Effective Sentences and Sentence Errors

Effective Sentences and Sentence Errors:

Effective Sentences and Sentence Errors Presented by: Maria Tariq & Safeena Qayyum

Overview:

Overview What is a sentence? Qualities of a good sentence Sentence errors Word Choice/Effective Writing

What is a sentence?:

What is a sentence? 3 A’s An actor An action The ability to stand alone Tom laughed.

Qualities of a good sentence :

Qualities of a good sentence Three elements make sentences effective. Unity Coherence Emphasis

Unity :

Unity Oneness unifying thought main idea in a logical manner

Guess………..:

Guess……….. The models were all dressed in the latest fashions and many of them are unemployed.

Violation of unity:

Violation of unity Unity of a sentence is violated in five ways: (i) by combining unrelated ideas (ii) putting too many ideas / details in a single sentence (iii) failure to complete an idea or grammatical construction (iv) subordination (v) parallelism

Slide 9:

The sun rises in the east, the boys play in the fields and a dog barks somewhere. Combining unrelated ideas

Slide 10:

In this uneasy state, both of his public and private life, Cicero was oppressed by a new and cruel affliction, the death of his daughter Tullia, which happened soon after her divorce from Dolabella whose manner and humour were entirely disagreeable to her. Putting too many ideas / details in a single sentence

Slide 11:

This is such a heavy chair. By adding a clause or substituting another word for ‘such’ e.g. This is such a heavy chair that it is not easy to carry. Failure to complete an idea or a grammatical construction

Slide 12:

Subordination He was born of poor parents. He was obliged to work his way through college. He graduated with honors at the heads of his class. Two of these statements may be subordinated to the third. Although he was born of poor parents and was obliged to work his way through college, he graduated with honors at the head of his class .

Guess……..:

Guess…….. Subordination The dog was scrawny and old, and he lived next door; he barked and howled and kept me awake all night.

Slide 14:

The scrawny old dog next door kept me awake all night by barking and howling.

Slide 15:

Parallelism Use of grammatically equal elements in sentences and paragraphs. Nouns must be parallel to nouns, verbs to verbs, subordinate clauses to subordinate clauses gerunds to gerunds, etc Singing a song or to write a poem is joyous. Singing a song or writing a poem is joyous. (improved)

Slide 16:

Locate faulty parallelism in following sentence. She told me to look on the table and that I should tell her what I found.

Slide 17:

She told me to look on the table and to tell her what I found.

Slide 18:

Correlatives (either…or / not only…also) should be used only with parallel elements. He likes not only tennis but also golf.

Coherence:

Coherence Stick to the point Communicate ideas in a clearly understandable manner The ideas have a clear and logical relation to each other Put details or examples or incidents in logical order . Chronological In relation to each other In order of importance 4 3 2 1

Pitfalls in Coherence :

Pitfalls in Coherence ambiguous reference of pronouns split constructions use of mixed constructions and mixed figures of speech needless shifting from one point of view to another

Ambiguous reference of pronouns:

Ambiguous reference of pronouns The term pronoun reference describes the relationship between the pronoun and its antecedent. Ethel told Lucy that her pie was wonderful. [Is this pie Ethel's or Lucy's?] Ethel told Lucy that Lucy's pie was wonderful.

Split Construction:

Split Construction Place all modifying adjective, adverbs, appositive and prepositional phrases near the words they modify. The batsman started to viciously hit the stumps. The batsman started to hit viciously the stumps. (Improved)

Use of mixed constructions and mixed figures of speech:

Use of mixed constructions and mixed figures of speech Badly constructed sentences He kept all that he earned in the bank by his work. Inappropriate figures of speech crowded together My castles in air came tumbling down into a bottomless heap.

Aimless shifting :

Aimless shifting (a) active to passive (b) from singular to plural (c) from past tense to present. Example: (i) He ran to the station and the train was taken by him. (active to passive) (ii) If one tries hard, they can accomplish much. (singular to plural)

Emphasis:

Emphasis Commanding reader’s attention on the focal point .

Ways of securing emphasis :

Ways of securing emphasis Position Order of climax Repetition Change in word order

Position:

Position I believe both of these applicants are superb even though it's hard to find good secretaries nowadays. Even though it's hard to find good secretaries nowadays, I believe both of these applicants are superb. ( improved)

Slide 28:

Order of climax: Arranging a series of words, phrases, or clauses in the climax order beginning with the least important and leading up to the most important. There is no mistake; there has been no mistake; and there shall be no mistake.

Guess….:

Guess…. During his long stay with the club he served as president, secretary, treasurer and vice president.

Slide 30:

During his long stay with the club he served as treasurer, secretary, vice president and president.

Slide 31:

Repetition: of the same word or phrase of an idea several times in different words of a word or phrase at the end of several clauses .

Repetition :

Repetition The dog was his only friend , his only companion, his only confidant, and his only heir. The repetition of ‘ his only’ stresses the uniqueness of the dog in this person’s life.

Slide 33:

Though he was poor, he still gave money to charity. Poor though he was, he still gave money to charity. Inversion / Altering Word-order

Sentence Error:

Sentence Error Sentence Fragment Run-on Sentence Modifier Pronoun Reference Error

Sentence Fragment:

Sentence Fragment Fragments look like sentence, but are missing a subject , verb or they are put together incorrectly .

Types of sentences Fragments:

Types of sentences Fragments The dependent word fragment - ing and to fragments Added-detail fragments Missing-subject fragments.

Dependent Word Fragment :

Dependent Word Fragment Subject Verb incomplete thought e.g. 1 -When the postman arrived. 2-Since Ali was tired.

Dependent Words :

Dependent Words After, Although, Because, Before, Even if, If, Since, That, Unless, Until, What, When, Which, While, Who

-Ing and –to Fragment :

-Ing and –to Fragment Failure to complete thought Subject or Verb is missing -The children went to sleep early on Christmas Eve . Wishing that Santa Claus would bring them extra toys. -To make gingerbread houses with all the right ingredients . Many moms shop well in advance for candy, gingerbread, and icing.

Added – Detail Fragment:

Added – Detail Fragment Added detail words: like, including, especially, also, for example, for instance, except, without, or such as. Example: Almost every guy loves sports. Especially football.

How to fix it ?:

How to fix it ? Connect the fragment to the sentence it explains. b) Create a complete sentence by adding a subject and a verb. Remember to put a comma after an- --ing or a to word group that starts a sentence.

Correcting fragments:

Correcting fragments Dependent Word Fragment Since Ali was tired, he took a nap. –ing and to fragment The children went to sleep early on Christmas Eve, wishing that Santa Claus would bring them extra toys. To make gingerbread houses with all the right ingredients, many moms shop well in advance for candy, gingerbread, and icing.

Slide 43:

Added detail Fragment Almost every guy loves sports, especially football. Missing-Subject Fragment The kids dug a large hole in the sand and then filled it with fire wood for later. Or The kids dug a large hole in the sand. Then they filled it with fire wood for later.

Your Turn!:

Your Turn! Because my neighbor was playing loud music. I could not fall asleep.

Slide 45:

Because my neighbor was playing loud music, I could not fall asleep.

Run-on sentence:

Run-on sentence A run-on is two complete thoughts that are run together because they have no adequate punctuation given to mark the break between them.

Types:

Types Fused Sentence Comma Splice

Fused Sentences :

Fused Sentences In fused sentences, two or more independent clauses “run together” with no punctuation. e.g. Computer skills are useful in college they will help you in getting a job as well.

Comma Splice :

Comma Splice Two complete thoughts are incorrectly joined or spliced together with only a comma. The boy ate his dinner, his sister played quietly in the corner.

Correcting Run-on sentence:

Correcting Run-on sentence Here are Five ways to correct Run –on sentence: Comma Plus Coordinating Conjunction Semi-colon Period and Capital Letter Subordinate Clauses Conjunctive Adverb

Slide 51:

Comma Plus Coordinating Conjunction The boy ate his dinner, but his sister played quietly in the corner. .

Slide 52:

fanboys F = for; A = and; N = nor; B = but; O = or; Y = yet; S = so

Slide 53:

Semi-colon The boy ate his dinner; the sister played quietly in the corner

Slide 54:

Period and Capital Letter The boy ate dinner. The sister played quietly in the corner.

Slide 55:

Subordinate Clauses While the boy ate dinner, the sister played quietly in the corner.

Slide 56:

Conjunctive Adverb The boy ate his dinner; however, his sister played quietly in the corner.

Exceptions to the Rules:

Exceptions to the Rules Short, closely related independent clauses in a sequence can be joined by a comma only. Example : He came, he saw, he conquered. If the second of two independent clauses reverses the negative emphasis of the first, these clauses can be joined with a comma. Example: That day I did not swim, I sold real estate.

Slide 58:

If the second independent clause is a “tag" question, a comma may be used between the clauses. He does, doesn’t he?

 Modifier:

Modifier A word, phrase, or sentence element that limits or qualifies the sense of another word, phrase, or element in the same construction. The woman with gold-rimmed spectacles is my boss.

Modifiers:

Modifiers Adjectives Adverbs Appositives Prepositional phrases

Misplaced modifiers :

Misplaced modifiers These are modifiers that modify something you didn't intend them to modify. For example, My brother bought a used car from a local dealer with a leaking pipe .

Slide 62:

NOTE : Pay special attention to single word modifiers, such as almost, nearly and only . For their meaning to be correctly understood, they should be placed directly in front of the word they describe. e.g. (i) -I only asked my boss for one day’s leave, but he refused. -I asked my boss for only one day’s leave, but he refused.

Dangling modifier :

Dangling modifier A dangling modifier describes something that isn't even in your sentence. Usually you are implying the subject and taking for granted that your reader will know what you mean—not a good strategy. Here's an example: Hiking the trail, the birds chirped loudly. “Hiking the trail, Joseph and Michal heard birds chirping loudly.”

Your turn!:

Your turn! -------1---------------------Jill found her keys on the front seat of her car------------2------------ after searching for twenty minutes

Slide 65:

After searching for twenty minutes , Jill found her keys on the front seat of her car.

Pronoun Reference, agreement and antecedent :

Pronoun Reference, agreement and antecedent “A pronoun is a substitute for a noun. Anybody can have his/her picture made at studio. “ An antecedent is the word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers, understood by the context.

Slide 67:

The indefinite pronouns anyone, anybody, everyone, everybody, someone, somebody, no one, and nobody are always singular.

Pronoun agreement :

Pronoun agreement Pronouns must agree in number (singular or plural) and gender with the nouns they refer to. WRONG: A cook should always clean their mess in the kitchen. CORRECT: A cook should always clean his mess in the kitchen .

Pronoun Reference Error:

Pronoun Reference Error When a pronoun lacks a clear and explicit antecedent, you have a pronoun reference error. E.g., They said at the bank that my account was overdrawn. Correction: The teller at the bank said that my account was overdrawn. The logical antecedent is vague or is missing from the sentence .

Effective Writing/Word Choice:

Effective Writing/Word Choice Purpose: Harmonious effect Define Context Effective Communication

Slide 71:

Avoid using: SLANG Cliché Wordiness

Slang:

Slang Vague Substitutes Informal (with close Friends) Culture Specific When my mother saw me zonked out on the sofa, she lost it . Revised : When my mother saw me sleeping on the sofa she became angry.

Cliché:

Cliché trite, overused, and plain tired predictable, dull and boring e.g., busy as a bee sick and tired cold as ice

Wordiness :

Wordiness using big, difficult words Wordy Expression Single Word due to the fact that because during the time that while each and every day daily few in number few green in color green