When do we use the present and past perfect tenses?

Before we explore the present and past perfect tenses, familiarize yourself with past participles.

Past Participles

Past participles are used with the present perfect, past perfect, and present and past perfect continuous tenses.

A general rule to follow when forming a past participle:  Verbs that are irregular in the past are often irregular in the past participle.  Usually (but not always!), these verbs take on the present tense root followed by “en”.

• I eat cereal every day. Eat: Present tense
• I ate a bagel yesterday. Ate: Past tense
• I have eaten  sushi before. Past Participle: Present tense root “eat” + “en”

 

Examples:

Present	Simple Past	Past Participle
Drive	Drove	Driven
Get	Got	Gotten
Write	Wrote	Written
Take	Took	Taken
Fall	Fell	Fallen

 

Some irregular verbs do not change.  They are the same in the past and past participle.

Examples:

Present	Simple Past	Past Participle
Buy	Bought	Bought
Teach	Taught	Taught
Sleep	Slept	Slept
Cut	Cut	Cut*

*Words like cut, put, and quit never change verb form.

Verbs that are regular “-ed” in the past are usually “-ed” in the past participle.

Present	Simple Past	Past Participle
Walk	Walked	Walked
Talk	Talked	Talked
Call	Called	Called
Try	Tried	Tried

 

Present Perfect Tense

Americans use the present perfect tense almost every day.

It describes:

-An action we just completed, or an action we completed already today

• I’ve eaten or I’ve already eaten.

-An action we completed sometime in our lives

• Have you ever been to Japan?
• Yes, I have.

-An action we plan to complete (using yet):

• I haven’t written my paper yet.
• She still hasn’t gone to the doctor.

Present Perfect Continuous or Present Perfect Progressive

This form is used for something you started doing in the past and continue to do in the present. It is usually used to answer questions such as:

• What have you been doing lately/what have you been up to lately?
• I’ve been studying a lot.

• Where’ve you been?
• I’ve been working all day.

Want to test your knowledge? Here are some quizzes on the Present Perfect Continuous.

Past Perfect Tense

Think of this tense as the “past of the past.”  For example, if we are describing something that hadn’t happened until a certain point in the past:

I had never seen an elephant until I went to the zoo last year.

He had already seen the movie three times when he went to the theater last week.

Had you learned English before coming to the U.S. in 2008?

 

A good way to practice present perfect and past perfect is “never have I ever:”

Never have I ever ____ (fill in the blank as it applies to you):

• gone bungee jumping
• eaten raw food
• slept on the beach
• ridden a motorcycle
• pulled an all-nighter

Can you think of anything you might add? Take turns asking a partner what he or she has done before. If you’ve done these things, you can practice the past perfect by giving more details. An example might look like this:

• Before travelling to Vietnam, I had never ridden a motorcycle before. Never have I ever forgotten to wear a helmet when riding.

Similarly, you can use these same questions in the past perfect by specifying a time in the past.

Before you moved to the U.S. (or going to college), had you ever…

• tried pizza?
• ridden the subway?
• lived in a city?
• had roommates?
• travelled on a plane?

Think of a list of questions you can ask someone else about their lives. This is good grammar practice, and also a good way to learn more about someone else!

Slang Series: Pulling an all-nighter

We have a lot of slang related to sleep. Here are just a few common phrases that indicate going to sleep after a long or busy day:

• hit the sack/hit the hay
• pass out
• crash

If you don’t sleep at all, though, we have another phrase that is commonly used: to pull an all-nighter.

For example, if you stay up all night studying, watching movies, or reading, we say that we pulled an all-nighter. That means that we chose to stay up all night. This is different from having insomnia, which is when someone can’t sleep even though they are trying to.

 

Here are some ways to use it.

• Want to go out tonight?
• Nah, I can’t. I pulled an all-nighter, so I need to sleep.
• We have an exam tomorrow, right?
• Yeah. I’m gona pull an all-nighter to study.

Here are some other phrases that we use to show that we are tired because we didn’t sleep, and could also be used if we didn’t sleep well:

• I’m beat
• I’m dead

 

Practice Exercise:

Here’s a quick exercise to practice using these phrases. Fill in the blank with one of the phrases mentioned above. There  might be more than one correct answer:

1. Did you stay up late last night? Nah, I _______________ at 10pm because I was so tired.
2. I’m ______. I think I’m going to _____ out.
3. The only way I’m going to pass this exam is if I _____________________.
4. I think I’m going to hit the _____. I can’t keep my eyes open anymore.

Discuss:

Have you ever pulled an all-nighter? Why?

Do you prefer to crash early or stay up late? Why or why not?

 

 

Slang Series: That’s cray-cray!

We have lots of words to describe something as crazy. “Crazy” in these cases can also mean unexpected, novel, or different:

• nuts
  • Did you hear that Kanye West and Taylor Swift are fighting?
  • That’s nuts!
• off the hook
  • How was the party last night?
  • It was off the hook!
• bonkers
  • What happened when you told him you wanted to break up?
  • He went bonkers
• insane
  • The amount of work he put into that project was insane.

A more recent trend is taking a word like “crazy” and abbreviating it by removing a letter or syllable. That’s how a word like “crazy” became “cray,” which then became “cray-cray.”

And there are also words and phrases specifically for people:

• weirdo
• whack job
• out of his/her mind

 

You know what’s cray cray? This corgi pretending to be Hello Kitty.

Hey pal! The different words we use to describe friends

In English, the word “friend” is only one of the many terms we use to describe someone we hang out with.

Here are some other common synonyms for friend, each with varied connotations:

• buddy
• pal
• bro
• dude
• man
• BFF
• girlfriend (used between two female friends)

Hey, buddy!

Buddy usually signifies a close friend. You can also add an adjective before it to specify what you like to do with this friend:

• He’s my travel buddy–we go everywhere together!
• She’s my running buddy–we train together!
• We’re work buddies 

Pal is a close synonym for buddy, and can replace it in almost all of the same situations:

• He’s my travel pal
• She’s my running pal
• We’re work pals

The most popular use of the word is “pen pal,” or two people who write letters to each other. Although pen pals are not as common now that we have email, the term is sometimes used.

Bro is used among male friends. You might also hear the term “bromance” used jokingly to indicate that two male friends are very close. Bros are stereotyped as being very muscular and obsessed with their looks, like the guys on the Jersey Shore:

Sup, bro?

Some common examples include:

• sup, bro?
• hey bro
• bro out (hang out)

Dude is similar to “bro,” but more widely used. It can replace the word “guy” in most situations:

• sup, dude?
• hey dude
• a group of dudes

Man does not necessarily refer to someone of the male sex. It can be directed at men or women, depending on the context:

• hey man, how’s it going?
• c’mon man, just come out with us!

BFF, or “best friends forever,” is typically used among young women. You might hear something like this:

• Michelle’s my BFF
• We’re BFFs
• My BFF and I went on a cruise together

The term “girlfriend,” when used among female friends, is not intended in a romantic way. In order to know how the word is being used, pay attention to the context. Who is speaking? Are they describing a friend or a romantic partner? If it’s used in the plural, it usually means a group of friends:

• I went out with my girlfriends last night to a club in Manhattan.
• I do yoga with a girlfriend of mine every Wednesday night.

Here’s where things get interesting…many of these words can have negative connotations depending on the speaker’s tone.

• Watch it, pal! Look where you’re going (if you bump into someone)
• Listen up, buddy! I don’t like your attitude!
• Dude, what’s your problem? 
• Come at me, bro! (if you are challenging someone to a fight)

 

Do you have friends who are your buddies? BFFs? bros? girlfriends?

 

 

 

 

Confusing Words: Above versus Over

 

These two prepositions may sound similar, but did you know they have slightly different meanings?

Look at the examples below:

• Look above you.
• The stars are above us.
• The ceiling fan is hanging above/over the table.

“Over” is typically used when someone or something is completing an action that involves another object (particularly if there is physical contact between the two objects).

• We jumped over the fence.
• The waves crashed over him.
• She put the jacket over her shoulders.

“Over” is also used with numbers. It is usually synonymous with “more than.”

• He has over 1,000 supporters.
• She needs over 20 volunteers.
• It’s over 100 degrees outside today.

“Above” is synonymous with “higher than.”

• The plane soared above the mountains.
• I can’t see what’s above the trees.
• Her intelligence is above average.
• My neighbors above me are very noisy.

Now try a few examples yourself: 

1. The first obstacle in the race involves running _____ a bridge
2. As a matter of fact, the nominee received _____ 54% of the vote.
3. The petition requires ______ 100,000 signatures for the White House to review it.
4. No one lives in that house _____ the village.
5. The economic downturn caused ______ a 10% decrease in jobs.
6. The stratosphere lies _______ the troposphere.

 

 

Um, uh, like, and other filler words

In English, we use a lot of filler words. They are so ingrained in our speech that we often don’t notice them.

Consider this interview with Amy Schumer, in which “um,” “uh,” “like,” and “so” are regularly used every time that Amy answers a question.

Filling: yup, it’s the same word for what’s inside a donut!

What are fillers?

• um
• uh
• well
• like
• so
• I mean
• you know

Why do we use fillers?

They make it clear that we want to talk while also giving us a chance to think (this is called “stalling”). This is especially important in group discussions when someone might want to interrupt you.

• Ummmm, well, here’s what I think.
• Well, I was thinking, like, what if we started the project this way?

The longer we draw out the filler, the more we want to stall or to emphasize our point.

Here’s an example:

• Jeremy, were you with another girl last night?
• Ummmmm…

• Sooooo…I have an awkward question to ask you. Why didn’t you invite me to the party?
• Uhhhh…that’s a long story.

When do we try to avoid fillers?

You might notice that in public speaking, you will hear fewer fillers, especially when these speeches are rehearsed beforehand. For example, Michelle Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention does not have any fillers. However, even the President uses fillers when he’s in an improvised (unplanned) situation.

Try it yourself: Go home and record yourself talking. Try not to focus too much on what you’re saying, or you’ll get self-conscious. Then, listen to your speech. You’ll probably notice that you use fillers too! Again, fillers are common in everyday speech, but you might want to practice planned speeches to try to avoid fillers.

Confusing Words: Gender-neutral “they”

Source: i.kinja-img.com

The English language does not have a pronoun to express gender neutrality. Instead, we have he, she, and it.

“He” is used when we know that someone’s gender is male.

“She” is used when we know that someone’s gender is female.

“It” is usually reserved for objects (and sometimes animals), so it is not adequate to use    “it” when we don’t know someone’s gender.

So, how do we address someone whose gender we don’t know?

He or she

You may have heard the phrase “he or she” used when we’re not sure of someone’s gender. You might also see it written as “he/she.”

• He or she will deliver the package to him or her.
• He/she will deliver the package to him/her.

 

Choosing a default gender

Some people choose a default gender that is intended to represent both genders. For example:

• When a researcher is conducting the literature review, he must synthesize the information he finds.
• The millenial entrepreneur knows the importance of social media, and she is willing to explore more creative venues for advertising than her older peers. 

Choosing a default gender is a common strategy in academic writing. However, choosing one gender over the other could lead to gender stereotyping (both accidental or intentional). One area where we see this is with God. Throughout history, God has been called “He.” However, in more modern times, you will see people refer to God as “She.”

Choosing one default gender in writing also risks potentially alienating the audience. An interesting record of this is common proverbs passed through generations, such as “He who hesitates is lost.” In more modern writing, we try to be more inclusive in our choices, to make it clear that we aren’t writing for one group of people based on gender.

One

Using “one” is another common way to classify gender neutrality. However, it can get very repetitive, so most people avoid overusing it. See the example below:

• When one gets tired, one would expect a warm place to rest one’s head and a quiet space for one to dream.

“One” is typically used in old expressions and proverbs. You’ll also hear it a lot in movies, such as “The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint” (Proverbs 17:27) and “One doesn’t simply walk into Mordor” (from Lord of the Rings).

Singular they

The most popular way to indicate gender neutrality is to say “they” to indicate that something is gender-neutral. Although it is mostly used in speech, people have started to use it in writing too.

As a matter of fact, the singular pronoun “they” won word of the year from several linguists. Traditionally, it wasn’t considered correct, but it’s so widely used in American English that it’s becoming more accepted.

Using singular “they” instead of “he or she” makes sentences less wordy. Read the two examples below:

• When a customer comes in, please greet him or her at the door. Then, ask him or her if he or she would like help. If he or she has extra bags, please offer to keep these behind the desk. Always wish him or her a good day, even if he or she doesn’t make a purchase.
• When a customer comes in, please greet them at the door. Then, ask them if they would like help. If they have extra bags, please offer to keep these behind the desk. Always wish them a good day, even if they don’t make a purchase.

As you can see, the second example is much more concise.

Practice: In which situations do you think it’s best to use they? he or she? One? Why?

1. Wars do not make _____ great.
2. We don’t know who robbed the bank, but when we find ____, ______ will be held responsible.

Other Specific Gender Usage:

Gender usage with objects: Sometimes, we use specific genders with objects to personify them.

Modes of transportation: cars, trucks, and ships are usually female

• This is my car, Bessie. She just got a new engine.
• My guitar is named Lucy. I take her wherever I go.

Pets: you might also notice pets are typically referred to as female (especially cats)

• If your kitty becomes sick, please take her to the vet immediately.

Discuss with a Conversation Partner: how does gender neutrality work in your native language? Has gender usage been unclear to you before? What trips you up the most?

Confusing Words: Besides

One of the most frequently misused words that we’ve seen in the writing of non-native English speakers is the use of “besides.”Besides is typically used as a transition word when we want to add additional ideas to our sentence. Below are some ways you might use “besides” effectively.

Beside or Besides?

Beside is a preposition, meaning “next to.” The alarm clock is beside the lamp.

Besides is a preposition meaning “except” or “in addition to.”

Besides as an adverb: negative reinforcement

Besides can mean “also” or “in addition to” the previous information. It’s often used to link two negative things.

Consider the examples below:

Due to illness, she won’t be attending the convention this year. Besides, the press didn’t want her there anyway.

In the first example, we have two negative events:

• She won’t be attending the convention
• The press didn’t want her there

We are connecting those two negative events together. In this case, “besides” is telling us that there’s another negative event that reinforces the first one.

Here’s another example:

• I didn’t go to class because I was sick. Besides, I didn’t do my homework anyway.

In this case, the fact that the person didn’t do the homework reinforces why they didn’t go to class.

“Besides” can also be replaced with the following:

• I didn’t go to class because I was sick. In any case, I didn’t do my homework anyway.
• I didn’t go to class because I was sick. Anyway, I didn’t do my homework.

Besides as a preposition: 

In the second example, we are providing additional information (not necessarily reinforcing something):

• There are many advantages to using solar energy, including a decreased carbon footprint. Besides, it produces less waste.

“Besides” can also be replaced with the following:

• There are many advantages to using solar energy, including a decreased carbon footprint. In addition (or more formally “furthermore”/”moreover”), it produces less waste.
• Using solar energy is decreasing our carbon footprint, as well as producing less waste.

• Other than gravity, nothing keeps me down (this is the example from the photo above)

 

Here is some additional practice. You can discuss your reasoning with a Conversation Partner, as well as address any overlap or points of confusion.  ::SCROLL DOWN FOR ANSWERS::

Exercise 1: Decide if the phrases below are reinforcing an idea, or providing additional information:

1. Parking will be cleared from Broad Street for the whole week, as well as from surrounding streets.
2. I’m not going to park my car on such a busy street. Besides, I’m not sure it will fit in that space.
3. The candidates are controversial, in addition to being disliked.
4. Young citizens aren’t voting this election. In any case, many of them aren’t registered to vote.

Exercise 2: Try the examples below. Decide if the phrase in bold should or shouldn’t be replaced with “besides.”

1. I don’t have any cash to order pizza for dinner.  In any case, I’m not really hungry.
2. The cruise provides breakfast, lunch and dinner. In addition, there are unlimited drinks.
3. She is set to becoming the best-selling author of all time, as well as the youngest woman to receive this honor.
4. There are many hazards involved with smoking cigarettes. In any case, they are expensive.
5. She has so many toys already in addition to all of the video games

Exercise 3: Make sentences out of the phrases below. Use besides, in addition to, in any case, or anyway:

1. I can’t go to the party/I didn’t buy a gift
2. The hotel has a 24-hour gym/fitness classes and gourmet food
3. he won’t resign/he didn’t do anything wrong
4. There are supposed to be severe thunderstorms tonight, so don’t go outside/it will be 100 degrees
5. the mayor refuses to create more bike lanes/the city doesn’t have the budget for the project.

Answers here:

Exercise 1: Decide if the phrases below are reinforcing an idea, or providing additional information:

1. Parking will be cleared from Broad Street for the whole week, as well as from surrounding streets. Providing additional information
2. I’m not going to park my car on such a busy street. Besides, I’m not sure it will fit in that space. Reinforcing an idea
3. The candidates are controversial, in addition to being disliked. Providing additional information
4. Young citizens aren’t voting this election. In any case, many of them aren’t registered to vote. Reinforcing an idea

Exercise 2: Try the examples below. Decide if the phrase in bold should or shouldn’t be replaced with “besides.”

1. I don’t have any cash to order pizza for dinner.  Besides, I’m not really hungry.
2. The cruise provides breakfast, lunch and dinner. In addition, there are unlimited drinks.
3. She is set to becoming the best-selling author of all time, as well as the youngest woman to receive this honor.
4. There are many hazards involved with smoking cigarettes. Besides, they are expensive.
5. She has so many toys already besides all of the video games

Exercise 3: 

Make sentences out of the phrases below. Use besides, in addition to, in any case, or anyway:

1. I can’t go to the party. Besides, I didn’t buy a gift
2. The hotel has a 24-hour gym, in addition to/as well as fitness classes and gourmet food.
3. He won’t resign. Besides, he didn’t do anything wrong
4. There are supposed to be severe thunderstorms tonight, so don’t go outside. Besides, it will be 100 degrees.
5. The mayor refuses to create more bike lanes. Besides, the city doesn’t have the budget for the project

Where to begin with grammar review

Source: dutchtraining.nl

 

If you want to practice your grammar, but you aren’t sure where to start, take our quick assessment! We recommend sharing your results with a Conversation Partner so that you can review the assessment together.

Basic Proficiency Assessment 

Each exercise has one or more errors.  Find the errors and fix them.  Try to identify what kinds of errors are made in each exercise.  For some sentences, there might be more than one correct answer.

When you’re done, look at the answers below (with or without a Conversation Partner). The exercises offer suggestions on what to practice based on which questions you got wrong, or in which sections you had the most errors.

Scroll down for answers and suggestions on what to practice.

Exercise 1

1. Yesterday I work two hours, but today I work five hours.
2. I was spraining my ankle when I ran.
3. Every time I get sick, I took medicine.
4. She is sleeping in every Saturday.
5. Next week I go to New York, and the week after that, I visit friends in Chicago.

Exercise 2

1. Smoke is a bad habit.
2. The doctor advised her take antibiotics.
3. I like swim.
4. She needs practicing her violin every day.
5. We need stop be lazy.

Exercise 3

1. When I was a kid, I will always eat popsicles.
2. If I was you, I will study more for that test.
3. If you experience side effects, you will call your doctor.
4. If they were rich, they can buy a house.
5. I will not be having any of these problems if it weren’t for you.

Exercise 4

1. I have study French once before.
2. I have been wait here for thirty minutes.
3. Have you ever write a novel?
4. Professor Levy has graded all of the papers yet.
5. I ate yet.

Exercise 5

1. President of the United States is elected every four years.
2. There are many vocabularies to know for the test.
3. European Union shares same currency, a Euro.
4. Few school are having difficulties adjusting to the new curriculum.
5. I don’t eat the cheese or the peanuts. I’m allergic to the dairy and the nuts.

Exercise 6

1. Hoping to reduce her back pain, the medication did not help the patient.
2. The children ate a warm plateful of cookies.
3. The man sold a car to the woman that had a broken engine.
4. The Affordable Care Act, which was released on October 1^st, with many options in its insurance marketplace for those who are low-income and without insurance.
5. The Mars Rover Curiosity has discovered the presence of water on more than 2% of Mars equals nearly two pints of water per cubic foot and is the first time that the soil has been examined with this level of accuracy.

 

Basic Proficiency Assessment (ANSWERS)

 

Exercise 1: Mixed Tenses

1. Yesterday I work two hours, but today I work five hours.

Yesterday I worked for two hours, but today I am working for five hours.

Review:  Identifying simple past vs. present continuous

 

2. I was spraining my ankle when I ran.

I sprained my ankle while I was running.

I was running when I sprained my ankle.

Review:  Past progressive vs. simple past

 

3. Every time I get sick, I took medicine.

Every time I got sick, I took medicine.

Every time I get sick, I take medicine.

Review:  understanding parallel structures

 

4.She is sleeping in every Saturday.

She sleeps in every Saturday.

Review:  understanding simple present as a record of habits

 

If you struggled with this section, review simple tenses (simple present and past) and continuous tenses (present and past continuous).

Exercise 2: Gerunds and Infinitives

1. Smoke is a bad habit.

Smoking is a bad habit.

Review:  gerunds as subjects

 

2. The doctor advised her take antibiotics.

The doctor advised her to take antibiotics.

Review:  infinitives

 

3. I like swim.

I like swimming or I like to swim.

Review:  gerunds and infinitives

 

4. She needs practicing her violin every day.

She needs to practice her violin every day.

Review:  infinitives

 

5. We need stop be lazy.

We need to stop being lazy.

Review:  gerunds and infinitives

 

If you struggled with this section, review when to use gerunds and infinitives.

 

Exercise 3: Conditionals

1. When I was a kid, I will always eat popsicles.

When I was a kid, I would always eat popsicles.

Review:  past real conditional

 

2. If I was you, I will study more for that test.

If I were you, I would study more for that test.

Review:  subjunctive mood, present unreal conditional

 

3. If you experience side effects, you will call your doctor.

If you experience side effects, call your doctor.

Review:  present real conditional; commands

 

4. If they win the cash prize, they bought a car.

If they won the cash prize, they would buy a car. 

If they win the cash prize, they will buy a car.

If they had won the cash prize, they would have bought a car.

Review:  past and future unreal conditional

*for an extra challenge, you can review past perfect as used in conditional and would’ve/could’ve/should’ve

 

5. I would buy those new shoes when they are on sale.

I would buy those shoes if they were on sale.

I will buy those shoes when they are on sale.

Review:  use of “if” with conditionals

 

If you struggled with this section, review present, past, and future conditionals.

 

Exercise 4: Present Perfect and Present Perfect Progressive

1. I have study French once before.

I have studied French once before.

Review:  present perfect and past participles

 

2. I have been wait here for thirty minutes.

I have been waiting here for thirty minutes.

Review:  present perfect progressive  (pronoun + have + been+ -ing verb)

 

3. Have you ever write a novel?

Have you ever written a novel?

Review:  irregular past participles  (written, spoken, broken, gone, done, etc.)

 

4. Professor Levy has graded all of the papers yet.

Professor Levy has graded all of the papers already.

Review:  use of yet vs. already

 

5. I ate yet.

I haven’t eaten yet. 

I have already eaten.

Review:  negative present perfect; use of yet vs. already

 

If you struggled with this section, review the present and past perfect tenses.

 

Exercise 5: Articles and Quantifiers

1. President of the United States is elected every four years.

The President of the United States gets reelected every four years.

Review:  using “the” for specific titles or to refer to a specific “one” of something

 

2. There are many vocabularies to know for the test.

There is a lot of vocabulary to know for the test.

Review:  countable and non-countable nouns; quantifiers (much vs. many)

 

3. European Union shares same currency, a Euro.

The European Union shares the same currency, the Euro.

Review:  using “the” for collective proper nouns (The United Nations, The United Kingdom); using “the” to reference something shared (We have the same sweater vs. We have a same sweater)

4. Few school are having difficulties adjusting to the new curriculum.

Few schools (almost none) are having difficulties adjusting to the new curriculum.

A few schools (a small number) are having difficulties adjusting to the new curriculum.

Review:  quantifiers (a few vs. few)

5. I don’t eat the cheese or the peanuts. I’m allergic to the dairy and the nuts.

I don’t eat cheese or peanuts.  I’m allergic to dairy and nuts.

Review: non-countable nouns (articles are optional if you are referring to all of something, such as an allergy to all dairy)

 

If you struggled with this section, review non-countable nouns.

 

Exercise 6: Dangling Modifiers, Run-ons, and Fragments

1. Hoping to reduce her back pain, the medication did not help the patient.

The patient hoped to reduce her back pain, but the medication did not help.

Review:  dangling modifiers.  Back pain cannot hope for something.

For dangling modifiers, the entire sentence must be rewritten to fix the problem.

 

2. The children ate a warm plateful of cookies.

The children ate a plateful of warm cookies.

Review:  misplaced modifier.  The children did not eat a warm plate; they ate warm cookies.

 

3. The man sold a car to the woman that had a broken engine.

The man sold a car that had a broken engine to the woman.

Review:  misplaced modifier.  The car has the broken engine, not the woman.

 

4. The Affordable Care Act, which was released on October 1^st, with many options in its insurance marketplace for those who are low-income and without insurance.

The Affordable Care Act, which was released on October 1^st, has many options in its insurance marketplace for those who are low-income and without insurance.

Review:  sentence fragments; identifying the subject and verb a sentence

5. The Mars Rover Curiosity has discovered the presence of water on more than 2% of Mars equals nearly two pints of water per cubic foot and is the first time that the soil has been examined with this level of accuracy.

The Mars Rover Curiosity has discovered the presence of water on more than 2% of Mars, which equals nearly two pints of water per cubic foot.  It is the first time that the soil has been examined with this level of accuracy.

 

If you struggled with this section, review run-on sentences (see Writing Handouts and www.chompchomp.com for more practice on this specific topic).