English: conventions and punctuation
| English | 中文 | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| agreement/əˈɡriːmənt/ | 一致关系 | yí zhì guān xì |
| parallelism/ˈpærəlelɪzəm/ | 平行结构 | píng xíng jié gòu |
A decision before an answer
- “Walking to school, the rain began.” The sentence makes the rain seem to be walking.
- Your goal: Control clause boundaries and punctuation.
Read the relationship
- An opening participle phrase modifies the subject that follows. Put the actual walker in that position.
- Maintain agreement, tense and pronoun reference.
Choose the parallel list:
All three items have the same grammatical form.
Use the defining rule
- Use commas for nonessential information; do not separate a subject from its verb.
- Place modifiers and parallel structures correctly.
“The students, who finished early, ____ quietly.”
The plural subject students takes wait.
Check the conditions
- Parallel lists keep a common grammatical form: reading, planning and drafting.
- Place modifiers and parallel structures correctly.
Repair the dangling modifier: “While I was walking to school, rain began.” The dependent clause now names the walker. For parallelism, “She enjoys reading, to draw and swimming” becomes “She enjoys reading, drawing and swimming.”
“The experiment worked; ____ result was recorded.” Supply the possessive form of it.
Its is possessive; it’s means it is or it has.
Apply the task format
- For pronouns, check both number and clear reference. An unclear they can refer to two different groups.
- Place modifiers and parallel structures correctly.
Read the complete sentence after replacing the underlined text. A choice may create a new boundary error.
Which answer fits this case?
Control clause boundaries and punctuation
A comma may normally separate a subject from its verb.
Intervening phrases do not justify that separation.
Keep the distinctions
- parallelism 平行结构 — Matching grammatical forms in a series.
- agreement 一致关系 — Matching grammatical number or person.
- Control clause boundaries and punctuation.
- Maintain agreement, tense and pronoun reference.
- Place modifiers and parallel structures correctly.
Match each term with its precise meaning in this lesson.
Keep the distinctions stated in the teaching example.
Put this lesson’s reasoning or event sequence in order.
The order follows the stated process; check each stage before the next.