Author Topic: Lesson #4 - Developing the English Sentence  (Read 18039 times)

Joe Carillo

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Lesson #4 - Developing the English Sentence
« on: May 22, 2009, 09:17:54 PM »
III.   DEVELOPING THE SENTENCE

A.   Effective Sentence Construction

To improve our English writing, we need make ourselves thoroughly familiar with the various tools of the language and how to put them together into grammatically and structurally correct, coherent, and clear statements.

B.   The Three Primary Tasks of Language

1. To give a name to entities, actions, qualities, quantities, states, situations, and concepts (the “who,” “what,” or “which”)
2. To situate them in space and time (the “where” and the “when”)
3. To connect ideas and establish the logical relationship between them (the “how?”, “so?”, “why?")

C.   The Tools of Language

1. Content words: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs
2. Function words: prepositions, conjunctions (coordinating conjunctions, subordinating conjunctions, conjunctive adverbs)

D.   The Content Words as Carriers of Meaning

1. Noun
2. Pronoun
3. Verb
4. Adjective
5. Adverb

EXERCISE: Identify the parts of speech in this sentence:
   
The company ran a remarkably exhaustive survey of customer preferences in its major markets.
  1       2        3  4      5               6           7      8     9           10         11 12   13      14
     
Answers: “the,” article; “company,” noun; “ran,” verb; “a,” article; “remarkably,” adverb;
             “exhaustive,” adjective; “survey,” noun; “of,” preposition; “customer,” adjective;
             “preferences,” noun; “in,” preposition; “its,” adjective; “major,” adjective; “markets,” noun.
 
IV.   BASIC RULES IN ENGLISH SENTENCE CONSTRUCTION

A.   Subject-Verb Agreement

The form of the verb must agree with its operative noun or pronoun in terms of the number (whether singular or plural) and gender (whether masculine, feminine, or neuter).

Examples:
   
Ana likes to eat apples.
[singular noun, singular form of verb]

“Ana and George like to eat apples.
[plural noun (compounded), plural form of verb]

We like to eat apples.
[plural pronoun “we,” plural form of verb]   

B.   Voice

An English sentence is either in the active voice or passive voice:

1. Active voice – when the subject of the sentence acts or performs the action of the operative verb.
2. Passive voice – when the subject of the sentence receives the action of the operative verb; that is, the subject is acted upon instead.

Examples:

Active Voice Sentences:

1. “The central government asked the oil companies to temper their price hike.”

2. “The oil companies rolled back half of their oil price adjustments.”

3. “More than 300 refugees arrested in Sabah arrived in Zamboanga this morning.”

4. “The former senator faces expulsion from the party he cofounded.”

5. “The deportees arrived by boat late Saturday afternoon from Sandakan City.”

Their Equivalent Passive Voice Sentences:

1. “The oil companies were asked by the central government to temper their price hike.”

2. “Half of their oil price adjustments was rolled back by the oil companies.”

3. What’s the passive form of Sentence #3, “More than 300 refugees arrested in Sabah arrived in
    Zamboanga this morning”?

    None, because the verb “arrived” is intransitive, meaning that the verb can’t take a direct object.
    But what about the verb “arrested”? What is it doing in the sentence?

    It’s not the operative verb; it’s acting as a participle modifying “refugees”

4. “Expulsion from the party he cofounded is being faced by the former senator.”

5. What’s the passive form of Sentence #5, “The deportees arrived by boat late Saturday afternoon
    from Sandakan City”?

    None, because the verb “arrived” is intransitive, meaning that it can’t pass on its action to any   
    object in the sentence. It dissipates its action on itself.   

C.   Verb Positioning Rule

Verbs perform optimally in a sentence when positioned as close as possible to the nouns they are acting upon.

Optimal:

The company conducted a survey.”
[a two-word subject]

Sub-optimal:

The company’s remarkably exhaustive survey of customer preferences in its major markets in the Visayas sent shock waves to the food industry.”
[a 15-word noun phrase as a subject]

D.   Modifier Positioning Rule

For optimal clarity of sentences, modifying words or phrases should be positioned as close as possible to the noun or pronoun they modify.

POSSIBLE MISPLACEMENTS:

Misplaced modifier:

“Ben has nearly annoyed every pedestrian with his impertinent questions.”

“With malice, the hoodlum jabbed the pedestrian with his walking stick in the ears.”
                 
Properly placed modifier:

“Ben has annoyed nearly every pedestrian with his impertinent questions.”

“With malice, the hoodlum jabbed the pedestrian in the ears with his walking stick.”   
      
SUB-OPTIMAL PLACEMENT:

Sub-optimal:

“The reformist provincial governor does not allow town mayors to directly collect sand-quarrying fees to fight graft and corruption.”
 
Optimal:

"To fight graft and corruption, the reformist provincial governor does not allow town mayors to directly collect sand-quarrying fees.”   

E.   Case Rule

A noun and pronoun being used in combination or acting as a compound subject should  both be in the same case for them to properly perform the action of a verb or receive its action.

No-brainer (both nouns in the nominative case):
   
Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio are both Philippine heroes.”

Wrong (mixing the nominative-case noun “Jenny” and the objective-case pronoun “me”):

Jenny and me like each other.”

Correct (noun and pronoun both in the nominative case):

Jenny and I like each other.”

Wrong (mixing the nominative-case pronoun “you” with the objective-case pronoun “me”):

You and me should travel together sometime.”

Correct (both pronouns in the nominative case):
   
You and I should travel together sometime.”

Wrong (“you” is in the objective case and “I” in the nominative case):
   
“Our neighbors are nasty to you and I.”

Correct (both pronouns are in the objective case):
   
“Our neighbors are nasty to you and me.”

Try these for size:
   
“I wish they were nicer to me and they.”

“Don’t you wish they were nicer to them and we?” 

Correct:
   
“I wish they were nicer to me and them.”
      
“Don’t you wish they were nicer to them and us?”

Next: Constructing the English Sentence

« Last Edit: June 06, 2009, 12:48:54 AM by Joe Carillo »

janymoore50

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Re: Lesson #4 - Developing the English Sentence
« Reply #1 on: April 04, 2012, 03:16:52 AM »
good information to share
thanks jose it really help me

maribella

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Re: Lesson #4 - Developing the English Sentence
« Reply #2 on: April 26, 2012, 03:05:19 PM »
Hiii Joe, You gave a very good and beneficial information in this forum. This topic helps everyone and the one who is very week in english and want to improve their language. Thanks for sharing.