Grammar Practice 1



Grammar Practice 1

In this packet, you will find some practice for some of the Top 20 Grammar Errors. Read the directions in each section and complete it as directed.

Homophones: Homophones are words that sound alike, but are spelled differently and

have different meanings. Using the wrong word in your writing makes your work look

sloppy and detracts from the meaning you are intending to convey. Write a short definition in your own words for each of the following homophones.

Homophones Meaning

Accept To answer affirmatively: accept an invitation; To receive (something

offered), especially with gladness or approval

Except With the exclusion of; other than; but: everyone except me; Otherwise

than: They didn't open their mouths except to complain.

Affect To have an influence on or effect a change in: Inflation affects the buying

power of the dollar; To attack or infect, as a disease

Effect Something brought about by a cause or agent; a result; outcome or

achieve a result; influence

Aloud With use of the voice; orally; In a loud tone; loudly

Allowed To let do or happen; permit; To permit the presence of;

Hole A hollowed place in something solid; a cavity or pit: An awkward

situation; a predicament

Whole Containing all components; complete; Not divided or disjoined; in one

unit

Cite To quote as an authority or example; To mention or bring forward as

support, illustration, or proof

Sight Field of vision; The foreseeable future; prospect; Something worth

seeing; a spectacle

Site The place where a structure or group of structures was, is, or is to be

located

Coarse Of low, common, or inferior quality; Rough, especially to the touch

Course Onward movement in a particular direction; progress; The route or path

taken by something, such as a stream, that moves

Passed To move on or ahead; proceed; To be communicated or exchanged

between persons

Past No longer current; gone by; over; Having existed or occurred in an earlier

time; bygone

Principal First, highest, or foremost in importance, rank, worth, or degree; chief.; A

main participant in a situation

Principle A basic truth, law, or assumption; The collectivity of moral or ethical

standards or judgments

Rain Water condensed from atmospheric vapor and falling in drops

Reign Exercise of sovereign power, as by a monarch; Dominance or

widespread influence

Rein A long narrow leather strap attached to each end of the bit of a bridle and

used by a rider or driver to control a horse or other animal. A means of

restraint, check, or guidance

Its The possessive form of it. Used as a modifier before a noun: The airline

canceled its early flight to New York

it’s Contraction of it is. Contraction of it has

lead To show the way to by going in advance; To guide the behavior or

opinion of; induce: led us to believe otherwise

led Past tense and past participle of lead1

loose Not fastened, restrained, or contained

lose To be unsuccessful in retaining possession of; mislay

than Used after a comparative adjective or adverb to introduce the second

element or clause of an unequal comparison

then At that time; Next in time, space, or order; immediately afterward

their The possessive form of they. Used as a modifier before a noun: their

accomplishments; their home town. Usage Problem His, her, or its

there At or in that place: sit over there

they’re

to In a direction toward so as to reach

too In addition; also

two

your Used as a modifier before a noun:

you’re

Possession: The possessive form of a noun is used to show ownership of something. We often show possession by adding an apostrophe and an s to the end of word (so to show that the dog belongs to Frank, we say Frank’s dog). If the noun already ends with an S, we can add an apostrophe to the end of the word (so the dog belonging to Mr. Simmons becomes Mr. Simmons’ dog), or we can add an apostrophe S if it sounds better -- usually if the noun is one syllable -- (so the dog belonging to Cass becomes Cass's dog). Rewrite each of the following to show possession.

The song of the singer The singer’s song

The rattle belonging to the baby The baby’s rattle

The coat belonging to Grandma Grandma’s coat

The book belonging to Sarah Sarah’s book

The work Jess does Jess’s work

The murmur of the crowd The crowd’s murmur

The cries of the auctioneer The auctioneer’s cries

The marking of the teacher The teacher’s marking

The laughter of the boys The boys’ laughter

The singing of the children The children’s singing

The noise of the tractor The tractor’s noise

Commonly Misspelled Words: The following is a list of the most frequently misspelled words. Circle the correctly spelled word in each pair. If you are not sure of the spelling, use a dictionary to look up which one is correct.

1. Accomodate Accommodate

2. Accomplish Acommplish

3. Accummulate Accumulate

4. Aquire Acquire

5. Address Adress

6. Aggravate Agravate

7. Anual Annual

8. Anser Answer

9. Apology Appology

10. Artic Arctic

11. Arguement Argument

12. Athlete Athelete

13. Beggining Beginning

14. Believe Beleive

15. Benefitted Benefited

16. Business Bussiness

17. Calandar Calendar

18. Changable Changeable

19. Comming Coming

20. Comittment Commitment

21. Conceivable Concievable

22. Develope Develop

23. Dinning Dining

24. Dissappear Disappear

25. Embarass Embarrass

26. Extremly Extremely

27. Fourty Forty

28. Friend Freind

29. Gaurd Guard

30. Height Hieght

31. Immediately Imediately

32. Irrelevant Irellevant

33. Irresistible Irresistable

34. Lonelyness Loneliness

35. Maintenance Maintainence

36. Neccessary Necessary

37. Noticable Noticeable

38. Obsticle Obstacle

39. Occured Occurred

40. Occurrence Occurence

41. Parrallel Parallel

42. Precede Preceed

43. Prefered Preferred

44. Privalege Privilege

45. Proceed Procede

46. Recieve Receive

47. Recomend Recommend

48. Referrence Reference

49. Referred Refered

50. Repetition Repitition

51. Seize Sieze

52. Sincerly Sincerely

53. Succeed Succede

54. Transfered Transferred

55. Truley Truly

56. Weird Weird

Capitalization: Read the following story and circle the words that should be capitalized. Remember that proper nouns should always be capitalized. Usually, if the noun is a specific name, it should be capitalized. Also, don’t forget about the first word inside quotations that are full sentences.

For many teens, prom is an event that takes 16 years of planning. Between finding a date, a dress or tux, and making a dinner reservation, getting ready for prom can be a full-time activity for teenagers.

Despite all of the planning, however, seams break open, couples break up, and teens break out! While some things cannot be avoided, skin problems can be minimized or prevented with proper planning. To help teenagers prep for prom night, skin care experts Hilary Baldwin, M.D., associate professor of clinical dermatology at the State University of New York in Brooklyn, and celebrity make-up artist Michael Criscuolo offer their "prescription for a perfect prom" on .

Both experts agree that creating a "prom perfect" look is about making the most of your assets and working on any problem areas in advance. "It is important to begin with a clean canvas," says Dr. Baldwin. "If you think your acne is beyond self-treatment, see a dermatologist," she advises. "A dermatologist can diagnose your type of acne and provide you with a long-term treatment plan to clear up your pimples and help prevent future breakouts."

"Don't wait until the last minute," cautions Dr. Baldwin. "A dermatologist can't magically clear up your problems overnight." To help combat acne, your dermatologist may prescribe a medically proven treatment such as retin-a-micro (tretinoin gel) microsphere, 0.1%, which enables a noticeable improvement of acne within two to seven weeks with minimum irritation.

Criscuolo, a makeup artist whose clients include young stars from film, television, and music, says teens who are anxious to cover their acne with makeup often apply too much, or use the wrong kind of cosmetics for their skin. Such mistakes, he notes, only confirm that they are hiding something, and can draw attention to the problem. To make their special night even more special, he offers the following advice:

Start Early: make-up takes about an hour to settle. Make-up that is applied correctly should last the whole night. Prom night should not be spent in a long line in the girls' room re-applying make-up.

Keep It Cool: store moisturizers and astringents in the refrigerator prior to applying. The coolness is soothing to sunburned or irritated skin, and helps to tighten pores.

You Glow Girl!: to create that all-night-glow, try your hand at cream blush. Select a shade that is slightly darker than your powder blush, and apply under foundation for best results.

Green With Envy: for a single blemish, mix a green-based concealer with your usual color cover-up. The green base will reduce the redness of the pimple, and blend into your natural skin tone. Try this for zits on your face, back and chest.

In clinical studies, the retin-a-micro irritation profile was found to be similar to a mild, local irritant. The most common adverse reactions to retin-a-micro were limited to mild or moderate irritation of the skin. Severe cutaneous irritation occurred infrequently.

Apostrophes: Remember that apostrophes are most commonly used for two items; one is to show omission of letters, as in don’t or we’re, and the second time is to show possession like we practiced above. In the exercises below, insert the missing apostrophes in the following sentences.

1. I’m not going out yet.

2. Have you corrected Susan’s homework yet?

3. My store specializes in men’s clothing.

4. Jack’s store carries only boys’ clothes.

5. The three students began their entertainment business as freshmen.

6. My brother-in-law’s job is with the county clerk’s office.

7. Japan’s secret pact with Germany offset France and England’s agreement.

8. Watch your P’s and Q’s at Grandma’s house.

9. Jeffrey opened his suitcase.

10. It’s later than you think.

11. The players’ equipment was already on the soccer field.

12. John’s condition results entirely from neglect.

13. Sam is going on a week’s vacation.

14. His friend’s stared at his silk hat.

Missing Words: Sometimes as we are writing or typing, our brains get ahead of our hands, and we leave out words from our sentences. In each of the sentences below, there are words missing. Rewrite them so they make sense.

1. I went to there in town with.

I went to the store, there in town, with Bob.

2. We often forget when we are too quickly.

We often forget when we are moving too quickly.

3. These exercises may simple, but they help in long run.

These exercises may appear simple, but they may help us in the long run.

4. When we out words, our ideas do come across clearly.

When we don’t leave out words, our ideas do come across clearly.

5. A wonderful paper errors is difficult to, and may a bad grade.

A wonderful paper with errors is difficult to read and may receive a bad grade.

6. Teachers do not like it when kids words because then we know what the is about.

Teachers do not like it when kids misspell words because then we don’t know what the paper is about.

7. It is good to peer for missing because sometimes our heads put the missing in without us realizing it.

It is good to peer edit for missing words, because sometimes our heads think faster than our hands can type and we put the missing word in later without realizing it.

8. Most of us not words on purpose, it a simple mistake.

Most of us do not forget words on purpose, it is just a simple mistake.

9. Even teachers have to for missing words papers for students.

Even teachers have to check for missing words in student’s papers.

10. These simple exercises make sure you how to write correctly.

These simple grammar exercises make sure you know how to write correctly.

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