The English language should be simpler. It's insane how many rules exist about how to create a sentence. While reading the chapter and doing the assignments this week, I couldn't believe all the new rules I was learning. I consider myself a decent writer, but I had no idea about some of the things I was reading. I found it particularly interesting to read the section about the mood of verbs. Who knew verbs had moods?! I write indicative, imperative, and subjunctive sentences everyday. I just never knew they actually had a name. Verbs are indicative if they convey a fact or question. They are subjunctive when they share information that is contrary to fact, and they are imperative when they convey a command.
The way a sentence is structured can make or break the message, so it's important to pay attention to the sentences you write. In the PowerPoint, I liked the tip that said once you know the rules you can break them, but if you break them without knowing it, it is a mistake. Although it feels like there are too many rules to remember, it's important to learn about them.
The editing mistake I found this week was in a script for Weber State News. I was editing when I saw this sentence: Thanks for watching Studio 76...you're home for entertainment. The sentence should have read your home for entertainment because the words you are do not make sense in the sentence. If I could stress one thing, it would be to be EXTRA careful with words that sound the same but convey different meanings.
I agree there are too many rules. I also liked the tip about being able to break the rules if you know what they are. I love fragmented sentences. My computer always asks me to fix them, but I rarely do.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how many its/it's mistakes you can find when you really look! I hadn't realized it was such a common mistake until this class.
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