ASSIGNMENT #2
THE LITTLE, BROWN COMPACT HANDBOOK
1. Define parallelism: Parallelism is a similarity of grammatical form for similar elements of meaning within a sentence or among sentences.
2. Rewrite the following sentences so all parts are parallel.
a. The group likes to swim, to ski and go roller-skating. The group likes to swim, ski and roller-skate.
b. Going to the store is not as interesting as it is to watch a movie.
Going to the store is not as interesting as watching a movie.
c. The one who studies hard is the person with good grades.
The one who studies hard has good grades.
d. To drive at night is more difficult than daylight driving.
Driving at night is more difficult than driving in daylight.
3. What are idioms?
Idioms are expressions in any language that do not fit the rules for meaning or grammar.
4. From the list of “Idioms with prepositions” select five (5) idioms and use each in a sentence.
1. Sally works independent of her co-workers. 2. The pilot is familiar with the new airplane. 3. Not all the students are opposed to the new rules. 4. I am proud of the grades my daughter receives. 5. Jim is not accustomed to the new procedures.
5. What is an adjective?
Adjectives describe or modify nouns and pronouns. They specify which one, what quality, or how many.
6. Use an adjective correctly in a sentence. John drives a red car.
7. What is an adverb?
Adverbs describe or modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, and whole groups of words. They specify when, where, how, and to what extent.
8. Use an adverb correctly in a sentence.
Bobby can almost see the finish line.
9. Refer to Section IV - Sentence Parts and Patterns. Write the part of speech above each underlined word. Use N for noun, V for verb, Adj for adjective and Adv for adverb.
V Adj N N
a. Pat drinks fruit juice, especially grape drinks, and also likes to eat fruit.
Adj V N
b. When the head man tries to head for the door, he bumped his head.
N V Adj
c. The little fly was unable to fly away from the sticky fly paper.
V N Adj
d. Will you dance any particular type of dance in the dance contest?
N V
e. We got prints of the pictures printed on special stock.
Adj N V
f. For the paint project, Jim got green and brown paint so he could paint the scenery.
N V
g. Could you hear the yell, when Ken yelled through the microphone?
V N Adj
h. The cast was dressed in special costume dresses made of heavy dress material.
10. What are the four (4) basic sentence types?
1. Simple Sentences 2. Compound Sentences 3. Complex Sentences 4. Compound-Complex Sentences
11. Provide an example of each sentence type.
1. Robbie won the race. 2. Robbie won the race, but Jim was close behind. 3. Robbie won the race, although he almost ran out of gas. 4. Even though he almost ran out of gas, Robbie won the race, and Jim finished close behind.
12. Define present tense verb.
A verb that expresses action that is occurring now, occurs habitually, or is generally true.
13. Define past tense verb.
A verb form indicating action that occurred in the past.
14. Define future tense verb.
A verb form expressing action that will occur in the future.
15.