Read the following excerpt from a student essay. How can the writer best improve his or her grammar and mechanics? When I'm asked to name my favorite teacher I immediately think of Mr. Sweeney, In fifth grade, Mr. Sweeney taught us all about architecture he had the class start by learning to measure things very accurately.We studied environmentally friendly building methods, and we designed and built our own homes of the future. Mr.Sweeney was always fun and interesting, he believed that we could do more than we thought we could do. He helped me break boundaries in my life, he was a positive influence on me and will always be one of the most inspirational people in my life. by fixing run-on sentences by using correct verb tenses

## Step 1<br />The first step in improving grammar and mechanics in the given essay excerpt is to identify the run-on sentences. A run-on sentence is a sentence in which two or more independent clauses are incorrectly presented as a single sentence without proper punctuation or conjunction.<br /><br />## Step 2<br />In the given excerpt, there are several run-on sentences. For example, "In fifth grade, Mr. Sweeney taught us all about architecture he had the class start by learning to measure things very accurately." and "He helped me break boundaries in my life, he was a positive influence on me and will always be one of the most inspirational people in my life."<br /><br />## Step 3<br />The next step is to correct these run-on sentences. This can be done by adding appropriate punctuation such as commas, periods, or semicolons, or by using conjunctions to connect the independent clauses.<br /><br />## Step 4<br />The second step is to check the verb tenses. The verb tenses in the essay are mostly in the past tense, which is appropriate for the context of the essay. However, there are instances where the verb tense is inconsistent, such as in the sentence "he was a positive influence on me and will always be one of the most inspirational people in my life."<br /><br />## Step 5<br />The final step is to correct the verb tenses. This can be done by changing the verb tense to match the context of the sentence.