SAMPLE College Composition

‭●‬ ‭The‬ ‭monkeys have‬ ‭escaped their cage‬ ‭●‬ ‭The‬ ‭monkey has‬ ‭escaped his cage.‬ ‭Be‬‭particularly‬‭alert‬‭to‬‭number‬‭agreement‬‭when‬‭proofreading‬‭sentences‬‭where‬‭the‬‭subject‬‭and‬‭verb‬‭are‬ ‭separated by other words or phrases.‬

‭●‬ ‭The‬ ‭monkeys‬ ‭, who are always causing trouble,‬ ‭have‬ ‭escaped their cage again.‬

‭Some‬‭nouns‬‭cause‬‭confusion‬‭because‬‭they‬‭are‬‭singular‬‭but‬‭refer‬‭to‬‭a‬‭group‬‭(committee,‬‭family,‬‭or‬‭team).‬ ‭These nouns take the singular form of the verb.‬

‭●‬ ‭The‬ ‭family‬ ‭of monkeys‬ ‭has‬ ‭escaped.‬

‭Noun/pronoun agreement:‬ ‭A pronoun needs to agree in‬‭number with the noun it replaces.‬

‭●‬ ‭The‬ ‭Smiths‬ ‭live next door to me. I have known‬ ‭them‬ ‭all my life.‬

‭Be careful with singular nouns that refer to groups.‬

‭●‬ ‭The‬ ‭Committe‬ ‭e made a decision.‬ ‭It‬ ‭took a break immediately‬‭afterward.‬

‭Possessive‬‭versus‬‭plural‬‭form:‬ ‭Writers‬‭are‬‭often‬‭confused‬‭about‬‭when‬‭to‬‭use‬‭-‘s.‬ ‭The‬‭plural‬‭form‬‭of‬‭a‬ ‭noun is formed by adding –s. The possessive form is formed by adding –‘s.‬

‭●‬ ‭The‬ ‭boys‬ ‭ran down the street.‬ ‭●‬ ‭The‬ ‭boy’s‬ ‭mother yelled at him for running.‬ ‭Verbs‬ ‭Verb‬ ‭tense‬ ‭agreement:‬ ‭Within‬ ‭a‬ ‭sentence‬ ‭or‬ ‭paragraph,‬ ‭all‬‭verbs‬‭must‬‭agree‬‭in‬‭tense.‬‭Consistency‬‭in‬ ‭verb tense can prevent confusion. The following chart clarifies the different verb tenses.‬

‭Tense‬

‭Simple‬

‭Progressive‬

‭Perfect‬

‭Perfect Progressive‬

‭Present‬

‭I dance‬

‭I am dancing‬

‭I have danced‬

‭I have been dancing‬

‭Past‬

‭I danced‬

‭I was dancing‬

‭I had danced‬

‭I had been dancing‬

‭Future‬

‭I will dance‬

‭I will be dancing‬

‭I will have danced‬

‭I will have been dancing‬

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