Basic Sentence Skills

On-line Resource Adaptation

EFS, Granville TAFE

2010

Sentence Types (Combining)

1. Coordination: being of equal importance

2. Subordination: being of less importance

Coordination connects two or more

sentence elements (words, phrases, and

clauses) that have the same grammatical

function.

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.

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 heard the news that his paintings got nominated by the Artexpress, he rang his girl friend.

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]

(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.

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.

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 after he had

reached the age of 73. (strong)

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.

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.

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.

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.

All comparisons should be complete and

logical.

State a comparison fully to ensure clarity.For instance:

Tom likes bowling better than Jane. (Confusing)

1. Tom likes bowling better than Jane does.

2. Tom likes bowling better than he likes Jane.

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.

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.

Brand A is so much better.

Incoherent:. [Better than what?]

Coherent: Brand A is so much better than Brand B.

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]

Avoid ambiguous modifiers.

Misplaced: The student Mr. Smith criticized angrily

left the room.

Revised: 1) The student angrily left the room. (the

action)

Or: 2) The student left the room angrily. (the state)

Avoid separating the parts of a verb phrase or the parts of an infinitive.

Awkward: Many students have, by spending most of their time on the assignment, completed it.

Revised: By spending most of their time on the assignment, many students have completed it.

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.

Avoid ambiguous modifiers.

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!”

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.

Revise the following sentences

(1) I get along with my parents better than my sister does.

(2) A teacher’s income is generally lower than a doctor’s.

(3) Lying in the hospital bed, I began to develop fearful fantasies.

(4) Most children would have lost a tooth by the time they are seven.

(5) The library computer needs repair.

(6) When I turned the lights down, the room looked less dingy.

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.

Sentence-combining Exercises

1. The teacher was habitually late. Unshaven, he would trudge into the classroom, wearing a blue beach shirt, seersucker pants, and a pair of sandals with no socks.

2. Without saying good morning to his students, the teacher would then drag himself to the center of the room to drop his attaché case on the desk before he called the roll. He never smiled.