Coherence IN

GRAMMAR

CM 102

What is coherence in

grammar ?

Coherence means

linking, connecting or

unifying sentences.

How do we make our writing

coherent ?

Transition signals or Connectives are words that keep

the thought of the discourse flowing smoothly from

sentence to sentence. They may be adjectives, adverbs,

or simply group of words that signal a shift,

continuation, addition, contrast of ideas or sequence of

time or steps.

1. Meanwhile in Japan, their capital city, Tokyo, was once named

Edo.

2. Jose, however, was a bit nervous, and as he would always do when

a bit nervous, he began to sing.

3. Before the gossip could create more fear, Francis bravely walked

to the plaza and began to preach about Gods commandment concerning love for all creatures of God.

Additionagain, also, and, and then, besides, equally important, finally, first, further,

furthermore, in addition, in the first place, last, moreover, next, second, still, too

Comparison also, in the same way, likewise, similarly

Concession granted, naturally, of course

Contrast

although, and yet, at the same time, but at the same time, despite that, even so,

even though, for all that, however, nevertheless, notwithstanding, on the contrary,

on the other hand, otherwise, regardless, still, though, yet

Emphasis certainly, indeed, in fact, of course

example or

illustration

After for instance, in conclusion, indeed, in fact, in other words, in short, it is

true, of course, namely, specifically, that is, to illustrate, thus, truly

Summary

all in all, altogether, as has been said, finally, in brief, in conclusion, in other

words, in particular, in short, on the whole, that is, therefore, to put it differently,

to summarize

time sequence

after a while, afterward, again, also, and then, as long as, at last, at length, at that

time, before, besides, earlier, eventually, finally, formerly, further, furthermore, in

addition,

What are modifiers ?

Modifiers are words that specify, qualify, describe or

determine the meaning of another word in the

sentence. These are also words that tell about time,

place, manner and frequency.

SINGLE WORD MODIFIERS

Adjectives

Adverbs

Prepositions

Very/Too/Enough

Adjectives

Adjectives are words that modify nouns or pronouns.

Adjectives can be formed by adding an adjective-

forming suffix to a noun.

Adjectives can also be formed from verbs added with

certain adjective forming suffixes.

Noun Suffix Adjective

Harm -ful Harmful

Grain -y Grainy

Danger -ous Dangerou

s

Persia -(an) n Persian

Person -al Personal

Verb Suffix Adjective

Protect -ive Protective

Reside -ent Resident

Attain -ment Attainment

Consider these sentences:

Rich oil deposits are found in Persian Gulf.

Baron Geisler is known as the young star who committed

lascivious acts multiple times.

Persuasive way of writing is one of the classic themes

of journalism.

Adverbs

Adverbs are words that modify verbs, adjectives or

other adverbs. They answer the questions when, where,

how, how often, in what manner etc. These words

usually end with the suffix -ly.

Adjectives are transformed to adverbs the way they are

transformed from noun/verb to adjective. Adding an

adverb forming suffix transforms an adjective to an

adverb.

Adjective Suffix Adverb

Active -ly Actively

Gainful Gainfully

Rare Rarely

Bad Badly

Stead -ily Steadily

Historic -ally Historically

Occasion Occasionally

Timely Homely

Friendly Lovely

Ugly Mainly

Lonely

Adverbs also modify time, place, how

often and the in what manner a verb is

done.

Somewhere, Anywhere, Everywhere

Always, Usually, Frequently

Anyway, Someway, No way

Consider these sentences:

People frequently search for something unique to

others.

The lovely maiden walked towards the corridor.

At present times, people rarely go to church.

Long time ago, there is plenty of oxygen everywhere.

Prepositions

Prepositions are words that show relationship between

its object and another word in the sentence. These

words do not have any individual meaning. Thus, only

the context of the sentence where it belongs defines it.

Place or Position At, to, from, by, near, against, over, under,

beneath, on top of, in front of, behind, up,

down, across, around, between, in, on,

inside, below, among

Direction Into, out of, toward, by way of

Time At, by, in , on, during, until, before, for,

after, since, at the beginning of, at the end

of

Manner By, on, in, with, like, by way of

Agent or instrument By, with

Accompaniment With

Purpose By reason of, for

Measure Of, like, by

Pacquiao have beaten many well-known boxers by way of knock-out.

Lucy leaves her dorm with keys on her left hand and a whip on the other.

She treats him as an enemy long before she fell for him.

Very / Too / Enough - these are modifiers

that adds emphasis or stress to the word /

phrase they modify.

Very - adds a large amount or a high degree of a quality or

quantity. It intensifies the word it precedes that may be an

adjective or adverb.

Too - More specific than very, it indicates that some action cannot

or will not take place as a result of the condition described by the

word after too. It is not necessary to express what is impossible,

but the use of too implies impossibility.

Enough - means a sufficient amount. It indicates that the action

expressed by the word after enough is made possible by the word before enough and its sufficiency.

COMPOUND MODIFIERS

Words made up of a present participle and its object or

complement.

Examples: everlasting, hardworking, ongoing,

heartbreaking

Words made up of a past participle and its object or

complement.

Examples: Left-handed, locally produced, Singapore-based,

middle-aged

Different kinds of Modification Errors

Squinting Modifiers

Misplaced Modifiers

Dangling Modifiers

In writing, one can avoid awkwardness and ambiguity by placing the modifier as close to the word modified as possible. Modifiers are highly sensitive to various positions they have in the sentence, and thus, a different place might likely change the sentences meaning. For example:

I am the only male child in the family who play guitar.

I am the male child in the family who only play guitar.

I am the male child in the only family who play guitar.

I am the male child only in the family who play guitar.

Squinting Modifiers

Sometimes a modifier is placed between two words,

both of which it seems to modify. This modifier is called

a squinter because it looks in opposite directions at the

same time-at the phrase that precedes it and the

phrase that follows.

Examples:

People who watch television rarely read much.

(People who rarely watch television read much.)

Those who saw her fall suddenly called for help.

Misplaced Modifiers

A. Misplaced prepositional phrases

Prepositional phrases usually precede or follow the

words they modify. Phrases that modify verbs can be

moved to other parts of the sentence for special

emphasis. The best resolve is to put the modifier before

the word it modifies.

For example:

He described his mistake to the man with a grin.

Correction: With a grin, he described his mistake to the

man.

Verbal Phrases

The same considerations of clarity and clearness govern

verbal phrases.

For instance,

We saw a bear driving down the highway.

Correction: Driving down the highway, we saw a bear.

Adjective Clauses - Adjective clauses as modifiers must stand as close

as possible to the word it modifies, although sometimes they can stand

at a distance given there is no other modifiers that would intervene

present.

Unclear - The box arrived with the mail that he had left on the bus.

Correct - The box, which he had left on the bus, arrived with the mail.

Adverb Clauses - Compared to adjective clauses, adverb clauses are less

restrictive and can freely stand at a sentence. But, like adjective clauses,

adverb clauses should stand as close as possible to the word it modifies

since other intervening modifiers might create awkwardness and

confusion.

Unclear - Because he combines humor with pathos, I like Dickens, who

wrote David Copperfield.

Correct - I like Dickens, the author of David Copperfield, because he

combines humor with pathos.

Dangling Modifiers

Dangling Modifiers are modifiers that are misplaced in

the sentence, and thus connected to another word

instead of the word it intends to modify.

a. Participial Phrases

b. Gerund Phrases

c. Infinitive Phrases

d. Reduced Clauses

Participial Phrases

Participial Phrases - Sentences may be unclear if

participial or adjective phrases dangle or hang

awkwardly in the sentence, unconnected to a specific

word.

Unclear - Driving down the highway, a grizzly was seen.

Correct - Driving down the highway, we saw a grizzly.

Gerund Phrases

Gerunds are verbs ending in -ing and can take objects

and adverbial modifiers.

Unclear - Drooping leaves is a result of tropism between

plant substances.

Correct - The drooping of leaves is a result of tropism

between plant substances.

Infinitive Phrases

Infinitive Phrases - requires specific reference in the

sentence. In short, being more specific makes the

sentence clearer.

Unclear - To pass the course, more work is needed.

Correct - To pass the course, you need to do more work.

Reduced Clauses

Reduced Clauses - shortened clauses may also lead to

unclearness and dangle:

Unclear - When presented with the facts, the request to

resign was withdrawn.

Correct - When the manager was presented with the

facts, he withdrew the request that the employee

resign.

SPLIT CONSTRUCTIONS

Splitting Subject and Verb

Splitting Verb Phrases

Split infinitives

Splitting Subject and Verb - splitting a

pronoun subject from its verb creates

awkwardness.

Awkward - We, wondering what had caused the explosion and fire,

whispered about the accident anxiously.

Correct - Wondering what had caused the explosion and fire, we

whispered about the accident anxiously.

Splitting Verb Phrases - Verb phrases

are occasionally split with single words

and absolute phrases. But splitting the

phrase with a long adjective modifier

usually makes the sentence sound

awkward.Awkward - I have, not wanting to make a decision this time, not

yet considered the matter.

Correct - Not wanting to make a decision at this time, I have not

yet considered the matter.

Split Infinitives - Writers

occasionally split the infinitive to

achieve emphasis or to avoid

ambiguity.

Awkward - We asked them to, knowing there would not be enough

room, ride in separate cars.

Correct - Knowing there would not be enough room, we asked

them to ride in separate cars.

Thank you

and Good Day

!