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ACTIVE VERBS

An ACTIVE verb describes an action !

infinitive:	to do
singular:	he does
plural:	they do

run(s)

jump(s)

read(s)

write(s)�calculate(s)

Here are some other ACTIVE verbs:

WHO is the actor? (Who performs the action?)

If the active verb is plural, then the actor must be plural.
If the active verb is singular, then the actor must be singular (unless it's you or I ).

Otherwise, you have an error: "Subject-Verb Disagreement in Number" (S/V #)

play(s)

go(es)

swim(s)

dive(s)

drive(s)

The most-common PASSIVE verb is: to be.� is, are, was, were, has been, etc.

throw(s)

catch(es)

push(es)

rollerskate(s)�

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VERB tense

present:	past:	perfect
do run eat fly go send swim ------------- ------------ read sounds like "reed" write drive throw catch	did ran ate flew went sent swam --------------- ------------ read sounds like "red" wrote drove threw caught	has done has run has eaten has flown has gone has sent�has swum�------------ --------------- ------------ - has read has written has driven has thrown has caught

		perfect
present:	do	has done
past:	did	had done
future:	will do	will have done

"Irregular" verbs

present:	past:	perfect
jump play calculate rollerskate	jumped played calculated rollerskated	has jumped has played has calculated has rollerskated
	(append "ed")	(same as past)

"Regular" verbs

The most irregular verb is: to be

is, are, was, were, �am, has been, ...�

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Pronouns -- case errors

SUBJECT CASE (the ACTOR)	ACTIVE VERB�(Action)	OBJECT CASE�(the TARGET)�(the Victim)
I�you	chase	me�you
he�she it who	chases	him�her�it�whom
we�you (plural)�they	chase	us you (plural)�them

Letter "m" is only for�OBJECT CASE pronouns!

Not sure whether it's "she" vs. "her"?� Try he vs. him or try they vs. them.

If "him" is wrong, then "her" is wrong.� If "they" is right, then so is "she".

Unsure about "me" vs. "I"?� Check he vs. him or we vs. us.

If "he" is wrong, then "me" is wrong.� If "we" is right, then "I". is right.

Is it "who" or "whom"?

Just check he/him or they/them or I/me.

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Possessive pronouns (& contractions)

SUBJECT (ACTOR)	ACTIVE VERB�(Action)	POSESSIVE�(OWNER of the� Target / Victim)	NOT:
I�you	chase	my car.�your car.	�you're
he�she it who	chases	his car.�her car.�its car.�whose	it's who's
we�you (plural)�they	chase	our cars. your (plural) cars. their cars.	you're they're

NOTE:

possessive pronouns

NEVER contain apostrophe!

	CONTRACTION		NOT:
You are	You're chasing	your car.	you're car
It is	It's chasing	its car.	it's car
Who is	Who's chasing	whose car?	who's car
We are	We're chasing	our car?	Where�Were
They are	They're chasing	their car?	they're car�there

PASSIVE VOICE

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The English language can be confusing!

Limerick:

A fly and a flea in a flue�were imprisoned, so what could they do?� "Let us fly," said the flea;� "let us flee," said the fly.�So they flew thru a flaw in the flue!

Can you identify parts of speech?

"Time_noun-subject flies_verb like_preposition an arrow_noun-object"� "Fruit_adjective flies_noun-subject like_verb a garbage_adjective truck_noun-object."

The fat cat loves to lie in the sun.

My son will sometimes lie to get out of trouble.

Tonite, right before I lie down, I will write up a will �to lay down what lies ahead after I am lain in my grave.�

A panda eats, shoots, and leaves.

See the snake? It's eating its tail.�.

Were you aware that we're watching where the calf roams. .�I wind my watch (which I wound this morning), avoiding the rain and wind which bothers the wound on my calf.

Did you see her dress?�“Let’s stop controlling people.”�"Squad helps dog bite victim."�"Iraqi head seeks arms."

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Misplaced modifiers

I saw a man on a hill with a telescope.

Look at the dog with one eye.”

Sarah gave a bath to her dog wearing a pink t-shirt.

Man eating piranha mistakenly sold as pet fish.

She saw a puppy and a kitten on the way to the store.

Three offices were reported robbed by the Atlanta police last week.

Juvenile court to try shooting defendant.

She served sandwiches to the children on paper plates.

He has married friends.

"I saw a man on a hill with a telescope."�-- There’s a man on a hill, and I’m watching him with my telescope.�-- There’s a man on a hill, who I’m seeing, and he has a telescope.�-- There’s a man, and he’s on a hill that also has a telescope on it.�--I’m on a hill, and I saw a man using a telescope.�-- There’s a man on a hill, and I’m sawing him with a telescope.

"Look at the dog with one eye."�-- Look at the dog using only one of your eyes.�-- Look at the dog that only has one eye.�-- Perhaps the dog found an eye somewhere, and we’re looking at the dog.

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More examples of ambiguous English.

"Brave men run in my family." – Bob Hope
Prostitutes Appeal to Pope – newspaper headline
Pentagon Plans Swell Deficit – newspaper headline�"I can't tell you how much I enjoyed meeting your husband."– William Empson
"I said to myself, 'The last thing you must do is forget your speech.' � As I left this morning, the last thing I did was to forget my speech."– Rowan Atkinson
"We saw her duck" (Did she lower her heads? Or did that duck belong to her?) – Hurford, Heasley, & Smith
"I’ve never seen potatoes cooked like that before."– Jonah Baldwin in the film Sleepless in Seattle, 1993�I can't recommend this book too highly.

https://www.thoughtco.com/ambiguity-language-1692388

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Ambiguity & Zeugma

"An ambiguity, in ordinary speech, means something very pronounced, and as a rule witty or deceitful. I propose to use the word in an extended sense: any verbal nuance, however slight, which gives room for alternative reactions to the same piece of language... We call it ambiguous, I think, when we recognize that there could be a puzzle as to what the author meant, in that alternative views might be taken without sheer misreading. If a pun is quite obvious it would not be called ambiguous, because there is no room for puzzling. But if an irony is calculated to deceive a section of its readers, I think it would ordinarily be called ambiguous."�– William Empson, Seven Types of Ambiguity, 1947

Zeugma: A zeugma is a figure of speech in which one "governing" word or phrase modifies two distinct parts of a sentence. Often, the governing word will mean something different when applied to each part, as in the sentence, "He took his coat and his vacation." The verb "to take" makes sense with and governs both "coat" and "vacation," but is appropriate to each in a different way. https://www.litcharts.com/literary-devices-and-terms/zeugma

This memorable zeugma from Chapter 1 of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer sets the tone for the rest of the novel, in that it yokes (or ties together) misbehavior and the experience of "glory":�� In an instant both boys were rolling and tumbling in the dirt, ... and covered themselves with dust and glory.

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