Sentence Skills

Unit 6 Sentence Combining

Sentence Unity and Coherence

Sentence Combining:

1. Coordination: being of equal importance

2. Subordination : being of less importance

Coordination connects two or more

sentence elements (words, phrases, and

clauses) that have the same grammatical

function.

For instance:

a. I walked slowly and silently to town.

b. We decided not to go to class. We planned to

get the notes. Everyone else had the same

plan. Most of us ended up failing the quiz.

We decided not to go to class, but we planned

to get the notes. Everyone else had the same

plan, so most of us ended up failing the quiz.

Subordination puts less important ideas in a dependent clause or phrase and the more important idea in an independent clause.

For instance:

As soon as he arrived at the hotel, he began to write to his girl friend.

3. Misuse of Coordination and Subordination

(1) Illogical coordination

Illogical: Alice Adams has published four novels, and she

lives in San Francisco.

Revised: Alice Adams, who lives in San Francisco, has

published four novels. [Dependent clause]

Alice Adams, from San Francisco, has published

four novels. [Modifying phrase]

(2) Illogical subordination

Illogical: Because he was deaf when he wrote

them, Beethoven’s final symphonies were

masterpieces.

Revised: Although Beethoven was deaf when he

wrote his final symphonies, they are musical

masterpieces.

Sentence Unity

Ⅰ. What is sentence unity?

Sentence unity means that only one idea or thought can be expressed in one single sentence. Unity refers to two qualities: there is only one main idea in

a sentence, and that idea is complete.

For instance:

He died in a traffic accident, and he had just

reached the age of 73. (ineffective)

He died in a traffic accident just after he had

reached the age of 73.

Tips:

1. Change the sentence structure in order to make the hidden relation clear and bring unity to the sentence.

2. If a close relation can not be built in one sentence, change the sentence into two or more sentences.

Ⅱ.Put related thoughts into a sentence

Unrelated: Yesterday Tom has hurt his foot, and he could not find his new bicycle.

Related: Accident happening all day yesterday, Tom not only hurt his foot but also lost his new bicycle.

Ⅲ. Eliminating excessive detail

Awkward: In 1788, when Andrew Jackson, then a young

man of twenty-one years who had been living in the

Carolinas, still a virgin country, came into Tennessee, the

turbulent place of unknown opportunities, to enforce the

law as the new prosecuting attorney, he had the

qualifications that would make him equal to the task.

Revised: In 1788, when Andrew Jackson came into Tennessee as the new prosecuting attorney, he had the necessary qualifications for the task.

Sentence Coherence

Ⅰ. The subject must be connected in meaning with its predicate.

Incoherent: A comparison between the city and the town would be the ideal place to live.

Improved: A community that offered the best qualities of both city and town would be the ideal place to live.

Ⅱ.All comparisons should be complete and

logical

1. State a comparison fully enough to ensure

clarity

For instance:

Tom likes bowling better than Jane. (Misleading)

Tom likes bowling better than Jane likes bowling.

Tom likes bowling better than he likes Jane.

2. Be sure that the items being compared are

really comparable

Illogical: Her English is much better than I.

Revised: Her English is much better than mine.

3. Avoid comparisons that do not state what is being compared

Incoherent: Brand X gets clothes whiter. [Whiter than what?]

Coherent: Brand X gets clothes whiter than Brand Y does.

Incoherent: Brand A is so much better. [Better than what?]

Coherent: Brand A is so much better than Brand B.

Ⅲ. All modifiers should clearly modify the intended word

1. Place a limiting adverb immediately before the word it modifies

For instance:

I hit him in the eye only yesterday. [time of the action]

I only hit him in the eye yesterday. [the action]

I hit him only in the eye yesterday. [the position]

2. Avoid ambiguous modifiers

Misplaced: The student Mr. Smith criticized angrily

left the room.

Revised: The student Mr. Smith angrily criticized left

the room.

Or: The student Mr. Smith criticized left the room

angrily.

3. Avoid separating the parts of a verb phrase or the parts of an infinitive

Awkward: Many students had, by spending most of

their time on the assignment, completed it.

Revised: By spending most of their time on the

assignment, many students had completed it.

4. Dangling modifiers should be avoided

A dangling modifier is a group of words which

does not modify a correct word or no word at all.

Most often, a dangling modifier does not correctly

refer to the subject of the sentence.

For instance:

On entering the classroom, the students stood up and said, “Good morning!”

On entering the classroom, the teacher was greeted by the students, who stood up and said, “Good morning!

Exercises:1. Revise the following sentences so that they are

logical and clear.(1) I get along with my parents better than my sister.(2) His tip was larger than any customer I ever waited on.(3) A teacher’s income is generally lower than a doctor.(4) Lying in the hospital bed, my mind began to develop

fearful fantasies.(5) Bill nearly finished the entire meal in five minutes.(6) Most children have by the time they are seven lost a tooth.(7) The computer needs repair in the library.(8)By turning the lights down, the room looked less dingy.

2. Sentence-combining1. He would trudge (蹒跚地走 )into the classroom. He would be late. This was habitual. He would be unshaven. He wore a blue beach shirt. He wore seersucker( 泡泡纱 )pants. He wore no socks. He wore a pair of sandals.(便鞋 )

2. He would drag himself to the center of the room.

He would drop his attaché case (公文包 ) on the desk.

He would call the roll.

He never smiled.

He never said good morning.