Download V. Pitfalls in Grammar and Rhetoric – Part II Adverbs: Adverbs are

V. Pitfalls in Grammar and Rhetoric – Part II
Adverbs:
Adverbs are words that modify verbs. They tell how, when, where, and to what
degree action is done. Usually adverbs are formed by adding –ly to an adjective,
but this is not always so.
Seldom, soon, very, little, here, there, often, well, near, fast, too, much
These are all adverbs which do not end in –ly. There are numerous others, perhaps
you can think of a few not listed.
Some adjectives end in –ly and are not adverbs
lonely, lively, likely
are a few examples.
Some adjectives can also serve as adverbs. You should be careful of these. Here
are some examples –
That was a hard job to accomplish. I worked hard at my job.
It is still early in the day. We finished the job early.
Adverbs can be used to ask questions. We call them interrogative adverbs.
How many chapters have you read?
When are you going to school tomorrow?
Where did you send the letter?
Yes, No and Not can be used as adverbs. For example,
No, you are not going to pass the class.
Often we intensify the feeling or quality of something by using an adverb. Such as
the word very in the sentence -- I thought it was a very good idea.
One interesting thing about adverbs which you might not have known is that a
noun can act as an adverb. Here are some examples
I am going home.
I will arrive Friday.
We worked all day.
The car cost thirty-thousand dollars.
Adverbs can be used in a positive, comparative, and superlative sense. Here are
some examples.
Regular Usage –
Late later latest
Hard harder hardest
Near nearer nearest
Irregular Usage –
Far further furthest
Far farther farthest
Badly worse worst
Little less least
Well better best
Some adverbs cannot be compared
Before, never, past,
and many others.
Verbals:
What is a verbal? A verbal is a verb which has been changed or modified to serve
as a noun, adjective, or adverb in a sentence. There are three major types of
verbals – the participle, the gerund, and the infinitive. Each of these performs a
particular function, but they are not verbs. They are created from verbs and are
used instead to serve other functions. A verbal can take modifiers such as adverbs
and it can take complements, such as direct objects (in fact the end of the last
sentence had an infinitive which took a complement modified by an adjective).
Sometimes it can appear in what is called a verbal phrase.
(1) Participles – present, past, and past perfect
(active voice) We form the present participle by adding –ing.
(passive voice) We form the past participle by adding –ed, -d, -t, -n or –en, but
there are some irregular forms.
(active voice) We form the past perfect participle by adding having to the past
participle.
Examples:
The man was singing when we saw him. (present p.)
The neglected child was left to fend for himself. (past p.)
The army, surprised by the attack, retreated into the woods. (past p.)
The paper, completely ignored by the reviewer, was full of errors. (past p.)
Having defended his dissertation, the student duly graduated. (past perfect p.)
Having carefully reviewed the paper, the peer allowed it to be published.
(1) Modifiers of participles –
Looking up suddenly, John saw the man standing on the bridge.
Edging ever closer to the man, the dog began to whine.
We saw an old man lying on the road.
(2) Complements of participles –
Carrying his books, the student just managed to open the door.
Becoming tired, the teacher decided to sit down to lecture. (Note that the
linking participle is followed by a predicate adjective).
Dangling participles – These are common errors involved in using a participle
without correctly specifying the noun to which it refers.
Examples – Walking through the tunnel, a wallet was found. (incorrect)
Entering the harbor, the Statue of Liberty was seen. (incorrect)
Taking the test, the teacher watched me closely. (incorrect)
Participles can be used a part of a verb phrase. This makes it very confusing to
identify at times. Here are some examples. Try to determine if the participles are
being used as adjectives or as a part of a verb phrase.
Examples –
The lecture was inspiring.
The man is washing the windows.
The man has planted the trees.
We were inspired by the lecture.
The old man looked neglected.
I have been sitting here for one hour.
The drink was refreshing.
The house was furnished by an interior decorator.
I was walking to school when he called me.
(2) Gerunds
A gerund is a verbal or verb form used as a noun or part of a noun phrase. A
gerund may be a subject, a direct object, an object of a preposition, or a predicate
noun (i.e. predicate nominative or subject complement). Remember that a
participle is a verb form used as an adjective. The gerund looks like a present
participle, but it is being used as a noun instead of an adjective.
The shining star was so very bright. (shine + ing = participle used as adjective)
Shining shoes is a common job in big cities. (shine + ing = gerund used as noun)
Problem: Using the verb “paint” create sentences that have gerunds used as
subjects, direct objects, the object of a preposition, and a subject complement.
What is wrong with this sentence?
Upon receiving the telegram, the trip was cancelled.
The sentence suffers from a dangling gerund. One can easily see that it appears the
trip received the telegram. In fact, we, or perhaps they, received the telegram and
cancelled the trip. Thus, we should write the sentence as
Upon receiving the telegram, we cancelled the trip.
What is wrong with this sentence?
The men objected to me playing on the team.
The gerund should not be preceded by a pronoun like me. It is a noun also!
Therefore we should use the possessive form of me and write
The men objected to my playing on the team.
(3) Infinitives
The last type of verbal is called an infinitive. It is the most versatile of the verbals
since it can function as a noun, adjective, or adverb. Like all verbals it can never
function as the predicate verb of a sentence. They cannot be used to make
statements, ask questions, or give commands.
I want to love Mary. (To love used as a direct object).
To love Mary is the goal of my life. (To love is an infinitive used as a subject).
His commitment to love Mary was inspiring. (To love used as adjective).
He cared enough to love Mary more than himself. (To love used as adverb).
He did nothing except (to) love Mary every day. (To love used as object of
preposition except).
One well discussed problem is called split infinitives. Infinitives should not be
split unless the split makes for a smoother passage.
Example –
I asked you to immediately return my book. (incorrect)
I asked you to return my book immediately. (correct)
It will not be good to be doctrinaire about this. Some types of split infinitives seem
natural. Here are a few examples:
To better acquaint myself with the literature, I spent numerous hours in the library.
I desire to so arrange my affairs that nothing will be left to chance.
Pronouns:
Before we begin our discussion of pronouns, try taking the following quiz using
whatever pronouns seem reasonable to you.
Quiz on Pronouns
Part 1: Fill in the Blanks
1. Every government must find revenue to finance ________ spending.
2. The Ministry of Finance gets most of ______ revenue by taxing _______.
3. I couldn’t buy what I wanted because ____ disposable income was too low.
4. _______ all know that we should pay ________ taxes when we earn our income.
5. You should read the tax law for ________________.
6. _________ can say with certainty _______ is the right level of tariff protection?
7. To _______ should I address my complaint over tax policy?
8. I want to avoid double taxation of _____ dividends.
9. ________ is my current marginal rate of income tax?
10. ________ item on the invoice has its price shown on the right.
11. To _______ should you apply to get the tax drawback?
12. I asked _______when he could send ______ my tax refund.
13. ______ tax rate is higher than the rate on other commodities.
14. A bond typically has coupons which determine _______ price.
15. I affixed ______ seal to the document to formally change owners.
Part 2: Use the correct pronoun in the sentence
1. Government can use bonds to finance (its/it’s/their) expenditure.
2. The Central Bank affects the purchasing power of (our/ours/yours) money by
affecting the price level.
3. Some people say (theirs/their’s/their) only goal should be price stability.
4. The bond is (my/mine/myself) and all (its/it’s/it) income accrues to (your/his/me).
5. The price is sometimes lower than (its/it/it’s).
6. The project is expected to fund (their/mine/itself).
7. The price of the bond is lower than (her/our/its) face value.
8. (It’s,Its,It) not expected to remain above equilibrium.
9. (It’s,Its,It) price is not expected to remain above equilibrium.
10. (Them/Their/Those) that believe in small government feel people should take
care of (their/themselves/those).
11. Some people claim that the national debt is not important since (we/us/our)
owe it to (himself/themselves/ourselves).
12. Nothing you say can change (mine/we/our) opinion.
13. If foreigners own a large part of the national debt, then (their/them/it) can
becomes a burden on the taxpayer.
14. If I want (you/yourself/your) opinion, then I will ask for (him/you/it).
15. Usually conservatives do not like a large fiscal deficit, unless (they/them/it) is
being used to finance greater defense expenditures.
Part 3: Find and correct the grammatical errors in the following sentences
1. Suppose that
we are
use
finance
spending
only
taxes to
government
.
A
B
C
D
invest
investing
property
in the stock market, and one can
in land and
,
A
B
C
2. One can
but these all
carry
substantial risk.
D
would find
principle
payment
that each year the
and interest
on
A
B
C
leading
the debt outstanding would increase,
to even more bond sales.
D
3. The government
4. Suppose that the government
only
print
finance
used the
of money to
its
A
B
C
expenditur es
.
D
5. The
result
extremely
rate
calling
was an
high
of inflation, which economists
A
B
D
C
hyperinflation.
6. We
see
it
that each method by is undesirable, but with the proper mixture of
A
B
sources
its
, government can have a stable supply of revenue to finance
C
D
spending.
7.
New
primary
investment bankers
issued bonds are sold in the
bond market by
or
A
B
C
underwrite rs
.
D
8.
The
9.
If
be vary inversely
price
market rate
of bonds will
with the
of interest.
B
C
A
D
its
falls
rate
rise
price
, then its
of return
.
B
D
A
C
10. If government only
will
finance it ' s
prints
money to
spending, then inflation
A
B
C
result
.
D
11. If government only
rates
will rise
.
D
issues
financing
spending
bonds to
its
, then interest
A
B
C
12. If government only
taxes finance
will lack
its spending, then the economy
a
A
B
C
riskless
asset.
D
13.
When designing
importance to consider
a tax policy it is
the burden of the tax
A
B
C
levied
.
D
14.
Some person
tax rates
will increase
claim that if
are reduced, tax revenue
.
B
C
D
A
borrows
to finance
short term
current expenditures, while
A
B
borrowing
to finance
it
long term
public investment projects.
C
D
15. Government usually
16.
Government
borrows domestical ly
internatio nally
can
or
.
A
B
C
D
17. Seniorage
refers
government s
creation
money
to
revenue from the
of
.
A
B
C
D
18. The
major
government
comes
taxation
of
revenue
from
.
A
B
C
D
19. Governments can
20. Sometimes
augment
revenues
hold
lotteries
their
by
periodic
.
A
B
C
D
government
aid to help
developmen t
receive foreign
their
.
A
C
D
B