Winston Grammar
Frequently Asked Questions

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10. BASIC GRAMMAR ERRATA AND HELPS:
In older editions before 2001, there were numerous errors. If you are using one of these and have questions about any one sentence, feel free to e-mail your question.

In some newer editions there may be the following errors:
Teacher Manual, page 49: The clue card picture for the adjective shows an adverb card.
Answer key for Worksheet 18, sentence 2: The line from the prep phrase "on the shore" should point to "was", not "cold".
Answer key for Worksheet 21, sentence 1: The line from "in Moscow" should be pointing to "is" not "colder".

Here are solutions to some of the more difficult sentences in the basic level:
Feel free to ask more questions and they will be added to the following sentences.
Worksheet 8, sentence 5, Worksheet 11, sentence 2, and Worksheet 12, sentence 3: Remember that "had" can be either a helping verb as in "We had gone to the store" or an action verb as in "We had [ate] eggs for breakfast."
In Worksheets 17-24, the vast majority of the questions are about what the prepositional phrase modifies. Bear in mind that most of the prepositional words are placement words--on, in, by, down, at, etc. They all appear to answer the question "where". However, often times they answer the question "which one". For example: "The girl is down the street." It answers the question where and is an adverb modifying "is". "The girl down the street is pretty." The prepositional phrase in this sentence is answering the question which girl--the girl down the street--not where the girl is. Therefore, this phrase is an adjective. The other helpful hint is to determine if the phrase can be moved WITHOUT CHANGING THE MEANING OF THE SENTENCE. In that case, it is an adverb. It's easy to change the order of the words but still read into the sentence the meaning from the first time it was read. Try to look at the sentence as if it is the first time to see it. Finally, in discussing whether a prepositional phrase is an adverb or an adjective, remember that this is not nearly as clear cut as most other grammar concepts. Ask the student why he/she labeled it a particular way and listen to the explanation carefully. From the meaning that your student inferred from the sentence, he/she may be correct. In the course of the discussion, whether the student understands the concepts inherent in the parts of speech is what is most important. The following solutions reflect the reasoning of the answer key.
Worksheet 17, sentence 3: Answers which milk isn't liked.
Worksheet 17, sentence 6: Answers which problems.
Worksheet 17, sentence 7: Answers which letter. If it's moved, then Mr. Chung may have delivered the letter instead of writing the letter.
Worksheet 17, sentence 8: Answers where hair isn't cut. However, it would be possible for it to answer which hair, making it an adjective.
Worksheet 17, sentence 12: Answers where, however it could also answer which accidents and be an adjective.
Worksheet 18, sentence 11: Answers where, however it could answer which galleries and be an adjective.
Worksheet 21, sentence 3: Answers which vegetables.
Worksheet 21, sentence 8: Answers which candles. If moved, the boy could be on the cake lighting the candles.
Worksheet 21, sentence 10: Answers where.
Worksheet 21, sentence 12: Answers where. If moved, the person could be on the paper.
Worksheet 22, sentence 7: Answers where the note is going. However it could answer which note and be an adjective.
Worksheet 22, page 51 Additional Help: Note that an ellipsis is ANY part of a sentence that is not put into words, but is needed to make the sentence grammatically correct. Frequently, it is a personal pronoun, but may be many other words. The word that is often left out, as in Example #2. The function of that is covered in the Advanced Level Winston Grammar, but the student should understand now that the word does belong there. Example #3 is important to note the unwritten words as the student might be confused and not recognize that he is a subject because there is no written verb. The last bulleted point in the box states that "the omitted personal pronouns should be added and placed within parentheses." It should read that "All omitted words should be added and placed within parentheses."
Worksheet 24, sentence 7: Answers when and is definitely an adverb, but could modify early as it is expanding the word early.

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