LanguageTeach

San Jose City College

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Parts of Speech: Analyzing Word Form Errors in Student Writing
Parts of speech are the building blocks of sentences: form follows function.

Word form errors occur when writers fail to understand the functions of the parts of speech. The incorrect choice of a part of speech (lexical category) for a particular sentence element results in a word form error, which affects sentence grammar. This includes verbals (infinitives, participles, gerunds) when they are formed correctly but selected incorrectly.

Error Analysis: The sentences in this section were written by ESL writers. Find the word form error in each sentence and click to see the correct form. Then read the grammar note.

	Click on word form errors. Read the grammar note.	Note
1.	Both the fish and the bear paw are important to me, but when I had to choicechoose one, I choicechose my lover’s love.	"Choice" is a noun. Both clauses need a verb in the past tense . Had to choose and chose are the correct forms. Had to is the past form of the modal must.
2.	I knew my daughter needed me, so I decided to go back to help her and her twinstwin daughters.	In English, unlike Spanish, adjectives do not have number so cannot agree with the noun. The correct form is twin daughters. Never add an -s to an adjective in English.
3.	The communists arrested all of the BuddhismBuddhist leaders in 1882.	Buddhism is a noun. The adjective suffix is -ist; the correct form is Buddhist. Other examples are communism-communist; capitalism-capitalist; imperialism-imperialist.
4.	I dedicated all of my time to taketaking care of my twins.	In this sentence to is a preposition, not part of an infinitive phrase. The gerund taking must follow the preposition as gerunds function as objects.
5.	Only for a few people, becoming successsuccessful is not related to money or material goods.	The gerund becoming is derived from an active linking verb and requires an adjective as complement *(becoming successful).* If the writer had used an article, the gerund phrase would be becoming a success.
6.	By that time, I had been the assistanceassistant manager for two years.	Adjectives precede nouns. The correct form is assistant manager.
7.	For me the fullness of livelife is achieved by becoming successsuccessful as a human being, even if it means turnturning down the opportunity of maketo make money. (Click multiple errors.)	Of is a preposition; it must be followed by a noun: the fullness of life. As in #5, the adjective form must follow the gerund: becoming successful. There is no article here to require a noun form. The verb means is followed by a gerund object..(means turning down)... The base form of a verb is never an object except as part of a two-part object after causative verbs. (His wife made him turn down the offer.) Of make is never a correct form. Infinitives function as adjective complements after nouns: the opportunity to make money.
8.	Tell lieTelling lies is shameful and disrespectful. People need to learn tellto tell the truth. (Click multiple errors.)	A verb cannot be a subject. Make tell a gerund and use a plural noun as its object: telling lies. Note that lie is a count noun and there is no indefinite article. However, telling a lie would also be correct. Why? Both the plural noun without the article and the singular noun with the indefinite article are used to generalize. The verb learn is followed by an infinitive object: learn to tell the truth.
9.	Although stress can make people feel frustratefrustrated and sometimes lose their self-conficence, there are always remedies cure to cure stress. (Click multiple errors.)	The past participle expresses the feeling a person gets. The full infinitive (to cure) completes the meaning of the noun remedies. It functions as an adjective.
10.	My grandmother got sick three days before the final. I was really stressed out over my last chance stayingto stay at SJSU and the news about my grandmother.	Again, the infinitive modifies a noun, chance. It functions as an adjective.
11.	You don't need to duplicate (in this case triplicate) your material this way. Duplication is always a source of confuseconfusion.	A noun must follow a preposition. Verbs can never function as objects of prepositions.
12.	Avoid bad habits; liveliving a healthy life is the best way for everyone.	While the first word, avoid, is an imperative verb, live cannot be a verb. It functions as the subject of the verb is in the second clause. A gerund subject phrase is needed.
13.	This experience taught me to be a little smarter and think everything through when makemaking a decision.	In this sentence, when I make a decision has been reduced to the participial phrase, when making a decision. Remember, the present participle comes from an active verb.
14.	When my sisters tried to go out with me, I felt emberrassembarrassed, and my brother was a baby, so took care oftaking care of him was a bigger problem for me. (Click multliple errors.)	The past participle is needed to express the feeling the writer had. The correct spelling is embarrassed. The last clause requires a gerund subject. Note that it comes from a three-word verb, taking care of.
15.	I will ask my children to use good language for their conversation. I will ask them don't humiliatenot to humiliate others and disgrace them by their language. I will ask my children to think good aboutwell of other people's actions, and don'tnot judge them. I will help my children understand that by treating others goodwell, we can make a better world. (Click four word form errors.)	After the verb will ask, a negative infinitive is needed. (I will ask them not to humiliate* others.)* Them functions as the subject of the infinitive. Others is the object of the infinitive. The verb think is followed by an adverb phrase: think well of other people's actions. (Note that good* is an adjective.)* The next negative infinitive phrase is parallel with to think well of others and not judge them. To goes with both infinitive phrases and does not need to be repeated. The adverb is needed in the gerund phrase. Remember that gerunds are verbals and an adverb modifies a verb: by treating others well...
16.	When I left Mexico, my father was happy because I would build a prospereprosperous future by studying and working hard. He felt sad because he believed that he would not see me again...In April of 2004, my father died. As he predicted, the last time we would see each other was when I left Mexico. My heart is full of sadsadness.	Suffixes change the part of speech. The suffix-ous is added to the verb prosper to make the adjective prosperous. The suffix -ness is added to the adjective sad to make the noun sadness.
17.	In the past, the Vietnamese were influenced by ConfucianConfucianism and TaosTaoism. ...The honor of a Vietnamese family is still very important. LostLosing the honor means lostlosing all.	-ism is a suffix which, in this context, means a doctrine or system of beliefs. Lost is a past tense verb. Verbs are never subjects or objects. Make the subject and object gerunds. (Losing the honor means losing all.)
18.	Many immigrants can't come by going through the government's process, so they have to choose between to staystaying where they are or to comecoming illegalillegally. (Click multiple word form errors.)	Objects of prepositions are gerunds, not infinitives. The preposition between has a compound gerund object. Adverbs modify gerunds, just as they do verbs. Add -ly to the adjective illegal to get illegally.
19.	A person who is lazy, drinkerand who drinks and irresponsibleis irresponsible doesn't make a good husband. (Click two errors to make segments parallel in form.)	To balance the sentence, two adjective clauses joined by the coordinator and are necessary. The second adjective clause becomes balanced by adding a second verb, [who drinks and is irresponsible.] Alternate revision: A person who is lazy and irresponsible and who drinks...This choice combines adjectives and then adds an adjective clause.
20.	I used to be stressed out by busy working everydayworking too hard everyday, study too muchby studying too much, not enough sleepby not getting enough sleep, and effectby the effects of emotionally devastating events in my family. (Click four items in the list to see correct parallel segments.)	The writer was stressed out by four things. Each cause of stress should be expressed in a prepositional phrase, making the list parallel.

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