Bilingual Science Fair Announcement
You are the copy editor of The Junior Quill, a bilingual school newsletter. The science club submits this announcement for the Solar Car Derby:
English draft: 'Covered in recycled cardboard and bottle caps, the science club will display the miniature car in the lobby on Friday to promote the derby.'
Filipino draft: 'Ang science club ay naghanda nang mga modelong sasakyan na gawa sa plastik at kahoy para sa derby.'
The faculty adviser asks you to correct both drafts without changing the intended meaning. For English, the modifier 'Covered in recycled cardboard and bottle caps' must clearly describe the car, not the club. For Filipino, the adviser says the word before 'mga modelong sasakyan' should mark an object, not an adverb or completed manner. She also wants the announcement to keep 'Solar Car Derby' in English because it is the official event name.
1. Revise the English sentence so the opening modifier clearly attaches to the car. Explain what grammatical problem the original creates.
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The original sentence begins with the participial phrase 'Covered in recycled cardboard and bottle caps.' By default, that phrase modifies the subject of the main clause, which is 'the science club.' That would mean the club itself is covered in cardboard and bottle caps, not the car. One correct revision is: 'The science club will display the miniature car, covered in recycled cardboard and bottle caps, in the lobby on Friday to promote the derby.' Another is: 'Covered in recycled cardboard and bottle caps, the miniature car will be displayed by the science club in the lobby on Friday to promote the derby.' Both keep the intended meaning and make the car the thing that is covered.
2. Revise the Filipino sentence. Identify whether 'nang' should be 'ng' and explain the rule using the sentence's context.
Read the worked answer
'Nang' should be 'ng': 'Ang science club ay naghanda ng mga modelong sasakyan na gawa sa plastik at kahoy para sa derby.' The word before 'mga modelong sasakyan' must be the object marker 'ng' because the models are what the club prepared-the direct object of 'naghanda.' 'Nang' is used for manner adverbs (for example, 'naghanda nang maayos'), for completed action before a verb (for example, 'nang dumating'), or for repeated action, not before a noun phrase that receives the action. Replacing 'nang' with 'ng' fixes the grammar without changing the meaning.