THE TRADITIONAL CONCERNS: WORD CHOICE AND GRAMMAR
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A. Comma Splice. Two complete ideas (independent clauses), which should be separated by a period or a semicolon, are incorrectly joined by a comma.
? Sarah did a great job, she was promoted.
? This is a new technique, therefore, some people mistrust it.
B. A.Sentence Fragment. A sentence expresses a logically complete idea. If the idea is not complete – if your reader is left wondering what you mean – you probably have omitted some essential element.
? She spent her first week on the job as a researcher. Compiling information from digests and journals.
? Because the operator was careless. The new computer was damaged.
C. Run-on Sentence. A sentence that crams, too many ideas without needed breaks or pauses.
? The hourglass is more accurate than the water clock because water in a water clock must always be at the same temperature to flow at the same speed since water evaporates and must be replenished at regular intervals, thus being less effective than the hourglass for measuring time.
D. Faulty Coordination. Ideas of equal importance are joined, within simple or compound sentences, with coordinating conjunctions: and, but, or, nor, for, so, and yet.
? Joseph had a drinking problem and he dropped out of school.
? I will try and help you.
? The climax in jogging comes after a few kilometers and I can no longer feel stride after stride and it seems as if I am floating and jogging becomes almost a reflex and my arms and legs continue to move and my mind no longer has to control their actions.
E. Faulty Subordination. Proper subordination shows that a less important idea is dependent on a more important idea using subordinating conjunctions: because, so, if, unless, after, until, since, while, as and although.
? Television viewers can relate to an athlete they idolize and they feel obliged to but the product endorsed by their hero.
? This teacher is often late for work, and he writes illogical reports, and he is a poor manager, and he should be fired.
? This job which I took when I graduated from college, while I waited for a better one to come along, which is boring, where I’ve gained no useful experience, make me anxious to quit.
F. Faulty Agreement – Subject and Verb. The subject should agree in number with the verb. In more complicated sentences – those in which the subject is separated from its verb by other words – we sometimes lose track of the subject-verb relationship.
? The lion’s share of diesels are sold in Europe.
? A system of line extend horizontally to form a grid.
? Each of the crew members were injured.
? Everyone in the group have practiced long hours.
? The committee meet weekly to discuss ness business.
G. Faulty Agreement – Pronoun and Referent. A pronoun can make sense only if it refers to a specific noun (its referent or antecedent), with which it must agree in gender and number.
? Anyone can get their degree form that college.
? Each candidate described her plans in details.
H. Faulty or Vague Pronoun Reference. Whenever a pronoun is used, it must refer to one clearly identified referent; otherwise the message will be confusing.
? Rolly told Ramon that his wife loves him.
? He drove away from his menial job, boring lifestyle, and damp apartment, happy to be leaving it behind.
? The problem with our defective machinery is compounded by the operator’s incompetence. That annoys me!
I. Faulty Pronoun Case. A pronoun’s case (nominative, objective, or possessive) is determined by its role in a sentence: as subject, object, or indicator of possession.
? Whom is responsible to who?
? The debate was between Marina and I.
? Us teacher are accountable for our decisions.
? A group of we teachers will fly to the convention.
J. Faulty Modification. A sentence’s word order (syntax) helps determine its effectiveness and meaning.
? Dialing the phone, the cat ran out the open door.
? While walking, a cold chill ran through my body.
? Gina typed another memo on our computer that was useless.
? She volunteered immediately to help the landslide victims in Leyte.
K. Faulty Parallelism. To reflect relationships among items of equal importance, express them in identical grammatical form.
? We here highly resolve … that government of the people, which the people created and maintain, serving the people shall not perish from the earth.
? The new teacher is enthusiastic, skilled, and you can depend on her.
? In her new assignment, she felt lonely and without a friend.
? She sleeps well, jogs daily, as well as eating high-protein foods.
L. Sentence Shifts. Shifts in point of view damage coherence.
? When you finish the jog, one will have a sense of pride.
? One should sift the flour before they make the pie.
? He delivered the plans for the apartment complex, and the building site was also inspected by him.
? She delivered the blueprints, inspected the foundation, wrote her report, and takes the afternoon off.
? Unscrew the valve and then steel wool should be used to clean the fitting.
? Jim wonders, if he will get the job and will he like it?
M. Effective Punctuation. Punctuation marks are like road signs and traffic signals that give a simple way of making one be understood. Compare the two letters below.
Dear Jack, I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, and thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we’re apart. I can be forever happy – will you let me be yours? Jill
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Dear Jack, I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, and thoughtful people who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men I yearn! For you. I have no feelings whatsoever. When we’re apart I can be forever happy. Will you let me be? Yours, Jill |
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