Verb Tense Consistency

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verbsVerb tense consistency means that all of the verbs within the sentence, or passage, are in the same tense. This is important, so that it is clear to the reader, when the action has happened. If the verbs are in the past tense, we know that the action has already happened. If the verbs are in the present tense, we know that the action is happening right now. If the verbs are in the future tense, the action has not yet happened.

When the tense is not consistent the reader can become confused about when an event took place. It can be tricky to maintain tense consistency since, we often start telling a story that happened in the past, and then shift to the present tense, in the middle of the story, like this:

Yesterday I walked down the street and I saw a huge dog. The dog was walking all by itself and I wondered where it’s owner was. Suddenly the dog starts running towards me at full speed. It’s running so fast that I don’t have time to think, so I jump behind a mail box and watched it run right past me.

Notice that the verbs in the first two sentences are in past tense. The third sentence shifts into present tense. The fourth sentence starts out in present tense and then shifts to past tense. This kind of unnecessary tense shifting can be confusing to the reader.

We do this when we talk because we want our listener to feel as if they were right there with us having that experience. Nevertheless, it is important not to do this in writing, so that the reader doesn’t become confused. The trick is to pick a tense and stick with it. When writing about something that happened yesterday stick with the past tense. When writing about something that is happening right now stick with the present tense, and when writing about something that will happen in the future stick with the future tense.

Here is that same story in consistent past tense:

Yesterday I walked down the street and I saw a huge dog. The dog was walking all by itself and I wondered where its owner was. Suddenly the dog started running towards me at full speed. It was running so fast that I didn’t have time to think, so I jumped behind a mail box and watched it run right past me.

Notice how much clearer that passage is with all of the verbs in past tense. 

Here it is again in present tense: 

I walk down the street and I see a huge dog. The dog is walking all by itself and I wonder where its owner is. Suddenly the dog starts running towards me at full speed. It’s running so fast that I don’t have time to think, so I jump behind a mail box, and watch it run right past me.

Please note that it is difficult to maintain consistent present tense. It is also rare that consistent present tense is needed since it is unusual to write about something while it’s actually happening.

Here’s a link to a lesson on verb tense consistency. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/601/04/

Here is a link to several verb tense consistency exercises. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/exercises/2/22

Watch this video for an interactive verb tense consistency lesson.

Subject Verb Agreement

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Flickr: Creative Commons

Subjects and verbs are the two basic components of a sentence. Subjects = nouns: person, place, or thing    Verbs = action or state of being. The subjects and verbs, within each sentence, have to agree with each other in terms of numbers. A singular noun must correspond to  singular verb and, a plural noun must correspond to a plural verb. The following sentences are examples of subjects and verbs agreeing with each other.

The people are protesting. (plural)
She is protesting. (singular)
They are seeking justice. (plural)
She is seeking justice. (singular)
Andrea and her friends are passionate about their cause. (plural)                                 Andrea is passionate about her cause. (singular)
They work hard to ensure that people are treated fairly. (plural)
She works hard to ensure that people are treated fairly. (singular)

Click the following links for subject verb agreement tutorials.

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/599/01/

https://www.sinclair.edu/centers/tlc/pub/handouts_worksheets/grammar_punctuation_writing/subject_verb_agreement.pdf

Watch this video for a visual tutorial on subject verb agreement.

 

Homophones: There, Their, They’re

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Homophones are words that sound alike, or the same, but are spelled differently and have different meanings. It’s important to know how to spell these words because, when they are misspelled the meaning of the sentence changes.

There are quite a few homophones like: weather and whether, accept and except, or close and clothes. This post will focus on the homophones: There, Their, and They’re. These words sound almost identical even though they mean very different things.

There = in, at, or to that place or position. He is sitting on the bench over there. What are you doing under there? How are we going to get there?

Their = indicates possession or belonging. The shopping bags on the ground are theirs. Their heads were blocking our view. They forgot their luggage.

They’re= is a combination of the words they and are. To combine those words, remove the a and leave an apostrophe in its place like this: they’re. They’re going to a party later. They’re probably going to stay out late. I don’t know how they’re going to get home.

Here are a few of sentences that use all three homophones: I wonder why they’re sitting over there with their shopping bags. They’re going to use their GPS to get there. They’re not allowed to bring their pets over there. 

Click the following link for a list of homophones that are commonly confused with one another. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/engagement/2/1/48/

Watch the following video for a tutorial on the homophones: There, Their, and They’re. For an extra challenge, watch this video several times and see if you can find a missing apostrophe that is not related to those homophones.

Using Articles: A – AN – THE

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THINK

The words a, an, and the are called articles. These simple words play an important role in the English language. The proper use of articles can seem particularly daunting to people for whom English is not their native language. Some languages don’t have articles at all. Other languages have articles, but they are used differently than they’re used in English.

In English the words  a, an, and the are the articles used before nouns.
For example:
A chair
An umbrella
The girl

The tricky part is knowing when to use which article.

A is an Indefinite Article:
“A chair” is not definite. This means that we’re not referring to a specific  chair, we’re referring to any chair.
Example 1: Put the bag on a chair in the front row.

An is an Indefinite Article:
An is similiar to  a, but it’s used when the noun following it begins with a vowel. We say an umbrella rather than a umbrella, simply because it sounds better.
Example 2: I put an umbrella in my bag in case of rain.

The is a Definite Article: 
“The girl” is definite. This means we are talking about a specific girl, not any girl.
Example 1: Put your bag on the chair in the front row. This implies that there is only one chair available in the front row.
Example 2: I put the umbrella in my bag in case of rain. This implies the speaker either has one umbrella to choose from or that the speaker is explaining why she put the umbrella in her bag.

The following you tube video contains a lesson on the proper use of articles in English. It even has a quiz that you can take at the end to see if you’ve understood the lesson. After you’ve watched the video click the following link for some exercises in the proper use of articles. 

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/exercises/2/1

 

 

Apostrophes

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apostrophe

 

Apostrophes can be pretty useful. They are the piece of punctuation that allows us to take a shortcut. By using an apostrophe we can shorten the number of words that we use.

Apostrophes allow us to combine two words and form contractions like can’t or won’t. Forming contractions is relatively simple. The apostrophe takes the place of the missing letters.

Another function of the apostrophe is to indicate possession (or belonging.) This is a bit more complicated than forming contractions but, once you get the hang of it, they’ll start to make sense.

To indicate possession (that something belongs to someone) add  ‘s.

Examples:

The dog that belongs to Pedro = Pedro’s dog.

The purse that belongs to my mother = my mother’s purse.

In the case of more than one person, where there is an s on the end of the word to indicate that it is plural, place the apostrophe after the s. 

Examples:

The purses that belong to our mothers = our mothers’ purses.

The house that belongs to my grandparents = my grandparents’ house.

In the case of more than one person where the word does not end in an s, simply add ‘s.

Examples:

The telescope that belongs to the women = the women’s telescope.

The locker room that belongs to the men = the men’s locker room.

Click here for a more in depth tutorial on apostrophes. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/621/01/

Watch the following you tube for a trick to knowing if you have put the apostrophes in the right places.

 

 

 

 

Using Commas for Effective Sentence Structure

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https://flic.kr/p/9aZjcK

Fancy Clock 時計 of a Hairdressers Salon messed up in Traffic Signs in Kashiwa City Chiba Japan by: Arjan Richter

Think of punctuation as the traffic signs that guide your reader through your writing.

Without punctuation the reader has no idea when to stop and when to pause and if you’re about to change the subject from punctuation to grammar also the reader will get tired when reading great swaths of text without a chance to pause and breathe and contemplate what they’ve just read do you see what I mean?

Periods tell your reader when to stop, and commas let the reader know when it’s time to pause. There are other forms of punctuation like semi-colons, dashes, parenthesis, and brackets that can be useful too. But, let’s start with commas. If you work on using commas appropriately you will see an improvement in the clarity of your writing.

Click here for a link to a tutorial on commas from the Online Writing Lab at Purdue University.

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/692/01/

 

Welcome to Words Have Lives Fall 2014!

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Photo: Brooklyn Eagle from Flickr Creative Commons

Photo: Brooklyn Eagle from Flickr Creative Commons

This site on Open Labs contains information relevant to writing skills geared to writing strong college essays and geared to helping students confidently pass the CATW!

Throughout the semester, you will get reminders about tutoring services from wordshavelives@gmail.com.  These emails will also include links to this site, providing resources available to you on or off campus.

Link for Writer’s Block

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"That Old Problem with the Double Negative: Williamsburg Bridge" by Jennifer Sears

“That Old Problem with the Double Negative: Williamsburg Bridge” by Jennifer Sears

Taking the CATW is stressful!  Think about how you will tackle the stress during practice exams so you have a strategy. The Online Writing Lab at Purdue University offers some “cures” for common symptoms of “writer’s block,” such as “You’ve been assigned a topic which bores you” and “You are so stressed out you can’t seem to put a word on the page.”

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/567/01/

Six Reading Strategies

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"Williamsburg Bridge: April 1, 2014" by Jennifer Sears

“Brooklyn 4 Life (Williamsburg Bridge): April 1, 2014” by Jennifer Sears

In CATW tutoring sessions, many students have expressed concerns about reading strategies and writer’s block.  There are many approaches to reading well and reading as a writer who must write a response essay.  I’ve italicized this last sentence because you must keep your task in mind even as you read and analyze the essay you are given. “Reading as a writer: means you are constantly in conversation with the writer.

Here are six reading strategies that have worked well for previous students:

Reading Strategies for Writing a Response Essay:

1.  Identify the writer and title? What questions arise when you read the title?

2.  Preview the beginning and ending of the essay quickly the first time to identify the topic of the essay and to get a sense of the writer’s argument. You might ask:

  • what situation or conflict is described in this essay (topic)?
  • Is there a change or response to this conflict suggested by the writer (thesis)?

Note your answers to these questions (in “notation” form) in your margins.  Remember the writer’s argument (not the topic) is his/her thesis.

3.  Read the whole passage slowly.  As you have already considered the thesis, use this reading to understand how the writer is actively supporting his/her argument from the introductory paragraph all of the way to the concluding paragraph.   You might ask:

  • What specific points are made?
  • Which ideas best legitimize the writer’s argument?

Underline and annotate in the margins your findings.

4.  Note argumentative strategies used in the essay.  How and where does the writer use comparison and contrast, description, exemplification, division and classification, cause and effect, and/or narration? How are examples being used to support the author’s ideas? (Remember: you can use similar strategies and transitions are learned by reading and noticing how other writers use them.)

5.  Decide and write and the top corner of the essay whether you find the writer’s argument a legitimate argument.

6.  Freewrite/brainstorm on the bottom of the essay or in the margins. You might:

  • Respond with a few words that describe the problem or situation the author presents in the essay in your own words.
  • Respond with a few words that explore the cause of the problem or situation.
  • Respond with few words that trigger comparison: can you relate to the issue discussed? Could a story of someone you know relate to the issue discussed?
  • Respond with a few words or sentences that will help you remember how you might change the situation.

art = Article (Misused or Omitted)

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From Flickr Creative Commons (Credit: http://farmanac.com/)

From Flickr Creative Commons (Credit: http://farmanac.com/)

“The,” “a,” and “an” are called articles in English.  Many student writers are aware that “the” is specific (or “definite”) while “a” and “an” are both non-specific (or “indefinite”).  For example:

She ate a hot pepper. (indefinite: any hot pepper.)

She ate the hot pepper. (definite: the reciever knows the hot pepper she ate or perhaps there was only one)

The “indefinite” an is used before a word that begins with a vowel:

She at an orange-colored hot pepper.

Plurals: no article is used with indefinite articles whereas an article is used with the definite article.

She ate hot peppers every morning. (indefinite)

The hot peppers she ate every morning contributed to her ulcers. (definite)

Non-count Nouns: no article is used with indefinite articles; an article is used with the definite article.

Spicy food is hard to avoid in our globally-influenced cuisine.

The spicy food on the menu reflects the influence of the Indian population in our neighborhood.

Need more? Visit the Purdue Online Writing Lab regarding this issue.