The Library Notice: Spelling and Punctuation Repair
A library notice reads: "Students whom are returning books late must pay a fine, its two dollars per day. Please ensure you're books are returned on time, and remember that quiet study is required in the reading room. If you have any questions, ask the librarian who will be at the desk from 8am to 4pm daily." The librarian wants the notice corrected without changing its meaning. Three errors are deliberate: one spelling error, one punctuation error, and one grammar error.
1. Identify the grammar error involving a pronoun and explain the correction with reasoning.
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The grammar error is "its two dollars per day". The word "its" is a possessive determiner (as in "its cover"), but the sentence needs the contraction "it's" meaning "it is". Corrected: "…must pay a fine; it's two dollars per day." Reasoning: test by substituting "it is" - "it is two dollars per day" makes sense, so the contraction is required. "Its" would only work if something belonged to the fine, which is not the case here.
2. Find the spelling error and the punctuation error, then write the fully corrected notice.
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Spelling error: "you're books" should be "your books". "You're" means "you are"; the possessive form is "your". Test: "you are books" is nonsense, so "your" is correct. Punctuation error: the comma after "fine" creates a comma splice joining two independent clauses ("Students … must pay a fine" and "its two dollars per day"). A semicolon or full stop is needed. Corrected notice: "Students who are returning books late must pay a fine; it's two dollars per day. Please ensure your books are returned on time, and remember that quiet study is required in the reading room. If you have any questions, ask the librarian, who will be at the desk from 8am to 4pm daily." Note: "whom" was also corrected to "who" because it is the subject of "are returning".