CONSTRUCTING
CLEAR SENTENCES &
PARAGRAPHS
CHAPTER 4
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Explain the role of adaptation in writing clear sentences.
Write short, clear sentences by limiting sentence content and
economising on words.
Design sentences that give the right emphasis to content.
Employ unity and good logic in writing effective sentences.
Compose paragraphs that are short and unified, use topic
sentences effectively, and communicate coherently.
CARE IN SENTENCE DESIGN
Limit Sentence Content
Write simple, efficient sentences over long,
complex ones.
Save your readers time.
Prevent miscommunication.
Don’t give too much information in one
sentence.
LIMIT SENTENCE CONTENT
Design sentences based on the reader’s ability.
However, overuse of short sentences can result
in a choppy and elementary-sounding effect.
Use moderately long sentences occasionally to
de-emphasise less important contented increase
variety.
Too much information in one sentence can cause
confusion.
REWRITE THE PARAGRAPH USING
SHORT, CLEAR SENTENCES
Regardless of their seniority or union
affiliation, all employees who hope to be
promoted are expected to continue their
education either by enrolling in the special
courses to be offered by the company, which
are scheduled to be given after working hours
beginning next Wednesday, or by taking
approved online courses selected from a list,
which can be found on the company portal.
ECONOMISE ON WORDS
Shorter wordings save the reader time.
Usually clearer and more interesting.
Cluttering Phrase- a phrase that can be replaced
by shorter wording without loss of meaning.
1. In the event that payment is not made by January,
operations will cease.
2. If payment is not made by January, operations will
cease.
REMOVE THE CLUTTERING PHRASE,
USING SHORTER SUBSTITUTION
1. In very few cases
2. In the meantime
3. For the reason that
4. At the present time
5. With regard to
SURPLUS WORDS
We often use meaningless extra words as
a matter of habit.
These are known as Surplus words,
which can often be left out.
1. It will be noted that the records for the
past years show a steady increase in
special appropriations.
ELIMINATE SURPLUS
WORDS
1. The machines that were damaged by the
fire were repaired.
2. There are four rules that should be
observed.
3. I am prepared to report to the effect that
sales increased.
ROUNDABOUT
CONSTRUCTIONS
You can write the same information in
many ways.
Use direct ways instead of roundabout
constructions.
Direct ways are shorter and communicate
better.
WRITE IN DIRECT ORDER
The department budget can be observed to
be decreasing each new year.
The price increase will afford the company
an opportunity to retire the debt.
REPETITION
Repeating words adds to the sentence
length.
It is often without purpose as it doesn't add
anything to the meaning.
Example- He stated that he believes that
we are responsible.
ELIMINATE REPETITIVE
WORDS
1. Please endorse your name on the back of
this cheque.
2. Tod Wilson is the present incumbent.
3. At the present time, we are conducting
two clinics.
MANAGE EMPHASIS IN
SENTENCE DESIGN
Use short sentences for emphasis.
They get the attention by conveying a single
message without supporting information.
Short openings enable you to get to the
point quickly.
Short closing leaves the reader with an
important final thought.
INDEPENDENT AND
DEPENDENT CLAUSE
When a sentence contains two or more
ideas, the ideas share emphasis.
How they share it depends on how the
sentence is constructed.
Coordinated- two ideas get equal emphasis.
Subordinated- one idea gets more
emphasis than the other.
INDEPENDENT AND
DEPENDENT CLAUSE
Equal emphasis:
1. The company lost money last year. The loss occurred despite record
sales.
2. The company lost money last year, and the loss occurred despite
record sales.
Emphasis on the lost money:
3. Although the company enjoyed record sales last year, it lost money.
Emphasis on the sales increase:
4. The company enjoyed record sales last year, although it lost money.
GIVE SENTENCE UNITY
Good sentences have unity.
All the parts of the sentence work together to
create one clear point.
Lack of unity is usually caused by one of two
problems-
1. Unrelated Ideas
2. Excessive Detail
UNRELATED IDEAS
Give sentences unity in 3 ways.
Mr. Jordan is our sales manager, and he has a degree in law.
1.Put the ideas in separate sentences.
Mr. Jordan is our sales manager. He has a law degree.
2.Subordinate one of the ideas to the other.
Mr. Jordan, our sales manager, has a law degree.
3.Add words to show how the ideas are related.
Although Mr. Jordan is our sales manager, he has a degree in law.
UNRELATED IDEAS
Using the cost-of-living calculator is simple,
but no tool will work well unless it is
explained clearly.
EXCESSIVE DETAIL
Putting too much detail into one sentence
hides the central thought.
It can also make the sentence long.
If the detail isn’t necessary, remove it.
EXCESSIVE DETAIL
Because of our New York offices, which
were considered plush in the 1990s, are
now badly in need of renovation, as is the
case with most offices that have not been
maintained, we recommend closing them
and finding a new location.
WORD SENTENCES
LOGICALLY
Mixed constructions- mix two different kinds of
sentences together.
Sentence 1: First we found less expensive
material, and then a more economical means
of production was developed.
Sentence 2: First we found less expensive
material, and then we developed a more
economical means of production.
MIXED CONSTRUCTION
My education was completed in 2009, and
then i began work as a manager for Home
Depot.
INCOMPLETE
CONSTRUCTIONS
Certain words used early in a sentence signal
that the rest of the sentence will provide a
certain kind of content.
Be careful to fulfil your reader’s expectations.
Otherwise you will have written an incomplete
construction.
Example: She was so happy with the
retirement party we gave her.
MISPLACED/DANGLING
MODIFIERS
Putting modifiers in the wrong place.
Giving them nothing to modify in the
sentence.
Example: Believing the price would
drop, the purchasing agents were
instructed not to buy.
Correct the sentence above.
FAULTY PARALLELISM
Readers expect the same kinds of content
in a sentence to be worded in the same
way.
Example: To create a more appealing
website, we can gather personal stories,
create a new logo, as well as making the
layout more readable.
PARAGRAPH DESIGN
Paragraphs should have unity.
Keep paragraphs short.
Make good use of topic sentences.
Topic sentence- expresses the main idea of a paragraph, and the
remaining sentences build around and support it.
1. Topic sentence first
2. Topic sentence at the end
3. Topic sentence within the paragraph
Leave out unnecessary detail
PARAGRAPH DESIGN
Make paragraphs coherent.
1. Repetition of key words and ideas.
2. Use of pronouns.
3. Transitional words.
