Sentences

What are ‘infinitives’?

Infinitives are usually easy to recognise because they often have the word ‘to’ in front of the verb stem. For example:

to go

to have gone

to read

to have read

Sometimes the ‘to’ is dropped after verbs such as ‘can’,‘could’, ‘might’, ‘should’, ‘would’, ‘must’, etc. For example:

can go

must read

What are ‘split infinitives’?

Split infinitives occur when a word (or words) is inserted between the ‘to’ and the verb stem. For example:

She decided to thoroughly investigate it.

They are certain to easily find a solution.

It is usually not considered good academic style to do this, and you should try to avoid split infinitives in your writing.

You can do this by inserting the ‘extra words’ either before the ‘to’ or after the verb stem. For example:

She decided to investigate it thoroughly.

They are certain to find a solution easily.

NB You may feel that your sentence which avoids the split infinitive still reads awkwardly. In this case, you might be better to rephrase the sentence. For example:

She decided to carry out a thorough investigation of the problem.

They are certain to find a solution without difficulties.

There are times, however, when you may feel that the only way to express the precise meaning of what you want to say is by splitting the infinitive. In this case, you may want to sacrifice grammatical accuracy for clarity of meaning.

When you are in doubt about whether you have split an infinitive, remember that Captain Kirk should not have said that “the mission of the Enterprise was to boldly go where no man [sic], has been before!”

He should have said "to go boldly".

The term ‘hanging prepositions’ is often used to describe prepositions (for instance, with, for, from, of, in, at, by, to, into, etc.) which we place at the end of a sentence or phrase, separated from the word/s to which they refer. For example:

• I liked the company which/that I was working for.

• I don’t have much knowledge of the theory which/that he is referring to.

In these examples it is better to use which rather than that.

Although the use of ‘hanging prepositions’ may be acceptable in less formal writing, in academic writing or formal documents (such as a CV), they should be avoided.

You should try and make sure that you do not end sentences with “with” or “for”, or any other ‘hanging preposition’.

In most cases you will have to re-arrange the order of the words in a sentence so as to avoid the ‘hanging preposition’.

The following are recommended changes for the examples given earlier.

• I liked the company for which I was working.

• I don’t have much knowledge of the theory to which she is referring.

Check essays and formal writing carefully and use these alternative constructions to avoid hanging prepositions.

Dangling participles occur when a sentence has no subject, and a participle or phrase modifies the wrong noun in the sentence. For example:

Walking through Canterbury, the sun was shining brightly.

The person is missing in the sentence. This could be read as the sun was walking through Canterbury. To add clarity to this sentence, include the subject (in this case the person). For example:

As I was walking through Canterbury, the sun was shining brightly.

Example 2:

At the age of six, my family went to Greece.

The modifier At the age of six is dangling. It is intended to specify the narrator's age when the family moved to Greece, but the narrator is only implicitly a part of the sentence and the family is the subject. It could be read as the family was six years old when it moved to Greece. To add clarity to this sentence, include the subject (in this case the narrator). For example:

When I was six, my family went to Greece.

The comma splice is an error that occurs when a comma is used to connect two independent clauses. For example:

Imani usually goes to bed at nine, she is a sleepy person.

It is better to separate the clauses with full stops or semi-colons. For example:

Imani is a sleepy person. She usually goes to bed at nine.

Example 2:

It is nearly midnight, we cannot reach home before dawn.

In this example a rewrite would be better as we have not linked the two statements. We need to explain to our reader why we will not reach home before dawn. For example:

It is nearly midnight and with an eight-hour journey ahead of us, we cannot reach home before dawn.

 

Linking words are needed to join ideas together in writing. Often they are used to show a contrast or a difference, for example, when we want to present a counter-argument.

Some linking words are used to begin sentences, to link the meaning from a previous sentence to the next. These words include:

• However,
• Despite this (fact)
• Nevertheless/Nonetheless,
• In contrast,
• Unlike*

For Example:

• New Versions of old Hollywood films have much to commend them with regard to special effects. However/Despite this/Nevertheless, such new productions tend to lack the ambience of their earlier incarnations.
  
  
• Baker (2020, p.3) points out that the incidence of inner city crime has risen rapidly since the 1980s. However, Gardiner's (2021) research highlights evidence that rural areas are also increasingly affected by vandalism and violence.

Other linking words are used within a sentence rather than at the beginning. These words include:

• ...unlike*...
• ...but**...
• ...although***...
• ...whilst...
• ...whereas...

For example:

• Professional and managerial groups have been found to prefer cycling and jogging but/whilst/whereas semi-skilled and unskilled workers tend to have more home-based leisure pursuits (Mason, 2019).
  
  
• In the end, Napoleon was defeated although the battle was fought long and hard (Clarke, 2020).
  
  
• The biopsychosocial model, unlike the biomedical model, sees psychological and social factors as well as biologicalinfluences impacting upon health (Baros, 2018).

Notes:

* ‘Unlike’ may also be used within a sentence.

** ‘But’ should not be used as the first word in a sentence as this is not considered good academic style.

*** Be careful not to create ‘non-sentences’ when using ‘although’. For example:

In the end Napoleon was defeated. Although the battle was fought long and hard. [THIS IS WRONG]

When we write, we need to link sentences together to enable our ideas to flow smoothly. Sometimes we want to show the results, consequences or the implications of something, and this is also an occasion when important linking words are used.

Certain linking words are used to begin a sentence and link it to the preceding one. These include:

• Consequently,
• Therefore,
• As a result,
• Hence,
• Thus,

Try to avoid ‘so’, as this is too informal for academic writing.

For example:

• Some of Freud’s concepts are seen as being rooted in the Vienna of the 19th century. Consequently, he may be regarded as a ‘child of his time’ (Smith, 2015,p.21).
  
  
• They lost their game on Saturday. Therefore, the chances of promotion are very slim indeed.

These same linking words may be used to link the meaning within a sentence. For example:

• Some of Freud’s concepts are seen as being rooted in the Vienna of the late 19th century and consequently, he may be regarded as a ‘child of his time’ (Falco, 2020,p.21).

You may use certain linking words to indicate that you are bringing your argument to a conclusion. These include:

• In conclusion,
• To summarise,
• Therefore,

For example:

• The Russian winter played an important role in preventing Hitler’s troops from taking Moscow. Therefore, this fact should not be discounted in our explanations for the end of World War 2.

When using ‘therefore’, please ensure that what follows is a consequence of what has gone before. Otherwise you are linking two ideas that do not necessarily go together. This is what is known as a ‘non-sequitur’, and should be avoided.

For example:

• O’Shea’s (2021) model has been heavily criticised. Therefore, exercise cannot be seen as a panacea for all ills.

This sentence does not make sense. 

Effect and affect are often used interchangeably (and incorrectly) by students in their essays. However, the meaning of the two words is different and writers should take care to use them correctly.

Effect: this can be a noun. It is often used together with the verb ‘to have’, as in ‘to have an effect’. For example:

• There is no doubt that alcohol consumption does have an effect upon students’ behaviour.

However, effect can also be used as a verb. In which case, it has a different meaning: ‘to bring about’. For example:

• The government is about to effect changes in the law on disability rights.

Affect: this can be a verb. In which case, it means ‘to bring about or experience an effect’. For example:

• The residents were deeply affected by the incident.
  
  
• This will not affect anyone living outside a 10-mile radius of the University.

However, affect can also be used as a noun. In which case, it has a different meaning and refers to ‘emotion’. For example:

• Psychopaths are often characterised by a lack of affect.

The following are incorrect uses of ‘affect’ and ‘effect’:

• He was not effected by the outcome of his examination results.
  
  
• The overall affect of the lighting and props was very dramatic.

Please make sure you do not use 'effect' and 'affect' in these ways.