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12.22: Standard American English Practice Exercises

  • Page ID
    41701
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    Exercises

    The following exercises may be especially useful for those who are English language learners or rarely speak in Standard American English.

    Creating Questions

    Create questions from the following sentences.

    a. My daughter will have to think about her college options.

    b. Otto is waiting in the car for his boyfriend.

    c. The article talks about conserving energy.

    d. We need to reduce our needs.

    e. Natalie is always complaining about her work

    Identifying Prepositional Phrases

    Underline the prepositional phrase in each of the following sentences.

    a. Monica told us about her trip.

    b. I hope we have sunshine throughout the summer.

    c. The panther climbed up the tree.

    d. The little boy was standing behind his mother's legs.

    e. We stayed awake until dawn.

    Adjective Order

    Place the following sets of adjectives in the correct order before the nouns.

    a. eyes: black, mesmerizing

    b. jacket: vintage, orange, suede

    c. pineapple: ripe, yellow, sweet

    d. vacation: fun, skiing

    e. movie: hilarious, independent

    Negative Sentences

    Rewrite the positive sentences as negative sentences. Be sure to keep the sentences in the present tense.

    a. Sometimes I work on Saturdays.

    b. The garden attracts butterflies and bees.

    c. He breathes loudly at night.

    d. He raps really well.

    e. I communicate well with my partner

    Correct Double Negatives

    Rewrite the following paragraph by correcting the double negatives.

    That morning it was so hot, Danielle felt like she couldn't hardly breathe. Ain't nothing would get her out the door into that scratching heat. Then she remembered her dog, Zeus, who started whining right then. Zeus was whining and barking so much that Danielle didn't have no choice but to get off the couch and face the day. That dog didn't do nothing but sniff around the bushes and try to stay in the shade while Danielle was sweating in the sun holding the leash. She couldn't not wait for winter to come.

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    This page most recently updated on June 8, 2020.


    This page titled 12.22: Standard American English Practice Exercises is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Athena Kashyap & Erika Dyquisto (ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative) .