Writing skills success - LearningExpress 2009
Lesson 14. Problem verbs and pronouns
Pretest
I never made a mistake in grammar but one in my life and as soon as I done it I seen it.
—Carl Sandburg, American poet (1878-1967)
LESSON SUMMARY
Sit or set? Your or you’re? There or their? Or is it they’re? Knowing how to use such problem pairs is the mark of the educated writer. This lesson shows you how.
This lesson covers problem verbs such as lie/lay, sit/set, rise/raise, and their various forms. It also covers problem pronouns such as its/it’s, your/you’re, whose/who’s, who/that/which, and there/they’re/their. You can distinguish yourself as an educated writer if you can use these verbs and pronouns correctly in formal writing situations.
Problem Verbs
Lie/Lay
Few people use lie and lay and their principal parts correctly, perhaps because few people know the difference in meaning between the two. The verb lie means to rest or recline. The verb lay means to put or place. The following table shows the principal parts of each of these verbs. Their meanings, written in the correct form, appear in parentheses.
* The past participle is the form used with have, has, or had.
To choose the correct form of lie or lay, simply look at the meanings in parentheses. Choose the word in parentheses that makes the most sense and use the corresponding form of lie or lay. Sometimes, none of the words seem especially appropriate. Nevertheless, choose the option that makes more sense than any of the others. If a sentence contains the word down, mentally delete the word from the sentence to make the appropriate verb more obvious. Examine the sample sentences to see how this is done.
The garbage cans are__ in the middle of the
street. [Requires progressive]
Resting makes better sense than placing. Choose lying.
Keith told Nan to____ the mail on the dining
room table. [Requires present]
Place makes better sense than rest. Choose lay.
The sandwiches____ in the sun for over an hour before we ate them. [Requires past] Rested makes better sense than placed. Choose lay.
Yesterday afternoon, I__ down for an hour.
[Requires past]
Remove the word down.
Rested makes better sense than placed.
Choose lay.
Barry thought he had the papers near the copy machine. [Requires past participle] Placed makes better sense than rested.
Choose laid.
Practice
Write the correct form of lie or lay in each of the blanks that follow. Answers are at the end of the lesson.
1. Sara ... her hat and gloves on the table when she came in.
2. …the packages on the mailroom floor.
3. Gary ... on the sofa until three o’clock in the morning.
4. Gramps has ... in bed with a headache most of the day.
5. No one had any idea how long the sandwiches had ... in the sun, or who had ... them there in the first place.
Sit/Set
These two verbs are very similar to lie and lay. Sit means to rest. Set means to put or place. The following table shows the principal parts of each of these verbs. Their meanings, written in the correct form, appear in parentheses.
*The past participle is the form used with have, has, or had.
Choose the correct form of sit or set by using the meanings (the words in parentheses) in the sentence first. Decide which meaning makes the most sense, and then choose the corresponding verb. See how this is done in the following examples.
The speaker ... the chair next to the podium.
Put or placed makes more sense than rested. Choose set.
The speaker ... in the chair next to the podium.
Rested makes more sense than put or placed. Choose sat.
Practice
Write the correct form of sit or set in each of the blanks that follow. Answers are at the end of the lesson.
6. The board of directors ... aside additional money for research and development.
7. Heather ... the glass on the table next to the picture of Daniella and ... with Jack, the family’s pet cat.
8. I can’t remember where I ... the mail down.
9. Logan ... by Pauline in class every day; they ... their books on the rack under their chairs.
10. We had ... in the waiting room for almost an hour before the doctor saw us.
Rise/Raise
The verb rise means to go up. The verb raise means to move something up. Raise requires an object. In other words, something must receive the action of the verb raise (raise your hand, raise the flag, raise the objection, raise children). This table shows the principal parts of both verbs.
*The past participle is the form used with have, has, or had.
Choose the correct form of rise or raise by using the meanings (the words in parentheses) in the sentence first. Decide which meaning makes the most sense, and choose the corresponding verb. See how this is done in the following examples. Sometimes, none of the words seem especially appropriate. Nevertheless, choose the option that makes more sense than any of the others.
The sun ... a little bit earlier each day of the spring.
Comes up makes the most sense.
Choose rises.
Without realizing it, we began to ... our voices.
Move up makes more sense than any of the other options.
Choose raise.
The river ... over two feet in the last hour.
Went up makes the most sense.
Choose rose.
Practice
Write the correct form of rise or raise in each of the blanks that follow. Answers are at the end of the lesson.
11. The guard ... the flag every morning before the sun ... .
12. The McDermotts ... six children; two were twins.
13. By late morning, the fog had__ ... enough for us to see the neighboring farm.
14. The reporters ... their hands and ... from their seats when they were called upon by the president.
Problem Pronouns
Its/It’s
Its is a possessive pronoun that means belonging to it. It’s is a contraction for it is or it has. You will use only it’s when you can also substitute the words it is. Take time to make this substitution, and you will never confuse these two words.
A doe will hide its [belonging to it—the doe] fawn carefully before going out to graze.
It’s [it is] time we packed up and moved to a new location.
The new computer system has proven its [belonging to it] value.
We’ll leave the game as soon as it’s [it is] over.
Your/You're
Your is a possessive pronoun that means belonging to you. You’re is a contraction for the words you are. You will only use you’re when you can also substitute the words you are. Take time to make this substitution, and you will never confuse these two words.
Is this your [belonging to you] idea of a joke?
As soon as you’re [you are] finished, you may leave.
Your [belonging to you] friends are the people you most enjoy.
You’re [you are] friends whom we value.
Whose/Who's
Whose is a possessive pronoun that means belonging to whom. Who’s is a contraction for the words who is or who has. Take time to make this substitution, and you will never confuse these two words.
Who’s [Who is] in charge of the lighting for the show?
Whose [belonging to whom] car was that?
This is the nurse who’s [who is] on duty until morning.
Here is the man whose [belonging to whom] car I ran into this morning.
Who/That/Which
Who refers to people. That refers to things. Which is generally used to introduce nonrestrictive clauses that describe things. (See Lesson 4 for nonrestrictive clauses.) Look at the following sentences to see how each of these words is used.
There is the woman who helped me fix my flat tire.
The man who invented the polio vaccine died in 1995.
This is the house that Jack built.
The book that I wanted is no longer in print.
Abigail, who rescued my cat from the neighbor’s tree, lives across the street.
Yasser Arafat, who headed the PLO, met with Israeli leaders.
The teacher asked us to read Lord of the Flies, which is my favorite novel.
Mount Massive, which is the tallest peak in the Rocky Mountains, looms above Leadville, Colorado.
There/Their/They're
There is an adverb telling where an action or item is located. Their is a possessive pronoun that shows ownership. They’re is a contraction for the words they are. Of all the confusing word groups, this one is misused most often. Here is an easy way to distinguish among these words.
■ Take a close look at this version of the word: tHERE. You can see that there contains the word here-. Wherever you use the word there, you should be able to substitute the word here, and the sentence should still make sense.
■ Their means belonging to them. Of the three words, their can be most easily transformed into the word them. Try it. You’ll discover that two short markings—connecting the i to the r and then drawing a line to make the ir into an m—will turn their into them. This clue will help you avoid misusing their.
■ Finally, imagine that the apostrophe in they’re is actually a very small letter a. If you change they’re to they are in a sentence, you’ll never misuse the word. Look over the following example sentences.
There [here] is my paycheck.
The new chairs are in there [here].
Their [belonging to them] time has almost run out.
This is their [belonging to them] problem, not mine.
They’re [they are] planning to finish early in the morning.
I wonder how they’re [they are] going to work this out.
Practice
Circle the correct word in each set of parentheses. Answers are at the end of the lesson.
15. Call her when (its, it’s) time to go to lunch.
16. The company was known for (its, it’s) excellent health care benefits.
17. (Its, It’s) ball field becomes a muddy mess when (it’s, its) raining.
18. Don’t forget (your, you’re) umbrella when you leave the house this morning.
19. (Your, You’re) scheduled to meet with the new client tomorrow morning.
20. (Your, You’re) schedule for tomorrow is finalized.
21. (It’s, Its) (your, you’re) number (their, they’re, there) going to call, not mine.
22. This is the scarf (who, which, that) I borrowed from Jessica.
23. My friend Evan is the one (who, which, that) lives in Seattle.
24. The new grocery store, (who, which, that) is located in the center of town, is scheduled to open next week.
25. Georgia O’Keeffe, (who, which, that) is my favorite artist, lived in New Mexico for many years.
26. He was on the team (who, which, that) won last year’s title.
27. (There, Their, They’re) scheduled to arrive in London next week.
28. (Your, You’re) never going to find the books in (there, their, they’re).
29. The teller (who, which, that) gave me the deposit slip is over (there, their, they’re).
30. (Its, It’s) been five years since (there, their, they’re) apartment was painted.
31. (Whose, Who’s) calculator needs batteries?
32. (Who’s Whose) been handling the supply orders for our department?
33. (Who’s, Whose) birthday is it?
34. Jacob met with the person (who’s, whose) organizing the conference.
Answers
1. laid
2. Lay
3. lay
4. lain
5. lain, laid
6. set
7. set, sitting
8. set
9. sits, set
10. sat
11. raised, rose or raises, rises
12. raised
13. risen
14. raised, rose
15. it’s
16. its
17. Its, it’s
18. your
19. You’re
20. Your
21. It’s, your, they’re
22. that
23. who
24. which
25. who
26. that
27. They’re
28. You’re, there
29. who, there
30. It’s, their
31. Whose
32. Who’s
33. Whose
34. who’s
TIP
Identify the special verb or pronoun problem that gives you the most trouble. Explain the correct way to use it to a friend or family member. Make a conscious effort to use it correctly at least three times today.