Monday, March 23, 2009

Grammar question

Hi teacher Vanessa,

I have a question about the grammar on one sentence.

"A sagittal section of the brain was made and the tissues examined under the microscope"

Should it have 'were' between the tissues and examined?

Thank you,
Yuphaphat

3 comments:

  1. The noun "section" is subject of the sentence,
    "A sagittal section of the brain was made and the tissues examined under the microscope." It is singular, so "was" is the correct verb form.

    Sorry for the HUGE delay... I've had health problems but am back now

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  2. Thank you for your reply. I received your email also.

    I still have a question on that last comment. Ain't those a compound sentence that contains two sentences? 1)A sagittal section of the brain was made. and 2)the tissues examined under the microscope. And my question is for the sentence 2). In the original sentence, it does not have 'was' or 'were' as it shows.

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  3. "Ain't those a compound sentence?" is incorrect.

    "Ain't" is not used in except as informal slang and dialect.

    "Isn't that a compound sentence?"

    or

    "Don't those two independent clauses make a compound sentence?"

    As for the other question, which not clear: no you do not need to add "were" to the second clause because it understood in this particular construction. You can if you wish, but it is not necessary and would not improve the sentence in any way.

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