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COHERENCE IN THE SENTENCE

27. We have already examined sentences which lack unity. We have seen that blurred, double, or fragmentary groups of words lack essential oneness either of thought or of expression. Next to this principle of unity, or oneness, comes one equally important. This is coherence, that law which demands that all parts of a sentence harmonize, not only in conception or unity of thought, but also in wording. Thus, it is seen at once that coherence is a special matter of grouping, arrangement, relationship. The meaning of a sentence may be clear enough, and yet there may be a fault in grammar. The thought of the sentence may be easily understood, and yet there may be some violation of coherence in the parts. In fact, a sentence may have either unity or coherence alone, and lack the other of these two qualities of expression.

Let us say that coherence is a guardian, — a watch dog, if you will. This watch dog looks out for all intruders; he sees that nothing enters the sentence which has no right there. He sees that all parts are locked together; that nothing is out of place or disjointed. Coherence, then, keeps guard over a number of things, some of which are grammar, logical relationships, and connections between parts. The violations of coherence are numerous and stubborn. Some of them give way only before heavy onslaughts of logic; and now and then it takes more than the watch dog to keep them outside the premises of the sentence.

28. Shifts of grammar always confuse thought and destroy coherence. Some of these may now be illustrated. First of all, come ordinary changes in structure. By them thought is either blunted or confused in its straight way, so that it soon wanders from the proper

course.

Vague sentences like the following are often written:

Confused grammar: Mr. Brownell was a man of large stature, weighing in the neighborhood of two hundred pounds, with long curly hair and dark eyes, which, at first sight, caused a person to fear him.

Here the change from the ordinary verb construction to that of a preposition is quite confusing. If one says that "he was a man of large stature," one must follow with the same sort of statement that " he had long, curly hair and dark eyes."

Shift of subject and change of pronouns: The next stage of my life consisted of the needed schooling; and I shall never forget the first day of school, that my mother took me to a place that seemed like a prison. Nevertheless, I know that I never shall be so proud as I was on that day which I began to attend school.

How would you correct this last extract? Revise all

errors.

29. Pronouns cause more confusion than other parts of speech. In the chapter entitled Some Mistakes in Grammar, illustrations of misrelated pronouns are given in Section 14. Judging entirely from the number of mistakes in common speaking and writing, one may fairly conclude that it would not be possible to say too much about pronouns in a book or in the classroom.

Make certain that every definite pronoun has a definite antecedent. Follow this precept, and you will not go astray. More specifically, you must always remember

that certain pronouns are singular, and hence must have the singular relation with the antecedent. The pronoun their, for instance, must never be used to refer to another pronoun like one, somebody, he, or the like. Since indefinite pronouns give a general, not an individual, reference, they do not need a real antecedent. Thus, words like one, those who, something may be used without having a definite antecedent; for in themselves they carry the idea of antecedent, as well as that of single pronoun.

Correct: Everybody should be careful of his books.
Wrong: Everybody should be careful of their books.
Correct: He asked us to bring our books, and we did so
Crude: He asked us to bring our books, which we did.

30. Misrelated participles and gerunds cause general confusion. Every participle should have its unmistakable substantive. A substantive is a single word or group used as a noun. Toward this substantive the participle stands with the same relation that the pronoun bears to its antecedent. Therefore, the substantive must be clear; it may not be understood, as a rule; nor may it be vaguely expressed. One may not infer a noun substantive in the nominative if only the corresponding objective or possessive form has been used.

The so-called independent nominative participle has been sanctioned by many good authors. Yet it seems not to have taken hold as a popular construction. In the sentence, The wind rising, they departed for home, we have a correct use of the nominative independent participle. Yet in this sentence, While going home, the wind rose to a high pitch, the participle is surely misused; for the construction conveys an absurd impression, namely, that the wind was going home, and not some person or more. Whenever the relationship in the sentence is either ambigu

ous or positively misleading, you should recast the sentence, getting rid of the participle altogether.

Examples of faulty use of participles:

While being tied up this time, some sat on my head.

Next, it was read very slowly, and each passage explained, spending about six weeks on a single play.

His habits were irregular, eating at night, retiring in the early morning, and late to business.

Through the influence of my brother, and wishing to gain a better preparation, I resolved to continue my course in school.

31. Faulty relationships between parts occur often by the misuse of connectives or the wrong order of elements. Just after a comma, at the point where a subordinate element joins the main sentence, a break in connection is quite likely to happen. So, again, the constructions which are wrongly ordered point either forward or backward. These latter have been named "squinting" constructions. Adverbs like only, also, both, however, and so may be misplaced and therefore may read with either what goes before or what follows them. Correlatives like either . or; neither . . . nor; both . . . and also frequently distribute wrongly, so as to confuse the grammar and destroy the real intention of the writer or speaker.

Right: Although making only thirty dollars a month, the soldier subscribes liberally.

Squinting: Although only making thirty dollars a month. each soldier subscribes liberally.

Right: He has either not been here or only for a few minutes. Squinting: Either he has not been here or only for a few minutes. (What do these mean?)

As an exercise, arrange the word only in a sentence to show how its position can change the meaning in three or four regards.

Different types of faulty connection are illustrated by these examples:

While in the grammar school, my hardest study was English While the student who is not interested, it is hard to study. Thomas was a plucky lad, so he made friends with the boys. Though it is hard to accomplish, you will be repaid by sticking to this subject.

If one is to make the most of studying, he should select a room where everything is quiet, and little to attract attention.

After burning for nearly an hour, it was seen that the fire could not be controlled.

32. Coherence is promoted by natural word order. Any variation from the normal order may add to clearness; or it may add awkwardness in a sentence. Nothing

is gained by transposition if thought does not require special emphasis by such means. Modifiers are often arranged so as to cut the natural line of the sentence. Thus, they emphasize; yet the mere separation may

gain little if anything.

1. Keep the verb as near the subject as you can. To do this you may need to rearrange the clauses and phrases of a long sentence.

2. Place adverbial elements near the words they modify. The little word only, as we have already noticed, can cause considerable mischief when misplaced. Normally, it may be either before or after the word or group to which it belongs; and sometimes one needs to move it to get rid of a squinting construction.

3. The principle of clearness supersedes all others. If you cannot be clear and forceful at once, by all means try to be clear; for force without understanding is negative. Clarity is fundamental.

Awkward: Do you remember how we, when we were children, for many long weeks anxiously awaited the signs of Christmas?

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