SENTENCES

87. Classified as to their rhetorical construction, sentences are considered as loose, periodic, and balanced.

The Loose Sentence is so constructed that it may be closed at two or more places and yet make complete sense; as,

Napoleon felt his weakness, and tried to win back popular favor by concession after concession, until, at his fall, he had nearly restored parliamentary government.

Note that this sentence could be closed after the words. weakness, favor, and concession, as well as after government.

88. The Periodic Sentence holds the complete thought in suspense until the close of the sentence. Compare the following periodic sentence with the loose sentence under §87:

Napoleon, feeling his weakness, and trying to win back popular favor by concession after concession, had, at his fall, nearly restored parliamentary government.

Both loose and periodic sentences are proper to use, but, since periodic sentences demand more careful and definite thought, the untrained writer should try to use them as much as possible.

89. The Balanced Sentence is made up of parts similar in form, but often contrasted in meaning; as, He is a man; Jones is a gentleman.

90. Sentence Length. As to the length of the sentence there is no fixed rule. Frequently, sentences are too long, and are, in their thought, involved and hard to follow. On the other hand, if there is a succession of short sentences, choppiness and roughness are the result. One should carefully examine sentences which contain more than thirty or thirty-five words to see that they are clear in their meaning and accurate in their construction.

Exercise 64

Compose, or search out in your reading, five loose sentences, five periodic sentences, and five balanced sentences.

Exercise 65

In the following sentences, determine whether each sentence is loose, periodic, or balanced. Change all loose sentences to the periodic form:

1. At the same time the discontent of the artisans made the lower class fear a revolution, and that class turned to Napoleon, because they felt him to be the sole hope for order and stable government.
2. The members of the council were appointed by the king, and held office only at his pleasure.
3. A society and institutions that had been growing up for years was overturned and swept away by the French Revolution.
4. Galileo was summoned to Rome, imprisoned, and forced publicly to adjure his teaching that the earth moved around the sun.
5. He draws and sketches with tolerable skill, but paints abominably.
6. Loose sentences may be clear; periodic sentences may not be clear.
7. He rode up the mountains as far as he could before dismounting and continuing the ascent on foot.
8. They visited the town where their father had lived, and while there, procured the key to the house in which he had been born.
9. His death caused great grief and extreme financial distress in the family.
10. There stands the Tower of London in all its grimness and centuries of age, holding within its walls the scene of many a stirring tragedy.
11. Few men dislike him, but many would gladly see him overthrown merely as an example.
12. Germany is moving in the same direction, although the reformers find it a hard task to influence public opinion, and a far harder one to change the various laws prevalent in the many German states.
13. Is this thing we call life, with all its troubles, pains, and woes, after all, worth living?
14. He read much, but advanced little intellectually, for all the facts and philosophy of his reading found no permanent lodgment in his mind.
15. His coming home was very unexpected, because he had started on a trip that usually took ten days, and that he had said would take longer this time.
16. It was during the time of the National Convention that Napoleon first became very prominent by defending the convention against a mob.

Exercise 66

Combine each of the following groups of sentences into one well constructed long sentence:

1. In highly developed commercial communities banks cannot afford space in their vaults for valuables. Especially, they cannot afford it merely to accommodate their patrons. Hence, in such communities the furnishing of places for safe deposit has become a separate business.
2. History should be a part of the course in all schools. It develops the memory. It furnishes the explanation of many social phenomena. It broadens the intellectual view. It gives culture as no other study can give it.
3. He never desired a higher education. This was possible because of the money bequeathed to him by his father. It had left him no need for a great earning capacity. More likely, it was because of the inborn dulness and lethargy of his mind.
4. New York is the pivotal state in all national elections. Its great number of electors makes it always possible for it to throw the election either way. Therefore, until one knows to which party New York will fall, he cannot tell how the election will result.
5. Our forefathers were devout. They were easily shocked in many ways. However, they permitted many liberties in the application of sermons to particular individuals. Such things would nowadays be strongly disapproved or resented.
6. Man's life is divided into two parts by a constantly moving point. This point is called the present. It divides the past from the future.
7. The Spartans were tormented by ten thousand absurd restraints. They were unable to please themselves in the choice of their wives. They were unable to please themselves in their choice of food or clothing. They were compelled to assume a peculiar manner, and to talk in a peculiar style. Yet they gloried in their liberty.
8. The mere approach to the temperance question is through a forest of statistics. This forest is formidable and complicated. It causes one, in time, to doubt the truth of numbers.
9. They passed the old castle. It was almost unrecognizable. This was by reason of the scaffolding which surrounded it. The castle was now being transformed into a national museum.
10. He stood looking with curiosity at John Peters. Peters limped slightly. Otherwise, he looked well and happy. He was moving about shaking hands right and left.
11. They rushed at him with a yell. He had by this time reached the base of the fountain. With a sudden wonderful leap he sprang onto the railing. There he was out of reach. He balanced himself by touching the brackets which held the lamps.
12. The unintelligent worker reminds one of the squirrel on the wheel. The squirrel rushes round and round and round all day long. At the end of the day the squirrel is still a squirrel. It is still rushing round and round. It is getting nowhere.
13. The man looked at the ladder. He believed he could reach it. There was a sudden flash of hope in his face. His face was already scorched by the fire.
14. Smith was financially embarrassed. He was determined to get to his home. He crawled on top of the trucks of an express car. The car was about to leave the terminal. He courted almost certain death.
15. The commander again looks toward the hills. He looks for a long time. Something seems to excite his apprehension. He converses earnestly with the staff officer. Then the two look more than once toward a poplar tree. The tree stands at the top of the hill. Only its top half shows. The hill is on the east.
16. The most important political question has been the tariff question. This has been most important for ten years. It is important because it is believed to have caused high prices and trusts.
17. The pleasantest month is June. It has flowers. It has mild weather. It has a slight haze in the atmosphere. These things seem to flood one's soul with peace and contentment.

91. The essential qualities that a sentence should possess, aside from correctness, are those of Unity, Coherence, Emphasis, and Euphony.

Unity. Unity demands that the sentence deal with but one general thought, and that it deal with it in such a consistent and connected manner that the thought is clearly and effectively presented. Unity demands, also, that closely related thoughts should not be improperly scattered among several sentences.

1. Statements having no necessary relation to one another should not be embodied in one sentence.

Bad: The house sat well back from the road, and its owner was a married man.

Good: The house sat well back from the road. Its owner was a married man.

a. Avoid the "comma blunder"; that is, do not use a comma to divide into clauses what should be separate sentences, or should be connected by a conjunction.

Bad: Jones lives in the country, he has a fine library.

Good: Jones lives in the country. He has a fine library.

Good: Jones lives in the country and has a fine library.

b. Avoid the frequent use of the parenthesis in the sentence.

Bad: This is a city (it is called a city, though it has but twelve hundred people) that has no school-house.

2. Avoid all slipshod construction of sentences.

a. Avoid adding a clause to an apparently complete thought.

Bad: That is not an easy problem, I think.

Good: That, I think, is not an easy problem.

Good: I do not think that is an easy problem.

Bad: He could not be elected mayor again under any circumstances, at least so I am told.

Good: He could not, I am told, be elected mayor again under any circumstances.

Good: I am told that he could not under any circumstances be elected mayor again.

b. Avoid long straggling sentences.

Poor: The students often gathered to watch the practice of the team, but, just before the last game, the management excluded almost all, and only a few who had influence were allowed to enter, and this favoritism caused much hard feeling and disgust, so that the students were reluctant to support the team, and lost most of their interest, a fact which had a bad effect on the athletics of the institution.

3. Unite into one sentence short sentences and clauses that are closely and logically connected with one another.

Bad: That it is a good school is not without proof. Its diploma admits to all colleges.

Good: That it is a good school is not without proof, for its diploma admits to all colleges.

Good: That its diploma admits to all colleges is proof that it is a good school.

Bad: This fact was true of all of us. With the exception of John.

Good: This fact was true of all of us, with the exception of John.

Bad: Edward came. But John never appeared.

Good: Edward came, but John never appeared.

Bad: The town has two railroads running through it. Also, three trolley lines.

Good: The town has two railroads running through it, and also three trolley lines.

Good: The town has two railroads and three trolley lines running through it.

4. Do not change the point of view.

Bad: We completed our themes, and they were handed in to the teacher. (In the first part of the sentence, the subject is we; in the second it is themes.)

Good: We completed our themes and handed them in to the teacher.

Good: Our themes were completed and handed in to the teacher.

Bad: The stage took us to the foot of the hill, and we walked from there to the top, where our friends met us.

Good: We were taken to the foot of the hill by the stage, and we walked from there to the top, where we were met by our friends.

Exercise 67

Revise such of the following sentences as violate the principles of unity:

1. I frequently had ridden on a bicycle, and though the first ride made me stiff, I felt little inconvenience afterwards.
2. Of the firm Jones & Smith, Jones is a man to be respected. While Smith is thoroughly dishonest.
3. John had plenty of energy and ambition. And it is hard to understand why he didn't succeed.
4. I have taken thorough courses in history in both grade school and high school, and I also worked on the farm in the summer.
5. In the East the people are conservative. But, in the West, they are radical and progressive.
6. The news came that special rates would be given from Chicago, and that we could go to Seattle and back for fifty dollars, and so, when our checks came, we seized our grips and started on a trip which was so long and eventful, but as enjoyable as any two months we had ever spent, and gave us an experience that was very valuable in our work, which we took up on our return in the fall.
7. The town has a fine public library, besides there are a number of steel mills.
8. One may reach Boston in two ways. Either by water or by rail.
9. Women (and Christian American women, too) frequently try to evade the customs laws.
10. My aunt has some of Jefferson's silver spoons, so she says.
11. He graduated from college (I think it was Harvard, though I am not sure) and then taught for three years.
12. This is one of Hugo's novels, it is very good.
13. He accomplishes everything he undertakes, if it is at all possible.
14. Washington was president of the United States. But Hamilton guided its financial policy.
15. Every year they sell three hundred sets, and Mr. West helps to write the letters.
16. The country people were the chief patrons of the store. Although no small amount of trade came from the town.
17. The box sat under a tree, and the dog, which was a collie, would go when he was told and sit on it, and no one could call him away but his master who was very often cruelly slow in doing so, but the dog never lost patience.
18. He was one of those persons (of whom there are so painfully many) who never do what they promise.
19. He then went to his room, which was in the back of the house, to sleep, and his books were found there the next day.
20. He was the man that I had mentioned, who had been recommended for the position. Who had been refused because of his deficiencies in English.
21. I can't go, I don't think.
22. He was a very big and very strong man. And, he should have made a great football player.
23. He will surely be elected, I haven't any fear.
24. The food was good, and the service was fine, but we did not care to stay on account of the weather, which was rainy most of the time, and because it was an out-of-the-way place.
25. He converses intelligently and pleasantly, and never gossips, hence he is an agreeable companion.
26. He died of smallpox, and was ninety years old.
27. There were twenty boys in the class. Each past twenty-five years of age.
28. He is in every way honorable, at least so far as money matters are concerned.
29. I had not previously thought of going to college, but now I was enthusiastic on the matter, and all my time (at least most of it) was devoted to poring over catalogues, of which I had a great number, and many of which I knew by heart from having gone over them so often, and finally a college was selected which seemed to suit me, so I went there in the fall to study chemistry.
30. He was very sensitive. So that we could tease him very little without making him angry.
31. There are a great number of stations along this short line of railroad, these, however, do little business.
32. They stopped and asked us the road to Milton, and it was discovered that they were going in the wrong direction, as Milton lay south of Williamsport, and we were camping twenty miles north.
33. He will most likely be suspended, it may perhaps be.
34. That day my cousin went home, and the next day John came to spend a few hours with me, and in the afternoon we drove all over the valley, but neither of us grew tired, because there were so many things to converse about, and so many long treasured questions to ask, and John left in the evening, and then I went to bed.
35. He has been proved a gambler, there you have it all.
36. Mrs. Smith (whose husband had been killed by a falling beam in one of the buildings he was constructing) consented to give us a room and board.
37. He read his lesson carefully, then he closed the book to think it over.
38. He is the most peculiar person I ever met—in the last few years at least.
39. I am reading a book, it is very interesting.
40. They get a great deal of amusement when he is walking (which he does every nice day) by whistling in time with his steps.
41. He gave me this book which you see, and I have been able to get a vast amount of information out of it.
42. It was noticed by everyone that he always behaved well. When he was in school.
43. The magician was present. And pleased everybody with his performances.
44. Because he liked music, John was considered an odd fellow, and his father was dead.

92. Coherence. Coherence in the sentence demands that the arrangement and the construction of the sentence be clear and free from ambiguity.

1. Frame the sentence so that it can have but one possible meaning.

Wrong: He owned several dogs and was greatly troubled with the mange.

Right: He owned several dogs and was greatly troubled because they had the mange.

Right: He was greatly troubled because several of his dogs had the mange.

2. See that the antecedent of every pronoun is clear and explicit.

Wrong: The dog was bitten on the front foot which has since died.

Right: The dog, which has since died, was bitten on the front foot.

Right: The dog was bitten on the front foot and has since died.

3. See that the word to which each modifier refers is unmistakable.

a. Place every modifying element as near as possible to the word which it modifies.

Wrong: He was sitting in a chair reading a book made in the mission style.

Right: He was sitting in a chair made in the mission style and was reading a book.

Right: He was sitting reading a book in a chair made in the mission style.

Wrong: The table had been inlaid by his father, containing over fifteen hundred pieces.

Right: The table, containing over fifteen hundred pieces, had been inlaid by his father.

Right: The table contained over fifteen hundred pieces and had been inlaid by his father.

b. Avoid the "squinting construction." By this term is meant the placing of a clause so that it is impossible to tell whether it refers to the preceding or succeeding part of the sentence.

Wrong: It would be hard to explain, if you were to ask me, what the trouble was.

Right: If you were to ask me what the trouble was, it would be hard to explain.

4. Place correlatives so that there can be no doubt as to their office. Neither—nor, both—and, etc., are frequently not placed next to the expressions they are meant to connect. See §84.

Wrong: He neither brought a trunk nor a suit-case.

Right: He brought neither a trunk nor a suit-case.

Wrong: He not only received money from his father, but also his mother.

Right: He received money not only from his father, but also from his mother.

Right: He not only received money from his father, but also received it from his mother.

5. Omit no word that is not accurately implied in the sentence.

Wrong: The man never has, and never will be successful.

Right: The man never has been, and never will be successful.

Wrong: It is no concern to him.

Right: It is of no concern to him.

6. Use a summarizing word, in general, to collect the parts of a long complex sentence.

Republicans, Democrats, Socialists, Prohibitionists, and Populists—all were there.

7. Express similar thoughts, when connected in the same sentence, in a similar manner.

Bad: I decided on doing the work that night, and to write it out on the typewriter.

Good: I decided to do the work that night and to write it out on the typewriter.

Bad: Textbooks are going out of use in the modern law schools, but some schools still use them.

Good: Textbooks are going out of use in the modern law schools, but in some they are still used.

Good: Though textbooks are going out of use in modern law schools, they are still used in some of them.

Bad: One should never try to avoid work in school, for you always increase your trouble by doing so.

Good: One should never try to avoid work in school, for one always increases his trouble by doing so.

Good: One usually only increases his troubles by trying to avoid work in school.

Exercise 68

Point out and correct any lack of coherence that exists in the following sentences:

1. Chicken lice are troubling all the farmers in the state.
2. The statute requires that one study three years, and that you pass an examination.
3. He is home.
4. Rich and poor, old and young, large and small, good and bad, were in the assemblage.
5. He both presented me with a gold piece and an increase in salary.
6. Tell the doctor, if he comes before seven, to call.
7. When the dog came on the porch, feeling playful, I laid aside my paper.
8. I only knew John.
9. The cart was pulled by a man creaking under a heavy load.
10. John told his father that his coat was too tight for him.
11. I not only knew the president but also the whole board of directors.
12. The boxes were full of broken glass with which we made fire.
13. Mrs. Smith wants washing.
14. A young woman died very suddenly last Sunday while I was away from home as a result of a druggist's mistake.
15. He was hit in the discharge of his duty by a policeman.
16. A dog has been found by Mrs. Jones with one black ear.
17. In taking the census innumerable errors are made, thus making the result unreliable.
18. It was a pleasure to see them work and their good nature.
19. The boy went to the teacher and told him that his trouble was that he used the wrong book.
20. John was not punished because of his ill health, and he was not entirely to blame for it.
21. They said they saw them coming before they saw them.
22. The officers arrested the men and they were then locked up.
23. You made the same mistake that you now make last week.
24. Wishing to make no mistake the boy was told by him to see the professor.
25. It resulted opposite to that in which it was expected.
26. They are required to report both on their way to work and coming home.
27. Under his direction we were taught grammar and something of composition was taken up.
28. Taking all precautions, a watchman is on duty every night.
29. We tried to study, but didn't do any.
30. I do not care either to see you or Henry.
31. He has a number of kennels with many dogs scattered over the farm.
32. Mrs. X. wants a picture of her children painted very badly.
33. One of the drawbacks to the work is that time is very scarce, in this way limiting what can be done.
34. The bicycle was easy to learn to ride, which I did.
35. Rails are placed along the sides of the bridges, and horses are forbidden to trot over them.
36. John told Henry that he thought he needed help.
37. He has to stop for rest, and to avoid getting too far ahead.
38. Board, room, clothes, laundry, and amusements, are higher there than here.
39. Mathematics is not only necessary, but also languages.
40. After having read the proof, it is rolled up, and you mail it back to the printer.
41. The baskets were unpacked and the girls waited upon them.
42. They knew all that was to be learned, including John.
43. We could say that the greater part of us had both seen the Niagara Falls and Canada.
44. Let him wear a loose shoe that has sore feet.
45. Being out of work, and as I did not wish to loaf, I started to school.
46. He tried to study unsuccessfully, and in the end failed.
47. He built a house for his wife with seven windows.
48. He sent her an invitation to go for a ride on the back of his business card.
49. I saw five automobiles the other night sitting on our front door step.
50. Mrs. Smith was killed last night while cooking in a dreadful manner.
51. Post cards are both increasing in variety and beauty.
52. He neither told John nor his father.
53. Mary told her mother, if she were needed, she would be called.
54. He bought a horse when ten years old.
55. The child the parent often rebuked.
56. Sitting on a chair the entire house could be watched.
57. Coming along the road a peculiar noise was heard by us.
58. Under the enforced sanitary laws people ceased to die gradually.
59. I knew him as a physician when a boy.
60. He came leading his dog on a bicycle.
61. When wanted he sent me a letter.

93. Emphasis. Emphasis demands that the sentence be so arranged that the principal idea shall be brought into prominence and the minor details subordinated.

1. Avoid weak beginnings and weak endings in the sentence.

Bad: He was a student who did nothing right as a rule.

Good: He was a student, who, as a rule, did nothing right.

2. A change from the normal order often makes a great change in emphasis.

Normal: A lonely owl shrieked from a thick tree not far back of our camp.

Changed: From a thick tree not far back of our camp a lonely owl shrieked.

3. Where it is suitable, arrange words and clauses so as to produce a climax; i.e., have the most important come last.

Bad: Human beings, dogs, cats, horses, all living things were destroyed.

Good: Cats, dogs, horses, human beings, all living things were destroyed.

4. Avoid all words which add nothing to the thought.

Bad: He is universally praised by all people.

Good: He is universally praised.

Bad: The darkness was absolutely impenetrable, and not a thing could be seen.

Good: The darkness was absolutely impenetrable.

Bad: Mr. Smith bids me say that he regrets that a slight indisposition in health precludes his granting himself the pleasure of accepting your invitation to come to your house to dine.

Good: Mr. Smith bids me say that he regrets that sickness prevents his accepting your invitation to dine.

Exercise 69

Reconstruct all of the following sentences that violate the principles of emphasis:

1. Children, women, and men were slain without pity.
2. I'll prove his guilt by means of marked money, if I can.
3. Most of the students have done good work, although some have not.
4. Will you please start up the machine.
5. Where ignorance leads to a condition of blissful happiness, it would be folly to seek a condition of great wisdom.
6. A man having foolishly tried to board a moving train yesterday, was killed by being run over.
7. As a maker of violins he has never had an equal before nor since.
8. All his friends were collected together.
9. The field was so wet that we could not play on it, except occasionally.
10. Few were superior to him as a sculptor.
11. Railway companies, trolley companies, cable companies, and even hack lines were affected by the change.
12. Books were his constant companions, and he was with them always.
13. That great, gaunt mass of stones, rock, and earth, which falls upon your vision at the edge of the horizon of your view, is known by the appellation of Maxon Mountain.
14. The noise of trains is heard ceaselessly from morning till night, without stopping at all.
15. He tried to do right so far as we know.
16. That knowledge is the important thing to gain beyond all else.

94. Euphony. Euphony demands that the sentence be of pleasing sound.

1. Avoid repeating the same word in a sentence.

Bad: He commanded his son to obey his commands.

2. Avoid words and combinations of words that are hard to pronounce.

Bad: He seized quickly a thick stick.

3. Avoid a rhyme and the repetition of a similar syllable.

Bad: They went for a walk in order to talk.

Exercise 70

Correct such of the following sentences as lack euphony:

1. In the problems, he solved one once.
2. Most of the time he does the most he can.
3. She worries about what to wear wherever she goes.
4. It is impossible for one to believe that one so changeable can be capable of such work.
5. Those are our books.
6. Every time there was a chance for error, error was made.
7. It is true that the man spoke truly when he said, "Truth is stranger than fiction."
8. The well must have been well made, else it would not have served so well.
9. Everything he said was audible throughout the auditorium.
10. He acted very sillily.
11. He is still worried over the ill fulfillment of John's promise.
12. In his letters there is something fine in every line.
13. They ordered the members of the order to pay their dues.

Exercise 71. A General Exercise on Sentences

Revise the following sentences. In parentheses after each sentence is the number of the paragraph in which the error involved is set forth:

1. Not only should we go to church, but also prayer-meeting. (92-4.)
2. In the East, just above the horizon, Mars may be readily seen in the evenings. (93-1.)
3. There is nothing distinctive about the style of the book, and it tells the story of a young Russian couple. (91-1.)
4. The nasal noise in his enunciation was displeasing. (94-2.)
5. Books, papers, records, money, checks, and receipts, were burned. (92-6.)
6. I tried to learn to write plainly, and have failed. (92-7.)
7. He has not and never will succeed in doing that. (92-5.)
8. He is sick as a result of the picnic, it may be. (91-2.)
9. Finally they stepped from the boat into the water, and tried to move it by all of them pushing. (92-2.)
10. One is sure to become dull in mind, and ill in health, if you fail to exercise. (93-1.)
11. The trip was comparatively quickly and easily made. (94-1.)
12. She was of ordinary family, but he didn't think of criticizing that, since his own parents were of the German peasantry. (91-4.)
13. The man was sentenced to either be hanged or life-imprisonment. (92-7.)
14. People of wealth (and it is by no means an exception to the rule) fail to notice the misery about them. (91-1-b.)
15. There one can see miles and miles. For there are no mountains. (91-3-a.)
16. She told her that she thought that she had come too soon. (92-2.)
17. By the judge's mistake, he was made a free man, and started on a career of crime again. (93-1.)
18. Flora Macdonald was a genuine heroine. (94-3.)
19. No criticism was made of the object, but of the means. (92-5.)
20. If you observe the relation of spelling to pronunciation, you will have little trouble in pronunciation. (94-1.)
21. He threw the stone at the window. And then he ran. (91-3.)
22. The reading of Poe's stories at least is entertaining, if not elevating. (92-3-b.)
23. John the lion killed. (92-3-b.)
24. He arose suddenly upsetting the table. (92-3-b.)
25. Bridget was a faithful servant, she never failed in her duties for more than five years. (91-1-a.)
26. Instead of six, now four years only are to be spent in college. (92-3-a.)
27. We started down the river toward Harrisburg. But we did not get very far. For a storm soon came upon us. (91-3.)
28. He says that he has the book at his home which belongs to Anderson. (92-2).
29. I secured a horse and went for a ride, and after my return, we had supper. (91-4.)
30. Two of the company were killed in the battle. The others escaped without a scratch. (91-3.)
31. Different from most persons, he will not mention to any one his faults. (92-2.)
32. Not only is the book interesting, but it is instructive also. (93-1.)
33. May not only he be satisfied with the result, but delighted. (92-4.)
34. Main Street is very long, and the hotels are on Market Street. (91-1.)
35. He saw the money passing the store which had been lost. (92-2.)