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Grammar,
Mechanics, andStyle for Technical
CommunicationEnglish 3153: Thursday, February 11, !1"
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SentenceStructure
Sentences usually include the follo#ing: Sub$ect: The actor #ho %erforms the &erb of
sentence'
(erb: The action %erformed by the sub$ect ofsentence'
)b$ect: The reci%ient of the action %erformed
sub$ect' *redicate: The conte+t %ro&ided for the sub$e
&erb'
Sentences fall into four categories: Sim%le Sentence: The researchers dissected
they could e+amine the tumors on its %ancre
Com%ound Sentence: The researchers dissec
frog, and they concluded that its tumors res#ater %ollution'
Com%le+ Sentence: es%ite the %eaceful %roanimal-rights organi.ations, the researchers dissected the frog'
Com%ound-Com%le+ Sentence: /fter they disfrog, the researchers met near Cam%us Corndrin0s, but their fa&orite bar #as closed forreno&ations'
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CommonSentence*roblems
Sentence Fragments: Sentence fragments do not hsub$ects, &erbs, andor com%lete %redicates'
2un-on Sentences: 2un-on sentences %resent multof information #ithout a%%ro%riate %unctuation'
ncorrect: The bridge colla%sed during the thunderstthe cement columns under the dec0 failed une+%ecengineers res%onsible for the mista0e ha&e been 4r
ncorrect: The bridge colla%sed during the thunderstthe cement columns under the dec0 failed une+%ecengineers res%onsible for the mista0e ha&e been 4r
Correct: The bridge colla%sed during the thunderstothe cement columns under the dec0 failed une+%ec
the engineers res%onsible for the mista0e ha&e bee Correct: The bridge colla%sed during the thundersto
the cement columns under the dec0 failed une+%ectengineers res%onsible for the mista0e ha&e been 4r
Correct: The bridge colla%sed during the thunderstothe cement columns under the dec0 failed une+%ecengineers res%onsible for the mista0e ha&e been 4r
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CommonSentence*roblems
Sub$ect-(erb /greement: The &erb of the seshould match the tense and sub$ect of the s
E+am%le: The mechani.ed turtle ram%aged aFrancisco'
E+am%le: Mechani.ed turtles normally ram%%o%ulous metro%olitan areas, including San F
E+am%le: The mechani.ed turtle had alreadythe Golden Gate 6ridge #hen the military ar
E+am%le: The military a%%reciates the threatmechani.ed turtles'
*arallel Structure: 7se the same %art of s%e
e&ery entry of sentence-le&el lists and bulle ncorrect: The mechani.ed turtle had steel sc
foot cla#s, and out#itted its ad&ersaries #itsu%erior intellect'
Correct: The mechani.ed turtle defeated its ad&ersaries #ith its steel scales, four-foot clasu%erior intellect'
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CommonSentence*roblems
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*unctuation:/%ostro%he
s
/%ostro%hes are used for %ossessi&es andcontractions:
E+am%le: The %rogrammers corrected thes%readsheet8s faulty scri%t #ith t#o additioncode'
E+am%le: The %rogrammers8 re&ised scri%t imtheir manager'
E+am%le: The business8s s%readsheets #ere con4dential'
E+am%le: 9hy #ouldn8t the business share is%readsheets #ith its in&estors, and #hy didcom%lain
tst8s: 7se ;its< for the %ossessi&e form of ;;it8s< for the contraction of the %hrase ;it is'
E+am%le: 9hen the accountants initially re&s%readsheet, they noticed se&eral mista0es #contents'
E+am%le: t8s al#ays unfortunate #hen faultydelay %ro$ects'
=our=ou8re: 7se ;your< for the %ossessi&e fo;you'< 7se ;you8re< for the contraction of th;you are'ists: Cell theory includes three %rinci%les: e
organism contains cells, cells %erform the bifunctions of the organism, and all cells origin%ree+isting cells'
/%%ositi&es: 2udolf (ircho#, the most &ocal of the third %ostulate of cell theory, studied cduring the mid-1?!!s'
@onrestricti&e Clauses: Catharine 6eecher sucell theory inside The American Womans Hosu%%lied clear domestic ad&ice for nineteent#omen'
ntroductory *hrases: 6efore cell theory gain#ithin the scienti4c community, %athologistsused microsco%es'
Com%ound Sentences: Contem%orary scientdre# %arallels bet#een cell theory and %olitimeta%hor of the cell-state continued #ell intt#entieth century'
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*unctuation: )therMar0s
Semicolon: Semicolons connect t#o com%lesentences #ithout using the traditional comstructure'
Colon: Colons may signal Auotations, introd
and e+%lain %receding inde%endent clauses' E+am%le: The %ro%osal reAuired the e+%ertis
diBerent de%artments: Mechanical Engineeri*hysics, and /rchitecture'
E+am%le: The @ational Science Foundation uendorsed the %ro%osal: the credentials of its and the Auality of its %reliminary research seincontestable'
y%hen: y%hens dra# the #ords of ad$ecti%hrases together'
E+am%le: T#enty-4rst-century uni&ersities dethe funds obtained from successful grant a%
*arentheses: *arentheses identify sources aintroduce asides'
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*unctuation: )therMar0s
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CitationGuidelines
irect Auotations and %ara%hrases are cited%arenthetical citations, footnotesendnotes,bibliogra%hies'
irect Duotation /*/: ar#in %ersonally crThomas Malthus for the theory of natural se
during the 1?5 introduction of the Origin of;This is the doctrine of Malthus, a%%lied to thanimal and &egetable 0ingdoms< ar#in, 1?
Multi%le /uthors: ar#in and 9allace, 1?"H,
Multi%le Cited *ages: ar#in, 1?5, %%' 33-3I
*ara%hrase /*/: ar#in %ersonally credits Malthus for the theory of natural selection du1?5 introduction of the Origin of Species, #mentions Malthus by name ar#in, 1?5'
Footnote M>/: ar#in credits Thomas Malttheory of natural selection during the 1?5 iof the Origin, #hich mentions Malthus by na
J Charles ar#in, On the Origin of Species: A Fthe First EditionCambridge: 7ni&ersity of a!!3 5'
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CitationGuidelines
irect Auotations are introduced using three metho nde%endent Clause: ar#in credits Thomas Malthus
theory of natural selection: ;This is the doctrine of Ma%%lied to the #hole animal and &egetable 0ingdom
1?5, %' 5' e%endent Clause: The introduction of the Originco
is the doctrine of Malthus, a%%lied to the #hole anim&egetable 0ingdoms< ar#in, 1?5, %' 5'
ntegrated Duotation: ar#in consistently labeled naselection ;the doctrine of Malthus, a%%lied to the #hand &egetable 0ingdoms< ar#in, 1?5, %' 5'
f the Auotation does not need any citation or a%%e
the %eriod, insert the %unctuation inside the Auotat E+am%le: ar#in insisted natural selection e+tendedfrom human society into the ;animal and &egetable and the theory of e&olution s%anned multi%le 4elds 1?5, %' 5'
E+am%le: ;@ot e&eryone reali.es,< r' 6ar0er e+%lainmuch ar#in used the research of his scienti4c cont
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CitationGuidelines
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Miscellaneous:Modi4ersand
*ronouns
Mis%laced Modi4ers: *lace descri%ti&e clauses directnouns and %ronouns they modify'
ncorrect: The re%ort contains se&eral %roblems #ritte
Correct: The re%ort #ritten by Cal&in contains se&eral
angling Modi4ers: ntroductory %hrases should modthe sub$ects of the follo#ing inde%endent clause'
ncorrect: 7nli0e other #riting, Cal&in a%%reciates aca
Correct: 7nli0e other #riting, Cal&in a%%reciates acade
nde4nite *ronouns: *air the %ronouns ;this< and ;thnouns and use sub$ect %ronouns carefully'
ncorrect: The sno#man heard the chants of the cro#dthis slo#ly dre# him to#ards the ledge'
Correct: The sno#man heard the chants of the cro#d this sound slo#ly dre# him to#ards the ledge'
ncorrect: Cal&in and obbes build countless sno#men#inter months, and they often unner&e the neighbors
Correct: Cal&in and obbes build countless sno#men #inter months, and their scul%tures often unner&e the
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Miscellaneous:9ord-
Choice
>essFe#er: 7se ;less< for inde4nite amounts and nouns' 7se ;fe#er< for measurable Auantities'
E+am%le: The introductory statistics midterm co&ercontent than the organic chemistry midterm'
E+am%le: Fe#er students %assed the organic chemithan the midterm for introductory statistics'
ThenThan: 7se ;then< for series of e&ents, times, causation' 7se ;than< for direct com%arisons'
E+am%le: The students chec0ed their grades on thethen frantically emailed the %rofessor'
E+am%le: The organic chemistry %rofessor recei&es messages than his colleagues #ho teach statistics'
They8reTheirThere: 7se ;they8re< for the %hrase ;7se ;their< for %ossession' 7se ;there< for locatione+istence'
E+am%le: The %rofessor a&oided his students all #eof their Auestions about the midterm'
E+am%le: The students ho&ered around the de%artmhours, but there #as no sign of their %rofessor'
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Miscellaneous:9ord-
Choice
That9hich: 7se ;that< for attributions and restricti&e7se ;#hich< for nonrestricti&e clauses and after %re%
E+am%le: @ancy said that the .ombies had breached t E+am%le: The .ombies that breached the barricades ha
E+am%le: Konathan 4red his riLe, #hich barely slo#ed t
E+am%le: @ancy 0ne# the direction from #hich the .om
>ose>oose: 7se ;lose< for the &erb ;mis%lace'< 7se ;the ad$ecti&e ;not tight< and the &erb ;release'atinate: fabricate, terminate, initiate, utili.etransaction, e+ist'
/nglo-Sa+on: build, end, start, use, deal, are
2ecogni.e the connotations of the #ords frodocuments'
7se inclusi&e language, %articularly #ithin%rofessional conte+ts'
9hy should s0illed technical #riters follo# t
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E+am%le*aragra%h
;The %ermanent neurological im%airment tychronic inLammatory demyelinating disordecentral ner&ous system C@S, such as multsclerosis, is due to the a+onal loss resulting recurrent e%isodes of immune-mediateddemyelination' So far, e+%erimental cell the
these disorders has been based mainly on ttrans%lantation of myelin-forming cells, or th%recursors, at the site of demyelination' /lthsuch an a%%roach can trigger functional recrestore a+onal conduction, the limited migralineage-restricted, myelin-forming cells throbrain %arenchyma highlights the bene4cial etrans%lantation to the site of the in$ury' This
critical issues regarding the thera%eutic usecell trans%lantation to treat diseases in #hicmultifocal demyelination is the main %atholofeature' Such issues are com%ounded by thee+%ansion ca%acity of myelin-forming cells i#hich greatly limits their a&ailability and furham%ers their %ros%ecti&e a%%lication in clinsettings< *luchino et al', !!3, %' "??'
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E+am%le*aragra%h
Multi%le sclerosis damages the myelin sheatco&er the a+ons of the central ner&ous syste
These myelin sheaths hel% transmit informabet#een the ner&ous system and the body,
deterioration of these sheaths can cause %ablindness, loss of sensation, etc' Multi%le sclrelated disorders belong #ithin the categoryimmune diseases, #here the cells of the %atdestroy hisher o#n tissues' 9hile researchesho#n ho# trans%lanting myelin-forming cesub$ects #ith multi%le sclerosis im%ro&es thesym%toms, trans%lanted cells seldom s%read
their original sites' This study #ill therefore cthe thera%eutic limitations of cell trans%lantof multi%le sclerosis #here demyelination haacross multi%le sites' t #ill also e+%lain ho#gro#th of arti4cial cultures of myelin-forminreduces the clinical usefulness of trans%lant