Posts Tagged ‘sentence structure’
Tuesday, October 25th, 2011
WHERE you place a phrase in a sentence could make a huge difference in meaning. Take a look at this sentence that appeared in the national news feed this morning:
 A federal judge temporarily blocked Florida's new law that requires welfare applicants to pass a drug test before receiving benefits on Monday, saying it may violate the Constitution's ban on unreasonable searches and seizures.
Whoops #1: As worded, the phrase ON MONDAY sounds as if it refers to when the welfare applicants will receive benefits. i seriously doubt that would happen only on a Monday. ON MONDAY needs to be placed closer to TEMPORARILY BLOCKED because it refers to when the judge did this.
Whoops #2: Grammar Glitch has mentioned before the importance of making sure a pronoun (IT in this case) is close enough to its antecedent (what IT refers to) for clear meaning. In this sentence, IT is supposed to refer to Florida's new law, but the pronoun is too far away from FLORIDA'S LAW for that to be clear. In this sentence, it is probably simpler to repeat THE LAW instead of trying to decide where to place IT.
This sentence should read as follows:
On Monday a federal judge temporarily blocked Florida's new law that requires welfare applicants to pass a drug test before receiving benefits, saying the law may violate the Constitution's ban on unreasonable searches and seizures.
Tags: pronoun/antecedent agreement, sentence structure
Posted in Grammar, pronouns, sentence structure | 6 Comments »
Friday, September 9th, 2011
Last week (September 1 post), I mentioned that I was not seeing as many run-on sentence errors as in the past. Apparently I spoke too soon. I received a colorful ad brochure this week that contained an advertisement for a cleaning company called Top Notch. The focus sentence in the ad was this one:
Call us to schedule your weekly, bi-weekly or one-time house cleaning, we'll design your service. around your needs. 
Sounds like a good service to me, but this focus sentence is squished together with only a comma between two independent ideas. It should be separated between CLEANING and WE'LL into two sentences. It should read as follows:
Call us to schedule your weekly, bi-weekly or one-time house cleaning. We'll design your service around your needs.
Tags: sentence structure
Posted in Grammar, sentence structure | No Comments »
Friday, September 2nd, 2011
The US National Cowboy Fast Draw Championship is being held this weekend in Pendleton, Oregon. More than 100 gunfighters from all over the country will compete. I didn't know we still had any of those–even out west–and under age to boot! 
A press release for this event contains two apostrophe problems. Here is the first:
The competitor's ages range from 8 or 9 years old to 80.
Whoops #1: AGES is plural, so it is logical to conclude that COMPETITORS should also be plural. The process is to make the word plural first (COMPETITORS), and then add the apostrophe to show that the AGES belong to the COMPETITORS. The sentence should read this way:
The competitors' ages range from 8 or 9 years old to 80.
Here is the second apostrophe problem:
Thursday kicks off with a practice match that let's the gunfighters get in a warm up on the range….
Whoops #2: LET'S is a contraction of LET US. In this sentence, all the press release writer needs is the plain old 3rd person singular verb LETS. I don't really know what a WARM UP is–an UP that's been out in the sun maybe? When used as a noun, it should be WARMUP. The sentence should read this way:
Thursday kicks off with a practice match that lets the gunfighters get in a warmup on the range….
BONUS GLITCH FOR THE LABOR DAY WEEKEND: Here is a usage glitch I've never seen before, one I think I'll share with Tammy Gross who did the list of commonly misused words for LinkedIn. (See August 23 post.)
I like this site its a master peace !
Where do I begin? First of all, it is a run-on sentence. (See yesterday's post on those.) There should be a period between SITE and ITS. Second, IT'S needs the apostrophe because it is a contraction of IT and IS. Finally, PEACE is a homonym for PIECE, which is the correct choice here, and it should be a compound word with MASTER–MASTERPIECE. The sentence should read this way:
I like this site. It's a masterpiece !
I do thank the writer for liking this site, and I hope he or she will come back often in spite of (or because of) my comments on the statement. Thanks!
Tags: apostrophe, sentence structure, word usage
Posted in apostrophe, Grammar, sentence structure, word usage | 2 Comments »
Thursday, September 1st, 2011
I don't see as many run-on sentences as I used to, but these hard-to-read creations have not died out completely. You might know them as "comma splices." Here is an example I came across this week in a real estate advertisement:
We only have 89 ACTIVE listings on the market, this is way below the national average of homes on the market in any large neighborhood.
There are two separate and complete thoughts here, and they should not be squeezed together with only a comma separation. One solution is simply to replace the comma with a period and capitalize THIS. Another solution is to use a conjunction (like AND) to connect the two ideas properly. A third solution is to change the second clause to a dependent one. Here are some examples of what could be done:
We only have 89 ACTIVE listings on the market. This is way below the national average of homes on the market in any large neighborhood.
We only have 89 ACTIVE listings on the market, and this is way below the national average of homes on the market in any large neighborhood.
We only have 89 ACTIVE listings on the market, which is way below the national average of homes on the market in any large neighborhood.
NOTE TO MY READERS: This is the 400th Grammar Glitch Central post, and I would like to thank all of you who have become regular readers and contributed questions or ideas for posts. Your input and comments are so helpful.
Tags: sentence structure
Posted in Grammar, sentence structure | 1 Comment »
Monday, August 8th, 2011
 Please welcome the Corporate Writing Pro who has graciously agreed to contribute today's Guest Post to Grammar Glitch Central. Michelle Baker is a teacher, scholar, and business professional from West Virginia whose mission is to help people communicate more clearly. You will find a link to her blog site, Keys to Easy Writing, on the Home Page for Grammar Glitch Central. Here is her post:
COMMAS are the trickiest punctuation mark to master. And there's a simple reason for that. There are three different types of comma rules:
- commas you have to have
- commas you cannot have
- commas you can choose to have
Just when you think you have your comma rules down, one of the OTHER rule types comes along to deliver a stern rebuke.
So let's talk today about one kind of comma–the comma you cannot have. You cannot use a comma to separate subject and verbs or verbs and objects. Here is an example of what you cannot do:
 Registering for our fitness programs before September 15, will save you thirty percent of the membership cost. (Subject is REGISTERING. Verb is WILL.)
If you really want to set off the verb in this sentence, add an introductory clause:
If you register for our fitness program before September 15, you can save thirty percent of the membership cost.
Here is another example of what you cannot do:
The point is, we should never put the cart before the horse. (Verb is IS. Object is WE.)
In this case, the writer might want to emphasize the point. The way to do that is to change the wording and the punctuation, like so:
The point is this: never put the cart before the horse.
REMEMBER: Allow your subjects, verbs, and objects to flow freely with no commas in between them.
Stay tuned. The Corporate Writing Pro will be back later in the week to talk about when to use a comma between adjectives and when not to.
Tags: commas, sentence structure
Posted in comma, Grammar, sentence structure | 2 Comments »
Sunday, July 10th, 2011
Tornado cleanup continues throughout this part of Alabama, and newspaper articles continue to report what is being done. Unfortunately, some reporters get their brains and their keyboards tangled as they try to cram specific information into lead sentences. Here is a classic example from this morning's The Birmingham News:
 JASPER–About 35 to 40 people showed up Saturday for a Federal Emergency Management Agency event in this Walker County city that was designed to provide victims of the April 27 tornado outbreak with information about long-term housing options, a FEMA spokeswoman said.
Whoops! As written, this sentence makes it sound as if the Walker County city of Jasper was designed to provide tornado victims with information. Actually, it is the FEMA event IN Jasper that was designed to provide the information.
It is never a good idea to tack a THAT clause on right after anything other than what the THAT CLAUSE actually references. News staff writer Malcomb Daniels should have placed the phrase IN THIS WALKER COUNTY CITY right after the word SATURDAY so FEMA would be right before the THAT WAS DESIGNED clause. In addition, I suggest removing the words THAT WAS completely for a smoother read. The sentence should read this way:
JASPER–About 35 to 40 people showed up Saturday in this Walker County city for a Federal Emergency Management Agency event designed to provide victims of the April 27 tornado outbreak with information about long-term housing options, a FEMA spokeswoman said.
Tags: sentence structure, The Birmingham News
Posted in wording | No Comments »
Monday, May 23rd, 2011
Newspaper articles about the recent tornadoes–and about all those helping with the recovery–are both overwhelming and heartwarming. Yesterday's Birmingham News published an article about people who lived through previous tornadoes and are offering encouragement and advice to those now dealing with loss.
Here is a sentence from Val Walton's article "Past Smithfield storm survivors offer hope." (I've changed names of people and locations in this example sentence, but it will still make my point.) My point is that misplaced phrasing can confuse the meaning of a sentence like this one:
June Jones, an elementary school teacher and married mother of a 3-year-old son at the time, learned the grim news from police after she turned off D Street to get to her E Drive home.
June Jones' tornado tragedy occurred 34 years ago, and she is now a widow with two adult sons. When I first read this sentence, I thought Jones was NOW a married school teacher with a young son. By the time I got to the phrase, AT THE TIME, I had to shift my thinking gears in order to follow what the reporter wanted me to understand. If AT THE TIME had appeared before AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER, I would not have had to struggle with that thinking shift. I think the sentence would be much better this way:
June Jones, at the time an elementary school teacher and married mother of a 3-year-old son , learned the grim news from police after she turned off D Street to get to her E Drive home.
 On a personal note, my husband and I spent part of this morning helping set up a distribution room at an elementary school in Pratt City, Alabama, where men in this devastated community could come to choose suits, sport coats and pants, shirts, and shoes from a huge collection donated by a major retailer. We spent the rest of the morning greeting some of these men and helping them choose clothes and shoes to fit them and their needs. It was gratifying to experience one small part of the efforts to help the people of Pratt City rebuild their lives.
If you have an interest in helping with these efforts, you can contact the American Red Cross or check the volunteer options at www.handsonbirmingham.org
Tags: sentence structure, The Birmingham News
Posted in Grammar, wording | No Comments »
Friday, April 29th, 2011
Today's Glitches appear in a landscaping advertisement I received recently. Although a run-on sentence might be clever once in a while for effect or emphasis, I think it has the opposite effect here. It does not sound or look correct and therefore distracts me from the message about the pine straw:
There are several ways to correct this. Take a minute to decide which you think is the most effective. Please feel free to leave a comment so other readers can compare your choice to theirs:
1. The leaves have all fallen. It is now time to refresh your pine straw beds and give your home or business an improved curb appeal. (Punctuate as two completely separate sentences.)
2. Now that all the leaves have fallen, it is time to refresh your pine straw beds and give your home or business an improved curb appeal. (Make the first part a dependent clause related to the main clause.)
3. The leaves have all fallen; therefore, it is now time to refresh your pine straw beds and give your home or business an improved curb appeal. (Create a complex sentence with a conjunctive adverb.)
NOTE: I removed the word AN from all three choices because current usage does not put an article in front of CURB APPEAL, as in "The fresh pine straw gives that home much more curb appeal." (Not, "much more of a curb appeal")
If you'd like to know my choice among the three above, please send an email, and I will post my answer Monday.
The second Glitch has to do with Preposition Choice. This can be difficult, especially for non-native users of English. Each preposition (TO, AT, OF, ON…) can have a variety of meanings. It is important to pay attention when you read and listen so you make the correct choice. Consider this example from the landscape ad:
This wording makes it sound as if we are experiencing a sudden revival of straw roof thatching. The pine straw is not going to be installed TO the home or business, but rather AT the home or business, which suggests in the surrounding yard. The bullet point should read this way:
- Installation of the straw at your home or business
Tags: sentence structure, word usage
Posted in Grammar, sentence structure, word usage | 1 Comment »
Thursday, March 3rd, 2011
I am still proofreading the advertisement for the International Vintage Guitar Collectors Association advertisement. This sentence appears as part of a bullet list about how their buying system works:
 Gather any and all musical instruments there is no limit to the amount of items you can bring.
Whoops #1: This is a run-on sentence. There should be a period after INSTRUMENTS, and THERE should be capitalized.
Whoops #2: As I have pointed out in at least one other post, there is a difference between AMOUNT and NUMBER. AMOUNT should be used for "lump sum" items like salt, money, or laundry. If items can be counted (like INSTRUMENTS), the choice should be NUMBER.
This sentence should read as follows:
Gather any and all musical instruments. There is no limit to the number of items you can bring.
NOTE: For more on this subject, please see my post for January 9, 2010.
Tags: grammar, sentence structure, word usage
Posted in Grammar, sentence structure, word usage | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 15th, 2011
The Mobile Press-Register reported this week on a court case involving a bizarre incident aboard a Continental flight from Amsterdam to Houston on February 13, 2010. A south Alabama man became belligerent after several drinks (plus his medication) and harassed a flight attendant and at least one female passenger.
The newspaper reported that the man had been in handcuffs and under arrest at the end of the flight. Then came this priceless sentence:
Last week, he pleaded guilty to assaulting a flight attendant and a passenger as part of a deal with federal prosecutors in Houston that resulted in a six-month sentence.
What was that again? The assaults were part of the deal with the prosecutors? Is that what he pleaded guilty to? Probably not. This sentence would be MUCH clearer with a little rearrangement. I would suggest this:
Last week, as part of a deal with Houston federal prosecutors that resulted in a six-month sentence, he pleaded guilty to assaulting a flight attendant and a passenger.
As you can see here, sentence structure and arrangement can make a huge difference in meaning.
Tags: Mobile Press-Register, sentence structure
Posted in Grammar, wording | No Comments »
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