Glossary
    of composition terms and common errors

Agreement Expletive Essay Models Basic Five Paragraph Essay Causal Analysis Comparison Essay Definition Essay Illustration Essay Process Analysis Dangling Modifier Gerund Loose Sentences

Misplaced Modifier Noun-Pronoun Agreement Parallel Structure Passive Voice Periodic Sentence Pronoun Case Pronoun Reference Sentence Variety Sequence Subject-Verb Agreement Transition Uncondensed Predicate Weak Subject

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The most common expletive is There + some form of to be: There is, There were, There might have been.

Expletives are empty words that we use in conversation to give ourselves time to think, to formulate what we really want or need to say. In written communication, they tend to obscure and weaken the agent. Unless they create emphasis within a parallel sentence, you should look to cut expletives. Look to the right in the sentence, find the agent, and move the agent to the subject place.

Example: There were several reasons why he became a surly and moody child.

Corrected Sentence: He became a surly and moody child for several reasons.

Example: It is clear that Bill Clinton should be impeached. (clear to whom?)

Corrected Sentence: Many Republicans want to impeach Bill Clinton (Here you replace the expletive with an agent.) Bill Clinton deserves to be impeached. (Here you cut the expletive, state what you take to be the truth, and do not, through the expletive, imply that all share this view.)

Gerunds convert participles into nouns. They eliminate agents by turning an action that would require a subject into a subject. Gerunds long have been a part of our speech:  Hunting, Bowling, Swimming, Running, Reading--the list of gerunds is a long one. But if you rely upon gerunds, your prose will become agentless and, perhaps, deceptive.

Examples of Problem Gerunds:

Bowling is fun. (Is it? And for Whom?)
Hunting is a great sport. (Is it? And for whom?)
Running at 3:00 a. m. is a great way to get in shape. (Is it? And for whom?)

Solution: When you find gerunds in your sentences, try to convert them to participles.

Corrected Sentences:

Running at 3:00 a. m., John alienated many of his neighbors, but he claimed the peace that the exercise brought him outweighed the loss of friendships.

Bowling as many as three nights a week, my uncle had great fun at the lanes.

A loose sentence opens with its subject, predicate, and object; the main part of the sentence comes first. As a result, the relationship of modifiers to this main part will become more tenuous as the sentence lengthens. The reader, having focused upon agent and action, will have increasing difficulty connecting the modifiers to them.

Example:

Root ideas:      I ate the pizza.     I ate the pizza that my sister baked.

I ate the pizza that my sister baked after I got home from work. (Did your sister bake the pizza after you got home from work or did you only eat the pizza after you got home from work?)

I ate the pizza that my sister baked after I got home from work which was really tough. (Who or what is tough here?)

Solution: When you write a short, simple sentence, do not overextend it. Use short sentences without modifiers attached to make points briefly and forcefully: "I have a dream!" Or include an introductory modifier so that a string of modifiers will not confuse the sentence's meaning: After I got home from work, I ate the pizza that my sister baked.

You should place modifiers as close as possible to the words they modify. To do this, of course, you need to know what the modifier modifies. Dangling modifiers typically occur when an introductory adjectival phrase or clause is not followed by the noun it modifies . You can see this most clearly with introductory participial phrases.
 

Examples:

Beaten and bloody, the ring resounded with the gallant fighter's name. ("Beaten and bloody" modify the fighter not the ring; these adjectives are misplaced.)

Breathing deeply and kissing passionately, the bed shook as John and Mary made love. (The introductory participial phrase modifies "John and Mary," not "the bed." Because the phrase stands next to "the bed," it dangles.)

To access the worldwide web, computers are a necessity for students. (Here the introductory infinitive phrase modifies "students," not "computers." Standing next to "computers," the phrase dangles.)

Parallelism depends upon repetition of words or repetition of kinds of  words. This repetition should make sentences more emphatic, more memorable, but it also allows writers to avoid repeating other words needlessly. Parallel sentences may be lengthy, but they are shorter than the accumulated loose sentences the writer otherwise would need to present the material. Parallel sentences use roughly the same words in roughly the same places. But the repetition may vary in precision. Consider the Christmas Carol, The Twelve Days of Christmas. It is an exercise in parallel structure:

"On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: five gold rings, four calling birds, three french hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree. "

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me five gold rings. He also gave me four calling birds. Then he gave me three french hens. He gave me two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.

In any study of automobiles, you should learn about the clutch, the brakes, the ignition, the fuel system, the piston rods.

In any study of automobiles, you should learn about the clutch, brakes, ignition, fuel system, piston rods.

In the passive voice, you combine a form of the verb "to be" with a past participle. (Past participles typically end in -ed, but see the list of irregular past participles in Agent Prose, p.000). In the passive voice, the subject of the verb is acted upon (it's passive) rather than active. In some passive sentences a preposition will follow the verb and introduce an agent for the action the verb describes. But passive sentences frequently do not include this prepositional phrase and become agentless.

Examples:

They were mistreated by the camp counselors. (Passive voice with agent)
They were mistreated. (Passive voice without agent.)

Examples:

They could have been mistreated by the camp counselors. (Conditional present perfect)
They will have been mistreated. (Future perfect)

Examples:

She has mistreated the campers. (Present perfect)
They will have ruined the party. (Future perfect)
He had destroyed the myths surrounding Century Tower. (Past perfect)

ACTIVE VOICE: Subject equals Agent
PASSIVE VOICE: Subject does not equal Agent

In a periodic sentence, you open with introductory subordinate phrases and clauses, which lead up to the subject, predicate, and object the main part of the sentence. A periodic sentence can include more modifiers than a loose sentence because the reader focuses upon the middle or, in some cases, the end of the sentence.

Example: After a tough day at work, I ate the pizza that my sister baked, which was very tasty.

Example: I, a real devotee of deep dish pizza, devoured the pie that my sister baked, taking solace in it after a tough day at work.

Periodic Structure See "Periodic Sentence"

This includes the who/whom distinction, so it may seem a trivial and arcane matter. But it's not. Pronouns can function as subjects in sentences or as objects. If you cannot figure out whether the pronoun should be in the subjective or the objective case, you, in effect, admit that your sentence is so imprecise and/or convoluted that you cannot distinguish your subject from your object.

Examples:

Me and him went fishing. (Here the pronouns are the subject of the sentence, so they should be in the subjective case: He and I went fishing.)

To who will they give the job? (Here the pronoun is the object of the preposition "to" and thus the pronoun should be "whom.")

Who do you trust? (Here the pronoun is the object of the verb "trust," and the subject of the sentence is "you." So the sentence should read "Whom do you trust?")

Personal pronouns replace a noun antecedent, and their relationship to that noun should be clear.

Examples:

My grandfather was a wonderful storyteller. Whenever he began a story, a crowd would gather around him. ("He" replaces "grandfather.")

My grandparents were a devoted couple. They were married for fifty five years and they died within two days of each other. ("They" replaces "grandparents.")

Example: My grandparents once took my mother and her sisters on a vacation in Las Vegas. They still talk about it. (Does "They" replace the grandparents, their children, or all the people mentioned?)

Example: I left the food for the dog on the table. Just break it into bits. (Here, multiple potential antecedents could result in a very unhappy dog or damaged furniture.)

Examples:

He always hated what he took to be the elitism of the Greek system. This is why he never joined a fraternity. ("This" replaces the idea "his hatred for the elitism of the Greek system.")

The investigators found unruly students, decaying buildings, demoralized teachers, insensitive administrators. That is why their report has had such impact. (Can you say what "That" replaces?)

You should include a variety of sentences in your paragraphs. Long periodic sentences may make important distinctions for you, even as they tax your reader's attention; short loose sentences should give your reader a break by suggesting the points at which your discussion is clearest. Parallel sentences are memorable means to summarizing a lengthy discussion. As you proof your essays, you should find a variety of sentences and try to assure that you have not fallen into a pattern that your reader will find monotonous.

Sequence is the order of your body paragraphs. In any essay, your introduction should establish a sequence; your body paragraphs should conform to the sequence that your introduction outlines. Do not change the sequence on your reader. If you conclude the introduction of an essay on fashion by claiming that consumers today look for clothing that is comfortable, durable, and stylish, then the topic sentences of your body paragraphs should unfold 1) comfort, 2) durability, 3) style.

Nouns are either singular or plural. The pronoun that replaces a noun should agree with it in number. So should the verb that a noun subject takes. Most obviously, in the third person, present tense verbs that are singular end in "s"; those that are plural drop the "s."

Examples:

He runs.
They run.
Whenever Tom is frightened, he runs.
Whenever Tom and Woody are frightened, they run.

Example: Your experiences as an individual directly affects how much love you have to give and how you give it. (The noun that controls number here is "experiences," and the verb should be plural, "affect." But the student got confused because of the prepositional phrase that includes the singular "individual.")

Solution: It's not enough here to correct the agreement error. Rather, take the difficulty establishing number as a sign to revise.

Corrected Sentence: Individuals express love differently, depending on their experiences.

Example: The sexual values of my grandmother's generation differs from the carnal morality of my "X" generation. ("Generation" is singular but it occurs in a prepositional phrase that is part of the weak noun phrase, "The sexual values of my grandmother's generation." "Values" determines number here, so the predicate should be "differ."

Corrected Sentence: My grandmother and her peers have very different sexual values than my generation.

Transitions are the words that connect paragraphs and maintain the sequence of the essay. In this course, the best transitions will be one-word transitions: "next," "also," "then." The worst transitions will be those that you impose upon the essay rather than derive from a sequence.

Cumbersome Transition:

My next point about the role of the automobile in American life is.

Your reader will expect body paragraphs on the topics of "convenience," "avoidance," and "identity." You should use those words to make transitions rather than, "My next point about the automobile's role in American life is..."

Predicates that contain more than one verb qualify as uncondensed. Uncondensed predicates typically combine some form of the verb "to be able" and/or other infinitives with a noun that refers to the action upon which the reader should focus. You should try to write "one-verb" predicates and thus focus your reader's attention upon a single action. Notice how often writers use "to be able" needlessly, how little a sentence changes when you delete infinitives.

Example: We will be able to do the practice tomorrow. (Uncondensed)

Corrected Sentence: We will practice tomorrow. (Condensed)

Examples:

She has slept for over twelve hours. (Present perfect tense)
I was attending Loyola Marymount University. (Past progressive tense)
They will vote by absentee ballot. (Future tense)

A weak subject uses a gerund phrase, infinitive phrase or noun phrase  rather than a noun. Weak subjects are "multi-word" rather than "single-word," and they usually include one or more prepositions.

Examples:

Being aware of the problem is important. (Gerund phrase)
To be aware of the problem is important. (Infinitive phrase)
His awareness of the problem in the early 1970s was unique. (Noun phrase)

Solution: In the case of all these weak subjects, you need to find an agent and put that agent in the subject place. Who is doing the "being" in the first two examples? Who is the "he" referred to in the third sentence?

Corrected Sentences:

Teachers need to recognize dyslexia as a problem.
Richard Holbrook alone recognized in the 1970s that Yugoslavia would break into warring nations.

Have I ever seen one?
Have I ever seen one walking down the street?