SUBTLE MEANINGS OF WORDS

January 25, 2012

LUXURIANT/LUXURIOUS Define “luxuriant” and “luxurious” and be sure to delineate the difference in meaning of the words. “What is the root of the “luxuriant” and “luxurious”? Create sentences using  “luxuriant” and “luxurious”. Be sure the sentences correctly express the meanings of the words. TODAY’S WORD The word for today is “whitewash”. What part of speech [...]

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BASIC GRAMMAR PROBLEMS

January 24, 2012

BACK TO THE MISTAKES Identify and correct the errors in the following examples. Give reasons to back up your corrections. “ ‘I was very fortunate in that the people here at PwC have essentially worked with me to craft a new role for myself,’ Pupatello said Monday.” Sandra Pupatello in a story by Dave Hall, [...]

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EXACT WORD USAGE

January 23, 2012

COMPARE TO/COMPARE WITH The terms “compare to” and “compare with” are not exactly interchangeable. Explain the correct and precise use of “compare to” and “compare with”. Compose sentences that show the correct use of each term. TODAY’S WORD The word for today is “temporize.” What part of speech is “temporize”? Define “temporize” and use it [...]

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CORRECTIONS & EXPLANATIONS – January 22, 2012

January 22, 2012

Here are the answers and explanations for last week’s entries. MONDAY – LET US LEARN ABOUT SENTENCES – Part 1 SIMPLE & COMPOUND SENTENCES What is a sentence? A sentence is a group of words with a subject and a predicate and which expresses a complete thought. What are the necessary components of a complete [...]

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LET US LEARN ABOUT SENTENCES – Part 5

January 20, 2012

SURPRISE TEST This little test covers all the material that was presented Monday through Thursday of this week. It is really meant as a review. Try it. Grade yourself. Use it to help identify writing errors by others. Print it and use it to line the bottom of your bird cage if you want. Use [...]

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LET US LEARN ABOUT SENTENCES – Part 4

January 19, 2012

COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCES The first step is to write a simple sentence. The second step is to combine two or more simple sentences to create a compound sentence. The third step is to create a complex sentence. The fourth step is to combine all of the above and to create a compound-complex sentence. The fifth step, [...]

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LET US LEARN ABOUT SENTENCES – Part 3

January 18, 2012

COMPLEX SENTENCES On Monday and Tuesday, material about simple sentences and compound sentences was presented. Today, we go to the next step in sentence construction and that is to the complex sentence. Start by defining the terms. What is a simple sentence? What is a compound sentence? What is a complex sentence? Look at the [...]

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LET US LEARN ABOUT SENTENCES – Part 2

January 17, 2012

PRACTICE WHAT WE LEARNED Yesterday, I presented “simple sentences” and “compound sentences” and asked you to create examples of each. Today, I list ten examples of simple and compound sentences. The project is to identify each sentence as either simple or compound. Cite a reason for each choice. The second part is to identify the [...]

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LET US LEARN ABOUT SENTENCES – Part 1

January 16, 2012

In an effort to remedy, or at least improve, writing skills, I am going to spend the week working on developing correct sentence structure, and the best way to do that is to discuss the very basics. Try to complete every step in the process by answering correctly all the questions as they are presented. [...]

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CORRECTIONS & EXPLANATIONS – January 15, 2012

January 15, 2012

Here are the corrections and explanations of last week’s entries. MONDAY Identify and correct the errors in the following pieces. Be sure to give reasons for your choices. Three is the magic number. “What can Canada hope to do about all of this? Perhaps a fair bit.” The second group of words is not a [...]

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