Part 6: grammar review sentence structure

Task 38. Give your commentary to the following quotation

Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go.

E. L. Doctorow (1931– )

Independent clauses are clauses that express a complete idea.

Dependent (or subordinate) clauses are clauses that do not express a complete idea but that contribute to (or modify) the independent clause in a sentence.

THREE KINDS OF SENTENCES

There are three kinds of sentences: simple, compound, and complex. Look at the following samples to see how the three types of sentences differ from each other.

1. Simple sentence:

The book is organised into three distinct parts.

Simple sentences contain one independent clause that expresses a complete thought.

2. Compound sentence:

One was that the universe started its life a finite time ago in a single huge explosion, and that the present expansion is a relic of the violence of this explosion.

Compound sentences contain two (or more) independent clauses and no dependent clauses.

3. Complex sentence:

For when we look at our own galaxy there is not the smallest sign that such an explosion ever occurred.

Complex sentences contain one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses.

Compound-complex sentences are also possible. They combine the two categories, and can contain two or more independent clauses as well as one or more dependent clause. Here is an example of a compound-complex sentence:

This massive development got under way two years ago when the University of Edinburgh established its medical school next to the site of the Royal Infirmary, and the idea to develop a complex that combines top-class research and clinical expertise with a healthy dose of industry was born.

TIP: Here are a few simple sentence structure rules:

• Simple sentences are not necessarily short, but they must contain only one independent clause.

• In compound sentences, the two (or more) independent clauses must be related in thought.

• In complex sentences, the dependent clause clarifies the relationship between ideas. Often, these dependent clauses start with words like because, when, who, or where.

Task 39: IDENTIFYING SENTENCE STRUCTURE

For each sentence, identify its structure type. Underline independent clauses once. If there are dependent clauses in the sentences, underline them twice.

1. Last year, university science in Scotland received £1.1 million of Scottish government funding and £200 million from UK research councils.

2. Andrew Mills, a chemist who moved from Swansea to the University of Strathclyde nine years ago, is also pleased with his chosen location.

3. Scotland's life-science sector ranges much further than the creation of Dolly the sheep.

4. When the University of Edinburgh established its medical school right next to the Royal Infirmary, Scottish Enterprise spotted an opportunity.

5. It was early government support that led to the establishment of Wolfson Microelectronics, a spin-off company from the University of Edinburgh.

6. Before approving schemes like these, the government must weigh up the cost of sprouting wind turbines in unspoilt countryside or sinking tidal-power generators into ocean ecosystems.

7. A common method of judging success in science is how many times a publication is cited, and therefore how much impact it has.

Task 40. Find examples of sentences with different structures in text B. Put down and translate the sentences.

SENTENCE FRAGMENTS

One of the most common errors that writers make is to write sentence fragments.

Sentence fragments are sentences that lack one or more of their essential elements; they lack either a subject or, more commonly, a predicate (the verb).

How to Avoid Writing Sentence Fragments

Read every sentence you’ve written aloud, very slowly. If you’ve written a fragment, you’ll hear your voice stop in midair at the end of the sentence. This is because in our natural rhythm of speech, we drop our voices at the end of a sentence, which is usually when the idea of the sentence is complete. Usually when you read a fragment aloud, your voice at the end will sound as if it is dangling off the edge of a cliff.

After reading every sentence aloud, go back through your writing and check each and every sentence to make sure that it falls into one of the three sentence structure categories. Remember, every sentence must have at least one subject and one predicate, and compound sentences can contain two subjects and two predicates.

Task 41: IDENTIFYING SENTENCE FRAGMENTS

Read the following sentences aloud and see how they sound. Which ones arecomplete sentences and which ones are sentence fragments?

1. Because I am trying to improve.

2. Using big words to impress the reader.

3. Talking is not so different from writing.

4. Writing can be difficult.

Could you tell the difference? The first two are sentence fragments. While bothof these fragments contain nouns and verbs, neither of them contains a completedidea or action. If you are still confused, try reading them aloud again. Listen forhow your voice dangles; that’s the tip-off that these clauses have not completedan idea, and therefore, they do not constitute a complete grammatical sentence.

TIP: When are fragments allowed? You will sometimes notice that writers use fragments for effect. Fragments are allowed only when they are used carefully, andfor dramatic effect or to emphasize a point. As you read, note carefully the use of fragments; analyze why the writer has chosen to ignore the strict rules of grammatical sentence structures. In your own writing, you’ll be much safer if you obey the rules.

RUN-ON SENTENCES

Another very common error that writers make is to write run-on sentences. These are exactly what they sound like: two or more sentences (or thoughts) that have been jammed together and written as if they were one. You can check your writing for run-ons in the same way you check for sentence fragments: by reading aloud and by making sure that the sentence doesn’t attempt to say too much, all in one breath. Complex sentences, as you know, may contain more than one dependent clause, but sentences that contain more than one independent clause must include a connecting word (such as and or because) in order to be grammatically correct compound sentences. Careless writers include too many separate ideas, strung together with or without connecting words, in a single sentence.

Task 42: IDENTIFYING RUN-ON SENTENCES

Read the following sentences aloud and see how they sound. Which ones are correct sentences and which ones are run-ons?

1. Computers are very popular gifts for birthdays and holidays most kids love getting them.

2. It would be difficult to find a boy or a girl who wouldn’t love to get a computer as a gift.

3. Janey wanted to find a bargain she finally found one on the sale rack.

4. If you do a lot of careful shopping, both in local stores and on the Internet, you can usually find a bargain.

5. Holiday shopping is the time when bargains are easy to find Janey found this to be true.

Were you able to find the run-ons? They are sentences 1, 3, and 5. Sentences 2 and 4 are correct grammatical sentences. Can you now fix the three run-ons and make them into correct sentences?

TIP: Here are a few hints on how to avoid common sentence structure errors:

1. Check each sentence you write, carefully, for complete thoughts, and for the appropriate subject-predicate pairs.

2. Read each of your sentences aloud to see if your voice drops naturally at the end of the sentence. If it doesn’t, you’ve probably written a fragment.

3. Slow down. Rushing to get your work finished is a common trap, and very often the rush will produce sentence fragments and/or run-ons.

Key-vocabulary to Unit 2

Attract	Discrepancy	Spin off
Available	Diversify	Significant
Blurb	Emigrate (to)	Spot an opportunity
Capitalise on (knowledge)	Fuel the need	Spring up
Career opportunities	High-level (graduates)	Springboard
Commitment	Impact	Tell the difference
Concert	In an effort	Top-class (research)
Create (jobs)	Process	Turning (research) into (business)
Degree (in)	Recruit (more) companies	Vacancy
Develop awareness (of)	Retain	Visualise ideas

Vocabulary sheet (to be filled with useful words and expressions of the Unit)