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ACT English: Punctuation Drill 3, Problem 4. Which choice best formats this list of items?
ACT English: Punctuation Drill 2, Problem 1. Which choice of punctuation best completes the sentence?
ACT English: Punctuation Drill 2, Problem 2. Where should the semi-colon be placed?
ACT English 2.5 Grammar and Usage 428 Views
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Description:
ACT English: Grammar and Usage Drill 2, Problem 5. Which tense is correct for this sentence?
Transcript
- 00:03
Here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by the word "swum." It's a real word. Seriously.
- 00:09
We're not kidding.
- 00:16
What should replace the underlined words below?
- 00:18
He has swum for three days, and he shows no signs of stopping.
- 00:34
Awesome, looks like we get to have more fun with past participles.
Full Transcript
- 00:37
Hey, this is how we relax.
- 00:40
Okay, so we have to know that the past participle of the verb "swim" is "swum."
- 00:49
Since both (B) and (D) use the present tense "swam" instead, we can easily cross out both choices.
- 00:54
Yes, sometimes in life, things are easy.
- 00:56
Now we're left with choices (A) and (C).
- 00:59
Both use "swum," so we'll have to look to other parts of the sentence.
- 01:03
The verb "shows" signals that the swimmer is swimming in the present, which is good
- 01:07
for him because swimming in the past can be dangerous.
- 01:09
You know, like when the seas were filled with predatory dakosauruses.
- 01:18
Anyway, because "shows" is in the present tense, the answer we're looking for has to
- 01:22
be as well.
- 01:23
Therefore we can eliminate choice (C) because the helping word "had" is stuck in the past.
- 01:28
Good luck with the dakosauruses, pal.
- 01:30
The original sentence gets it right, because it takes the present perfect tense with "has
- 01:35
swum," which makes (A) the right answer.
- 01:38
We're sure this guy thinks he's cool because he can swim for three days straight, but he'd
- 01:41
be a lot cooler if he could do so in monster-infested waters.
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