Grammar: 1001 Practice Questions For Dummies (+ Free Online Practice). Geraldine Woods

the class, Eleanor told me the teacher was boring.

      3 Eleanor told me the teacher was boring during the class.

      446.

      1 When you’re dealing with unreasonable people, making decisions quickly causes arguments.

      2 When you’re dealing with unreasonable people, making decisions causes arguments quickly.

      3 When you’re dealing with unreasonable people, making quick decisions causes arguments.

      447.

      1 Lying asleep in the crib, the nanny checked on the child.

      2 The nanny, lying asleep in the crib, checked on the child.

      3 The nanny checked on the child lying asleep in her crib.

      448.

      1 The house Agnes once visited sold for a million dollars.

      2 The house Agnes visited sold for a million dollars once.

      3 The house Agnes visited once sold for a million dollars.

      449.

      1 Testifying for the defense, the eye-witness account from Mr. Jones was compelling.

      2 Testifying for the defense, Mr. Jones’s eye-witness account was compelling.

      3 Testifying for the defense, Mr. Jones gave a compelling account of what he had witnessed.

      450.

      1 The commissioners explained the environmental impact of mining with a slide presentation.

      2 The commissioners explained with a slide presentation the environmental impact of mining.

      3 With a slide presentation, the commissioners explained the environmental impact of mining.

      451.

      1 The tattoo artist injected ink into the client’s upper arm, which was thickly muscled and hard to draw on.

      2 Thickly muscled and hard to draw on, the tattoo artist injected ink into the client’s upper arm.

      3 The tattoo artist injected ink, thickly muscled and hard to draw on, into the client’s upper arm.

Chapter 10

      Writing Gooder Better Comparisons

      Are your comparisons correcter than your friends'? If you've already crossed out correcter and substituted more correct, you're on your way to better (not gooder!) comparisons. The questions in this chapter challenge you to create comparisons that conform to the rules of Standard English. You also practice identifying and correcting vague, illogical, or impossible comparisons.

The Questions You'll Work On

      In this chapter, you work on questions that involve the following tasks:

       Choosing the correct word(s) to compare two elements (the comparative form, such as nicer) or three or more elements (the superlative form, such as nicest)

       Inserting more, most, less, and least properly

       Dealing with irregular comparisons — good, better, best and bad, worse, worst

       Identifying words that can’t be compared

       Avoiding incomplete and illogical comparisons

What to Watch Out For

      Keep these points in mind when you’re answering the questions in this chapter:

       Short words often form positive comparisons by adding -er or -est to the base word. If the base word ends in y, you generally change the y to i before adding -er or -est.

       Don’t double up: If you add -er or -est, don’t use more or most too.

       Use the comparative (-er or more, less) when comparing two elements and the superlative (-est or most, least) when comparing three or more elements.

       Absolutes — perfect, unique, and similar concepts — can’t be compared.

       Good, bad, well, many, and much are irregular.

       All comparisons must be complete and clear.

       Use other or else when comparing someone or something to the group that includes the person or thing being compared.

Creating Comparative and Superlative Forms

      452–476 Which comparisons of the base word are correct?

      452. Base word: neat

      Comparisons: neater, more neater, less neat, neatest, least neat

      453. Base word: close

      Comparisons: more close, closer, most close, less close, closest

      454. Base word: beautiful

      Comparisons: beautifuller, more beautiful, beautifullest, most beautiful, less beautiful

      455. Base word: scary

      Comparisons: scarier, scariest, more scarier, most scariest, least scary

      456. Base word: competent

      Comparisons: competenter, less competent, less competenter, least competent, least competentest

      457. Base word: pretty

      Comparisons: prettyer, prettier, prettyest, prettiest, less pretty

      458. Base word: softly

      Comparisons: softlier, softliest, more softly, most softly, less softly

      459. Base word: fast

      Comparisons: faster, fastest, less fast, least fast, most fast

      460. Base word: tall

      Comparisons: taller, tallest, more tall, most tall, less tall

      461. Base word: rapidly

      Comparisons: more rapidly, most rapidly, less rapidly, least rapidly, rapider

      462. Base word: concerned

      Comparisons: more concerned, less concerned, most concerned, least concerned, concernest

      463. Base word: nimbly

Comparisons: nimblier, nimbliest, more nimbly, more nimblier, most nimbliest

      464. Base word: merry

      Comparisons: more merry, most merry, more merrier, most merriest, merrier

      465. Base word: loudly

      Comparisons: loudlier, loudliest, more loudly, most loudly, more loudlier

      466. Base word: curved

      Comparisons: curveder, curvedest, less curved, least curved, most curved

      467. Base word: friendly

      Comparisons: friendlier, friendliest, less friendlier, least friendlier, most friendlier

      468. Base word: artificially

      Comparisons: more artificially, most artificially, less artificially, least artificially, artificialler

      469.