Intellectual property

of ELU 15

Writing Complex Sentences

to emphasise main and secondar y ideas

4 common subordinate clauses to express secondary ideas:

• Adverbial clause We note that VO12 appeared in your IPC 43 claim although the
work has yet to be carried out.

The main challenge is traffic congestion which is inevitable

• Relative clause
due to high traffic volume.

• To-infinitive clause To find out what had happened at the site, the Manager ordered
a full investigation.

• Participle clause ➢ -ed Filled with pride, the team accepted the Innovation in Tunnel
Excavation Award.

➢ -ing We sent them the contract, stating our terms and conditions.
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Wr i t i n g C o m p l e x S e n t e n c e s to emphasise main and secondary ideas

Writing Adverbial Clauses

An adverbial clause elaborates on the main idea.

Choose the correct subordinating conjunction to express your intended meaning.

We can start work once we have resolved the land dispute. To show time – after, as, as soon as, before,
once, since, till, until, when, whenever, while
As we were about to start the sales launch, there was a blackout.

Please instruct MGKT and DTSB where/whereabout they need to To show place – where, whereabout
jointly clear the surrounding perimeter drains at 132Kv PMU.

The old system was quite complicated whereas the new one is To show contrast – although, as though, even
user-friendly. though, whereas, while
While they are willing to meet to discuss the matter, they are
unlikely to come to an agreement.
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of ELU 17

Wr i t i n g C o m p l e x S e n t e n c e s to emphasise main and secondary ideas

Writing Adverbial Clauses

The road is well-designed as/since/because traffic can flow smoothly

To show reason, purpose or cause – as,
with minimal disruption. because, in order that, since, so that
The commission for sales of the new development units was revised
so that the sales target would be met.

A Design Change Notice (DCN) shall be raised if it is necessary to amend To show condition – as long as, if, in case,
the drawing based on the Consultant’s feedback. provided that, unless

The Mobilairs cannot be manually started during Auto mode unless there
are adjustments made by PLC/SAM.

where (shows location) vs whereby (shows method/how something is done)

Gamuda’s Digital IBS whereby embodied carbon is reduced is the future of green construction.
RT-PCR testing is compulsory at Gamuda whereby all employees must undergo regular PCR testing.
Gamuda Land mindfully plans its townships whereby the home, workplace, and recreation are within easy reach.
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Wr i t i n g C o m p l e x S e n t e n c e s to emphasise main and secondary ideas

Writing Adverbial Clauses

Placing the adverbial clause

Generally, an adverbial clause can be placed before or after the main idea.

Once we have resolved the land dispute, we can start work. Some placement impact
– what you read first gets more attention
We can start work once we have resolved the land dispute. (though idea emphasis remains the same)

Punctuating with a comma

Insert a comma if adverbial clause Once we have resolved the land dispute, we can start work.
comes before main idea.

No comma if adverbial clause We can start work once we have resolved the land dispute.
comes after main idea.
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Wr i t i n g C o m p l e x S e n t e n c e s to emphasise main and secondary ideas

Writing Relative Clauses

A r e l a tive cl a u s e g i ve s u s i n f o rm atio n a b o u t th e n o u n i n th e m a i n cl a u s e ( m a i n id ea ).

It u s u a l ly b e gin s w i th a r e l a tive p r o n o u n s u ch a s w h o, w h i c h, t h a t , w h ose o r w h om .

Th e ch o i ce o f r e l a tive p r o n o u n d e p e n d s o n w h a t w e a r e r e f e r rin g to.

I like working with colleagues who/that appreciate what I do. To describe people

Gamuda’s Digital IBS which is anchored in a cloud-based digital design has To describe animals/ non-
revolutionised the construction sector. animate objects/concepts

The company rewarded the employees whose performance was outstanding last year. To describe ‘possession’ in
(The company rewarded the employees. Their performance was outstanding last year.) place of a possessive form
(e.g. my, his, her, its, their)
Communicating with Ramesh, whose English proficiency is very low, can be challenging.
(Communicating with Ramesh can be challenging. His English proficiency is very low.)
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Wr i t i n g C o m p l e x S e n t e n c e s to emphasise main and secondary ideas

Writing Relative Clauses

Using whom vs who

Use whom instead of who to link a relative clause to a main clause when
the relative pronoun is not the subject of the relative clause.

1a. The consultant whom they met at the function is coming to visit the site next week.

1b. The consultant is coming to visit the site next week. They met the consultant at the function.
subject object

2a. We will discuss the matter with the manager whom we are meeting later today.

2b. We will discuss the matter with the manager. We are meeting him later today.
subject object

Note: whom is mostly used in formal contexts. We often leave whom out, or use that instead.
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of ELU 21

Wr i t i n g C o m p l e x S e n t e n c e s to emphasise main and secondary ideas

Writing Relative Clauses

Placing the Relative Clause

A relative clause follows after what it describes.

Place the relative clause My department hired a QS who has experience in green construction.
immediately after the noun Door gifts are given to the visitors who attend the property launch at
it describes. Gamuda Gardens.

Place the relative clause An experienced QS is joining my department, which is good news for us.
immediately after the main clause
if it describes the whole clause. The inverter in the DS40 broke down, which had happened before.

Place the relative clause
within the main clause if
it describes the subject.
The materials which the supplier sent us is insufficient.
The woman who walked out just now is one of our EDs.
The circular economy, which is mostly directly related to carbon
reduction, is only one part of the whole ESG effort.
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Wr i t i n g C o m p l e x S e n t e n c e s to emphasise main and secondary ideas

Writing Relative Clauses

Punctuating with a comma

Using a comma before a relative clause changes the meaning of the sentence.

The decision to use/not use a comma depends on the importance of the information.
If this detail is omitted, we do not know
which materials are being referred to.
If the relative clause gives The materials which the supplier sent us is insufficient.
essential information, do
not use a comma. My department hired a QS who has experience in green construction.
Without this information,
we do not know which QS.

If the relative clause gives
extra information (not
essential) to the sentence,
use a comma.
The materials, which the supplier sent us, is insufficient.
He gave her his new business card, which was recently printed.
Leaving out this (extra) information
does not affect the main idea.
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Wr i t i n g C o m p l e x S e n t e n c e s to emphasise main and secondary ideas

Writing ing- Participle and -ed Participle Clauses

Participle clauses enable us to communicate more information concisely.

They are usually reduced adverbial clauses or relative clauses.

1a. We discovered the leak while checking the 3a. The chief engineer is the man wearing the blue tie.
piping system.
3b. The chief engineer is the man who is wearing the
1b. We discovered the leak while we were checking blue tie.
the piping system.

4a. Gamuda's Digital IBS anchored in a cloud-based

2a. Concerned about the bad weather report, the digital design has revolutionised the nation’s
team expedited the excavation works. construction sector.

2b. The team expedited the excavation works as they 4b. Gamuda's Digital IBS which is anchored in a cloud-
were concerned about the bad weather report. based digital design has revolutionised the
nation’s construction sector.
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Wr i t i n g C o m p l e x S e n t e n c e s to emphasise main and secondary ideas

Writing ing- Participle and -ed Participle Clauses

More examples of the -ing participle clause in a sentence

1. Hoping to shorten the approval process, they will submit the Conceptual Plan and Detail
Plan for approval concurrently.

2. Foreign workers residing in Malaysia without a visa are not allowed to work.

3. The main contractor refused to release the full agreed payment to the subcontractors,
causing the subcontractors to take legal action.

More examples of the –ed participle clause in a sentence

4. Built in 2007, the SMART tunnel is the longest stormwater tunnel in Southeast Asia.
5. The cars parked near the site belong to the employees of the company.
6. The employees witnessed the cars flattened by the LRT beam.
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Wr i t i n g C o m p l e x S e n t e n c e s to emphasise main and secondary ideas

Writing ing- Participle and -ed Participle Clauses

Watch out - some errors in participle clause construction!

Spot the errors and rewrite the sentences.

1. Walking at the park, my mood improved tremendously.

I walked in the park. My mood improved tremendously.

While walking at the park, my mood improved tremendously.

2. Mixing it with soda, the cocktail tasted even better.

I mixed the cocktail with soda. The cocktail tasted even better.
The cocktail, mixed with soda, tasted even better.
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Wr i t i n g C o m p l e x S e n t e n c e s to emphasise main and secondary ideas

Writing To-Infinitive Clauses

To-Inf initive clauses are generally placed before or af ter the main clause
for various functions.

We organised weekly virtual meetings to keep the team informed. / To indicate the purpose
To keep the team informed, we organised weekly virtual meetings. of an action

To get the contract on their terms, the team worked on the proposal for four months. /
The team worked on the proposal for four months to get the contract on their terms.

It takes a lot of time and effort to repair the generator. / To act as subject of the
To repair the generator takes a lot of time and effort. main clause

To quit the team now is not advisable.

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Wr i t i n g C o m p l e x S e n t e n c e s to emphasise main and secondary ideas

Writing To-Infinitive Clauses

I would like to eat durian for breakfast. To act as the object of

the main clause
They agreed to give us an extension of time.
(It answers the question
They urged the supplier to deliver the finished product on time. “What?” after the verb).

The new team member seems to be very motivated. To complete the main
clause
Our goal is to lead the region innovative breakthrough solutions for large-scale
property development .