Improving Your Sentence Structure
Problems with Sentences
1. Sentence Fragments
A ntence fragment is not a complete ntence. It usually lacks either a subject or a verb, or both, or contains only a dependent clau.
Example:
a. For example, three dogs and a goat.
b. Studying too hard on weekends. (no subject – who was studying?)
c. Becau I couldn’t find my shoes. (contains a subject and verb, but is a dependent clau)
2. Run-on Sentences: Fud ntences and comma splice
Example 1:
The experiment failed it had been left unobrved for too long.
Example2:四级英语答案
The experiment failed, it had been left unobrved for too long.
ret什么意思To correct a fud ntence or a comma splice error, you can u either a period, mi-colon, colon, coordinating conjunction, or subordinating conjunction.
Revision:
The experiment failed. It had been left unobrved for too long.
The experiment failed; it had been left unobrved for too long.
The experiment failed: it had been left unobrved for too long.
The experiment had been left unobrved for too long, so it failed.
The experiment failed becau it had been left unobrved for too long.
∙
∙
∙ A comma splice also occurs when commas are ud before conjunctive adverbs (therefore, however, nevertheless, moreover, etc.) connecting two ntences.
Example 3:
NO:
The experiment had been left unobrved for too long, therefore it failed.
YES:
The experiment had been left unobrved for too long; therefore, it failed.
YES:
He wasn’t prepared to defend a client who was guilty; however, he could be persuaded to accept a bribe.
NOTE: When the conjunctive adverb is within the clau rather than at the beginning, place it between commas.
Exampleparallel lines:
He wasn’t prepared to defend a client who was guilty; he could be persuaded, however, to accept a bribe.
Correct the following run-on/comma splice ntences using the method indicated.
a. A newly arrived international student faces veral challenges, for example, he or she has to cope with a new culture.
b. New York City is very cosmopolitan, people from many cultures and ethnic groups live there.
alloys松鼠ai一对一怎么样3. Loo Sentences
A loo ntence may result if you u too many “and ” connectives when other conjunctions would convey a more preci meaning.
Example:
John had a weight problem, and he dropped out of school.
No:
会计面试
Many students attend class all morning, and then they work all afternoon, and they als
o have to study at night, so they are usually exhausted by the weekend.
Yes:
Many students attend class all morning and work all afternoon. Since they also have to study at night, they are usually exhausted by the weekend.
OR: Becau many students attend class all morning, work all afternoon, and study at night, they are usually exhausted by the weekend.
Task
Improve the stringy ntences.
1. He enrolled in an intermediate calculus class, but he found it too easy, so he dropped it, and he signed up for the advanced class.
2. First-born children in a family often have more responsibility than their younger siblings, and they feel pressure to t a good example, so they often become superachie
vers.
3. Last-born children, on the other hand, often have little responsibility, and they may be pampered as the "baby" of the family, but they are the smallest, and they have to get people to like them, so they often develop superior social skills. 北京雅思辅导班
4. The students in my engineering class could not do the homework, so we got together and worked for veral hours, and we finally solved all the problems. 英语六级词汇
5. The lack of rainfall has caud a vere water shortage, so people have to conrve water every day, and they also have to think of new ways to reu water, but the situation is improving.
∙
rather的用法∙
kbm∙ A loo ntence also results from weak ntence construction and the inclusion of many phras and claus in no particular order.
Example:
In the event that we get the contract, we must be ready by June 1 with the necessary personnel and equipment to get the job done, so with this end in mind a staff meeting, which all group managers are expected to attend, is scheduled for February 12.
The discipline of telecommunications engineering, including the designing and installation overeing of telecommunications equipment and facilities, such as complex electronic switching systems, copper wire telephone facilities and fibre optics, is the enhancement of telecommunication systems through the bringing together of electrical engineering and computer science, from basic circuit design to strategic mass developments.
Revid:
Telecommunications engineering is a discipline that brings together electrical engineering and computer science in order to enhance telecommunications systems. The work involv
ed ranges from basic circuit design to strategic mass developments. The work of a telecommunications engineer includes designing and overeing the installation of telecommunications equipment such as complex electronic switching systems, copper wire telephone facilities and fibre optics.
