Verbs & Sentence Structure
Learn about verb tenses, parallel structure, modifiers, and adjective/adverb usage.
12Parallel Structure
Rule:
Items in a series should be in the same grammatical form (all nouns, all verbs, all phrases, etc.).
Key Points:
- Keep the same grammatical form in lists
- All gerunds, all infinitives, or all base verbs
- All nouns, all adjectives, or all phrases
- Maintain consistency throughout the series
Correct: She likes swimming, running, and biking. (all gerunds)
Correct: She is intelligent, creative, and hardworking. (all adjectives)
Incorrect: She likes swimming, running, and to bike. (mixed forms)
Correct: She is intelligent, creative, and hardworking. (all adjectives)
Incorrect: She likes swimming, running, and to bike. (mixed forms)
Practice Questions
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13Dangling Modifiers
Rule:
Modifying phrases must clearly refer to the subject that immediately follows them.
Key Points:
- The subject after the comma must be doing the action in the modifier
- Common problem: modifier seems to refer to the wrong noun
- Fix by making the correct subject follow the modifier
Correct: Walking to school, I got caught in the rain.
Correct: After I studied all night, the exam was easy.
Incorrect: Walking to school, the rain started falling. (rain wasn't walking)
Correct: After I studied all night, the exam was easy.
Incorrect: Walking to school, the rain started falling. (rain wasn't walking)
Practice Questions
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14Idioms
Rule:
Certain words require specific prepositions. These combinations must be memorized.
Key Points:
- Good at, responsible for, different from, capable of
- Talent for, interested in, worried about
- These combinations are fixed and must be memorized
- Context doesn't change the required preposition
Correct: She is good at mathematics.
Correct: He is responsible for the project.
Incorrect: She is good in mathematics. (wrong preposition)
Correct: He is responsible for the project.
Incorrect: She is good in mathematics. (wrong preposition)
Practice Questions
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15Reported Speech
Rule:
In indirect (reported) speech, backshift present- and future-tense verbs: "will" → "would," "can" → "could," "have" → "had." Keep the past perfect for actions completed before another past action.
Key Points:
- "will" → "would"
- "can" → "could"
- "have" → "had"
- Use past perfect for earlier actions (had finished)
He said: "I will finish the report."
Indirect: He said that he would finish the report.
Incorrect: He said that he will finish the report.
Indirect: He said that he would finish the report.
Incorrect: He said that he will finish the report.
Practice Questions
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16Adjectives vs. Adverbs
Rule:
Use adjectives to modify nouns and after linking verbs. Use adverbs to modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.
Key Points:
- Adjectives modify nouns and follow linking verbs
- Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs
- Linking verbs: be, seem, appear, taste, feel, sound, look
- Good/well, bad/badly are commonly confused
Correct: She sings beautifully. (adverb modifies verb)
Correct: The food tastes good. (adjective after linking verb)
Incorrect: She sings beautiful. (adjective can't modify verb)
Correct: The food tastes good. (adjective after linking verb)
Incorrect: She sings beautiful. (adjective can't modify verb)
Practice Questions
Score: 0 / 5