46 English Grammar Demystifi ed
Written Practice 2-13
In the following sentences, fi rst fi nd the subject (it is not in the prepositional
phrase); then decide if it is singular or plural. Does the verb match the subject in
number? If not, correct the verb. The fi rst sentence is done for you.
- The bottles inside the carton is all broken. The word bottles is the subject
and it is plural. The verb is is a singular verb. Change the singular is to its
plural form, are. - The newspaper between the doors are old.
- The paint cans against the walls was left open.
- My friend, among all my classmates, are the smartest.
- The most exciting movies in the list is adventure movies.
Conjunctions
The word conjunction means “to join with,” and that is exactly what this part of
speech does. Common conjunctions and,or, and but join or coordinate our thoughts.
They connect words to other words:
Lise and Gregor came to America a few years ago.The two parts of the subject, that is, Lise and Gregor, are connected by and.
Which words are connected in the following sentences?
I couldn’t decide whether I should read a book or clean the house.The phrases read a book and clean the house are connected by or.
Dave had always been short, but he fi nally grew as a teenager.The clauses before and after the comma are connected by but.
For, and,nor, but, or, yet,and soall coordinate words, phrases, and clauses. You
can use the acronym FANBOYS to remember these conjunctions. Because of their
function, they are called coordinating conjunctions.
There is another way of connecting equal parts of a sentence: using correlative
conjunctions. The difference between correlative and coordinating conjunctions is