1、Comma splices 误用逗号连接句,1.Mario told everyone in the room to be quiet, his favorite show was on. 1) 分句各自独立成句，变成两个简单句 Mario told everyone in the room. His favorite show was on. 用逗号加并列连词连接，变成一个并列句。(fan boys: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) I turned to the want ads, but I knew my dream job wouldnt be li
2、sted. Linda was very sleepy, for she stayed awake last night. The canoe touched bottom, so Dave pushed it toward deeper water.,3)用分号或加连接副词变成并列句。,Semicolon alone: Mario told everyone in the room to be quiet; his favorite show was on.Semicolon with a connective adverb: Marios favorite show was on; the
3、refore, he told everyone in the room to be quiet.A list of common connective adverbs: however; nevertheless; on the other hand; instead; meanwhile; otherwise; indeed; in addition; also; moreover; furthermore; as a result; thus; consequently; therefore; accordingly. 4)变成从句Mario told everyone in the r
4、oom to be quiet because his favorite show was on.,2.Run-on sentences Mario told everyone in the room to be quiet his favorite show was on. 3.Dangling Modifiers,While reading the newspaper, my dog sat with me on the front steps. After finishing his speech, the audience was invited to ask questions To
5、 do well in sports, a training schedule must be followed. Standing by the window, the park opposite our house is in full view. From attending class, the principles of chemistry were made clear. To develop a lively writing style, all kinds of sentence structures should be used. When only three years
6、old, my father took me to a circus.,4. Parallelism,To maintain parallelism, keep two things in mind: connecting similar parts of speech. Join nouns with nouns, verbs with verbs, adjectives with adjective, and so forth. Do not connect individual words in a series to phrases or clauses. Keep the struc
7、ture of the series as well as the number of words in it.,Steve Martin is an actor, a comedian, and he writes plays. Every time I try to stop smoking, I gain weight, get headaches, or irritability takes over. The explosion affected people living near the house, around the neighborhood, and the entire
8、 city was involved. I tried to sneak into the club both by trying the back door and I showed the guard a fake ID. The salesclerk was neither polite nor did she work efficiently.,5.Fragment I wont leave the house. Until I hear from you. Because I am exhausted. I hurried back home. Charles makes you s
9、mile. When you are sad. He bought a used car. In spite of my warning. We sat back to watch the movie. Not expecting anything special. To our surprise, we clapped, cheered, and cried for the next two hours. Before a race, I eat many foods. Such as bread and spaghetti. My son keeps several pets in his
10、 room. Including cats and mice.,He failed a number of courses before he earned his degree. Among them, English, Economics, and Biology. Luis works evenings in a video store. He enjoys the fringe benefits. For example, seeing the new movies first. Electronic devices keep getting smaller. Such as vide
11、o cameras and cell phones. Some are so tiny they look like toys. Alice loved getting wedding presents. But hated writing thank-you notes.,Unnecessary Shifts,An unnecessary shift, as the name implies, is a sudden and inexplicable shift in the point of view used by the writer. A good writing needs to
12、keep consistency in voice, tense, mood, and person.,Unnecessary Shifts in Voice or SubjectAwkward: After I finally discovered the tools, the dismantling (breaking up) of the engine was begun.Correct: After I finally discovered the tools, I dismantled the engine.A: He was beaten and robbed, and then
13、they left him to die in the gutter.C: He was beaten, robbed, and left to die in the gutter.A: The chairman met everybody in the room, but not one name was remembered by him.C: The chairman met everybody in the room, but he did not remember one name.A: He returned to the office as soon as his lunch h
14、ad been eaten.C: He returned to the office as soon as he had eaten his lunch. Remember to avoid shifting to the passive when the person in question is till the active element in the sentence.A: Mary won the first prize, while her brother was awarded the second.C: Mary won the first prize, while her
15、brother got the second. There is noting truly wrong with this sentence, but the shift from the active verb “won” to the passive “was awarded” is unnecessary. Most people would prefer two active verbs.,Unnecessary Shifts in Tense It would be hard to write at any length and not change tense from time
16、to time, but you must be sure that changes in tense are based on real changes in time; otherwise, the result is needless confusion. Shift: We parked our car at the harbor and rented one of the boats that we use to get to the island. Consistent: We parked our car at the harbor and rented one of the b
17、oats that we used to get to the island. Shift: I was extremely sorry you are injured. C: I am Shift: For years I have been attending summer camp and enjoyed every minute of it. C: For years I have been attending summer camp and enjoying every minute of it. Remember that it is the convention to use t
18、he historical present in writing about literature. Be careful not to slip into the past tense, keep the historical present consistent. Shift: The social worker in the novel makes extensive plans to accomplish reforms, but all her efforts came to nothing. C: The social worker in the novel makes exten
19、sive plans to accomplish reforms, but all her efforts come to nothing.,Unnecessary Shifts in MoodEnglish verbs have three moods: the indicative陈述语气, used to state facts or to narrate events: the subjunctive 虚拟语气, used to express a wish, a condition, or a possibility, and the imperative祈使语气, used to
20、give commands. A sentence should end in the same mood with which it begins. If the opening mood is an order or command, the sentence is imperative and should not shift without good reason to the indicative mood. Shift: Pay your taxes and you should be honest. C: Pay your taxes and be honest. Shift:
21、First, build a fire and you had better make the coffee. C: First, build a fire and make the coffee. Shift: They insisted that the money be collected and that a receipt is given in return. C: They insisted that the money be collected and that a receipt be given in return.,Unnecessary Shifts in Person
22、 or Number A common and annoying shift in inexperienced writing is from the third person (he, she, they, one) to the second person (you). Another common shift is from a singular number (a person, one, he) to a plural (they). Shift: When one tries hard enough, you can do almost anything. C: When you
23、try hard enough, you can do almost anything. Or: When one tries hard enough, one (or he/she) can do almost anything. Or: When we try hard enough, we can do almost anything. Shift: When a person gets an early start, eats a big breakfast and jogs ten miles to school, they work efficiently. C: When a p
24、erson gets an early start, eats a big breakfast and jogs ten miles to school, he (or she) work efficiently. S: I try to take good care of my car, for when one does not, they usually pay a big price. C: I try to take good care of my car, for when I do not, I usually pay a big price. S: If all we do in life is complain, then one shouldnt be surprised if no one likes you. C: If all we do in life is complain, then we shouldnt be surprised if no one likes us.,
