Basic Principle: Singular subjects need singular verbs; plural subjects need plural verbs.

My
brother is a nutritionist. My sisters are mathematicians.
See the section on Plurals for additional help with subject-verb agreement.
The indefnite pronouns anyone, everyone, someone, no one, nobody are always singular
and, therefore, require singular verbs.
veryone has done his or her homewor!.
Somebody has left her purse.
Some indefnite pronouns " such as all, some " are singular or plural depending on what
they#re referring to. $%s the thing referred to countable or not&' (e careful choosing a verb
to accompany such pronouns.
Some of the beads are missing.
Some of the water is gone.
)n the other hand, there is one indefnite pronoun, none, that can be either singular or
plural* it often doesn#t matter whether you use a singular or a plural verb " unless
something else in the sentence determines its number. $+riters generally thin! of none as
meaning not any and will choose a plural verb, as in ,-one of the engines are wor!ing,,
but when something else ma!es us regard none as meaning not one, we want a singular
verb, as in ,-one of the food is fresh.,'
-one of you claims responsibility for this incident&
-one of you claim responsibility for this incident&
-one of the students have done their homewor!. $%n this last e.ample, the word
their precludes the use of the singular verb.
Some indefnite pronouns are particularly troublesome Everyone and everybody $listed
above, also' certainly feel li!e more than one person and, therefore, students are
sometimes tempted to use a plural verb with them. They are always singular, though.
Each is often followed by a prepositional phrase ending in a plural word $ach of the cars',
thus confusing the verb choice. Each, too, is always singular and requires a singular verb.
veryone has fnished his or her homewor!.
/ou would always say, ,verybody is here., This means that the word is singular and
nothing will change that.
ach of the students is responsible for doing his or her wor! in the library.
0on#t let the word ,students, confuse you* the subject is each and each is always singular
" ach is responsible.
1hrases such as together with, as well as, and along with are not the same as
and. The phrase introduced by as well as or along with will modify the earlier
word $mayor in this case', but it does not compound the subjects $as the word
and would do'.
The mayor as well as his brothers is going to prison.
The mayor and his brothers are going to jail.
The pronouns neither and either are singular and require singular verbs even
though they seem to be referring, in a sense, to two things.
-either of the two tra2c lights is wor!ing.
+hich shirt do you want for 3hristmas&
ither is fne with me.
%n informal writing, neither and either sometimes ta!e a plural verb when these pronouns
are followed by a prepositional phrase beginning with of. This is particularly true of
interrogative constructions4 ,5ave either of you two clowns read the assignment&, ,6re
either of you ta!ing this seriously&, (urchfeld calls this ,a clash between notional and
actual agreement.,7
The conjunction or does not conjoin $as and does'4 when nor or or is used the
subject closer to the verb determines the number of the verb. +hether the
subject comes before or after the verb doesn#t matter* the pro.imity
determines the number.
ither my father or my brothers are going to sell the house.
-either my brothers nor my father is going to sell the house.
Are either my brothers or my father responsible&
Is either my father or my brothers responsible&
(ecause a sentence li!e ,-either my brothers nor my father is going to sell the house,
sounds peculiar, it is probably a good idea to put the plural subject closer to the verb
whenever that is possible.
The words there and here are never subjects.
There are two reasons 8plural subject9 for this.
There is no reason for this.
5ere are two apples.
+ith these constructions $called e.pletive constructions', the subject follows the verb but
still determines the number of the verb.
:erbs in the present tense for third-person, singular subjects $he, she, it and
anything those words can stand for' have s-endings. )ther verbs do not add s-
endings.
5e loves and she loves and they love; and . . . .
5e loves and she loves and they love; and . . . .
Sometimes modifers will get betwen a subject and its verb, but these modifers must not
confuse the agreement between the subject and its verb.
The mayor, who has been convicted along with his four brothers on four counts of various
crimes but who also seems, li!e a cat, to have several political lives, is fnally going to jail.
Sometimes nouns ta!e weird forms and can fool us into thin!ing they#re plural when
they#re really singular and vice-versa. 3onsult the section on the Plural Forms of
Nouns and the section on Collective Nouns for additional help. +ords such as
glasses, pants, pliers, and scissors are regarded as plural $and require plural verbs'
unless they#re preceded the phrase pair of $in which case the word pair becomes the
subject'.
My glasses were on the bed.
My pants were torn.
6 pair of plaid trousers is in the closet.
Some words end in s and appear to be plural but are really singular and require
singular verbs.
The news from the front is bad.
Measles is a dangerous disease for pregnant women.
)n the other hand, some words ending in s refer to a single thing but are nonetheless plural and
require a plural verb.
My assets were wiped out in the depression.
The average wor!er#s earnings have gone up dramatically.
)ur than!s go to the wor!ers who supported the union.
The names of sports teams that do not end in ,s, will ta!e a plural verb4 the Miami 5eat have been
loo!ing < , The 3onnecticut Sun are hoping that new talent < . See the section on plurals for help
with this problem.
=ractional e.pressions such as half of, a part of, a percentage of, a majority of are
sometimes singular and sometimes plural, depending on the meaning. $The same is
true, of course, when all, any, more, most and some act as subjects.' Sums and
products of mathematical processes are e.pressed as singular and require singular
verbs. The e.pression ,more than one, $oddly enough' ta!es a singular verb4 ,More
than one student has tried this.,
Some of the voters are still angry.
6 large percentage of the older population is voting against her.
Two-ffths of the troops were lost in the battle.
Two-ffths of the vineyard was destroyed by fre.
=orty percent of the students are in favor of changing the policy.
=orty percent of the student body is in favor of changing the policy.
Two and two is four.
=our times four divided by two is eight.
%f your sentence compounds a positive and a negative subject and one is plural, the
other singular, the verb should agree with the positive subject.
The department members but not the chair have decided not to teach on
:alentine#s 0ay.
%t is not the faculty members but the president who decides this issue.
%t was the spea!er, not his ideas, that has provoked the students to riot.
Denition
6dverbs are words that modify
a verb $5e drove slowly. " 5ow did he drive&'
an adjective $5e drove a very fast car. " 5ow fast was his car&'
another adverb $She moved quite slowly down the aisle. " 5ow slowly did she move&'
6s we will see, adverbs often tell when, where, why, or under what conditions something happens
or happened. 6dverbs frequently end in ly* however, many words and phrases not ending in ly
serve an adverbial function and an ly ending is not a guarantee that a word is an adverb. The
words lovely, lonely, motherly, friendly, neighborly, for instance, are adjectives4
That lovely woman lives in a friendly neighborhood.
%f a group of words containing a subject and verb acts as an adverb $modifying the verb of a
sentence', it is called an Adverb Clause!
+hen this class is over, we#re going to the movies.
+hen a group of words not containing a subject and verb acts as an adverb, it is called an
adverbial phrase. Prepositional phrases frequently have adverbial functions $telling place and
time, modifying the verb'4
5e went to the movies.
She wor!s on holidays.
They lived in 3anada during the war.
6nd Innitive phrases can act as adverbs $usually telling why'4
She hurried to the mainland to see her brother.
The senator ran to catch the bus.
(ut there are other !inds of adverbial phrases4
5e calls his mother as often as possible.
6dverbs can modify ad"ectives, but an adjective cannot modify an adverb.
Thus we would say that ,the students showed a really wonderful attitude, and
that ,the students showed a wonderfully casual attitude, and that ,my
professor is really tall, but not ,5e ran real fast.,
>i!e adjectives, adverbs can have comparative and superlative forms to show
degree.
+al! faster if you want to !eep up with me.
The student who reads fastest will fnish frst.
+e often use more and most, less and least to show degree with adverbs4
+ith snea!ers on, she could move more quic!ly among the patients.
The ?owers were the most beautifully arranged creations %#ve ever seen.
She wor!ed less confdently after her accident.
That was the least s!illfully done performance %#ve seen in years.
The as " as construction can be used to create adverbs that e.press sameness or equality4 ,5e
can#t run as fast as his sister.,
6 handful of adverbs have two forms, one that ends in ly and one that doesn#t. %n certain cases,
the two forms have di@erent meanings4
5e arrived late.
>ately, he couldn#t seem to be on time for anything.
%n most cases, however, the form without the ly ending should be reserved for casual situations4
She certainly drives slow in that old (uic! of hers.
5e did wrong by her.
5e spo!e sharp, quic!, and to the point.
6dverbs often function as intensiers, conveying a greater or lesser emphasis to something.
%ntensifers are said to have three di@erent functions4 they can emphasiAe, amplify, or downtone.
5ere are some e.amples4
mphasiAers4
o % really don#t believe him.
o 5e literally wrec!ed his mother#s car.
o She simply ignored me.
o They#re going to be late, for sure.
6mplifers4
o The teacher completely rejected her proposal.
o % absolutely refuse to attend any more faculty meetings.
o They heartily endorsed the new restaurant.
o % so wanted to go with them.
o +e !now this city well.
0owntoners4
o % !ind of li!e this college.
o Boe sort of felt betrayed by his sister.
o 5is mother mildly disapproved his actions.
o +e can improve on this to some e.tent.
o The boss almost quit after that.
o The school was all but ruined by the storm.
6dverbs $as well as adjectives' in their various degrees can be accompanied by premodifers4
She runs very fast.
+e#re going to run out of material all the faster
This issue is addressed in the section on degrees in adjectives.
=or this section on intensifers, we are indebted to ! "rammar of #ontemporary English by
Candolph Duir!, Sidney Ereenbaum, Eeo@rey >eech, and Ban Svartvi!. >ongman Eroup4 >ondon.
FGHI. pages JKI to JLH. .amples our own.
#sing Adverbs in a Numbered $ist
+ithin the normal ?ow of te.t, it#s nearly always a bad idea to number items beyond three or four,
at the most. 6nything beyond that, you#re better o@ with a vertical list that uses numbers $F, M, K,
etc.'. 6lso, in such a list, don#t use adverbs $with an ly ending'* use instead the unin?ected ordinal
number $frst, second, third, fourth, ffth, etc.'. =irst $not frstly', it#s unclear what the adverb is
modifying. Second $not secondly', it#s unnecessary. Third $not thirdly', after you get beyond
,secondly,, it starts to sound silly. 6dverbs that number in this manner are treated as disjuncts
$see below.'
Adverbs %e Can Do %ithout
Ceview the section on &eing Concise for some advice on adverbs that we can eliminate to the
beneft of our prose4 intensiers such as very, e$tremely, and really that don#t intensify anything
and e'pletive constructions $,There are several boo!s that address this issue.,'
3lic! on ,>olly#s
1lace, to read and
hear (ob 0orough#s
,Eet /our 6dverbs
5ere, $from
Scholastic Coc!,
FGHJ'.
Schoolhouse Coc!N
and its characters
and other
elements are
trademar!s and
service mar!s of
6merican
(roadcasting
3ompanies, %nc.
Osed with
permission.
(inds of Adverbs
Adverbs of )anner
She moved slowly and spo!e quietly.
Adverbs of Place
She has lived on the island all her life.
She still lives there now.
Adverbs of Fre*uency
She ta!es the boat to the mainland every day.
She often goes by herself.
Adverbs of +ime
She tries to get bac! before dar!.
%t#s starting to get dar! now.
She fnished her tea frst.
She left early.
Adverbs of Purpose
She drives her boat slowly to avoid hitting the roc!s.
She shops in several stores to get the best buys.
Positions of Adverbs
)ne of the hallmar!s of adverbs is their ability to move around in a sentence. 6dverbs of manner
are particularly ?e.ible in this regard.
Solemnly the minister addressed her congregation.
The minister solemnly addressed her congregation.
The minister addressed her congregation solemnly.
The following adverbs of frequency appear in various points in these sentences4
(efore the main verb4 % never get up before nine o#cloc!.
(etween the au.iliary verb and the main verb4 % have rarely written to my brother without
a good reason.
(efore the verb used to: % always used to see him at his summer home.
%ndefnite adverbs of time can appear either before the verb or between the au.iliary and the main
verb4
5e fnally showed up for batting practice.
She has recently retired.
,rder of Adverbs
There is a basic order in which adverbs will appear when there is more than one. %t is similar to
+he -oyal ,rder of Ad"ectives, but it is even more ?e.ible.
+.E -,/A$ ,-DE- ,F AD0E-&1
0erb )anner Place Fre*uency +ime Purpose
(eth
swims
enthusiastically in the pool every morning before dawn to !eep in shape.
0ad
wal!s
impatiently into town every afternoon before supper to get a newspaper.
Tashond
a naps
in her room every morning before lunch.

%n actual practice, of course, it would be highly unusual to have a string of adverbial
modifers beyond two or three $at the most'. (ecause the placement of adverbs is so
?e.ible, one or two of the modifers would probably move to the beginning of the
sentence4 ,very afternoon before supper, 0ad impatiently wal!s into town to get a
newspaper., +hen that happens, the introductory adverbial modifers are usually set o@
with a comma.
)ore Notes on Adverb ,rder
6s a general principle, shorter adverbial phrases precede longer adverbial phrases, regardless of
content. %n the following sentence, an adverb of time precedes an adverb of frequency because it
is shorter $and simpler'4
0ad ta!es a bris! wal! before brea!fast every day of his life.
6 second principle4 among similar adverbial phrases of !ind $manner, place, frequency, etc.', the
more specifc adverbial phrase comes frst4
My grandmother was born in a sod house on the plains of northern -ebras!a.
She promised to meet him for lunch ne.t Tuesday.
(ringing an adverbial modifer to the beginning of the sentence can place special emphasis on that
modifer. This is particularly useful with adverbs of manner4
Slowly, ever so carefully, Besse flled the co@ee cup up to the brim, even above the brim.
)ccasionally, but only occasionally, one of these lemons will get by the inspectors.
Inappropriate Adverb ,rder
Ceview the section on )isplaced )odiers for some additional ideas on placement. Modifers
can sometimes attach themselves to and thus modify words that they ought not to modify.
They reported that Eiuseppe (alle, a uropean roc! star, had died on the si. o#cloc! news.
3learly, it would be better to move the underlined modifer to a position immediately after ,they
reported, or even to the beginning of the sentence " so the poor man doesn#t die on television.
Misplacement can also occur with very simple modifers, such as only and barely4
She only grew to be four feet tall.
%t would be better if ,She grew to be only four feet tall.,
Ad"uncts2 Dis"uncts2 and Con"uncts
Cegardless of its position, an adverb is often neatly integrated into the ?ow of a sentence. +hen
this is true, as it almost always is, the adverb is called an adjunct. $-otice the underlined adjuncts
or adjunctive adverbs in the frst two sentences of this paragraph.' +hen the adverb does not ft
into the ?ow of the clause, it is called a disjunct or a conjunct and is often set o@ by a comma or
set of commas. 6 disjunct frequently acts as a !ind of evaluation of the rest of the sentence.
6lthough it usually modifes the verb, we could say that it modifes the entire clause, too. -otice
how ,too, is a disjunct in the sentence immediately before this one* that same word can also serve
as an adjunct adverbial modifer4 %t#s too hot to play outside. 5ere are two more disjunctive
adverbs4
=ran!ly, Martha, % don#t give a hoot.
=ortunately, no one was hurt.
3onjuncts, on the other hand, serve a connector function within the ?ow of the te.t, signaling a
transition between ideas.
%f they start smo!ing those awful cigars, then %#m not staying.
+e#ve told the landlord about this ceiling again and again, and yet he#s done nothing to f.
it.
6t the e.treme edge of this category, we have the purely conjunctive device !nown as the
conjunctive adverb $often called the adverbial conjunction'4
Bose has spent years preparing for this event* nevertheless, he#s the most nervous person
here.
% love this school* however, % don#t thin! % can a@ord the tuition.
6uthority for this section4 ! %niversity "rammar of English by Candolph Duir! and Sidney
Ereenbaum. >ongman Eroup4 sse., ngland. FGGK. FMP. Osed with permission. .amples our own.
1ome 1pecial Cases
The adverbs enough and not enough usually ta!e a postmodifer position4
%s that music loud enough&
These shoes are not big enough.
%n a roomful of elderly people, you must remember to spea! loudly enough.
$-otice, though, that when enough functions as an adjective, it can come before the noun4
0id she give us enough time&
The adverb enough is often followed by an infnitive4
She didn#t run fast enough to win.
The adverb too comes before adjectives and other adverbs4
She ran too fast.
She wor!s too quic!ly.
%f too comes after the adverb it is probably a disjunct $meaning also' and is usually set o@ with a
comma4
/asmin wor!s hard. She wor!s quic!ly, too.
The adverb too is often followed by an infnitive4
She runs too slowly to enter this race.
6nother common construction with the adverb too is too followed by a prepositional phrase " for
Q the object of the preposition " followed by an infnitive4
This mil! is too hot for a baby to drin!.
-elative Adverbs
6djectival clauses are sometimes introduced by what are called the relative adverbs4 where,
when, and why. 6lthough the entire clause is adjectival and will modify a noun, the relative word
itself fulflls an adverbial function $modifying a verb within its own clause'.
The relative adverb where will begin a clause that modifes a noun of place4
My entire family now worships in the church where my great grandfather used to be minister.
The relative pronoun ,where, modifes the verb ,used to be, $which ma!es it adverbial', but the
entire clause $,where my great grandfather used to be minister,' modifes the word ,church.,
6 when clause will modify nouns of time4
My favorite month is always =ebruary, when we celebrate :alentine#s 0ay and 1residents# 0ay.
6nd a why clause will modify the noun reason:
0o you !now the reason why %sabel isn#t in class today&
+e sometimes leave out the relative adverb in such clauses, and many writers prefer ,that, to
,why, in a clause referring to ,reason,4
0o you !now the reason why %sabel isn#t in class today&
% always loo! forward to the day when we begin our summer vacation.
% !now the reason that men li!e motorcycles.
6uthority for this section4 %nderstanding English "rammar by Martha Rolln. Jrth dition. MacMillan
1ublishing 3ompany4 -ew /or!. FGGJ.
0iewpoint2 Focus2 and Negative Adverbs
6 viewpoint adverb generally comes after a noun and is related to an adjective that precedes
that noun4
6 successful athletic team is often a good team scholastically.
%nvesting all our money in snowmobiles was probably not a sound idea fnancially.
/ou will sometimes hear a phrase li!e ,scholastically spea!ing, or ,fnancially spea!ing, in these
circumstances, but the word ,spea!ing, is seldom necessary.
6 focus adverb indicates that what is being communicated is limited to the part that is focused* a
focus adverb will tend either to limit the sense of the sentence $,5e got an 6 just for attending the
class.,' or to act as an additive $,5e got an 6 in addition to being published.,
6lthough negative constructions li!e the words ,not, and ,never, are usually found embedded
within a verb string " ,5e has never been much help to his mother., " they are technically not
part of the verb* they are, indeed, adverbs. 5owever, a so-called negative adverb creates a
negative meaning in a sentence without the use of the usual noSnotSneitherSnorSnever
constructions4
5e seldom visits.
She hardly eats anything since the accident.
6fter her long and tedious lectures, rarely was anyone awa!e.
6 preposition describes a relationship between other words in a sentence. %n itself, a word li!e ,in,
or ,after, is rather meaningless and hard to defne in mere words. =or instance, when you do try to
defne a preposition li!e ,in, or ,between, or ,on,, you invariably use your hands to show how
something is situated in relationship to something else. 1repositions are nearly always combined
with other words in structures called prepositional phrases. 1repositional phrases can be made
up of a million di@erent words, but they tend to be built the same4 a preposition followed by a
determiner and an adjective or two, followed by a pronoun or noun $called the object of the
preposition'. This whole phrase, in turn, ta!es on a modifying role, acting as an ad"ective or an
adverb, locating something in time and space, modifying a noun, or telling when or where or
under what conditions something happened.
3onsider the professor#s des! and all the prepositional phrases we can use while tal!ing about it.
/ou can sit before the des! $or in front of the des!'. The professor can sit on the des! $when he#s
being informal' or behind the des!, and then his feet are under the des! or beneath the des!.
5e can stand beside the des! $meaning ne't to the des!', before the des!, between the des!
and you, or even on the des! $if he#s really strange'. %f he#s clumsy, he can bump into the des! or
try to wal! through the des! $and stu@ would fall o3 the des!'. 1assing his hands over the des!
or resting his elbows upon the des!, he often loo!s across the des! and spea!s of the des! or
concerning the des! as if there were nothing else like the des!. (ecause he thin!s of nothing
e'cept the des!, sometimes you wonder about the des!, what#s in the des!, what he paid for the
des!, and if he could live without the des!. /ou can wal! toward the des!, to the des!, around
the des!, by the des!, and even past the des! while he sits at the des! or leans against the
des!.
6ll of this happens, of course, in time4 during the class, before the class, until the class,
throughout the class, after the class, etc. 6nd the professor can sit there in a bad mood 8another
adverbial construction9.
Those words in bold blue font are all prepositions. Some prepositions do other things besides
locate in space or time " ,My brother is li&e my father., ,veryone in the class e$cept me got the
answer., " but nearly all of them modify in one way or another. %t is possible for a preposition
phrase to act as a noun " ,0uring a church service is not a good time to discuss picnic plans, or
,%n the South 1acifc is where % long to be, " but this is seldom appropriate in formal or academic
writing.
3lic! .E-E for a list of common prepositions that will be easy to print out.
/ou may have learned that ending a sentence with a
preposition is a serious breach of grammatical etiquette. %t
doesn#t ta!e a grammarian to spot a sentence-ending
preposition, so this is an easy rule to get caught up on $T'.
6lthough it is often easy to remedy the o@ending preposition,
sometimes it isn#t, and repair e@orts sometimes result in a
clumsy sentence. ,%ndicate the boo! you are quoting from, is
not greatly improved with ,%ndicate from which boo! you are
quoting.,
(ased on sha!y historical precedent, the rule itself is a
latecomer to the rules of writing. Those who disli!e the rule are
fond of recalling 3hurchill#s rejoinder4 ,That is nonsense up with
which % shall not put., +e should also remember the child#s
complaint4 ,+hat did you bring that boo! that % don#t li!e to be
read to out of up for&,
%s it any wonder that prepositions create such troubles for students for whom nglish is a second
language& +e say we are at the hospital to visit a friend who is in the hospital. +e lie in bed but on
the couch. +e watch a flm at the theater but on television. =or native spea!ers, these little words
present little di2culty, but try to learn another language, any other language, and you will quic!ly
discover that prepositions are troublesome wherever you live and learn. This page contains some
interesting $sometimes troublesome' prepositions with brief usage notes. To address all the
potential di2culties with prepositions in idiomatic usage would require volumes, and the only way
nglish language learners can begin to master the intricacies of preposition usage is through
practice and paying close attention to speech and the written word. Reeping a good dictionary
close at hand $to hand&' is an important frst step.
Prepositions of +ime! at, on2 and in
+e use at to designate specifc times.
The train is due at FM4FL p.m.
+e use on to designate days and dates.
My brother is coming on Monday.
+e#re having a party on the =ourth of Buly.
+e use in for nonspecifc times during a day, a month, a season, or a year.
She li!es to jog in the morning.
%t#s too cold in winter to run outside.
5e started the job in FGHF.
5e#s going to quit in 6ugust.
Prepositions of Place! at, on2 and in
+e use at for specifc addresses.
Erammar nglish lives at LL (oretA Coad in 0urham.
+e use on to designate names of streets, avenues, etc.
5er house is on (oretA Coad.
6nd we use in for the names of land-areas $towns, counties, states, countries, and continents'.
She lives in 0urham.
0urham is in +indham 3ounty.
+indham 3ounty is in 3onnecticut.
Prepositions of $ocation! in, at2 and on
and No Preposition
IN
$the' bed7
the bedroom
the car
$the' class7
the library7
school7
A+
class7
home
the library7
the o2ce
school7
wor!
,N
the bed7
the ceiling
the ?oor
the horse
the plane
the train
N,
P-EP,1I+I,N
downstairs
downtown
inside
outside
upstairs
uptown
7 /ou may sometimes use di@erent prepositions for these locations.
Prepositions of )ovement! to
and No Preposition
+e use to in order to e.press movement toward a place.
They were driving to wor! together.
She#s going to the dentist#s o2ce this morning.
'oward and towards are also helpful prepositions to e.press movement. These are simply variant
spellings of the same word* use whichever sounds better to you.
+e#re moving toward the light.
This is a big step towards the project#s completion.
+ith the words home, downtown, uptown, inside, outside, downstairs, upstairs, we use no
preposition.
Erandma went upstairs
Erandpa went home.
They both went outside.
Prepositions of +ime! for and since
+e use for when we measure time $seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, years'.
5e held his breath for seven minutes.
She#s lived there for seven years.
The (ritish and %rish have been quarreling for seven centuries.
+e use since with a specifc date or time.
5e#s wor!ed here since FGHU.
She#s been sitting in the waiting room since two-thirty.
Prepositions with Nouns2 Ad"ectives2 and 0erbs4
1repositions are sometimes so frmly wedded to other words that they have practically become
one word. $%n fact, in other languages, such as Eerman, they would have become one word.' This
occurs in three categories4 nouns, adjectives, and verbs.
N,#N1 and P-EP,1I+I,N1
approval of
awareness of
belief in
concern for
confusion
about
desire for
fondness
for
grasp of
hatred of
hope for
interest in
love of
need for
participation
in
reason for
respect for
success in
understandin
g of
AD5EC+I0E1 and P-EP,1I+I,N1
afraid of
angry at
aware of
capable of
careless about
familiar with
fond of
happy about
interested in
jealous of
made of
married to
proud of
similar to
sorry for
sure of
tired of
worried about
0E-&1 and P-EP,1I+I,N1
apologiAe for
as! about
as! for
belong to
bring up
give up
grow up
loo! for
loo! forward to
loo! up
prepare for
study for
tal! about
thin! about
trust in
care for
fnd out
ma!e up
pay for
wor! for
worry about
6 combination of verb and preposition is called a phrasal verb. The word that is joined to the verb
is then called a particle. 1lease refer to the brief section we have prepared on phrasal verbs for
an e.planation.
Idiomatic E'pressions with Prepositions
agree to a proposal, with a person, on a price, in principle
argue about a matter, with a person, for or against a proposition
compare to to show li!enesses, with to show di@erences $sometimes similarities'
correspond to a thing, with a person
di@er from an unli!e thing, with a person
live at an address, in a house or city, on a street, with other people
#nnecessary Prepositions
%n everyday speech, we fall into some bad habits, using prepositions where they are not necessary.
%t would be a good idea to eliminate these words altogether, but we must be especially careful not
to use them in formal, academic prose.
She met up with the new coach in the hallway.
The boo! fell o@ of the des!.
5e threw the boo! out of the window.
She wouldn#t let the cat inside of the house. 8or use ,in,9
+here did they go to&
1ut the lamp in bac! of the couch. 8use ,behind, instead9
+here is your college at&
Prepositions in Parallel Form
$3lic! .E-E for a defnition and discussion of parallelism.' +hen two words or phrases are used
in parallel and require the same preposition to be idiomatically correct, the preposition does not
have to be used twice.
/ou can wear that outft in summer and in winter.
The female was both attracted by and distracted by the male#s dance.
5owever, when the idiomatic use of phrases calls for di@erent prepositions, we must be careful not
to omit one of them.
The children were interested in and disgusted by the movie.
%t was clear that this player could both contribute to and learn from every game he played.
5e was fascinated by and enamored of this beguiling woman.
6rticles, determiners, and quantifers are those little words that precede and modify nouns4
the teacher, a college, a bit of honey, that person, those people, whatever purpose, either way,
your choice
Sometimes these words will tell the reader or listener whether we#re referring to a specifc or
general thing $the garage out bac!* ! horseT ! horseT My !ingdom for a horseT'* sometimes they
tell how much or how many $lots of trees, several boo!s, a great deal of confusion'. The choice of
the proper article or determiner to precede a noun or noun phrase is usually not a problem for
writers who have grown up spea!ing nglish, nor is it a serious problem for non-native writers
whose frst language is a romance language such as Spanish. =or other writers, though, this can be
a considerable obstacle on the way to their mastery of nglish. %n fact, some students from eastern
uropean countries " where their native language has either no articles or an altogether di@erent
system of choosing articles and determiners " fnd that these ,little words, can create problems
long after every other aspect of nglish has been mastered.
0eterminers are said to ,mar!, nouns. That is to say, you !now a determiner will be followed by a
noun. Some categories of determiners are limited $there are only three articles, a handful of
possessive pronouns, etc.', but the possessive nouns are as limitless as nouns themselves. This
limited nature of most determiner categories, however, e.plains why determiners are grouped
apart from adjectives even though both serve a modifying function. +e can imagine that the
language will never tire of inventing new adjectives* the determiners $e.cept for those possessive
nouns', on the other hand, are well established, and this class of words is not going to grow in
number. These categories of determiners are as follows4 the articles $an, a, the " see below*
possessive nouns $Boe#s, the priest#s, my mother#s'* possessive pronouns, $his, your, their, whose,
etc.'* numbers $one, two, etc.'* indefnite pronouns $few, more, each, every, either, all, both, some,
any, etc.'* and demonstrative pronouns. The demonstratives $this, that, these, those, such' are
discussed in the section on 0emonstrative 1ronouns. -otice that the possessive nouns di@er from
the other determiners in that they, themselves, are often accompanied by other determiners4 ,my
mother#s rug,, ,the priests#s collar,, ,a dog#s life.,
This categoriAation of determiners is based on %nderstanding English "rammar by Martha Rolln.
Jrth dition. MacMillan 1ublishing 3ompany4 -ew /or!. FGGJ.
1ome Notes on 6uantiers
>i!e articles, *uantiers are words that precede and modify nouns. They tell us how many or how
much. Selecting the correct quantifer depends on your understanding the distinction between
Count and Non7Count Nouns. =or our purposes, we will choose the count noun trees and the
non-count noun dancing4
'he following (uanti)ers will wor& with count nouns:
many trees
a few trees
few trees
several trees
a couple of trees
none of the trees
'he following (uanti)ers will wor& with noncount nouns:
not much dancing
a little dancing
little dancing
a bit of dancing
a good deal of dancing
a great deal of dancing
no dancing
'he following (uanti)ers will wor& with both count and noncount nouns:
all of the treesSdancing
some treesSdancing
most of the treesSdancing
enough treesSdancing
a lot of treesSdancing
lots of treesSdancing
plenty of treesSdancing
a lack of treesSdancing
%n formal academic writing, it is usually better to use many and much rather than phrases such as
a lot of, lots of and plenty of.
There is an important di@erence between 8a little8 and 8little8 $used with non-count words' and
between 8a few8 and 8few8 $used with count words'. %f % say that Tashonda has a little e.perience
in management that means that although Tashonda is no great e.pert she does have some
e.perience and that e.perience might well be enough for our purposes. %f % say that Tashonda has
little e.perience in management that means that she doesn#t have enough e.perience. %f % say that
3harlie owns a few boo!s on >atin 6merican literature that means that he has some some boo!s "
not a lot of boo!s, but probably enough for our purposes. %f % say that 3harlie owns few boo!s on
>atin 6merican literature, that means he doesn#t have enough for our purposes and we#d better go
to the library.
Onless it is combined with of, the quantifer 8much8 is reserved for questions and negative
statements4
Much of the snow has already melted.
5ow much snow fell yesterday&
-ot much.
-ote that the quantifer 8most of the8 must include the defnite article the when it modifes a
specifc noun, whether it#s a count or a non-count noun4 ,most of the instructors at this college
have a doctorate,* ,most of the water has evaporated., +ith a general plural noun, however $when
you are not referring to a specifc entity', the ,of the, is dropped4
Most colleges have their own admissions policy.
Most students apply to several colleges.
6uthority for this last paragraph4 'he Scott, *oresman +andboo& for ,riters by Ma.ine 5airston
and Bohn B. CusA!iewicA. Jth ed. 5arper3ollins4 -ew /or!. FGGP. .amples our own.
6n indefnite article is sometimes used in conjunction with the quantifer many, thus joining a
plural quantifer with a singular noun $which then ta!es a singular verb'4
Many a young man has fallen in love with her golden hair.
Many an apple has fallen by )ctober.
This construction lends itself to a somewhat literary e@ect $some would say a stu@y or archaic
e@ect' and is best used sparingly, if at all.
+he Need to Combine 1entences
Sentences have to be combined to avoid the monotony that would surely result if all sentences
were brief and of equal length. $%f you haven#t already read them, see the sections on Avoiding
Primer 1tyle and 1entence 0ariety.' 1art of the writer#s tas! is to employ whatever music is
available to him or her in language, and part of language#s music lies within the rhythms of varied
sentence length and structure. ven poets who write within the formal limits and sameness of an
iambic pentameter beat will sometimes stri!e a chord against that beat and vary the structure of
their clauses and sentence length, thus !eeping the te.t alive and the reader awa!e. This section
will e.plore some of the techniques we ordinary writers use to combine sentences.
Compounding 1entences
6 compound sentence consists of two or more independent clauses. That means that there
are at least two units of thought within the sentence, either one of which can stand by itself as its
own sentence. The clauses of a compound sentence are either separated by a semicolon
$relatively rare' or connected by a coordinating con"unction $which is, more often than not,
preceded by a comma'. 6nd the two most common coordinating conjunctions are and and but.
$The others are or, for, yet, and so.' This is the simplest technique we have for combining ideas4
Meriwether >ewis is justly famous for his e.pedition into the territory of the >ouisiana
1urchase and beyond2 but few people !now of his contributions to natural science.
>ewis had been well trained by scientists in 1hiladelphia prior to his e.pedition2 and he
was a curious man by nature.
-otice that the and does little more than lin! one idea to another* the but also lin!s, but it does
more wor! in terms of establishing an interesting relationship between ideas. The and is part of the
immediate language arsenal of children and of dreams4 one thing simply comes after another and
the logical relationship between the ideas is not always evident or important. The word but $and
the other coordinators' is at a slightly higher level of argument.
3lic! here to review the rules of comma usage when you combine two independent clauses with a
coordinating conjunction.
Compounding 1entence Elements
+ithin a sentence, ideas can be connected by compounding various sentence elements4 subjects,
verbs, objects or whole predicates, modifers, etc. -otice that when two such elements of a
sentence are compounded with a coordinating conjunction $as opposed to the two independent
clauses of a compound sentence', the conjunction is usually adequate and no comma is required.
1ub"ects! +hen two or more subjects are doing parallel things, they can often be combined as a
compounded subject.
+or!ing together, President 5e3erson and )eriwether $ewis convinced 3ongress to
raise money for the e.pedition.
,b"ects! +hen the subject$s' isSare acting upon two or more things in parallel, the objects can be
combined.
1resident Be@erson believed that the headwaters of the Missouri reached all the way to
the 3anadian border.
5e also believed that meant he could claim all that land for the Onited States.
1resident Be@erson believed that the headwaters of the Missouri might reach all the way to
the 3anadian border and that he could claim all that land for the Onited States.
-otice that the objects must be parallel in construction4 Be@erson believed that this was true and
that was true. %f the objects are not parallel $Be@erson was convinced of two things4 that the
Missouri reached all the way to the 3anadian border and wanted to begin the e.pedition during his
term in o2ce.' the sentence can go awry. 3lic! here to review the principles of parallelism.
0erbs and verbals! +hen the subject$s' isSare doing two things at once, ideas can sometimes be
combined by compounding verbs and verb forms.
5e studied the biological and natural sciences.
5e learned how to categoriAe and draw animals accurately.
5e studied the biological and natural sciences and learned how to categoriAe and draw
animals accurately.
-otice that there is no comma preceding the ,and learned, connecting the compounded elements
above.
%n 1hiladelphia, >ewis learned to chart the movement of the stars.
5e also learned to analyAe their movements with mathematical precision.
%n 1hiladelphia, >ewis learned to chart and analy9e the movement of the stars with
mathematical precision.
-. / %n 1hiladelphia, >ewis learned to chart the stars and analy9e their movements with
mathematical precision.
$-otice in this second version that we don#t have to repeat the ,to, of the infnitive to maintain
parallel form.'
)odiers! +henever it is appropriate, modifers such as prepositional phrases can be
compounded.
>ewis and 3lar! recruited some of their adventurers from river-town bars.
They also used recruits from various military outposts.
>ewis and 3lar! recruited their adventurers from river7town bars and various military
outposts4
-otice that we do not need to repeat the preposition from to ma!e the ideas successfully parallel
in form.
1ubordinating ,ne Clause to Another
The act of coordinating clauses simply lin!s ideas* subordinating one clause to another establishes
a more comple. relationship between ideas, showing that one idea depends on another in some
way4 a chronological development, a cause-and-e@ect relationship, a conditional relationship, etc.
+illiam 3lar! was not o2cially granted the ran! of captain prior to the e.pedition#s
departure.
3aptain >ewis more or less ignored this technicality and treated 3lar! as his equal in
authority and ran!.
Although +illiam 3lar! was not o2cially granted the ran! of captain prior to the
e.pedition#s departure2 Captain >ewis more or less ignored this technicality and treated
3lar! as his equal in authority and ran!.
The e.plorers approached the headwaters of the Missouri.
They discovered, to their horror, that the Coc!y Mountain range stood between them and
their goal, a passage to the 1acifc.
As the e.plorers approached the headwaters of the Missouri2 they discovered, to their
horror, that the Coc!y Mountain range stood between them and their goal, a passage to
the 1acifc.
+hen we use subordination of clauses to combine ideas, the rules of punctuation are very
important. %t might be a good idea to review the denition of clauses at this point and the uses
of the comma in setting o@ introductory and parenthetical elements.
#sing Appositives to Connect Ideas
The appositive is probably the most e2cient technique we have for combining ideas. 6n
appositive or appositive phrase is a renaming, a re-identifcation, of something earlier in the
te.t. /ou can thin! of an appositive as a modifying clause from which the clausal machinery
$usually a relative pronoun and a lin!ing verb' has been removed. 6n appositive is often, but not
always, a parenthetical element which requires a pair of commas to set it o@ from the rest of the
sentence.
Sacagawea, who was one of the %ndian wives of 3harbonneau, who was a =rench fur-
trader, accompanied the e.pedition as a translator.
6 pregnant, ffteen-year-old %ndian woman2 1acagawea2 one of the wives of the =rench
fur-trader Charbonneau, accompanied the e.pedition as a translator.
-otice that in the second sentence, above, Sacagawea#s name is a parenthetical element
$structurally, the sentence adequately identifes her as ,a pregnant, ffteen-year-old %ndian
woman,', and thus her name is set o@ by commas* 3harbonneau#s name, however, is essential to
the meaning of the sentence $otherwise, which fur-trader are we tal!ing about&' and is not set o@
by a pair of commas. 3lic! here for additional help identifying and punctuating around
parenthetical elements.
#sing Participial Phrases to Connect Ideas
6 writer can integrate the idea of one sentence into a larger structure by turning that idea into a
modifying phrase.
3aptain >ewis allowed his men to ma!e important decisions in a democratic manner.
This democratic attitude fostered a spirit of togetherness and commitment on the part of
>ewis#s fellow e.plorers.
Allowing his men to make important decisions in a democratic manner2 >ewis
fostered a spirit of togetherness and commitment among his fellow e.plorers.
%n the sentence above, the participial phrase modifes the subject of the sentence, 0ewis.
1hrases li!e this are usually set o@ from the rest of the sentence with a comma.
The e.peditionary force was completely out of touch with their families for over two
years.
They put their faith entirely in >ewis and 3lar!#s leadership.
They never once rebelled against their authority.
Completely out of touch with their families for over two years2 the men of the
e.pedition put their faith in >ewis and 3lar!#s leadership and never once rebelled against
their authority.
#sing Absolute Phrases to Connect Ideas
1erhaps the most elegant " and most misunderstood " method of combining ideas is the
absolute phrase. This phrase, which is often found at the beginning of sentence, is made up of a
noun $the phrase#s ,subject,' followed, more often than not, by a participle. )ther modifers might
also be part of the phrase. There is no true verb in an absolute phrase, however, and it is always
treated as a parenthetical element, an introductory modifer, which is set o@ by a comma.
The absolute phrase might be confused with a participial phrase, and the di@erence between them
is structurally slight but signifcant. The participial phrase does not contain the subject-participle
relationship of the absolute phrase* it modifes the subject of the the independent clause that
follows. The absolute phrase, on the other hand, is said to modify the entire clause that follows. %n
the frst combined sentence below, for instance, the absolute phrase modifes the subject 0ewis,
but it also modifes the verb, telling us ,under what conditions, or ,in what way, or ,how, he
disappointed the world. The absolute phrase thus modifes the entire subsequent clause and
should not be confused with a dangling participle, which must modify the subject which
immediately follows.
>ewis#s fame and fortune was virtually guaranteed by his e.ploits.
>ewis disappointed the entire world by ine.plicably failing to publish his journals.
.is fame and fortune virtually guaranteed by his e'ploits2 >ewis disappointed the
entire world by ine.plicably failing to publish his journals.
>ewis#s long journey was fnally completed.
5is men in the 3orps of 0iscovery were dispersed.
>ewis died a few years later on his way bac! to +ashington, 0.3., completely alone.
.is long "ourney completed and his men in the Corps of Discovery dispersed2
>ewis died a few years later on his way bac! to +ashington, 0.3., completely alone.
The most convincing ideas in the world, e.pressed in the most beautiful sentences, will
move no one unless those ideas are properly connected. Onless readers can move easily
from one thought to another, they will surely fnd something else to read or turn on the
television.
1roviding transitions between ideas is largely a matter of attitude. /ou must never assume
that your readers !now what you !now. %n fact, it#s a good idea to assume not only that
your readers need all the information that you have and need to !now how you arrived at
the point you#re at, but also that they are not quite as quic! as you are. /ou might be able
to leap from one side of the stream to the other* believe that your readers need some
stepping stones and be sure to place them in readily accessible and visible spots.
There are four basic mechanical considerations in providing transitions between ideas4
using transitional e.pressions, repeating !ey words and phrases, using pronoun reference,
and using parallel form.
#1IN: +-AN1I+I,NA$ +A:1
Transitional tags run the gamut from the most simple " the little conjunctions4 and, but,
nor, for, yet, or, $and sometimes' so " to more comple. signals that ideas are somehow
connected " the conjunctive adverbs and transitional e.pressions such as however,
moreover, nevertheless, on the other hand.
=or additional information on conjunctions, clic! .E-E.
The use of the little conjunctions " especially and and but " comes naturally for most
writers. 5owever, the question whether one can begin a sentence with a small conjunction
often arises. %sn#t the conjunction at the beginning of the sentence a sign that the sentence
should have been connected to the prior sentence& +ell, sometimes, yes. (ut often the
initial conjunction calls attention to the sentence in an e@ective way, and that#s just what
you want. )ver-used, beginning a sentence with a conjunction can be distracting, but the
device can add a refreshing dash to a sentence and speed the narrative ?ow of your te.t.
Cestrictions against beginning a sentence with and or but are based on sha!y grammatical
foundations* some of the most in?uential writers in the language have been happily
ignoring such restrictions for centuries.7
5ere is a chart of the transitional devices $also called con"unctive adverbs or adverbial
con"unctions' accompanied with a simplifed defnition of function $note that some
devices appear with more than one defnition'4
addition
again, also, and, and then, besides, equally important,
fnally, frst, further, furthermore, in addition, in the frst
place, last, moreover, ne.t, second, still, too
comparison also, in the same way, li!ewise, similarly
concession granted, naturally, of course
contrast
although, and yet, at the same time, but at the same
time, despite that, even so, even though, for all that,
however, in contrast, in spite of, instead, nevertheless,
notwithstanding, on the contrary, on the other hand,
otherwise, regardless, still, though, yet
emphasis certainly, indeed, in fact, of course
e'ample or
illustration
after all, as an illustration, even, for e.ample, for instance,
in conclusion, indeed, in fact, in other words, in short, it is
true, of course, namely, specifcally, that is, to illustrate,
thus, truly
summary
all in all, altogether, as has been said, fnally, in brief, in
conclusion, in other words, in particular, in short, in
simpler terms, in summary, on the whole, that is,
therefore, to put it di@erently, to summariAe
time se*uence
after a while, afterward, again, also, and then, as long as,
at last, at length, at that time, before, besides, earlier,
eventually, fnally, formerly, further, furthermore, in
addition, in the frst place, in the past, last, lately,
meanwhile, moreover, ne.t, now, presently, second,
shortly, simultaneously, since, so far, soon, still,
subsequently, then, thereafter, too, until, until now, when
6 word of caution4 0o not interlard your te.t with transitional e.pressions merely because
you !now these devices connect ideas. They must appear, naturally, where they belong, or
they#ll stic! li!e a fshbone in your reader#s craw. $=or that same reason, there is no point in
trying to memori1e this vast list.' )n the other hand, if you can read your entire essay and
discover none of these transitional devices, then you must wonder what, if anything, is
holding your ideas together. 1ractice by inserting a tentative however, nevertheless,
conse(uently. Ceread the essay later to see if these words provide the glue you needed at
those points.
-epetition of (ey %ords and Phrases
The ability to connect ideas by means of repetition of !ey words and phrases sometimes
meets a natural resistance based on the fear of being repetitive. +e#ve been trained to
loathe redundancy. -ow we must learn that catching a word or phrase that#s important to a
reader#s comprehension of a piece and replaying that word or phrase creates a musical
motif in that reader#s head. Onless it is overwor!ed and obtrusive, repetition lends itself to
a sense of coherence $or at least to the illusion of coherence'. Cemember >incoln#s advice4
/ou can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the
time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.
%n fact, you can#t forget >incoln#s advice, because it has become part of the music of our
language.
Cemember to use this device to lin! paragraphs as well as sentences.
Pronoun -eference
1ronouns quite naturally connect ideas because pronouns almost always refer the reader
to something earlier in the te.t. % cannot say ,This is true because . . ., without causing the
reader to consider what ,this, could mean. Thus, the pronoun causes the reader to sum up,
quic!ly and subconsciously, what was said before $what this is' before going on to the
because part of my reasoning.
+e should hardly need to add, however, that it must always be perfectly clear what a
pronoun refers to. %f my reader cannot instantly !now what this is, then my sentence is
ambiguous and misleading. 6lso, do not rely on unclear pronoun references to avoid
responsibility4 ,They say that . . .,
Parallelism
Music in prose is often the result of parallelism, the deliberate repetition of larger
structures of phrases, even clauses and whole sentences. +e urge you to read the Euide#s
section on Parallelism and ta!e the accompanying quiA on recogniAing parallel form $and
repairing sentences that ought to use parallel form but don#t'. 1ay special attention to the
guided tour through the parallel intricacies within 6braham >incoln#s Eettysburg 6ddress.
Coherence Devices in Action
%n our section on writing the Argumentative Essay, we have a complete student essay
$,3ry, +olf, " at the bottom of that document' which we have analyAed in terms of
argumentative development and in which we have paid special attention to the
connective devices holding ideas together.

>oo! at the following paragraph4

The ancient gyptians were masters of preserving dead people#s bodies by ma!ing
mummies of them. Mummies several thousand years old have been discovered
nearly intact. The s!in, hair, teeth, fngernails and toenails, and facial features of
the mummies were evident. %t is possible to diagnose the disease they su@ered in
life, such as smallpo., arthritis, and nutritional defciencies. The process was
remar!ably e@ective. Sometimes apparent were the fatal aVictions of the dead
people4 a middle-aged !ing died from a blow on the head, and polio !illed a child
!ing. Mummifcation consisted of removing the internal organs, applying natural
preservatives inside and out, and then wrapping the body in layers of bandages.
Though wea!, this paragraph is not a total washout. %t starts with a topic sentence, and the
sentences that follow are clearly related to the topic sentence. %n the language of writing,
the paragraph is uni)ed $i.e., it contains no irrelevant details'. 5owever, the paragraph is
not coherent. The sentences are disconnected from each other, ma!ing it di2cult for the
reader to follow the writer#s train of thought.
(elow is the same paragraph revised for coherence. 2talics indicates pronouns and
repeatedSrestated !ey words, bold indicates transitional tag-words, and underlining
indicates parallel structures.
The ancient gyptians were masters of preserving dead people#s bodies by ma&ing
mummies of them. In short, mummi)cation consisted of removing the internal
organs, applying natural preservatives inside and out, and then wrapping the body
in layers of bandages. And the process was remar!ably e@ective. Indeed,
mummies several thousand years old have been discovered nearly intact. 'heir
s!in, hair, teeth, fngernails and toenails, and facial features are still evident. 'heir
diseases in life, such as smallpo., arthritis, and nutritional defciencies, are still
diagnosable. Even their fatal aVictions are still apparent4 a middle-aged !ing died
from a blow on the head* a child !ing died from polio.
The paragraph is now much more coherent. The organiAation of the information and the
lin!s between sentences help readers move easily from one sentence to the ne.t. -otice
how this writer uses a variety of coherence devices, sometimes in combination, to achieve
overall paragraph coherence.
76uthority4 'he 3ew *owler4s 5odern English %sage edited by C.+. (urchfeld. 3larendon
1ress4 ).ford, ngland. FGGP. Osed with the permission of ).ford Oniversity 1ress.
6 typical e.pository paragraph starts with a controlling idea or claim, which it then
e.plains, develops, or supports with evidence. 1aragraph sprawl occurs when digressions
are introduced into an otherwise focused and unifed discussion. 0igressions and
deviations often come in the form of irrelevant details or shifts in focus.
Irrelevant Details
+hen % was growing up, one of the places % enjoyed most was the cherry tree in the
bac! yard. (ehind the yard was an alley and then more houses. very summer
when the cherries began to ripen, % used to spend hours high in the tree, pic!ing
and eating the sweet, sun-warmed cherries. My mother always worried about my
falling out of the tree, but % never did. (ut % had some competition for the cherries
" ?oc!s of birds that enjoyed them as much as % did and would perch all over the
tree, devouring the fruit whenever % wasn#t there. % used to wonder why the grown-
ups never ate any of the cherries* but actually when the birds and % had fnished,
there weren#t many left.
-o sentence is completely irrelevant to the general topic of this paragraph $the cherry
tree', but the sentences Behind the yard was an alley and then more houses and 5y
mother always worried about my falling out of the tree, but 2 never did do not develop the
specifc idea in the frst sentence4 enjoyment of the cherry tree.
1hift in Focus
F
%t is a fact that capital
punishment is not a deterrent to
crime.
M
Statistics show that in
states with capital punishment,
murder rates are the same or
almost the same as in states
without capital punishment.
K
%t is
also true that it is more
e.pensive to put a person on
death row than in life
imprisonment because of the
costs of ma.imum security.
J
Onfortunately, capital
punishment has been used
unjustly.
L
Statistics show that
every e.ecution is of a man and
that nine out of ten are blac!.
P
So
prejudice shows right through.
)nce again, no sentence in this paragraph $to the
left' is completely irrelevant to the general topic
$capital punishment', but the specifc focus of this
paragraph shifts abruptly twice. The paragraph
starts out with a clear claim in sentence ;4 2t is a
fact that capital punishment is not a deterrent to
crime. Sentence < provides evidence in support of
the initial claim4 Statistics show that in states with
capital punishment, murder rates are the same or
almost the same as in states without capital
punishment. Sentence =, however, shifts the focus
from capital punishment as a deterrent to crime to
the cost of incarceration4 2t is also true that it is
more e$pensive to put a person on death row than
in life imprisonment because of the costs of
ma$imum security. Sentence > once again shifts
the focus, this time to issues of justice4
%nfortunately, capital punishment has been used
unjustly. Sentences ? and @, Statistics show that
every e$ecution is of a man and that nine out of
ten are blac& and So prejudice shows right
through, follow from J if one believes that
e.ecuting men and blac!s is in fact evidence of
injustice and prejudice. More importantly,
however, we are now a long way o@ from the
original claim, that capital punishment does not
deter crime. The focus has shifted from deterrence
to e.pense to fairness.
The following paragraph on the same topic is much more e@ectively focused and unifed4
F
The punishment of criminals has
always been a problem for
society.
M
3itiAens have had to
decide whether o@enders such as
frst-degree murderers should be
!illed in a gas chamber,
imprisoned for life, or
rehabilitated and given a second
chance in society.
K
Many citiAens
argue that serious criminals
should be e.ecuted.
J
They
believe that !illing criminals will
set an e.ample for others and
also rid society of a cumbersome
burden.
L
)ther citiAens say that
no one has the right to ta!e a life
Sentence ; puts forth the main claim4 'he
punishment of criminals has always been a
problem for society. Sentence < specifes the e.act
nature of the problem by listing society#s choices4
#iti1ens have had to decide whether o6enders
such as )rstdegree murderers should be &illed in
a gas chamber, imprisoned for life, or rehabilitated
and given a second chance in society. Sentence =
further develops the topic by stating one point of
view4 5any citi1ens argue that serious criminals
should be e$ecuted. The reasons for this point of
view are then provided in sentence >4 'hey
believe that &illing criminals will set an e$ample
for others and also rid society of a cumbersome
burden. Sentence ? states an opposing point of
view4 -ther citi1ens say that no one has the right
and that capital punishment is
not a deterrent to crime.
P
They
believe that society as well as the
criminal is responsible for the
crimes and that !illing the
criminal does not solve the
problems of either society or the
criminal.
to ta&e a life and that capital punishment is not a
deterrent to crime. Sentence @ states the reason
for the opposing point of view4 'hey believe that
society as well as the criminal is responsible for
the crimes and that &illing the criminal does not
solve the problems of either society or the
criminal.
+opic 1entences
6ll three paragraphs start out well with a topic sentence. 6 topic sentence is a sentence
whose main idea or claim controls the rest of the paragraph* the body of a paragraph
e.plains, develops or supports with evidence the topic sentence#s main idea or claim. The
topic sentence is usually the frst sentence of a paragraph, but not necessarily. %t may
come, for e.ample, after a transition sentence* it may even come at the end of a
paragraph.
Topic sentences are not the only way to organiAe a paragraph, and not all paragraphs need
a topic sentence. =or e.ample, paragraphs that describe, narrate, or detail the steps in an
e.periment do not usually need topic sentences. Topic sentences are useful, however, in
paragraphs that analyAe and argue. Topic sentences are particularly useful for writers who
have di2culty developing focused, unifed paragraphs $i.e., writers who tend to sprawl'.
Topic sentences help these writers develop a main idea or claim for their paragraphs, and,
perhaps most importantly, they help these writers stay focused and !eep paragraphs
manageable.
Topic sentences are also useful to readers because they guide them through sometimes
comple. arguments. Many well-!nown, e.perienced writers e@ectively use topic sentences
to bridge between paragraphs. 5ere#s an e.ample of how one professional writer does this4
Soon after the spraying had ended there were unmista!able signs that all was not well.
+ithin two days dead and dying fsh, including many young salmon, were found along the
ban!s of the stream. (roo! trout also appeared among the dead fsh, and along the roads
and in the woods birds were dying. 6ll the life of the stream was stilled. (efore the
spraying there had been a rich assortment of the water life that forms the food of salmon
and trout " caddis ?y larvae, living in loosely ftting protective cases of leaves, stems or
gravel cemented together with saliva, stone?y nymphs clinging to roc!s in the swirling
currents, and the wormli!e larvae of blac!?ies edging the stones under riVes or where the
stream spills over steeply slanting roc!s. (ut now the stream insects were dead, !illed by
00T, and there was nothing for a young salmon to eat.
Cachel 3arson, Silent Spring
The frst part of 3arson#s topic sentence " Soon after the spraying had ended " is a
transitional clause that loo!s bac! to the previous topic4 00T spraying. Topic sentences
often begin with such transitional clauses referring to the previous paragraph. The second
part of the topic sentence " there were unmista&able signs that all was not well " shapes
and controls what follows. This !ind of bridging helps the reader follow 3arson#s argument.
-otice, too, how 3arson further helps the reader follow her argument by providing a more
focused version of the topic sentence later in the paragraph " !ll the life of the stream
was stilled. This sentence tells us e.actly what 3arson meant by all was not well.
Denition of a 1entence
(efore elaborating too much on the nature of sentences or trying to defne a sentence#s parts, it
might be wise to defne a sentence itself. A sentence is a group of words containing a
sub"ect and predicate. Sometimes, the subject is ,understood,, as in a command4 ,8/ou9 go ne.t
door and get a cup of sugar., That probably means that the shortest possible complete sentence is
something li!e ,EoT, 6 sentence ought to e.press a thought that can stand by itself, but it would
be helpful to review the section on 1entence Fragments for additional information on thoughts
that cannot stand by themselves and sentences !nown as ,stylistic fragments., The various +ypes
of 1entences, structurally, are defned, with e.amples, under the section on sentence variety.
Sentences are also defned according to function4 declarative $most of the sentences we use',
interrogative $which as! a question " ,+hat#s your name&,', e.clamatory $,There#s a fre in the
!itchenT,', and imperative $,0on#t drin! thatT,'
%n Sha!espeare#s +enry 27, Part 8 $%%iv', we see that great ,stu@ed cloa!-bag of guts,, =alsta@, in
debate with his good friend 1rince 5al, the future Ring of ngland. 6fter a night of debauchery
together, he is imploring his young friend not to forget him when 5al becomes Ring. The banter
goes on, but the best part of it is =alsta@#s last few sentences on the matter $tal!ing about himself
here " his favorite subject'4
(ut to say % !now more harm in him than in myself,
were to say more than % !now. That he is old, the
more the pity, his white hairs do witness it* but
that he is, saving your reverence, a whoremaster,
that % utterly deny. %f sac! and sugar be a fault,
Eod help the wic!edT if to be old and merry be a
sin, then many an old host that % !now is damned4 if
to be fat be to be hated, then 1haraoh#s lean !ine
are to be loved. -o, my good lord* banish 1eto,
banish (ardolph, banish 1oins4 but for sweet Bac!
=alsta@, !ind Bac! =alsta@, true Bac! =alsta@,
valiant Bac! =alsta@, and therefore more valiant,
being, as he is, old Bac! =alsta@, banish not him
thy 5arry#s company, banish not him thy 5arry#s
company4 banish plump Bac!, and banish all the world.
The speech is quite a ramble, flled with =alsta@#s lively good spirits. 5ow can the 1rince follow
this& 5e does, with two little sentences4
% do. % will.
6nd there you have it. The prince !nows he must someday, soon, renounce his life with =alsta@
and turn to the responsibilities of ruling ngland. 6ll the !inetic energy of =alsta@, manifested in
the turns of phrase and rhythm in this speech, has been dammed up, thwarted and turned bac! by
those two little sentences, four little words.
That#s what variety of sentence length can do. Ereat e.pansiveness followed up by the bullwhip
crac! of a one-liner. %t#s not that one !ind of sentence is better than the other $although the taste
of the twentieth-century reader generally favors the terse, the economical'. %t#s just that there are
two di@erent !inds of energies here, both potent. Ose them both, and your prose will be energiAed.
The trouble is that many writers, unsure of themselves, are leery of long sentences because they
fear the run-on, that troll under the bridge, forgetting that it is often better to ris! imperfection
than boredom.
+hat we need, then, is practice in handling long sentences. %t is relatively easy to feel confdent in
writing shorter sentences, but if our prose is made up entirely of shorter structures, it begins to
feel li!e ,See 0ic! run. See Bane jump. See Bane jump on 1u@., 1rimer style $pronounced ,primmer,
in the O.S.6.', it#s called, and it would drive a reader craAy after a while.
-un7ons and $ength
=irst, review the section of the Euide that defnes -un7on 1entences. Cemember that a really
long sentence and a run-on sentence are not the same thing. Boseph +illiams#s fne boo! Style:
'oward #larity and "race $Oniv. of 3hicago4 FGGU', enlists this monster of a sentence from Thomas
5oo!er, father of 6merican democracy and founder of 5artford, 3onnecticut4
-ow if nature should intermit her course and leave altogether, though it were but for awhile, the
observation of her own laws* if those principal and mother elements of the world, whereof all
things in this lower world are made, should lose the qalities which now they have* if the frame of
that heavenly arch erected over our heads should loosen and dissolve itself* if celestial spheres
should forget their wonted motions, and by irregular volubility turn themselves any way as it might
happen* if the prince of the lights of heaven which now as a giant doth run his unwearied course,
should, as it were through a languishing faintness, begin to stand and to rest himself* if the moon
should wander from her beaten way, the times and seasons of the year blend themselves by
disordered and confused mi.ture, the winds breathe out their last gasp, the clouds yield no rain,
the earth be defeated of heavenly in?uence, the fruits of the earth pine away as children at the
withered breasts of their mother no longer able to yield them relief " what would become of man
himself, whom these things now do all serve&
"from -f the 0aws of Ecclesiastical Polity
The modern reader might rebel at the comple.ity of those clauses piled one upon the other, and it
does seem rather ponderous at frst. %n fact, if you were to write such a sentence in academic
prose, your instructor would probably call you in for a conference. (ut if, as reader, you let yourself
go a bit, there#s a well earned delight in fnding yourself at the end of such a sentence, having
successfully navigated its shoals. 6nd, as writer $avoiding such e.tremes', there#s much to be
learned by devising such monsters and then cutting them bac! to reasonable siAe.
5ere are some hints about using long sentences to your advantage. The ideas here are based
loosely on those in +illiams# boo!, which we highly recommend, but with our own e.amples.
Coordination
6llow the comple.ity of a longer sentence to develop after the verb, not before it. 3lic! .E-E to
read a MKG-word sentence $not a run-on, though' that succeeds grammatically but fails stylistically
because it does way too much wor! before the subject-verb connection is made. Ma!e the
connection between subject and verb quic! and vigorous and then allow the sentence to do some
e.tra wor!, to cut a fancy fgure or two. %n the completer $predicate', however, be careful to
develop the comple. structures in parallel form.
3lic! .E-E to visit our section on parallel form, most of which is ta!en from
+illiam Strun!#s Elements of Style. (e sure to go through our ,slide show,
on the Eettysburg 6ddress and closely e.amine the uses of parallelism in
that classic speech.
-epeated +erms
)ne of the scariest techniques for handling long sentences is the repetition of a !ey term. %t feels
ris!y because it goes against the grain of what you#ve been taught about repetition. +hen properly
handled, though, repetition of !ey words and phrases within a sentence and then within a
paragraph not only holds things together but creates a rhythm that provides energy and drives the
meaning home.
The Swiss watchma!ers# failure to capitaliAe on the invention of the digital timepiece was both
astonishing and alarming " astonishing in that the Swiss had, since the beginnings of the
industrial revolution in urope, been among the frst to capitaliAe on technical innovations,
alarming in that a tremendous industrial potential had been lost to their chief competitors, the
watchma!ers of Bapan.
%n the following sentences, from a speech by Bohn =. Rennedy $dedicating the Cobert =rost >ibrary
at 6mherst 3ollege', observe how the repeated, parallel phrases pile up meaning in rhythmical
waves4W
%n 6merica, our heroes have customarily run to men of large accomplishments. (ut today this
college and country honors a man whose contribution was not to our siAe but to our spirit, not to
our political beliefs but to our insight, not to our self-esteem, but to our self-comprehension. . . .
% loo! forward to a great future for 6merica, a future in which our country will match its military
strength with our moral restraint, its wealth with our wisdom, its power with our purpose. % loo!
forward to an 6merica which will not be afraid of grace and beauty, which will protect the beauty of
our natural environment, which will preserve the great old 6merican houses and squares and par!s
of our national past, and which will build handsome and balanced cities for our future.
!mherst, 5assachusetts
-ctober 9:, 8;:<
The same principle can apply to repeated whole sentences in a paragraph. +atch how 1resident
Rennedy drives home his point in the famous ,%ch bin ein (erliner, speech4
There are many people in the world who really don#t understand, or say they don#t, what is the
great issue between the free world and the 3ommunist world. >et them come to (erlin. There are
some who say that communism is the wave of the future. >et them come to (erlin. 6nd there are
some who say in urope and elsewhere we can wor! with the 3ommunists. >et them come to
(erlin. 6nd there are even a few who say that it is true that communism is an evil system, but it
permits us to ma!e economic progress. 0ass4 sie nach Berlin &ommen. >et them come to (erlin.
.emar&s in the .udolph ,ilde Plat1
+est (erlin4 Bune MP, FGPK
-enaming and Amplifying the 1ub"ect
3onsider the following sentence, the way information is appended and feels tac!ed on.
5artford continues to lose its industrial base, which means that more and more of its
income base depends on companies whose primary business is paper shuVing.
%nstead of using that clumsy ,which clause,, let#s rename the event and follow it with a dependent
clause that amplifes the added noun.
5artford continues to lose its industrial base, an economic catastrophe in the making
8that is9 characteriAed by an income base primarily dependent on companies engaged in
paper shuVing.
A Chain of )odifying Phrases
Try ending a sentence with a set of prepositional phrases or phrases, each beginning with a
present or past participle. This device wor!s well if used infrequently* used too often, it can lead to
what some writers call purple prose as one modifying phrase piles up against the one before it.
Osed sparingly, however, it can create a wonderful music.
% see it now " the wide sweep of the bay, the glittering sands, the wealth of green infnite and
varied, the sea blue li!e the sea of a dream, the crowd of attentive faces, the blaAe of vivid colour
" the water re?ecting it all, the curve of the shore, the jetty, the high-sterned outlandish craft
?oating still, and the three boats with the tired men from the +est sleeping, unconscious of the
land and the people and of the violence of sunshine.
6nd we all nodded at him4 the man of fnance, the man of accounts, the man of law, we all nodded
at him over the polished table that li!e a still sheet of brown water re?ected our faces, lined,
wrin!led* our faces mar!ed by toil, by deceptions, by success, by love* our weary eyes loo!ing still,
loo!ing always, loo!ing an.iously for something out of life, that while it is e.pected is already gone
" has passed unseen, in a sigh, in a ?ash " together with the youth, with the strength, with the
romance of illusions.
Boseph 3onrad
,/outh4 6 -arrative, $FGUM'
-esumptive and 1ummative )odiers
(y adding modifying phrases to the end of a sentence, a writer can ta!e the reader in new,
sometimes une.pected directions. 6 resumptive modier pic!s up a word or phrase from a
sentence that seems to be fnished and then adds information and ta!es the reader into new
territory of thought. (ecause resumptive modifers are, by nature, repetitive, they tend also to add
a sense of rhythm to a sentence. The following sentence $borrowed from above' employs this
strategy twice4
The Swiss watchma!ers# failure to capitaliAe on the invention of the digital timepiece was
both astonishing and alarming " astonishing in that the Swiss had, since the
beginnings of the industrial revolution in urope, been among the frst to capitaliAe on
technical innovations, alarming in that a tremendous industrial potential had been lost to
their chief competitors, the watchma!ers of Bapan.
6 summative modier quic!ly re-names or sums up what was going on in an earlier part of the
sentence and then adds new information4
The defensive coaches taught ris!-ta!ing, ball-haw!ing, and perpetual movement " three
strategies that bewildered the opposition and resulted in many bad passes, steals, and
easy fastbrea! bas!ets.
0ariety in )odier Placement
#sing Initial )odiers!
F. =ependent #lause: 6lthough she wasn#t tired, Maria went to sleep.
M. 2n)nitive Phrase: To please her mother, Maria went to sleep.
K. !dverb: Duic!ly and quietly, Maria went to sleep.
J. Participial Phrase: 5oping to feel better, Maria went to sleep.
#sing )id71entence )odiers!
L. !ppositive: Maria, an obedient child, went to sleep.
P. Participial Phrase: Maria, hoping to catch up on her rest, went to sleep.
#sing +erminal )odiers!
H. Present Participial Phrase: Maria went to sleep, hoping to please her mother.
I. Past Participial Phrase>!djectival Phrase: Maria went to sleep, lulled by music.
G. Maria went to sleep, awa!ening to scary dreams, relieved when it was morning.
Combining )odiers!
FU. Duic!ly and quietly, Maria, a young girl, went to sleep hoping to please her mom.
$This section was prepared by Rristin Xoo!, a student in 1rofessor Raryn 5ollis#s Tutor Training
course at :illanova Oniversity.'
0ariety in )odier Placement
0ariety in 1ub"ect Placement
Onli!e medicine or the other sciences, writing has no new discoveries to
spring on us. +e#re in no danger of reading in our morning newspaper
that a brea!through has been made in how to write a clear nglish
sentence"that information has been around since the Ring Bames
(ible.
;; +illiam Xinsser
in -n ,riting ,ell
Additional .ints on 0ariety
Try an occasional question, e.clamation, or command. 6 question can be especially useful at the
beginning of a paragraph where you want to summariAe quic!ly what preceded and then launch
into what will now follow. ,6nd what were the results of this 1roclamation of FHPK&, This reminds
your readers where you are in your discussion " 6h yes, that#s what we#re tal!ing about " and
prepares them for what comes ne.t.
6 command or directive provides direction and energy. Ceaders react to being grabbed by the
collar and told what to do. %t#s hard to ignore, if not to resist. Tone is terribly important here. 6 bit of
well-intentioned cajoling is usually more useful than in-your-face shouting. ,>earning the principle
of parallel structure can be the most important thing you learn in writing class. >earn it nowT,
Try beginning an occasional sentence with something other than the normal subject-followed-by-
verb order of things. (egin with a modifying clause or participial phrase instead. ,6fter 1ontiac#s
insurrection led to the 1roclamation of FHPK, a brief period of peace ensued. 5aving led his people
in a successful resistance, 1ontiac was astonished to discover how %ndian tribal di@erences and
individualism began, instantly, to erode their base of unifed power.,
Try beginning a sentence with a coordinating con"unction Aand2 but2 nor2 for2 yet2 or2 soB.
Many writers have had it pounded into their s!ulls that if you begin a sentence with and or but that
sentence should have been lin!ed $instead' to the previous sentence in a compound structure. %t
goes against the grain to begin a sentence with and or but. (ut give it a try. 6 sentence beginning
with a conjunction will almost always call attention to itself and it will always serve primarily as a
connective device. %f that#s what you want, use it " but not so often that the e@ect gets out of
control and becomes self-defeating.
Try using a variety of basic sentence structures. +e can categoriAe sentences into four main types,
depending on the number and type of clauses they contain4
F. 1imple $one independent clause'4
+e drove from 3onnecticut to Tennessee in one day.
M. Compound $more than one independent clause'4
+e were e.hausted, but we arrived in time for my father#s birthday party.
K. Comple' $one independent clause and at least one dependent clause'4
6lthough he is now HG years old, he still claims to be PL.
J. Compound7comple' $more than one independent clause and at least one dependent
clause'4
6fter it was all over, my dad claimed he !new we were planning something, but we thin!
he was really surprised.
1entence +ypes
%n terms of style, you will also fnd that sentences are classifed as periodic or cumulative
sentences. Periodic sentences begin with modifying phrases and clauses, sometimes piling them
on, and then end with an independent clause, period.
%f, instead of listening to the war-mongers of the military-industrial establishment, the politicians
had only listened to what people had been writing in their letters and in the newspaper columns, if
they had only listened to what the demonstrators had been shouting in the streets and on the
campuses, if they had only listened to what was in their hearts, the war would have ended long
ago.
Cumulative sentences, on the other hand, begin with the independent clause and then fnish
with a ?urry of modifying constructions. See the sentences of 1resident Rennedy above.
6gain, it is not so much that one !ind of sentence is to be preferred over another but that a good
craftsperson uses the right tool for the right job and doesn#t use the same tool all the time.
%t does no good to be overly conscious of these sentence types in the frst draft of your essay, but
as you review your essay, !eep in mind that too many sentences of any one !ind " especially too
many simple sentences " will be tedious for your reader. )n the other hand, as we have seen,
there is nothing li!e a brief sentence to drive home a point after a lengthy, rambling sentence. Try
spicing up your prose by combining sentences into di@erent structures.
See the E'ercise on Avoiding Primer 1tyle.
The most important thing you will derive from using a variety of sentence types is the shifts in
tone that will result. :ariety of sentence structure and type liberates your te.t from the monotone.
Ara 1ound said that writing aspires to music, ,which is the art of arts., Eood academic prose is not
poetry and it is not music, but there is surely no reason for it to remain on the dull plains of
sameness.
Try using an occasional cleft sentence. The structure of a cleft sentence allows a writer to
emphasiAe a part of a sentence in the same way that a spea!er can emphasiAe part of a sentence
using voice stress. +e could say ,3oach 36>5)O- came up with the program of recruiting players
from foreign countries., and by stressing the word ,3alhoun, we let the listener !now that we#re
distinguishing this coach from all others $in this particular conte.t'. To create the same !ind of
stress in writing, we can ,cleave, $split' the sentence into two parts4
%t was 3oach 3alhoun who came up with the program of recruiting players from foreign
countries.
)r we could stress the idea of the 1C)EC6M in this way4
%t was the program of recruiting players from foreign countries that 3oach 3alhoun came
up with.
The cleft sentence usually uses it as the main subject with a to be verb* the real information in the
sentence, oddly enough, follows in the predicate and then in a dependent clause beginning with a
dependent word $usually who, which, or that'.
6nother form of the cleft sentence can be created with what $instead of it?.
+hat you did in your youth is your own business.
The what form of the cleft sentence will frequently ta!e the main verb $and business' of the
sentence and put it into an initial noun clause4
6 massive typhoon o@ the east coast delayed the invasion.
+hat delayed the invasion was a massive typhoon o@ the east coast.
3left sentences are useful for putting stress in a sentence e.actly where you want it, but they
should be used sparingly, reserved for special occasions " li!e birthdays, wedding anniversaries,
and the annual return of the buAAards to 5inc!ley, )hio.
6n emphatic sentence puts the stress on an au.iliary verb instead of some element after the
verb, a complement or modifer. %n normal intonation, we might say something li!e ,The 1resident
was traveling to E/1T yesterday,, thus stressing how the 1resident spent the day. %f someone
doubted the veracity of our statement, however, we might ma!e our statement more emphatic by
placing the stress of our intonation on the au.iliary4 ,The 1resident +6S traveling to gypt
yesterday., %n the absence of an au.iliary, the verb ,do, is used to create emphasis4 ,The 1resident
0%0 spend the day in gypt., The ,to do, form has no e@ect on the meaning of the sentence
e.cept that it adds emphasis. 3lic! .E-E for more information of the uses and forms of the
,emphatic do., mphatic sentences are seldom used in academic, formal prose.