Grammar Test 4 Answer 4

4. Everybody who knows the old wretch says they have noticed how the boys down at the diner have taken an interest in her newly-developed full compliment of teeth.

Ans.

4. All the people who know the old wretch say they have noticed how the boys down at the diner have taken an interest in her newly-developed, full complement of teeth.


1) The main problem here is that "everybody" and "they" are not the same number. "Everybody" is singular indefinite and "they" is plural. One could opt to change "they" for "he/she", but if that sounds unwieldy and awkward, the other option is to change "everybody to "all the people." This would mean that one would change the rest of the sentence to "All the people who know the old wretch say . . ." (1 pt.)

2) Here you have more than one adjective describing one noun. That means that those two adjectives must separated by a comma. (1 pt.)

3) Here complement is the right form of the word." Compliment" refers to those things that we say that are flattering.

 

Total = 3 pts.