Grammar Goodies 3
Subject-Verb Agreement
Be sure to make the verb agree with the subject when they are separated by other sentence components:
- Every plant in my garden, especially the Venus flytraps and triffids, is thriving.
Who/Whom/That/Which- It was Thomas Jefferson who invented the coat hangar.
- Copernicus, whom the Catholic Church condemned as a heretic, was a great scientist.
- The atomic bomb that fell on Hiroshima killed about 140,000 people.
- The UN official insisted that Iraq, which is in the Middle East, had no weapons of mass destruction.
Word Usage
Affect/Effect
- The effects of the gas leak are widespread.
- The oil company insisted the gas leak did not affect a wide territory.
- Your signature will effect authorization of the oil moratorium.
Among/Between- The great statues of Buddha, blown up by the Taliban, were among the wonders of the world.
- Between you and me, excessive vaccination impairs the immune system.
Ensure/Insure- My house is insured against cockroach stampedes.
- To ensure compliance with the order to jump, we set the plane on fire.
Farther/Further
Use farther for physical distance and further for nonphysical contexts:- How much farther will you push that load of pet rocks?
- I'll keep pushing until I receive further instructions.
More than/Over
Use more than with numbers and over with objects:- More than 80 percent of US processed foods contain genetically modified ingredients.
- Wright Flyer 1 made history when it flew over the dunes at Kitty Hawk in 1903.
continued on Grammar Goodies 4