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The 1986 Study

Record Number: W4N06

Level 1: Prepositional Phrases

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Current technology makes it extremely difficult to draw lines, etc. from word to word in web documents. In Level One, I have therefore indicated words modified by prepositional phrases in following brackets. These brackets will be deleted in the answer keys to subsequent levels.

     I have four people {in my family.} [Adverb to "have"] My 

mom, my dad, my sister and me. My mom's name is Gracie. 

She cleans houses and sews. She is nice and sometimes she's

funny. She was born {in New York.} [Adverb to "was born"]

think she is 34 years old. Next I'll tell you {about my dad.} 

[Adverb to "will tell"] He works {at Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxxxx Corp.} 

[Adverb to "works"] His name is Jack. He was born {in 

Xxxxxxxxx Virginia.} [Adverb to "was born"] He is 36 years old. 

He is fun to play with. Now I'll tell you {about my sister.} 

[Adverb to "will tell"] Her name is Sally.  She is strange. She's 4

years old. She was born {in Xxxxxxxxxx, Virginia.} [Adverb to 

"was born"] She's kind of cute. Note #1 Finally me, I was born 

{in Xxxxxxxxxx, Virginia.} [Adverb to "was born"] I am 9 years 

old. 

     We have a cat. His name is Archie. He is white and 

orange. He's very stupid but, we still like him.  He is about

Note #2 1 year people years and 13 cat years. He likes to catch

little animals and insects. Now I'll tell you {about my 

grandpa.} [Adverb to "will tell"] He is 83 years old. He was born 

{in Caledonia County, New York.} [Adverb to "was born"]

He has a cat named Dinkey.  He is about 11 years {in cat 

years} [Adverb to "is" or Adjective to "years"] and almost 1 year {in

people years.} [Adverb to "is" or Adjective to "years"] Dinkey's very

strange and always playful. He also chases insects. 

     My house is a brick house. It is not very big, but it's a 

pretty nice sized house. I live {at 238 Xxxxxxx Avenue.} 

[Adverb to "live"] My basement is nice and cool {in the 

summer.} [Adverb to "is"] It is very cold {in the winter.} 

[Adverb to "is"] Next I'll tell you {about all} [Adverb to "will tell"] 

{of the rooms} [Adjective to "all"] {in my house.} [Adjective to 

"rooms"] There are about 6 or 7 rooms upstairs and about 5 

rooms {in the basement.} [Adverb to "are"] We have two 

bathrooms one sewing room three bedrooms one living room 

one laundry room one food room that about takes care {of 

the rooms} Note #3 {in my house.} [Adjective to "rooms"]
 

Notes

1. Some students may want to consider "of cute" in "kind of cute" as a prepositional phrase. I would not consider this as an error, but I would note that "kind of" here means "somewhat" or "a little," and that the basic idea is that she is cute. With advanced students, I might play with the meaning of "kind of" -- does it mean "a kind of," thereby implying that there are different kinds of "cute"? I would not, however, let a class get sidetracked on this question, a question about which grammarians themselves do not agree. 

2. "About" here means approximately.

3. Students will probably mark "of the rooms" as a prepositional phrase, saying either that it is adjectival to "care" or adverbial to "takes care." I would accept all these answers, but with students who are working at level two or beyond, I would note that "takes care of" is an idiom that can be replaced by words such as "covers" or "includes."
 
 

Progress:
Total Words = 306 Words %
L1: In Prep Phrases  66  22

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