Help me fix the incorrect verb/verbs.
Elsie disagreed with the group and resigned.
Sharon has set her cap over her eyes and laid a towel over her legs to protect herself from the sun.
2006-06-20 21:08:35 · 6 answers · asked by :) 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Homework Help
Both sentences are quite OK as they stand. Changing the tenses - as some answerers have suggested - would also subtly change the meanings.
E.g.
Elsie disagreed with the group and resigned. (She did both these things yesterday or last week).
Elsie disagreed with the group and has resigned. (She disagreed with them yesterday and has just resigned very recently as a result).
Sharon has set her cap over her eyes and (has) laid a towel over her legs to protect herself from the sun. (The 'has' in brackets is understood - this is called ellipsis. This sentence suggests that you are sitting next to her and telling someone - perhaps by phone - what she has just done.)
Sharon set ... (The change of tense suggests that she did both things yesterday or last week etc. This is a more 'usual or bland' meaning).
To lay a towel over your legs - or any other part of your body - is perfectly grammatical (past tense = laid a towel ...) whatever anyone else says.
2006-06-21 20:17:25 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It should be:
Elsie disagreed with the group and has resigned.
Sharon set her cap over her eyes and put a towel over her legs to protect herself from the sun.
Usually laying is used for a living being and a towel cannot be "laid"
2006-06-20 21:42:24 · answer #2 · answered by young_friend 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Elsie disagreed with the group and has resigned.
Sharon set her cap over her eyes and laid a towel over her legs to protect herself from the sun.
2006-06-20 21:13:03 · answer #3 · answered by Susan G 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Elsie disagreed with the group and has resigned - sounds better, but I can't think of a rule of grammar to support it.
Your second one the tenses are different - has and laid don't go together. I would say; Sharon has set her cap over her eyes and lain a towel over her legs to protect herself from the sun.
2006-06-20 21:25:44 · answer #4 · answered by K 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The second verb in the first sentence is lacking a subject.
In the second sentence, you have "has and laid" together. They are different...what's the word....one is present and one is past.
2006-06-20 21:14:27 · answer #5 · answered by Melanie 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
say the sentence to yourself, stopping before "and".
"has" is the excess linking verb.
2006-06-20 21:14:39 · answer #6 · answered by notchydaddy1 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋