3/26/2020 correct sentences

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Writing correct sentences

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In the language game of writing a text, sentences are the

building blocks that should include the right words or phrases
and are in turn included in the larger units of the paragraphs.

This section explores three ways of improving your skills at

writing correct sentences:

how to combine two or more short sentences with a view to concision and
purposefulness,
how to organise the various parts of the sentence,
and how to establish your perspective.

[ Integrating elements][Word order][Perspective]

Integrating elements

Juxtaposed sentences can often be combined into one

complex sentence, provided this contributes to making your
text easier to read.

Exercise 1:

Write ONE sentence incorporating information found in

the following juxtaposed statements. Think of which
words can be left out and find the appropriate linking
words. Relative pronouns are of course helpful, but
remember there are other possibilities, including
reducing a piece of information to an adjective.

N.B. Whenever you refer to something already

mentioned, the inclusive relative pronoun (in French
‘ce que’ or ‘ce qui’) is ‘WHICH’.

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a. There is a house at the end of the

street. It stands on its own. The street was
bombed. It belongs to an elderly man. The
children call him Old Misery. ('The
Destructors')

b. Mrs Carnavon is a widow. Her son

died a few months earlier. Her son was
twenty-four. ('The Cold House')

c. Lou and Edward are feeling moody in

the car. Later Lou feels happier, partly due
to Josephine's influence. We know very
little about Josephine, who is said to have
'a fanatical smile.' ('Look at all Those
Roses')

d. Laura feels concern for the lower

classes. She hears that a workman has
been killed in an accident. The workman is
a neighbour of theirs. She is appalled at
the idea of her family still having a garden
party. ('The Garden Party')

e. The narrator claims that he is not

mad. He behaves in a completely irrational
way. This is shown in his nightly vigils.
('The Tell-Tale Heart')

f. Crystal Styan walks to the train stop

in the forest. She is in a hurry. Her
husband is coming back from town. She
wants to be in time to meet him. ('By the
River' - at the very end of the webpage)

g. The rabbits feel threatened. They

want to go to a safer place. The other
animals shame them into staying next to
the wolves. ('The Rabbits Who Caused
All the Trouble')

As indicated above, one should beware

of going too far in cramming information
into one single sentence. The result may
be more puzzling than illuminating.

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BAC1 students in English Literature MUST click

HERE to do this exercise interactively and will
have to enter their ULg "identifiant" and "mot
de passe" to access the page. Others, whose
work need not be monitored, can click here.

Exercise 2 :

Disentangle (=separate elements that have become

joined in a confusing way) the following sentences.

a. In her poem called 'The Natural

History Museum' Clanchy compares the
dead creatures in their glass boxes and
children who watch them as well as the
hunters and the children's parents because
a similar process freezes them into
lifelessness

b. The narrator is beset by beggars

who tell him lies in order to engage his
sympathy and be given some of the money
which they think he can dispense with and
which he does indeed give them even
though he knows better. ('The Beggar on
the Dublin Bridge')

BAC1 students in English Literature MUST click

HERE to do this exercise interactively and will
have to enter their ULg "identifiant" and "mot
de passe" to access the page. Others, whose
work need not be monitored, can click here.

Word order

The position of words in a sentence is either determined by

the grammar of the language or by the intention of the writer.
Word order determined by the writer’s intention, so
contributing to establish the perspective, is considered in the
third subsection. English is a hybrid and disturbingly fluid
language. While English usage has rules, very few (if any) do
not suffer exceptions. This also applies to word order in a
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sentence: it can be subjected to all sorts of distortions. Let us

remember, though, that the standard word order in the active
voice is Subject - Verb - Direct Object - Adjuncts, with time
adjunct at the end, and in the passive voice, Subject - Verb -
Agent - Adjuncts, with time adjunct at the end.

Inversion: The only instances when the verb occurs before

its subject are

(1) in questions: How did you find out ? What was he

thinking about ? Why did they refuse to step on board ?

(2) when the sentence begins with a negative or restrictive

element : Only in the long run shall we perceive the
consequences of this irresponsible poisoning of our streams
and lakes. / Scarcely had she uttered those words that she
realised how stupid they were.

Note that in these cases the full verb still comes after the
subject since the form used before is an auxiliary.

The idea is that there should not be any intrusive element

between subject and verb, or between verb and object, or verb
and agent. When there is (for indeed in many cases there will
be) it should be with some definite purpose.

Exercise 3:

Rearrange the various parts of the following jumbled

sentences so that they read like correct English
sentences.

a. I will - before addressing the

question - a naturalist novel - what - define
- first - is

b. how - she has realised - are -

regrets - useless

c. had been taken - on a sunny

summery river bank - the decision - long
before she was born - by others

d. absurd - running - Ozzie thought -

on the roof - was - as the night was closing

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in - how - the behaviour of those suddenly

strange people down in the street

e. On O'Connell Bridge - every day -

sings - the same beggar - without a cap on
his head - rain or shine

BAC1 students in English Literature MUST click HERE to

do this exercise interactively and will have to enter their
ULg "identifiant" and "mot de passe" to access the page.
Others, whose work need not be monitored, can click
here.

Exercise 4:

Rewrite the following sentences to make them

grammatical. MIND the order of the words!

a. *Laura is upset on all sorts of

occasions by how people are unhygienic.
('The Garden Party')

b. *Charlie sitting in the train both is

aggressive and unhappy. ('England
versus England')

c. *Laura felt shame and confusion

when walking down the lane about her
beautiful hat. ('The Garden Party')

BAC1 students in English Literature MUST click

HERE to do this exercise interactively and will
have to enter their ULg "identifiant" and "mot
de passe" to access the page. Others, whose
work need not be monitored, can click here.

Perspective

The position in which words occur in a sentence

contributes to determine the perspective, and thus, for
instance, the relative importance of characters in a summary.
If you go back to exercise 1 a. the perspective is different if
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you decide to have the house or the man as subject. Note that
telling an episode in the perspective of one of the characters
does not mean that you endorse that character’s position.

Exercise 5:

a. Write two or three sentences about the

episode when Laura wants the party to be
cancelled, first focusing on Laura, then
focusing on her sister Jose. Note the
difference in word order. (The Garden Party)

Suggested sentences for a:

(1) Laura feels that it would be indecent to carry on with the

party when one of their neighbours had just been killed. She is
amazed, and indeed indignant, at her sister’s heartlessness.
OR
Laura foolishly considers cancelling the party in spite of the
preparations that are afoot and the near impossibility of preventing
guests from arriving soon.

(2) Jose wonders at Laura’s utter lack of common sense. The

family has gone into huge expenses to set up a garden party, guests
are already on their way, and just because she has overheard some
tragic piece of news she wants them to cancel the party.
OR
Jose cannot understand Laura’s objections because she does not
have her sister’s capacity for human sympathy.

b. Same exercise about the moment when Mr

Gaines comments on the poem 'The White
Horses of the Sea' , focusing first on Mrs
Mason, the woman who wrote it , and then on
the Georgian poet.

c. Same exercise about the moment when Mr

Duffy and Mrs Sinico agree to break up their
relationship, focusing on Mrs Sirico first and
then on Mr Duffy.

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