FAULTY COORDINATION ENGLISH III WHAT DOES THAT EVEN

FAULTY COORDINATION ENGLISH III

WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN? And is a useful little word for joining ideas, but when two or more independent clauses of unequal importance are joined by and or another coordinating conjunction, the result is faulty coordination. Makes sense, right? You have to use and or any other coordinating conjunction to connect RELATED ideas of EQUAL importance.

HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES Correct: Derek dusted the furniture, and I vacuumed the floor. Seems easy, right? Well, think again! A LOT of writers carelessly place and in sentences to join independent clauses that shouldn’t be joined. The faulty coordination puts everything on the same level of importance whether they should be there or not. Here is an example: Faulty: I lost and the race was easy.

EXAMPLES (CONT’D) This is most evident when writers carelessly string together a lot of ideas with and in the same sentence: Faulty: The man who entered the restaurant wore a black scarf and a brown beanie and he asked for a table in the back and the hostess had to tell him that the table was reserved and the man became furious and stormed out. Dreadful, right? It’s almost hard to even read that sentence because it sounds SO awkward. That is another example of faulty coordination.

LET’S TEST YOUR SKILLS In the following exercise, determine whether or not the sentences are CORRECT or FAULTY http: //www. phschool. com/atschool/writing_grammar_ 08/grade 11/exercise_bank/chapter 20/wag 11_act_204 b. cfm

TIME TO CORRECT THEM Now that you can FIND them, it’s time to CORRECT them. Key Concept: Concept Revise sentences with faulty coordination by: 1. Putting unrelated ideas into separate sentences 2. Reducing an unimportant idea into a clause or a phrase

FIXING FAULTY COORDINATION FAULTY: Steam was pouring from my car, and the gas station attendant said my radiator was cracked. CORRECT: Steam was pouring from my car. The gas station attendant said my radiator was cracked. If the independent clauses are not closely related, just separate them.

TRY IT Fix the following sentence: Philadelphia is both a city and a country, and the Schuylkill river runs through it.

FIXING FAULTY COORDINATION Another possible fix is to change an independent clause that is less important into a subordinate clause FAULTY: Downtown Philadelphia is called Center City, and Camden, New Jersey, is across the Delaware River from the city. CORRECT: Downtown Philadelphia, which is across the Delaware River from Camden, New Jersey, is called City Center.

WAIT…WHAT’S A SUBORDINATE CLAUSE AGAIN? A subordinate clause, also known as a dependent clause, is introduced by a conjunction, that forms part of and is dependent on a main clause. Because he loved acting, he refused to give up his dream of being in the movies.

TRY IT Fix the following sentence by changing an independent clause into a subordinate clause: My tooth cracked, and I desperately needed to see a dentist.

TRY IT To fix the pesky stringy sentences use either of the methods we just discussed: The proctor called the roll and told us we would be on our honor, and then he wrote the examination question on the board, and he left the room, and he did not return until it was time to collect our papers.

TIME TO SET YOU FREE Complete the following exercises by Monday: Exercise 56 (10 questions) p. 510 Exercise 57 (10 questions) p. 512 Exercise 60 (pick one of the 5 sentences to complete) p. 513