1. Sentence Auction! Pedagogical Grammar 1 RULES Play in teams of 2 - 4 people Each team starts the auction with £ 10 There are 15 sentences. Look at each sentence and decide if it contains 1 or 2 errors. First, you MUST put in at least £ 1 per sentence just to play each round. You can’t win this back. This is for the bank. You must play each round – you can’t sit out! Then you will see the sentence. You have 1 minute to discuss the sentence, the possible errors, and the rules with your partner. After that you MUST place your bid immediately. Write down the correction(s) and the rule(s) as quickly as you can! Bidding: you may put in an additional £ 1 for each error correction and each rule if you think you can identify either of them the error (and the correction) and the rule. So if you think the sentence has two errors and you think you can correct both of them AND name the rules, you can bid £ 4 (£ 2 for two corrections and £ 2 for two rules). You must write the correction(s) and the rule(s) on paper. We will check each sentence together. If you don’t write anything down, you can’t win anything!!! You win back twice your bid if your corrections and rules are accurate! If your correction or rule is not accurate, you lose your bid money.

2. Practice sentence! First, you have to put in £ 1 to play. The mother of Marilyn Monroe never knew of her beautiful daughter’s fame and despair. In the auction, you have 1 minute to think about the sentence and the error(s). Then you can choose to bid £ 1 for each error (correction) and rule.

3. Answer The mother of Marilyn Monroe never knew of her beautiful daughter’s fame and despair. Marilyn Monroe’s mother… Use a genitive, not an of-phrase, with proper nouns denoting people (names) You had to put in £ 1 to play. If you had also bid £ 2 and you had the error/correction AND the rule, you would have got £ 4 back from the bank. Questions? Ready…GO!

4. Sentence 1 First, put in £ 1 to play! Sven performed the song good, but he has played the piano since fourteen years, so the performance actually should have been better.

5. Sentence 1 answer Sven performed the song good, but he has played the piano since fourteen years, so the performance actually should have been better. 1 …performed the song well… Well is the adverb form. (How did he perform?) 2 …he has played the piano for fourteen… Since refers to a starting moment in time; for refers to a period of time

6. Sentence 2 First, put in £ 1 to play! The export company has made a huge profit last year in bananas and kiwi’s, which meant that it could expand its business in the Caribbean.

7. Sentence 2 answer The company has made a huge profit last year in bananas and kiwi’s, which meant that it could expand its business in the Caribbean. 1 …made Clear indication of past time (last year) 2 …kiwis No apostrophe with plural nouns (with the exception of numbers, individual letters, and abbreviations)

8. Sentence 3 First, put in £ 1 to play! We would have taken the Thalys from Rotterdam to the centre of Paris if we would have heard in advance that all of the airport personnel were on strike.

9. Sentence 3 answer We would have taken the Thalys from Rotterdam to the centre of Paris if we would have heard in advance that all of the airport personnel were on strike. 1 …had heard Non-reality in the past: No “would” in an adverbial clause of condition

10. Sentence 4 First, put in £ 1 to play! Julie’s stepmother is always telling her that she should be toleranter of that unemployed friend of her father.

11. Sentence 4 answer Julie’s stepmother is always telling her that she should be toleranter of that unemployed friend of her father. 1 … more tolerant Three-syllable adjectives always get more/most in the comparative/superlative 2 … friend of her father’s Post-genitive: of-phrase plus ‘s/s’ after the noun

12. Sentence 5 First, put in £ 1 to play! After we won thousand dollars in the lottery, they hypocritically greeted us friendlily every time they saw us.

13. Sentence 5 answer After we won thousand dollars in the lottery, they hypocritically greeted us friendlily every time they saw us. 1 …a thousand Use an indefinite article before hundred and thousand 2 …in a friendly way The adverb form of friendly is an exception; you can’t add –ly. Use in a friendly way/manner

14. Sentence 6 First, put in £ 1 to play! The alive avalanche victims have been airlifted from Mount Rosa to hospital near Malpensa airport.

15. Sentence 6 answer The alive avalanche victims have been airlifted from Mount Rosa to ___ hospital near Malpensa airport. 1…surviving / victims who are still alive No use of these (a-) adjectives before the noun: alive, asleep, awake, alone, etc. 2 …the hospital Use the definite article when the location or building is meant, rather than the use of the building

16. Sentence 7 First, put in £ 1 to play! After Sunday’s victory over Italy, the Brazilian team have to report for individual drug testing and each player has to personal hand in a 1.000 millilitre sample.

17. Sentence 7 answer After Sunday’s victory over Italy, the Brazilian team have to report for individual drug testing and each player has to personal hand in a 1.000 millilitre sample. 1 …personally Adverb: How do they have to hand it in? 2 …1,000 Use a comma, not a full stop, between the thousands and the hundreds in an English number of four places or more. N.B. “the Brazilian team have to…” is not an error, because the collective noun team can take either a singular or plural verb! Either the team members each have to report, or the team has to report as a group. It’s not clear from the sentence, so have to is OK.

18. Sentence 8 First, put in £ 1 to play! Of all of the teachers who corrected the English exams last week, three-fifths used a red pen and fewer than the half used a pencil and eraser.

19. Sentence 8 answer Of all of the teachers who corrected the English exams last week, three-fifths used a red pen and fewer than the half used a pencil and eraser. 1 … --- half No definite article before half

20. Sentence 9 First, put in £ 1 to play! How more dangerous the extreme sport, how more James enjoys telling his worried parents how much times he has done it!

21. Sentence 9 answer How more dangerous the extreme sport, how more James enjoys telling his parents how much times he has done it! 1 …The more…the more Hoe…hoe in Dutch is the…the in English. 2 …many Use much with noncount nouns; many with plural nouns. Times is a plural noun here (one time, two times, three times…)

22. Sentence 10 First, put in £ 1 to play! Malficosa, the Mafia boss, has been found guilty of grand theft; he will be spending the next eight years in prison together with his fellow thiefs.

23. Sentence 10 answer Mr Malficosa, the Chicago Mafia boss, has been found guilty of grand theft; he will be spending the next eight years in prison together with his fellow thiefs. 1 …thieves Irregular plural: -f changes to -ves

24. Sentence 11 First, put in £ 1 to play! Meet me at the train station; the most taxis are on the west side and I wait there until 10:00 for you.

25. Sentence 11 answer Meet me at the train station; the most taxis are on the west side and I wait there until 10:00 for you. 1… --- most taxis No definite article before “most” when it means the greater part (majority) of 2 …I will wait (am going to wait) Use the present future tense, not the present simple, for future actions

26. Sentence 12 First, put in £ 1 to play! We’re going to the national park “de Veluwe” to enjoy a few hours peace in the nature this weekend.

27. Sentence 12 answer We’re going to the national park “de Veluwe” to enjoy a few hours peace in the nature this weekend. 1…a few hours’ The genitive with expressions of time and distance must have an apostrophe (the apostrophe comes after a plural noun) (also acceptable: a few hours of peace: an of-phrase can be used here instead of the genitive because it refers to a non- living thing and it is not a fixed genitive time expression) 2 …--- nature No definite article before certain nouns when used in a general sense

28. Sentence 13 First, put in £ 1 to play! Until last week’s tennis tournament, Molly has always thought that she was the most professional trained junior player in the club.

29. Sentence 13 answer Until last week’s tennis tournament, Molly has always thought that she was the most professional trained junior player in the club. 1…had always thought Use the past perfect (past before the past), not the present perfect, because the thinking took place in the past before something else in the past. 2…professionally Adverb, not adjective. (How was she trained? professionally describes the adjective trained)

30. Sentence 14 First, put in £ 1 to play! Thanks to the new laws, there are a lot less smokers in discos than there have been ten years ago.

31. Sentence 14 answer Thanks to the new laws, there are a lot less smokers in discos than there have been ten years ago. 1.…fewer Use fewer with count nouns; use less with noncount nouns 2. …were Past simple: clear indication of past time (ten years ago): remember LAWDY?

32. Sentence 15 First, put in £ 1 to play! There was decided to cancel the match of Manchester United due to this morning’s heavy rainstorm.

33. Sentence 15 answer There was decided to cancel the match of Manchester United due to this morning’s heavy rainstorm. 1....They/The officials/It was decided that... No passive structure with ‘there’ (unlike Dutch ‘er’) 2....Manchester United’s match Use the genitive with proper nouns

34. THE END Count up your auction winnings. How did you do? What do you need to work on? Study hard and good luck!