Sentence Structure Errors; Subject Verb Agreement; Verbs
Practice
LIN1670C
Answers
The corrections are in bold and underlined. The reason that the correction is needed is in parentheses. Answers may vary.
Although most teachers care about their students and try to create a good atmosphere in the classroom, my American history teacher definitely does not. In fact, I really dread going to his class. First, his personal taste in clothing is the most annoying I’ve ever encountered. I’m (comma splice) generally not a very observant person when (no comma before dependent word) it comes to fashion, but (comma before one of the FANBOYS) Dr. Blitch’s attire is totally distracting. If he is not wearing his favorite neon orange colored dress shirt with lime green tie, then (comma is needed between a DC and an IC; semi-colon is incorrect) he is wearing this tweed sports coat that must date back to the early 1940’s. It is not the coat itself that bothers (subject-verb agreement error--"bother" refers to "coat) me; it (run-together sentence) is the mothball odor that makes (subject-verb agreement) me sneeze incessantly when (no comma before dependent word) I’m in the same room with that coat. His clothing makes it difficult for me to remember specific dates and names, all (change period to comma to eliminate fragment) important details when one studies history. Moreover, his teaching techniques are (subject-verb agreement) quite poor. Students receive (subject-verb agreement) no syllabus until midway through the term, so we don’t know what assignments are worth as (no comma needed) we stay abreast of our grades. Not only do students receive the syllabus late, but this professor has been at least ten minutes late for every class this term. He (comma splice) is also the worst at grading and returning papers in a timely fashion. I have still not received my first essay of this term, yet (comma before one of the FANBOYS) two others have been required since then. How do I know what changes I should make from assignment to assignment when (no comma before dependent word) I receive no feedback? Most of all, his attitude toward students is (subject-verb agreement) terrible. I sense that he is aggravated with questions of all sorts, so I know I used my quota of questions the first night of class. He makes (subject-verb agreement) everyone in my class feel stupid with comments like, "I can’t believe you don’t know that! You should have learned (verb error) that in second grade." I don’t feel comfortable going to his office for extra help because he has a sign on his office door that reads, "Don’t bother me unless it is very important." I’ve begun (verb error) the countdown, and (comma before one of the FANBOYS) I have only seven more meetings with Dr. Blitch this term; I can’t wait to take a different history class next term.