English Grammar: Sentence Structure, Subject-Verb Agreement, and Common Errors

Rule for 'neither...nor' or 'either...or'

The verb agrees with the subject closest to it.

Subject in 'Many of the children is here.'

Subject = children (plural). Corrected: 'Many of the children are here.'

Subject in 'The group of dancers are practicing.'

Subject = group (singular).

Type of pronoun that must agree with a singular noun

A singular pronoun (he, she, it).

Fix the sentence 'Everyone lost their ticket.'

'Everyone lost his or her ticket.'

Define a simple sentence.

One independent clause.

Define a compound sentence.

Two independent clauses joined by FANBOYS.

Define a complex sentence.

One independent + one dependent clause.

Example identification of 'Rockford is in northern Illinois, but Cairo is in southern Illinois.'

Compound sentence.

What is a fragment?

A sentence missing a subject, verb, or complete thought.

Identify + fix 'Because the test was difficult.'

Fragment → 'Because the test was difficult, I studied all night.'

Identify the error in 'I ran to school I forgot my backpack.'

Run-on → 'I ran to school, and I forgot my backpack.'

Sentence type of 'Although Amelia Earhart attempted to fly around the world in 1937, she did not complete the trip.'

Complex sentence.

Identify clause type in 'Houdini was an escape artist, and he amazed the public.'

Compound sentence.

Correct the error in 'Children exposed to a good education in America is likely to go to college.'

'Children exposed to a good education in America are likely to go to college.'

Fragment, run-on, or correct in 'The television blared from his bedroom.'

Correct sentence.

Fix this run-on: 'She was tired she still ran 18 miles.'

'She was tired, but she still ran 18 miles.'

Identify problem in 'One of the dragonfly's legs are broken.'

Subject = one (singular). Correct: 'One of the dragonfly's legs is broken.'

What are FANBOYS?

For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So.

What do prepositional phrases do to finding the subject?

They distract you; the subject is never inside the prepositional phrase.

How to identify the subject quickly?

Find the verb → ask 'who/what is doing it?'

How to fix a fragment?

Add the missing subject, verb, or attach it to a complete sentence.

How to fix a run-on?

Add a comma + FANBOYS, or separate into two sentences.