21st Century Grammar Handbook
Download 1.09 Mb. View original pdf
|
21st century grammar, transformation, transformation, - - - .pdf;filename*= UTF-8''অনুবাদ চর্চা (প্রথম আলো পত্রিকা থেকে-২৯-০৩-২০২০)-1, 21st century grammar
| Miss. See Ms. Modifier. Words that qualify or explicate the condition or status or other words (or phrase or clauses) are called “modi ers.” Modi ers of nouns (things or people) are called adjectives, while words that refer to verbs are called adverbs. Because they add so much to the nouns and verbs we use, modi ers are important parts of speech that do a great deal to enliven, enrich, and clarify our statements. “Put the bleached our in a deep pan warming on the stove. Stirring constantly, blend in the toasted almonds, then the vanilla taken from the beans that have soaked in brandy boiled down until its alcohol has completely evaporated In this long passage, the following are modifiers of one sort or another: “Bleached”: adjectival past participle modifying “flour” “Deep”: adjective modifying “pan” “Warming on the stove adjectival present participle phrase modifying “pan” “Stirring constantly adverbial gerund phrase modifying “blend” “Constantly”: adverb modifying “stirring” “Toasted”: adjective or past participle modifying “almonds” “Taken from the beans …”: adjectival past participial phrase modifying “vanilla” “That have soaked in brandy adjectival demonstrative pronoun clause modifying “beans” “boiled down …”: adjectival past participial phrase modifying “brandy” “Until its …”: adverbial prepositional phrase modifying boiled down” “Completely”: adverb modifying has evaporated” The simplest relationship between a word and its modi er is for them to be next to each other the red house or walking quickly But groups of words can function as nouns or verbs and also as their modi ers in sentences, and long combinations of words can put modi ers fairly faraway from the thing they qualify. Sometimes modi ers get in each other’s way and are said to be misplaced or to dangle (see misplaced modifier). When this happens, your audience will not know what you mean or will have to pause and gure out what the most likely sense of your words is. They will then probably lose concentration, fail to pay attention to what follows the confusing passage, or simply give upon you as a clear or cogent speaker or writer. To avoid such consequences, make sure your thoughts are in order and that the words you choose to express them match and convey that order (see order of words). Put modi ers as close to the words they refer to as possible, or nd away to make the link between word and modi er unambiguous. Read and reread your writing to listen for adjectives, adverbs, phrases, and clauses that might be heard di erently by your audience than you intended. Put yourself in your audience’s place whenever you intend to put a modi er into a sentence or whenever you nd an adjective or adverb when you are proofreading or revising. Does it belong where it is Could it possibly betaken to modify more than one thing in the sentence Is it in the right place to qualify just the word, phrase, or clause I want modi ed Is there something in the sentence to which it refers Is it the right thing? Only by asking all these questions of every modi er will you be certain to avoid the ambiguities, stupidities, and irritations that misusing modi ers can cause. See revision and editing. Mood. Besides tense, indicating time of action, and voice, indicating whether a subject is acting or being acted on, verbs have mood indicating feelings or attitudes toward the action. There are three moods indicative, the normal mood for describing action or condition directly imperative, the mood of command or request and subjunctive, the mood of unreal conditions, desires, or needs. The indicative mood is used for all statements, questions, and soon that aren’t in the imperative or subjunctive. It is the normal or neutral mood in which a writer or speaker expresses what is believed to be factor evident, inquires into aspects of reality, or reports what others have assumed to be ordinary or correct The bear hibernates in winter. Is the bear in its den Scientists believe bears hibernate to survive the cold winters Most sentences inmost circumstances are indicative, a mood not marked in anyway grammatically. The imperative mood is used for commands or requests Go study bears in hibernation, but don’t disturb them Imperative statements are often marked by inversion or unusual word order, and they commonly are followed by exclamation points to further distinguish them. The subjunctive mood is sometimes called conditional It is used to express things that are not real or not certainly matters of fact, to convey wishes, or to state requirements If I were to poke that bear, it might wake up, and it might attack me Subjunctive verb forms are sometimes di erent (Ii were),i and subjunctive sentences often include words like if or “that” to introduce clauses. In the last example, all the verbs have a conditional sense to them. Sentences should not mix moods. WRONG Study hibernation, and you should be careful when you do RIGHT Study hibernation, and be careful when you do.” Download 1.09 Mb. Share with your friends:
|