march 31, 2014 fundamentals of grammar. passive construction in passive construction, the subject of...

March 31, 2014

Fundamentals of Grammar

Passive ConstructionIn passive construction, the subject of the sentence receives the action of the verb.

The roof was destroyed by the storm’s whipping winds.

RFW also names “be” as a weak construction when compared to the use of POWER VERBS

The storm’s whipping winds were responsible for the damage to the roof.

Active Construction

The whipping winds decimated the roof of our house.

The outcome was decided by a panel of judges.

Active construction: emphasizes the person or thing doing the action, as opposed to the person or thing receiving the action.

Power Verbs

The more we can get our verbs to work for us, the better. Adverbs have their place, but when you can deploy a highly descriptive action verb (called a POWER VERB), you will paint a more vibrant scene.The high-jumper (gracefully) leaped and went over the bar.The high-jumper (gracefully) sprang and arched over the bar.

“Carefully selected verbs can energize a piece of writing.” RFW

Emphasize the Actor (most of the time)

The store was stripped of its holiday décor and newly outfitted for Spring.

By whom?The designer stripped the store of its holiday décor and newly outfitted it in anticipation of Spring.

The Case for PassivityMany Hawaiians were forced to leave their homes after the earthquake.The tobacco plants are sprayed with a chemical to retard to the growth of suckers.Passive= emphasizes the receiver of the actionScience writing intends to emphasize the process not the lab-coat performing the experiment.The beaker was swirled, and the solution was then poured into the test tubes.

Excise Wordiness

Burying nuclear waste in Antarctica would be in violation of an international treaty. would be in violation of= would violate

The young child was at first resistant to the medicine Mary Poppins offered. was resistant to=resisted

Too Many Words Weaken the SauceYou can avoid convoluted writing by making the subject the actor.

The institution of the classroom rules had the effect of reversing some of the behavioral difficulties the teacher had endured prior.

The classroom rules reversed some of the behavior problems the teacher had previously endured.

Exercise 8-1

1. The monkey who escaped the zoo made a strange sound.2. Her letter acknowledged the student’s participation…3. Active and descriptive!4. Techno trailblazers Paul Oakenfold and Sandra Collins

influenced my choice of music for the audition.5. My parents gave me one responsibility: putting my brother to

bed when they work late.

Mixed Constructions

A mixed construction is a sentence containing parts that do not sensibly fit together. It may contain

phrases or clauses that do not fit together logically or a

subject that does not work grammatically with a predicate.

Mixed Constructions• The fact that the marathon is twenty-six miles, a

length that explains why I never have finished it.• The sentence begins with a subject, the fact,

followed by a dependent clause, that the marathon is twenty-six miles. The sentence needs a predicate to complete the independent clause; isntead it includes a noun [a length] and another dependent clause [that explains why I have never finished it]. The independent clause that begins with the fact is never completed.

• From: http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/exercisecentral/Tutorials/MixedConstruction

The fact that the marathon is twenty-six miles, a length that explains why I never have finished it.

Revised:

The marathon is twenty-six miles, which is why I have never finished it.

For most drivers who have a blood alcohol content of .05% double their risk of causing an accident.Subject: for most drivers?Predicate: double?

Prepositional phrases can’t be subjects!

For most drivers who have a blood alcohol content of .05% double their risk of causing an accident.

For most drivers, a blood alcohol content of .05% doubles their risk of causing an accident.Most drivers with a blood alcohol content of .05% double their risk…

More mix-ups…When a country elects a president is the most important aspect of democracy.Electing a president is the most important aspect of democracy.

Although I love chocolate chip cookies, but I will resist because I want to be hungry for dinner.Although I love C.C.C, I will resist because I want to be hungry for dinner.

Grammar Defying Stunts

“Occasionally a mixed construction is so tangled that it defies grammatical analysis. When this happens, back away from the sentence, rethink what you want to say, and then rewrite.

In the whole-word method, children learn to recognize entire words rather than by the phonics method in which they learn to sound out letters and groups of letters. %^&&($#@#$%^&*(?Possible revisions: The whole-word method teaches children to recognize entire words; the phonic method teaches them to sound out letters and groups of letters.While the whole-word method teaches children to recognize entire words, the phonic method teaches them to sound out letters and groups of letters.

Faulty Predication

FP occurs when the subject and the predicate of a sentence are not consistent.

The most desirable characteristic in an employee is a person who is loyal.

(a person cannot be a characteristic)

The most desirable characteristic in an employee is a person who is loyal.

Revised:

The most desirable characteristic in an employee is loyalty.

We decided that Tiffany’s welfare would not be safe living with her mother.

Under the revised plan, the elderly, who now receive a double personal exemption, will be abolished.

Abolish the elderly??!!…the double personal exemption for the elderly will be abolished.

Faulty Apposition

noun & apposition must be logically equivalent

The tax accountant, a very lucrative profession, requires intelligence, patience, and attention to mathematical detail.Tax accountant=personTax accounting=profession

…is when, is where, is because…

First of all, YUCK!The reason is because=double yuckThe reason the election was lost is because…The election was lost because…Mystical experience is when/is where the I is dissolved in the all.Mystical experience occurs when…

Exercise 11-1

Student Led Homework

Review

Adjectives and AdverbsAdjectives modify nouns or pronouns. They usually come before the word they modify; occasionally they function as complements following the word they modify. Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.

Most adverbs end with –ly. But not all –ly words are adverbs. Some adjectives en in –ly: lovely, friendly, comely, homely…

Adjectives

Adjectives typically precede the nouns they modify, but they can also follow linking verbs (as subject complements) or direct objects (as object complements).

Review: subject & object complements

Sarah is a medical student. Sarah is diligent.When an adjective (or a noun!) describes the subject it is a subject complement.Linking verbs (smell, taste, look, feel) can cause confusion. If the word following one of these verbs describes the subject, use an adjective; if the word following the verb modifies the verb, use an adverbThe detective looked cautious.The detective looked cautiously.

Object Complement: follows direct object and completes its meaning.

Don’t call me “daughter.”Sorrow makes us wise.

My sister called me angry.My sister called me angrily.

Good, bad, indifferent.

Distinguish carefully between good and bad, bad and badly

Good is an adjective (good job!). Well is an adverb when it modifies a verb (performs well under pressure). ‘Doing good’ is conversationally common but incorrect. She is doing well on each practice exam, so we have high hopes she will pass.

Well…Well can be an adjective when it modifies a noun and means “healthy” or “satisfactory” (She looked well.).

She did not feel well, but she performed well.

Badly Behaved

Bad=adjective, describes nounBadly=adverb, modifies verbThe adverb badly is often used incorrectly to describe a noun, esp. following a linking verb.

The sisters felt badly when they realized they had forgotten their brother’s birthday.

Modifiers: Misplaced and Dangling

One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas I'll never know.  

–Groucho Marx

Dangling ParticiplesParticiples…

Derive from verbs, but do not act as verbs

Function as adjectives to describe

EX: to double over

Doubled over by the strength of the blow, OR

Doubling over from the strength of the blow,

The boxer appeared to be down for the count.

Walking into the crowded lecture hall, heart palpitations began to drum through her entire body.

Walking into the crowded lecture hall, the novice speaker began to feel heart palpitations drum through her entire body.

Munching a buttered sausage, the cholesterol really builds up.*

Tumbling out of the back of the garbage truck, I was delighted to make treasure out of another man’s junk!

Sentence from Grammar Essentials for Dummies, Geraldine Woods, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

A few more examples…

Still clutching the stolen jewels to his chest, the policeman tackled the perpetrator.

After being whipped fiercely, the cook boiled the egg. Flitting frivolously from

flower to flower, the football player watched the bee.

Danglers…

Page 132 has a helpful list showing the four most common delinquent danglers…Participial (we now know well)Preposition + gerundInfinitive phraseElliptical clause with understood sub + verb

Wait, what? The most important thing to note is if what comes after the introductory clause is what is supposed to be modified by the clause.

According to RFW…

“Although most readers will understand the writer’s intended

meaning, the inadvertent humor can be distracting.”

-Hacker and Sommers

Homework Presentations