Effective Writing. Elizabeth Manning Murphy

      2 Ten sentences to be read aloud, to test your spelling, are given below (Solutions 3f, Item 2). If you would like to do this part of the activity, ask a friend to read the sentences to you exactly as printed, repeating the word given in italics (for example, ‘We have a maintenance contract for electronic equipment … maintenance.’) Write down the repeated word.

      3 Complete these sentences using the appropriate word from: off, effected, prophecies, of, licence, principal, prophesies, prophesys, principle, license, affected

      The repair to the ship cannot be in so short a time.

      The director objects not just to the details but to the on which this report is based.

      I believe the take- time has been put forward by one hour.

      You can get a replacement driving from the motor registry.

      The economist, John Wain, that the gross national product will increase by less than 5 per cent this year.

      4 Complete these sentences using the correct word from the options given:

      Car drivers should take the route to Queenstown. (alternate, alternative)

      If you are going shooting, you must be a shooter. (licenced, licensed)

      The tickets are , and are for Saturday. (complementary, complimentary)

      He is on his parents for pocket money. (dependant, dependent)

      We have asked for her on our problem, and we should take notice of it. (council, counsel)

      She a limp in order to get sick leave. (effected, affected)

      During your tour, you will visit many of the cities of Africa. (principal, principle)

      Why have you decided to Jimmy from today’s activities? (accept, except)

      Our new building will have twenty . (stories, storeys)

      You must that you get to the interview in time. (insure, ensure)

      Solutions 3f

      1 1A, 2B, 3A, 4B, 5B, 6B, 7B, 8A, 9B, 10B, 11B, 12B, 13A, 14B, 15A, 16B, 17A, 18A, 19A, 20B, 21B, 22B, 23A, 24B, 25B, 26B, 27A, 28A, 29B, 30B, 31B, 32A, 33B, 34A, 35A, 36B, 37B, 38B, 39A, 40B, 41A, 42B, 43B, 44A, 45B, 46A, 47A, 48A, 49B, 50B

      2 Get a friend to read these sentences to you as printed – the whole sentence followed by a repeat of the word to be written down (shown in italics).

      We have a maintenance contract for electronic equipment.

      We will start again from the beginning.

      I do not usually drink coffee.

      Is this the letter you referred to?

      My friend receives unemployment benefits.

      On her new diet, she is losing about one kilogram a week.

      The stain on the carpet is not really noticeable.

      I was surprised to hear how well he spoke Japanese.

      Are you certain you posted those letters?

      The consensus is that we should hold another meeting.

      3 effected, principle, off, licence, prophesies

      4 alternative, licensed, complimentary, dependent, counsel, affected, principal, except, storeys, ensure

      3.12 Hyphenation

      Words are sometimes joined together with a hyphen to make a compound word (Attorney-General), or have a prefix attached with a hyphen (ex-President), or include a hyphen to ensure correct pronunciation (de-ice). Programs for word processing generally adjust spacing to avoid line-end hyphenation; however, it is still widely used in newspapers where columns of text are quite narrow.

      The various uses of hyphenation are detailed in Section 7.7.

      4 Parts of speech

      Words are classified according to their function in sentences. These word classes are called parts of speech. There are eight parts of speech in English: noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, con­junction and interjection. We will look at each of them briefly.

      Usually, a part of speech consists of just one word, but its function can be performed by a group of words (a phrase); or a whole clause – a more meaningful group of words that can even be a whole sentence. For example, look at these three sentences:

       The aim is what we have to keep in mind all the time.

       Preventing trouble is what we have to keep in mind all the time.

       How we should prevent trouble is what we have to keep in mind all the time.

      The second part of the sentence is the same in each example. The beginning of the sentence, the subject, means the same in each sentence, but the function of naming that subject is expressed in the first by a single noun, in the second by a noun phrase and in the third by a noun clause.

      Labels such as noun, verb, phrase and clause are terms that you need in order to talk about writing. They help you to understand sentence structure, and therefore paragraph and document structure; they also help you to explain to others how their writing could be improved.

      4.1 Noun

      Nouns name things. There are several types of noun – common, proper, collective and abstract.

      Common nouns name everyday things that you can touch:

      The children used the table as a cubbyhouse and held a party with their toys.

      Proper nouns name particular things and always begin with a capital letter:

      Joe visited Canberra on Sunday and stayed at the Royal Hotel.

      Collective nouns name groups of things:

      The huge audience was cheering as the winning basketball team collected their medals.

      Note that singular collective nouns can have singular or plural connotations, depending on whether they are regarded as single units or separate individuals in a given context – for example:

      The jury was considering its verdict – singular, because the jury here is acting as one unit

      The jury dispersed to their respective homes after the trial – plural, because here the jury means ‘the individual members of the jury’.

      Abstract nouns name things that you cannot touch, like feelings and emotions:

      ‘Happiness is the freedom to do what you want’ he said.

      Nouns also have number, gender and case.

      Number indicates whether there is one or more of the given noun. Plural number is marked by one of the regular or irregular plural markers – see Sections