Meritus Academy - Winter Term - Writing G8-9 - Homework 12

Full name: ________________________________________ Homework grade: _________

Original teacher’s name or class day/time: _________________________________________

Note: This homework appears longer due to the readings, but is simply five short response parts.
In class, we learned about 7 different syntactical structures starting with the subject.
1. Subject → verb
2. Subject → verb → direct object
3. Subject → verb → subject complement
4. Subject → verb → adverbial complement
5. Subject → verb → indirect object → direct object
6. Subject → verb → direct object → object complement
7. Subject → verb → direct object → adverbial complement

*Part 1: For each of the sentence below, please match the sentence with the corresponding
number for the sentence structure. There are a couple examples below:
➢ I stood up. 1
➢ She gave me a letter. 5

A) Leonard moved the rook. A) __________

B) His brother gave him an ominous look. B) __________
C) I shuddered. C) __________
D) Some chess moves are abhorrent. D) __________
E) My opponent made my day horrible. E) __________
F) The brother moved his knight forward. F) __________
G) I chuckled frightfully. G) __________
H) The Barnes Opening is the worst move. H) __________

Sentences Beginning with “There”

Source: https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2guides/guides/wrtps/index-
eng.html?lang=eng&lettr=indx_catlog_v&page=9SC4lWsaAlSw.html#:~:text=In%20most%20English%20sentences%2C%20the,the%20verb%20is%20or%20are.

A present-tense verb (as well as a simple past form of the verb be) must agree in number with its
subject. That is, the verb must be singular if its subject is singular, and plural if its subject is
plural.
In most English sentences, the subject comes before the verb. But sentences beginning with
there is or there are follow a different order: the subject comes after the verb is or are. Here is an
example: There is the bus!
Meritus Academy – Winter Term Writing G8-9 – Homework 12

The subject in this sentence is bus. Both bus and is are singular, so they agree. (A more
colloquial way to write this sentence is to use the contraction for is: There’s the bus!)
Here’s another example: There are 20 books for sale.
➢ Books is the subject of this sentence, and it’s plural, so we need the plural verb are to
agree with the plural subject.

You can also apply this rule to there was and there were; there seems/appears to be and there
seem/appear to be; and here is and here are.

*Part 2: Fill in the blanks below with the verbs in the word box below:
Is Are Seems
Was Were Appear

A) There _________________ to be a crack in the vase from my initial observations.

B) Here _________________ your keys that are still shining brightly.

C) When I checked yesterday, there _________________ still an odd smell in the room.

D) There _________________ to be several errors in the report from my review of the file.

E) Here _________________ the map that I am using.

F) Last year, there _________________ three bonfires burning in the field.

Exception
An exception occurs when there is a list of nouns as subject. Logically, a list of two or more
items would be plural and would therefore require a plural verb:
➢ There are a punch bowl, finger foods and a cake on the table.

But it sounds odd to have are next to the singular noun phrase a punch bowl. The verb is would
sound better:
➢ There is a punch bowl, finger foods and a cake on the table.

So which of these sentences is correct? The answer is both. The first one follows the standard
rule. But the second is also accepted, and many writers would prefer it because it sounds more
natural. Therefore, when the subject after there is or there are is a list of items, you can make
your verb agree with the first noun in the list.

Note: Although there is or there are constructions are useful in some situations, some writers
prefer to reword the sentence. If you decide to reword and put the list before the verb, you must
make the verb agree with the plural list (and not just the closest item):
➢ A punch bowl, finger foods and a cake are on the table.

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Meritus Academy – Winter Term Writing G8-9 – Homework 12

Dropping the Subject for Stylistic Reasons

Source: https://languagetool.org/insights/post/dropping-the-subject/

General Rules:
➢ Generally speaking, every written sentence needs a subject.
➢ When you combine two independent sentences with a coordinating conjunction (e.g.,
and, or, but), repeating the same subject might appear redundant.
➢ Whenever the message of the sentence is unambiguous, you can leave out the subject in
the second part of your phrase.

What Is a Subject Drop?

The connectors and, or, but, and then combine two main clauses into one sentence. In order to
be as least redundant as possible, it’s possible to drop the subject—in the second main clause.
This reading explains when you should avoid doing this, and when omitting the subject is the
better alternative.

Subject Dropping Is Not Possible

If the subject of the first clause is a compound subject, and the only one of that group is the
subject of the second clause, then you cannot drop the subject. Thus, you need to specify who
(of that group) is the subject of the second clause. For example, if you mean to write:

➢ The parents, the kids, and the dog went on vacation and the kids got a sunburn.

Then you need to write the full thing out, you cannot drop the subject and write:

➢ The parents, the kids, and the dog went on vacation and [Ø] got a sunburn.

Because then, it reads as if everyone got a sunburn.

If a sentence consists of two clauses with different subjects, remember not to drop the second
one. In the following example, you can see how doing so makes the sentence ambiguous. You
would guess that the students were the subjects of both clauses.

➢ The students can’t go to university while [the professors are] striking next week.
➢ The students can’t go to university while [Ø] striking next week.

Subject Omission Only in Informal Writing or Speech

In casual conversation, we often leave out words, or even whole phrases. We especially like to
drop auxiliaries, copula verbs (e.g., to be), and relative pronouns, when the resulting sentence is
still comprehensible. And then, we might also omit subjects or objects of sentences. Most of the
time, the personal pronoun “I” gets elided at the beginning of a sentence.

➢ [Have you] ever been to Paris?

➢ [Are they] still playing?
➢ [I] love you.
➢ [I] haven’t been to Paris yet. [I’m] going this summer.

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Meritus Academy – Winter Term Writing G8-9 – Homework 12

Omitting the Subject in Formal Writing

Gerund constructions in formal writing provide the option to not repeat an identical subject. You
can find these in subordinate clauses introduced by while, as, when, etc.
➢ The man got a cramp while [he was] swimming in the sea.(

The constructions mentioned above (with and, or, but, and then) also facilitate an omission of
the subject when modal verbs come into play. Nevertheless, this second subject must always be
the same as the first one.

➢ They finished early and they could have come sooner.

→ They finished early and [Ø] could have come sooner.

Dropping or not dropping the subject is a stylistic choice, as both are grammatically correct. It is
encouraged you drop redundant subjects whenever possible to ensure a precise and clear tone in
your writing. It corrects traditional mistakes, [Ø] suggests improvements, and [Ø] proposes
synonyms.

Finally, we use subject omission for imperatives and commands.

*Part 3: Review the sentences below and following the prompts below:
1. If nothing in the sentence can be omitted, then write “N/A” to the right of the sentence.
2. If something can be omitted, write on the line the word or phrase that can be removed.

A) Our class finishes all our assigned work but we may have some errors. ______________

B) Joshua, Rachel, and Meliodas worked hard yet Rachel failed her test. _____________

C) The student got tired while she was writing her response. ______________

D) They can eat pizza or they could have consumed soup. ______________

E) You should please finish this homework package! ______________

F) Have you finished part 3 of this package? ______________

G) She loves Charlie. ______________

Remember
➢ Never omit the second subject when it’s not the same as the first one.
➢ Never omit the second subject when the resulting sentence is ambiguous.
➢ Always omit the second subject when it’s the same as the first one.
➢ Omitting the first subject is highly informal and only used in spoken language.
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Meritus Academy – Winter Term Writing G8-9 – Homework 12

*Part 4: In addition to sentences beginning with “here” and “there”, there are other sentence
constructs that allow for the subject to come after the verb. Match the sentences with the
corresponding number for each of the sentence types below.
1. Interrogative Sentences: questions that usually start with an auxiliary verb.
2. Passive Voice: Reverse of active voice to draw more attention to the action than subject
3. Conditional Clauses: Typically start with 'were', 'had', or 'should' to set up a condition.
4. Exclamation Sentences: signify admiration, surprise or other strong emotions and may
begin with “What” or “how” but are not questions/interrogative sentences.

Examples:
➢ Had I known she loved me, I would have confessed to her. 3
➢ Does she know what you did? 1
➢ What an amazing game it is! 4
➢ The sushi had been eaten by me. 2

Complete the questions below by following the instructions above.

A) My homework was completed by me. A) ________

B) Is this homework package easier than normal? B) ________

C) How spectacular learning is! C) ________

D) Were she to understand her error, she would learn. D) ________

E) Hands were clapped and cheers were shouted by the fans. E) ________

Define one of these words that you don’t know: typological, lexical, dynamism, or foreground.

Word: ______________________ - ________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

‘Linguistic agency’ (also called ‘agentivity’ or ‘animacy’) refers to the linguistic marking of
different perspectives in which represented characters are viewed as relating to objects and to
other characters in the (represented) world (see existent).

Languages typologically offer different lexical and grammatical choices for character and event
construction, and by use of such choices speakers signal different *perspectives (and position
selves and others) in terms of more versus less agency, dynamism, and affectedness.

In this way way, speakers can downplay or foreground characters’ (as well as their own)
involvement in narrated events and event sequences, and also create evaluations and stances
with regard to who is morally right or at fault.
Source: http://www.econgeography.org/~mbamberg/Encyclopedia_Entries.htm

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Meritus Academy – Winter Term Writing G8-9 – Homework 12

*Part 5: For the final exercise, please write down the agent on the line provided. If there’s no
agent in the sentence then please write “N/A” as an abbreviation for not applicable.

A) Just yesterday, I saw Audrey's friend at the library. _____________

B) Ignoring his parent’s advice, he lent his friend some cash. _____________

C) The update about adopted dogs consoled me. _____________

D) Before medical school, she visited California. _____________

E) He is lifting heavier weights for his health. _____________

F) The tornado was expected in Barrie. _____________

G) Her ingenuity never ceases to astound me. _____________

H) Our teacher told my friend to speak up! _____________

I) Some ransomware is in my laptop. _____________

J) The patient fought for his life during surgery. _____________

K) Tomorrow, they will shovel the snow. _____________

L) Father sang a song for me. _____________

M) I regretfully stepped on the Lego piece. _____________

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