Welcome to grammar day at Seriously Write. Ready to test your skills? The following sentences may contain grammar, punctuation, spelling, or other writing misdemeanors. Your job is to find the infraction and set it right. Try not to look at the answers below.
Have fun!
Sentences to correct:
1) I’ve been repeatedly hit over the head with the same message. I’ve heard if from pastures and I’ve read it in devotionels. Quite simply we’re to ask God for what we want, believing we’ll receive it.
2) Why don’t we ask God for more? Are we afraid the answer will be no? Are we afraid He’ll think our requests to trivail? Or that well appear selfish?
3) You want something, but don’t get it…You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives… James 4:2 -3 (NIV) We can’t expect God to answer requests we haven’t made—or made in faith, believing they’ll be answered.
4) We’re not only to ask, were to include details. When desiring a husband or wife, wouldn’t it be better to ask for a person with specific qualities as opposed to just asking for spouse? If your willing to take any man or women you might not like watts included in the package!
5) That doesn’t mean hell automatically give us everything we ask for. He only wants what’s best for us. And, if are requests are purely biased on selfish reasons, we may not get the answers we’re hoping for.
6) Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of you heart. Psalm 37:4 (NIV) God wants to be good to us. Tell Him what’s in your heart.
Corrected sentences:
1) I’ve been repeatedly hit over the head with the same message. I’ve heard if from pastors, and I’ve read it in devotionals. Quite simply, we’re to ask God for what we want, believing we’ll receive it.
Note: There should be a comma after pastors. An independent claus is a part of sentence that could stand on its own as a complete sentence. If you put two of these together and join them with a conjunction (and, but, or, etc.), separate them with a comma.
Note: A comma is also needed after “simply.”
2) Why don’t we ask God for more? Are we afraid the answer will be no? Are we afraid he’ll think our requests too trivial? Or that we’ll appear selfish?
Note: Remember, we’ve covered this before. The CMOS and the CWMS both state that deity pronouns should not be capitalized. And most publishers agree. There is a long list of reasons why. But, if an author feels strongly about capitalizing He, Him, etc. when referring to God, the publisher will usually accept it. If you choose to capitalize the pronouns, it’s important to be consistent throughout the manuscript.
3) “You want something, but don’t get it.…You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives” (James 4:2-3 NIV). We can’t expect God to answer requests we haven’t made—or made in faith, believing they’ll be answered.
Note: A period is added before an ellipsis to indicate the omission of the end of a sentence and /or added material immediately following the period.
4) We’re not only to ask, we’re to include details. When desiring a husband or wife, wouldn’t it be better to ask for a person with specific qualities as opposed to just asking for spouse? If you’re willing to take any man or woman, you might not like what’s included in the package!
5) That doesn’t mean he’ll automatically give us everything we ask for. He only wants what’s best for us. And, if our requests are purely based on selfish reasons, we may not get the answers we’re hoping for.
6) “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4 NIV). God wants to be good to us. Tell him what’s in your heart.
Note: It’s important to write the quote exactly as it is in the Bible, and in this case, the deity pronoun “he” is not capitalized. On the other hand, it’s preferred that the word LORD, which is completely capitalized in the NIV is not written that way when quoted.
How well did you do?
Like anyone else, I’m not perfect. I use The Chicago Manual of Style, The Christian Writers Manual of Style, and Webster’s Dictionary as my sources.
