Intensive Grammar & Composition Lecture2

7/28/2019 Intensive Grammar & Composition Lecture2

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Objects and Complements

Objects

A verb may be followed by an object that completes the verb's meaning. Twokinds of objects follow verbs: direct objects and indirect objects. To determineif a verb has a direct object, isolate the verb and make it into a question byplacing "whom?" or "what?" after it. The answer, if there is one, is the directobject:

Direct ObjectThe advertising executive drove a flashy red Porsche.

Direct ObjectHer secret admirer gave her a bouquet of flowers.

The second sentence above also contains an indirect object. An indirectobject (which, like a direct object, is always a noun or pronoun) is, in a sense,the recipient of the direct object. To determine if a verb has an indirect object,isolate the verb and ask to whom?, to what?, for whom?, or for what? after it.The answer is the indirect object.

Not all verbs are followed by objects. Consider the verbs in the followingsentences:

The guest speaker rose from her chair to protest.After work, Randy usually jogs around the canal.

Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

Verbs that take objects are known as transitive verbs. Verbs not followed byobjects are called intransitive verbs.

Some verbs can be either transitive verbs or intransitive verbs, depending onthe context:

Direct ObjectI hope the Senators win the next game.

No Direct ObjectDid we win?

Subject Complements
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In addition to the transitive verb and the intransitive verb, there is a third kindof verb called a linking verb. The word (or phrase) which follows a linking verbis called not an object, but a subject complement.

The most common linking verb is "be." Other linking verbs are "become,"

"seem," "appear," "feel," "grow," "look," "smell," "taste," and "sound," amongothers. Note that some of these are sometimes linking verbs, sometimestransitive verbs, or sometimes intransitive verbs, depending on how you usethem:

Linking verb with subject complementHe was a radiologist before he became a full-time yoga instructor.

Linking verb with subject complementYour homemade chili smells delicious.

Transitive verb with direct object

I can't smell anything with this terrible cold.Intransitive verb with no object

The interior of the beautiful new Buick smells strongly of fish.

Note that a subject complement can be either a noun ("radiologist","instructor") or an adjective ("delicious").

Object Complements

(by David Megginson)

An object complement is similar to a subject complement, except that(obviously) it modifies an object rather than a subject. Consider this exampleof a subject complement:

The driver seems tired.

In this case, as explained above, the adjective "tired" modifies the noun"driver," which is the subject of the sentence.

Sometimes, however, the noun will be the object, as in the following example:

I consider the driver tired.

In this case, the noun "driver" is the direct object of the verb "consider," butthe adjective "tired" is still acting as its complement.
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In general, verbs which have to do with perceiving, judging, or changingsomething can cause their direct objects to take an object complement:

Paint it black.The judge ruled her out of order.

I saw the Prime Minister sleeping.

In every case, you could reconstruct the last part of the sentence into asentence of its own using a subject complement: "it is black," "she is out oforder," "the Prime Minister is sleeping."

The Phrase

A phrase is a group of two or more grammatically linked words withouta subjectand predicate -- a group of grammatically-linked words with a subject and

predicate is called a clause.

The group "teacher both students and" is not a phrase because the words have nogrammatical relationship to one another. Similarly, the group "bay the across" is nota phrase.

In both cases, the words need to be rearranged in order to create phrases. Thegroup "both teachers and students" and the group "across the bay" are bothphrases.

You use phrase to add information to a sentence and can perform the functions of a

subject, an object, a subject or object complement, a verb, an adjective, oranadverb.

The highlighted words in each of the following sentences make up a phrase:

She bought some spinach when she went to the corner store.Lightning flashed brightly in the night sky.They heard high pitched cries in the middle of the night.In early October, Giselle planted twenty tulip bulbs; unfortunately, squirrelsate the bulbs and none bloomed.Small children often insist that they can do it by themselves.

Function of Phrases

A phrase may function as a verb, noun, an adverb, or an adjective.

Verb Phrases

A verb phrase consists of a verb, its direct and/or indirect objects, and any adverb,
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adverb phrases, or adverb clauses which happen to modify it. The predicate ofaclause or sentence is always a verb phrase:

Corinne is trying to decide whether she wants to go to medical school orto go to law school.

He did not have all the ingredients the recipe called for; therefore, hedecided to make something else.After she had learned to drive, Alice felt more independent.We will meet at the library at 3:30 p.m.

Noun Phrases

A noun phrase consists of a pronoun or noun with any associated modifiers,including adjectives, adjective phrases, adjective clauses, and other nouns inthepossessive case.

Like a noun, a noun phrase can act as a subject, as the object of a verb or verbal,as a subject or object complement, or as the object of a preposition, as in thefollowing examples:

subjectSmall children often insist that they can do it by themselves.

object of a verbTo read quickly and accurately is Eugene's goal.

object of a prepositionThe arctic explorers were caught unawares by the spring breakup.

subject complement

Frankenstein is the name of the scientist not the monster.object complementI consider Loki my favorite cat.

Noun Phrases using Verbals

(by David Megginson)

Since some verbals -- in particular, the gerund and the infinitive -- can act as nouns,these also can form the nucleus of a noun phrase:

Ice fishing is a popular winter pass-time.However, since verbals are formed from verbs, they can also take direct objects andcan be modified by adverbs. A gerund phrase or infinitive phrase, then, is a nounphrase consisting of a verbal, its modifiers (both adjectives and adverbs), and itsobjects:

Running a marathon in the Summer is thirsty work.
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I am planning to buy a house next month.

Adjective Phrases

An adjective phrase is any phrase which modifies a noun or pronoun. You often

construct adjective phrases using participles or prepositions together with theirobjects:

I was driven mad by the sound of my neighbour's constant pianopractising.

In this sentence, the prepositional phrase "of my neighbour's constant pianopractising" acts as an adjective modifying the noun "sound."

My father-in-law locked his keys in the trunk of a borrowed car.

Similarly in this sentence, the prepositional phrase "of a borrowed car" acts as anadjective modifying the noun "trunk."

We saw Peter dashing across the quadrangle.

Here the participle phrase "dashing across the quadrangle" acts as an adjectivedescribing the proper noun "Peter."

We picked up the records broken in the scuffle.

In this sentence, the participle phrase "broken in the scuffle" modifies the noun

phrase "the records."

Adverb Phrases

A prepositional phrase can also be an adverb phrase, functioning as an adverb, asin the following sentences.

She bought some spinach when she went to the corner store.

In this sentence, the prepositional phrase "to the corner store" acts as an adverbmodifying the verb "went."

Lightning flashed brightly in the night sky.

In this sentence, the prepositional phrase "in the night sky" functions as a adverbmodifying the verb "flashed."

In early October, Giselle planted twenty tulip bulbs; unfortunately, squirrelsate the bulbs and none bloomed.
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In this sentence, the prepositional phrase "in early October" acts as an adverbmodifying the entire sentence.

We will meet at the library at 3:30 P.M.

In this sentence, the prepositional phrase "at 3:30 P.M." acts as an adverb modifyingthe verb phrase "will meet."

The dogs were capering about the clown's feet.

In this sentence, the prepositional phrase "about the clown's feet" acts as an adverbmodifying the verb phrase "were capering."

Building Clauses

A clause is a collection of grammatically-related words includinga predicate and asubject (though sometimes is the subject is implied). Acollection of grammatically-related words without a subject or without apredicate is called a phrase.

Clauses are the building blocks of sentences: every sentence consists of oneor more clauses. This chapter will help you to recognise and (moreimportantly) to use different types of clauses in your own writing.

Recognizing Clauses

Consider these examples:

clausecows eat grass

This example is a clause, because it contains the subject "cows" andthe predicate"eat grass."

phrase

cows eating grass

What about "cows eating grass"? This noun phrase could be a subject, but ithas no predicate attached to it: the adjective phrase "eating grass"show which cows the writer is referring to, but there is nothing here to showwhy the writer is mentioning cows in the first place.
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clausecows eating grass are visible from the highway

This is a complete clause again. The subject "cows eating grass" and thepredicate "are visible from the highway" make up a complete thought.

clauseRun!

This single-word command is also a clause, even though it does seem to havea subject. With a direct command, it is not necessary to include the subject,since it is obviously the person or people you are talking to: in other words,the clause really reads "[You] run!". You should not usually use directcommands in your essays, except in quotations.

Using Clauses as Nouns, Adjectives, and AdverbsIf aclausecan stand alone as asentence, it is an independent clause, as inthe following example:

Independentthe Prime Minister is in Ottawa

Some clauses, however, cannot stand alone as sentences: in this case, theyaredependent clauses or subordinate clauses. Consider the same clause

with thesubordinating conjunction"because" added to the beginning:

Dependentwhen the Prime Minister is in Ottawa

In this case, the clause could not be a sentence by itself, sincetheconjunction"because" suggests that the clause is providing an explanationfor something else. Since this dependent clause answers the question "when,"just like anadverb, it is called a dependent adverb clause (or simply anadverb clause, since adverb clauses are always dependent clauses). Note

how the clause can replace the adverb "tomorrow" in the following examples:

adverbThe committee will meet tomorrow.

adverb clauseThe committee will meet when the Prime Minister is in Ottawa.
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Dependent clauses can stand not only for adverbs, but also fornounsandforadjectives.

Noun Clauses

A noun clause is an entire clause which takes the place of a noun in anotherclause orphrase. Like a noun, a noun clause acts as thesubjectorobjectofaverbor the object of apreposition, answering the questions "who(m)?" or"what?". Consider the following examples:

nounI know Latin.

noun clauseI know that Latin is no longer spoken as a native language.

In the first example, the noun "Latin" acts as thedirect objectof the verb"know." In the second example, the entire clause "that Latin ..." is the directobject.

In fact, many noun clauses areindirect questions:

nounTheir destination is unknown.

noun clauseWhere they are going is unknown.

The question "Where are they going?," with a slight change in word order,becomes a noun clause when used as part of a larger unit -- like the noun"destination," the clause is the subject of the verb "is."

Here are some more examples of noun clauses:

about what you bought at the mall

This noun clause is the object of the preposition "about," and answers the

question "about what?"

Whoever broke the vase will have to pay for it.

This noun clause is the subject of the verb "will have to pay," and answers thequestion "who will have to pay?"
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The Toronto fans hope that the Blue Jays will win again.

This noun clause is the object of the verb "hope," and answers the question"whatdo the fans hope?"

Adjective Clauses

An adjective clause is a dependent clause which takes the place of anadjective in another clause or phrase. Like an adjective, an adjective clausemodifies a noun orpronoun, answering questions like "which?" or "what kindof?" Consider the following examples:

Adjectivethe red coat

Adjective clausethe coat which I bought yesterday

Like the word "red" in the first example, the dependent clause "which I boughtyesterday" in the second example modifies the noun "coat." Note that anadjective clause usually comes afterwhat it modifies, while an adjectiveusually comesbefore.

In formal writing, an adjective clause begins with therelativepronouns"who(m)," "that," or "which." In informal writing or speech, you mayleave out the relative pronoun when it is not the subject of the adjectiveclause, but you should usually include the relative pronoun in formal,academic writing:

informalThe books people read were mainly religious.

formalThe books that people read were mainly religious.

informalSome firefighters never meet the people they save.

formalSome firefighters never meet the people whom they save.

Here are some more examples of adjective clauses:

the meat which they ate was tainted
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This clause modifies the noun "meat" and answers the question "whichmeat?".

about the movie which made him cry

This clause modifies the noun "movie" and answers the question "whichmovie?".

they are searching for the one who borrowed the book

The clause modifies the pronoun "one" and answers the question "whichone?".

Did I tell you about the author whom I met?

The clause modifies the noun "author" and answers the question "whichauthor?".

Adverb Clauses

An adverb clause is a dependent clause which takes the place of an adverbin another clause or phrase. An adverb clause answers questions such as"when?", "where?", "why?", "with what goal/result?", and "under whatconditions?".

Note how an adverb clause can replace an adverb in the following example:

adverbThe premier gave a speech here.

adverb clauseThe premier gave a speech where the workers were striking.

Usually, a subordinating conjunction like "because," "when(ever),""where(ever)," "since," "after," and "so that," will introduce an adverb clause.Note that a dependent adverb clause can neverstand alone as a complete

sentence:

independent clausethey left the locker room

dependent adverb clauseafter they left the locker room


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The first example can easily stand alone as a sentence, but the secondcannot -- the reader will ask whathappened "after they left the locker room".Here are some more examples of adverb clauses expressing the relationshipsof cause, effect, space, time, and condition:

causeHamlet wanted to kill his uncle because the uncle had murderedHamlet's father.

The adverb clause answers the question "why?".

effectHamlet wanted to kill his uncle so that his father's murder would beavenged.

The adverb clause answers the question "with what goal/result?".

timeAfter Hamlet's uncle Claudius married Hamlet's mother, Hamletwanted to kill him.

The adverb clause answers the question "when?". Note the change in wordorder -- an adverb clause can often appear either before or after the main partof the sentence.

placeWhere the whole Danish court was assembled, Hamlet ordered aplay in an attempt to prove his uncle's guilt.

The adverb clause answers the question "where?".

conditionIf the British co-operate, the Europeans may achieve monetary union.

The adverb clause answers the question "under what conditions?".

What is a sentence?

A sentence is a group of words that are used together to express or convey acomplete thought. It may

include any of the eight parts of speech; however, theparts of speech that are used must be combined


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accurately to form a correctsentence. The two essential elements of a sentence that are used to

express a complete thought are thesubject and the predicate.

NOTE: Besides the subject and predicate, sentences may also contain

clausesand/or phrases. A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and predicate andis

used as a part of the sentence. The main clause expresses a complete thought and can stand alone

as a sentence. Subordinate clauses do not expressa complete thought and must always be used in

conjunctionwith a main clause. A phrase is a group of words thatis used to a single partof speech. It

does not contain a verb and its subject is not complete in itself.A phrase cannot standalone.

The subject is a word or a group of words about which something is beingsaid. It is the subject

of the discourse and names the person or thing aboutwhich the author of the sentence is writing.

The subect maybe either a single word(simple subject) or several words (complete subject).

For example:

o Sailors travelo The Command chaplain supervises the program for the commanding officer.

"Sailor is the simple subject in the first and "chaplain" is the simple subject in thesecond example.

"Command chaplian" is the complete subject in the second example.

Predicate

The predicate is a word or a group of words that state something about

thesubject andincludes everything in the sentence that is not included in the complete subject. This

means that the complete predicate inculdes the simplepredicate with its modifiers and the object

with its modifiers.

For example:

o Sailors travelo The Command chaplain supervises the program for the commanding officer.


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Travel is the simple predicate in the first example and "supervises" in the simple predicate in thesecond example. Supervises the program forthecommanding officer is the complete predicate in the second example.The root of many problems with grammar and punctuation is the failure to identify just what it is thatmakes up a sentence. Obviously a sentence is made up of words, but they are of words of a particular

kind and in a particular order. Once again, structure is everything.

We can have a simple sentence with only a single word, but most of our sentences have more than one,

and this is when structure is important. [Single word sentences are usually used in conversation. We

answer questions with a single word. We also give commands with a single word. But most non-

conversational uses of language demand more than single word sentences.]

For the purposes of this explanation, a basic sentence contains either a subject [S] and a verb [V] or a

subject [S], verb [V], and object phrase [O]. We all are familiar with these basic sentences since we usethem so often in speech and writing.

Here are some examples. The baby laughs. [S + V] The baby is walking. [S + V] The baby walks down

the hall. [S + V + O]

From these simple beginnings, we can create very long, complex, and often confusing sentences. But we

should always keep in mind that the basic sentence expresses this information: someone does something

[The baby laughs, is walking, walks down the hall, etc.]

Let's look at variety, making complexity out of the simple elements of the sentence.

Multiple subjects:

The baby and her mom were laughing. [(S + S) + V]

The baby, her sister, and their mom were laughing. [(S + S + S) + V]

Multiple verbs:


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The baby was laughing and giggling. [S + (V + V)]

The baby was laughing, giggling, and crawling down the hall. [S + (V + V + V) + O]

[Notice that I added an object phrase, in this case a prepositional phrase after the verbs.]

Multiple objects:

The baby crawled down the hall and into the kitchen. [S + V + (O + O)]

Multiple subjects and verbs:

The girl and the boy walked and laughed through the store. [(S + S) + (V + V) + O]

Let's look at even more variety.

Adding modifiers to the subject [We call these modifiers adjectives.]:

The little baby and proud mother were laughing. [(Adj./ S + Adj./ S) + V]

We can use phrases that act like adjectives.

The hard to please child and the proud but stern mother were not laughing. [(Adj./ S + Adj./ S) + V]

Adding modifiers to the verb [We call these modifiers adverbs.]:


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The child and her mother rarely argued with each other. [(S + Adj. / S) + Adv. / V + O]

We can also use phrases that act like adverbs.

The spoke with the authority of a learned man. [S + V / Adv.} Note: The prepositional phrase, "with the

authority of a learned man," modifies the verb "spoke." It, therefore, acts like an adverb.

[Note: There are many more ways to add variety to sentences. These ways are just beginnings based

upon combining the simplest elements of a sentence: subject, verb, object phrase.]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What is not a sentence?

A Variety of Sentence Fragments

The sentence fragment is only a part of a sentence, usually one that lacks a subject or a verb. The

sentence fragment is usually an after thought, something tagged on to a sentence. Here is a typical

example of a sentence fragment.

John is a friend of mine. My very best friend in the whole world. [Note: I'll use italics for fragments.]

To avoid the fragment, usually all that is needed is a comma. Here is the correction.

John is a friend of mine, my very best friend in the whole world.

Here is another kind of sentence fragment. This one has a complete subject and verb; however, it is a

dependent clause, depending on the main clause (or sentence) for it to be grammatically correct.


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My best friend is John. Who is really my very best friend in the whole world.

Here is the corrected version.

My best friend is John, who is really my very best friend in the whole world.

Sometimes fragments appear before a sentence that it could connect to. Here is an example.

My best friend in all of the world. John never lets me down.

Correct this fragment, again, with a comma.

My best friend in all of the world, John never lets me down.

(From ACC's Writers' Web Lessons: http://webs.ashlandctc.org/jnapora/WritersWeb/lessons.htm)

Some Englishsentencesare very basic:

Shakespeare was a writer.

Einstein said something.

The Inuit are a people.

You couldwrite an entire essay using onlysimple sentenceslike these:

William Shakespeare was a writer. He wrote plays. It was the Elizabethan age. One play

was Hamlet. It was a tragedy. Hamlet died. The court died too.

It is not likely, however, that your essay would receive a passing grade. This chapter helps you learn torecognise different types of sentences and to use them effectively in your own writing.

Although ordinary conversation, personal letters, and even some types of professional writing (such asnewspaper stories) consist almost entirely ofsimple sentences, your university or college instructors will
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expect you to be able to use all types ofsentencesin your formal academic writing. Writers who use onlysimple sentences are like a truck drivers who do not know how to shift out of first gear: they would be ableto drive a load from Montral to Calgary (eventually), but they would have a great deal of trouble gettingthere.

If you usephrasesandclausescarefully, your sentences will become much more interesting and your

ideas, much clearer. Thiscomplex sentencedevelops a major, central idea and provides structuredbackground information:

Since it involves the death not only of the title character but of the entire royal court, Hamletis the

most extreme of the tragedies written by the Elizabethan playwrite William Shakespeare.

Just as a good driver uses different gears, a good writer uses different types of sentences in differentsituations:

a long complex sentence will show what information depends on what other information; acompound sentencewill emphasise balance and parallelism; a short simple sentence will grab a reader's attention;

aloose sentencewill tell the reader in advance how to interpret your information; aperiodic sentencewill leave the reader in suspense until the very end; adeclarative sentencewill avoid any special emotional impact; anexclamatory sentence, used sparingly, will jolt the reader; aninterrogative sentencewill force the reader to think about what you are writing; and animperative sentencewill make it clear that you want the reader to act right away.

Remember that everyclauseis, in a sense, a miniaturesentence. A simple sentences contains only asingle clause, while a compound sentence, a complex sentence, or a compound-complex sentencecontains at least two clauses.

The Simple Sentence

The most basic type of sentence is the simple sentence, which contains only one clause. A simplesentence can be as short as one word:

Run!

Usually, however, the sentence has asubjectas well as apredicateand both the subject and thepredicate may havemodifiers. All of the following are simple sentences, because each contains only oneclause:

Melt!

Ice melts.

The ice melts quickly.

The ice on the river melts quickly under the warm March sun.

Lying exposed without its blanket of snow, the ice on the river melts quickly under the warm

March sun.
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As you can see, a simple sentence can be quite long -- it is a mistake to think that you can tell a simplesentence from a compound sentence or a complex sentence simply by its length.

The most natural sentence structure is the simple sentence: it is the first kind which children learn tospeak, and it remains by far the most common sentence in the spoken language of people of all ages. Inwritten work, simple sentences can be very effective for grabbing a reader's attention or for summing up

an argument, but you have to use them with care: too many simple sentences can make your writingseem childish.

When you do use simple sentences, you should add transitional phrases to connect them to thesurrounding sentences.

The Compound Sentence

A compound sentence consists of two or moreindependent clauses(or simple sentences) joined byco-ordinating conjunctionslike "and," "but," and "or":

Simple

Canada is a rich country.

Simple

Still, it has many poor people.

Compound

Canada is a rich country, but still it has many poor people.

Compound sentences are very natural for English speakers -- small children learn to use them early on toconnect their ideas and to avoid pausing (and allowing an adult to interrupt):

Today at school Mr. Moore brought in his pet rabbit, and he showed it to the class, and I got to

pet it, and Kate held it, and we coloured pictures of it, and it ate part of my carrot at lunch, and ...

Of course, this is an extreme example, but if you over-use compound sentences in written work, yourwriting might seem immature.

A compound sentence is most effective when you use it to create a sense of balance or contrast betweentwo (or more) equally-important pieces of information:

Montal has better clubs, but Toronto has better cinemas.

Special Cases of Compound SentencesThere are two special types of compound sentences which you might want to note. First, rather than

joining two simple sentences together, a co-ordinating conjunction sometimes joins two complexsentences, or one simple sentence and one complex sentence. In this case, the sentence is calleda compound-complex sentence:

compound-complex
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The package arrived in the morning, but the courier left before I could check the contents.

The second special case involvespunctuation. It is possible to join two originally separate sentences intoa compound sentence using asemicoloninstead of a co-ordinating conjunction:

Sir John A. Macdonald had a serious drinking problem ; when sober, however, he could be

a formidable foe in the House of Commons.

Usually, aconjunctive adverblike "however" or "consequently" will appear near the beginning of thesecond part, but it is not required:

The sun rises in the east; it sets in the west.

The Complex Sentence

A complex sentence contains one independent clause and at least onedependent clause. Unlike acompound sentence, however, a complex sentence contains clauses which are notequal. Consider thefollowing examples:

Simple

My friend invited me to a party. I do not want to go.

Compound

My friend invited me to a party, but I do not want to go.

Complex

Although my friend invited me to a party, I do not want to go.

In the first example, there are two separate simple sentences: "My friend invited me to a party" and "I donot want to go." The second example joins them together into a single sentence with the co-ordinatingconjunction "but," but both parts could still stand as independent sentences -- they are entirely equal, andthe reader cannot tell which is most important. In the third example, however, the sentence has changedquite a bit: the first clause, "Although my friend invited me to a party," has become incomplete, or adependent clause.

A complex sentence is very different from a simple sentence or a compound sentence because it makesclear which ideas are most important. When you write

My friend invited me to a party. I do not want to go.

or even

My friend invited me to a party, but I do not want to go.

The reader will have trouble knowing which piece of information is most important to you. When you writethesubordinating conjunction"although" at the beginning of the first clause, however, you make it clearthat the fact that your friend invited you is less important than, or subordinate, to the fact that you do notwant to go.
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Not allsentencesmake a single point --compound sentences, especially, may present several equally-important pieces of information -- but most of the time, when you write a sentence, there is a singleargument, statement, question, or command which you wish to get across.

When you are writing your sentences, do not bury your main point in the middle; instead, use one ofthe positions of emphasis at the beginning or end of the sentence.

The Loose Sentence

If you put your main point at the beginning of a long sentence, you are writing a loose sentence:

loose

I am willing to pay slightly higher taxes for the privilege of living in Canada , considering the

free health care, the cheap tuition fees, the low crime rate, the comprehensive social programs,

and the wonderful winters.

The main point of this sentence is that the writer prefers to live in Canada, and the writer makes the point

at the very beginning: everything which follows is simply extra information. When the readers read aboutthe free health care, the cheap tuition fees, the low crime rate, the comprehensive social programs, andthe wonderful winters, they will already know that these are reasons for living in Canada, and as a result,they will be more likely to understand the sentence on a first reading.

Loose sentences are the most natural for English speakers, who almost always talk in loose sentences:even the most sophisticated English writers tend to use loose sentences much more often than periodicsentences. While a periodic sentence can be useful for making an important point or for a specialdramatic effect, it is also much more difficult to read, and often requires readers to go back and reread thesentence once they understand the main point.

Finally, it is important to remember that you have to structure a loose sentence as carefully as you wouldstructure a periodic sentence: it is very easy to lose control of a loose sentence so that by the end the

reader has forgotten what your main point was.

The Periodic Sentence

If your main point is at the end of a long sentence, you are writing a periodic sentence:

periodic

Considering the free health care, the cheap tuition fees, the low crime rate, the comprehensive

social programs, and the wonderful winters, I am willing to pay slightly higher taxes for the

privilege of living in Canada.

The main point of this sentence is that the writer prefers to live in Canada. At the beginning of thissentence, the reader does not know what point the writer is going to make: what about the free healthcare, cheap tuition fees, low crime rate, comprehensive social programs, and wonderful winters? Thereader has to read all of this information withoutknowing what the conclusion will be.

The periodic sentence has become much rarer in formal English writing over the past hundred years, andit has never been common in informal spoken English (outside of bad political speeches). Still, it is apowerful rhetorical tool. An occasional periodic sentence is not only dramatic but persuasive: even if thereaders do not agree with your conclusion, they will read your evidence first with open minds. If you use a
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loose sentence with hostile readers, the readers will probably close their minds before considering any ofyour evidence.

Finally, it is important to remember that periodic sentences are likeexclamatory sentences: used once ortwice in a piece of writing, they can be very effective; used any more than that, they can make you sounddull and pompous.
http://www.arts.uottawa.ca/writcent/hypergrammar/sntpurps.html#exclamatory%20sentencehttp://www.arts.uottawa.ca/writcent/hypergrammar/sntpurps.html#exclamatory%20sentencehttp://www.arts.uottawa.ca/writcent/hypergrammar/sntpurps.html#exclamatory%20sentencehttp://www.arts.uottawa.ca/writcent/hypergrammar/sntpurps.html#exclamatory%20sentence

Intensive Grammar & Composition Lecture2

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Transcript of Intensive Grammar & Composition Lecture2