue must serve
a purpose. It may serve several purposes. This is true in William Shakespeare’s
Hamlet. One example is Act IV, scene v, lines 108–141. This is just thirty lines.
The thirty lines come in the centre of the scene. They serve to advance the plot,
create irony, reveal character, and underline theme.
2. In these lines, Claudius and Laertes plot Hamlet’s destruction. They plan an
apparently friendly duel between Laertes and the prince. They plan to place bets.
The bets are on who is the superior swordsman. They plan to leave Laertes’ foil
unbated. They plan to poison the sword. Hamlet does not know any of this.
3. This devious scheme is known to Laertes and Claudius. This scheme is known
to the audience. This scheme is not known to Hamlet. This sets up the essential
irony of the final scene of the play. This scene itself is charged with irony. There is
one particularly notable example. Claudius says that no even the church should
protect a murderer. He says, “No place …should murder sanctuarize.” Hamlet did
not follow such advice earlier in the play. He should have killed Claudius in the
chapel. He had a chance to kill him. Claudius would not still be alive. He would not
be able to plot against Hamlet.
4. This scene is also revealing of character. Claudius’s hypocrisy and ruthless are
reinforced. He pretends to be concerned with Laertes. He is really manipulating
the young man. His goal is selfish. He knows exactly what kind of man Laertes is.
He is a man chiefly concerned with honour. He is concerned with protecting his
reputation. The king suggests Laertes’ grief may not be sincere. He says that
Laertes is merely “the painting of a sorrow.” Laertes rises to the bait. He is
revealed as shallow. He is revealed as gullible. He is putty in the king’s skillful
hands. He is his father’s son. He is one who is easily fooled by appearances.
Laertes is ruthless. He vows to “cut his throat in the church.” Laertes is referring
to Hamlet. This reminds us of Hamlet’s failure to kill Claudius in the chapel.
Laertes is a foil to Hamlet. He is more ruthless. He is more the man of action.
Hamlet constantly delays his revenge.

5. Hamlet delay has a cause. His passion for revenge has cooled down. Passion
commonly cools down over time. This idea is one of several themes reinforced in
this scene. Another theme is that appearances are deceptive. One may be “a face
without a heart.” Claudius appears to be concerned with Laertes’ grief. He himself
has killed his own brother. He is only using Laertes. He wants to protect himself.
Claudius himself is “the quick of the ulcer.” He is the pus beneath the surface. He
is infecting the whole nation. This reinforces a third theme. Evil deeds are
committed by those in power. These poison a whole country.
6. These thirty lines do everything that good drama should do. They advance the
plot. Part of this is building suspense and foreshadowing the ending. They create
irony. This maintains dramatic tension and audience involvement. They reveal and
reinforce characters. They also set those characters up as foils to the protagonist.
They underline the multiple themes. These themes give the play universal
substance. Hamlet is the longest of Shakespeare’s plays. It is not long-winded.
Shakespeare has made every word count.

Exercise 137 — Revising and Editing
Revise and proofread the following two essays.
When It No Longer Rains in Colours
1) As I sit pondering through this big pink book which has been my very own since the
first day I was born. I couldn’t help but relish those care-free days which seemed so long
ago.
2) I remember the rainy days when I used to sing rain, rain, go away come again
another day not meaning a word of it as I loved those days. I’d put a big glass jar out on the
back porch and leave it there all day or until the rain stops. Then I’d screw the lid on tight,
mark the date on a peace of scotch tape stuck to the side and place it on my “shower shelf.”
I really didn’t have any plans for these I guess it was just a way of locking away a precious
rainy day. The rain used to fall in colours back then. Yellow drops fell on my raincoat, blue
drops fell into my eyes and green drops which sparkled and quivered fell on the lush grass.
Today, rain doesn’t fall in colours any more. And when I sing rain, rain, go away, I really
mean it. Today rain ruins my hair and makes it go straight, and it rolls off my bike tires
and I arrive at school with a mud spotted and splashed on backside.
3) I remember the days of endless sunshine spent at the beach. Sand was magic stuff to
me. It built hills, castles and moats. Dad said sand turned into glass and if you looked into
the glass just right you could see all the colours of the rainbow. Today, sand isn’t so magic.
It gets under my nails, sticks to my suntan oil, and hides between my sheets.

4) I remember when my favourite thing to eat was a peanut butter and grape jelly
sandwich. It was so sticky and sweet. I loved the way it stuck to the inside of my mouth and
when I tried to smack my lips apart to savour another bite it usually took a second
smacking. Today peanut butter and jelly isn’t “in” any longer. Brushel sprouts, tomato and
cheese or granola with banana chips is the new necessity needed to keep my figure. At least
that’s what they say.
5) I remember when my best friend and I always had to dress in the same clothes. We
had the same red leotard where the ankle part was half-way to our knees, the same blue
winter coat with our blue mittens on a string so we wouldn’t lose them and we had the
same Barbi doll who acted out what we would be we when we grow up. Today my best
friend and I call each other every morning just to make sure we’re not going to ware the
same cargo pants. We strive for our own independance and our own sense of fashion.
6) I turn over the last page. A particular picture catches my eye. It’s a picture of me. I
am wearing a big sunny smile. I have a kind of sparkle in my eyes. Today I am still as
happy as I was back then. The feeling of being loved and the joy of giving love. Something
from my childhood I have been able to keep and hold on to and I hope it will be apart of all
my tomorrows.

Gentlemanly Conduct
1) Every September I undergo a cyclical metamorphosis, changing from average
everyday ordinary citizen to homicidal maniac. I enter a faze that changes my life mentaly
and others’ physically. Every September, I become anksious about the upcoming hockey
season that for seven months makes me capable and willing to injure another fellow human
being. I like hockey for it’s quick pace, stradedgy, skill, and perhaps most of all, it’s allowing
me to hurt others and not going to jail for it.
2) I play goal. Which means I have the most protective equipment and the biggest
hockey stick then any of the players. The first thing to do to prepare for our national game
is to choose my stick. Or as I fondly call it – my weapon. I find the heaviest and strongest
stick made of finest hardwoods by skilled craftsmen in Chicoutimi or Noranda or some cold
town in northern Quebec. U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt said, “Walk so ftly and carry a
big stick.” For my own purposes, I say, “Swear loudly and swing a big stick.” Basicly the
same meaning.
3) When the season finally starts, I waited like a hungry wolf looking for an innocent
left-winger to sweep by. So that I can terminate him. The unsuspecting fool would skate
near me and I will shout diplomatically: “HEY BOZO! YOUR AN UGLY BULGEMUGGER
and hit him with my Louisville X29TP Goalstick. Right on the back between the shoulder
blades. The victim screams in pain, and I sympathetically interupt with a “GET UP YOU
GIRL!” and drop a forcefull knee in the ribs. There isn’t nothing better or more satisfying
than hearing a couple of breaking ribs crack loudly.
4) The season progresses and I regress back into a world of violence and mayhem, I
keep track of my fallen prey by putting notches on my weapon, the Louisville X29TP
Goalstick. Now, I’m basically a gentle, fair and passive person. So I have a code of ethics.

As does most mass murderers. I don’t hit fans or children. Once in a while, I stop the
occassional puck. But that’s not the important thing . The important thing is respect.
5) Perhaps the most important reason I play hockey is the respect of my fellow
sportsmen. There isn’t nothing more heart-warming and satisfying than hearing an
opponent say, “HEY GRANT I’LL GET YOU YOU FILTHY DOLTSCUMMER as he is
carried off into an ambulance screaming with a Louisville X29TP Goalstick implanted in
the front of his forehead and blood gushing out from a severd vein. Which makes me misty-
eyed and sentimental.

Exercise 138 — Excerpts from an English Teacher’s Nightmare
Correct the following truly dreadful sentences:
1. We are having alotta fun in english this year. Our English teacher is real nice. She
learned us good. I can now correct my own mispellings. And sentence fragments. But
she don’t want nobody to tell who there teacher is. I don’t know why.
2. I done good in english last year. I could of did more better, but I missed four months of
school. Irregardless, I still learned a bunch. I worked real hard when I was their.
3. They say grammer is suppose to be real usefull. Irregardless, I think it don’t’ do

nobody no good.
4. They teach us alot of irrevalent things in english.
5. My english teacher is prejudice against me. The reason is because she embarassed me
infront of the hole class. Anyways, english is stoopid.
6. The students all did there work theirself. Its amazing.

7. I would of past english accept I didn’t memorize a soliloque from Shakespeers tradjedy
Macbeth. I no I should of did it, but no one told me nothing about it untill the last
minute and I had alot of other homework.
8. Me and her should of studied more. The reason we are failing is because we don’t do
no homework. I use to do real good in english. But me and the teacher don’t get a long.
She don’t like my style.
9. In todays society, there’s alot of prejudism against stewdents in baseball caps.

Especially if there on backwards. We’re suppose to take them offa are heads in class.
Its not fair.
10. Hamlets lifestyle didn’t improve until he kicked the bucket in a dual.

Exercise 139 — Supplementary Vocabulary Building/Spelling
Exercises
Section One: Using Suffixes
A. For each definition provided below, provide a synonym ending in the suffix “ment.”
1. conflict
2. house foundation
3. lack of involvement
4. commemorative structure
5. being sent away from one’s native land
6. alienation
7. food
8. incentive
9. organization and control
10. penalty
11. a piece of something such as an orange
12. successful completion
13. break into pieces
14. dregs in the bottom of a wine bottle
15. something demanded
16. satisfaction
17. flattering remark
18. a mixed collection
19. illness
20. dwelling
B. For each definition below, provide a synonym ending is the suffix “ize.”
1. mix or become friendly with other people

2. speak on the spur of the moment
3. make larger
4. arrange in order

5. crush
6. treat in a condescending manner
7. allow according to the law
8. shut our or exclude
9. save
10. suffer over making a decision
11. inoculate
12. make a broad statement
13. censure
14. examine closely
15. reconcile or bring together contrasting elements
16. make less
17. turn into mist
18. mesmerize
19. give power or permission
20. represent
C. For each definition, provide a synonym ending in the suffix “ous.”
1. widely known
2. well-known for foul deeds
3. harmless
4. talkative
5. lacking in variety; dull
6. meaning the same thing
7. generous
8. brave
9. going on at the same time
10. risky
11. publicly disgraceful
12. stingy
13. comparable in many facets
14. seeking to inflict hurt
15. musically pleasing
16. clever; resourceful
17. not belonging; foreign
18. savage

19. vague; hazy
20. fawning
D. For each of the following definitions, provide a synonym ending in the suffixes “able”
or “ible.”
1. can be controlled
2. pliant (two synonyms)
3. can be trusted (two synonyms)
4. naïve; easily deceived

5. similar
6. burns easily (two synonyms)
7. competent
8. pleasant; friendly (two synonyms)
9. deserving of scorn
10. delicious
11. can be eaten
12. welcoming
13. impossible-to-read handwriting
14. convincing
15. almost none; very little
16. open to debate or compromise
17. deserving of condemnation
18. can be proven
19. can be passed from one person to another
20. stubborn
21. not likely to occur
22. cannot happen
23. cannot be seen
24. cannot be reached
25. cannot be endured (two synonyms)
26. can be carried

27. cannot be breached
28. cannot be defeated
E. For each of the following definitions, provide a synonym ending in the suffix “ful.”
1. uncertain
2. fulfilling obligations
3. optimistic
4. pathetic
5. happy
6. disgraceful
7. frightened
8. cautious
9. seeking retaliation
10. sorry for one’s actions
11. dexterous
12. thankful
13. careful not to hurt others’ feelings
14. exceedingly attractive
15. potent
16. relaxing
17. showing reverence
18. grief-stricken; sad
19. keeping an eye out
20. unable to sleep
F. For each of the following definitions, provide a word that ends in the suffixes “ance”
or “ence” (or “ant” or ent”)
1. help
2. ability to withstand hardship
3. smugness; self-satisfaction
4. war-like; eager to fight (two synonyms)
5. following orders
6. capability
7. flowing

8. watchfulness
9. act of being against (two synonyms)
10. needing others for support

11. in need of instant action
12. tastefulness
13. related to something
14. the time from puberty to adulthood
15. the state of being
16. lacking
17. unwilling
18. impact; strong impression
19. the ability to wait
20. the act of being present

Section Two: Finding Antonyms
A. After each of the following words, write its opposite; each of the antonyms must be
the same part of speech as the original word and must begin with the letter “c”.
1. warmth _______________ 14. insincerity _______________

2. obey _______________ 15. expand _______________
3. desist _______________ 16. destruction _______________
4. unusual _______________ 17. separate _______________
5. approval _______________ 18. agreement _______________
6. orderly _______________ 19. individualistic _______________
7. delicate _______________ 20. doubtful _______________
8. continue _______________ 21. roomy _______________
9. insulting _______________ 22. simple _______________
10. muddled _______________ 23. freedom _______________
11. rude _______________ 24. courage _______________
12. disperse _______________ 25. admiration _______________
13. graceful _______________
B. After each of the following words, write its antonym. Each antonym must be the
same part of speech as the original and must begin with the letter “a”.
1. belonging _______________ 15. synonym _______________

2. defend _______________ 16. together _______________
3. genuine _______________ 17. release _______________
4. timid _______________ 18. humble _______________
5. common _______________ 19. tongue-tied _______________
6. hinder _______________ 20. proud _______________
7. affinity _______________ 21. liability _______________
8. selfishness _______________ 22. convict _______________
9. unfriendly _______________ 23. graceful _______________
10. insufficient _______________ 24. indulge _______________
11. synthesize _______________ 25. rejection _______________
12. lifeless _______________
13. protagonist _______________
14. modern _______________

C. After each of the following words, write its antonym. Each antonym must be the
same part of speech as the original and must begin with the letter “t”.
1. savage _______________ 14. unusual _______________

2. opaque _______________ 15. democracy _______________
3. permanent _______________ 16. freeze _______________
4. celestial _______________ 17. thin _______________
5. dauntless _______________ 18. relaxation _______________
6. narrow-minded _______________ 19. landlord _______________
7. comfort _______________ 20. impalpable _______________
8. comedy _______________ 21. smooth _______________
9. loquacious _______________ 22. considerate _______________
10. receive _______________ 23. unkempt _______________
11. significant _______________ 24. frigid _______________
12. prompt _______________ 25. partial _______________
13. falsehood _______________
D. After each of the following words, write its antonym. Each antonym must be the
same part of speech as the original and must begin with the letter “p”.
1. affluence _______________ 14. con _______________

2. pleasurable _______________ 15. prey _______________
3. whole _______________ 16. suffix _______________
4. irrelevant _______________ 17. epilogue _______________
5. significant _______________ 18. vague _______________
6. public _______________ 19. idealist _______________
7. adulterate _______________ 20. secure _______________
8. urban _______________ 21. turbulent _______________
9. carelessness _______________ 22. negative _______________
10. indecency _______________ 23. polluted _______________
11. tardy _______________ 24. humble _______________
12. inept _______________ 25. intangible _______________
13. retreat _______________

E. After each of the following words, write its antonym. Each antonym must be the
same part of speech as the original and must begin with the letter “m”.
1. sane _______________ 14. huge _______________

2. celebrate _______________ 15. happiness _______________
3. effeminate _______________ 16. discourage _______________
4. diminish _______________ 17. amplify _______________
5. extreme _______________ 18. static _______________
6. infantile _______________ 19. varied _______________
7. diminutive _______________ 20. ancient _______________
8. microcosm _______________ 21. philanthropist _______________
9. forgettable _______________ 22. majority _______________
10. maximum _______________ 23. haphazard _______________
11. sadist _______________ 24. diverge _______________
12. benign _______________ 25. patriarchy _______________
13. weak _______________

Section Three: Spelling Demons
A. You Have the Right to Remain Silent
After dictating the following spelling list to your students, offer 50 bonus points to the
first student who can tell you what all the words have in common, and why they are
arranged in the order that they are.
bread mnemonic
marriage column
pharaoh country
doubt laboratory
thumb people
discipline tortoise
fascinate cupboard
indict pneumonia
science psychiatry
edge receipt
handkerchief racquet
Wednesday aisle
height debris
hope island
steak gourmet
campaign listen
gnome rapport
reign circuit
tight dough
bough gauge
exhaust guardian
ghost guide
honour answer
rhythm sword
silhouette wreck
bait faux pas
business grand prix
thief crayon
know aye
almond rendezvous
salmon

B. English Spelling is Booby-Trapped
Should you wish to reinforce the difficulty of learning to spell in English, here is a
spelling dictation to drive home the point. Such a dictation may help convince your
students that you are on their side.
1. basically 26. lose

2. publicly 27. deceit
3. judgment 28. receipt
4. management 29. harass
5. trough 30. embarrass
6. bough 31. word
7. hiccough 32. sword
8. four 33. knew
9. forty 34. gnu
10. heard 35. pneumonia
11. bird 36. colonel
12. beard 37. kernel
13. bread 38. journal
14. bother 39. smooth
15. both 40. smoothe
16. brother 41. fasten
17. broth 42. fascinate
18. float 43. hammer
19. flotation 44. grammar
20. led 45. sway
21. read 46. survey
22. fear 47. prize
23. pear 48. surprise
24. dose 49. manslaughter
25. chose 50. man’s laughter
C. Double or Nothing
The following dictation list of spelling words poses the problem of whether or not to
double certain letters.
1. misspelling 11. dumbbell

2. embarrassment 12. newsstand
3. recommendation 13. harass
4. pastime 14. duress
5. nighttime 15. successful
6. drunkenness 16. misshapen
7. coattail 17. threshold
8. disappear 18. bookkeeper
9. occurrence 19. roommate
10. withhold 20. benefited

21. headdress 46. bizarre
22. disappoint 47. taillight
23. teammate 48. unnecessary
24. stubbornness 49. spaghetti
25. accommodate 50. zucchini
26. commemorate 51. corroborate
27. aberration 52. sapphire
28. suddenness 53. fulfillment
29. commitment 54. mayonnaise
30. committing 55. annulment
31. necessity 56. willful
32. omitting 57. transference
33. interrupted 58. millennium
34. interpreted 59. filmmaker
35. sheriff 60. irrelevant
36. tariff 61. Renaissance
37. parallel 62. colossal
38. Braille 63. innocuous
39. questionnaire 64. inoculate
40. vacuum 65. syllable
41. illegible 66. hemorrhoid
42. tattoo 67. moccasin
43. dissatisfied 68. personnel
44. innumerable 69. proceed
45. paraffin 70. precede


2 SR Student Exercises Activities

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

2 SR Student Exercises Activities

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

EXERCISES

Unit One—Recognizing Verbs and Their Subjects

Unit Two—Recognizing Other Sentence Components

Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Exercises and Activities

Exercise 36—Playing With Parts of Speech ................................................................. 52

Unit Three—Correcting Errors in Usage

1. Correcting Errors in the Use of Verbs

2. Correcting Errors in the Use of Pronouns and Nouns

3. Correcting Errors in the Use of Adjectives and Adverbs

Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Exercises and Activities

4. Achieving Grammatical Parallelism

Unit Four—Recognizing a Sentence and Its Parts

3. Recognizing Types of Sentences

Unit Five—Correcting Major Sentence Errors

Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Exercises and Activities

Unit Six—Improving Mechanics

Unit Seven—Refining Style

Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Exercises and Activities

Exercise 139—Supplementary Vocabulary Building/Spelling Exercises

Teachers please note:

Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Exercises and Activities

Getting There is Half the Fun

abscond elope meander shuffle stumble

Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Exercises and Activities 1

2 Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Exercises and Activities

1. The mortally wounded soldier strode toward the field hospital.

2. The elephant slithered through the thick bushes.

4. The ballerina clumped airily across the stage.

6. The thief eloped with the $100 000.

7. The snake strutted up to the unsuspecting gopher.

8. To escape the hunter, the deer strolled toward the trees.

9. She jostled her way through the haunted house.

10. The burglar scampered around, checking all the windows.

Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Exercises and Activities 3

2. The prisoner walked up and down the isolation cell.

3. The victorious general walked in front of his legions.

4. The tiger walked very quietly toward the grazing antelope.

5. The mountaineers walked the last weary mile in silence.

7. The one-year-old walked over to the waiting arms of his mother.

8. The children ran around the ice cream man.

9. After being fired, Jim walked all five miles home.

4 Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Exercises and Activities

Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Exercises and Activities 5

4. draw and quarter

6 Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Exercises and Activities

4. conducting an opinion poll

Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Exercises and Activities 7

Use this prepared list to complete the exercise below.

accuse concede flatter plead reveal

8 Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Exercises and Activities

1. ___________________________ talking without saying much of substance

Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Exercises and Activities 9

Here is a list of verbs to report someone’s thoughts:

accept doubt guess prefer speculate

10 Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Exercises and Activities

1. I am a teacher. You are a student.

Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Exercises and Activities 11

12 Copyright © 2011Edmonton Public Schools. Exercises and Activities

1. The cordubble should have splinkled.

2. One of the danzamanes is ampling at Zarantu.

3. Canzabar has been impling for three darps.

4. Anzale perlunks very slumply.

5. The mome raths outgrabe.

6. Each of the borogroves clandankled unkly.

2. Music _ charm to _ the savage beast.

4. _ your chickens before they _.

6. Sticks and stones _ my bones. But names _

14. First _ first _.

20. _ the rod and _ the child.

23. You_ what you _.