You can avoid fragments of this type by making sure that when you start with a child word (for example, except because, when, if, etc.), you include enough information in the sentence to create a complete thought. Passive: The [recipient] settlement was written by the author [actor]. Active: The author [actor] wrote [verb] the [recipient] settlement. Passive constructions are confusing when used in regulations. Active sentences must have actors, but passive sentences are complete without them. The difficulty with a complex sentence is that it strains the limits of short-term memory and often requires a reader to read the sentence several times to understand it. Readers need breaks in the course of ideas so they can consolidate what they`ve read and then move on. In fact, the proofreading process involves dividing the sentence into more manageable units from which meaning can be extracted more easily. The need for pauses also helps explain why more white space on a page makes it more engaging text for readers. The organization of the composition is just as important for the reader`s understanding. Readers need to know the main parts of a sentence before they can understand the rest of its information. Reading difficulty is often increased by separating subjects and verbs and placing long subordinate propositions at the beginning of a sentence. Legal advice can greatly help readers by avoiding these practices and using simpler adjectival phrases instead of more complex subordinate clauses.
Paragraph and definition formulation techniques lead to the same result as shortened sentences. They divide a set into logical units that can be easily transformed and stored in memory. This shows that problems do not necessarily arise because a sentence is long. Rather, they result from undifferentiated groups of ideas and the complexity of their interrelationships. But the subject of good sentences can be overwhelming. This is the stuff of Lincoln and Oliver Wendell Holmes. Writing good sentences may seem like an art that only artists are good at. First, you must attend a silent retreat in a cabin deep in the forest; Second, write sentences over and over again until the trash can overflows with discarded drawings. And there are so many tips on how to write sentences that you might want to give up the whole company. It`s best to just rely on your good old rule of sentences you learned in college (always write with an active voice and always avoid long sentences). One type of composition technique you can practice is sentence form. I love the form “positive cluster”, where a group of examples is used to illustrate a concept: Explanation: In the bad example above, the sentence fragment is created because there is no subject associated with the verb “confirm”.
This problem can be solved by providing a topic. In the corrected version, the pronoun “it”, which refers to the Court of Appeal, is the subject of the verb “confirmed”. Sentence structure has two aspects: complexity (including length) and organization (word order). She looks at this note separately, but these aspects are interdependent, because word order is the most important medium available in English to express the interrelation of ideas in a sentence. The more ideas a sentence contains (complexity), the greater the temptation to deviate from the way sentences are usually organized to clarify how ideas relate to each other. Joe Regalia teaches at Loyola University School of Law in Chicago and practices with the law firm Sidley Austin LLP. The views he expresses here are solely his own and are not intended to be legal advice. Check out his other articles here. In more complex sentences, it may be necessary to introduce other parts of the language. These include: This definition avoids repeating the details of the Minister`s designation throughout the text and simplifies the sentences in which it appears.
For example, if I have not convinced you otherwise, I hope you will at least agree that the big phrases are within your reach. Now start your own adventure of phrases. Grammarians have developed a concept that can be useful in studying this question. This is called “theming”. He indicates that a series of sentences usually has a basic idea or “theme” that connects them. Each sentence adds more information about the topic. As the reader moves from one sentence to the next, he first looks for the topic, then the additional information. In general, the subject of a sentence is its theme.