Free 21st Century Grammar Handbook by Barbara Ann Kipfer Page A

in
style,
complexity, directness, and
vocabulary.
While this idea seems self-evident to all of us who live in the late twentieth century and is probably an adequate
rule
to follow, writers or speakers who try to convey very complex or unusual concepts might find these guidelines hard to follow. How do we describe what we understand about nature or technology in simple ways? See
scientific language
and work hard to make your statements clear in a time of confusion, bafflement, and shifting standards.
    Clause. Clusters of words that include a
subject, verb,
and
object
or
predicate
but that are parts of larger
sentences
are called “clauses.” In themselves, clauses work in more or less the same way as whole, simple sentences, but clauses often are linked by
conjunctions
of various kinds that make them operate within the larger sentence as
nouns, adjectives,adverbs,
or other
parts of speech.
When clauses assume the role of other parts of speech within a sentence, they must be in
agreement
with the other words or clauses they refer to or modify. As with most grammatical categories, you need not know the names of clauses, but you should use clauses correctly. Errors in agreement across clauses are frequent and glaring.
    Since clauses let you build up complex and varied relationships between clusters of words and ideas, they help you avoid
bland writing
or weak writing. Clauses are an important element of
style
and therefore merit particular care in their use. Here is a review of the
rules
and pitfalls of using clauses.
I NDEPENDENT C LAUSES
    Many clauses are in fact whole
sentences
joined by
conjunctions
like
“and”
or
“but”:
“Collins is a vice president, but Martell is a senior editor.” Either clause in the example could stand by itself as a sentence; both are therefore “independent” clauses. There are no
rules
mandating
parallelism,
or balance, between independent clauses, but common sense says that ordinary language in ordinary moments does not mix wildly different elements. So independent clauses in most straightforward writing probably should be of roughly the same length, complexity, and
tone
or
style.
As with all such guidelines, there are many circumstances in which they do not apply and are best violated for effect or
emphasis.
D EPENDENT C LASUSES
    When
pronouns
introduce or
conjunctions
join clauses in such a way that one or more of the clauses cannot stand alone as a
sentence,
the sentence is said to include both independent and dependent clauses. Those clauses that cannot stand alone (with their conjunctions) are the dependent ones: “When we have reorganized, Martell will be vice president.” “When we have reorganized” is a
fragment
or dependent clause that means nothing by itself. The core of the clause (“we have reorganized”) could be a sentence by itself, but the addition of the
subordinating conjunction
“when” makes the clause dependent.
A GREEMENT
    The key concern with clauses is
agreement
among their elements across
conjunctions,
particularly when clauses depend on others. Often the agreement that is needed extends beyond grammatical needs to logical concerns. That is,
subordinating conjunctions
cannot in themselves create the connection of meaning between clauses; there must also be sensible construction of the clauses to support the relationship suggested by the conjunction. WRONG: “When we have reorganized, Martell was vice president.” Grammatically, this example could be considered correct, but the relationship between the
tenses
of the
verbs
makes no sense—the dependent clause suggests an action to come in the future, while the independent clause depicts a condition in the past. The two things don’t go together. Many writers, however, fail to provide logical consistencyor agreement between clauses and rely too heavily on the connecting power of conjunctions.
    More formal grammatical agreement errors are also common. WRONG: “When Jones is vice president, their