Sound the same :
- Do adjacent sentences contain the same subject and/or
the same verb?
If
so, you can combine two or more short, simple sentences in a single, concise
sentence.
- Join the sentences by omitting a repeated subject.
|
Original
|
Radio advertisements
are broadcast daily or weekly. Radio advertisements reach a wide audience.
|
|
Revision
|
Radio advertisements
are broadcast daily or weekly and reach a wide audience.
|
- Join the sentences by omitting repeated subjects and
verbs and by using adjectives. </CAPTION
|
Original
|
The city council
conducted a study of public transportation. The study was lengthy. The study
was detailed.
|
|
Revision
|
The city council
conducted a lengthy, detailed study of public transportation.
|
- Join the sentences by omitting repeated subjects and
verbs and by using adverbs.
|
Original
|
The negotiators
worked to gain approval for the contract. The negotiators worked at a steady
pace. However, they worked slowly.
|
|
Revision
|
The negotiators
worked steadily but slowly to gain approval for the contract.
|
- Do adjacent sentences contain ideas of equal
importance?
If so, use coordination.
- Join the sentences with a coordinating conjunction
preceded by a comma. The seven coordinating conjunctions create different
relationships between two ideas.
- and
shows addition; it has the same meaning as in addition, along
with
The strike divided the town, and it
strained labor-management relations.
- but
shows contrast; it has the same meaning as however, except,
on the other hand
Negotiators resolved the strike, but
the town remained divided.
- for
shows logical consequence; it has the same meaning as because, the
reason why
Coping with environmental issues is a
necessary part of industrial studies, for industries affect the
environment.
- so
shows logical consequence; it has the same meaning as as a result,
therefore
Industries affect the environment, so
coping with environmental issues is a necessary part of industrial studies.
- nor
shows addition of a negative point
The environment cannot sustain constant
resource depletion, nor can it recover quickly from wide-scale resource
extraction.
Businesses can design their own programs for
recording statistical data, or they can use purchased, pre-designed
programs.
More secondary schools are implementing
programs designed to increase teenagers' awareness of the dangers of drinking
and driving, yet alcohol-related traffic accidents continue to be one of
the leading causes of death for people between the ages of fifteen and
twenty-two.
- Join the sentences with a semicolon. A semicolon needs
complete sentences on either side of it that have complete meaning and
can stand by themselves. Use a semicolon when you want to keep two
closely related ideas in one sentence.
|
Original
|
Ethnobotanists study
plants and plant products that contribute to human culture. They study past,
present, and potential uses of such plants.
|
|
Revision
|
Ethnobotanists study
plants and plant products that contribute to human culture; they study past,
present, and potential uses of such plants
|
2- Subject and verb agreement :
The subject and verb
must agree in number: both must be singular, or both must be plural. Problems
occur in the present tense because one must add an -s or -es at
the end of the verb when the subjects or the entity performing the action is a
singular third person: he, she, it, or words for which
these pronouns could substitute.
Notice the difference
between singular and plural forms in the following examples:
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
|
The student sings.
(He or she sings)
|
Your children
sing. (They sing)
|
|
The bird does
migrate. (It does)
|
Those birds do
migrate. (They do)
|
In order to find out
if your subject and verb agree, you need to be able to identify the subject of
your sentence. Here are some helpful hints that will help you to decipher where
your subject is and where it is not.
Where is my subject?
- Most likely, your verb will agree with the first
noun to the left of the verb:
|
The Supreme Court
judge decides the appropriate penalty.
|
|
Subject: judge
|
Verb: decides
|
|
The committee
members were satisfied with the resolution.
|
|
Subject: members
|
Verb: were
|
- Occasionally, a sentence has the subject after the
verb instead of before it. This strategy is often used for poetic
effect.
|
Over the ripples
glides a small canoe.
|
|
Subject: a small canoe
|
Verb: glides
|
|
There was a
well-known writer at the meeting.
|
|
Subject: a well-known writer
|
Verb: was
|
- You will not find the subject in a modifying phrase
(MP), a phrase that starts with a preposition, a gerund, or a relative
pronoun and that modifies the meaning of the noun or subject under
discussion.
|
The group of
students is going on a field trip.
|
|
Subject: the group
|
MP: of students
|
Verb: is
|
|
The survey covering
seven colleges reveals a growth in enrollment.
|
|
Subject: the survey
|
MP: covering seven
colleges
|
Verb: reveals
|
|
The speaker whom you
saw at the lecture is one of the state senators from Minnesota.
|
|
Subject: the speaker
|
MP: whom you saw at
the lecture
|
Verb: is
|
- If subjects are joined by and, they are
considered plural.
|
The quarterback and
the coach are having a conference.
|
|
Subject: the quarterback and the coach
|
Verb: are having
|
