Exercise Answer Key
CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION
Exercise 1.1
This is an exercise that should generate class discussion, since more than one answer is possible for
some of these.
1. isn’t it? 2. shouldn’t we? 3. isn’t she? 4. haven’t you?
5. can’t they? 6. shouldn’t I? 7. didn’t she? 8. didn’t he?
9. didn’t she? 10. oughtn’t you? 11. won’t she? 12. mightn’t we?
13. Grammarians disagree upon the acceptability of possible tags that can be formed for this sentence.
Amn’t I? cannot be used.
Ain’t I? is unacceptable to most speakers of standard English.
Aren’t I? is considered acceptable in speech to only 60% of the usage experts consulted by editors of
The Am eri can Heri ta ge Dictionary, but in writing “ t h e re is no acceptable substitute for the admittedly
stilted am I not” (The Am eri can Heri ta ge Dictionary of the English Language, T h i rd Edition , 1 9 9 2 , p. 3 7 ) .
E xercise 1.2
1. To comprise means “to contain;” thus, by definition, a whole comprises its parts. The American
Heri ta ge Dictionary re p o rts that the use of com p rise in Fi f ty sta tes comprise the Union was unacceptable
to a majority of the Usage Panel, as was The Union is comprised of 50 states. According to the
traditional rule, the correct usage in our example would be The encyclopedia comprises several volumes.
2. The American Heritage Dictionary reports that, traditionally, convince must be followed by of or by a
clause introduced by that. Thus, the sentence should be Jorge persuaded me to go to the concert or Jorge
convinced me that I should to to the concert. However, the Dictionary reports that convince is
increasingly used as in our example.
3. Flammable and inflammable have the same meaning. The American Heritage Dictionary reports,
however, that flammable is appropriate in warning labels to avoid misleading people who think the
in- prefix on inflammable means “not.”
4. Since the 19th century, the use of the word individual as a noun indicating “a person” has raised
critical objections.
5. Using hopefully in the sense of “We are full of hope” is a hotly disputed practice and was found
unacceptable by a large majority of The American Heritage Dictionary Usage Panel.
6. Equally followed by as was unacceptable to a majority of The American Heritage Dictionary Usage
Panel. The combination of equally and as is generally regarded as redundant.
7. Though one meaning of the word appreciate is “to be aware of ” or “to realize,” a minority of The
American Heritage Dictionary Usage Panel approved this usage.
EX–1
EX–2 EX ERCISE ANSWER KEY
Exercise 1.3
It would be possible to sort these into groups according to the following general classifications:
1. Sentences that no speaker of English would ever use (that is, sentences that violate the constitutive
rules of English).
2. Sentences that sound like English, even though they contain nonsense words.
3. Sentences that obey the grammatical rules of English, but that use words in strange, illogical ways.
4. Sentences that native speakers of English do use, but that some people disapprove of.
5. Fully acceptable sentences of English.
CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION
Exercise 1.1
This is an exercise that should generate class discussion, since more than one answer is possible for
some of these.
1. isn’t it? 2. shouldn’t we? 3. isn’t she? 4. haven’t you?
5. can’t they? 6. shouldn’t I? 7. didn’t she? 8. didn’t he?
9. didn’t she? 10. oughtn’t you? 11. won’t she? 12. mightn’t we?
13. Grammarians disagree upon the acceptability of possible tags that can be formed for this sentence.
Amn’t I? cannot be used.
Ain’t I? is unacceptable to most speakers of standard English.
Aren’t I? is considered acceptable in speech to only 60% of the usage experts consulted by editors of
The Am eri can Heri ta ge Dictionary, but in writing “ t h e re is no acceptable substitute for the admittedly
stilted am I not” (The Am eri can Heri ta ge Dictionary of the English Language, T h i rd Edition , 1 9 9 2 , p. 3 7 ) .
E xercise 1.2
1. To comprise means “to contain;” thus, by definition, a whole comprises its parts. The American
Heri ta ge Dictionary re p o rts that the use of com p rise in Fi f ty sta tes comprise the Union was unacceptable
to a majority of the Usage Panel, as was The Union is comprised of 50 states. According to the
traditional rule, the correct usage in our example would be The encyclopedia comprises several volumes.
2. The American Heritage Dictionary reports that, traditionally, convince must be followed by of or by a
clause introduced by that. Thus, the sentence should be Jorge persuaded me to go to the concert or Jorge
convinced me that I should to to the concert. However, the Dictionary reports that convince is
increasingly used as in our example.
3. Flammable and inflammable have the same meaning. The American Heritage Dictionary reports,
however, that flammable is appropriate in warning labels to avoid misleading people who think the
in- prefix on inflammable means “not.”
4. Since the 19th century, the use of the word individual as a noun indicating “a person” has raised
critical objections.
5. Using hopefully in the sense of “We are full of hope” is a hotly disputed practice and was found
unacceptable by a large majority of The American Heritage Dictionary Usage Panel.
6. Equally followed by as was unacceptable to a majority of The American Heritage Dictionary Usage
Panel. The combination of equally and as is generally regarded as redundant.
7. Though one meaning of the word appreciate is “to be aware of ” or “to realize,” a minority of The
American Heritage Dictionary Usage Panel approved this usage.
EX–1
EX–2 EX ERCISE ANSWER KEY
Exercise 1.3
It would be possible to sort these into groups according to the following general classifications:
1. Sentences that no speaker of English would ever use (that is, sentences that violate the constitutive
rules of English).
2. Sentences that sound like English, even though they contain nonsense words.
3. Sentences that obey the grammatical rules of English, but that use words in strange, illogical ways.
4. Sentences that native speakers of English do use, but that some people disapprove of.
5. Fully acceptable sentences of English.
Post a Comment