Practical Grammar Review: Answers to Review Exercises

If you participated in the Practical Grammar Review, you can practice your skills by completing the review exercises in the course materials.

Answers appear below.

Review Exercise: Parts of Speech

Don Greene – noun

enthusiastically – adverb

endorsed – verb

the – adjective

recent – adjective

drop – noun

in – preposition

long-term – adjective

interest – noun

rates – noun

and – conjunction

he – pronoun

expected – verb

further – adjective

easing – noun

of – preposition

the – adjective

next – adjective

sixty – adjective

days – noun

However – adverb

he – pronoun

cautioned – verb

that – conjunction

we – pronoun

should – verb

not – adverb

make – verb

unqualified – adjective

predictions – noun

about – preposition

the – adjective

future – noun

of – preposition

the – adjective

economy – noun

 

Review Exercise: Sentence structure

  1. fragment
  2. complete
  3. complete
  4. fragment
  5. complete
  6. complete
  7. fragment
  8. comma splice
  9. complete
  10. comma splice

Review Exercise: Pronouns

  1. it’s, I, who’s
  2. anyone, who, his or her
  3. who, I
  4. anybody, me, it’s
  5. them, their
  6. everybody, us, his or her
  7. his, himself
  8. it’s, everyone
  9. no one, he
  10. your, whom, anybody
  11. nobody, they
  12. ours, whom, hers

Review Exercise: Verbs

  1. plan
  2. require
  3. don’t
  4. gets
  5. work, has
  6. is, gets
  7. wants, give
  8. have
  9. prefers
  10. is, graduates
  11. runs, has
  12. were
  13. waits, has
  14. is
  15. weren’t
  16. ensures
  17. is
  18. were, were

Review Exercise: Adjectives and Adverbs

  1. badly: bad
  2. patientest: most patient
  3. quieter: more quietly
  4. forceful: forcefully
  5. good: well; good: well
  6. clear: clearly; accurate: accurately
  7. real: really
  8. hardly never comes: hardly comes
  9. correct
  10. more harder: harder
  11. slow: slowly
  12. anywheres: anywhere

Review Exercise: Apostrophes

  1. architect’s (singular) or architects’ (plural); employees’
  2. today’s; won’t; yesterday’s
  3. week’s
  4. we’ll; McAdam’s; or McAdams’; that’s; 1990s or 1990’s
  5. Inc.’s; she’ll; they’re
  6. who’ll; we’re; Smothers’
  7. he’ll; it will; carriers’
  8. agent’s (singular) or agents’ (plural); didn’t; Riggs’s
  9. it’s; housekeeper’s (singular) or housekeepers’ (plural)
  10. you’ll

Review Exercise: Commas

  1. If ever you’ve nothing to do and plenty of time to do it in, why don’t you come up and see me.
  2. In his best-selling book, Wabbit Hunting, the author Elmer Fudd discusses a hundred ways to trap, snare, or shoot wascally wabbits.
  3. Our bookkeeper, Teresa, impressed the internal auditors with her accurate, neat files.
  4. The temporary services agency Temps & Co. will give us eight hours of temp services at no charge just so we can evaluate their company.
  5. Erica, the company expert on time management, suggests that we conduct all staff meetings standing up.
  6. You can use UPS, Federal Express, DHI, Emery, Worldwide, or any express carrier you desire, but make sure the Maxwell proposal arrives at our London office before nine in the morning London time.
  7. We billed four hours at the principal rate of $280 per hour and eight hours at the staff rate of $80 per hour.
  8. Lorna Ewald, Ph.D. in computer sciences, started her own company in 1985, but she sold her interest to Logicon Inc., and then she came to work for us.
  9. Population growth in the United States, according to the latest census data, has fallen if you take out immigration.
  10. The qualities we seek include good people skills, willingness to learn, and willingness to travel.

Review Exercise: Other Punctuation Marks

(Please note: Some sentences lend themselves to various punctuation – for example, parentheses instead of dashes.)

  1. Sam’s motto – cash is king – made a lot sense in the 90s, when so many companies struggled under debt.
  2. Steel, oil, and railroads -- the great monopolies of the 19th century – changed the face of capitalism forever.
  3. Dr. Nathan, our only nuclear engineer, decided that the company’s research into cold fusion is a poor investment.
  4. A typical engine overhaul is a one-day job.
  5. Red, white, and blue will wrap our Fourth of July Sale in the flag.
  6. Laurie, our first- rate graphics artist, has volunteered to design the annual report cover, but we can’t spare her until the end of February, when we finish the Harley-Davidson proposal.
  7. The telecommunications van must be able to operate in the tropics: therefore, we added a dehumidifier to its on-board equipment.
  8. Dr. Harold Brown, Chairman of the Loudon Board of Trade, met with the Loudon County Zoning Commission to attempt a compromise between local environmentalist and developers.
  9. We didn’t anticipate Clyde’s knee jerk reaction about retiring our debt; nevertheless, we calmed him down and Clyde agreed to meet with Harris Bank.
  10. AMTRAK’s Metroliner runs between Washington, D.C. and New York in 2 hours and 52 minutes with stops in New Carrollton, Maryland; Baltimore, Maryland; Wilmington, Delaware; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
  11. Sperry Inc. allows employees to keep their own frequent flyer accounts; however, employees must book flights through the company’s travel section.
  12. According to Milo Minderbinder, professor at the Wharton School of Economics, a tax increase, however large, will not reduce the federal deficit because the tax increase will reduce GNP, which reduces overall revenue to the government.
  13. Whenever Al thinks he’s got a clear-cut, no-risk deal, he re-evaluates everyone’s position; he knows that in the long run, deals work only when all parties share the benefits and the risks.
  14. Any member of our cross-trained staff (that would include me) can help you solve your most difficult files management problems.