defining relative clause

COMMON MISTAKES IN ORAL EXAM:


1. The passage is talk about
2. The article is concern about education.
3. Nowaday, people think,
4. It is not surprise to...
5. I suggest to ban smoking.
6. In my opinion, I think...
7. Would you mind explain...
8. Teenagers spend their leisure time in many ways such as go to the karaoke.
9. In the past, Hong Kong is...
10. The students are busy to prepare the exam.
11. One of the way to solve the problem is...
12. There are many people live in the New Territories.
13. Though it is a good idea, but it is impossible.
14. Last year, many fires have happened.
15. There have many cases of suicides.

part of speech: exercise 2

Common mistakes (II): comma splice/ run-on sentence

Run-on sentence: no punctuation or conjunction

A run-on sentence is a sentence in which two or more independent clauses (that is, complete sentences) are joined with no punctuation or conjunction. It is generally considered to be a grammatical error.

eg. It is nearly half past five we cannot reach town before dark.

A run-on sentence does not mean a sentence is too long; longer sentences are likely to be run-ons only when they contain more than one complete idea. A run-on sentence can be as short as four words—for instance: I drive she walks. In this case there are two complete ideas (independent clauses): two subjects paired with two (intransitive) verbs. So long as clauses are punctuated appropriately, a writer can assemble multiple independent clauses in a single sentence; in fact, a properly constructed sentence can be extended indefinitely.

Comma splice: a type of run-on sentence

A comma splice is the use of a comma to join ("splice") two independent clauses in a

sentence, where the clauses are not connected by a coordinating conjunction.

Some grammarians also include a comma splice, in which two independent clauses are joined with a comma, as a type of run-on sentence,[1] while others exclude comma splices from the definition of a run-on sentence.[2][3]

e.g. It is nearly half past five, we cannot reach town before dark.[1]

Comma splices are generally considered errors in both British and American English although they are acceptable in some languages, including French and German.

Comma splices are condemned in The Elements of Style, a popular American English style guide by E.B. White and William Strunk, Jr.[2]

According to Joanne Buckley,[3] writers often use conjunctive adverbs to separate two independent clauses instead of using a coordinating conjunction and, in doing so, create comma splices.

A coordinating conjunction is one of the following seven words: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. A conjunctive adverb, on the other hand, is a word like furthermore, however, moreover. However, a conjunctive adverb and a comma or a conjunctive adverb between two commas is not strong enough to separate two independent clauses and creates a comma splice. Only semicolons and periods are strong enough to separate two independent clauses without a conjunction.

Controversy about comma-splice

Grammarians disagree as to whether a comma splice also constitutes a run-on sentence. Some define run-on sentences to include comma splices,[4] but others limit the term to strictly mean those in which independent clauses are joined without any punctuation, thereby excluding comma splices.[5][6]

Strunk & White note that splices are sometimes acceptable when the clauses are short and alike in form, such as: The gate swung apart, the bridge fell, the portcullis was drawn up.

Fowler[7] (third edition, 1996) notes a number of examples by reputable authors: “ We are all accustomed to the ... conjoined sentences that turn up from children or from our less literate friends... Curiously, this habit of writing comma-joined sentences is not uncommon in both older and present-day fiction. Modern examples: I have the bed still, it is in every way suitable for the old house where I live now (E. Jolley); Marcus ... was of course already quite a famous man, Ludens had even heard of him from friends at Cambridge (I. Murdoch). ”

The comma splice is often considered acceptable in poetic writing. The editors of the Jerusalem Bible translate Isaiah 11:4 as: His word is a rock that strikes the ruthless, his sentences bring death to the wicked.[8]

Lynne Truss[9] observes: "so many highly respected writers observe the splice comma that a rather unfair rule emerges on this one: only do it if you're famous." She cites Samuel Beckett, E. M. Forster, and Somerset Maugham. "Done knowingly by an established writer, the comma splice is effective, poetic, dashing. Done equally knowingly by people who are not published writers, it can look weak or presumptuous. Done ignorantly by ignorant people, it is awful."

Solution to comma-splice

Simply removing the comma does not correct the error, but results in a run-on sentence. There are several ways to correct this:

l           Change the comma to another punctuation mark:

It is nearly half past five; we cannot reach town before dark.

It is nearly half past five – we cannot reach town before dark.

l           Write the two clauses as two separate sentences:

It is nearly half past five. We cannot reach town before dark.

l           Insert a coordinating conjunction following the comma:

It is nearly half past five, and we cannot reach town before dark.

It is nearly half past five, so we cannot reach town before dark.

l           Make one clause dependent on the other:

As it is nearly half past five, we cannot reach town before dark.

Because it is nearly half past five, we cannot reach town before dark.

l           Use a semicolon or dash and a conjunctive adverb:

It is nearly half past five; therefore, we cannot reach town before dark.

It is nearly half past five – therefore, we cannot reach town before dark.

part of speech: exercise

改會考writing卷

今年出去MARK會考WRITING卷, 以下是我的學習:


(每part最高6分,共四part: content, language, organisation, genre．最高24分)

1.關於 marking scheme

Content可以俾的COMMENT:

-interesting article. Fulfils tasks completely. Imaginative anecdote. (6)

-variety of points well developed. Relaying personal experience. But lacks real interest/ humor of magazine article (5)

-fulfils tasks. Clear premise established. Ends clearly. Lack real interest/humor for magazine(5)

-fulfils tasks-personal experience leading to conclusion-lacks in real interest/humor of mag article (4)

-variety of points well-developed. All relevant except 2^nd last para. (5)

-limited no. of points-partially developed.generally relevant but just of good points-no real personal change. (3)

-irrelevant para. There are ideas in ..but limited and not related to personal change. (2)

-premise of tasks set up by coping prompt. (2)

-difficult to judge. (1)

-inadequate but have 2 or 3 very rudimentary prompts, therefore more than 0. (1)

LANGUAGE可以俾的COMMENT:

-grammatical errors, but slips. Impressive control of wide variety of structures and phrases. Use of vocab for deliberate effect. (6)

-some sophisticated lexis(字). Some repetition. One sentence difficult to understand. (5)

-good use of phrases, but quite frequent errors(4)

-quite frequent errors-switch in tenses affects understanding. Good vocab but not really sophisticated to get five. (4)

-quite frequent errors, but at no point affecting understanding. Vocab tends to be used accurately. (4)

-struggle to make sense of most sentences. V. frequent errors, occasionally good phrase. (3)

-extremely simple repetitive structures, frequent errors but don’t’ affect understanding. Vocab simple. (2)

-even simple sentences have errors very often affecting understanding. Occasional good vocab. (2)

-language severely hamper understanding but occasional easily understandable part, so not 0. (1)

-a series of phrases. No real evidence of ability to construct sentence. (0)

Organisation可以俾的comment:

-overall structure excellent. Additional coda(結尾). Good use of reference nouns and demonstratives. (6)

-overall structure clear. Some good communicate use, but repetitive. Faulty pronoun. (4)

-overall structure good. Some faulty connectives. (4)

-good intro- set up premise. Overall clear chronological structure. Paragraph 5 a bit illogical. Text unfinished. (4)

-discernable paras: intro, body and conclusion. Attempts at topic sentences. Limited connectives used. (3)

-heading generally helps but last one faculty. There is intro and conclusion. Within paras like unconnected sentences. (2)

-intro but vague. Limited use of connectives. (2)

-there are 3 paras. Attempts of connectives. Within para very difficult to understand connectives between sentences. (1)

-a series of notice-like phrases.(0)

GENRE可以俾的COMMENT:

-read like article. Tone informal. Reference to audience and to self. Use of hyperpole (誇張手法) (6)

-strong personal account, but no real indication that this is more an essay than an article (4)

-Reasonably convincing. Direct reference to readers. Interactional, but sometimes inappropriate. (5)

-some seen mga feature-including reference to ……(4)

-overall str. and paras. Clear-though rather simplistic. Some good connectives, other cohesion faulty. (4)

-quite personal. But little evidence of candidates doing anything more than normal essay. (3)

-no real awareness of audience. Though use of headings appropriate. (2)

-no awareness of audience or text type. But rest reads like article more than letter, so 1 or 0. (1)

-no real attempt to create mag article. But does establish role, so not 0. (1)

-no discernable features or audience awareness for us to understand. (0)

2. 關於改卷進度

大致上, 1小時可改到20篇. 有時快,可改到30篇. 但多過30篇, 準確度會低些.

3. Good vocab

-affiliate themselves with  (

-unfortunate never comes singly

-a range of

-out of blue

-prerequisite

-in retrospect

-all too (used before an adjective or adverb to emphasize a negative meaning

e.g. The holidays flew by all too quickly. )

-embark on (start sth new)

-call a spade a spade (to say the truth about something, even if it is not polite or pleasant )

-admittedly

-permeate (e.g. Dissatisfaction with the government seems to have permeated every section of society. )

-in hope of

-there is no exaggeration to say …

-ubiquitous (seeming to be in all places)

-irrespective of (without considering; not needing to allow for)

-by and large (when everything about a situation is considered together

e.g. There are a few small things that I don't like about my job, but by and large it's very enjoyable. )

-keep abreast of (to make sure you know all the most recent facts about a subject or situation e.g. I try to keep abreast of any developments.)

-worse still 更糟糕的是

-heighten (to increase or make something increase, especially an emotion or effect

)

-to name a few=for example

-formidable 可怕的 (a formidable task)

-to my despair

-mesmerize (to have someone's attention completely so that they cannot think of anything else )

4. Common grammar mistakes

-we no need to X (we need not/do not need to)

-feel boring X(feel bored)

-discuss aboutX (discuss)

-it was trouble X(it was troublesome)

-feel exciting X ( feel excited)

-give up to buy X (give up buying)

- I won’t late X ( I won’t be late)

5. common spelling mistakes

-image X(imagine )

-nowaday/ now a days X(nowadays)

-I thing that X (I think that)

-sizes X (sides)

-fine X (fine)

-loss e.g I loss a mobile phone. X(lose)

-vedio X (video)

-frist X (first)

-cheat X (chat)

-surface X( surfing)

-contect X (contact)

-convenience X (convenient)

-text X (test)

-readed X (read)

grammar book recommended by Koo Tak Ming

Collins Cobuild English Usage. and Practical English Usage ( Michael Swan)

Dangling Modifiers

(部份 from: 英文由F字學起)


Definition: A dangling modifier is a word or phrase that modifies a word not clearly stated in the sentence.

Consider this sentence:

Having finished the assignment, Jill turned on the TV.

"Having finished" states an action but does not name the doer of that action. In English sentences, the doer must be the subject of the main clause that follows. In this sentence, it is Jill. She seems logically to be the one doing the action ("having finished"), and this sentence therefore does not have a dangling modifier.

Now consider this sentence:

Having finished the assignment, the TV set was turned on.

Having finished is a participle expressing action, but the doer is not the TV set (the subject of the main clause): TV sets don't finish assignments. Since the doer of the action expressed in the participle has not been clearly stated, the participial phrase is said to be a dangling modifier.

Examples of dangling modifiers and revisions:

dangling modifier:

After reading the original study, the article remains unconvincing. (The article--the subject of the main clause--did not read the original study.)

possible revisions:

After reading the original study, I find the article unconvincing.
-or-
The article remains unconvincing in light of the original study.

dangling modifier:

Relieved of your responsibilities at your job, your home should be a place to relax. (Your home--the subject of the main clause--is not relieved of your responsibilities.)

possible revision:

Relieved of your responsibilities at your job, you should be able to relax at home.

Characteristics of dangling modifiers:

They most frequently occur at the beginning of sentences but can also appear at the end.

dangling modifier at end of sentence:

The experiment was a failure, having not studied the lab manual carefully. (The experiment--the subject of the main clause--did not study the lab manual.)

possible revision:

The experiment was a failure because they had not studied the lab manual carefully.

They often have an -ing word or a to+verb phrase near the start of the sentence.

Squinting modifiers:

Related to dangling modifiers, squinting modifiers occur when the word modified is not clear or could be more than one word. These problems can usually be solved by rearranging the elements already present in the sentence.

squinting modifier:

The mystery has been solved after ten years of the missing portrait.

possible revisions:

After ten years, the mystery of the missing portrait has been solved.
The mystery of the missing portrait has been solved after ten years.

Strategies for revising dangling modifiers:

1. Name the appropriate or logical doer of the action as the subject of the main clause:

·        dangling modifier: Having arrived late for practice, a written excuse was needed.

·        possible revision: Having arrived late for practice, the captain of the team needed a written excuse.

2. Name the doer of the action in the phrase that dangles:

·        dangling modifier: Without knowing his name, it was difficult to introduce him.

·        possible revision: Because Maria did not know his name, it was difficult to introduce him.

3. Combine the phrase and main clause into one:

·        dangling modifier: To improve his results, the experiment was done again.

·        possible revision: He improved his results by doing the experiment again.

最近收到電訊公司的優惠單張，無聊看看，發現又有教材，不過今次是反面的。這單張有一部份介紹語言教育產品，有兩句特別礙眼：

－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

1. You can also enrich your children's lingual knowledge by learning correct pronunciations in English, Putonghua and Cantonese...

2. Improve your youngster's command of Chinese and English by reading Chinese news as well as listening to a variety of English articles.

－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

暫且不談「enrich lingual knowledge」（*註）這些奇怪用字，我們只看文法。以上兩句，都犯了修飾部跟主句 subject（主語）不相符的錯誤。

一般情況下，修飾語應該跟主句中的 subject 相符。請看例句：

Example 1：Stunned by her beauty, I couldn't say a word.

大意：她的美貌迷得我神暈顛倒，目定口呆。

主句「I couldn't say a word」的 subject 是「I」；修飾部「Stunned by her beauty」的 implied subject（隱含主語）也是「I」（因為是「我」被嚇得目定口呆」）。這就是我所說的「修飾語符合主句 subject」。

假如寫成：Showing her beauty, I couldn't say a word. 就非常奇怪了，因為修飾部「Showing her beauty」的隱含主語，是「她」，不是「我」（只有「她」才能「展示美貌」）。這跟主句「I couldn't say a word」格格不入，應該改寫。

再來一例。

Example 2：I made her cry by calling her a bitch.

大意：我稱她為「八婆」，弄哭了她。

這句沒有問題，修飾部「calling her a bitch」的隱含主語是「我」，跟主句相符。

即使改寫為：I made her cry by telling her she's become a bitch，雖然較為纍贅，但文法沒有問題，原因同上。

但假如寫成：I made her cry by becoming a bitch. 就古怪到極了（勉強仍說得通，但意思完全不同。）

明白了吧? 那麼，宣傳單張的病句，有勞大家改寫。

蕭愷一

*註：「Enrich your children's lingual knowldge」不是英文。簡單說句「improve your children's langauge skills」就可以了；就算真的要講「語言知識」，那是「knowledge of langauge」或「linguistic knowledge」，不是甚麼「lingual knowledge」。

-

昨天在南華早報看到一篇關於年輕性罪犯人數增加的報導，文中有一句這樣寫：

[The group] reported receiving 61 sexual abuse cases in a one year period in 2006-07, 19 of which were under the age of 19.

句子意思是某團體公佈，在零六到零七年間接收到六十一宗性侵犯個案，其中十九宗的犯者不足十九歲。仔細一讀，大家能看出這句有甚麼文法問題嗎?

作者墮入了極常見的文法陷阱：關係子句內的主語跟子句描述的名詞不相符。子句「19 of which were under the age of 19」所描述的，是主句中的賓語「61 sexual abuse cases」；但子句中「十九歲以下」的明顯是犯者而非案件，所以這句文法並不完整。要把它改正，只要把關係子句中的主語改成子句描述的名詞就可以了（註）：

[The group] reported receiving 61 sexual abuse cases in a one year period in 2006-07, 19 of which involved offenders under the age of 19.

這樣改寫，子句中的主語就和主句中的名詞相符了：

[The group] reported receiving 61 sexual abuse cases.

19 of the 61 sexual abuse cases involved offenders under the age of 19.

對文法要求嚴格的人更可能會指出，為免混淆意思，關係子句應緊接它所描述的名詞。另外，還有網友正確的指出，作形容詞用的 one year 兩字之間應加上 hyphen。所以這句還可這樣改寫：

[The group] reported that, within a one-year period in 2006-07, it received 61 sexual abuse cases, 19 of which involved offenders under the age of 19.

這樣就無從挑剔了。

註：在非常正式的文體中，還可以這樣改寫：...... 19 of whose offenders were under the age of 16.。不過這個寫法給人迂腐的感覺，而且容易寫錯，所以讀得明白就可以了，不必勉強學寫。

後記：

相信有不少同學對 19 of which, all of whom, none of which 等關係子句的用法有疑惑。我有時間會跟大家談談。大家可暫時看我以前錄製的影片：十分鐘 Grammar 精讀班 -- Relative Clause 高階。所談的用法十分接近。

http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/siu82english/article?mid=65

relatives clauses

(from: 英文由F字學起)

今次講帶有 preposition 的 relative clauses。 香港中學的英文課都不教這個，可能是因為它較難掌握吧。而大學生也沒有甚麼機會再學英文文法，所以不少大學畢業生也不懂怎樣寫這類 relative clauses。今次講的也是三集以來最難掌握的。努力練習吧。有時間我會寫些題目給大家練習練習。

短片中用到的例句:

1a. The woman with whom I fell in love is very beautiful. (formal)1b. The woman (who/that/x) I fell in love with is very beautiful. (less formal)

2a. The manner in which Tom behaved at the meeting was unacceptable. (formal)2b. The manner (which/that/x) Tom behaved in at the meeting was unacceptable. (less formal)

3a. The gun with which the victim was shot disappeared. (formal)3b. The gun (which/that/x) the victim was shot with disappeared. (less formal)

4a. Teaching staff shall not have supervisory responsibility over students with whom he/she has had a romantic/sexual relationship. (very formal)4b. Teachers should not supervise students (who/that/x) he/she has slept with.(informal)

寫這些 relative clauses 時有些東西要特別留意的，好像 "look after"，"win over"這樣的 phrasal verbs，就不可以這樣把它們拆開。但十分鐘實在太短。下次再和大家更詳細地解釋吧。

*修正: 謝謝網友 You 提醒，片中 "There's no guidelines upon which decisions can be made" 一句，應為 "There're"。