Putting a Sentence Together

Old before new Long phrases last Emphasis near the beginning

Position of conjuncts Omission of commas with conjuncts Other parenthetic phrases

Order of emphasis

Simple sentence order

We designed a coat-hanger. (S V O)

IBM was a huge company. (S V C)

Max Planck died in 1947. (S V A)

These results we ignored. (O S V)

What a surprise that was! (C S V)

Inside the triangle is a small circle. (A V S)

Exceptions to simple sentence order

1. Previously mentioned things usually come before things mentioned for the first time.

2. Long phrases usually come last.

3. If the first phrase is not the subject, it has emphasis.

4. If the first phrase is followed by a phrase placed between commas, it has emphasis.

5. The general order of emphasis is (1) the end, (2) the beginning, and (3) the middle.

General rules on sentence order

Old before new

Most sentences contain

• Phrases or concepts that are mentioned for the first time

• Phrases or concepts that have been mentioned before

Usually the old ones come before the new:

An oxygen atom has a more complicated structure. Its nuclues is made up of eight protons and eight neutrons.

X An oxygen atom has a more complicated structure. Eight protons and eight neutrons make up its nucleus.

• The first part of a sentence normally contains the "theme" (= topic).

• The rest of the sentence contains the "rheme" (= new information about the topic).

Exercise 1 - Old before New

1. (Something happened at that time.) Another problem arose at about the same time.

2. (The main points are . . . ) Any reasonable person would agree with most of these points.

3. (There are two topics.) We have examined this latter topic in Section 3.

4. (Here is a list.) Three further items may be added to this list.

5. (There were many problems.) The cache design was the most difficult to solve of all the problems.

Exercise 1 - Old before New

1. At about the same time, another problem arose.

2. Most of these points any reasonable person would agree with.

3. This latter topic we have examined in Section 3.

4. To this list may be added three further items.

5. Of all the problems, the most difficult to solve was the cache design.

If there are several "old" phrases

Put the phrase closest to the topic at the beginning:

One field in which IBM has long been a leader is database management. It is also one in which the company continues to pioneer new techniques.

In the second sentence there are three phrases that refer to information in the first sentence:

It (= database management)one (= one field)the company (= IBM)

The phrase closest to the topic is it (= database management), so it comes first in the sentence.

If there are several "old" phrases (2):

Bad example× An interactive debugger is a software system built into a computing system in order to identify logical errors (bugs) in programs, and to provide facilities for their correction. While programs are being operated, this software can be used to provide information concerning processes as they occur.

There are two phrases of old information: programs and this software (i.e., an interactive debugger). However, the topic of the paragraph is interactive debuggers, so the second phrase should come first.

An interactive debugger is a software system built into a computing system in order to identify logical errors (bugs) in programs, and to provide facilities for their correction. This software can be used while programs are being operated, to provide information concerning processes as they occur.

If there are several "old" phrases (3)

Note that reference words such as

this, that, these, those, it, they, the former, the latter

often appear at the beginning of a sentence because of Rule 1 (Old phrases first).

Long phrases last

If you use long noun phrases, either

• Keep them until the end of the sentence, or

• Split them up.

X In this paper, a hybrid rendering method for visualizing 3D medical image data is proposed.

X The idea of designing a knowledge-based system for specification, construction, refinement, and execution was introduced.

This paper proposes a hybrid rendering method for visualizing 3D medical image data.

It was suggested that we design a knowledge-based system for specification construction, refinement, and execution.

Long phrases last (2)

To move a long noun phrase to the end, you may need to rewrite the sentence:

× The idea of designing a knowledge-based system for specification construction, refinement, and execution was introduced.

It was suggested that we design a knowledge-based system for specification construction, refinement, and execution.

Cases where a long opening

phrase is OK• When the opening phrase is adverbial:

In view of the difficulty of obtaining the best possible schedule, we limit our objective to obtaining a good schedule.

• When a long noun phrase at the beginning is balanced by a long noun phrase at the end.

X A solution to the problem of slow access time for stored images is sought.

A solution to the problem of slow access time for stored images is sought by everyone involved in optical disk research.

Exercise 2 - Long Phrases Last

1. We consider the slight differences between the actual results and the predicted ones insignificant.

2. We heard a proposalconcerning neurocomputing research from Dr. Suzuki .

3. The problem of how to deal with floating-point numbers arose.

4. More people than we had expected attended.

5. To note that this result is true whatever the value of n is interesting.

Exercise 2 - Long Phrases Last

1. We consider insignificant the slight differences between the actual results and the predicted ones.

2. We heard a proposal from Dr. Suzuki concerning neurocomputing research.

3. The problem arose of how to deal with floating-point numbers.

4. More people attended than we had expected.

5. It is interesting to note that this result is true whatever the value of n.

Position of conjuncts

Conjuncts are adverbial phrases that link clauses or sentences, such as

however, in other words, on the other hand, moreover, therefore, otherwise, though, hence, similarly, alternatively, in comparison

Some of them are normally used at the beginning of a clause or sentence:

besides, equally, further, hence, likewise, overall, similarly, still

However, some (when used as conjuncts) cannot appear at the beginning of a clause in formal writing:

also, then, though

×Also, the average speaking rate was increased.

×All these methods have drawbacks. Then, which should we select?

×This problem looks simple; though, it is rather hard.

Examples of wrongly placed conjuncts

When a conjunct has commas before and after it, the phrase before the first comma is emphasized.

Most conjuncts can appear in various positions, depending on the emphasis of the clause:

However, we had no problems. . . . (emphasizes however)We, however, had no problems. . . . (emphasizes we)We had no problems, however, . . . (emphasizes no problems)

Avoid the second pattern unless you want to emphasize we.

Effect of position on a conjunct's emphasis

Many conjuncts can be used without commas, including

therefore, thus, hence, similarly, alternatively, nevertheless, nonetheless, in fact, furthermore

Omission of commas with conjuncts

It is thus difficult to estimate the amount of computation precisely. We have therefore implemented multiple snoop cache protocols.

are stylistically preferable to

It is, thus, difficult to estimate the amount of computation precisely.We have, therefore, implemented multiple snoop cache protocols.

Examples of conjuncts without commas

Some conjuncts, such as

however, besides, otherwise, namely, that is, in other words

require commas

X It is however difficult to estimate the amount of computation precisely.It is, however, difficult to estimate the amount of computation precisely.

Conjuncts that require commas

Any parenthetic phrase enclosed in commas gives emphasis to the phrase before it:

In the United States, it seems, most research work is connected with military technology.

Rules, someone once observed, are made to be broken.

This approach, we believe, offers the prospect of a new era in computing.

Other parenthetic phrases

1. On the other hand, robots are not subject to such considerations.

2. It seems that the problem is to find a solution that satisfies all possible cases.

3. It has been said that management is the art of delegating responsibility.

4. However, our team was not satisfied with this explanation.

5. For example, Hall et al. follow a completely different approach.

Exercise 3 - Emphasis near the Beginning

1. Robots, on the other hand, are not subject to such considerations.

2. The problem, it seems, is to find a solution that satisfies all possible cases.

3. Management, it has been said, is the art of delegating responsibility.

4. Our team, however, was not satisfied with this explanation.

5. Hall et al., for example, follow a completely different approach.

Exercise 3 - Emphasis near the Beginning

In general, rules 1 to 4 determine the order of emphasis in a sentence as follows:

1. End

2. Beginning

3. Middle

This is because the main new information usually comes at the end, while the "theme" comes at the beginning.

Order of Emphasis

Emphasis

The position of a phrase in a sentence depends on the context, and particularly on whether it is new or old information.

Supercomputers are normally used only for numerically intensive computing problems, because of their high cost.

Because of their high cost, supercomputers are normally used only for numerically intensive computing problems.

Supercomputers, because of their high cost, are normally used only for numerically intensive computing problems.

Examples of emphasis

1. The purpose of this report is to suggest a new direction of research, and not to criticize the current project.

2. Object-oriented methods are becoming increasingly viable, although they are not yet well established.

3. Our results are very promising, although they are still preliminary.

4. C++ is the most suitable language for the interface, because of its ability to handle complex data.

5. It must be said that this approach is outdated in many respects.

Exercise 4 - Order of Emphasis

1. The purpose of this report is not to criticize the current project, but to suggest a new direction of research.

2. Although they are not yet well established, object-oriented methods are becoming increasingly viable.

3. Our results, although [they are] still preliminary, are very promising.

4. Because of its ability to handle complex data, the most suitable language for the interface is C++.

5. This approach, it must be said, is in many respects outdated.

Exercise 4 - Order of Emphasis

1. Previously mentioned things usually come before things mentioned for the first time.

2. Long phrases usually come last.

3. If the first phrase is not the subject, it has emphasis.

4. If the first phrase is followed by a phrase placed between commas, it has emphasis.

5. The general order of emphasis is (1) the end, (2) the beginning, and (3) the middle.

Summary of Chapter 6