Friday, July 26, 2013

Commentary about complex sentences

Complex sentences with one or more subordinate clauses are sometimes confusing  and often, the best approach is to simplify the sentence.  This is according to a July 23, 2013 post from The New York Times at the following link:
http://afterdeadline.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/05/favorite-grammar-gaffes-danglers/

Lengthy sentences distract the reader from understanding the content.
The following is an example of a complex sentence which I believe would be more effective if it were simplified:

Whatever you think becomes plausible,  like swimming across the ocean, like inventing another appliance, like helping all special needs people, like writing a book, like creating a new recipe, like thanking the teacher and like "having a nice day," even though everybody says that so it does not mean much. 

My comment about having a nice day should be a separate sentence.




No comments:

Post a Comment