Self-study activity

Self-study activity Find the error, if any, in this sentence: "I cannot except that you won't go to the dance with me!" - ANS-I cannot accept that you won't go to the dance with me! Explanation: The easiest way to remember the difference in meaning between these two words is to look at their letters—accept has two c's that are like open arms, just waiting to hug and embrace and accept whatever is being offered, whereas except has a big X just waiting to reject and exclude something ("I will take all of the cookies except that one with the bite taken out of it"). Find the error, if any, in this sentence: "It is clear to see that the stock market is going to have it's ups and downs; it is important not to overreact to the volatility." - ANS-It is clear to see that the stock market is going to have its ups and downs; it is important not to overreact to the volatility. Explanation: It's is a contraction of it is or it has; it never shows possession. To test whether you need it's or its, try substituting the phrase it is or it has. If either of those work, you need the apostrophe. If neither of them make sense in your sentence, you don't need the apostrophe. Find the error, if any, in this sentence: "Heavy rains and thunderstorms continue to roll through the area; therefore, all flights are cancelled until tomorrow." - ANS-no error Explanation: This question tests your knowledge of semicolon use. In this case, a semicolon is used to join two independent clauses. All is well! Find the error, if any, in this sentence: "Katie did not have no time to pick Kevin up before the game." - ANS-Katie did not have any time to pick Kevin up before the game. Explanation: This sentence had a double negative, which is a big no-no. Just like in math, double negatives actually create a positive, which was not the intent of the sentence. Find the error, if any, in this sentence: "The wily fox escape the dogs who were chasing after it." - ANS-The wily fox escaped the dogs who were chasing after it. Explanation: The verbs need to match in subject and tense. In this case, the first verb, escape, did not match its subject in number (fox = singular, escape = plural) and it did not match the other verbs in tense (escape = present tense, were chasing = past tense). Find the error, if any, in this sentence: "The book was thrown on the bed by Madi." - ANS-No error, but the sentence would be stronger if written in active voice: "Madi threw the book on the bed." Explanation: Remember, while not grammatically incorrect, sentences written in passive voice can create weak, ineffectual writing. Try to always use active voice so that instead of the subject of the sentence being a victim of whatever action is being done, it can be the doer. Find the error, if any, in this sentence: Continues...