English For Professionals

ENGLISH FOR PROFESSIONALS
A REFRESHER LECTURE
SENTENCE
Set of words with complete thought, typically
containing a subject and a predicate, conveying
statement, question, exclamation or command, and
consisting of a main clause and sometimes one or more
subordinate clauses.
SUBJECT AND PREDICATE
1. The issue raised in the case at bar is one of jurisdiction.
SUBJECT: The Issue raised in the case at bar

PREDICATE: is one of jurisdiction
2. Did you stalk the victim prior to the commission of the

crime?
SUBJECT: You
PREDICATE: Stalked the victim prior to the commission
of the crime
Clause
 group of words with both a subject and a verb
4 types
1. Main or independent clause

2. Subordinate or dependent clause
3. Relative or adjective
4. Noun clause
1. Main clause follows this pattern:
Subject (S) + Verb (V) = complete thought
Example: Cola spilled over the glass and splashed onto the counter
S = Cola
V = spilled, splashed
2. Subordinate Clause follows this pattern:

Subordinate Conjunction (SC) + Subject (S) + Verb (V) = Incomplete Thought
Example: As cola spilled over the glass and splashed onto the counter
SC = As
S = cola
V = spilled, splashed
3. Relative Clause follows this pattern:
Relative Pronoun (RP) or Relative Adverb (RA) + Subject (S) + Verb (V) = Incomplete Thought
Example: That had spilled and splashed onto the counter
RA = That
S = ________
Vs = spilled and splashed
4. Any clause that functions as a noun becomes noun clause.
Example:
You really do not want to know the ingredients in Aunt Nancy’s stew.
Ingredients = noun
If we replace the noun ingredients with a clause, we have a noun clause:
You really do not want to know what Aunt Nancy adds to her stew.
What Aunt Nancy adds to the stew = noun clause

COORDINATION METHODS
Coordination is the proper joining of two main clauses in one
sentence.
N.B. Main clauses can stand as sentences.
METHOD I: Two main clauses can be joined as a single

sentence with a comma and a coordinating conjunction:
, and , or,so
, but , for ,yet

PROBLEM:
I got in the car, and I started to back out of the garage, but
I forgot that the garage door was closed, so I hit the door
at about 20 mph, and caused over a thousand dollars of
damage to both the car and the garage.
SUGGESTED SOLUTION:
When I got in the car and started to back out of the garage,
I forgot that the garage door was closed. I hit the door at
about 20moh and caused over a thousand dollars of
damage to both the car and garage.
METHOD II
Two main clauses can be joined in a single sentence with
a semi colon, a conjunctive adverb, and a comma:
;however, ;furthermore, ;consequently,
;nevertheless, ;therefore,;moreover,
;nonetheless, ;thus,
Example: I am hoping to earn a scholarship in my

sophomore year; thus, I must maintain a B average.
SUBORDINATION METHODS
METHOD 1: Subordinate Clause is introduced by one of the following subordinating conjunctions:
after as soon as if until whether
although as though in order to when while
as because since whenever as if
before so that where as long aseven though
unless wherever
Exercise:
 Since the polls do not close for another hour

 we do not know the election results
METHOD II: One kind of subordinate clause begins with one of theses words:
who, whose ( to refer to people)
Which ( to refer to things and animals)
that ( to refer to people or things)
EXAMPLE:
Sentence: The boy who won the award is my son.
Main Clause: the boy is my son
Relative Clause: Who won the award.

COMMON ERRORS
1. Subject-Verb Agreement
2. Sentence Fragments
3. Misplaced or Dangling Modifier

SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT
Subjects and verbs must AGREE with one another in number (singular or plural).
Thus, if a subject is singular, its verb must also be singular; if a subject is plural,
its verb must also be plural.
1. The indefinite pronouns anyone, everyone, someone, no one, nobody are always

singular and, therefore, require singular verbs.
> Everyone has done his or her homework.
> Somebody has left her purse.
Some indefinite pronouns — such as all, some — are singular or plural depending
on what they're referring to. (Is the thing referred to countable or not?) Be careful
choosing a verb to accompany such pronouns.
Some of the beads are missing.

Some of the water is gone.
2. Some indefinite pronouns are particularly
troublesome Everyone and everybody (listed above, also)
certainly feel like more than one person and, therefore, students are
sometimes tempted to use a plural verb with them. They are always
singular, though. Each is often followed by a prepositional phrase
ending in a plural word (Each of the cars), thus confusing the verb
choice. Each, too, is always singular and requires a singular verb.
> Everyone has finished his or her homework.

> You would always say, "Everybody is here." This means that the
word is singular and nothing will change that.
> Each of the students is responsible for doing his or her work in the
library.
Don't let the word "students" confuse you; the subject
is each and each is always singular — Each is responsible.
3. Phrases such as together with, as well as, and along with are not
the same as and. The phrase introduced by as well as or along
with will modify the earlier word (mayor in this case), but it does
not compound the subjects (as the word and would do).
>The mayor as well as his brothers is going to prison.

>The mayor and his brothers are going to jail.
4. The pronouns neither and either are singular and require

singular verbs even though they seem to be referring, in a sense,
to two things.
> Neither of the two traffic lights is working.
> Which shirt do you want for Christmas?
Either is fine with me.
5. The conjunction or does not conjoin (as and does): when nor or or is used
the subject closer to the verb determines the number of the verb. Whether the
subject comes before or after the verb doesn't matter; the proximity
determines the number.
>Either my father or my brothers are going to sell the house.
>Neither my brothers nor my father is going to sell the house.
>Are either my brothers or my father responsible?
>Is either my father or my brothers responsible?
6. The words there and here are never subjects.
>There are two reasons [plural subject] for this.

>There is no reason for this.
>Here are two apples.
>With these constructions (called expletive constructions), the subject follows
the verb but still determines the number of the verb.
7. Verbs in the present tense for third-person, singular
subjects (he, she, it and anything those words can stand
for) have s-endings. Other verbs do not add s-endings.
 He loves and she loves and they love_ and . . . .
8. Sometimes modifiers will get between a subject and its

verb, but these modifiers must not confuse the agreement
between the subject and its verb.
> The mayor, who has been convicted along with his four
brothers on four counts of various crimes but who also
seems, like a cat, to have several political lives, is finally
going to jail.
9. Sometimes nouns take weird forms and can fool us into
thinking they're plural when they're really singular and
vice-versa. Consult the section on the
Plural Forms of Nouns and the section on
Collective Nouns for additional help. Words such as
glasses, pants, pliers, and scissors are regarded as plural
(and require plural verbs) unless they're preceded the
phrase pair of (in which case the word pair becomes the
subject).
>My glasses were on the bed.
>My pants were torn.
>A pair of plaid trousers is in the closet.
10. Some words end in -s and appear to be plural but are
really singular and require singular verbs.
>The news from the front is bad.

>Measles is a dangerous disease for pregnant women.
>On the other hand, some words ending in -s refer to a single
thing but are nonetheless plural and require a plural verb.
>My assets were wiped out in the depression.
>The average worker's earnings have gone up dramatically.
>Our thanks go to the workers who supported the union.
11. Fractional expressions such as half of, a part of, a percentage of, a
majority of are sometimes singular and sometimes plural, depending
on the meaning. (The same is true, of course, when all, any, more,
most and some act as subjects.) Sums and products of mathematical
processes are expressed as singular and require singular verbs. The
expression "more than one" (oddly enough) takes a singular verb:
"More than one student has tried this."
>Some of the voters are still angry.
>A large percentage of the older population is voting against her.
>Two-fifths of the troops were lost in the battle.
>Two-fifths of the vineyard was destroyed by fire.
>Forty percent of the students are in favor of changing the policy.
>Forty percent of the student body is in favor of changing the policy.
>Two and two is four.
>Four times four divided by two is eight.
12. If your sentence compounds a positive and a negative
subject and one is plural, the other singular, the verb
should agree with the positive subject.
>The department members but not the
chair have decided not to teach on Valentine's Day.
>It is not the faculty members but the president
who decides this issue.
>It was the speaker, not his ideas, that has provoked the
students to riot.
SENTENCE FRAGMENTS
A sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence. Some fragments
are incomplete because they lack either a subject or a verb, or
both. The fragments that most students have trouble with,
however, are dependent clauses—they have a subject and a
verb, so they look like complete sentences, but they don’t
express a complete thought.
4 TYPES
1. Fragment that result from missing subject
2. Fragment that result from incomplete verb
3. Fragment that result from missing subject and verb
4. Fragment that result from lack of completeness

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ENGLISH FOR PROFESSIONALS

containing a subject and a predicate, conveying

statement, question, exclamation or command, and

consisting of a main clause and sometimes one or more

SUBJECT: The Issue raised in the case at bar

2. Did you stalk the victim prior to the commission of the

1. Main or independent clause

Subject (S) + Verb (V) = complete thought

2. Subordinate Clause follows this pattern:

Example: That had spilled and splashed onto the counter

4. Any clause that functions as a noun becomes noun clause.

If we replace the noun ingredients with a clause, we have a noun clause:

What Aunt Nancy adds to the stew = noun clause

N.B. Main clauses can stand as sentences.

METHOD I: Two main clauses can be joined as a single

, but , for ,yet

;however, ;furthermore, ;consequently,

Example: I am hoping to earn a scholarship in my

after as soon as if until whether

although as though in order to when while

as because since whenever as if

before so that where as long aseven though

 Since the polls do not close for another hour

who, whose ( to refer to people)

Which ( to refer to things and animals)

that ( to refer to people or things)

Sentence: The boy who won the award is my son.

Main Clause: the boy is my son

Relative Clause: Who won the award.

3. Misplaced or Dangling Modifier

1. The indefinite pronouns anyone, everyone, someone, no one, nobody are always

Some of the beads are missing.

> Everyone has finished his or her homework.

>The mayor as well as his brothers is going to prison.

4. The pronouns neither and either are singular and require

6. The words there and here are never subjects.

>There are two reasons [plural subject] for this.

8. Sometimes modifiers will get between a subject and its

>The news from the front is bad.

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