Modern Grammar - Assignment 9 James Madison University

Instructions: [This assignment will be marked only as an acceptable or unacceptable effort.]

1. Which of the following can be a verb? Give as many reasons why/why not for each as you can think of:
   1. marinate
   2. fantastic
   3. sure
   4. event
   5. driving
   6. panic
   7. cleanse
2. Based on class discussion of adjectives and our textbook's discussion of adverbs, try to figure out which sentences are using "better" as an adjective and which are using the same word as an adverb. (Hint-- part of what this example is about is not using the sentence test for adjectives too casually or too literally. :) Adjective sentence test = "The _______ noun is (very) _______." )
   1. The better man usually wins the race.
   2. You should learn to sing better.
   3. Who drives the better car?
   4. Lucinda's poems are lovely but Mirabelle's are better.
   5. I like peanuts but I like almonds better.
3. Write sentences for each of the following conditions (again, use the textbook for new information), and underline words as requested. The sentences should meet the criteria and be grammatical but, other than that, they should be ridiculous. You'll have the chance to enter your best effort in our first "ridiculous sentence contest." :-) (Example: My bologna is smiling shyly at the refrigerator magnets.)
   

   1. A sentence that contains a predicative use of an adjective. (You can use the second blank in the test sentence for adjectives as your guideline for this.)

   2. A sentence that consists of nothing but a verb. Give a context for its use.

   3. A sentence that contains a gerund.

   4. A sentence that contains a degree adverb (an intensifier) and a verb-modifying adverb (a manner adverb). Underline the intensifier.