Capitalization and Comma Errors

Here are the answers to the "Common Mistakes" handout this week. Corrections are mostly in red:

1. I saw beautiful coral reefs and yellow, red, and blue tropical fish.

2. I like to watch CNN nNews on YoutTube.

3. I saw a short video about the origin of the universe on the TED tTalk app yesterday.

4. I like the characters, especially Elsa, and songs, such as 'Let it gGo.'

5. I watched famous comedy movies, such as "Breakfast at Tiffany's.”. (The period goes inside the quotation marks)

6. So, I watch entertaining movies, especially heroic movies or adventure movies, like 007.

7. Shuri-jyo was built in the 1400’s.

8. She was a faster swimmer than I was, and she inspired me to practice hard every week.

9. People often make mistakes, so it is necessary to double check reports.

10. We practiced throwing, running, and tackling everyday after school.

11. So, I agree with Francisco.

12. Also, I did yoga and swam, like freestyle and breastroke, at the fitness club.

Let's talk about "It"

(1) "This is my favorite restaurant. I love it!"
"It" = the restaurant. This is easy.

And everyone Japanese person knows expressions like (2) "It's raining," or "It is a hot day." But what does "it" mean in those sentences?

(1) and (2) are different forms of "it." In (1) "it" refers to a specific thing. In (2) "it" = situation. Here are some examples:

A. The earthquake and tsunami destroyed many homes. People were easy to get sympathy.
No: It was easy for people to get sympathy.
The situation: Immediately after March 11, 2011.

B. Runners are easy to get injured if the ground isn't level.
No: It's easy for runners to get injured if the ground isn't level.
The situation: running on unlevel ground.

C. The library was quiet so I could study there.
No: The library was quiet, so it was easy for me to study there.
The situation: the quiet library.

You're not going to master this, but you should be sensitive to (1) what a person makes happen versus (2) what a situation makes happen.

Let's use English well!