STRUCTURE 65
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Dangling modifiers—Words, phrases, or clauses set off by commas at the beginning a sentence sometimes
modify the wrong noun or pronoun.
Incorrect: Broken and beyond repair, Grandma threw
away the serving dish. Why was Grandma broken?
Correct: Grandma threw away the broken serving dish that
was beyond repair.
Practice
Choose the correct word in parentheses in each of the following sentences. Find the answers on pages 82–83.
13. The music sounded strange, strangely. 14. My cowboy boots feel less comfortable, comfortably
than my pumps.
15. Ask polite, politely if you would like a second serving. 16. Phoebe makes fewer, less money than her sister does.
17. He runs so good, well that he often wins local road races.
DON’T BE TOO NEGATIVE
Although in Shakespeare’s time, a double negative—the use of two negatives in the same sentence—could be used to emphasize
a point, today double negatives are considered a grammatical mistake. Be on the lookout for sentences that “double up” on the
following negative words:
no neither
nobody scarcely
not nothing
nowhere barely
neither no one
hardly
66 TOEFL EXAM ESSENTIALS
MAKING COMPARISONS
Adjectives and adverbs change form when they are used to make comparisons. To create comparisons, follow these general rules:
When comparing two things,
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add –er to short modifiers of one or two syllables taller, wiser.
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use the word more or less before the modifiers of more than two syllables more dependable, less outrageous.
When comparing more than two things,
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add –est to short modifiers of one or two syllables funniest, rudest.
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use the word most or least before modifiers of more than two syllables most intelligent, least precisely.
Special Cases: The following comparative modifiers don’t
follow these rules—they change form completely.
Modifier Comparative
Superlative
good better
best well
better best
many more
most much
more most bad
worse worst
little less or lesser
least
STRUCTURE 67
Practice
Circle the correct modifier in each sentence. Find the answers on page 83.
18. The judge looked skepticalskeptically at the attorney. 19. Pasta does not taste as goodwell if it is overcooked.
20. Pleasant Lake is the bestbetter trout lake around.
ACTION WORDS
Verbs form the heart of a sentence—they express the action or state of being of the subject. The tense of the verb tells readers
when the action happens, happened, or will happen. Verbs have five basic forms:
1. The infinitive is the base form of the verb plus the
word to. →to swim, to hope, to be
2. The present tense expresses action that happens now
or happens routinely. →The baby smiles a lot.
3. The present participle describes what is happening
now. A helping verb am, is, are precedes the -ing form of the verb. →The baby is smiling again.
4. The past tense shows an action that happened in the
past. →School officials warned the students last fall.
5. The past participle expresses an action that happened
in the past. It uses a helping verb such as has, have, or had. →The reporter has followed the story since it broke.
REGULAR VERBS
Regular verbs follow a standard set of rules for forming the present participle, past tense, and past participle forms. The
68 TOEFL EXAM ESSENTIALS
present participle is formed by adding –ing. The past and past participle are formed by adding –ed. If the verb ends with the let-
ter e, just add d. If the verb ends with the letter y, for the past tense, change the y to an i and add –ed. Here are some examples:
Present Past Present
Participle Past
Participle
talk talking
talked talked
exercise exercising
exercised exercised
multiply multiplying
multiplied multiplied
notice noticing
noticed noticed
IRREGULAR VERBS
Approximately 150 verbs in English are irregular. They do not follow the standard rules for changing tense. Irregular verbs fall
into three categories:
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irregular verbs with the same past and past participle forms
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irregular verbs with three distinct forms
■
irregular verbs with the same present and past participle forms.
The table on the next few pages lists the most common irreg- ular verbs.
