Course HRD 2101: COMMUNICATION SKILLS
LECTURE NO. 5
Lecturer: Paul N. Njoroge
WRITING SKILLS
1.0 CULTIVATING SKILLS IN WRITTEN COMPOSITION
The writing skills you are expected to develop under our Course (Course HRD 2101)
are basically English composition skills. English composition simply means
generating continuous writing on some subject; composition involves forming words,
sentences, paragraphs and pages of passages in order to convey meaning and
communication about some subject.
The following areas of composition are explicitly spelt out in the Course Description
circulated at the outset of our lectures:
1. The Essay. The essay is a composition of moderate length on some particular
subject. One could write an essay on subjects like:
“The Outreach Programme of the University Farm”;
The Michuki Reforms of the Matatu Sector”;
“How the Communication Skills Course Has Helped My Studies”; etc
2. Correspondence. This simply refers to letter-writing. You may write personal
letters or formal letters, for example an application for a job or for a placement in a
professional course.
3. Reports. Reports are compositions written after a request or instructions. Such a
request or instructions normally spell out the terms of reference—which areas of a
subject you should cover. In that regard, the guided essay you have written for me
(“A Description of the Contents and Concerns of My Main University Course to a Lay
Person, with a Clear Indication of the Career Prospects Opened out by the Course”)
has features of a report.
You can also generate a report on the basis of the following instructions: “You are a
class representative. Write a report on the views of students from your department
on the changes they would like to see made on the contents and scheduling of the
Communication Skills course.”
4. Summary. If you are given a written passage of 900 words and asked to
summarise its contents into 300 words of the original length, your composition is a
summary. Several decades ago this kind of summarising was referred to as précis.
Alternatively, you may be asked to write on only one aspect of a larger and more
diverse subject. For example, you may be given a passage describing all the subjects
taught in the Faculty of Science, and then you are asked to describe the teaching of
Mathematics in the Faculty.
We will say more about these types of compositions to give you a good idea about
how to go about them. And as a bonus we will also tell you how to go about writing a
Memo and a Curriculum Vitae or Résumé. You should find this relevant for
purposes of making an application for a job. A memo (short for memorandum
[plural, memoranda]) is a piece of communication normally circulated to members of
the same department for “internal” information. We will also say something about
minutes. For our purposes, e-mail is really part of correspondence—in an electronic
context.
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I will repeat what I have said many times during my lectures. You have a
responsibility to use your own efforts to improve your communication and,
particularly, writing skills. Self-learning should include general reading, paying
intense attention to how well-written pieces are put together. Self-learning should
also include own writing exercises. I said I would be willing to read your efforts even
outside our formal course.
I have also made an effort to write my lectures in at least grammatically correct
sentences. This should give some guidance. I have also fairly generously quoted
good writers; emulate their style.
2.0 ELEMENTARY REQUIREMENTS FOR WRITING UNIVERSITY
COMPOSITIONS
I have read student essays and while a good number are well presented, there are
points of presentation which you should always bear in mind. This is rather an
elementary matter but it is of great importance. It is of great importance because
the main method of presenting answers to Continuous Assessment Tests and indeed
answers to University examinations is through hand-written presentations.
So remember:
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Have a proper heading of the topic, if you are writing an essay.
Leave margins at both left-hand and right-hand sides of your sheet of paper. If
such margins are not print-ruled ensure 25 mm of margin on the left-hand side
and about 10 mm at right-hand side. (Of course the left margin must be hand
drawn, while the right side margin will not actually be drawn.)
Make sure you write carefully and legibly and, hopefully, in a pleasant
handwriting. There are a few students who do not differentiate Capital letters
from small letters and this is simply not acceptable.
There can be no justification for breaking up words at the end of the line. If a
word will not fit, move to the next line.
Make sure your paragraphs distinctly stand out, either by indentation at the left
hand margin or by leaving a line space between different paragraphs.
These are purely technical matters but they are very important. You can endanger
your chances for success by writing illegibly. Write rough drafts in a hurry. Then
practise rewriting them in presentable legible handwriting.
3.0 THE BASICS OF CORRECT AND EFFECTIVE WRITING
We shall talk briefly about each of the types of composition you should have
competence in, and how to approach them. But before we do so, we should first be
aware of the language skills and knowledge that one should command in order to
write good compositions of whatever type and in whichever subject. The following
are the language skills that you need to have a good command of:
3.1 A Command of English Grammar
The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines grammar as “the rules for
forming words and combining them into sentences”. James A. W. Hefferman
and John E. Lincoln in their very good course book, Writing: A College Handbook
(New York/London; W. W. Norton & Company) state: “The grammar of a language
is the set of rules by which its sentences are made.” These rules, one should
add, are essentially accepted conventions among a language group. A child learns
the grammar of their first language or Mother Tongue/Language from listening to the
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mother and other older people as they speak. A child assimilates the language habits
and conventions of her elders. For a second language, the learner may assimilate
correct grammatical usage by listening to experienced and knowledgeable users of
the language and by reading books written by knowledgeable people. A secondlanguage learner may also consciously study the grammatical rules of the language.
It is important to note that the grammar we are speaking about is the grammar of
Standard English. Standard English is the type of English used to facilitate
communication between English-users from all types of backgrounds—native
speakers, second-language users, and so on. It is the language of education and the
language of books and published and printed documents. It is the formal language of
radio and television broadcasting.
To learn how to write the words of an alphabetical language, one learns how the
characters of that alphabet are written. To command the grammar of a language—in
our case Standard English—one learns how to write a correct sentence, for the
sentence is the basic unit of verbal and written communication.
We will therefore have something to say about the different types of the English
sentence: the simple, the compound and the complex. Develop a command of the
construction of these types of sentences—and you will become proficient in writing
all types of English compositions.
We will also provide a set of exercises to test your command of the grammatical
sentence. Attempt these exercises and if you require to carry self-evaluation ask
your Class Representative to come to me for the answers.
3.2 Punctuation
Punctuation is the technical or mechanical art of putting marks (full stops, commas,
question marks, full colons, semi colons, quotation marks, etc) in a piece of writing
to indicate the sense in which groups of words are used and should be read in order
to get the intended meaning. Punctuation therefore suggests to the reader how the
sentences in a written passage should be read.
Students should certainly pay attention to correct punctuation. From my reading of
students essays, for example, I have become aware that some students do not
appreciate the difference between the colon (:) and the semi-colon.
So we shall give examples of correct punctuation and some exercises in the use of
correct punctuation.
3.3 Spelling
Spelling is writing the letters of a word in the correct—and intended—order. I saw
recently the reproduction of a report which had appeared in an overseas paper some
years back. It was headed: “Businessmen warn over bear-breasted women”, or
something to that effect. The word bear does exist and is ‘correct’ but it certainly
wasn’t the one intended. Which was the correct spelling of the word intended?
Correct spelling is an important feature of good English composition. A learner or a
student may need to memorise some spellings. When writing, check your Dictionary
to ensure that you are using the correct spelling of the appropriate word.
3.4 Vocabulary and Registers of Language
Vocabulary is the body of words known to a person using a certain language—words
that may be put to use in a composition. Each person with a certain language
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competence has his or her “basket of words” into which she dips to construct
sentences either in verbal or written communication. One should make sure that
one’s basket is as large and full as possible. Attentive reading of good books and
good magazine articles as well as listening to good radio programmes, and also
making attentive references to dictionaries and Thesaurus will help you to build your
vocabulary. One will then be in a position to select the most appropriate sets of
words for different purposes and different types of composition.
What does the term register mean? There is a good explanation of this term in
Frank Smith’s book Writing and the Writer (London: Heinemann Educational Books,
1982). Let us quote in some length (see p. 78):
Language takes a multitude of forms; there is no one “best way” of using
language, no “correct form” that is appropriate for all occasions. We speak in one
way to adults and in another way to children; we speak differently to adults
singly and to adults in groups; to friends, strangers, and acquaintances; to
colleagues at work and to colleagues over a drink; to professors and to
policemen; to our own children, to friends’ children and to children in school; to
anyone when we can reasonably request something from them and to anyone
when we require a favour. All of these different ways of using language are given
a special name by linguists, they are called registers.
Some of the differences among registers are attributable to the subject being
discussed; you would not talk to a colleague about a picnic the way you would
about a death or a shortage in the pension fund. Some differences must be
attributed to the relative age, status, and physical and emotional condition of the
person you are talking to, together with your perception of what the person
knows and would be interested in. …
Just as there are many different registers of language as it is spoken, so written
language has different registers from speech. … All the different registers of
language have become specialized for their particular uses, and written language
has developed registers in its own right. Every kind of text has its own rules.
Letters are written in different registers from diaries, from company reports, and
from business memoranda, newspaper articles, and novels. Letters to aunts are
not the same as letters to bankers, even if they are both on the topic of
borrowing money. … Lawyers do not write for lawyers the way scientists write for
scientists, and both write differently (or should try to write differently) when they
write for lay people. Novels for adults are written differently from stories for
children, and stories for 12-year-olds are different from those for 8-year-olds.
It is clear from this lengthy quotation that register is about more than words used,
for it involves the whole question of the style of using language. But the register
used also has a lot to do with the kinds of words that are selected from a language
user’s or writer’s vocabulary basket. Style covers all areas of the use of language:
does the writer use short simple sentences or does she use long complex sentences?
This would affect the ‘pace’. Does the writer prefer active or passive verbs? Does the
writer prefer concrete words to abstract words? And so forth.
In your writing assignments, you should be conscious about choosing the right
register for the right audience. This will include style and tone. Being mindful of
other people’s feelings, being courteous and avoiding being rude may be seen as an
aspect of register.
Language experts tell us that register is determined by three factors of
communication, namely field, mode and tenor. In this regard Smith refers to
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Michael Gregory and Susanne Carroll, Language and Situation (London: Routledge,
1978).
Field refers to the topic of the communication. Thus technical language and scientific
language will be used in the presentation of a technical or scientific topic and the
language of narration in a novel. Mode refers to the nature of language: spoken or
written, monologue or dialogue, spontaneous or rehearsed. Tenor refers to the
relationship of the producer or communicator to the recipient (including aspects of
the communicator’s purpose, whether to persuade, excite, teach, and so forth).
3.5 The Use of Idiomatic English
Idiom is defined in the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary as “phrase or sentence
whose meaning is not clear from the meaning of its individual words and which must
be learnt as a whole unit, e.g. give way, a change of heart, be hard put to it. …”
And according to Heffernan and Lincoln (Writing: A College Handbook), “An idiom is
an expression that cannot be explained by any rule of grammar but that native
speakers of a language customarily use. Most English idioms include a preposition
that varies according to the words that precede or follow it.” They give the following
examples:
bored with television
tired of television
dependent on others
independent of others, etc.
It should be clear from those examples that to use idiomatic English one needs to
have internalised a deep knowledge of the language, as opposed to a knowledge of
literal meanings. Look at the following two sentences:
1. He’d planned to severely punish his son, but had a change of heart when his
son warmly welcomed him home.
2. A heart transplant means a patient with a diseased heart receives a healthy
heart from a donor.
In the first sentence, the word heart is used idiomatically; in the second in a literal
sense. One can only learn the use of idiomatic English through acquaintance with the
use of English by native speakers. Good Dictionaries for users of English as a second
language also contain examples of the correct use of idioms.
3.6 Use of Correct Style
Style covers a whole range of using language to create a variety of meanings for a
variety of contexts, situations, and audiences. Style includes the registers of
language employed, the manner of sentence constructions (simple, short, long,
complicated, complex) and the kind of words used (abstract, concrete, everyday,
technical, specialist, ‘literary’, poetic, etc). The ways of using language become
characteristic of individual writers who by the manner of writing manage to project
their own personality. It becomes possible from reading a passage from the works of
well established authors (e.g. William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, George Elliot,
Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, John Steinbeck …) to tell by the
style who the actual author is. The use of words, the ability to reproduce
mannerisms of speech and to portray people’s manners and behaviour and to
capture people’s thoughts, emotions and concerns enable authors to create a variety
of moods and effects from humour and irony to grave poignancy.
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Is the author formal or informal or does he or she use colloqualisms, that is, words
and phrases belonging to or suitable for ordinary conversation but not to formal
speech or writing? For example:
“I have a hunch he’s kidding”, meaning “I have the idea that he is deceiving me in a
playful kind of way”.
“He has pinched my book”, meaning “He has stolen my book”.
The style used will, of course, depend on the subject being treated, the audience
being addressed, and the purpose of the communication.
Some of the factors mentioned in a numbered manner above will be elaborated on
before we move to a discussion of actual composition. We shall talk about grammar
and the sentence, punctuation and spelling. We shall also say more about registers
and style particularly in the context of discussing different types of composition.
4.0 GRAMMAR: THE SENTENCE AS THE BASIC UNIT OF SPOKEN AND
WRITTEN LANGUAGE
If you can ensure that each sentence in your composition is grammatically correct—
that is it obeys all the rules of word order and arrangement—you would have
established your mastery of grammar and achieved the major measure of
correctness in language use.
A sentence may be defined as a group of words which obeys the conventions or
rules of correct order and which makes a complete sense. As we have indicated,
there are three main forms of sentences—the simple, the compound and the
complex sentence. We need to be familiar with these forms of sentences so that we
may be able to construct them with ease when we write English compositions.
A sentence normally has a subject and a predicate. The subject identifies a place,
a person or thing. The predicate tells what the subject does, or is, what it has, or
what is done to it. A predicate, therefore, always includes a verb, which may take
different forms.
Sentences are therefore classified as either simple, compound or complex depending
on the number of subjects and predicates they have. As a general rule, a simple
sentence has only one subject and one predicate, while compound and complex
sentences have more than one subject and more than one predicate. In grammatical
terminology, the combination of a subject and a predicate (which, as we have seen,
contains a verb) is called a clause. We can therefore say that the simple sentence is
a one-clause sentence. A compound sentence has more than one clause linked
together using the principle of coordination, while the complex sentence has more
than one clause combined through subordination. These two principles will be
explained eventually.
4.1 The Simple Sentence
In their excellent book, Writing: A College Handbook, the authors, Heffernan and
Lincoln, clearly demonstrate what a powerful tool of expression the so-called simple
sentence can become in hands skilled in the use of language. There are almost
countless things you can do to the simple sentence to achieve an endless variety of
expression. The simple sentence can be starkly simple and short. It can also be
complexly rich.
Look at the following sentences, which are all simple sentences. Notice their great
variety.
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SUBJECT
PREDICATE
1. The lion
roared.
2. The lion, caught in a hunter’s net
roared fiercely, putting a chill of fear in all
the animals living in the neighbourhood.
3. The novel about the Mafia
was written by an Italian-American.
4. Some medical experts
have predicted an escalation of HIV/AIDS
related deaths.
5. The path to the observatory
is steep.
6. John
cried.
7. The stag
leapt.
8. Startled and terrified, the stag
leapt suddenly from a high rock.
The simplest, shortest sentences—The lion roared; John cried—are constructed using
a one-word predicate (verb) respectively. In sentence no. 2 the words “caught in a
hunter’s net” provide extra information about the subject (‘The Lion’), while the
predicate has the verb ‘roared’ modified by the adverb ‘fiercely’ as well as a
compound phrase. The words ‘caught in a hunters’ net’ is called a past participle. A
participle is a word formed from a verb and used to modify a noun. Bare onesubject, one-predicate sentences can therefore be enriched by using words or
phrases that provide more information about the subject and predicate. But the
sentence remains simple in form.
4.1.1 Writing the Subject in the Simple Sentence
The subject of a simple sentence can be a noun, a noun phrase, a pronoun or a
verbal noun.
SUBJECT
PREDICATE
1. Children (noun)
thrive on loving care.
2. They (pronoun)
become psychologically distorted through
neglect.
3. Studying grammar (verbal noun)
requires effort.
4. The price of timber (noun phrase)
has risen sharply.
But the subject need not appear at the beginning of the sentence: subjects can
appear after the verb, as in the following sentences. The noun is printed in bold face.
There was a cockroach in the soft drink.
It is hard to read small print in insurance contracts.
In these examples, the words there and it are only introductory words or
expletives and are not part of either the subject or predicate.
You can also invert (reverse) the word order and put the subject after the predicate:
At the top of the mountain stands the hermit’s hut.
4.1.1.1 Using Modifiers in Subjects
A modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that describes limits or qualifies another word
or word group. The italicized words modify the subjects in the following sentences.
The un-italicized word in the subject group of words is the key subject noun.
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SUBJECT
PREDICATE
1. The price of timber
has risen sharply.
2. The strong statement by the president has sent the right signal to armed
robbers.
3. A careless waiter
poured soup on the carpet.
4. Story books for children
are more difficult to write than fiction for
adults.
5. Some of the highest acclaimed
paintings in history
were painted by Renaissance artist
Michelangelo.
6. Mohammed Ali, a crafty boxer,
has probably remained unmatched in
boxing style.
7. Kenyan children influenced by
television
often assume character roles of actors
featured on TV.
In sentence no. 1, the word The is an article and the words ‘of timber’ are an
adjective phrase qualifying the noun ‘price’. Similar modifications occur in sentences
2, 3, and 4. The word ‘acclaimed’ in sentence 5 is used as a participle—a word
formed from a verb and used to modify a noun. In sentence 6 an appositive is
used, that is a noun phrase that identifies another noun phrase or pronoun. And in
sentence 7 the words ‘influenced by television’ constitute a participle phrase, that
is a phrase based on a participle.
There are just a few ways in which you can create rich variety in the formation of the
subjects of your sentences—even simple sentences.
4.1.2 Writing the Predicate: Using Linking, Intransitive and Transitive Verbs
4.1.2.1 Linking Verbs
A linking verb is followed by a word or word group that identifies, classifies, or
describes the subject. Is is called ‘the verb to be’ and gives us the most common
linking verbs, namely: is, are, was, were. Other linking verbs include: seem,
become, feel, sound and taste.
The following sentences all have linking verbs, which have been italicized.
SUBJECT
PREDICATE
1. Kitili Mwenda
was the first African Chief Justice of Independent Kenya.
2. Tourism
is Kenya’s biggest foreign exchange earner.
3. The Bantu
were the earliest settlers in the Lake Victoria region.
4. Susan
became sick after drinking unheated water.
5. She
feels elated at the prospect of flying to the United
States.
6. She
seems elated.
7. The Vice Chancellor
sounds positive on the prospect of keeping course fees
at their present level.
8. The yoghurt
tastes just fine.
4.1.2.2 Intransitive Verbs
An intransitive verb names an action that has no direct impact on anyone or
anything named in the predicate.
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SUBJECT
PREDICATE
1. The rich
also cry.
2. The Nile River
flows turbulently in the northern summer.
3. The thieves
vanished into thin air.
4. The long rains
have come.
4.1.2.3 Transitive Verbs
A transitive verb names an action that directly affects a person or thing mentioned
in the predicate. The word or word group naming this person or thing is called a
direct object (DO).
SUBJECT
PREDICATE
Tr. V
DO
1. The violent storm
destroyed
the wheat crop.
2. Violent robbers
may kill
their victims.
3. HIV/AIDS
threatens
the very survival of Africa.
4. She
wrote
a song about the matatu industry.
Transitive verbs may either be in the active or the passive voice. A verb is in the
active voice when the subject performs the action named by the verb. A verb is in
the passive voice when the subject undergoes the action named by the verb. All the
above sentences have verbs in the active voice. Sentence no. 1 may be rendered in
the passive voice as follows.
SUBJECT
PREDICATE
The young wheat crop
was destroyed by the storm.
Transitive verbs in the active voice give a piece of writing pace and create a sense of
activity. A fast-paced story relies quite a lot on transitive active verbs. This is not the
case with the passive voice or even with intransitive verbs.
4.1.3 Achieving Expressiveness Using the Simple Sentence: Things You Can Do
With the Simple Sentence
James A. W. Heffernan and John E. Lincoln in their excellent book, Writing: A College
Handbook (New York/London: W. W. Norton & Company) illustrate a great variety of
things you can do with the simple sentence to make it richly expressive. The use of
modifiers—a modifier being defined as a “word, phrase, or clause that describes,
limits, or qualifies another word or word group—both in the subject and the
predicate is one way of making the simple sentence more expressive. We have
highlighted modifiers used in the subject; and the examples given above also feature
modifiers in the predicate.
Let us now point out some of the modifiers in the predicates of sentences given
earlier as examples. The modifying words and phrases are italicised.
SUBJECT
PREDICATE
1. The lion, caught in a hunter’s net
roared fiercely, putting a chill of fear in all
the animals living in the neighbourhood.
2. Startled and terrified, the stag
leapt suddenly from a high rock.
3. A careless waiter
poured soup on the carpet.
4. The price of timber
has risen sharply.
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Below we identify different types of modifiers by their grammatical terms.
4.1.3.1 Adjectives and Adjective (Adjectival) Phrases
Adjectives modify nouns, specifying such things as how many, what kind and which
ones.
A wise student reads classical books.
The judge, stern and solemn, pronounced the death sentence.
Adjectival phrases begin with a preposition—a word like with, under, by, in, of, at.
Hostels for women have sprung up all over Parklands.
He appears to be in the money, but he is actually in debt.
Words which are usually used as nouns can act as adjectives:
He was the first person in his village to build a stone house.
Then he became the village drunkard and dismantled his house.
The judge handed down a death sentence.
Timber prices have risen.
4.1.3.2 Using Adverbs and Adverb (Adverbial) Phrases
An adverb tells such things as how, when, where, why and for what purpose.
Timber prices have risen steeply.
He drove dangerously fast.
Most adverbs are formed by adding ly to adjectives.
He made a quick retreat. (adjective)
He retreated quickly. (adverb)
He was lucky to arrive on time to receive a free gift. (adjective)
He luckily arrived on time to receive a free gift. (adverb)
Some adverbs—such as never, soon, and always—are not based on adjectives at all.
An adverb phrase begins with a preposition: at, to, with, in, since, from, …
In the year 2002, the Kenya African National Union party lost the general
elections for the first time since independence.
4.1.3.3 Using Appositives
An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that identifies another noun phrase or a
pronoun.
The Nazis, cynical nihilists, led the German nation to moral ruin and physical
destruction.
The village roads, veritable quagmires of mud during the rainy season, deter
visitors from the town.
4.1.3.4 Using Participles and Participle Phrases to Modify Both Subjects and Words
in the Predicate
A participle is a word formed from a verb and used to modify a noun; it can enrich
any sentence with descriptive detail. A participle phrase is a participle which has
been expanded into a phrase.
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The weeping woman stared at her injured child.
Enjoying every minute of the game, the foreward terrorised the defence of the
other team throughout the game.
You can use a present, past and perfect participle.
Barking dogs never bite. (Present)
A carved figure was kept in the family shrine as a family god. (Past)
Having struck an iceberg, the luxury ship sunk into the cold wintery waters of
the Atlantic. (Perfect)
PARTICIPLES IN BRIEF
Present participle:
planning
Present participle phrase:
planning every minute of the journey
Past participle:
influenced
Past participle phrase:
influenced by flattery
Perfect participle:
having lost
Perfect participle phrase:
having lost the election
4.1.3.5 Using Infinitives and Infinitive Phrases
The infinitive is made by placing to before the bare form of the verb. Infinitive
phrases are phrases formed on the basis of infinitives.
The sick man was only sustained by the will to live.
She was determined to succeed.
To write with rhetorical force, you must read books written by good authors.
A split infinitive is an infinitive with intervening words between to … and the bare
verb.
You need to energetically tackle your language problems.
Avoid split infinitive:
You need to tackle your language problems energetically.
4.1.3.6 Using Compound Phrases
According to Heffernan and Lincoln, “compound phrases help to turn short, meagre
sentences into longer, meatier ones; a compound phrase joins words or phrases to
show addition, contrast or choice.
Compound phrases showing addition, contrast and choice
The ideas in the five short sentences can all be combined into one meatier simple
sentence, to achieve addition:
The
The
The
The
The
path
path
path
path
path
was
was
was
was
was
narrow.
steep.
crooked.
slippery.
treacherous.
COMBINED: The Path was narrow, steep, crooked, slippery and treacherous.
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To show contrast the ideas in the following two shorter sentences can be combined
into one longer sentence:
Pulling Africa from the deep pit of underdevelopment is a gargantuan task.
But it is not an impossible task.
COMBINED: Pulling Africa from the deep pit of underdevelopment is a gargantuan
but not an impossible task.
To show choice, the two shorter sentences can be combined into a longer sentence.
Africa must seize the initiative for her own development.
Or she will lay behind the rest of the world forever.
COMBINED: Africa must seize the initiative for her own development or lag behind
the rest of the world forever.
4.1.3.7 Using Absolute Phrases
An absolute phrase usually consists of a noun phrase followed by a participle.
The woman wept silently, her tears flowing down her cheeks.
Heffernan and Lincoln illustrate you can form compound phrases with absolute
phrases and use them in succession as in the following examples:
The factory, its freshly painted walls gleaming in the light and dazzling the
beholder, symbolized economic progress.
The village was silent, its shops closed, the streets deserted.
PROBLEMS WITH MODIFIERS
1. MISPLACED MODIFIERS
A misplaced modifier is one which does not point clearly to the word or phrase it
modifies.
(1) I asked her for the time while waiting for the bus to start a conversation.
(2) The College Librarian announced that all fines on overdue books will be doubled
yesterday.
TO CORRECT, put the modifying phrase next—either before or after—to the main
word being modified, as follows:
(1) While waiting for the bus, I asked her for the time to start a conversation.
(2) The College Librarian announced yesterday that all fines on overdue books will be
doubled.
2. SQUINTING MODIFIERS
A squinting modifier is one placed where it could modify either of two possible
headwords.
(1) The street vendor she saw on her way to school occasionally sold wild
mushrooms.
TWO CORRECT VERSIONS POSSIBLE.
The street vendor she occasionally saw on her way to school sold wild
mushrooms.
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The street vendor she saw on her way to school sold wild mushrooms
occasionally.
3. MISPLACED RESTRICTERS
A restricter is a one-word modifier that limits the meaning of another word or a
group of words.
Restricters include almost, only, merely, nearly, scarcely, simply, even, exactly, just
and hardly.
Usually a restricter modifies the word or phrase that immediately follows it. What is
the difference in meaning between the following three sentences?
1. Only Cheers serves fried chicken on Sundays.
2. Cheers serves only fried chicken on Sundays.
3. Cheers serves fried chicken only on Sundays.
Editing Misplaced Modifiers
Dangling Modifiers
A modifier dangles when its headword or word it is intended to modify is missing—
such that the modifier attaches itself to a false headword.
WRONG: After doing my homework, the dog was fed.
CORRECT: After I did my homework, I fed the dog.
After doing my homework, I fed the dog.
4.2 Compound Sentences: Compound Sentences are Formed Using the
Principle of Coordination
To coordinate two or more parts of a sentence is to give them the same rank and
role by making them grammatically alike. Simple sentences are coordinated to make
a compound sentence. In the compound sentence, the previous simple sentences are
described as clauses.
A clause is a group of words that has a subject and predicate. The subject is made
of a noun or a pronoun or a noun phrase or a verbal phrase, and there is a verb in
the predicate. An independent clause is to all intents and purposes like any simple
sentence; it makes a complete sense. (A subordinate clause, which is not used in
a compound sentence, has a subject and a predicate, but cannot stand as a complete
sentence.)
Four ways are used to make a compound sentence using the principle of
coordination:
1. Using Conjunctions;
2. Using a Semi-Colon;
3. Using Conjuctive Adverbs;
4. Using Correlatives
A. Compounding with Conjunctions
The conjunctions are the following words: and, but, for, or, nor, so and yet.
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1. Compounding to show simple addition
The two sets of underlined words constitute the two independent clauses in each
sentence.
The economists considered budget cuts, and the politicians thought of votes.
He thought of achieving great success, and he worked eighteen hours a day in
that regard.
2. Compounding to add a negative point
He had not achieved any distinctive success by the time he was fifty, nor did he
expect to achieve any success for the remainder of his life.
3. Compounding to show contrast
Our member of parliament claims to be a man of the people, yet we see him only
during election campaigns.
4. Compounding to show logical consequence
He welcomed his inlaws warmly to his house, for he wanted to express his high
regard for them.
5. Compounding to show choice
Jane could enrol in Strathmore University to pursue a CPA course, or she could join
Komo Kenyatta University to study Actuarial science.
B. Compounding with the Semi-Colon
A semicolon alone can join two independent clauses when the relationship between
them is obvious.
INDEPENDENT CLAUSE
;
INDEPENDENT CLAUSE
1. Some books are undeservedly
forgotten
;
none are undeservedly remembered. (W.
H. Auden)
2. Authors do not develop
;
independently of the influence
of others
they benefit from both the example of
past authors and contemporary
practitioners.
C. Compounding with Conjuctive Adverbs
1. Conjuctive adverbs showing addition:
besides, furthermore, moreover, in addition
2. Conjuctive adverbs showing likeness
likewise, similarly, in the same way
3. Conjective adverbs showing contrast
however, nevertheless, still, nonetheless, conversely, instead, in contrast, on
the other hand, in spite of
4. Conjuctive adverbs showing cause and effect
accordingly, consequently, hence, therefore, as a result, for this reason
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5. Conjuctive adverbs showing a means-and-end relation
thus, thereby, by this means, in this manner.
6. Reinforcement
for example, for instance, in fact, in particular, indeed
7. Conjective adverbs of time
meanwhile, then, subsequently, afterward, earlier, later
EXAMPLES OF SENTENCES USING TYPES OF CONJUCTIVE ADVERBS MENTIONED
ABOVE
1. African countries require the cancellation of debts; in addition, they need fair
terms of internal trade in order to make any headway.
(ADDITION)
2. To learn how to read one has to memorise all the 26 letters in the Latin alphabet;
similarly, to learn to use the major music scale, one has to know the eight notes
in the tonic solfa.
(LIKENESS)
3. To become a successful parent, one needs to have sufficient money; however, a
parent cannot become successful without a sense of caring.
(CONTRAST)
4. Public universities were only able to admit a fifth of successful candidates; as a
result, a vast majority of successful candidates became desperate job seekers.
(CAUSE AND EFFECT)
5. Jaramogi Oginga Odinga not only left the government in 1966 to form an
opposition party but also demanded a multiparty system during the authoritarian
years of one party rule; therefore, he is remembered as the champion for
multiparty democracy in Kenya.
(A MEANS-AND-END RELATION)
6. Most of the economic indicators show Africa to be deplorably underdeveloped; for
example, the average per capita income for sub-Saharan African countries is less
than US $ 400.
(REINFORCEMENT)
7. In the meanwhile Africa can content itself with forming regional trading blocs;
later, it will have to seek continental union.
(TIME)
Need to Avoid the Mistake of Comma Splices or the Comma Fault
The mistake of joining two independent clauses (that is two possible sentences) with
nothing but a comma should be avoided. Correct the mistake by putting a
conjunction (and, but …) after the comma. For example:
WRONG: The attack of the enemy was rolled back, our army soon turned the
enemy’s retreat into a rout.
CORRECT:
The attack of the enemy was rolled back, and our army soon turned the
enemy’s retreat into a rout.
D. Using Correlatives
Correlatives are words phrases used in pairs like both … and, not only … but also,
either … or, neither … nor, and whether … or. These correlatives are used to join two
or more independent clauses expressing what is called parallel ideas. The following
sentences provide examples of how to use correlatives.
1. His brutality not only horrified the opposition, but also it alienated his erstwhile
supporters.
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2. A student should either be prepared to do her own interest-driven self-reading for
success in literature, or she should not study literature at all.
3. Whether you decide to marry or you decide to live single, you will regret it.
4.3 Complex Sentences
4.3.1 The Principle of Subordination
Complex sentences are formed by combining clauses using the principle of
subordination. Unlike the use of coordination whereby two or more independent
clauses having the same rank and weight are combined, subordination make one or
more clause depend on the clause of the sentence which is considered most
important. The clause that is considered most important becomes the independent
clause, while other clauses ‘hang’ on the independent clause as dependent clauses.
An independent clause can in separation have the grammatical status of a simple
sentence; a dependent clause cannot in separation stand as a sentence.
The principle of subordination is used for purposes of the writer emphasising the
most important idea by putting it in the independent clause, while the less important
ideas are placed in the dependent clauses.
Look at the following pairs of sentences, with the independent clause in bold face
and the dependent clauses in italics.
1. After he had conferred with his lawyer, the prisoner entered a plea of ‘not
guilty’.
The prisoner conferred with his lawyer, before entering a plea of ‘not guilty’.
2. (From Heffernan/Lincoln:)
Amelia Earhart, who set new speed records for long-distance flying in the
1930s, disappeared in 1937 during a round-the-world trip.
Amelia Earhart, who disappeared in 1937 during a round-the-world trip, set
new speed records for long-distance flying in the 1930s.
In the Pair of sentences in no. 1, there are two different emphases: the first
sentence emphasises the idea that the prisoner entered a plea of not guilty, while
the second sentence emphasises the idea that the prisoner conferred with his lawyer.
In the pair of sentences in 2, Amelia Earhart’s disappearance is highlighted by
inclusion in the main clause in the first sentence; while her setting of new speed
records is the main idea in the second sentence.
Other Examples of Complex Sentences
SUBORDINATE CLAUSE
INDEPENDENT CLAUSE
1. Before the V.C. spoke on graduation day,
he studied his notes.
INDEPENDENT CLAUSE
SUBORDINATE CLAUSE
2. Medical researchers have long been seeking
a cure for AIDS
which takes millions of lives each
year.
INDEPENDENT CLAUSE
SUBORDINATE CLAUSE
SUBORDINATE CLAUSE
3. The president was
cheered
as he finished his public
address
in which he promised
massive tax cuts.
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4.3.2 Subordination Using Adjective (Adjectival) or Relative Clauses
Look at the following sentence:
The horse that won the race was probably led into the stables by the jockey.
The independent clause is in bold face, while the dependent clause is in italics. The
word that in the dependent clause is called a relative pronoun. The relative
pronoun refers to the noun horse which is grammatically called an antecedent. This
kind of clause beginning with a relative pronoun—the other pronouns are which,
that, who, whom, or whose—is called an adjective (adjectival) clause or a relative
clause. An adjective clause modifies the antecedent.
Examples of sentences using Adjective Clauses
1. A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
(Oscar Wilde)
2. Jomo Kenyatta, whom everybody remembers as a foremost African nationalist
and statesman, was the author of a foremost anthropological study, Facing Mount
Kenya.
3. A mind that is stretched to a new idea never returns to its original dimensions.
(Oliver Wendell Holmes)
4. Shakespeare’s tragic plays, which he wrote at the height of his dramatic genius,
probe the depths of human suffering.
4.3.2.1 Restrictive and Non-Restrictive Adjective Clauses
Non-restrictive adjective clauses provide extra information on the antecedent,
without defining the antecedent, which is otherwise clearly defined. In the following
sentence, for example, the antecedent is clearly defined, being the proper name of a
person. The adjective clause in this non-restrictive use is set out between a pair of
commas.
Jomo Kenyatta, whom everybody remembers as a foremost African nationalist
and statesman, was the author of a foremost anthropological study, Facing
Mount Kenya. (non-restrictive adjective clause)
Contrast this sentence with the following:
Students who score an average B grade will be eligible for admission in public
universities. (restrictive adjective clause)
Here the adjective clause gives definition to the antecedent—students—who are
eligible for admission. There are no commas setting off this adjective clause, as there
are for setting off non-restrictive clauses.
4.3.3 Using Adverb Clauses
An adverb clause begins with a subordinator—a word like when, because, if and
although that introduces the subordinate adverbial clause. Other subordinator words
or phrases are: until, after, as soon as, as long as, before, ever since, as, while.
Whereas, while, so that, so … that, whatever, wherever, whoever, whichever,
however. An adverb clause modifies a word, phrase or clause. It tells such things as
why, when, how, and under what conditions. Examples of sentences with adverb
clauses are given below, with an indication of the role the adverb clause plays in the
sentence.
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1. Showing Time
The University closed when the end-of-semester examinations were completed.
Until all the voters had had their votes, the election station remained open.
2. Showing Causality
Since the saw mill had run out of timber, it closed down.
The guerrilla leader was in despair because he had lost three quarters of his
fighters in the battle.
3. Concession and Contrast
Being employed cannot make you wealthy, although it can make your life
reasonably comfortable.
Although the weather outside was outrageous, we had a jolly good time inside
the wood-fire heated main bar of restaurant.
4. Condition
If oil deposits were discovered in Kenya, the country would quickly become
wealthy.
5. Purpose
He busied himself with the papers on his office desk so that he could impress
the supervisor who was on a tour of inspection.
6. Place
Your car keys may probably be found where you lost your purse.
7. Result
He dug the earth deeply so that the crop planted would thrive.
8. Expressing Range of Possibilities
Whatever budget proposals are favoured by the politicians, the business
community will want their views considered.
9. Comparison
Some African countries are poorer forty years after independence than they
were in independence.
4.3.3.1 Punctuating Adverb Clauses
Adverb clauses at the beginning of the sentence are followed by a comma.
Even though he applied himself to exam preparation, his performance was
average.
An adverb clause coming at the end of the sentence is not preceded by a comma:
The football fans poured into the stadium when the stadium gates were
opened.
4.3.4 Using Noun Clauses
A noun clause is a clause used as a noun within a sentence.
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1. A noun clause can be used as subject.
What Amin did shocked Africa and the world.
Whoever earns a distinction will get a full scholarship.
2. A noun clause may be used as object
The insurgents will fight with whatever they have.
No one knew what the fuss was all about.
3. Using noun clause as predicate noun
The greatest mystery is why she married the eighty-year old man.
The main reason for setting up the factory is that it will benefit the community.
4.4 Coordination and Subordination
Sentences are not always purely simple, compound or complex. It is possible to have
a sentence that combines the principles of coordination and subordination so that it
has, say, two main or independent clauses and, say, one subordinate clause. So the
sentence is both compound and complex.
Let us cite an example from Heffernan/Lincoln:
No one had the guts to raise a riot, but if a European woman went through the
bazaars alone somebody would probably spit betel juice over her dress. (George
Orwell)
The two main clauses in this sentence are:
1. No one had the guts to raise a riot.
2. Somebody would spit betel juice over her dress.
The subordinate clause is: ‘… but if a European woman went through the bazaars
alone …’
Another example, with main/independent clauses in bold face and the subordinate
clause in italics:
While Africa is richly endowed with natural resources, it is not so well endowed with
human resources: its general population has not benefited from mass education, and
its political managers are short-sighted.
4.5 Conclusion
Grammar—the rules of correctly forming sentences—is probably the most important
factor in writing English compositions. We have provided a good number of examples
of how to write correct sentences and how to achieve good expressiveness in the
sentences that we write. The sentence is the building block of any composition. The
student is advised to pay a lot of attention to the kind of sentences she or he writes.
But our basic advice remains: the best way of acquiring good grammatical skills is to
read books written by good writers and to listen to skilful speakers of
English, and especially radio announcers on reputable broadcasting services.
The focus in the next Lecture is on actual writing of different types of compositions.
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