DEFINITIONS
Gerund: -ing form of the verb
sentence-initial adverbials: words or phrases at the beginning of a sentence, followed by a comma
Relative clauses: provide additional information about a noun, “Researchers who focus on solar
energy”
Restrictive Relative clauses: provide essential information
Non-Restrictive Relative clauses: provide extra information
COURSE NOTES
Collocations
= Combinations of words that frequently appear together
o “Conduct research”, “reach a conclusion”, “vast majority”
Subject-Verb agreement
- Singular subject -> singular verb (same for plural)
Subject-Pronoun agreement
= Subject not correctly linked to pronoun
- Frequent miss usage of ‘it’
o The number of, a number of, the majority of, a percentage of
o Watch out for singular or plural subject
o Perhaps rephrasing it as “several” or “some”
Contrastive linking words
= help to highlight differences, contradictions, or opposing viewpoints within an argument
o “However”
▪ used to introduce a statement that contrasts with a preceding one
▪ beginning of a sentence
▪ followed with a comma
o “Although”
▪ at the beginning of a subordinate clause to present a contrasting idea that
makes the main clause surprising or unexpected
▪ at the beginning of the sentence
▪ not followed by a comma
o “Despite”
▪ preposition that is followed by a noun or a gerund (-ing form of the verb)
, ▪ contradiction by pointing out a circumstance that might lead one to expect a
different result
o “on the other hand”
o “nevertheless”
o “whereas”
correct use of commas
= serve to separate ideas, provide pauses, and clarify meaning
- use with sentence-initial adverbials
- Restrictive Relative clauses, do not require a comma
- Non-Restrictive Relative clauses, set of with commas
- Listing 3 or more items, comma separating each item
o Oxford comma: a comma is placed before the “and”
- to avoid potential ambiguity
o two adjacent words are not connected in meaning but may appear to be so
Comma splices
= two independent clauses are joined with only a comma, which can impair the clarity of a
sentence
o "The research was conclusive, it provided clear evidence." Not good
o "The research was conclusive; it provided clear evidence"
o “The research was conclusive as it provided clear evidence”
- Or write it in separate sentences
Homophones
= sound alike but have different meanings and spellings
o “they're¸ “there”, and “their”
o “effect" and “affect
▪ Effect = result or outcome
▪ Affect = to influence or make a difference
Quantifiers
= specify the quantity of something without stating an exact number
o “few”, “fewer", and “a number of”
Hedging
= express academic caution and soften the impact of a statement
- useful to avoid making dogmatic, blanket statements
- conveys caution
- hedges in the form of modal verbs
o can, could, may, might, should, must
Gerund: -ing form of the verb
sentence-initial adverbials: words or phrases at the beginning of a sentence, followed by a comma
Relative clauses: provide additional information about a noun, “Researchers who focus on solar
energy”
Restrictive Relative clauses: provide essential information
Non-Restrictive Relative clauses: provide extra information
COURSE NOTES
Collocations
= Combinations of words that frequently appear together
o “Conduct research”, “reach a conclusion”, “vast majority”
Subject-Verb agreement
- Singular subject -> singular verb (same for plural)
Subject-Pronoun agreement
= Subject not correctly linked to pronoun
- Frequent miss usage of ‘it’
o The number of, a number of, the majority of, a percentage of
o Watch out for singular or plural subject
o Perhaps rephrasing it as “several” or “some”
Contrastive linking words
= help to highlight differences, contradictions, or opposing viewpoints within an argument
o “However”
▪ used to introduce a statement that contrasts with a preceding one
▪ beginning of a sentence
▪ followed with a comma
o “Although”
▪ at the beginning of a subordinate clause to present a contrasting idea that
makes the main clause surprising or unexpected
▪ at the beginning of the sentence
▪ not followed by a comma
o “Despite”
▪ preposition that is followed by a noun or a gerund (-ing form of the verb)
, ▪ contradiction by pointing out a circumstance that might lead one to expect a
different result
o “on the other hand”
o “nevertheless”
o “whereas”
correct use of commas
= serve to separate ideas, provide pauses, and clarify meaning
- use with sentence-initial adverbials
- Restrictive Relative clauses, do not require a comma
- Non-Restrictive Relative clauses, set of with commas
- Listing 3 or more items, comma separating each item
o Oxford comma: a comma is placed before the “and”
- to avoid potential ambiguity
o two adjacent words are not connected in meaning but may appear to be so
Comma splices
= two independent clauses are joined with only a comma, which can impair the clarity of a
sentence
o "The research was conclusive, it provided clear evidence." Not good
o "The research was conclusive; it provided clear evidence"
o “The research was conclusive as it provided clear evidence”
- Or write it in separate sentences
Homophones
= sound alike but have different meanings and spellings
o “they're¸ “there”, and “their”
o “effect" and “affect
▪ Effect = result or outcome
▪ Affect = to influence or make a difference
Quantifiers
= specify the quantity of something without stating an exact number
o “few”, “fewer", and “a number of”
Hedging
= express academic caution and soften the impact of a statement
- useful to avoid making dogmatic, blanket statements
- conveys caution
- hedges in the form of modal verbs
o can, could, may, might, should, must
