E4S 3. Parallelism and Sentence Problems

What Is a Paragraph? An Overview

Prof. Claudia Cabezas

Objectives

Identifying and correcting sentences according to the following:

2. Sentence Problems

1. Parallelism

2.1 Sentence Fragments

1.1 Coordinators: And. Or, But

2.2 Choppy Sentences

1.2 Correlative Conjunctions

2.3 Run-on Sentences and Comma Splices

2.4 Stringy Sentences

Parallelism

Parallelism means that each item in a list or comparison follows the same grammatical pattern.

A mine may cease production because of the exhaustion of the mineral ,or the prices have dropped or costs risen so much, that it makes it unfeasible to continue.

A mine may cease production because the mineral is exhausted ,or the prices have dropped or costs risen so much, that it makes it unfeasible to continue.

Correlative Conjunctions

Coordinators: And, Or, But

Words, phrases, and clauses that are joined by and, or. and but are written in parallel form.

Correlative conjunctions are placed directly before the elements they join in the sentence.

VS

both . . . and, either . . . or, neither . .. nor, and not only . .. but also.

Pesticides cannot be sold if they have an adverse effect on humans, on animal life, or on the environment.

Many people are neither concerned about pollutants nor worried about their future impact.

Sentence Problems

Sentence Problems

Sentence Fragments

Stringy Sentences

Choppy Sentences

Run-on Sentences and Comma Splices

Sentence Fragments

Warmer temperatures changing weather patterns and disrupting the usual balance of nature.

Sentence fragments are incomplete sentences or parts of sentences.

Problem: the tense is incomplete.

Warmer temperatures are changing weather patterns and disrupting the usual balance of nature.

Remember that a complete sentence must contain at least one main or independent clause.

Choppy Sentences

Wind is an enduring source of power. Water is also an unlimited energy source. Dams produce hydraulic power. They have existed for a long time. Windmills are relatively new.

Choppy sentences are sentences that are too short. Although short sentences can be effective; overuse of them is considered poor style in academic writing.

Both wind and water are enduring sources of power. Dams have produced hydraulic power for a long time, but windmills are relatively new.

Choppy sentences are easy to correct. Just combine two or three short sentences to make one compound or complex sentence.

Stringy Sentences

Junk food is bad for your health, and it also contains no vitamins, and it damages your stomach,so people shouldn't eat it.

A stringy sentence is a sentence with too many independent clauses, usually con­nected with and, but, so, and because. It often results from writing the way you speak, going on and on like a string without an end.

Junk food is bad for your health because it damages your stomach due to its lack of vitamins. Therefore, people shouldn't eat it.

Comma Splices

Run-On Sentences

A run~on sentence is a sentence in which two or more independent clauses are writ­ten one after another with no punctuation.

A comma splice is when two independent clauses are incorrectly joined by a comma without a coordinating con­ junction.

Plastic has become an indispensable aspect of modern life it is used in a variety of ways.

Plants absorb water from the soil, some from the air.

Plants absorb water from the soil, and some from the air.

Plastic has become an indispensable aspect of modern life; it is used in a variety of ways.

thank you