Basic English Grammar: May 2010

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Verb Form Spelling Practice

Fill the blanks with the correct form of the verb and check your answer by clicking on the little box to the right of the blank.

1. He's his dinner right now. He'll call you as soon as he finishes. (eat)

2. Amalie is in the first row. It's too close to the screen. (sit)

3. When is the new restaurant ? (open)

4. I give up! The fish aren't today. (bite)

5. The school is still new students. (admit)

6. Are you English or Mathematics? (study)

7. The room attendants are the floors right now. (mop)

8. Wait a minute! Aren't you something? (forget)

9. Mary can't talk to you right now. She's the flowers outside. (water)

10. Are you these sentences in your notebook? (write)

11. Your children will be ready in a minute. They're on their clothes now. (put)

12. Hurry and take your seats. The show is . (begin)

13. I guess Mary is for dinner. (stay) She's off her coat. (take)

14. We're our jeans because we're going to an informal party. (wear)

15. Why is Jack ? (smile) He's a raise. (get)

16. Are you keeping something secret from me? You're to your brother. (whisper)

17. The students are to a story from Voice of America. (listen)

18. She sang beautifully. That's why the audience is so loudly. (clap)

19. We're the windows because it's starting to rain. (shut)

20. I'm for the bank now. I used to be a salesman. (work)

21. Steve can't talk to you right now. He's the sink. (fix)

22. Our plane is in Chicago for about an hour. (stop)

23. Are you on American Airlines or United? (fly)

24. We're in New York at 7:35 AM. (arrive)

Mr. Bean is sleeping. Describe his actions as he wakes up and gets ready to visit the dentist.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Practice with Present Progressive.

"Girl on Sofa" by Marc Chagall, 1907

Use the words to make sentences in Present Progressive Tense. Use contractions if possible. Use capital at the beginning of the sentence and a period at the end.

1. I/go/to work

2. he/listen/to the radio.

3. Maria/write/a composition

4. the students/play/soccer.

5. we/drink/coffee now

6. the plumber/fix/the sink

7. we/dance

8. you/step/on my feet

9. he/hike/in the forest

10. the children/play/at the playground

11. it/rain

12. we/drive/to Oakland

13. she/live/in San Francisco

14. Julia/answer/the question

15. the students/listen/to the explanation

16. the workers/arrive/at the office now

17. they/fill out/the application form

18. the bus/come

19. the train/stop

20. the store/sell/the books

21. I/write/an exercise.

22. she/eat/lunch

23. the teachers/have/a meeting

24. it/wear out/too quickly

25. we/speak/English very well

26. the teenagers/swim/in the lake

27. it/start/to rain very hard

28. our team/win/the game

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Possessive Pronouns

"On the Meadow" by Mary Cassatt, 1880

A possessive pronoun represents both the person possessing something and the thing he/she possesses.

Example:

Whose ring is this?
This ring is mine. (in other words, "This is my ring.")

1. I don't think this classroom is We must go to a different one.

2. You should finish your vegetables. I finished

3. These boxes have Jack's and Susan's names on them, so they must be

4. Tom's cell phone is at home, so this one couldn't be

5. No, no, those aren't our children. are at school right now.

6. They know that dog's name very well because it's

7. Our package was delivered today. will be delivered tomorrow.

8. You're welcome to borrow my bicycle, but please remember that it's not

9. Which car should we drive to Sacramento, yours or

10. Alan and Ana both have cars. Which of those three cars is Is it the red one on the corner?

11. No, no. The red one on the corner is

12. I'm using my ladder, but you should talk to Jeff. I'm sure he'll be happy to lend you

13. Mr. and Mrs. Parker have a vacant apartment. Why don't you see if you can rent

14. Dave is at his computer right now, but Maria isn't. You may be able to use

15. Dorothy and I will be feeding the neighbor's cat. We could also feed

16. This magazine probably belongs to Evan and Rachel. It certainly isn't

17. We're using our lawn mower right now. But the neighbors have one also. You should see if you can borrow

18. My watch is more accurate than Ruth's watch. Or, do you think is more accurate?

19. Jason's piano has a better sound than the school's piano. Or, would you rather play

20. I found my wallet, but Louise is still looking for

21. Whose note book is this? I found it yesterday. Is it Jim?

22. Fred and Alice have completed their homework, but Maria hasn't completed

23. I don't have my ticket and Mr. and Mrs. Steven don't have either.

24. All of those babies are beautiful, but which one of them is Your baby is the one with the biggest smile.

25. If you can't borrow Judy's cell phone, you're welcome to use

In the following video, you can review the difference between the possessive adjective and the possessive pronoun.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Possessive Adjectives

"Woman with Bouquet" Mark Chagall, 1910

Please choose the correct possessive adjective from the first drop down menu. Check your answer with the drop down menu after the end of the sentence.

1. Steven has to take car to the repair shop today.

2. Maria and David are planning to have wedding in July.

3. Are you and your brothers and sisters going to work at father's store this year?

4. Whose dog is this? Is it yours? No. It isn't dog.

5. We are going to visit relatives in New York.

6. Does Marvin do laundry every Monday?

7. Are you going to meet parents at the airport tonight? What time does plane arrive?

8. Nancy and I are having a party at house to celebrate Mother's Day.

9. David has a new back pack. new back pack can hold a lot of things.

10. Mario and Wilma are in high school. older brother goes to college.

11. My family has a back yard. back yard has a lot of flowers.

12. Judy is wearing a very pretty dress. dress is blue and red.

13. The teacher asked the students not to use cell phones in class.

14. Ms. Lopez showed us new bracelet today.

15. Edgar wasn't in class today because mother took him to the dentist.

16. I have two younger sisters. names are Silvia and Angela.

17. Amy and Jake took little sister to school today.

18. This isn't wallet. I don't have these credit cards.

19. What happened? My car is missing two of tires.

20. Is that car? No, the one next to it is mine.

21. Mary's husband had to stay home because they didn't have a babysitter to take care of children.

22. This website belongs to us. It's website.

23. You must not park car next to a fire hydrant.

24. We should give this umbrella back to Maria because it's umbrella.

25. Robert is married. wife is an accountant.

26. Janet is coming to the party by herself. boyfriend can't come because he's sick.

27. That's laptop computer. I bought it yesterday.

28. They live on the other side of the street. That's house, the large green one.

29. That's a very nice family photo. Is sister Helen the one wearing the yellow dress?

30. If you're confused, you should read the grammar book. explanations are easy to understand.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Object Pronouns

"Pilgrimage" Salvador Dali, 1921

Please choose the correct object pronoun from the first drop down menu. The second drop down menu contains the answer.

1. We gave a new cell phone for his birthday.

2. It was their anniversary, so we took out for dinner.

3. Jessica is an excellent but inexperienced worker. Should we hire ?

4. Your car won't start, but don't worry. We can fix

5. The students need extra help, but we have a tutor who can help

6. Jim Jensen is one of the best plumbers in town. Let's call
right away.

7. Sylvia likes flowers, so I'm going to give a flower vase.

8. We would like to be here early tomorrow. Is it possible?

9. The players on our team practice every day. We need to encourage
a lot.

10. Do you have a hammer? No, I don't. Ask Steve. He might have

11. Their retirement party was very nice. Their daughter gave
tickets for the symphony.

12. When you're finished with the tools, please put
away.

13. I'm looking for a good, inexpensive English class. Do you know where I can find

13. If you don't need those books anymore, please return them to

14. These chairs aren't comfortable enough. We need better

15. Oh, my God! All these library books are overdue! I forgot to take back to the library.

16. The cats are very hungry. We should feed right away.

17. Are there any good Italian restaurants in this town? Yes, you'll find a good on Twenty-fourth Street.

18. The boss really needs to work overtime today, but we're very tired.

19. You should keep the good paper bags, and throw the torn
in the recycle bin.

20. The corks in these wine bottles are stuck. I can't pull
out.

21. Bob and Mary are getting married soon. What should we give
for a wedding present?

22. Watch out! That floor is very wet and slippery. We just mopped it. Don't walk on right now.

23. If you're finished reading those newspapers, I'd like to borrow if you don't mind.

24. Steve asked Judith to go out on a date, but she doesn't like
very much.

25. We trusted our state senators a lot, but unfortunately, they lied to
about the education budget.

26. Your exam scores are very high. I'm quite pleased with

27. I haven't seen Jennifer in a long time. Have you? Yes, as a matter of fact, I saw yesterday.

28. Before she dropped her kids off at school, she kissed both of

29. The teacher lent pencils to me and

30. Mary is going to the movies with this evening.

Basic English Grammar