Faulty Predicate

1. Faulty Predicate GhadirMakkiand Jason Blache

2. Definition: • Faulty predication occurs when a subject and a predicate are connected to each other illogically. The writer of a sentence with faulty predication tries to match a subject with an inconsistent predicate or a verb that describes an activity that the subject of the sentence cannot carry.

3. Hint • Faulty predication often occurs mostly with sentences containing: • …is when • …is why • …is because • …is where

4. Example: • Incorrect • The store is thinking about hiring new employees. • Correct • The store’s manager is thinking about hiring new employees. • Why?? • The Subject in the first sentence is store and a store can not “think”

5. Example: • Incorrect • A vacation is where people get away from their busy lifestyle. • Correct • When on vacation people get away from their busy lifestyle. • Why?? • The subject is vacation and the term vacation is not a place.

6. Example: • Incorrect • The reasonmy daughter is gaining weight is becauseshe eats lots of chocolates. • Correct • My daughter is gaining weight because she eats lots of chocolates. • Why?? • The “reason is because” suffers from redundancy. The “reason” and “is because” essentially mean the same thing—both phrases describe the cause. The “reason is because” is also incorrect because the subject “reason” is a noun, and the verb “is” requires another noun or an adjective in order to complete the predicate

7. Exercises: • The result of the recent elections gave a clean majority to the left party. • The result of the recent election was a clean majority to the left party. • The greatest change in my life was when I moved away from the family. • The greatest change in my life occurred when I moved away from the family.

8. Websites: • http://read4gmat.blogspot.com/2008/09/faulty-predication-wrong-logic-of.html • www.prenhall.com/divisions/hss/app/harris3/harris_site.../065.pdf