Library Notice Editing: Grammar and Meaning in a Public Announcement
Dear students,
The library will be closed on Friday for shelf cleaning. If you have borrowed books, please return them by Thursday. Students who has not finished their research may use the city library. We are sorry for any convenient this may cause. The new reading room will open next month. It is located on the second floor and can be used by up to 40 people at same time. Please do not leave bags in the reading room; they may be moved to the office. Thank you for your cooperation.
Sincerely, Library Committee
The committee also needs two volunteers to help check the shelves from 3:30 to 5:00 on Thursday. Volunteers should meet Ms. Ito at the library desk. They will receive a small card and a drink. If you are interested, sign your name on the sheet by Wednesday. We need your class and student number, not your phone number.
1. Find two errors in the notice that make it grammatically incorrect or unclear. Correct them and explain the rule.
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Two clear errors: 'Students who has not finished' should be 'Students who have not finished.' The relative pronoun 'who' refers to the plural noun 'Students,' so the verb must be plural 'have.' Also, 'for any convenient this may cause' should be 'for any inconvenience this may cause.' After 'any' a noun is needed, and the meaning must be negative-'convenience' would mean the library is sorry for being helpful. A third error is 'at same time'; the fixed phrase is 'at the same time,' with the definite article. Correcting these keeps the notice grammatical and clear.
2. Reorder the words to make a polite and correct sentence for the notice: [may / we / apologize / any / for / inconvenience / this / cause / you].
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Correct order: We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. The subject is 'We,' followed by the verb 'apologize.' The prepositional phrase 'for any inconvenience' comes next. 'This may cause you' is a relative clause modifying 'inconvenience'; 'may' comes before the main verb 'cause,' and 'you' is the indirect object. Putting 'you' earlier, as in 'cause you this,' would be unnatural. The sentence is polite because it uses 'apologize' and takes responsibility without over-explaining.
3. A student writes: 'Students who has not finished their research may use the city library.' Why is this especially confusing for readers?
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The sentence is confusing because 'Students' is plural but 'has' is singular. A reader may briefly think the sentence is about one student, or may see the grammar error and distrust the notice. In a public notice, the subject and verb should agree immediately so readers can act correctly: 'Students who have not finished their research may use the city library.' The error does not change the intended rule, but it slows reading and makes the library look careless. For an exam answer, identify the antecedent 'Students' and change 'has' to 'have.'