Rabu, 31 Mei 2017
14. Problem Vocabulary and Preposition
A preposition is word used to describe the relationship between other
words in a sentence.
Prepositions
are almost always combined with other words. In grammars, these structures are
called prepositional phrases.
A
prepositional phrase consists of a preposition followed by an article or
another determiner and an adjective or two, followed by a pronoun or noun. Here
the adjective modifies the noun or pronoun which acts as the object of the
preposition.
A
prepositional phrase acts as an adjective or an adverb.
Ending a sentence with a preposition
You
may have heard that ending a sentence with a preposition is a serious breach of
grammatical rules. Well, not really. Of course, you are not supposed to end
every one of your sentences with a preposition, but sometimes ending a sentence
with a preposition is better than moving it to another location in the
sentence.
Consider
the two examples given below.
1)
The professor asked the students to indicate the reference book they are
quoting from. (This sentence ends in a preposition.)
2)
The professor asked the students to indicate from which reference book
they are quoting.
As
you can see, sentence 2 isn’t much better than sentence 1 although it doesn’t
end in a preposition.
The
prepositions in, at and on can all indicate position. Here is a
list of common word combinations with these prepositions.
In the bed / in the bedroom / in the car / in the class / in
the library / in school
At class / at home / at the library / at the office / at
school / work
On the bed / on the ceiling / on the floor / on the horse/
on the plane / on the train
As
you can see, with some of these locations, different prepositions are possible.
No
prepositions are used with the following expressions: downtown, downstairs,
outside, inside, upstairs, uptown etc.
13. Style in written
English
Participles adjective
In
other words, some adjectives only look like they come from verbs – and we still
call them participial adjectives. In this way, “to excite” becomes “excited”
and “to determine” becomes “determined”. However, there is no “to talent” that
forms the participial adjective “talented.”
It
is more common that the participial adjectives that end in –ing have a
corresponding verb form. These include annoying, exasperating, worrying,
thrilling, misleading, gratifying, and time-consuming.
Words to Modify Participial Adjectives
These
adjectives do not just come in one form. You can modify participial adjectives
to increase or decrease their intensity and use them to compare different
nouns. This can be accomplished by using the words very, extremely, and less,
or by forming comparative and superlative forms. Look at the examples below,
using the adjective “annoying:”
- Annoying
- Very annoying
- Extremely annoying
- Less annoying
- More annoying
- Most annoying
In
all of these forms, annoying serves as the participial adjective but it is
treated differently in each case. Look at a few ways we can use the above
treatments of “annoying:”
- She was so annoying.
- He is extremely annoying.
- It was more annoying to me that he did not show up for the party.
- The most annoying thing was that she did not speak up.
Inventing a Participial Adjective
Some
participial adjectives have no corresponding verb form since they are made by
putting a noun with a participle, such as “drug-induced coma” or “energy-saving
technology.” In the former example, “drug” is the noun put with “induced,” the
participle. In the latter example, “energy” is the noun put with “saving,” the
participle. For more examples, go online to find practice worksheets and more complex
definitions of these adjectives.
Redudancy
Common Examples of Redundancy
The example showed before is just one example, but there are dozens of redundant phrases that people use constantly without realizing. Below you will see some redundant phrases and why they are repetitive.Advance warning or notice – To notify someone or warn them is already telling them something before the event occurs. It is redundant to attach the word advance.
- Actual fact – A fact is by definition something that has already been confirmed to have happened.
- Forever and ever – Ever is completely unnecessary as it just serves as a duplicate of forever.
- Major breakthrough – A breakthrough is already major and significant. There is no reason to say that it is major.
- 9:00 a.m. in the morning or 9:00 p.m. in the evening – People commonly say the time, then add a.m. or p.m. and then add in the morning or evening to the phrase. Again this is redundant due to the fact that a.m. and p.m. already informs the reader.
- Past history – By definition, history is someone’s past. Saying that a person “checked your past history” or “Look into his past record” is redundant since these things have already happened and are by definition an occurrence in the past.
- Plan ahead – When a person makes a plan, they are already preparing for the future. There is no reason to add ahead after you tell someone to plan.
- Postpone until later – To postpone something already means to reschedule it at a later time. The “until later” part of the phrase is unneeded. A good remedy for this phrase would be “Postpone until tomorrow morning” or something else that is more specific than later.
- Unexpected surprise – By definition a surprise is going to be unexpected. No one expects a surprise.
- Unintentional mistake – When someone makes a mistake it is already unintentional. Unintentional is unnecessary. Another common way people use this form of redundancy is with the phrase accidental mistake.
- Written down – You may have heard the phrase “Write this down” or “It’s written down”, but when something is written it has been taken down. There is no need for you to add the word down to it.
- Still remains – “Yet she still remains” this phrase is redundant because remains means that something is still there. Still doesn’t add anything to the sentence.
How to Identify Redundancy in Your Own Writing
Even though you understand redundancy, you may still have some problems identifying it in your own writing. Spotting redundancy is a big part of editing and it can help you turn your writing into something that is much more concise and easy to read.One of the first things you want to do is read through your entire paper. If something doesn’t sound or look right, then read over it again and see if you can spot any problems. Don’t fixate on it too long, but ask yourself if every word in the paragraph, sentence, or phrase is necessary. If you feel that you can take something out and the paper will retain its meaning then do so. Even if you aren’t sure, take the word or phrase out anyway and see how it works. If it doesn’t fix the problem, just add it back.
You may not be able to spot every problem in your writing though, especially immediately after you’ve written it. A good thing to practice is take a few hours after you’ve completed the paper and do something else. Some people will wait until the following day to look at their writing and see if they can identify any problems then. It can be really beneficial to take a good hard look at your work with a fresh set of eyes.
If you still think that your paper needs some work, get a peer, family member, or even a teacher to help you edit and see if they can spot anything wrong with it.
Fixing Redundancy in Your Writing
Now that you know how to identify redundancy, you can explore the ways that you can fix it. Remember that redundancy involves superfluous words, which means that you will more than likely be cutting the phrase short. Below are some redundant sentences and examples of ways that you can fix them.- Redundant: There were three teachers that taught each and every hour at school today.
- Fixed: There were three teachers that taught every hour at school today.
- Redundant: Everything being equal, the members of the Student Council will think about the argument, and come up with a final decision through a vote next week at an open meeting.
- Fixed: The members of the Student Council will have a final decision next week at an open meeting after a vote.
There are many occasions where you want to make sure that you completely avoid redundant writing at all costs. When you’re in college, you will be writing various essays and papers that have to be high in quality. If you want to improve on your writing and get it to a college level, then you should look into the course College Writing Essentials.
Removing the Habit
You may not like the fact that your work can tend to get a little redundant from time to time. The best thing you can do is slowly working on removing the habit. Start by thinking carefully on what you’re writing and if it quickly conveys the message that you want.One of the best things you can do is to reduce things slowly. Shrink a clause down to a phrase and a phrase down to a few single words. It will take some time to completely remove the habit, and even then you may still do it from every now and then. If you really want to improve your writing and make it more concise, then you can start off by writing and practicing more.
If you can’t think of anything to write to practice, you can try using some creative writing prompts to get a quick jump-start.
Not All Redundancy is Bad
Sometimes redundancy can be a good thing. As mentioned before, redundancy can be used for emphasis. You’ve probably seen a lot of redundant phrases in advertisements. People will write words such as “Free gift” and “Added Bonuses” to emphasize how good something may be.This is only in specific situations though. In other situations writing concisely is incredibly important. One form of writing that requires you to write concisely is technical writing. If you want to know more about technical writing, then you should check out the Udemy course, Technical Writing and Editing.
12. Style Written in English
First, some practice questions.
1) The spokeswoman for the national
laboratory announced that, while the lab had been operating at a loss in the
1990s, it had become profitable in 2006, and would continue to yield high
profits at least until 2025.
(A) had been operating at a loss in
the 1990s, it had become profitable in 2006, and would continue
(B) had been operating at a loss in
the 1990s, it became profitable in 2006, and would continue
(C) had been operating at a loss in
the 1990s, it became profitable in 2006, continuing
(D) operated at a loss in the 1990s,
it became profitable in 2006, and would continue
(E) operated at a loss in the 1990s,
becoming profitable in 2006, and continuing
2) When the reporter asked about the
status of the budget, the governor said that, at that very moment, his team is
fashioning a compromise and will deliver it to the senate offices by later
that afternoon.
(A) is fashioning a compromise and
will deliver
(B) fashions a compromise and will
deliver
(C) was fashioning a compromise and
would deliver
(D) had been fashioning a compromise
and would deliver
(E) has fashioned a compromise and
will deliver
3) The people of the ancient
Near East believed that the Earth’s dry land first appeared when the
Creator has separated the “water above” from the “water below,” and that there
is another ocean in the sky, above the firmament.
(A) appeared when the Creator has
separated the “water above” from the “water below,” and that there is
(B) appeared as the Creator was
separating the “water above” from the “water below,” and that there would be
(C) had appeared as the Creator has
separated the “water above” from the “water below,” and that there is
(D) had appeared when the Creator
had separated the “water above” from the “water below,” and that there was
(E) has appeared with the Creator
having separated the “water above” from the “water below,” and that there was
Solutions will follow this article.
A
review of tenses
Verbs have simple tenses (ordinary
past, present, and future) as well as perfect tenses,
progressive tenses, and even progressive perfect tenses. Here’s a brief
list of examples for the verb “to go” (an irregular verb), with both singular
and plural forms.
Simple past: he went, they went
Simple present: she goes, they go
Simple future: he will go, they will go
Past perfect: she had gone, they had gone
Present perfect: he has gone, they have gone
Future perfect: she will have gone, they will have gone
Past progressive: he was going, they were going
Present progressive: she is going, they are going
Future progressive: he will be going, they will be going
Past perfect progressive: she had been going, they had been going
Present perfect progressive: he has been going, they have been going
Future perfect progressive: she will have been going, they will have been going
Obviously, those last three tenses
are somewhat rare, but in the right context, they could show up on the GMAT.
Sequence
of tenses
Suppose we have a sentence, a
statement of fact, which has past & present & future in it. For
example,
P did X, does Y, and will
do Z.
Now, suppose that, whatever these
facts are, they are important enough for someone else to announce them, or tell
them, or think them, or believe them. In fact, we might use any of the idioms of thinking and knowing or any of the [verb] + “that”-clause idioms here.
Someone else announced that P ____
X, _____Y, and _____ Z.
This is called indirect speech.
The big question is: what tenses do we use when we change from a description of
the events themselves to a spoken or thought “that”-clause in the past about
the events? In other words, what’s the right tense within indirect
speech? This subject is the sequence of tenses, and the rules are
relatively simple. What we sorta do is back everything up to a
previous-time tense
a. the present tense real event
becomes past: (does Y) becomes (did Y)
b. the past tense real event becomes
past perfect: (did X) becomes (had done X)
c. the future tense real event —
this is a tricky one. You may thing future goes back to present or to
future perfect, but neither of those are correct. We actually use the subjunctive
for a hypothetical future: (will do Z) becomes (would do Z).
d. anything progressive would stay
progressive, following the above rules; for example, (was doing omega)
becomes (had been doing omega)
Thus, our indirect speech sentence
above would be
Someone else announced that P had
done X, did Y, and would do Z.
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