Recall from Lesson 4 in Part One (pages 27–37) that there are two main problems with
nouns. The first is forming plurals. The second is forming possessives. When you have to
form plural possessives, you are faced with both problems. This lesson provides some ex-
tra practice for both.
Plurals of Nouns
Rules for forming plural nouns were given in Lessons 4 (pages 28–34) and 10 (page
63) in Part One. You may wish to review these before trying your hand at Exercises 1
through 3.
EXERCISE 1.
Write the plural form of each of the following nouns.
1. baby 9. pony
2. bunch 10. stone
3. crash 11. story
4. puff 12. tank
5. glass 13. tray
6. half 14. key
7. miss 15. wax
8. pinch
EXERCISE 2.
Form the plural of each of the following nouns.
1. mouthful 4. textbook
2. echo 5. sheep
3. foot 6. piano
PROBLEMS WITH NOUNS 171
Lesson
21
Problems with
Nouns
7. roof 9. potato
8. hero 10. tooth
EXERCISE 3.

Write the singular possessive, plural, and plural possessive of each of
the following nouns.
SINGULAR SINGULAR POSSESSIVE PLURAL PLURAL POSSESSIVE
1. book
2. man
3. box
4. punch
5. calf
6. cage
7. pie
8. ox
9. mouse
10. deer
11. soprano
12. athlete
13. story
14. monkey
15. thief
EXERCISE 7.
Write the correct form of the noun in parentheses as required by the
sense of the sentence.
1. He left two of his (book) ____________________ on the bus.
2. The (book) ____________________ cover was torn.
PROBLEMS WITH NOUNS 173
3. Bill drove his (sister) ____________________ car.
4. The two (sister) ____________________ started two (business)
____________________.
5. I saw three (goose) ____________________ swimming in the pond.
6. The park ranger noticed that many of the (goose) ____________________ wings
were missing feathers.

: By late afternoon, all the guests had left.
FUTURE PERFECT TENSE
: By the year 2020, people’s taste in popular
music will have changed.
Staying with the Same Tense
A common mistake is to mix the present and the past in a sentence. Stick to the same
tense. Study the two examples to see how to correct errors.
MIXED TENSES
: I lose my keys and waited for my mother to come home.
present past
SAME TENSE
: I lose my keys and wait for my mother to come home.
present present
SAME TENSE
: I lost my keys and waited for my mother to come home.
past past
PROBLEMS WITH VERBS 175
Lesson
22
Problems with
Verbs
MIXED TENSES
: Because she misses the bus, she walked to school.
present past
SAME TENSE
: Because she misses the bus, she walks to school.
present present
SAME TENSE
: Because she missed the bus, she walked to school.
past past

Except for helping verbs (can, be, may, have, etc.), all English verbs have four principal
parts—the infinitive (without the “to”), present, past, and past participle. In our language,
verbs can be regular or irregular.
Regular Verbs
Most verbs are regular. They form tenses (express time of an action) in regular,
predictable ways.
I play my music loudly.
(Expresses an action taking place or an action always true; play is present tense.)
I played my music loudly.
(Expresses an action gone by; played is past tense.)
I have played my music loudly.
(Expresses an action completed at the time of speaking; have played is a
helping verb, have, plus the past participle played.)
PROBLEMS WITH VERBS 177
Irregular Verbs
Some verbs are irregular. They cause trouble because they do not form their tenses in
the usual way.
I see a UFO.
(Expresses an action taking place; see is present tense.)
I saw a UFO.
(Expresses an action gone by; saw is past tense.)
I have seen a UFO.
(Expresses an action completed at the time of speaking; have seen is a
helping verb, have, plus the past participle seen.)
Principal Parts of Irregular Verbs
A speaker or writer of correct English must know the principal parts of irregular verbs.
For example,
WE DON
’
TSAY

bring brought (have) brought
catch caught (have) caught
choose chose (have) chosen
come came (have) come
do did (have) done
draw drew (have) drawn
drink drank (have) drunk
178 COMMON USAGE ERRORS