Name: ______________________________________________ Each item contains a single error. Find the error and correct it. 1.

I like ice cream, it makes me happy. This is an example of a run-on sentence. Specifically, it is a comma splice. Two independent clauses have been fused with a comma. You can fix this in several ways: 1. Make two sentences: I like ice cream. It makes me happy. 2. Keep the comma and add a coordinating conjunction: I like ice cream, and it makes me happy. 3. Use a semicolon instead of a comma: I like ice cream; it makes me happy. 2. He pointed to the recent success of Concert For New York City. A five-and-a-half-hour extravaganza featuring such superstars as Elton John, Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, and Destiny's Child, among others. The problem here is the second sentence. It isnt a complete sentence. Its a dependent clause that describes the concert. The easiest way to fix this is to change the period to a comma: He pointed to the recent success of Concert For New York City, a five-and-a-halfhour extravaganza featuring such superstars as Elton John, Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, and Destiny's Child, among others. 3. When he shifted from fifth gear to reverse, his car dropped its transmission. Here, its a simple apostrophe error. Its is a special case. Its is the contraction for it is. Its is the possessive. When forming the possessive for it, you never use an apostrophe. So, in this case, the transmission belongs to the carno apostrophe necessary. When he shifted from fifth gear to reverse, his car dropped its transmission.

4. Because she was the best she was awarded the prize. This is a very common error. The root sentence here is She was awarded the prize. Its the primary action. The other part of the sentence presents a reason for this action, because she was the best, but this cant stand on its own as an independent clause. Because we are given the because part of the sentence up front, we need a comma to join them together. You could also fix this by putting the because part of the sentence at the end:

She was awarded the prize because she was the best. OR Because she was the best, she was awarded the prize. 5. Later we went to the saber-toothed tiger exhibit. Any time you begin a sentence with a word that references time, like later, next, then, and so on, you need to separate it with a comma: Later, we went to the saber-toothed tiger exhibit

6. They were observing the wolves with high-powered cameras. Amazing! Wolves with high-powered cameras! This is an example of a misplaced modifier. Though logic would tell us that its unlikely that wolves have cameras, the grammar here makes it impossible to tell. This requires a bit of reworking: They used high-powered cameras to observe the wolves. 7. Each of the kittens played with their tail. Each is singular, while their is plural. One of the difficulties in English is that we dont have a gender-neutral, singular pronoun thats appropriate for use with people. We do, however, have one thats appropriate for use with animals, and we need it here: Each of the kittens played with its tail. 8. We simply had to many cakes that were shaped like the Eiffel Tower. Its the old to/too/two confusion. To is a preposition; it indicates direction. Two is a numbermore than one and less than three. Too indicates excess, and can be used as a synonym for also. We simply had too many cakes that were shaped like the Eiffel Tower. 9. Bob lost the directions to the cabins, and we were unable to find them. Pronoun trouble: What were the people in this sentence unable to find? Was it the cabins or the directions? When a pronoun is too far away from its antecedent (the word to which the pronoun refers) in a sentence, or if other nouns of the same number and gender come in between the pronoun and intended antecedent, you can end up with a vague pronoun. Since both directions and cabins are neuter

and plural, its impossible to tell what them refers to. Your interpretation will dictate how you fixed the sentence: We were unable to find the cabins because Bob lost the directions OR Bob lost the directions to the cabins; we were unable to find the directions. (Its actually fairly difficult to rework the sentence to make it a problem with finding the directions.) 10. Katie called Elizabeth her sister for help. Is Elizabeth actually Katies sister? Or is Katie just calling Elizabeth her sister so that Elizabeth will help Katie? Her sister is an appositive. An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that renames a noun. In this case, the appositive is not essential to the meaning of the sentenceKatie called Elizabeth for help still means the same thing as Katie called Elizabeth, her sister, for helpso you set it off with commas. I think of the commas like a trapdoor in the sentence: if you pull the lever, anything between the commas will drop out, and youll just be left with the main sentence. Katie called Elizabeth, her sister, for help.