Navigation
Apply grammar and citation rules to finalize a persuasive piece of writing.
Imagine you’ve written the most convincing argument in the world, but your reader gets lost because you keep jumping between the past and the future. How do you make sure your message stays crystal clear?
When you write a persuasive piece, you are taking your reader on a journey. If you start your story in the present tense (things happening now), you should stay there! Switching to the past tense without a reason is like a time machine glitch—it confuses the reader. For example, saying 'The scientist discovers the cure and then celebrated' is confusing because 'discovers' is present and 'celebrated' is past. To keep it smooth, use: 'The scientist discovered the cure and then celebrated.'
1. Look at the sentence: 'I walk to the podium and delivered my speech.' 2. Identify the tenses: 'walk' is present, 'delivered' is past. 3. Choose one: Let's use past tense. 4. Corrected: 'I walked to the podium and delivered my speech.'
Quick Check
In the sentence 'She opens the book and read the first page,' which word is in the wrong tense if the action is happening right now?
Answer
The word 'read' should be 'reads' to match the present tense 'opens'.
A pronoun (like he, she, it, or they) is a word that takes the place of a noun. The antecedent is the specific noun the pronoun refers to. They must agree in number! If the antecedent is singular (one person), the pronoun must be singular. If the antecedent is plural (many people), the pronoun must be plural. For example, 'The students forgot their lunch' is correct because both are plural.
1. Sentence: 'The cat licked their paws.' 2. Identify the antecedent: 'cat' (singular). 3. Identify the pronoun: 'their' (plural). 4. Fix the match: 'The cat licked its paws.' or 'The cats licked their paws.'
Quick Check
True or False: In the sentence 'Every runner must wear their own shoes,' the pronoun 'their' correctly matches the singular 'Every runner' in formal writing?
Answer
False. In formal writing, 'Every runner' is singular, so it should be 'his or her shoes' or changed to 'All runners... their shoes.'
When you use a fact or a quote from a book or website, you must give the author credit. This is called citing your sources. It shows your reader that you did your research and that you are an honest writer. In Grade 5, a simple way to cite is to include the author's last name and the title of the work. For example: 'According to Smith in the book Healthy Kids, exercise helps your brain grow.'
1. Fact: 70% of the Earth is covered in water. 2. Source: A website called 'Ocean Facts' by Dr. Blue. 3. Combined: 'Dr. Blue states on the website Ocean Facts that of the Earth is covered in water.'
Which sentence has consistent verb tense?
Choose the correct pronoun: 'The team celebrated ____ victory.'
Citing a source means you are stealing someone else's ideas.
Review Tomorrow
In 24 hours, try to explain to a friend what an 'antecedent' is and why it needs to match its pronoun.
Practice Activity
Take a paragraph you wrote recently and circle all the verbs. Check if they are all in the same 'time' (past, present, or future)!