Part VI
Chapter 24: Using Coordination and Subordination
A. Important terms: (Coordination)
- coordination: shows that two or more elements in a sentence are equally important in
meaning. You signal coordination with words such as and, but, and or.
Example:
Car and health insurance are modern necessities.
(“Car” and “health” are equally important.)
Car insurance is costly, but health insurance seems a luxury.
(The fact that car insurance is costly is as important as the
fact that health insurance seems a luxury.)
- faulty coordination: occurs when elements of a sentence are not logically equal or
when the relation between the elements is not correctly expressed by the connecting
word.
Example:
Faulty: “Mill is recognized as a utilitarian, and he did not found the
utilitarian school of philosophy.”
(The two main clauses seem to contrast, requiring “but” or
“yet” between them.)
Revised: “Mill is recognized as a utilitarian, but he did not found
the utilitarian school of philosophy.”
B. RULES for effectively coordinating information in sentences.
a. Link main clauses with a coordinating conjunction: and, or, but, nor, for, so, yet.
b. Relate main clauses with a semicolon alone or a semicolon and a conjunctive
adverb: however, indeed, thus, nevertheless, consequently, therefore.
c. Within clauses, link words and phrases with a coordinating conjunction: and, but,
or, nor.
d. Link main clauses, words, or phrases with a correlative conjunction: both…and,
not only…but also.
e. Coordinate effectively and sparingly. Excessive coordination (a long string of
coordinated elements) can obscure the relative importance of ideas and details.
f. Coordinate logically. Make sure elements are, in fact, equal, and use the correct
conjunction for coordinating phrases and elements.
g. Do not omit necessary information.
C. Exercises.
a. EXERCISE 1: Sentence combining: Coordination.
1. Many chronic misspellers do not have the time to master spelling
rules. They may not have the motivation. They may rely on
dictionaries to catch misspellings. Most dictionaries list words
under their correct spellings. One kind of dictionary is for chronic
misspellers. It lists each word under its common misspellings. It
then provides the correct spelling. It also provides the definition.
Many chronic misspellers do not have the time or motivation to
master spelling rules. They may rely on dictionaries to catch
misspellings, but most dictionaries list words under their correct
spellings. One kind of dictionary is designed for chronic
misspellers. It lists each word under its common misspellings and
then provides the correct spelling and definition.
2. Assigned: EXERCISE 1: #2 (skip 3-5 lines)
b. EXERCISE 2: Revising: Excessive or faulty coordination -- see example
1. Often soldiers admired their commanding officers, and they gave
them nicknames, and these names frequently contained the word
“old,” but not all of the commanders were old.
(excessive and faulty coordination)
Because soldiers admired their commanding officers, they often
gave them nicknames containing the word “old,” even though not
all of the commanders were old.
2. Assigned: EXERCISE 2: #2 – #5