Pronoun issues

A pronoun replaces a noun or another pronoun; it can also take the place of a subject word, an object word, or a possessive word.
There's a constant rule for that and there are some exceptions.
The rule will be stated through the following diagram: 

The first exception is when you have a sentence with verb to be, you always use a subject pronoun.

Example:

• No one is better at football than I am.

This sentence is correct, because it contains verb to be so we used a subject pronoun which is "I".

The second exception is when the sentence contains the word "between", you have to use an object pronoun.

Example:

• The relationship between them and their brother was often strained.

This sentence is correct, because after the word "between" an object pronoun was used.

All pronouns and their antecedents need to agree in person and in number.

There are 3 cases for pronoun issues.

1. Pronoun mismatch:

• I hate having to proofread my paper, because proofreading is such a boring thing for you to do.

This sentence is incorrect. The antecedent here is "I" and the pronoun is "you", the pronoun obviously doesn't match the antecedent.

So, the correct form of the sentence is "I hate having to proofread my paper, because proofreading is such a boring thing for me to do."

2. Ambiguous pronouns:  

• Mom wasn't sure if Jane got her makeup.

This sentence is incorrect, because the pronoun "her" is ambiguous; you don't know whether the antecedent is "Mom" or "Jane".

So, the correct form of the sentence is "Mom wasn't sure if Jane got Jane's makeup".

3. Pronoun in the wrong number: 

• Everyone must be careful with their homework.

This sentence is incorrect, because "Everyone" is a singular antecedent and "their" is a plural pronoun.

So, the correct form of the sentence is "Everyone must be careful with his/her homework."

If you need to exercise on this lesson you can do that through the following link: 

 http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/cgi-shl/quiz.pl/pronouns_add2.htm

Faulty comparison

When comparing anything you have to beware of faulty comparison. Faulty comparison occurs when you compare one thing to more than one thing, or when you compare an action to a person, or basically when you compare anything to something odd from it. It'll be clearer after the examples.

Examples:

• Reading the books of William Shakespeare is more difficult than Jane Austin.

The sentence is incorrect, because it's comparing an action which is reading to a person which is Jane Austin.

The correct form is "Reading the books of William Shakespeare is more difficult than reading the books of Jane Austin."

• James is better than any other student in class.

The sentence is incorrect, because it's comparing James (one person) to all the students in class (20 people).

The correct form is "James is better than his friend Tom." or if we're keeping the meaning of the sentence "James is the best student in class."

• The Amazon River carries more water than the water carried in any of the world's other rivers.

The sentence is incorrect, because it's comparing the Amazon River (one) to any of the world's other rivers (hundred).

The correct form is "The Amazon River carries more water than the Nile River."

• The interest at a loan company is higher than at a bank.

The sentence is correct, because it's comparing the interest at a loan company to the interest at a bank. If the second "at" in the sentence was removed, then it would've been comparing the interest to a bank, which doesn't make sense.

• Jacob likes pizza better than Cheryl.

The sentence is incorrect, because it's comparing pizza to Cheryl (a person). The actual meaning of the sentence is that Jacob likes pizza more than Cheryl likes pizza.

So, the correct form is "Jacob likes pizza better than Cheryl does."

• TV advertising is more effective.

This sentence is incomplete. It's comparing TV advertising to nothing. 

The correct form is "TV advertising is more effective than newspaper advertising"

• I am more lonelier here than I was in California.

The sentence is incorrect. The word "more" has to be crossed out.

The correct form is "I'm lonelier here than I was in California."

• Of the two cities on the map of Egypt, Cairo is the bigger.

This sentence is correct. It's a little bit tricky, some people might think "Cairo is the biggest" is the correct form, but it's not because it's distinguishing between two, so we have to use the comparative form not the superlative.

If you need to answer exercises you can do that on this site:

http://www.towson.edu/ows/exercisefaultycomp2.htm

Dangling modifiers

 A dangling modifier is a word or a phrase that modifies a word not clearly stated in the sentence. A modifier describes  clarifies, or gives more details about the subject.

 When you have a sentence that starts with a gerund, past participle, or a preposition, you have to check after the comma if the doer of the action is stated. If not then the sentence contains an error.

Examples: 

• Writing carefully, the essay was finished in time to hand in.

This sentence contains an error. The error is in "the essay". You can detect the error by checking out the word the sentence starts with, this sentence starts with a gerund which is "writing". The next step is to check the word after the comma. In that sentence the word after the comma is "the essay". The essay is obviously not the doer of the action. You have to ask yourself, who wrote the essay?

So, the correct structure of this sentence is "Writing carefully, I finished the essay in time to hand in."

• At the age of four, my grandmother taught me to knit.

This sentence contains an error. The sentence starts with "At" which is a preposition. The phrase after the comma is "my grandmother". Your grandmother wasn't the one that was four when she taught you. 

The correct structure is "At the age of four, I was taught to knit by my grandmother."

• Crowded in the car, the trip was uncomfortable.

This sentence contains an error. "Crowded" is a past participle. "The trip" isn't the one that felt crowded, you are.

The correct structure is "Crowded in the car, I found the trip uncomfortable."

 

If you need a video to give more illustrations for the lesson you can check that one out:

You can answer exercises on: 

http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/english/langan/sentence_skills/exercises/ch16/p4exi.htm

Double negatives

 Double negatives is a common error when using English language. Using two negatives in the same sentence gives the opposite meaning, but it does the job awkwardly. Avoiding that error is pretty easy; you just have to memorize some words and avoid using them in the same sentence.
 The words are: no, not, nobody, nothing, none, never, hardly, scarcely, barely, only, and basically any other negative word.

Examples: 

• She shouldn't eat nothing.
• I didn't see nothing.
• We could hardly see through the fog.
• She did not have anything to read.

The exercise really speaks for itself. The words colored in red are obviously wrong, the words colored in blue are obviously right and the reason is stated above.

If you need to answer some exercises you can do that on:

http://wps.ablongman.com/long_fowler_lbh_10/47/12267/3140448.cw/index.html

Parallelism

-The main issue of parallelism is when having a list in a sentence you have to make sure that all the items in the list are written in the same way. 

Examples: 

• A good attitude, being on time, and speaking effectively are good attributes.

This sentence is NOT parallel. The underlined part of the sentence is the list. Is every item in the list structured the same way? No. The error is in "A good attitude", because "being on time" and "speaking effectively" contain ing-forms, unlike "a good attitude". So the correct way to structure the sentence is: "Having a good attitude, being on time, and speaking effectively are good attributes"

• Many people in this country remember how they danced to the mambo music of the 1950s and listened to that era's Latin bands.

This sentence IS parallel. Are the items in the list structured the same way? Yes. both verbs are written in the past so there's no error.

• You should learn to cook, hire waiters, and start reading cooking books before opening your own restaurant.

This sentence is NOT parallel. Are the items in the list structured the same way? No. The error is in "start reading cooking books". The correct way to structure the sentence is "You should learn to cook, hire waiters, and read cooking books before opening your own restaurant." 

There are actually a lot of ways to structure the same sentence without creating an error in the parallelism. This sentence can also be structured as "You should start learning cooking, hiring waiters, and reading cooking books before opening your own restaurant." If you fully understand the lesson then you can come up with your own way to structure a sentence.

If you still don't understand the lesson you can check out this video: 

Now you understand the lesson and you can answer some exercises on this link: 

http://www.towson.edu/ows/exerciseparal.htm