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March 14, 2000
ENGLISH SYNTAX
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Syntax refers to common sentence patterns using words, phrases, and clauses. (We'll discuss sentence types in a later issue.) One of the most common patterns of English sentences is the subject-verb-object combination (S+V+O).
EXAMPLES:
Sally (subject) hit (verb) her younger brother (object).
The teacher (subject) flunked (verb) half the class (object).
When editing someone's writing and if you're not sure if the sentence is correct from a syntax point of view, look for the S+V+O combination. Additional combinations will be discussed in our future issue about sentence types.
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PAST ISSUES NOW AVAILABLE ON-LINE
Subscribers to GrammarCheck can now read past issues at the following web site address:
http://www.grammarcheck.com/archives
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WRITING TIP: ELIMINATE "EXPLETIVES" AND UNNECESSARY PRONOUNS
We continue our series of writing tips that can make your writing more professional. Part One of this first tip was to eliminate "to be" verbs (is, are, was, were, to be, be, being, been) WHEN POSSIBLE, and Part Two involved eliminating "to have" verbs (have, has, had, having, to have) when possible. Part Three involves eliminating "expletives" (pronoun + "to be" verb) and other unnecessary pronouns (who, that, which, and so forth).
Let's start with expletives. An expletive includes any pronoun followed by a "to be" or "to have" verb: this is, they are, it is, they have, it has been, and so forth. Expletives often contribute to wordiness in writing; whenever possible, eliminate them.
EXAMPLES:
THERE WAS a certain goal I wanted to accomplish.
I wanted to accomplish a certain goal.
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IT IS my mother's positive voice I remember most.
I remember my mother's positive voice most.
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IT IS amazing how those words have followed me since my youth.
It amazes me how those words have followed me since my youth.
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Other pronouns (e.g., who, that, which, and so forth) also contribute to wordy writing, and many times people use them with expletives. When possible, eliminate them.
EXAMPLES:
IT IS customers like you WHO keep our business solvent.
Customers like you keep our business solvent.
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HE WAS a man WHO would challenge young minds.
He challenged young minds.
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IT IS the positive comments THAT I try to remember.
I try to remember the positive comments.
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FOR PRACTICE:
1. Choose a one-page letter or one page from a multi-page document you have written.
2. Circle all "expletives" and each use of "that," "who," and "which" in the document.
3. Try to eliminate at least half of the circled words.
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YOUR GRAMMAR AND WRITING QUESTIONS:
QUESTION: I saw the following excerpt in one of your issues: "How IS your writing effectiveness when you ARE working under pressure?" was changed to read, "How does working under pressure affect your writing?" I believe that in doing away with the "to be" verb you also did away with the meaning of the question. I would say the correct way to word this would be, "How effective are you when working under pressure?" There's still an "are" in there but it means the same as your first question, whereas your "fix" changes the meaning. Perhaps one could ask, "Does working under pressure affect your effectiveness?" LOL--that sounds pretty rotten to me.
GRAMMARCHECK: We agree that eliminating the "to be" verb alters the meaning slightly, but that happens with ANY type of revision or editing. Such is the nature of language, yes? However, the changes you suggest alter it even more than our original answer:
1. How effective are you when working under pressure? (Notice how "writing" is not mentioned here, so readers might wonder what type of effectiveness the question refers to. Context might take care of the problem, but on its own, this revision of the original question changes the meaning too much.)
2. Does working under pressure affect your effectiveness? (This revision has the same problem as the previous one--what type of effectiveness--but even if you insert "writing," this revision is a "yes/no" question, whereas the original is open-ended.)
Of course, we could always change our original revision to read, "How does working under pressure affect your writing effectiveness," which would be the most correct, but like you said--sounds pretty rotten to me.
Our overall take: when eliminating a "to be" or "to have" verb changes meaning enough to alter what you're trying to say, leave the sentence alone. That's why we advise changing it "when possible." But in most cases, the change is so slight that it doesn't make a difference to the average reader, and readers don't isolate sentence meanings anyway; they interpret sentences within the CONTEXT of a passage. We've seen a 500-word text revised/edited into a 350-word text when this writing tip is used. As for us, we'd rather read the 350-word one. Thanks for writing!
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QUESTION: Is there ever a time when you place a comma or period after quotation marks?
GRAMMARCHECK: We can't think of any. Of course, the symbol for inches (") could be used before a period (e.g., The figurine is pretty wide at 5".), but we recommend spelling out the symbol: The figurine is pretty wide at five inches. Besides, the symbol for inches is not a quotation mark. Readers: can you think of any circumstance(s) when a comma or period would be placed after a quotation mark? If so, write to us at grammar@grammarcheck.com[.]
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QUESTION: What is the correct way to write a family name in plural when the name ends with an "s"? For instance, is this (The Joneses and the Davises are coming.) correct? Or is an apostrophe used (e.g., The Jones' and Davis' are coming.)? I see this so often with an apostrophe, but I don't believe it's right. Another example is on those plaques people hang on their doors. If it's the Smith family, shouldn't it say The Smiths? If it's the Davis family, shouldn't it say The Davises? I usually see The Davis' and this drives me batty, though I feel like I'm the only person in the world who thinks this way. Am I wrong? Thank you so much!
GRAMMARCHECK: Good questions. You're correct: the proper way to indicate a plural family name follows the same rules as plural nouns (see our 2-29-2000 issue). If the family name ends in "s," you add an "es" to the end (e.g., The Joneses, The Davises). If the family name ends in any other letter, you ad an "s" (e.g., The Smiths, The Henrys). The only time you would use an apostrophe with a family name is when you need to show possession (e.g., The Smith's dog ran away; The Jones' car was hit by the tree.) It looks like a lot of plaques need to be corrected.
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QUESTION: What is the difference between "a" and "an" articles? I have noticed recently that in written works, "an" is being used widely. An example is, "an historical event," instead of the traditional "a historical event." I am somewhat confused as to what article to use. I hope you can provide me information on this. Thanks.
GRAMMARCHECK: Whether to use "a" or "an" before "historical" depends on how you pronounce the word "historical": is the "h" silent or spoken? According to the dictionary, the "h" is spoken, thus "a" should precede "historical." For more information about the use of "a" and "an," see our 2-15-2000 edition posted on the web at http://www.grammarcheck.com/archives/[.]
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QUESTION: When using plain text for an e-zine, how do you indicate something should be capitalized, such as the name of a book?
GRAMMARCHECK: We're a bit stumped on this one because standards are still being developed for e-zines. Sometimes we use all caps (e.g., GRAMMARCHECK), and at other times, we use upper and lower case letters (e.g., GrammarCheck). We've also seen the following used, _GrammarCheck_, but that looks funky. We suppose the most correct form is to capitalize all the letters, but we believe using upper and lower case letters (as in GrammarCheck) is easier to read for some words. For example, if the name of an e-zine is TextToType, what's the advantage of typing it in all caps, since it would read TEXTTOTYPE; that's difficult to read. It makes sense to use either ALL CAPS or upper and lower letters when using a plain text e-zine.
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QUESTION: I have a grammar question. Do you have a phone number I could call?
GRAMMARCHECK: Since publishing GrammarCheck is a "labor of love," we can't answer personal calls about grammar problems, but please forward your question to us at question@grammarcheck.com[.] We'll do our best to answer it in an upcoming edition.
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QUESTION: Hi! Can you help me to check my grammar with the following the two sentences:
1) 1st prize winner (Gold Award) in the 11th National Furniture Design Competition, 98/99. The creation of Aero computer table has reflect the innovative scientific technology for the contemporary living standard.
2) The design had been exhibit on Malaysian International Furniture Fair'99. The Minister of International Trade and Industry, Malaysia, has been visited the exhibition.
GRAMMARCHECK: Okay, we couldn't resist helping out just this once--but please, no more English translation questions. :-)
1) The 1st prize of the Gold Award in the 11th National Furniture Design competition for 1998/1999 goes to the creator of the Aero Computer Table for innovative scientific technology in contemporary living standards.
2) The design was exhibited at the 1999 Malaysian International Furniture Fair. The Minister of International Trade and Industry in Malaysia visited the exhibition.
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