can or may in a sentence

An independent clause realises a speech act such as a statement, a question, a command or an offer. See what I did there? [5], One definition of the average sentence length of a prose passage is the ratio of the number of words to the number of sentences. University of Western Australia's example here. If I am paraphrasing different aspects of one article in a single paragraph, can I introduce the introduce the author/date initially, then write the different page numbers throughout? What about when reading material for your paper? As with all language expressions, sentences might contain function and content words and contain properties such as characteristic intonation and timing patterns. Thank you for taking the time to articulate this. I’ll see your Quackenbos and I’ll raise you an Albert Einstein. However, technically, APA demands that your reader knows exactly what information you got from someone else and when you start using it. In some of my papers that I have been assigned I need a good opener and hook to grasp the readers attention. It is also awkward to read! “A sentence should not commence with the conjunctions and, for, but, or however…. If someone is a lazy writer, changing one element of their writing will not make any drastic improvements. ” (George Payn Quackenbos, An Advanced Course of Composition and Rhetoric, 1854). If you complete RDAP you can succeed in getting your sentence reduced. As I was writing a focused summary for sociology, I was becoming incredibly bogged down with all the in text citations, trying to figure out if there was anyway to make it less unwieldy and awkward. Bravo. Thanks! Together they usually constitute a single independent clause (complex). :). Would the following example be correct according to APA? Its people like yourself that make the internet useful! good thing you did spell “butt” instead of “but”. I think that sprinkling in an and and a but to begin a sentence here and there can break up the monotony of writing. [8] In general, as the average sentence length increases, the complexity of the sentences also increases. "I have a ball.". It seems so pompous! It is also awkward to read! See also copula for the consequences of the verb to be on the theory of sentence structure. The textbook Mathematical linguistics, by András Kornai, suggests that in "journalistic prose the median sentence length is above 15 words. [10], Research by Erik Schils and Pieter de Haan by sampling five texts showed that two adjacent sentences are more likely to have similar lengths than two non-adjacent sentences, and almost certainly have a similar length when in a work of fiction. This is perfect! But one shouldn’t go overboard!

Could it also be used for Harvard style? If am reading material and i find an idea/sentence in between two citations that i may want to paraphrase for in my work for example;

This is an excellent explanation with examples, but is specific for APA. Note the reader knows exactly when/where information from the source is used: Frogs are excellent indicator species to measure wetland health. Other examples of minor sentences are headings (e.g.

Halliday, M.A.K. Do not do this: Frogs are excellent indicator species to measure wetland health. For a sentence starting with “but,” you may have to read a little further – all the way to Genesis 8:1: “But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.” It’s all up to how the word is used. When frog populations in a wetland plummet, one can be sure that something is going wrong in the wetland (Willemssen, 2010). I found this extremely helpful when writing my first APA style paper, however I do have one more question about citations that was not answered above. How can one tell from the other. Where can they turn for confirmation and comfort? You have a delightful way of writing; I couldn’t help laughing, a lot. Why were we taught this non-rule rule about not starting sentences with conjunctions? I don’t know. Of course you can.

It may be a simple phrase, but it conveys enough meaning to imply a clause, even if it is not explicit; for example, "Two" as a sentence (in answer to the question "How many were there?") One could also argue that using a simple sentence is lazy writing. In addition, when oddities in frog morphology appear, like frogs with five legs or two heads, one can also assume something is going wrong in the wetland environment (Willemssen, 2010). Beginning sentences with “and and “but” is lazy writing.

In the examples below, the subject of the outmost clause simplex is in italics and the subject of boiling is in square brackets. After completion of the 9- to 12-month program your prison sentence can be reduced by up to one year if … Hah! I did it again, didn’t I? The login page will open in a new tab. Let’s sum up that argument, ladies and gentlemen of the jury. Willemssen (2010) recently conducted research in Wisconsin that shows that frogs are very sensitive to changes in pH caused by acid rain, and they are also very sensitive to different types of pollution. Remember, you don’t always want to be forceful. Having done mostly history in undergrad, I'm having a rough time transitioning to APA for grad school. Sentence length, as well as word difficulty, are both factors in the readability of a sentence; however, other factors, such as the presence of conjunctions, have been said to "facilitate comprehension considerably".[12][13]. The causal nexus is represented by the independent clause complex and not by the two interdependent clause simplexes. "[11] There are so many research papers written in such a manner that one can't tell what part is the author's words/ideas and what part is paraphrased. Oops, we’ve gone from law to poker. These paragraphs are "APA correct" and easy to read. I couldn't say it any better myself. But that didn’t stop us from having a good time together while teasing John that he owed us an ice-cream.”, You have to admit, that’s a bit much. Correct but Ugly. Thank you for this excellent explanation. Refer them to Genesis Chapter 1 for sentences starting with “and.”, For a sentence starting with “but,” you may have to read a little further – all the way to Genesis 8:1: “But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.”. Otherwise, one of the clauses becomes a sentence fragment, which is a problem. and Matthiessen, C.M.I.M. This countered the theory that "authors may aim at an alternation of long and short sentences.

I'm assuming signal phrase or repeatedly citing it unlike a print source is the answer. The Purdue site that always comes up as the top result when searching for this was no help at all, but this was exactly what I needed. Basically, introduce the source you are summarizing or paraphrasing at the beginning of the paragraph and then refer back to the source when needed to ensure your reader understands you are still using the same source. This paragraph is technically correct for APA, but it is difficult to read in large part because the in-text citations are intrusive and awkward: Frogs are excellent indicator species to measure wetland health. "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.". In the teaching of writing skills (composition skills), students are generally required to express (rather than imply) the elements of a sentence, leading to the schoolbook definition of a sentence as one that must (explicitly) include a subject and a verb. What is still open and under negotiation is the reason for that fact.

But they won’t be impressed with the reference you give them because I’m ready to bet you anything they’ve never have heard of Quackenbos! "Characteristics of Sentence Length in Running Text", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sentence_(linguistics)&oldid=985028771, Articles lacking reliable references from September 2014, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 23 October 2020, at 14:59. Of course, there are style guides that discourage it, but it’s perfectly acceptable to begin a sentence with “but” when writing. [1] This entry is mainly about sentence in its non-functional sense, though much work in functional linguistics is indirectly cited or considered such as the categories of speech act theory. The customer wants to get an excellent paper, so get you essay check for grammar and make sure it gets the highest grade in class. Good. People, including some of the greatest writers of all time, have been starting sentences with “and” and “but” for hundreds of years. This is the most valuable info on this issue that's I've found. *. Just as I once was a firm believer in the “never start a sentence with and or but” non-rule, you’ll come across enslaved souls who have been taught the very same non-rule. Thank you. And because we didn’t have any money that was all we could do, really.”, “But then John said he’d had a birthday, and we could all go for ice creams. Her research indicates that when frog populations in a wetland plummet, one can be sure that something is going wrong in the wetland. I like to start my sentences with “but” because then I never have to take a 100% stand on anything. I would find an authoritative reference to back up what I had learned, and I would send it to someone who had just argued you can start a sentence with “but.”. A clause (simplex) typically contains a predication structure with a subject noun phrase and a finite verb. Is it okay to start out with the author's last names with the date and at the end of the paragraph an intext citation? For that reason, non-independent clauses are also called interdependent. In non-functional linguistics, a sentence is a textual unit consisting of one or more words that are grammatically linked. A sentence can include words grouped meaningfully to express a statement, question, exclamation, request, command or suggestion. When you start a sentence with a prepositional phrase, it's usually a good idea to put a comma after it (as in the examples above). "Mary! Take a little time to improve your writing by creating better sentences where you don’t need to start sentences with these two words and your writing will be a lot better. That very day, I started peppering my writing with sentences starting with conjunctions.

“Contrary to what your high school English teacher told you, there’s no reason not to begin a sentence with but or and; in fact, these words often make a sentence more forceful and graceful. A sentence is a set of words that in principle tells a complete thought (although it may make little sense taken in isolation out of context). There are so many research papers written in such a manner that one can't tell what part is the author's words/ideas and what part is paraphrased. This notion contrasts with a curve, which is delimited by phonologic features such as pitch and loudness and markers such as pauses; and with a clause, which is a sequence of words that represents some process going on throughout time. These paragraphs are "APA correct" and easy to read. Thank you! One very telling quote from Willemssen's research is that "87% of wetlands where two-headed frogs are found have high levels of  environmental contamination" (p. 341). The professor also confirms starting with the conjunction can make your writing more forceful. In this sentence, one can change the persons, e.g. "We have a ball.". I regularly send my students here whenever they ask about this topic. "), proverbs, etc. It’s seen as the authoritative book on English Grammar, and if they won’t believe it, they’re never going to believe anyone. Willemssen's research indicates that when frog populations in a wetland plummet, one can be sure that something is going wrong in the wetland. And some may feel that forgetting the second quotation mark is lazy writing. Commas After Prepositional Phrases at the Beginning of a Sentence.

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