Enfoques del Análisis Crítico del Discurso

It cannot stand by itself in English because it does not express a full idea. It is not a complete sentence. For a complete sentence, you will need to add an independent clause expressing a full thought.

When the user of the model makes the choices of features. 

When model users make the choices of features, they should make their selection with discretion. 

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WHEN WRITING ENGLISH sentenCes

12.9 The following sentence is incomplete. It does not express a full thought. Grammatically, it has a reduced wh-clause (relative clause). The subject an empty arc needs a predicate.

The phrase groups features is wrong in English. The plural form of a noun functioning as an adjective and preceding the head noun in a noun phrase is normally transformed into singular:

An empty arc connecting the edges of the groups features. 

An empty arc connects the edges of the features of the group. (Simple sentence)  An empty arc, connecting the edges of the group features, is a new phenomenon in modern architecture. (Complex sentence) 

An empty arc connects the edges of the features of the group. It is a new phenomenon in modern architecture. (Two simple sentences) 

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12.10 This is another incomplete sentence. The subject The requirements is modified by the relative clause starting with that but it still needs a predicate. Relative clauses may play the role of parenthetical structures that explain the noun preceding them as is the case in the following sentence. On their own, they cannot form complete sentences. This is why the subject, the noun, they modify still needs a predicate. The correct version exemplifies these points:

The requirements that cannot be fulfilled using the resources in the domain. 

The requirements that cannot be fulfilled, using the resources in the domain, are:…  NOTE The colon after the verb means you can proceed with bullet points or a normal list

The requirements cannot be fulfilled, using the resources in the domain. 

The requirements that cannot be fulfilled, using the resources in the domain, have added new constraints. 

12.11 The following sentence starts with a complex sentence marker (see 12.4). Complex sentence markers introduce dependent clauses, which cannot be treated as complete sentences unless they are accompanied by an independent clause:

While working on the project too hard. 

While working on the project too hard, the engineers made a new discovery.  The engineers made a new discovery while working on the project too hard. 

12.12 The use of complex sentence markers (see 12.4), with their dependent clauses as complete sentences, is one of the major pitfalls learners may fall into when writing English.

Here are more examples of how the writers of the following dependent clauses have ended their sentences with a period, mistakenly believing that they have a complete sentence. The correct versions exemplify that dependent clauses like these only become full sentences when supplemented by an independent clause:

Though econometric test has shown that regional wage differences do not tell the whole story (McCann, 2001). 

Though econometric tests have shown that regional wage differences do not tell the whole story (McCann, 2001), family-owned firms in the region have reported two-digit growth figures. 

Because the Bank of Sweden are going to lend them 60 milliard Swedish crowns.  Because the Bank of Sweden has agreed to lend them SEK 60 billion, the company hired 50 more employees. 

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EXERCISE: AWKWARD SENTENCES

This exercise deals with sentences which are hard to read. I call them ‘awkward’ sentences because readers find them ambiguous and difficult to read. There is more than one reason why many learners are fond of writing difficult and awkward sentences. Some learners love long sentences with several clauses. There are others who prefer the type of sentence structure that differs from the normal English sentence structure of subject + predicate.

I have tried to avoid mother tongue interference in this book since this is a subject which English language teaching scholars have almost exhausted. An ‘awkward’ sentence does not mean it is wrong. It might be acceptable from the grammatical viewpoint but it is difficult to tell what it means, or it takes a lot of effort to find out what the author wants to say.

The samples below are not easy to read for the reasons mentioned above. The suggested correct versions and the explanations preceding each sample are part of an effort to advise readers how to write a sentence that is easy to read and grasp from the perspective of both grammar and meaning.

12.13 The following sentence is a classic example of an awkward sentence in English. It is repetitive. For instance that is mentioned four times and study twice. Note also the use of redundant phrases or clauses That it was not the question, it was the fact that it was, etc. (See 13.1):

That it was not a question of a traditional organization that was regarded as important phenomena in this study, on the contrary it was the fact that it was a project of inter-organizational relationship that was seen as an interesting phenomenon as a study object.  This study sees inter-organizational relationship as an interesting phenomenon and not the traditional organization. 

12.14 Try to avoid convoluted sentences like this one:

In inter-organizational learning it is not where individual learning activities that are in focus, even if learning always starts and ends with individuals. 

12.15 In sentences like this one place the comparative form of the adjective clearer at