Basic Sentence Skills

1. Basic Sentence Skills On-line Resource Adaptation EFS, Granville TAFE 2010

2. Sentence Types (Combining) 1. Coordination: being of equal importance 2. Subordination: being of less importance

3. Coordinationconnects two or more sentence elements (words, phrases, and clauses) that have the same grammatical function.

4. Examples 1. I pronounce each letter loud and clear. 2. We decided not to go to class. We planned to get the notes. Everyone else had the same plan. Most of us ended up failing the quiz. 3. We decided not to go to class,but we planned to get the notes. Everyone else had the same plan, so most of us ended up failing the quiz.

5. Subordination puts less important ideas in a dependent clause or phrase and the more important idea in an independent clause. For instance: As soon as he arrived at the hotel, he began to write to his girl friend.

6. Misuse of Coordination and Subordination (1) Illogical/poor coordination Illogical: Alice Adams has published four novels, and she lives in San Francisco. Revised: Alice Adams, who lives in San Francisco, has published four novels. [Dependent clause] Alice Adams, from San Francisco, has published four novels. [Modifying phrase]

7. (2) Illogical subordination Illogical: Because he was deaf when he wrote them, Beethoven’s final symphonies were masterpieces. Revised: Although Beethoven was deaf when he wrote his final symphonies, they are musical masterpieces.

8. I. Improve Sentence Unity What is sentence unity? Sentence unity means that only one idea or thought can be expressed in one single sentence. Unity refers to two qualities: a) there is only one main idea in a sentence, b) and that idea is complete.

9. For instance: Tim died in a traffic accident, and he had just reached the age of 73. (ineffective) Tim died in a traffic accident just afterhe had reached the age of 73. (strong)

10. Clarity • Change the sentence structure in order to make the hidden relation clear and bring unity to the sentence. • If a close relation can not be built in one sentence, change the sentence into two or more sentences.

11. Put Related Thoughts into a Sentence Unrelated/poor: Yesterday Tom has hurt his foot, and he could not find his new bicycle. Related: Tom had a bad day yesterday. He not only hurt his head but also lost his new bicycle.

12. Eliminating Excessive Detail Awkward: In 1788, when Andrew Jackson, then a young man of twenty-one years who had been living in the Carolinas, still a virgin country, came to Tennessee, the turbulent place of unknown opportunities, to enforce the law as the new prosecuting attorney, he had the qualifications that would make him equal to the task. Revised:In 1788, when Andrew Jackson came to Tennessee as the new prosecuting attorney, he had the necessary qualifications for the task.

13. II. Improve Sentence Coherence The subject must be connected in meaning with its predicate in a sentence. Incoherent: A comparison between the city and the town would be the ideal place to live. Improved: A community that offers the best qualities of both city and town would be the ideal place to live.

14. All comparisons should be complete and logical. State a comparison fully to ensure clarity. For instance: Tom likes bowling better than Jane. (Confusing) • Tom likes bowling better than Jane does. • Tom likes bowling better than he likes Jane.

15. Make sure that the items being compared are really comparable. Poor: Her English is much better than I. Revised: Her English is much better than mine.

16. Avoid comparisons that do not state what is being compared. Incoherent: Brand X gets clothes whiter. [Whiter than what?] Coherent: Brand X gets clothes whiter than Brand Y does. Incoherent: Brand A is so much better. [Better than what?] Coherent: Brand A is so much better than Brand B.

17. All modifiers should clearly modify the intended word. Place a limiting adverb immediately before the word it modifies. For instance: I hit him in the eye only yesterday. [time of the action] I only hit him in the eye yesterday. [the action] I hit him only in the eye yesterday. [the position]

18. Avoid ambiguous modifiers. Misplaced: The student Mr. Smith criticized angrily left the room. Revised: The student Mr. Smithangrily criticized left the room. Or: The student Mr. Smith criticized left the room angrily.

19. Avoid separating the parts of a verb phrase or the parts of an infinitive. Awkward: Many students had, by spending most of their time on the assignment, completed it. Revised: By spending most of their time on the assignment, many students had completed it.

20. Dangling modifiers should be avoided. A dangling modifier is a group of words which does not modify a correct word or no word at all. Most often, a dangling modifier does not correctly refer to the subject of the sentence.

21. For instance: On entering the classroom, the students stood up and said, “Good morning!” On entering the classroom, the teacher was greeted by the students, who stood up and said, “Good morning!

22. Revise the following sentences (1) I get along with my parents better than my sister. (2) A teacher’s income is generally lower than a doctor. (3) Lying in the hospital bed, my mind began to develop fearful fantasies. (4) Most children have by the time they are seven lost a tooth. (5) The computer needs repair in the library. (6) By turning the lights down, the room looked less dingy.

23. Sentence-combining Exercises 1. The teacher would trudge into the classroom. He would be late. This was habitual. He would be unshaven. He wore a blue beach shirt. He wore seersucker pants. He wore no socks. He wore a pair of sandals. 2. The teacher would drag himself to the center of the room. He would drop his attaché case on the desk. He would call the roll. He never smiled. He never said good morning.