Coordination and Subordination - What to Say When the Cops Come

Chapter Coordination and Subordination: What to Say When the Cops Come In This Chapter • Learn how to coordinate ideas • Explore subordination • Achieve parallel structure When you wr

Chapter

Coordination and

Subordination: What to Say When the Cops Come

In This Chapter

• Learn how to coordinate ideas

• Explore subordination

• Achieve parallel structure

When you write effective sentences, you move beyond mere correctness to writing with style and grace It's like moving from Martha Washington to Madonna, or from a Ford to a Ferrari This chapter introduces you to the nitty-gritty of writing well First you learn how to coordinate and subordi-nate clauses to communicate relationships between two or more ideas Then I show you how to use parallel structure to make sure your ideas are expressed in a logical way

1 7 8 P a r t 3 : Usage and Abusage

Coordination: All the Right Moves

You coordinate your outfits, home furnishings, and dance moves So why not coordinate your sentences to give them some style as well? In the previous chapter, you learned how to connect the parts of a sentence There, I touched on coordinating independent clauses Let's kick it up a notch and get into the nitty-gritty of coordinating independ-ent clauses

Sometimes you want to show that two or more ideas are equally important in a sentence

In such cases, you're looking to coordinate Sentence coordination links ideas of equal

importance This process gives your writing harmony by bringing together related

independent clauses There are four main ways to

You Could Look It Uo coordinate independent clauses You can use:

Sentence coordination

inks ideas of equal importance

Quoth the Maven

Remember to use a comma

between coordinating

conjunc-tions that join two independent

clauses, unless the clauses are

very short

Coordinating

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

for and nor but

or yet

so

conjunctions

• Correlative conjunctions

• either or

• neither nor

• not only but also

• both and

• Semicolons and conjunctive adverbs As you learned in Chapter 4, there are many different conjunctive adverbs Here are some examples:

• ; furthermore,

• ; therefore,

• ; for example,

• ; however,

• A semicolon

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Mix and Match

Coordination isn't just slapping on a black tie with a white shirt or putting some pars-ley on a leg of lamb No siree; coordination involves using the right word or mark of punctuation to show different relationships between ideas For example, each of the coordinating conjunctions has a different meaning, as the following table shows

Coordinating Conjunctions and Their Shades of Meaning

Coordinating Conjunction Meaning

for

and

nor

but

or

yet

so

Function

because also negative however choice however therefore

to show cause

to link ideas

to reinforce negative

to contrast ideas

to show possibilities

to contrast

to show result

Correlative conjunctions convey balance,

while semicolons and conjunctive adverbs

indicate relationships such as examples,

contin-uation, and contrast A semicolon alone shows

that the ideas are of equal importance

Strictly Speaking

A coordinate sentence is also known as a compound sentence You learned all about compound sentences in Chapter 1 3

Dancing Cheek-to-Cheek

Follow these steps when you coordinate independent clauses:

1 Decide which ideas can and should be combined

2 Select the method of coordination that shows the appropriate relationship

between ideas

Each way to form compound sentences establishes a slightly different relationship

between ideas Often, there's no "right" answer when you're choosing which conjunc-tions and punctuation to use to coordinate ideas With practice, you'll discover that some sentences sound smoother and more logical than others Here are some examples

to help you get your ear in tune:

1 8 0 Part 3 : Usage and Abusâge

Uncoordinated: Years ago most baseball players were recruited right out of high school

or from the minors Today, most play college baseball and then move on to the major leagues

Coordinated: Years ago most baseball players were recruited right out of high school or from the minors, but today most play college baseball and then move on to the major

leagues

Coordinated: Years ago most baseball players were recruited right out of high school or from the minors; however, today most play college baseball and then move on to the

major leagues

But and however are used to show contrast

Danger, Will Robinson

Be careful not to

con-nect unrelated ideas, establish a

vague connection among ideas,

or connect too many ideas in

one sentence The first and

sec-ond errors confuse your readers;

the third causes "stringy

sen-tences."

Uncoordinated: Star Trek was very successful in

syndi-cation It was not a big hit during its original run from 1966 to 1969

Coordinated: Star Trek was very successful in syndica-tion, yet it was not a big hit during its original run

from 1966 to 1969

Coordinated: Star Trek was very successful in syndica-tion; nevertheless, it was not a big hit during its

origi-nal run from 1966 to 1969

Yet and nevertheless are used to show comparison

Don't Strinq Me Alonq

What happens if you go coordination crazy? You end up with a stringy sentence A stringy sentence contains too many ideas connected by coordinating conjunctions or then Repetitious and hard-to-follow, stringy sentences are as annoying as stringy

cel-ery or stringy cheese Here's an example of a stringy sentence:

• Mount Everest is in the Himalayas and it is the world's tallest mountain and so climbing it is very difficult so Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Horgay first climbed

it in 1963 and everyone applauded their achievement

To correct a stringy sentence, place closely related ideas in one sentence, and less closely related ideas in their own sentences Here's a variation that achieves logic as well as emphasis of ideas:

• Because Mount Everest, in the Himalayas, is the world's tallest mountain, climb-ing it is very difficult It was not until 1963 that the first explorers, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Horgay, conquered the mountain to great acclaim

C h a p t e r \k: Coordination and Subordination: What to Say When the (ops (ome 1 8 1

Why Not Give It a Shot?

Take a few minutes to link the following simple sentences by adding coordinating

conjunctions, correlative conjunctions, conjunctive adverbs and semicolons, or semi-colons alone

1 In the Great Fire of London in 1666 half of London was burnt down Only six people were injured

2 New York stockbroker Bill Wilson and Ohio surgeon Robert Smith both had a drinking problem They joined forces and started Alcoholics Anonymous

3 Most people don't keep their New Year's resolutions for more than a few weeks They don't make resolutions in the first place

4 The oldest female elephant in the herd usually leads the other elephants The other female elephants are ranked below her in age

5 The puppy pulled all the slippers from under the bed She shredded all the toilet paper

Answers

Possible responses:

1 In the Great Fire of London in 1666 half of London was burnt down, but only

six people were injured, (shows contrast)

1 8 2 P a r t ) : Usage and Abusage

2 New York stockbroker Bill Wilson and Ohio surgeon Robert Smith both had a

drinking problem, so they joined forces and started Alcoholics Anonymous,

(shows result)

3 Most people don't keep their New Year's resolutions for more than a few weeks

or they don't make resolutions in the first place, (shows choice)

4 The oldest female elephant in the herd usually leads the other elephants; the other female elephants are ranked below her in age (semicolon shows closely linked ideas)

5 The puppy pulled all the slippers from under the bed, and she shredded all the

toilet paper, (coordinating conjunction shows ideas of equal importance)

Subordination: What I Did for Love

Coordination shows the relationship among equal independent clauses; subordination,

in contrast, shows the relationship between ideas of unequal rank Subordination is

connecting two unequal but related clauses with a subordinating conjunction to form

a complex sentence When you subordinate one part

of a sentence to another, you make the dependent clause develop the main clause Subordination can help your sentence in many ways Here are three biggies:

You Could Look It Up

Subordination is

con-necting two unequal but related

clauses with a subordinating

con-junction to form a complex

sen-tence

Quoth the Maven ,

As you learned in Chapter 3,

subordinating conjunctions link

an independent clause to a

dependent clause There are

many subordinating conjunctions,

including offer, although, because,

before, if, though, since, when,

till, unless, wherever, and where

A more complete list appears in

Chapter 1 2

• To trace ideas unfolding

• To show specific relationships among ideas

• To stress one idea over another

As a result, subordination can give your writing and speech greater logic, coherence, and unity

As with sentence coordination, sentence subordina-tion is more than random switcheroos Subordinasubordina-tion requires logic and thought Follow these four steps to subordinate sentence ideas:

1 Decide which idea or clause is the most impor-tant It will be the information you most want

to emphasize in the reader's mind

2 Designate this as the "main clause."

C h a p t e r \k: Coordination and Subordination: What to Say When the Cops Come 1 8 3

3 Select the subordinating conjunction that

best expresses the relationship between

the main clause and the dependent

clause

4 Arrange the clauses to achieve logic,

coherence, rhythm, and polish

The following table shows some of the most common subordinating conjunctions and the relationships that they show between ideas

Strictly Speaking

Conjunctions and conjunctive adverbs can also be called tran-sitions because they signal con-nections between ideas

Relationship Subordinating Conjunctions

Cause, reason

Choice

Condition

Contrast

Effect, result

Location

Time

as, because whether, rather than even if, if, unless, provided that though, even though, although

so, so that, in order that, that wherever, where

once, whenever, since, until, when, while, after, before

Follow the Leader

Here are some examples of effective sentence subordination:

Not subordinated: You lick a postage stamp You consume one tenth of a calorie

Subordinated: When you lick a postage stamp,

you consume one tenth of a calorie

Starting the dependent clause with the

subor-dinating conjunction "when" gives a reason for

the main clause

Not subordinated: You are a typical American

man You spend four hours a year tying your tie

Subordinated: If you are a typical American

man, you spend four hours a year tying your

tie

Starting the dependent clause with the

subor-dinating conjunction "if" gives a reason for

the main clause

Danger, Will Robinson

Be careful not to switch the main clause and the depend-ent clause when you subordinate

If you put the main idea in a dependent clause, your sentence will not be logical, as this

exam-ple shows: Because the TV

cam-era focused on him, Todd wore

a bright blazer The sentence

should read: Because Todd wore

a bright blazer, the TV camera focused on him

I M Part 3: Usage and Abusage

Dice V Slice

Choppy sentences are a series of short sentences that create an annoyingly abrupt rhythm

Because there is no subordination in a series of choppy sentences, each idea is given equal emphasis Like a date from the dark side, choppy sentences are abrupt, boring, and repetitious For instance:

• Director John Ford banned the use of makeup while he filmed The Grapes of Wrath John Ford also banned artificial lighting He also banned special camera

effects He wanted to stay true to the realistic nature of Steinbeck's novel

Try some sentence combining and subordination of ideas to achieve meaning, emphasis, and rhythm

• In an attempt to stay true to the realistic nature of The Grapes of Wrath, director

John Ford banned the use of makeup, artificial lighting, and special camera effects while he filmed Steinbeck's novel

Double Dare

It's time to put up or shut up Use subordinating conjunctions to link the ideas in each

of the following sentence pairs First decide which clause will be dependent and which one will be independent Write your answers in the spaces provided

1 You put a ton of Jell-O in the swimming pool You still can't walk on water

2 The word trousers is an uncommon noun It is singular at the top and plural at

the bottom

3 Milk stays fresh Keep it in the cow

4 You have 3 quarters, 4 dimes, and 4 pennies You have $1.19, the largest amount

of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar

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5 Thomas Jefferson was broke when he died He was one of America's most bril-liant presidents

Answers

Possible responses:

1 Even if you put a ton of Jell-O in the swimming pool, you still can't walk on water

2 The word trousers is an uncommon noun because it is singular at the top and

plural at the bottom

3 So that milk will stay fresh, keep it in the cow

4 If you have 3 quarters, 4 dimes, and 4 pennies, you have $1.19, the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar

5 Although Thomas Jefferson was broke when he died, he was one of America's most brilliant presidents

Duke It Out: Coordination Versus Subordination

When to coordinate? When to subordinate? Most often, the logic of the ideas dic-tates the placement of those ideas in main clauses or dependent clauses Here's the rule of thumb:

• Coordinate when you want to link related independent clauses

• Subordinate when you want to put the most important idea in the main clause and give less importance to the idea in the dependent clause

Here are some examples that show each sentence strategy at work:

Two clauses: The sky became a frightening gray The mood was ominous

Coordinated: The sky became a frightening gray, and the mood was ominous

Subordinated: As the sky became a frightening gray, the mood was ominous

With this construction, the mood is the focus

Subordinated: As the mood became ominous, the sky became a frightening grayr With this construction, the sky is the focus

1 8 6 Part 3 : Usage and Abusdge

Parallel Structure: Trod the Straight and Narrow

Parallel structure means putting ideas of the same rank in the same grammatical

struc-ture Your writing and speech should have parallel words, phrases, and clauses Parallel structure gives your writing many admirable strengths, including the following:

• Rhythm

You Could Look It Up , • Emphasis

• Balance

Parallel structure means

putting ideas of the same rank in

the same grammatical structure

You can have parallel words,

phrases, and clauses

• Impact

• Crispness

• Conciseness

Here's how to create parallel words, phrases, and clauses:

• Parallel words share the same part of speech (such as nouns, adjectives, or verbs)

and tense (if the parallel words are verbs)

• My date was obnoxious, loud, and cheap; no doubt he thought I was gorgeous, personable, and witty

• We pleaded, begged, and prayed—to no avail

• Parallel phrases create an underlying rhythm in your speech and writing, as these

examples show:

• "For taking away our Charters, abolishing our laws, and altering the Forms

of our Government " (Declaration of Independence)

• "Now the trumpet summons us again—not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need—not as a call to battle, though embattled we are—but a call

to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle " (John F Kennedy's inau-guration speech)

• Parallel clauses can give your writing balance as well For instance:

• "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty." (John F Kennedy's inauguration speech)

• "Our chiefs are killed; Looking-Glass is dead; Ta-Hool-Shute is dead." (Chief Joseph's surrender speech, 1877)