Sentence Correction Flashcards
Should
SHOULD almost always indicates “moral obligation” NOT “likelihood”
Explained as
Explained as is used when trying to connect or equate 2 things
e.x.: The doctors endless yawning can be explained by her lack of sleep
vs
A yawn van be explained as an involuntary reflex
Capable
Capable of
Not
Capable to
Sentence core
Consists of any independent clauses along w/some essential modifiers.
Nonessential modifiers are stripped out f sentence core
Conjunctions
Words that help stick parts of sentences together
- Coordinating: glue 2 independent clauses (FANBOYS)
Subordinating: glue independent + modifier
That
When the word that appears just after a working verb, it acts as a “re-set”: a new subject verb-object structure will follow
Signals to the reader that more info is coming
Semicolon
Connects 2 independent clauses
Connects 2 closely related statements
Modifier
Provides addl. Info in a sentence
- Nonessential: if removed, the core of sentencemakes sense
- Essential: necessary to understand meaning of sentence
- Opening: begins the sentence & set off from the rest by a comma
*Essential trumps nonessential
Where
Used to modify a noun place such as area, site, country, or state
Cannot modify a “metaphorical” place such as condition, situation, case, circumstance, arrangement
Use “in Which”
Proof of/that
Claim proof of something
Claim proof that something is true
Which
When you use which, you must be referring to a noun
Use which only to refer to nouns – never to an entire clause
Clause
A set of words that contain a subject and a working verb
- Independent: a complete stand-alone sentence
Dependent: contains a verb, but cannot stand-alone
Is the underline very long? Very short?
Very long = signal issues with sentence structure, meaning, modifiers and parallelism
Very short = may lead you to compare answers before reading the original sentence
Participle
Present: end in -ing and can be used as a verb, a noun modifier, or a verb modifier. Indicates ongoing action.
Past: end in -ed and can be used as a verb or modifier. Indicates a completed action relative to the given time frame
When I see:
and
I’ll think:
Parallelism: X and Y
X, Y, and Z
Could be: a list, a modifier, compound subject or verb, 2 independent clauses