Tyler's+Page

Tyler's ACT test prep.

Grammar Joke of the Day-- Speak in the imperative. Why use the interrogative? The declarative is overused in writing.
 * September 29**

My, what a day! This week, finish any the copied exercises you haven't yet done. Bring them next time. Finish the problem solving exercise on pages D125 and D126, numbers 15-44. I would recommend that you go through once, quickly, then check them at least a day later. If you have any mis-reading issues, this will give you a fresh start. Do the idioms exercise, page C54 and following. If you can't see the distinction, mark it especially, even if you think you could guess. I may know some background that will help on other questions as well.

Grammar Joke of the Day-- "Everybody wants to be an indefinite pronoun!"

I checked--using "media", "data", and "criteria" as singular nouns and switching "who" for "whom" are still popular foils despite common usage. Don't do it!
 * September 22**

Now I feel stupid. Remember the sentence that included the phrase "...who I didn't know..." It's a relative clause--"I" is the subject of the clause, the clause refers to a subject, so "who" is used, rather than "whom". See what you can do on the remaining copied exercises and try pC-39 in the prep book


 * September 15**

Both of my grammar experts agree with the prep book-- "When most of the stars and gas...have been..." is correct. One of them did admit that when this plural/collective singular issue comes up, using the noun closest to the verb settles the version of the verb, which would give my answer.

Practice test IV--Math Agreement p.171-172 Illogical constructions p C-9

Practice test IV--Math Agreement p.171-172 Illogical constructions p C-9
 * September 8**

Those sentences including the relative pronouns "that" and "which" do, indeed, turn out to be complex. The issue with naming came from the fact that most sources describe them as subordinate clauses, rather than dependent clauses. There is no distinction, just a different term.

I am no longer finding any convincing argument for using "until" or "till". I suspect I found someone willing to take a stand based on his own preference, but both seem to be well accepted. Using " 'til" as a truncation of "until" also seems defensible, when chosen for the rhythm of the sentence.

Practice test IV-English section. Let's check if fatigue is an issue. Do half of it, then come back later to do the other half. Parts of speech review- p C-5 Mangled constructions, pg 255-258
 * September 1**

Busy week, huh? So, here's the plan. Three reviews from the college writing book; mangled constructions, the comma, and punctuation. Infinitives [|Definition] Appositives [|A detailed guide] Coordinating vs subordinating conjunctions [|Includes lists] Math skill review--geometry, pg. A-7 Practice test 3, math only. Look up a discussion of the following topics: ---Subjunctive mood--used when discussing things which are not or may not be true Brief [|More detail. Try the exercises] ---Gerunds--verbals ending in --ing used as nouns [|Brief, with exercises] [|This one is very good] ---Participles--verbals ending in --ing used as an adjective [|Try here] Diagnostic test from writing book Practice test 3 On citing a movie, book, chapter, etc "There is a trick to remembering how to treat titles, and it works well enough that you can commit most types of titles to memory. It's the big and little trick. Big things and things that can stand on their own, like books, are italicized. Little things that are dependent or that come as part of a group, like chapters, are put into quotation marks. For example, a CD or album are major (big) works that can be divided into smaller parts, or songs. The song names (small part) are punctuated with quotation marks."--from MLA
 * August 25**
 * August 18**

When does a compound sentence need a comma? [|Try here] Look over a list of prepositions. [|Here is a good list.] Find a list of indefinite pronouns. Which are singular? Which are plural? [|List and discussion] (P.S. I was right, as always. "None" can be either singular or plural) Find combinations for phrasal verbs for the verbs "look", "sleep", and "run". Review sentences 1-95. Which ones are correct? **Usage and Mechanics** You’ll see 40 questions out of the 75 total in this section of the English test. (from []) Look up the formulas given on the ACT--what SA and volume equations are given? Make a Venn diagram to describe the types of triangles Finish a page of irregular verbs Find two paragraphs of fiction. Analyze each sentence Do practice test 2--English and math section Check out this resource. [|Purdue's on-line writing lab] For the following week: Try to find the rule that applies to each of the situations covered in the practice test you took. Do another column of the irregular verbs. We'll look over them next week. (I'll look over your ACT practice test) Make a table showing the properties of quadrilaterals, and a Venn diagram to illustrate the definitions of each. Here is a site that offers practice tests. [|Try each section.] Let me know if there are any problems that seem more difficult than the others. Math topicsPracticeComma rules. Check out the 428.2 section of your local library--language and grammar. Find something interesting Practice test 1, English and math sections. (ACT book) Practice test 1, sections 2 and 3 (SAT book) Fill in the past and past participle form for these irregular verbs.I rregular verbs (at least 1/4)Sentence structure examples.
 * August 11**
 * 1) Punctuation: (10 questions total) Brush up your knowledge of commas, apostrophes, colons, semicolons, and maybe even a quotation mark or two.
 * 2) Grammar and Usage: (12 questions total) Here, you’ll need to understand subject/verb agreement, pronoun and verb forms, case, and tense. You’ll be given a sentence with an underlined word or phrase, and will have to identify the most appropriate replacement for that underlined word or phrase from the choices listed below it.
 * 3) Sentence Structure: (18 questions) This one is a little trickier. Watch out for misplaced modifiers (adjectives, adverbs, etc.) clause issues, problems with parallel structure, and more.
 * August 4**
 * July 28:**
 * July 21:**

Identify each part of these sentences. They each have a unique structure, so if you don't see anything new, you're missing something!