COMMON ERRORS: 15 and 16

15: USE OF AN ADVERBIAL CLAUSE TO COMPLEMENT A VERB

Certain verbs e.g. to be and to become can only take a complement,
or word or phrase which completes the sense, after them.

The complement can be a NOUN e.g. Sun Khin became a doctor, an ADJECTIVE e.g. Timothy is handsome or an ADVERB e.g. The Soo’s annual meeting is in progress. It cannot be an adverbial clause, unless the verb is changed.

WRONG: Bankruptcy is when a company cannot meet its debts.
RIGHT: Bankruptcy occurs when a company cannot meet its debts.


16: CONFUSION BETWEEN RESTRICTIVE AND NON-RESTRICTIVE CLAUSES

Relative clauses i.e. those that begin with who, whom, which, or thatcan work in 2 ways: Restrictive and Non-restrictive.

Restrictive, which has no comma, restricts whatever is said in the relative clause to the specific term used in the main clause e.g.

Main clause: This is the report Relative clause: that I wrote yesterday.

The writer is talking about 1 specific report and no other. In the 2nd clause that can be dropped or can have which substituted for it.

This means you could write perfectly acceptably and without changing the meaning e.g.
This is the report I wrote yesterday OR This is the report which I wrote yesterday.

In all 3 versions the relative clause is essential to the meaning to of the sentence. A speaker would not pause at any time during the sentence.

In restrictive clauses, instead of narrowing the term used in the main clause, the writer simply adds more information e.g.

Professor Lim Guat Sim admired the report, which three of us had prepared.

In the above sentence the relative clause could be dropped without affecting the main message in the sentence. If left in, it must begin with which and have a comma immediately before it. A writer cannot drop the word which or substitute that for it. A speaker must pause to convey the force of the comma.

Be particularly careful when both meanings are possible but you intend to convey only one e.g.
Dr Lim Guat Loo admired the report which she had just finished reading (= Dr Lim Guat Loo admired a specific report).

Dr Lim Guat Loo admired the report, which she had just finished reading (= Dr Lim Guat Loo admired the specific report which, as it happens, she had just finished reading).

COMMON ERRORS 11, 12, 13 and 14

11. FAULTY PLACING OF ADVERBS e.g. ‘only’
Because you cannot rely on your voice to show stress in writing, place adverbs and adverbial phrases as close as possible to the words they belong with.

AMBIGUOUS The meeting was only held a week ago.
UNAMBIGUOUS The meeting was held only a week ago.

Though only causes most trouble, almost any verb or adverbial phrase can be badly placed.

CLUMSY We returned to Singapore after a week’s holiday on Friday.
UNAMBIGUOUS On Friday we returned to Singapore after a week’s holiday.


12: FAULTY CO-ORDINATION
The word and and phrases e.g. as well as or together with should only be used to link items which are of equal importance and belong together.

WRONG Thanks for supplying the information so promptly and I look forward to further bulletins from you on this project.
RIGHT Thanks for supplying the information so promptly. I look forward to further bulletins from you on this project.

Stringing together 2 independent clauses which are not closely connected in thought occurs frequently in the last sentence of business correspondence, like an awkward farewell from a host reluctant to shut the door. These sentences should always be broken.

WRONG Thanks for your enquiry and please ask if you have further questions.
RIGHT Thanks for your enquiry. Please ask if you have further questions.

Some writers string several loosely related clauses together, which makes their sentences boring to read. These sentences also lose impact because each part seems to be equally important. Reduce the number of coordinating conjunctions e.g. and, but, so and subordinating some clauses so the main ideas clearly stand out.

POOR At the end of next week I hope the thesis proposal will be finished and next steps recommended and I hope we can then have a meeting to discuss the recommended steps but it may be difficult for some of you so I hope you will make every effort and plan to attend the meeting. (55 words)

BETTER Although I know it will be difficult for some of you, I hope we can meet at the end of next week to discuss the next steps recommended in the thesis proposal. (32 words)


13: CONFUSION OF CONJUCTION AND PREPOSITION

Like is a preposition, which introduces a noun phrase.
As is a conjunction, which introduces a clause.

[Refer Thursday, December 29, 2005: Parts of speech: conjunction & preposition]

RIGHT She twitched her nose like a witch.
ALSO RIGHT She lent me money as a friend would.


14: CONFUSION OF ADJECTIVE AND ADVERB
Using the wrong adjective or adverb can make some writing sound careless.

[Refer Thursday, December 29, 2005: Parts of speech: Adjective / Adverb]

NOT She was real friendly. BUT She was really friendly.

COMMON ERROR 10: MISUSE OF A DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUN

The pronouns this, that, these, and those, like other pronouns, stand for nouns. In writing they should not be used to relate back to clauses or sentences. If they are, some readers are bound to become confused.

WRONG The board decided to double her salary. This upset Hisham.
RIGHT The board decided to double her salary. Their decision upset Hisham.

COMMON ERROR 9: MISUSE OF A REFLEXIVE PRONOUN

Reflexive pronouns are easy to recognise because they all end in –self (singular) or –selves (plural).

A reflexive pronoun can be used to give emphasis or to reflect back to the subject. It should never be used because the writer is not sure whether a pronoun is subject or object of a verb.

WRONG My colleague and myself have checked the creative material.
RIGHT My colleague and I have checked the creative material.
RIGHT I, myself, have checked the final campaign. (emphasis)

RIGHT I blamed myself for the errors. (same subject and object)

WRONG Please see that your wife and yourself sign the enclosed forms.
RIGHT Please see that your wife and you sign the enclosed forms.

COMMON ERROR 8: CONFUSED USE OF A PRONOUN

A pronoun should refer to one noun or noun group in a sentence or the reader may be confused or misled.

WRONG The visitor told the nurse that she was wrong.
RIGHT The visitor told the nurse that he, the visitor, was wrong.
ALSO RIGHT The visitor told the nurse that she, the nurse, was wrong.

COMMON ERROR 7: LACK OF AGREEMENT WITH PRONOUNS AND POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES

Pronouns (e.g. he, they) and possessive adjectives (e.g. my, your) must agree in number and gender with the words they refer to.

WRONG Any building will deteriorate if they are not painted regularly, and their maintenance is neglected.
’Building’ is singular and the words ‘they’ and ‘their’ are plural.

RIGHT Any building will deteriorate if it is not painted regularly, and its maintenance is neglected.
’Building’, ‘it’ and ‘its’ are all singular.

COMMON ERROR 6: DISAGREEMENT OF SUBJECT AND VERB

A verb must agree in number with its subject. Make sure that an intervening phrase doesn’t mislead you.

WRONG The pile of forms are on the desk.
RIGHT The pile of forms is on the desk.

WRONG A considerable proportion of the bills are unpaid.
RIGHT A considerable proportion of the bills is unpaid.

Watch also when a phrase follows the subject, separated by commas or brackets:

The child, as well as her mother, looks tired.
The lawyer, with his two clients, is waiting at the court.
Lousy driving is to result in lousy road accidents.

When the subject has 2 parts separated by or the verb will be singular or plural, depending on the number of the parts:

Either Ali or his brother has made this mess.
but
Neither the men nor the womenare responsible.

When 1 part is singular and the other plural, the verb agrees with the closer:

Neither the professor nor the students have stayed in the smoke-filled room.
and
Neither the students nor the professor has stayed in the smoke-filled room.

If you don’t like the sound of the last 2, change your sentence in some way e.g.
The students have not stayed in the smoke-filled room, nor has the professor.

A different but related error occurs when the subject agrees with only part of the verb. You need a past participle (refer blog entry: December 29, 2005; PARTS OF SPEECH: PARTICLE & PARTICIPLE) after a helping or auxiliary verb e.g. ‘is’ or ‘has’.

WRONG Documents are design by graphic artists.
RIGHT Documents are designed by graphic artists.

WRONG The campaign was complete by the deadline.
RIGHT The campaign was completed by the deadline.

COMMON ERROR 5: COMPARISON OF DISIMILAR OBJECTS

2 objects within a comparison must be of the same kind.

WRONG His wages were lower than a shop attendant.
RIGHT His wages were lower than a shop attendant’s.

WRONG The value has increased far more than the Jalan Guat Sim home.
RIGHT The value has increased far more than that of the Jalan Guat Sim home.

A variant of this error occurs when something is compared with the whole class it belongs to.

WRONG
Creative writing is more interesting than any subject taught in a National university.
RIGHT
Creative writing is more interesting than any other subject taught in a National university.

The implication of the former is that creative writing is not taught at any National university, which is incorrect.

COMMON ERROR 4: NON-PARALLEL CONSTRUCTION

If words, phrases, clauses and sentences, which ought to be parallel in form or content but are not, the writing is ‘non-parallel’.

WRONG
I heard about her novel, her job and she was going to town.
RIGHT
I heard about her novel, her job and her trip to town.

Instead of 2 nouns and an adverbial clause, the correct version has its list of 3 nouns.

Parallel structure is important in tables of contents and sets of instructions because it helps readers understand what you have to say.

WRONG
The residents heard about the planning of a new roundabout and that access to their properties could be affected.
RIGHT
The residents heard that a new roundabout was planned and that access to their properties could be affected.

Instead of a noun phrase and a noun clause, the correct version has 2 noun clauses.
[For difference between phrases and clauses, refer blog entry: December 29, 2005;
SINGLE WORDS & GROUPS OF WORDS]

COMMON ERROR 3: RUN-ON SENTENCE

A run-on sentence fragment occurs when 2 complete sentences are pushed together without an adequate means of joining.

WRONG
He was tall and muscular his brother was short and weak.
RIGHT
He was tall and muscular but his brother was short and weak.

Often this error occurs when a writer treats a comma, an adverb, or the 2 together, as a joining device. Remember that a comma always shows a break, never a link.

WRONG
Upgrading of facilities was urgent, however, the school board did not have the necessary finance to authorise the work.
RIGHT
Upgrading of facilities was urgent but the school board did not have the necessary finance to authorise the work.

Above, the conjunction ‘but’ replaces the adverb ‘however’

ALSO RIGHT
Upgrading of the facilities was urgent; however, the school board did not have the necessary finance to authorise the work.

Above, a semi-colon replaces the comma, but a comma is needed after ‘however’

ALSO RIGHT
Upgrading of the facilities was urgent. However, the school board did not have the finance to authorise the work.

Above, a period replaces the comma, and ‘however’ is given a capital followed by a comma.

ALSO RIGHT
Although upgrading of the facilities was urgent, the school board did not have the finance to authorise the work.

Above, the first of the complete sentences has been made into a dependent clause.

Run-on sentences may force a reader to reread what is written in order to grasp the meaning. They are particularly common in business writing because terms like ‘however’ and ‘therefore’ are often used to show logical connection. Logical and grammatical connection are not the same. Words e.g. ‘however’ and ‘therefore’ could often come at the end of a sentence but can never perform the grammatical work of a conjunction.

Compare the following:
She worked hard but could not repay her mortgage.
She worked hard; however, she could not repay her mortgage.

In the first sentence the word butis immovable. It cannot go anywhere else in the sentence apart from where it is. In the second, the semicolon, not ‘however’ linked the 2 parts of the 2nd sentence and the writer can easily rearrange the sentence:

She worked hard. She could not repay her mortgage, however.

COMMON ERROR 2: SENTENCE FRAGMENT

A sentence fragment is a group of words, which looks like a sentence i.e. it starts with a capital and ends with a period, but doesn’t make complete sense by itself. Often a change in punctuation will cure the error.

WRONG
We had two options. To drive to the nearest police station, or to lock the doors till the tailgater passed by.
RIGHT
We had two options: to drive to the nearest police station, or to slow down till the tailgater passed by.
ALSO RIGHT
We had two options. We could drive to the nearest police station or we could slow down till the tailgater passed by.

WRONG
Various procedures need to be considered. Altering the interest rate. Renegotiating the terms. Calling in all mortgages.
RIGHT
Various procedures, such as altering the interest rate, renegotiating the terms or calling in all mortgages, have to be considered.

Notice that a word phrase in answer to a question is NOT considered a fragment because the meaning is incomplete.
RIGHT
Should I spend more effort on my thesis? Certainly

Formal business writers must watch particularly carefully for fragments because they are common and acceptable in some kinds of writing. Stream of consciousness novels and short stories use them effectively. So do certain kinds of advertising. Other business writing hardly ever does.

It may help to remember that there are 2 kinds of sentences. Full sentences have at least 1 independent (could stand alone) clause e.g. I enjoy reading. Minor sentences are either exclamations e.g. Certainly not! or answers to questions like Three in answer to the question “How many bananas have you eaten?” A sentence, whether full or minor, makes sense in context and so is acceptable. A fragment lacks something that makes it unacceptable.

SENTENCE STRUCTURE: COMMON ERRORS

There are about 40 errors in English. 10 are common in any writing and another 10 are common in business writing. If your writing is free of the errors below it is probably sound.

COMMON ERROR 1.: MISRELATED PARTICIPLE
Participles can be troublesome when they work as adjectives but do not immediately go before the noun they relate to. When a phrase begins with a participle e.g. having in having left the country, the participle must link with the nearest noun or pronoun outside the phrase.

WRONG
Having left the country, it is obvious that Andy will not be attending the seminar this Saturday.
RIGHT
Having left the country, Andy will obviously not be attending the seminar this Saturday.
ALSO RIGHT
Since he has left the country, it is obvious that Andy will not be attending the seminar this Saturday.

A comic example from the 19th century will help you remember the pattern:
WRONG
Peeping over the graveyard wall, the headstone was seen by us all.
RIGHT
Peeping over the graveyard wall, we all saw the headstone.
ALSO RIGHT
When we peeped over the graveyard wall, we all saw the headstone.

To correct a misrelated participle, use 1 of 2 strategies:

a. Ensure that the nearest noun or pronoun outside the construction, which usually means straight after the comma, links naturally with the participle, as in the first correct example (above). WE are the ones peeping.

OR

b. Change the participle so that it is a complete verb instead of part of one as in the 2nd correct example (above). “Peeping” is incomplete but “When we peeped” is complete.

II. SENTENCE STRUCTURE

The patterns of English are flexible. Contorted, stilted and ambiguous are words used to describe writing that does not conform to established patterns.

The most familiar pattern: Subject - Verb e.g. She smiled.

The most common words: Structure words, which include articles (a, an, the), pronouns (he, she, it, they), conjunctions (and, so), and prepositions (in, at, over, under).