Editing for Present Tense

Writing verbs in the present tense will make your review more lively. The present tense shows that something is happening now or happens regularly. Even though you read the book in the past, you can describe things that happened in the book in the present tense.

1. Something bad (happenshappens, happened) to the main character.
2. Shiloh (cowered, cowerscowers) around people.
3. Marty and his family (livelive, lived) in West Virginia.
4. When Shiloh (ran, runsruns) away, Marty (built, buildsbuilds) him a cage.

Editing Dialogue for Quotation Marks

Dialogue uses quotation marks. These special marks go before and after the exact words of the speaker.

Periods and commas that follow the speaker’s words always go inside the quotation marks.

Question marks and exclamation marks go inside the quotation marks when they punctuation the dialogue.

Editing for the Future Tense

When you write about something that hasn’t happened yet, you should add will before the base form of the verb. This will change the sentence to the future tense, expressing action that will happen later. In a problem-solution essay, use the future tense to predict what will result if a solution goes into action.

In this example, the helping verb will shows that the verbs clean and beautify happen in the future.

1. I caught a butterfly.

   I will catch a butterfly.

2. I walk home from my neighbor’s house.
3. We clean the kitchen.
4. Workers painted the walls white.
5. My family goes to vacation in Florida.
6. My classmates and I perform in a play at the end of the year.
7. The rain cools down the pool water.
8. What happens next?

Editing Commas with Intro Words

Place a comma after introductory words, phrases, and clauses in sentences. The comma after introductory material signals that the main part of the sentence will follow.

Here is an example where the comma comes after a word.

In this example, the comma comes after a phrase.

The comma comes after a clause in this last example.

Editing Command Sentences

Commands usually start with verbs.

What about a subject? Commands have implied subjects: you.

Editing for the Right Word

The words to, two, and too are easily confused because they sound exactly alike. However, each word means something different.

• Two means the number 2.

  My family owns two dogs.

• To indicates direction. It also is used with verbs.

I rode my bike to the zoo to see the polar bear.

• Too means “also.”

Jason likes karate, too.

1. My ( two, to, too ) brothers are coming ( two, to, too ) the show. My ( two, to, too ) brothers are coming ( two, to, too ) the show.
2. Are you going ( two, to, too ) see the movie, ( two, to, too )? Are you going ( two, to, too ) see the movie, ( two, to, too )?
3. Quinn and I are like ( two, to, too ) peas in a pod. Quinn and I are like ( two, to, too ) peas in a pod.
4. The ( two, to, too ) squirrels jumped from tree ( two, to, too ) tree. The ( two, to, too ) squirrels jumped from tree ( two, to, too ) tree.
5. I’m ready ( two, to, too ) spend some time with my cousins. I’m ready ( two, to, too ) spend some time with my cousins.
6. Vinny ran ( two, to, too ) his room ( two, to, too ) find his ( two, to, too ) video-game controllers. Vinny ran ( two, to, too ) his room ( two, to, too ) find his ( two, to, too ) video-game controllers.
7. Horses like apples, and I do, ( two, to, too ). Horses like apples, and I do, ( two, to, too ).
8. ( Two, To, Too ) of my best friends live in my neighborhood. ( Two, To, Too ) of my best friends live in my neighborhood.
9. I used a search engine ( two, to, too ) find information about ( two, to, too ) art contests. I used a search engine ( two, to, too ) find information about ( two, to, too ) art contests.
10. I, ( two, to, too ), enjoy reading books. I, ( two, to, too ), enjoy reading books.

Editing End Punctuation

Sentences end in a period, question mark, or exclamation point. These punctuation marks are like traffic signs because they signal that a sentence has come to a stop. Here are the rules for using these marks.

• Use a period at the end of a statement.

  Thirty-five third graders in the school answered two questions.

• Use a question mark at the end of a question.

  What is your favorite ocean mammal?

• Use an exclamation point to show strong emotion.

  They crack oysters open on rocks on their bellies!

Editing for Sentences

Every sentence needs a subject and a verb. The subject is the person, place, thing, or idea that the sentence is about. The verb tells something about the subject.

If a group of words does not have a subject or a verb, it is a fragment.

To fix a fragment, add the part that is missing—subject, verb, or both.