Grammar Exam: Correct Sentence Structure

Study Notes

Grammar Exam Study Notes

Correct usage of commas with appositives: Use commas for non-restrictive elements. Example: "He was married to his first wife, Elaine, for more than 40 years."
Understanding verb forms: "To lie" as in rest or recline has the past participle form "lain."
Distinction between past tense and past participle: "Edited" indicates a completed action, while "had edited" emphasizes a prior action.
Correct sentences maintain clarity: Example: "We saw Oscar nominee 'Argo' one month ago" is grammatically accurate without unnecessary commas.
Principal parts of "to broadcast": Present - broadcast, Past - broadcast, Past participle - broadcast, Present participle - broadcasting.
Recognize basic sentence structures: "When she's on vacation, she lies by the pool all day."
Misuse of relative pronouns: "The students that studied" is incorrect; it should be "The students who studied."
Adjective versus adverb usage: "Bad" is an adjective, while "badly" functions as an adverb.
Syntax clarification in commands: "Give the book to whoever arrives first" is grammatically correct.
The expression “let sleeping dogs lie” emphasizes the verb's correct form.
Past tense of "to lie": The correct form is "lay."
Subject-verb agreement: "The men's basketball team is playing" is correct, while "are" disrupts singular agreement.
Usage of articles: The correct phrase is "An MU professor won an award for her book about a historic period."
Some statements can be true or false: E.g., "The students did badly on the test" is true, while "The students did bad on the test" is false.
The word "among" functions as a preposition.
"The parent is laying the baby down for a nap" demonstrates proper verb form usage.
Recognizing word positions: "University Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin made the announcement" maintains title format.
Action verbs and their forms: "Looked" is used as an action verb in a sentence.
Observing sentence context to ensure grammatical accuracy.