A sentence that is not parallel is said to be mixing apples with oranges good in a fruit salad, but not in writing. Phrases play a very important part in our use of language, and we shall study their grammatical function in detail later. Sentences with adjectives in series recommended pages from our site selected by our team. Please see these archived webinars for more information. Complete this sentence with an article, a noun and an adjective. Write a phrase, a sentence, or a series of words in. A to emphasize particular information b to introduce a list of words or phrases c to set off introductory words or phrases d to indicate the importance of certain ideas e to set off nonessential elements containing commas. Imagine that you text a shopping list to your roommate charlie, whos at the store shopping for your birthday party. Each question begins with a lowercase letter and ends with a question mark, according to language guides. Nonessential words, clauses, and phrases that occur midsentence must be. The serial comma, or oxford comma, is the comma that sometimes goes between the final two items in a series. Any word combination that corresponds to a complete subtree can be seen as a phrase. Life is just a series of trying to make up your mind. Sentence 2 should be revised to read, outside, the wind howled through the big oak.
In a series of three or more adjectives, one usually uses and before the last. For the moment, it is sufficient to be able to recognise a phrase and to understand how it differs from a sentence. One remarkable discovery, however, of general interest, was the outcome of a long series of delicate weighings and minute experimental care in the determination of the relative density of nitrogen gas undertaken in order to determine the atomic weight of nitrogen namely, the discovery of argon, the first of a series of new substances. The items in a series are usually separated by commas or semicolons if the items themselves contain commas. Prepositional phrase examples include a series of words containing a preposition and its object. That is, if you have a series of coordinate equally important phrases in a sentence, you need to put them into the same grammatical form all ing words, all past tense, all starting with nouns, etc. Sick in a sentence with audio basic english speaking. The mastering the mechanics webinar series also describes required sentence elements and varying sentence types. In a series of 285 supratentorial anaplastic gliomas in adults, 10 tumors were classified as anaplastic oligodendrogliomas. A gerund phrase is a phrase that begins with a gerund, and functions as a noun. Separate adjective phrases from the essential parts of the sentence. If a writer allows multiple phrases to share a preposition and then introduces a different preposition with another element, the result is a clumsy sentence. A phrase is a group of words that express a concept and is used as a unit within a sentence. You dont need commas at all in the last sentence because the word and does the job.
Communicate the plan effectively to high school counselors parallel verb phrases the bullets can be written as parallel verb or noun phrases, prepositional phrases, or even complete sentences. Phrases in a series need to be in the same form in order to make sense easily in a sentence. In reality, if you write a sentence with three ands, your reader will think you sound like a little kid or a tape on continuous rewind. How to punctuate a series with commas and semicolons the. Words or phrases in a series parallelism phrases in a series need to be in the same form in order to make sense easily in a sentence. Now suppose that the three items i want to list are described in phrases that already contain some commas. Subsequent interrogations of him and other accomplices.
The sentence below, for example, is cluttered and awkward. Here are some clues to help you decide whether the sentence element is essential. The first step to identifying the different types, though, is to understand the difference between a phrase and a clause a phrase is a related group of words. Use one comma before to indicate the beginning of the pause and one at the end to indicate the end of the pause. If youre sick you should stay home to avoid infecting other people in the office. In the nonparallel version, the final element is a noun but not a gerund.
That is, if you have a series of coordinate equally important phrases. The adjective phrases are nonessential and should be separated from the rest of the sentence with commas. The second origin of music comes from the harmonic series, which is demonstrated by the open pipes without holes. Ela 10 restrictive and nonrestrictive words, phrases. The tv series an angel at my table was based on the autobiographies of the new zealand author janet frame. Although several prepositional phrases may appear in the same sentence, avoid packing in so many phrases that you confuse the reader. It will be one long series of conspiracies and plots aimed at regaining the spot.
Sentence examples using the prepositions of an instrument, devices, or machine. But if the series is at the end, and if the questions are complete clauses, you have a choice. Lets break down this definition to understand it better. Punctuating a series is a simple aspect of sentence construction, but theres a surprisingly fierce debate at the heart of it. Use commas to separate three or more words, phrases, or clauses in a series. Use commas to separate words and word groups in a simple series of three or. The items can be any type of grammatical unit, such as nouns, verbs, participles, infinitives, or subordinate clauses, to name a. In the parallel version, all the elements in the series begin with gerunds. My favorite sports are soccer, basketball, baseball, and tennis. Examples of how to use the word sick in a sentence. An introductory phrase sets the stage for the main part of your sentence. These phrases and patterns are said as basic units for you to make much. In a sentence, commas can be used to separate three or more words, phrases, or clauses in a series. Audio lessons 100 common english phrases and sentence.
The item in a series recognize an item in a series when you see one. Yes, a series of questions in the middle of a sentence, surrounded by dashes or parentheses, is punctuated in just that way. In addition, items in a series can be short sentences joined with commas and and. In each instance above, mary roberts ran down the street comprises the essential part of the sentence. Commas with multiple prepositional adverbial phrases at. Trees show the words, phrases, and, at times, clauses that make up sentences. They also let us connect words, phrases, and clauses together to make longer sentences. Take a look at our selection of phrase examples below. But a series of careless errors let the scots back in the game, with the final indignity being the bizarre own goal. Items in a series occur whenever a sentence includes a list of two or more things. Restrictive and nonrestrictive words, phrases, and clauses.
Information for carers will be available next week at a series of planned events. The reason is you dont learn common english phrases and sentence patterns, do you. A comma, is a punctuation mark that is frequently used in sentences. In some circles, such as business communications and book publishing, the serial comma is generally used. Consonant blends blue series with pictures material t sentence labels having the consonant blends used in sentences with pic tures to match. The elements would remain parallel even if the phrases following the gerunds were changed or omitted. The left side of howies head was absent hair and a series of three dark scars were visible. Write the introductory sentence so that it logically and grammatically leads into whatever list follows.
Sentence imitation begins with selecting a mentor sentence from a piece of literature or student exemplar for the writer to imitate. Meanwhile, a phrase is a group of words that contains either a subject noun or a verb but not both. You know a lot of english words but have a hard time making sentences in english. Listen to all all sentences with pause used with adjectives. A gerund is a verb ending with ing, but, it works as a noun and can act as a subject, object, or complement in a sentence. Use a pair of commas in the middle of a sentence to set off clauses, phrases, and. They act as informationgivers, providing more information. An effective way to cultivate meaning within a sentence structure is to practice sentence imitating. Many theories of syntax and grammar illustrate sentence structure using phrase trees, which provide schematics of how the words in a sentence are grouped and relate to each other. These prepositions, namely on, by, and with, are used to join the subject of the sentence or the noun to other words used in the sentence. The following notes of the harmonic series are obtainable from a fundamental c. First, it is used in a list when three or more words, phrases or even complete sentences are joined by the word and or or. A phrase is a collection of words that may have nouns or verbals, but it does not have a.
Mixing prepositions improperly in a parallel structure is a common writing mistake. Teaching commas in a series is a great time to teach parallelism in sentence structure. In english you can use series commas when you list items. A conjunction goes between the last two items of the series. There are many different types of phrases and clauses. I can dribble a basketball, hit a baseball with a bat, and even kick a soccer ball into a net. Commas in a series use commas to separate three or more words, phrases, or clauses in a series a conjunction goes between the last two items of the series while some authorities say that the comma before the conjunction is optional, leaving it out may cause confusion, so it is better to include it. How to use series in a sentence looking for sentences and phrases with the word series. Words or phrases in a series parallelism online writing center. Commas in a series separate three or more items such as words, phrases, or clauses. An independent clause can stand alone as a sentence.
Its when we have a chinese sentence with verb phrases in series. In english grammar, a series is a list of three or more items words, phrases, or clauses, usually arranged in parallel form. How to connect sick with other words to make correct english sentences. Commas separate ideas, add pauses, and help you to list things clearly. Each item in a series has a comma placed between it and the next item. Commas to separate items in a series use commas to separate more than two items or phrases in a series. After a series of clicks, the lieutenant barked into the phone. How to arrange and rearrange prepositional phrases. Comma rules, when to use commas in english 7 e s l. On a rickety stool in one corner of the crowded honky tonk, the folk singer sits playing lonesome songs on his battered old guitar about warm beer, cold. Write a phrase, a sentence, or a series of words in trochees. Use a pair of commas in the middle of a sentence to set off clauses, phrases, and words that are not essential to the meaning of the sentence. In a sentence, i would separate these items with commas.