Reference no: EM133945668
The attached documents will help you to understand the basic definitions and issues related to pronouns and modifiers, but here are some initial thoughts:
* you should be able to draw a line from a pronoun to the noun that it modifies, and there should be nothing "under" that line that might cause any confusion as to what the pronoun modifies: Philip and Chuck went to his house and ate chips. What does "his" modify? It is unclear. We would likely need to substitute "his" for one of the names.
* a pronoun should refer to a noun that is not too far, typically no more than one sentence away: Philiphas a great car. The neighborhood is a bad one with lots of auto theft and some vandalism every week, no matter how many police cars patrol the neighborhood. He locks his car if he walks away even for a minute. Notice that "he" loses some of its clarity based on the separation of the pronoun from the noun. The reader can easily get confused with pronouns!
* pronouns need to agree with each other and with the relevant noun: Lisa locked his car on theirdriveway. The problem with "his" and "their" is that neither pronoun agrees with Lisa. Unless you clarify the relevant nouns in the sentence just prior to this one the, reader will likely struggle to map everything together. Do we really mean, "Lisa locked her car on her driveway?" Get online assignment help – 100% Original & AI-Free Content.
* modifiers need to clearly map to the part of speech that they modify and do so without any separation or chance for confusion: I drove the bus into the garage looking behind me and in reverse. The second piece in brown is extra information, a modifying phrase, that adds to "drove the bus," telling the reader how the writer drove. That's what modifiers do! However, the separation between the modifier and the part of speech that it modifies could cause confusion. The garage did not look behind me or reverse! It would be better to put the modifier RIGHT NEXT to what it modifies: "I drove the bus, looking behind me and in reverse, into the garage."
* modifiers need to modify something in the sentence or they shouldn't be there: Looking both ways, the house was still. What does "looking both ways" modify? I would need to clarify or cut out the modifier: Looking both ways, Chris saw that the house was still.
Please correct the following sentences for the pronoun or modifier issues that we have been discussing, assuming that there are no sentences before the ones that you see (nothing to clarify what a pronoun might refer to):
1) The sharks swim in circles with black on their fins.
2) Everyone wants their cake with ice cream.
3) Cutting the grass, the yard looked wonderful.
4) Polite and demure, the sky above the house opened in a flood.
5) Thomas drives the car down the road with their pot holes.
6) I read the newspaper for their words of wisdom.
7) Someone at the store left their umbrella.
8) Jen drives his car to their house.
9) The radio blares through the whole house with the broken dial.
10) Airplanes land at all hours of the night on the runway.