Coordinating conjunctions are words that are used to join two sentences together. Example: I’m reading, and I’m writing. Key Concepts: Flow, Coherence, Unity; Grammar; Organization; Organizational Schema & Logical Reasoning; Parts of Speech; Sentences; Writer-Based vs. Reader-Based Prose Commas are used when two independent clauses are connected by coordinating conjunctions: Ex: She was tired, so ...
A subordinating conjunction connects an independent clause to a dependent (subordinate) clause: an independent clause is a sentence that is a complete thought and therefore can stand alone Example: I survived the class. a dependent clause is an incomplete sentence, a fragment. It cannot express a complete thought. It cannot be punctuated as a sentence. ...
Definition Sentences are a grammatical unit, involving a subject and a verb or a subject, verb, and object the basic building blocks of thought, the ways we encode and decode information a signal, a sign, of education, literacy, professionalism, work ethic. Related Concepts: Edit for AWK(Awkward); Edit for Sentence Fragments; Edit for Parallelism; Edit for ...
A sentence fragment is a word, phrase, or dependent clause that is punctuated as a sentence, but the subject, verb, or both may be missing. A sentence fragment is a sentence that’s missing some key piece to complete it grammatically. In order to be a complete sentence, a group of words needs to contain a ...
Modifiers are words, phrases, or clauses that describe another word in a sentence. Modifiers change the sentence meaning. Related Concepts: Clarity; Edit for Modification “I shot an elephant in my pajamas this morning. How he got in my pajamas, I don’t know” (Groucho Marx). If you think about modifiers as being similar to adjectives, it ...
What is a Comma Splice? A comma splice is Related Concepts: Common Sentence Error; Coordination & Subordination; Register; Sentence; Parts of a Sentence; Independent Clauses, Dependent Clauses & Phrases Comma Splice Examples A comma splice divides two independent clauses with a comma. John ran quickly toward the exit, he was trying to avoid his ex-girlfriend. In the above example, the clauses on either ...
English has three articles: a, an, and the. These little words are used to introduce certain nouns, but there are specific rules regarding the use of each one. When do I use an article? “A” is used before a general noun that has not been introduced to the reader. A cat walked by my door. ...
Strong verbs are verbs that convey a lot of precise meaning without the help of modifiers or qualifications. Using strong verbs is usually an appropriate stylistic choice. Strong verbs make your writing more concise, help you avoid vague descriptions, and can keep your readers interested. When you don’t use a variety of strong verbs, you ...
Verbs, a part of speech, refer to words that show actions (Action Verbs) feelings, states of being (Nonactive (aka Inactive) Verbs). Action Verbs Action verbs are words that denote specific actions in a sentence. Because actions tend to be concrete and sensory, sentences that employ action verbs tend to be more accessible, readable, understandable than ...
If these sentences seem ok, that may be because you may hear people say them in everyday discourse. Still, from the standard of British or American English, the first three sentences contain a pronoun error. The fourth sentence, which until recently would have been considered an error, is correct. What Are Pronouns? Pronouns are words that ...
