How to make Sentences Clear and Concise?
How to make Sentences Clear and Concise?
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| How to make Sentences Clear and Concise? |
1) Put the main thought in the main clause:
Examples:
1-It was a cool, shady place, so we decided to eat lunch there. (Faulty)
-Since it was a cool, shady place, we decided to eat lunch there. (Correct)
2-Greek is a small country, although it has produced many great men. (Faulty)
- Although Greek is a small country, it has produced many great men. (Correct)
2) Place modifiers in their proper position:
The two kind of modifiers-adjectives and adverbs- whether they are words, phrases, or clauses should be put as close as possible to these words which they modify.
Adjective modifiers:
1- The corner house is mine. (word)
The house on the corner is mine. (Phrase)
The house that is on the corner is mine. (Clause)
Adverb modifiers:
2- He came unwillingly. (word)
He came against his will. (Phrase)
He came although he was unwilling. (Clause)
· In the following sentence notice the effects which the position of the modifier “only” has the meaning of the sentence: “he lost his hat”
1) - Only he lost his hat. ( Nobody else did)
2) He only lost his hat.(Nobody stole it)
3) He lost only his hat. (And nobody else’s)
4) He lost his only hat. (He had only one)
5) He lost his hat only. (But saved his shoes and clothes…)
The proper use or the adverbs: Only, Not Nearly, and Almost.
In order to do their full duty, these adverbs should be placed in the right position, that is, immediately in front of the word or group of words they are expected to modify.
The proper use or the correlative conjunctions: (neither-nor), (either-or), (both-and), (not only but also).
The proper use of the conjunction consists in placing them immediately before the words they introduce. The introduced words should be the same part of speech.
Wrong: Either you can take the taxi or go on the bus.
Right: you can either take the taxi or go on the bust.
Wrong: She claimed that she could neither be comfortable n the town nor in the country.
Right: she claimed that she could be comfortable neither in the town nor in the country.
Wrong: The whole family both complained of the climate and of the neighbors.
Right: The whole family complained both of the climate and of the neighbors.
3) The split infinitive:
Another common mistake which students should avoid is to split infinitives that are, to put an adverb between the to and the verb.
Such expressions as to clearly understand, to firmly believe, should not be used in your writings.
Loose: To eventually succeed is better than not to succeed at all.
Better: Eventually to succeed (or, to succeed eventually) is better than not to succeed at all.
Loose: To entirely conceal one’s feelings is almost impossible.
Better: Entirely to conceal one’s feelings (or, to conceal one’s feelings entirely is almost impossible.
4) The proper use of reference words (pronouns):
Mistakes in pronouns fall into three classes: 1- wrong reference, 2- ambiguous reference, and 3- no reference.
In the wrong reference: The pronoun refers to the wrong antecedent
Loose: If fresh milk disagrees with the baby, it should be boiled.
Better: If fresh milk disagrees with the baby, milk should be boiled.
*don’t use a plural pronoun to refer to a singular antecedent: Each of these words anyone, anybody, everybody, and everyone are singular in form and should be referred to by a singular pronoun.
Wrong: If anybody calls ask them to wait.
Right: If anybody calls ask him to wait.
Note: In informal usage, the plural pronoun is fairly used.
Informal: Anybody can do this if they try.
Formal: anybody can do this if he tries.
Ambiguous reference: the pronoun may refer to any one of several antecedents instead of specifically one.
When Will saw his father he asked him to go to the bank and cash a check for him, but his father was busy.
Better: When Will saw his father he said: “please go to the bank and cash a check for me” but his father said he was too busy.
Also clear: When Will saw his father will ask him to go to the bank and cash a check for him, but his father said he was too busy.
In no reference: The pronoun has no antecedent to refer to but is loosely used to refer the whole clause or to a preceding idea.
Loose: He demanded too much of his workmen and discharged them because they couldn’t come up with it.
Better: He demanded too much of his workmen and discharged them because they couldn’t come up with his demands.
5) Dangling modifiers:
Verbals are verb forms which have lost the main power of verbs to make an assertion- and have gained the power to serve as nouns and modifiers. Because these words (Participles gerunds and infinitives) still imply action without stating it, they often confuse the meanings of the sentence by relating themselves to following the subjects of the main clauses. When they are improperly related they are said to be dangling.
Faulty: Being always a good student, the teacher felt sure he would pass. (Dangling gerund)
Better: Since he was a good student, the teacher felt sure he would pass.
False: To study in any American university, much money is needed. (Dangling infinitive)
Better: To study in any American university, you need much money.
6) Avoiding faulty change in grammatical structure:
If there are two or three ideas of parallel rank in a sentence, these parallel ideas should be expressed in parallel form. The following are examples of common faulty parallelism which must be avoided.
Wrong: He enjoys listening to this kind of music and to do his homework. (Two parallel ideas the first expressed in gerund and the second expressed in the infinitive with to).
Correction: He enjoys listening to this kind of music and doing his homework. (Both parallel ideas in parallel gerund phrases).
Wrong: He said that he would return soon and for us to work hard while he was away. (Two parallel ideas, the first expressed in that clause and the second in a for to phrase)
Correction: He said that he would return soon and that we must work hard while he was away. (Both parallel ideas in parallel that clauses)
Wrong: When we finally reached the beach, a beautiful sunset was seen. (Faulty change from the active voice of the first clause to the passive voice of the second clause)
Correction: When we finally reached the beach, we saw a beautiful sunset. (Both parallel ideas in parallel that clauses.)
Note: To avoid such faulty shifts in construction, you should express all parallel ideas in similar forms.
Note: Parallel construction is also required for items or outlines.