Or. See correlative conjunction.
Order of words. The simplest, normal order of words in a sentence is subject, verb,
and object (or subject complement): “Flemming hit the target Hemming is an archer.”
The example is a compound sentence made up of two independent clauses each of which displays the simple, normal word order on which all variants are made. And the variant word orders are endless, as shown in entries emphasis, question,
imperative, inversion, and so on.
Subjects can come after verbs or stand in their normal place Hit the ball, Reid!
The ball, Reid, is the thing to hit Similarly, verbs and objects can move around in the basic sentence structure or in any of the many altered structures that are possible for sentences The ball, hit by Reid, soared toward a fence being painted by
Johnson and being watched through a telescope by Potter.”
One way to make your writing more lively or informative is to vary the order and structure of words in sentences within paragraphs and from paragraph to paragraph.
Not only can you play with the order of the basic pattern of words but you can vary the length of sentences, shifting between long, complex ones and simple, short ones.
Long sentences need not be complex they can be made up of simple lists of subjects and objects Books, pamphlets, bulletins, newsletters, and software are created,
compiled, edited, produced, and published by organizations, associations,
government o ces, military establishments, businesses, and publishing houses The example simply combines compound subjects, verbs, and objects in the “normal”
subject, verb, object pattern. In similar fashion, short sentences can be made complex by inversion or other devices To whom is it given?”
Voice, mood, and tense can also vary to modify word order and invigorate writing.
While it is a generally correct practice to avoid many passive constructions, the occasional passive voice sentence can create emphasis or shift tone in interesting ways. Imperatives can also provide variety and point, as can careful shifting of the time in which an action or condition is cast.
Sentences need not all begin with subjects. Prepositional phrases, dependent clauses,
verbal phrases, interjections, and other elements are sometimes welcome changes from subject, verb, object consistency Speaking of word order, try moving things around, and you will see an immediate change in your statements. Maybe even an improvement!”
Nor do sentences have to end with objects. Again, all sorts of phrases and clauses
can appear at the end (or in the middle) of any sentence and help it make its point: “Jumbled together at the end of sentences, words in uence sense in a manner that is hard to judge, difficult to evaluate, and sometimes painful to experience.” In rearranging words from the simple sentence pattern into other forms, keep in mind the need to maintain agreement among all the sentence elements. Ordinal number. Numbers that express sequence or order are called ordinals “The Porsche was rst, and the Mazda was twenty-third.” Simple numbers are called “cardinal numbers.” See also number.Share with your friends: |
