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07-10-2012, 09:09 PM
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#1 | | Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 369
| Grammar help. ( I seriously need explanations) Thank you guys.
Hey guys, these are some sentences that I need to know WHY they are wrong, instead of the correct words. Thanks.
1. Every certificate is hard earn.
2. Winning games or competing like monopoly and tennis.
3. Completing goals like getting a considerable amount of money deliberately.
4. Success can almost be anything, winning, getting good, getting good grades, making a better you.
Thanks guys. Even though I know how to correct them, I have trouble explaining. Thanks, again.
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07-10-2012, 09:37 PM
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#2 | | Junior Member
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 33
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1. "Earn" is a verb. "Earned" is correct because it is an adjective describing certificate.
I have no idea what the other sentences are supposed to mean, so I can't say what's wrong with them.
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07-10-2012, 09:46 PM
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#3 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Maryland
Posts: 4,579
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1. Wrong verb form
2. Fragment, no verb, Monopoly needs a capital letter
3. Fragment, no verb
4. Punctuation error, should be a colon after anything
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07-10-2012, 09:50 PM
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#4 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Cambridge, MA
Posts: 1,913
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1. "Earn" should be "earned."
2. and 3. are obvious fragments.
4. should have a semicolon after "anything."
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07-10-2012, 09:54 PM
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#5 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Maryland
Posts: 4,579
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4. Colon, not semi-colon
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07-11-2012, 10:22 AM
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#6 | | Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 369
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For 2, and 3, why isn't the verb : 2. Winning 3. Completing
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07-11-2012, 11:22 AM
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#7 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 188
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^It's not just winning, it's "winning games".
Winning games is a noun, kind of. Or modifier, something like that...
Ex. I was winning the match. <--- Verb
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07-11-2012, 01:13 PM
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#8 | | Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 369
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So is "Winning games" a noun because its a gerund?
and is "hard earn" supposed to be "hard-earned" because it needs to be in past tense?
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07-11-2012, 01:17 PM
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#9 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Cambridge, MA
Posts: 1,913
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Whoops, colon. Sorry about that...
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07-11-2012, 04:29 PM
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#10 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Maryland
Posts: 4,579
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-ing verbs without helpers cannot be the main verb of the sentence.
Number one could be, "Every certificate is hard to earn."
Your sentences have more that one problem and could be fixed several ways.
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07-12-2012, 10:14 AM
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#11 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 188
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^ I agree with MD Mom.
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07-12-2012, 10:20 AM
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#12 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 41
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Just to clarify some nomenclature, when a verb has -ing, it is said to be in the gerund form. Gerunds are nouns. They can therefore be neither the main verb, nor any other verb in a sentence.
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07-12-2012, 10:36 AM
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#13 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Maryland
Posts: 4,579
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Helping verbs, combined with -ing verbs, form the verb phrase in sentences.
I was trying to explain this. (was trying, without the was, it is not complete)
This is one of my favorite grammar sites: Helping and Modal Auxiliary Verbs | |
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