Unless otherwise noted, content in this chapter has been adapted from pages 71-98 & 99-126 in Communicating for Results: A Canadian Student’s Guide (3rd Edition) by Carolyn Meyer^[1].

No matter who your readers are or what your purpose is, good grammar is critical to effective writing. Poor grammar can confuse your message and will almost certainly negatively affect your reader’s opinion of you and your company.

Common Sentence Errors

Sentence errors are unprofessional. They can negatively affect your readers’ overall impression of your company or organization and they can cause confusion in meaning.

1. Sentence fragments

A sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence.

2. Two Types of Run-ons

Fused sentences combine two or more independent clauses without an adequate connecting element or full stop between the

In a comma splice, independent clauses connected with just a  comma. To eliminate this error, add a conjunction or change the comma to a period or semicolon.

3. Two Types of Modifier Errors

A modifier is a word or word group that describes another word or words. Misplaced modifiers are in the wrong spot and can make your message unintentionally funny and make your meaning ambiguous. Position modifiers as close as possible to the word or words they describe.

In a dangling modifier, the descriptive words do not clearly apply to another word in the sentence. This problem often occurs with introductory verbal phrases containing a past participle (informed). an infinitive (to inform), or a present participle (informing) but no subject. Make sure the subject being described in the introductory phrase comes immediately after the phrase itself. Otherwise, convert the dangling phrase into a dependent clause using the technique shown in the second revision below.

Sometimes a dangling modifier results from misuse of the passive voice, as in the following example:

4. Elliptical Constructions

An elliptical construction leaves out words that have already appeared in a sentence because their meaning is inferred from the context: Private-sector administrators earned on average $80,000 a year, their public-sector counterparts significantly less. Don’t automatically assume that a word appearing elsewhere in the sentence will stand in for the omitted word in the elliptical construction. The implied word has to he exactly the same as the one already used for the construction to be correct:

5. Faulty predication and mixed constructions

Mixed-construction sentences pair mismatched elements that do not logically fit together and must be untangled in order to make sense. In a sentence with faulty predication, there is sometimes an illogical pairing of subject and verb.

To fix a sentence featuring an is when or is where construction, drop when or where, add a classifying word, or substitute another verb for the verb to be:

The expression the reason … is because is redundant (akin to saying because … because); replace it with the reason is that:

ln a sentence of mixed construction, the sentence starts in one grammatical form, then shifts to another. Common culprits in mixed construction sentences are introductory phrases such as the following:

Sentence Variety

Having some variety in your sentence structure can make your writing more pleasant to read. Done correctly, using some complex sentences can also increase the clarity of your message. By joining simple sentences to create more complex sentences, you are demonstrating how the ideas in the two sentences are related.

Rhythm^[3]

Good writing relies on a natural mix or sentence styles and lengths. Let the patterns of normal, everyday speech be your guide to fresh and energetic writing. The following tips will help you break sentence monotony and create useful distinctions among ideas:

Vary the rhythm by alternating short and long sentences.

Please complete and return the enclosed survey [short sentence]. Your answers to our questions will help us review our current practices so that we may provide the highest standard of customer service [long sentence]. By completing the entire survey, you will also receive a 25 per cent discount coupon that you can apply to your next purchase from Software Plus [long sentence].

Sentences of ten or fewer words have the greatest impact and readability; however, sentences of up to twenty words also have a high rate of reader comprehension. Beyond that point, readers’ ability to easily grasp a sentence’s meaning falls off sharply. Your word-processing software will usually flag sentences that are too long to be comprehensible.

How to create longer sentences:

1. Use prepositional phrases. A prepositional phrase is a group of words beginning with a preposition (a word such as with, at, to, of, by, against, toward, from, above, on, or in that provides additional description).

2. Use relative clauses. A relative clause (a clause beginning with that, which, or who) acts like an adjective by adding information to define or describe a particular word or group or words.

3. Use modifying phrases. A modifying phrase, sometimes called a participle phrase, can also be used to streamline sentences. A participial phrase is easy to spot as it contains a present participle (working), infinitive (to work), or past participle (worked). These are words that look like verbs but don’t actually qualify as verbs.

4. Use a descriptive phrase or clause. Use appositive commas around the descriptive phrase or clause.

Watch this video^[4] for tips on how to create sentence variety WITHOUT creating sentence errors: