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Welcome to another Punctuation Puzzle! Yep…a puzzle that you solve by putting in the correct punctuation and words\/usage fixes–along with explanations and answers about each error! Perfect for students and teachers alike! Today’s Puzzle is about\u00a0plural nouns and past\/passed confusion…..and it uses an interesting sentence from one of our Write-for-a-Month\/Write On books about Cinderella. Read […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":" By Zac Kieser & Donna Reish<\/em><\/p>\n \n\nHe passed<\/strong> the test or He past<\/strong> the test? Go passed<\/strong> the house or Go past<\/strong> the house? Passed and past are super confusing--as evidenced in social media every where. It's not just students who have trouble with this confusing word pair!\n\n\n a. Preposition: They drove PAST the gate\nb. Adjective: He is the PAST president.\nc. Adverb: He flew PAST.\nd. Noun: Let's leave that in the PAST.\n\n \n\n8) Older students can also grasp the concept that if there is another MOVEMENT verb in the sentence, you want the word PAST with it: We DROVE past the park. However, if there is not another movement verb in the sentence, you want the VERB PASSED: We PASSED the garage.\n\n \n\nSo there you have it--some tricks, some tips....and you are ready to solve Zac's Punctuation Puzzle below...with our favorite peasant girl, Cinderella!\n\n \n i. Some nouns change their spelling entirely:<\/strong> foot\u2014feet, mouse--mice<\/p>\n ii. Some nouns do not change at all:<\/strong> deer\u2014deer, fish\u2014fish<\/p>\n iii. The ending es<\/em> is added to nouns ending in sh, z, ch, x, or s:<\/em><\/strong> dish--dishes, whizz--whizzes, search--searches, tax--taxes, dress\u2014dresses<\/p>\n iv. Nouns ending in y<\/em> have two rules:<\/strong><\/p>\n a. Add s<\/em> to a word ending in a vowel + y<\/em>:<\/strong> joy\u2014joys<\/p>\n b. Change the y<\/em> to I<\/em> and add es<\/em> when the word ends in a consonant + y<\/em>:<\/strong> sky\u2014skies<\/p>\n v. Nouns ending in o<\/em> have three rules:<\/strong><\/p>\n a. Add es<\/em> to a word ending in a consonant + o<\/em> (as long as it is not a music related word):<\/strong> potato\u2014potatoes<\/p>\n b. Add s<\/em> to a word ending in a vowel + o<\/em>:<\/strong> patio\u2014patios<\/p>\n c. Add s<\/em> to any word that ends in o<\/em> and is a music word:<\/strong> soprano--sopranos<\/p>\n vi. Change the f<\/em> to v<\/em> and add es<\/em> for most nouns that end in f<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n a. Half\u2014halves<\/p>\n b. Exception<\/strong>: roof--roofs<\/p>\n vii. If none of these rules apply, just add s<\/em> to the word<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\n4. Now, let\u2019s apply these rules to our sentences:\n\nDespite the prince\u2019s crys, Cinderella ran passed the palace gates and into the forest. When the prince questioned the guards, they told him only a poor peasant women had past through the palace gates.<\/strong>\n\n \n\n5. The word cry<\/em> is a singular noun that ends in a consonant + y<\/em> (iv., b.), so the y<\/em> is changed to I<\/em> and we add es<\/em>, giving us: cries<\/strong>\n\n \n\n6. The word guard<\/em> is a singular noun that does not fall under any of these rules (vii.), so we only add s<\/em>, leaving us with guards<\/strong>\n\n \n\n7. The word women<\/em> is a plural noun, but we are only talking about one woman (Cinderella). So, we need to change this to its singular form. Women<\/em> falls under i., meaning its spelling changes. The spelling change for women<\/em> to move it to singular is woman<\/strong>\n\n \n\nDespite the prince\u2019s cries, Cinderella ran passed the palace gates and into the forest. When the prince questioned the guards, they told him only a poor peasant woman had past through the palace gates.<\/strong>\n\n \n i. When a subject has succeeded in something:<\/strong> He passed the test.<\/p>\n ii. When a subject moves around something:<\/strong> She passed the house.<\/p>\n \n\n3. Past<\/strong> <\/em>is an adverb that means by<\/em> or beside<\/em> or a preposition that shows where something is in relation to something else.\n\n \n Her house was just past the city gate. (past<\/strong> is used as a preposition.)<\/p>\n He sprinted past the house. (past<\/strong> is used as an adverb).<\/p>\n \n\n4. Now, in our sentences, in the first case we have Cinderella ran passed the palace gates and into the forest.<\/strong> Here, passed<\/strong> <\/em>needs to be changed to past<\/strong> <\/em>since we are talking where Cinderella was running in relation to the palace gates. That is what the word past<\/strong> <\/em>does.\n\n \n\n5. In our second case, only a poor peasant woman had past through the palace gates,<\/strong> we are describing Cinderella\u2019s action, not where she is in relation to the gates. Therefore, we need to change past<\/strong> <\/em>to passed<\/strong><\/em>.\n\n \n\n6. So, our final sentence reads\u2026\n\nDespite the prince\u2019s cries, Cinderella ran past the palace gates and into the forest. When the prince questioned the guards, they told him only a poor peasant woman had passed through the palace gates.<\/strong>\n\n \n\nToday\u2019s Punctuation Puzzle sentence comes from a student writing assignment found in the Cinderella Twice-Told Tale.","_et_gb_content_width":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[640,1268],"tags":[1364,181],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Punctuation-Puzzle-Plural-Nouns-and-Passed-Past-Confusion-With-Cinderella.jpg\")
<\/a>\nZac has a great puzzle below highlighting these confusing words in two different spots. I have tricks! Yep, Language Lady always has tricks! So here you go:<\/h4>\n1) The first thing I tell students is that PASS is the verb.<\/strong> It is the current tense. We never<\/strong> say Today I PAST the test. PASS is the verb.\n\n \n\n2) Next, I ask them if we were trying to make PAST the verb, what would happen to it if we added an ED to make it past tense (no pun intended!). I love doing this because they look at each other and say aloud what it could be: PASS-TED? Then I tell them to write PAST on their paper and add ED to it. In unison, they say PAY\/STED! This further cements the fact that PAST is NOT the verb! PAST with ED has nothing to do with PASSING---it has to do with PASTING--as in gluing....PASTED!\n\n \n\n3) Then I remind them of their Preposition Practice Pal<\/a> and\/or Preposition Check Sentences<\/a>: Birdie flew PAST the tube or The angel flew PAST the cloud. Yep. PAST is a preposition.\n\n \n\n4) Of course, I remind them that some prepositions are also adverbs<\/a> (when they don't have objects following them): The butterfly flew PAST. (Where did the butterfly fly? PAST.) I remind them that this is rare, and they don't have to worry about it too much if they remember that PASS is the verb and PAST is usually a preposition.\n\n \n\n5) Another trick I use is to point out that PAST ends with a T..... and THE begins with a T. Then I write on my board (or have them highlight it in their lesson where it is written): pasT The barn; pasT The school; pasT The park, etc. This further cements the fact that past is the preposition, not the verb.\n\n \n\n6) I also re- remind (is that a thing?) students that a verb is made past tense with ED added, not T....so PASSED will always be the past tense verb and PAST will never be a verb.\n\n \n\n7) For older kids, I give examples of all of the parts of speech that PAST can be--again pointing out that it is never PASS in these instances since PASS is a verb:\n
THIS WEEK'S PUNCTUATION PUZZLE:<\/h2>\n \n\nDespite the prince\u2019s crys, Cinderella ran passed the palace gates and into the forest. When the prince questioned the guardes, they told him only a poor peasant women had past through the palace gates.<\/strong>\n\n \n
The answer?<\/h3>\nDespite the prince\u2019s cries, Cinderella ran past the palace gates and into the forest. When the prince questioned the guards, they told him only a poor peasant woman had passed through the palace gates.<\/strong>\n\n \n
Plural Nouns<\/h3>\n1. We have a total of five problems in our example sentences, but three of them deal with plural nouns<\/em>. Plural nouns are nouns that show more than one person, place, thing, or idea.<\/strong>\n\n \n\n2. Plural nouns are tricky because the form of the noun has to be changed in a different way depending on the noun.\n\n \n\n3. Let\u2019s check out some of the different ways nouns are made plural:\n\n
Passed-Past Confusion<\/h3>\n1. Our two other problems in the sentence are a result of confusion between the words passed<\/strong> <\/em>and past<\/strong><\/em>. These words are homophones, meaning they sound the same, but they are spelled differently and mean different things.\n\n \n\n2. Passed<\/strong> <\/em>is a form of the verb pass, and it is used to show two actions:\n
Examples:<\/h4>\n