Download Grammar Explanation Cheat Sheet

A Guide to Grammar Explanations
What to Say
Provide as much information as you can. Your job is to prove to me that you understand
how to use a particular grammar structure. That means that you must tell me why the new
answer you’ve chosen is the correct one. This is just like any other argument you would make in
an English paper or in a debate. If you leave out the details that make the case—your
evidence—you will have a hard time convincing your audience.
Put yourself in my place. What information would lead me to believe that you
understand the grammar rule? What specifics will convince me that you know how to use the
structure in a future situation? Believe it or not, I’m not out to torture you by having you do all
this work. My goal in having you do these corrections is to make certain that you learn. I want
to know that you have a firm grasp on the concepts before we move on. This ensures your future
success in the language.
How does one explain a grammar correction? That depends on the type of error made,
but in most cases, the simplest approach is to go back to the grammar rule(s) corresponding to
that structure. When you learn a new grammar concept each chapter, you are undoubtedly given
explanations of how to use the structure in specific circumstances. You take notes on these
explanations or read about them in your book. Don’t be afraid to go back to them. That’s why
they’re there—to help you use the verb, article, adjective or whatever correctly. Hopefully,
you’re using these resources to research or double check your answer in the first place. By
rephrasing that grammar rule in your own words, you are likely to convince me that you know
why your new answer is correct.
In some situations what makes something right in a language has nothing to do with a
steadfast rule. It’s what we call idiomatic usage. There is no clear reason why it’s correct except
that it sounds natural due to its frequent use in the language’s culture. In these instances, you can
convince me that you understand by translating the word or phrase into its best English
equivalent. This is also the best approach in explaining any word choice error.
What Not to Say
Avoid the ever so tempting, but extremely ineffective phrase “this is correct because it’s
the correct x.” Am I supposed to believe it’s correct just because you say so? Hardly! You are
wasting time by going this route—you will only have to rewrite the corrections and do the work
of explaining in the end. Also avoid telling me why you got it wrong in the first place, for
instance, because you didn’t study enough or you were confused by the directions. I’m more
than happy to listen to these reasons as an aside after class, but please leave them out of the test
corrections. At this moment, I’m only interested in what you know and understand now.
Words to Use
means
translates
agrees
matches
needs
uses
requires
must have
goes with
calls for
changes to
becomes
combining
adding
followed by
in order to
therefore
as a result
chose
rephrased
Phrases to Use
This is correct because…
…the present tense conjugation of the verb x with the pronoun y is…
…x is feminine and an adjective must always agree in gender and number with the noun it
describes. Therefore, you add an “e” to make the adjective feminine.
…a verb of preference is always followed by a definite article.
…x is non-countable. Therefore, in order to say “some,” one needs to use the partitive article.
…x is countable, so to say “some,” one needs to use the plural indefinite article, “des.”
…I’m saying “a banana” and one uses the indefinite articles “un” or “une” to say “a” or “an.” In
this case, banana is feminine, so I chose “une.”
…combining “à” and “le” makes the preposition “au.”
…”est” and “et” are homophones. “Est” means “is” and “et” means “and.” In this case, I need…
…I’ve rephrased the sentence using the appropriate vocabulary or idiomatic expression. X
translates…