English Grammar

Here are helpful sites for everyone. Just click on the link.

Traditional English Grammar

University of Victoria English centre

Purdue Online writing Lab
Guide to Grammar and Writing
English Page 

If you know of websites that you wish to share, e-mail me.

TRUST

A little girl and her father were crossing a bridge.

The father was kind of scared so he asked his little daughter,

“Sweetheart, please hold my hand so that you won’t fall into the river.”

The little girl said, “No dad. You hold my hand.”

“What’s the difference?” Asked the puzzled father.

“There’s a big difference.” Replied the little girl.

“If I hold your hand and something happens to me, chances are that I may let go of your hand. But if you hold my hand, I know for sure that no matter what happens, you will never let my hand go.”

In any relationship, the essence of trust is not in it’s bind, but in it’s bond.

So hold the hand of the person who will never leave your hand rather than the person you love...

Portents

SUMMARY

Miggy receives a call confirming her pregnancy. She is shocked and confused as to what she should do. Ramon and Lawrence are possible candidates as the baby’s father but she is not sure nor is she married to either of them.

She is in such a daze when she goes to work that she is already halfway to her office when she realizes that she should have caught a ride. She passes by a church where a filthy man was talking to her in gibberish. She wonders if he chose to speak her because he can see her “dark and grimy soul”. She reaches her office and sees Wilma and Pocholo. The latter talks to her about his worries that the world will come to its end as Nostradamus had predicted. He pointed out that they had had a big earthquake, and now Iraq is at war with Kuwait. Moreover, his aunt and some other kids saw a horseman in the sky which was also a vision that was seen before World War II began. All morning she wonders if she should ask for Wilma’s (she had had four abortions) abortionist.

She has lunch with Lawrence but walks out of the restaurant without informing him of her predicament. She wanders around the mall and thinks about the pros and cons of having the baby. After which, she went back to the office. There, she sees people “scurrying about like newly-beheaded chickens” panicking to go home since the radio announced that there will be a big earthquake at 2:30. The building is closing so she decides to go and use the afternoon off.

She goes home and ordered pizza. The phone rings right after she puts it down. Ramon was on the line asking if he could come over to her house. She said yes and hangs up. At six, Ramon arrives. They go to the terrace where Ramon eats. While he is eating she tells him about her weird day and Pocholo’s fear of the world ending. This leads them to talk about morbid things. Ramon tells her that maybe the world is ending but that does not concern him much. What concerns him more is if he will be the last person on earth. Then it starts to rain so they get up and go inside. As she closes the door to the terrace she thinks she saw “a man on a black horse, riding through the rain” in the sky. She downplays this to be just something that pregnant women experience due to hormone or something.

LIT001 Second Blog Project

Your second blog entry is to write a reflective essay about the theme of a story.

The second blog entry requires you to share your own opinion and significant experiences from the theme of the story of “The Small Key” by Paz Latorena..

The type of essay required for this blog is reflective.

This type of essay is aimed to reflect a personal event or experience of the author. The main condition is that it has to be a certain personal experience on which the author has his very own perception. This experience is revealed in the essay in order to demonstrate its importance for understanding social relations and the essence of people.

In order to produce an excellent reflective essay it is vital to remember that the reflective is to have a personal character and to relate to certain philosophic categories. This implies a wide range of possible understanding of the topic of the essay.

Here is a probable structure of a reflective essay:

• The aim of the opening paragraph is to get the reader involved in the author’s story including interesting details, personal experiences. The style must be very vivid and therefore to appeal to the reader as if it was a conversation on the theme.
• The middle part reveals a good variety of the author’s ideas on the topic.

• The concluding sentences summarize the main ideas and experiences of the essay. The author makes a reflective of his general perception of the given topic.

Your essay should consist of 300-500 words. Make sure that your essays will be posted on or before August 15, 2010. Good luck.

The Fence

SUMMARY

The setting is reflective of the kind of characters and the situation they would be in.

The nipa huts look desolate and empty, reflective of how their occupants behave and feel for each other.

They have no neighbors and yet the need for each other seems remote and distant. Hatred overrules. They are most afraid one of them would give way. The building of the fence seems necessary to protect themselves from each other.

Hatred comes from a betrayal-- when Aling Biang caught her husband with Aling Sebia, the childless widow.

Aling Biang could not forgive. Aling Sebia seems not remorseful as she matches the anger and hatred of Aling Biang. The husband left without a word and never came back. He is part of the mess, but left it unsettled.

The vegetable rows that used to separate the nipa huts are slowly dying. The owners are afraid that if they watered the vegetables, they would also at the same time nurture the plants of the other. This seems reflective of their unwillingness to forgive and live again.

Aling Sebia is going to deliver a child. Aling Biang is the only person who could help her. This could have been an opportunity for reconciliation, but after Aling Biang helps her there is complete silence.

The hatred goes on like a curse. The children of the two women grow unhealthy and ugly. Aling Biang implants hatred in Iking's heart, although Iking feels otherwise.

It is the very first music in his life. Although the notes are not complete, Iking likes to hear it.

When he reaches fifteen, he stops sleeping beside his mother. He wants to sleep by the door where he could hear the guitar being played. He is beginning to show signs of protest, but he is physically weak.

This time he knows it is the girl who plays the guitar. He wants to destroy the fence that is starting to decay. But his mother reinforces the decaying stakes which had been weathered by time.

The guitar stops playing.

It is Christmas. They pray and yet Iking doubts if his mother could really pray.
Again, Iking wants the girl to play the guitar -- and he tells her this as he whispers
through the bamboo fence.

He is happy when the girl appears to have heard and understood him.

Iking waits, but he is afraid the fence has reached her heart. Nevertheless, he waits because there is no fence in his heart.

Then he died. The guitar plays a few minutes after Iking died. Now, the musical notes are completed. Alling Biang, on the other hand, finds the playing of the guitar a mockery.

His death does not soften her heart. The fence remains strengthened.

How can two women hate each other for so long? Why cant they love and be compassionate with each other? Where is the man? Don't the two women deserve pity instead of accusation?

THE SMALL KEY

Summary of THE SMALL KEY by Paz Latorena
It is about a woman named Soledad who is married to a man named Pedro . They live on a farm. One morning Soledad finds herself knowing that the farm will produce plenty but that she still had some inner feeling of discontent. She planned to mend some of her husband's shirts, which were in a locked trunk. Pedro took out from his pocket a string which held two keys, one large and shiny and one small and rusty. He gave Soledad the large key to his trunk and put the small key back in his jacket pocket. Since it was hot that morning, he removed his coat before leaving to work in the field. When he was gone, Soledad began to fold the jacket and the small key fell to the floor. It is obvious that Pedro values the small key while Soledad fears it.

Soledad knows that the small key is a key to a different trunk. She tries to busy herself so that she will not think about what the smaller trunk contains, but she cannot stop thinking about it and reveals that the small trunk contains clothing that belonged to Pedro's first wife. She wonders why it is that he keeps her old clothing and why he seems to have a special feeling about them. She obviously fears that Pedro still loves his first wife even though she has been dead for many years by now. She reveals that she hates the things in the small trunk and worries that they will destroy the relationship between her and her husband. Despite her attempts to not think about the contents of the small trunk, Soledad opens it. At this point, Pedro returns home to find Soledad in bed supposedly with a fever. It turns out she does not. The next morning Pedro discovers a pile of ashes and half burnt clothing in the backyard. He realizes what Soledad has done and rushes to look in the trunk to confirm it. Soledad has indeed, burned his first wife's clothing.

Pedro is angry and bitter that this has happened and he expects that Soledad will explain things later. He thinks to himself that he will forgive her because he loves her but that even if she did it out of love for him, it will always remain a matter of some resentment toward her for doing it.

Short Story

The Short Story

-it reflects and expresses life in all its manifestations. It is a fictional narrative prose which attempts to recreate or represent concrete human experience in such a way, and with such impact, as to bring out meanings invisible to the strictly scientific observer.

Generally short stories have only a few events and characters, with conflict centering to one main character.

Elements of Short Story

The Setting- it is the time, the place, the psychological set-up, the atmosphere in the story

The Characters- they are the persons involved in the story

A. Qualities of a Character

1. Plausibility- believability of a character

2. Sympathy- making the reader feel that it is almost real

3. Vitality- intensity of the character to be noticed

4. Consistency- sticking to one role and changes only when the need arises

B. Kinds of Characters

1. Protagonist- bearer of good

2. Antagonist- bearer of bad (villain)

3. Dynamic/ Rounded- one who changes from bad to good or the other way around

4. Flat/ Stereotype- one who does not have any character changes

The Plot- it is the series of events in the story. It is sometimes arranged chronologically or episodic

Parts of a Plot

1. Exposition- it is the introduction of the characters or the situation they are in, the setting or the mood of the story

2. Complication- it is the struggles, the trials, the difficiculties which the characters fight against

            Types of Conflict

            a. Man vs man

            b. Man vs himself

            c. Man vs morality

            d. Man vvs Forces of Nature

3. Climax- it is the highest of in the story

4. Denouement – it shows resolution

5. Ending- the concluding part that usually ends with a theme

The Language and Style

-         it pertains to the linguistic side of the story and the manner of the writer’s presentation

a. diction- the author’s choice of words

b. local color- use of local terms

The Point of View

-         it refers to the way the story is told

a. First Person Point of View-  the author is the subjective narrator. He is putting himself in the story. In this kind, the author uses ‘I’ or ‘We’

b. Third Person Point of View- the author is objective. He is narrating the story but is not involved. The author uses ‘she’, ‘he’, and ‘they’

The Narrative Devices

-this refers to the techniques used by the writer telling the story

1. straight narration

2. narration mixed with dialogue

3. mistaken identity

4. poem devices

5. incantation device

6. confession/ testimony device

7. flashback device

8. journey device

FIGURATIVE VIDEO

Get as many as you can of Figures of Speech in this song.

LIT001 First Blog Project

Hey guys,

Let me first say that I am very much thrilled and grateful that you participated in this blog project of our Literature class. Cheers :-) This is somewhat unique for an English class in our locality since we are integrating technology (particularly social networking) in our learning of English as the second language. Basically, the intention of this blog is, through writing, it will help you express your feelings and ideas about certain topics, sometimes discussed, sometimes not. You are given the freedom to speak your mind out with reference to issues concerning each one of us. What’s also great about this project is that all of you can share, view and comment on your classmates’ work. Interesting right? I mean, in one way or another we will be able to get to know each other better, so clearly, the success of this project relies on your cooperation. Let me just ring a bell about the rule that I had been emphasizing in class-RESPECT (I need to capitalize that). Soon, you will be reading and understanding the uniqueness of each one. I hope that you will take care of everyone’s opinion with utmost value and discretion. So, too much for that! I hope that you were able to read the terms that I personally sent to each of your email addresses. Let me say good luck, and let’s start to learn and have fun in this project. Let’s fire away and begin our first blog entry.

Your first blog entry is to write a descriptive essay about the theme, ‘Who am I?’.

The aim of descriptive essays is to provide a vivid picture of a person, location, object, or event. Descriptive essays contain detailed descriptions about something. Since the theme is about YOU, then, you need to describe yourself clearly and imaginatively (of course not to forget your creativity matters too:-)).

Descriptive writing should be exciting and intriguing. When you’re describing something, try to write it as if you were selling the idea or as if you would be paid if you convinced the person that they could actually imagine the subject essay via your description. You can talk about your family background, education, likes and dislikes, interests, crushes, dreams, events in your life that’s worth remembering and so much more (sky is the limit guys, I mean totally, anything you like to share about who you are is accepted)

Your entry should be within 300-500 words. You may create your own title and add photos of you or of anything to enhance your entry. Please post your entry on or before the deadline on July 18, 2010 at 12midnight HK time. If you have clarifications about your task, you may email me personally at ignatiusjosephestroga@gmail.com or you may see me anytime at your convenience at the CAS faculty room. Have fun! :-)

Figures of Speech

Question: What Is the Value of the Figures of Speech?

Metaphor and metonymy, irony and hyperbole, chiasmus and antithesis--learning all the funny names of the figures of speech can be a real challenge. Learning how to recognize the figures in our reading and apply them in our writing can be even harder. So why should we even bother?
Figures of speech are of such importance that they must always occupy a prominent place in every treatise on style or criticism.

1. They contribute beyond anything else to the embellishment of style. Some create a picture before the mind; others gratify the sense of proportion; others adorn the subject by contrasting it with some other which is like or unlike; and thus in various ways they appeal to the aesthetical sensibilities.
2. They are used to illustrate a subject, which thus gains a clearness that could be given in no other way.
3. They add to the persuasiveness of style. They give variety to it, by enabling the author to change his form of expression at will.
4. In the whole world of literature, both ancient and modern, figures of speech occupy a foremost place. 

            1. Simile: Resemblance, an explicit comparison (using “like” or “as”) between two thing

 of unlike nature that yet have something in common (see Bullinger, pp. 726‑733). 

“Silence settled on the audience like a block of granite.”

“All flesh is like grass.” (1 Pet. 1:24)

“He shall be like a tree planted by rivers of waters.”  (Ps. 1:3)

         2. Metaphor: Representation, an implicit comparison between two things of

unlike nature that yet have something in common; a declaration that one thing is or represents another

“The question of federal aid to education is a bramble patch.”

“The LORD God is a sun and a shield.”

“The LORD is my shepherd.”

3. Personification: he investiment of non-human subjects (e.g., abstractions, inanimate objects, or animals) with human qualities or abilities. 

“The land mourns‑‑the oil languishes.”  (Joel 1:10)

“The voice of your brother’s blood cries to me from the ground.”  (Gen. 4:6)

“Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”  (Ps. 23:4)

4. Metonymy:  Change of Noun (or any idea), the change of a word naming an object for another word closely associated with it. 

            “You split the fountain and the flood.” (Ps. 74:15)
            “Awake, my glory”  (Ps. 57:9[8])

5.      Euphemism:  the substitution of an inoffensive or mild expression for an offensive one

6.      Apostrophe:  a turning aside from the direct subject‑matter to address another who may be present in fact or in imagination

“Your glory, O Israel, is slain upon your high places . . . .  You mountains of Gilboa . . .” (2 Sam. 1: 19‑21)

“When Israel went forth out of Egypt . . . What ails you, O sea, that you flee?”   (Ps. 114:1‑5)

7.      Irony: the expression of thought in a form that conveys its opposite

“Cry louder, for he is a god.”  (1 Kings 18:27)

8.      Hyperbole: the use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of  emphasis or heightened effect; more is said than is literally meant

The cities are great, and walled up to heaven.”

*Reference: thanks to christianleadershipcenter.org

             more examples at buzzle.com

freedom for me

       I had another noteworthy topic discussed in my literature class today. We shared our own experience regarding FREEDOM from the select poem, Open End Quality. It talked about the persona who was helpless comparing her to a jack-in-the-box, waiting and always waiting for her Jackie boy to save her. My students shared insights about their real definition of freedom. It’s very interesting to listen to my students as they share about the realities of life through the experiences they encountered.

Yes they are correct! Freedom isn't just a word. It's an action.   

Modern times, is a relatively more free world, but there are still restrictions by society--- that includes our families (of course). 

Having laws and restrictions do not work; 

having too much freedom does not either.

Problems occur when too much freedom is given at a point that we even cannot control ourselves. Just like in our homes, if too much freedom is given to us, times were we are not ready for the responsibility that comes hand-in-hand with freedom, things may get out of control. As a result we become disobedient towards our parents, make the wrong choices and eventually end up as a juvenile delinquent threatening others, our families, and even ourselves.

Yes we are given freedom to speak our mind out, free to choose, free to be with anyone we want. However,

                           self control is the key. 

We must infinitely improve our values particularly our ability of telling what is right from wrong and not to abuse the freedom that we are given. How do we achieve this? Simple!   

Start within ourselves. 

At school, with our friends and even at home, since the family has the deepest influence over one than any other factors. By doing so, we would be setting rules of our own, which then we are not forced to live by it, but we truly believe in it.

I absolutely believe that we are free to write the script of our own life.*

trope

In the cold winter morning
i've longed for you
asking your hands to hold me
embracing you tight easing the coldness of the dew

In the lonely spring afternoon
i've longed for you
thinking you'll be back soon
hearing footsteps coming close to my door

In the silence of the summer night
i've longed for you
hoping that you're right here
wishing you to sleep beside me

In the empty dawn of fall
i've longed for you
trying to believe you're mine
praying to own your heart i'm seeking for

In these times of the day
i've longed for you
asking questions 'bout how i really felt for you
waiting for answers
i've longed from you 

www.josephestroga.s5.com 

TRULY

Born on this earth,
not knowing who I really am.
What? Whats?
What is my purpose?
Is always a question.

Time goes.
It moves me.
Till someone lit me up
Called and said she liked me.

I didnt know what to say.
First time, these three words came out.
Its good to give them, I didnt know!
But its better if heard too, I should say!

"You'll be the embrace, that keeps me warm.
You are my life, that give my sunshine!"
So good to hear,
I feel like in Heaven's cloud
she truly loves me.
That's what she said.

Now,
It's been like I've known her since then.
Tears,
And Happiness shared.
Right now. Right then.
But I love her!
"Feeling lucky!"
I said to myself.

All my life I've never felt this way
Thought it would never come,
Thought I would always be alone.
But she's here!
With the ring i gave for her,
Promised to be forever.
she truly loves me!
That I should say!www.josephestroga.s5.com

vid:LEARN ENGLISH

http://kliktrans.com/

10 TIPS IN WRITING POEMS

1. Pay attention to the world around you—little things, big things, people, animals, buildings, events, etc. What do you see, hear, taste, smell, feel?

2. Listen to words and sentences. What kind of music do they have? How is the music of poetry different from the music of songs?

3. Read all kinds of poetry. Which poems do you like and why?

4. Read what you write out loud. How does it sound? How could it sound better?

5. Ask yourself: does this poem have to rhyme? Would it be good or better if it didn’t? If it should rhyme, what kind of rhyme would be best? (For example, 1st and 2nd lines rhyme; 3rd and 4th lines rhyme—“Roses are red/So is your head/Violets are blue/So is your shoe"; or 1st and 3rd lines rhyme; 2nd and 4th lines rhyme—“What is your name?/Who is your mother?/This poem is quite lame/I should try another.”

6. Ask yourself: does this poem sound phoney? Don’t stick in big words or extra words just because you think a poem ought to have them.

7. A title is part of a poem. It can tell you what the poem is about. It can even be another line of the poem.

8. Before you write, think about what you want your whole poem to say.

9. If you end up saying something else, that’s okay, too. Poet X.J. Kennedy says, “You intend to write a poem about dogs, say, and poodle is the first word you’re going to find a rhyme for. You might want to talk about police dogs, Saint Bernards, and terriers, but your need for a rhyme will lead you to noodle and strudel. The darned poem will make you forget about dogs and write about food instead.”

10. Go wild. Be funny. Be serious. Be whatever you want! Use your imagination, your own way of seeing.

MAN vs WOMAn

I had a very exciting discussion earlier with my Philippine literature class. We discussed three stories that talked about man and woman. A debate emerged as we tried to compare and identify how these two lived then and now. There was a point stressed about what men and women should choose-love or brain. Its an issue all sexes had been debating about for quiet a time. I have never sided with any of these issues since before, i see the importance of what men can do and what women can. Its just that, its interesting to know that issues like these really matter and can really be of a great way of letting your students express how they feel about themselves.

Art - General Ideas

Aside from English and Literature, I am currently teaching  ARTS and Humanities. I was browsing the net for some ideas how to present topics in a more creative and fun way for me and my students. These are just some of the suggestions i found. You may as well use them in in any of your classes because these are not only for one specific subject area. Have fun using these strategies. ==> click here

Stories For Us

check this website i recently bumped into..its everything about life... Where faith, family and fun collide...click here

Basic English Sentence Structure

Basic English Sentence Structure

Basic word order in English [Subject --- Verb --- Object]

Mary likes Dave.
Subject=Mary
Verb = likes
Object = Dave

Word order is very important in English because there is very little "case marking" --- a subject and an object have the same form (except for pronouns).
For example, the sentence "Mary likes Dave." does not have the same meaning as "Dave likes Mary."
The Subject (the person who "likes") comes before the verb.
The Object (the person who receives the action of the verb) comes after the verb.

Some verbs are Transitive, that is they take an object. For example, the verb "to want" always takes an object. It would be incorrect to say "Mary wants." We must complete the sentence with an object: "Mary wants a ball."

The Object of a Transitive Verb may be a prepositional phrase, a noun phrase, or a sentence complement.
Prepositional Phrase as Object: Mary sleeps on the couch.
Noun Phrase as Object: Mary holds a doll.
Sentence Complement as Object: Mary wishes that Jim would come home.

A few Transitive Verbs take two Objects, a Noun Phrase and a Prepositional Phrase.
Noun Phrase and Prepositional Phrase as Object: Mary puts the purse on the table.

Basic word order in a Sentence with a Verb that does not take an Object [Subject --- Verb]

John cried.
Subject = John
Verb = cried

An Intransitive Verb does not take an object. For example, the sentence "John cried." does not have an Object. The verb "to cry" is Intransitive. English has very few verbs that are always Intransitive. The main test of intransitivity is whether the verb resists taking a prepositional phrase. Some grammar systems classify Transitive and Intransitive verbs differently than I have done here, ruling out location as a test to prove transitivity.
Many verbs may be Transitive or Intransitive.
He sang. (Intransitive)
He sang a song. (Transitive)

Basic word order with an Indirect Object [Subject --- Verb --- Indirect Object --- Object]

Mary gives John the ball.
Subject = Mary
Verb = gives
Indirect Object = John
Direct Object = the ball

Alternate word order with an Indirect Object is [Subject --- Verb --- Object --- Indirect Object]

In this sentence order, the Indirect Object must be part of a prepositional phrase. An example is the sentence "Mary gives the ball to John."
Subject = Mary
Verb = gives
Indirect Object = the ball (a Noun Phrase = Determiner "the" + Noun "ball")
Direct Object = to John (a Prepositional Phrase = Preposition "to" + Noun "John")

Word order with an Auxiliary [Subject --- Aux --- Verb --- Indirect Object --- Direct Object]

If a sentence has an Auxiliary (will, have, been, or other auxiliaries), the standard position for the auxiliary is before the verb. Examples are "Mary will give John the ball." and "Mary has given John the ball."

Word order with Negation and Auxiliary [Subject --- Aux --- Neg --- Verb --- Indirect Object --- Direct Object]

If a sentence has Negation and an Auxiliary the standard position for the negation is between the Aux and the Verb. Examples are "Mary will not give John the ball." and "Mary has not given John the ball."

Word order with Multiple Auxiliaries

If a sentence has more than one Auxiliary, the order of auxiliaries is determined by the verb form. To see a list of the verb tenses, and the future form, click here to go to my short story using the tenses "It's Sleepytime, Nighty Night, Sis"

Sentence Transformations

According to a major linguistic theory called "Transformational Grammar", all English sentences can be reduced to a structure called the "deep structure" of the sentence. The deep structure of every English sentence can by traced back to one of the four patterns above (with additions for auxiliaries or negation as necessary). Every sentence has a "deep structure" and a "surface structure." Sometimes, as in the examples above for basic structure, the surface structure of a sentence is the same as the deep structure of the sentence. When the surface structure of a sentence is different from the deep structure, the surface structure has been arrived at by moving parts of the deep structure of the sentence, "transforming" it.

A useful textbook explaining this theory is Introducing Transformational Grammar: From Rules to Principles and Parameters by Jamal Ouhalla, published by Edward Arnold: London, 1994 (ISBN 0-340-55630-7)
The clue that a sentence has a different surface structure than deep structure is a comma. (A comma has others uses too, for example, it is the clue that two structures are in parallel coordination.)
Let's look at the surface structure "This problem, I can solve." First, we see by the comma that something has been moved out of deep structure order. The deep structure is "I can solve this problem."
Subject=I
Auxilliary=can
Verb=solve
Object=Noun Phrase=this problem (Determiner=this + Noun=problem)

In the sentence "This problem, I can solve." the Object (this problem) has been pulled to the front of the sentence for the purpose of focus. This is called "fronting."

Usually a "constituent" must be moved as a whole when transforming a sentence from deep structure to surface structure. The following sentence with part of the Noun Phrase constituent moved would be incorrect (shown with the symbol *)
*Problem, I can solve this.

Grammatical errors occur when parts of constituents are separated from each other in movement, or moved to the wrong place in the word order. Sometimes the best way to untangle the sentence is return it to deep structure and re-word it. 

http://www.speak-read-write.com/grammar1.html

Dangling Modifiers

Basic Principle: Modifiers are like teenagers: they fall in love with whatever they're next to. Make sure they're next to something they ought to modify!

MISPLACED MODIFIER: Some modifiers, especially simple modifiers — only, just, nearly, barely — have a bad habit of slipping into the wrong place in a sentence. (In the sentence below, what does it mean to "barely kick" something?)

Confusion	He barely kicked that ball twenty yards.
Repair Work	He kicked that ball barely twenty yards.

The issue of the proper placement of "only" has long been argued among grammarians. Many careful writers will insist that "only" be placed immediately before the word or phrase it modifies. Thus "I only gave him three dollars" would be rewritten as "I gave him only three dollars." Some grammarians, however, have argued that such precision is not really necessary, that there is no danger of misreading "I only gave him three dollars" and that "only" can safely and naturally be placed between the subject and the verb. The argument has been going on for two hundred years.

DANGLING MODIFIER: When we begin a sentence with a modifying word, phrase, or clause, we must make sure the next thing that comes along can, in fact, be modified by that modifier. When a modifier improperly modifies something, it is called a "dangling modifier." This often happens with beginning participial phrases, making "dangling participles" an all too common phenomenon. In the sentence below, we can't have a car changing its own oil.

Confusion	Changing the oil every 3,000 miles, the car seemed to run better.
Repair Work	Changing the oil every 3,000 miles, Fred found he could get much better gas mileage.

A participial phrase followed by an Expletive Construction will often be a dangling participle — but the expletive construction is probably not a good idea anyway. This faulty sentence can be remedied by changing the participial phrase into a full-fledged clause with a subject and verb.

Confusion	Changing the oil every 3,000 miles, there is an easy way to keep your car running smoothly.
Repair Work	If we change the oil every 3,000 miles, we can keep our car running smoothly.

A participial phrase followed by a Passive Verb is also apt to be a dangler because the real actor of the sentence will be disguised.

Confusion	Changing the oil every 3,000 miles, the car was kept in excellent condition.
Repair Work	Changing the oil every 3,000 miles, we kept the car in excellent condition.

An infinitive phrase can also "dangle." The infinitive phrase below should probably modify the person(s) who set up the exercise program.

Confusion	To keep the young recruits interested in getting in shape, an exercise program was set up for the summer months.
Repair Work	To keep the young recruits interested in getting in shape, the coaching staff set up an exercise program for the summer months.

SQUINTING MODIFIER: A third problem in modifier placement is described as a "squinting modifier." This is an unfortunate result of an adverb's ability to pop up almost anywhere in a sentence; structurally, the adverb may function fine, but its meaning can be obscure or ambiguous. For instance, in the sentence below, do the students seek advice frequently or can they frequently improve their grades by seeking advice? You can't tell from that sentence because the adverb often is "squinting" (you can't tell which way it's looking). Let's try placing the adverb elsewhere.

Confusion	Students who seek their instructors' advice often can improve their grades.
Repair Work	Student who often seek their instructors' advice can improve their grades.
Repair Work	Students who seek their instructors' advice can often improve their grades.

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