Each of these is a simple sentence. Because it can stand by itself as a complete sentence, it's also called an independent clause. Because it often serves as the foundation of a much longer sentence, it's sometimes called a base clause. What we call it, though, is less important than learning to sense its presence in every sentence we build.

The easiest and most common way of developing the S V/C pattern is by adding a modifier. To modify means to change or alter. A modifier, therefore, is a word or wordgroup that changes the meaning of another word or wordgroup that is more basic to the sentence.

By adding a modifier to the complement, we can alter the meaning of "apples."

We can also  modify the subject.

And even the verb.

Notice how the basic S V/C pattern remains even after several modifiers have been added. This is because modifiers cluster around base elements like iron filings around a magnet.

The principle that describes this relationship between modifiers and more basic sentence elements is subordination. Subordination means taking a position of lesser importance or rank. In the Army, for example, a private is subordinate to a captain and a captain to a general. Likewise, when we say a modifier is subordinate to the base element, we mean it has less importance and is dependent upon that more basic element for its claim to a place in the sentence. We can see this by looking at our last example.

Little Luis never eats green apples.

When we drop all the modifiers, we still have a sentence that feels complete.

Luis eats apples.

But when we drop the base words that the modifiers depend on, we are left with something entirely different.

Little never green.

The result is nonsense. Our minds want to process the data as a sentence, but it won't fit. We have modifiers, but we don't know what is being modified. The base elements are missing.

We've seen how these two principles, modification and subordination, join individual words in clusters. It's also worth noting how they join word groups together. Just as individual words cluster around more important ones, so the clusters they form attach themselves to more important elements. Notice how this happens in the following example.

Adding a little modification, we get this:

"Recently" modifies "thawed," while the two words join together to modify "river," the base word of the cluster.

Whole sentences can be joined in this way:

Although the recently thawed river was icy cold,

we dove right in.

Now the former sentence, which was also an independent clause, has become a part of a larger whole. It is now subordinate to "we dove right in," which becomes the new base clause of the sentence. Without our base clause we would be left with a subordinate element that had no independent element to depend on, like an orphan.

Modification and subordination can help you in two ways: first, they can help you understand how your sentence elements relate to each other and to the sentence as a whole; second, they're important tools for combining those elements into more complex and sophisticated sentences.

 

The basic S V/C pattern can also be expanded by coordination. Whereas subordination ranks one element as more important than the other, coordination places elements on an equal footing. If the relationship of subordination is that of child to parent, the relationship of coordination is that of spouse to spouse. In a sentence it works like this:

The subject can be expanded by adding a coordinate element:

And coordination can also be used to expand the complement.

Or the verb.

Lois and Esther type letters and memos but write-out short notes and signatures.

Now each element has been compounded with a resulting structure that might be represented as follows:

This sentence has a compound subject, a compound verb, and two compound complements. In every case the compound elements are coordinate to each other and therefore, because they are of equal importance, may be said to balance.

And just as we can subordinate either individual words or whole groups of words, the same is true of coordination. In the previous example we compounded the various parts of a single independent clause, but we could also coordinate two separate clauses.

Now our sentence has two independent clauses, each of which could stand alone as a complete sentence.

 

A third way of expanding the basic pattern is substitution, which means replacing a single word with a word group. Again, an example will help.

By substituting, we can expand the complement to read:

S V/C

I saved/what I earned, which wasn't much.

"My wages" has been expanded to "what I earned" and "meager" to "which wasn't much." As you can see, this adds more words without adding much meaning and so could be objected to as uneconomical. Still it's a perfectly grammatical way of expanding sentences, and there may be times when it will suit your needs exactly, either to give emphasis or to improve sound and rhythm. Sometimes, as in the example below, you can use substitution to clarify or summarize your thoughts:

English sentences are built upon the foundation of an independent base clause consisting of two parts, a subject and a predicate. This simple pattern may be expanded in three ways. First, subordinate modifiers may be added to one of the main elements or to the base clause as a whole. Second, words or phrases may be coordinated with existing elements. Third, you may sometimes want to substitute a word group for an individual word. Finally, you can often use subordination, coordination, and substitution together to expand a single base clause.

Besides the uses already described, coordination and subordination are two basic ways of linking clauses. Sometimes we don't have much choice about how to make the connection, but often, if we see the options, we do.

• These trees lose their leaves every winter, but they don't die.

The clauses in the example above are joined by coordination, but could as easily have been joined by subordination.

• Although these trees lose their leaves every winter, they don't die.

Now, the first clause is subordinate to the second. The two words that make the difference are called conjunctions, or joining words. "But" belongs to a group of conjunctions that coordinate. "Although" belongs to a group that subordinates. Learning to recognize these two groups of conjunctions will not only help you with your sentence structure, but also with your punctuation.

Coordinating Conjunctions

Not too much needs to said about them. They are few in number: and, or, but, for, nor, yet, so, and they can always be found at the point where the two coordinate structures are joined together, as in the example above.

Subordinating Conjunctions

These are used to subordinate one clause to another. They are placed at the beginning of the clause you want to subordinate, which may or may not be where the two clauses actually meet on the page. Some common subordinating conjunctions are if, although, as, when, because, since, though, when, whenever, after, unless, while, whereas, even though. When one of these words is attached to the beginning of an independent clause, that clause is weakened. It becomes dependent. It can no longer stand alone as a complete sentence.

Independent clause (complete sentence):

• The streets were covered with snow.

Dependent clause (fragment):

• Because the streets were covered with snow.

Dependent clause attached to a base clause (complete sentence):

• Because the streets were covered with snow, we could ski to school.

The following guidelines are easier for some to follow than for others, but they can, with a little work, be learned by almost anyone. Once learned, they'll become part of your permanent knowledge base like the multiplication tables or your best friend's phone number. You won't have to learn them twice.

Take time then, even it you're fairly confident about your grammar, to see if you need to work on any of these six areas. If you do, try to understand the logic of the rule, what its purpose is. Study the examples until you see how the rule is violated and how it can be set right. Work the activities until you've mastered the rule. Notice which areas are most problematic for you personally.

Finally, make the carryover into your own writing. When you do that, you can consider the rule learned.

Subject/Verb Agreement

This rule comes first because understanding it can help you understand some of the others. In most sentences you follow it naturally, but it can cause trouble. The rule is as follows: The subject and verb of each clause must agree in number. If you have a singular subject, you need a singular verb. If you have a plural subject, you need a plural verb. Singular and plural tell how many. Singular means one. Plural means more than one. Both your subject and verb must give the same signal as to how many you are talking about.

Read the following sentences and see if you can find any problems with subject/verb agreement.

1. The cat come home tired.

2. The cat comes home tired.

3. The cats come home tired.

4. The cats comes home tired.

Can you explain the problem in sentences one and four? If not, consider that with most nouns, our language forms the plural by adding an s, but with verbs, an s is added only in the third person singular.

Person/Number Chart

	Singular	Plural
1st person	I come	we come
2nd person	you come	you come
3rd person*	he, she, it, this, or that comes the cat* comes	they, these, or those come  the cats* come

*All nouns--words such as table, cat or frog--should be considered 3rd person.

 

Mastering Subject/Verb Agreement

1. Force yourself to listen for s sounds as you write. In speaking, we sometimes drop these sounds as we fade one word into another; because of this, we may forget the sounds are even there. Thus, we fail to make our subjects and verbs agree. Listening for those s sounds is the real key to getting rid of most agreement problems.

2. Don't be misled by false subjects. Be sure the word you make your verb agree with is actually the subject of the clause, not just another noun.

Change:	Those tomatoes from my brother looks juicy.
to:	Those tomatoes from my brother look juicy.

The first sentence gives mixed signals because the verb has been made to agree with the false subject "brother" rather than the true subject, "tomatoes." Here's another example of the false subject.

Change:	Forgetting your tickets cause problems.
to:	Forgetting your tickets causes problems.

At first glance "tickets" may look like the subject, but a moment's reflection tells us that "forgetting your tickets" causes problems, not the tickets themselves. Whenever such a verb phrase serves as the subject, consider it singular.

3. Treat collectives as singulars. Collective nouns identify a group: a team, a platoon, a class, a congregation, a family. Treat broadly inclusive nouns such as "nobody," "everybody," "anyone," "each," and "everyone" as singular also.

Change:	My family like to go to church together.
to:	My family likes to go to church together.

Even if the family has eight or nine people, it is still only one thing; therefore, it is considered singular.

4. Watch out for compound subjects. When the parts of a compound subject are joined by "and," treat the subject as plural, even if the individual parts are singular.

Change:	Danny and Rolando gets their share of rebounds.
to:	Danny and Rolando get their share of rebounds.

When the parts are joined by "or" or "nor," let the part nearest the verb determine the verb's number.

Change:	Either the head table or the chairs needs realigning.
to:	Either the head table or the chairs need realigning.

Change:	Neither the chairs nor the head table need realigning.
to:	Neither the chairs nor the head table needs realigning.

Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement

Just as subjects and verbs must agree, pronouns must agree with their antecedents. A pronoun is a word that substitutes for a previously mentioned noun. If that noun (called the antecedent) is plural, the pronoun standing-in for it must also be plural. If the antecedent is singular, so must the pronoun be.

Change:	My club is having a bake sale. These should help our finances.
to:	My club is having a bake sale. This should help our finances.

In the first example, "these" refers back to the antecedent "bake sale," but because "these" is plural and its antecedent is singular, an agreement problem results. Making both pronoun and antecedent singular solves the problem.

The person/number chart below will help you determine whether a pronoun is singular or plural.

Person/Number Chart

	Singular	Plural
1st person	I, me	we, us
2nd person	you	you
3rd person*	he; him; she; her; it; this; that; or any noun representing ONE person, place, or thing, as: a table.	they; them; these; those; or any noun representing MORE THAN ONE person, place, or thing, as: some tables.

Pronoun Reference

Faulty pronoun reference means the antecedent of your pronoun is not totally and immediately clear. There is no single rule for making pronoun reference clear in all cases. Most often a reader will try to connect the pronoun with the subject of a previous clause or sentence:

• When Andre cut his finger, he screamed out in pain.

But not always, sometimes the reader will connect it with the closest noun:

• When Andre cut his finger, it started to bleed.

In both cases the meaning is clear, and so there is no problem.

Problems occur, though, when two words compete as antecedents and the meaning blurs:

• Finally, he wrapped his finger in a bandage, and it stopped bleeding.

Or when the antecedent is not named explicitly:

• The danger of creosote build-up has not been properly publicized by the makers of wood burning stoves. This should be looked into thoroughly.

Or when a pronoun seems to refer back to a single word but is intended to refer to a whole clause:

• My brother caught my cold which made me feel bad.

Because "which" seems to refer to both "cold" and the entire base clause, the meaning is slightly out of focus.

Careful writers keep the meaning focused by making pronoun/antecedent relationships totally and immediately clear. It isn't enough to say readers who want to understand your meaning will if they work hard enough. Your reader should connect your pronoun with its antecedent at once.

To make the reference clear you could change the wording slightly:

• The danger of creosote build-up has not been properly publicized by the makers of wood burning stoves. This lack of publicity should be looked into thoroughly.

You may want to re-word the entire sentence and eliminate the pronoun:

• I felt bad that my brother caught my cold.

First, notice the problem, and having seen it, eliminate any ambiguity.

Shift in Tense

The tense of your verb tells when events are taking place--whether in the past, the present, or the future. Early in your writing process, establish a "base tense" for your paper, and shift away from it only for good reason. If you're writing about past events, use the past tense as your base tense. If you're writing about the present or the future, build around one of those tenses.

Change:	We went into Bruno's and ordered a pizza. The waitress comes over and brings us our drinks. I can see she's going to spill one.
to:	We went into Bruno's and ordered a pizza. As the waitress came back with our drinks, I could see she was going to spill one.

The first example, perhaps effective in casual conversation, isn't precise enough for writing. We can't tell what happened when. The second version locates the experience in the past. Of course when logic insists you change tense, as in the following example, you should.

• During high school I lived with my parents, but now I live with a close friend. Someday I will have a family of my own.

Shift in Person

Here again, the goal is to be clear and consistent. This time, however, the aim is to establish a steady, reliable point of view. Doing so helps the reader understand where the two of you stand in relation to the subject, and generally helps build a strong writer/reader relationship.

Change:	Helga is my best friend. She won't let a person down. You can always count on her to be there when you need help.
to:	Helga is my best friend. She won't let me down. I can always count on her to be there when I need help.

The writer is probably talking about her own relationship with Helga, not the reader's. Keeping  point of view consistent in all three sentences makes that clear.

For our purposes, the main points of view from which to choose correspond to the persons on the Person/Number Chart . Thus, writing based on the first person singular point of view uses "I" and "me" as its foundation, while writing based on the third person plural would use "they" and "them."

First person singular--This point of view is often effective for informal writing, especially for writing about your personal interests and experiences. It draws attention to the writer, which may or may not be a good thing.

• I have always enjoyed crocheting for the relaxation it provides me.

First person plural--Slightly more formal than first person singular, this point of view can convey a sense that you and the reader are partners. It takes emphasis away from the writer as an individual and places it on whatever group is designated by "we."

• When we look closely at last month's sales figures, we can see what the future holds for our company.

Second person singular or plural--Used carefully, this point of view can make readers feel you are speaking directly to them, are in a sense looking directly at them. Sometimes, however, the second person is blurred into a weak or ineffective substitute for another, more appropriate point of view. Like first person singular, it is generally most effective in personal and informal writing.

• strong: You can't imagine how much Helen enjoyed talking with you the other day.

• weak: You had to be willing to give a hundred percent whenever you went out on the floor or Coach Bavasi would bench you.

Third person singular and plural--These points of view distance you from your subject and your reader. They make your writing less personal and more formal. They are used for much academic, technical, and scientific writing where tradition or the subject demands an air of distance and objectivity.

• A person who violates any of the following laws can expect to receive prompt and immediate punishment. (third person singular)
• Students who wish to graduate in June should have their transcripts reviewed by their advisors. (third person plural)

Note: Choosing a dominant point of view doesn't mean you've limited yourself to a single set of pronouns for your whole paper, only that departures from the dominant point of view should be logical and effective.

• I hope you told them we would be late.

Misrelated Modifier

All modifiers should connect clearly and immediately with the words you want them to modify. The reader shouldn't have to guess what you're trying to say.

Change:	Louisa saw some strange mushrooms playing in the park.
to:	While playing in the park, Louisa saw some strange mushrooms.

Probably it wasn't the mushrooms but Louisa playing in the park. By placing the modifying phrase right next to the word it modifies, we eliminate the confusion. Sometimes careless modifier placement can create several possible meanings.

Change:	All afternoon I reminisced about friends I had known with my sister.
to:	All afternoon I reminisced with my sister about friends I had known.
or:	All afternoon I reminisced about friends my sister and I had known.
or:	All afternoon my sister and I reminisced about friends we had known.