- Students are only admitted to one lecture.
- This is the smallest book I almost ever saw.
- He is so poor he hasn't any food, scarcely.
- She had one dress that she never expected to wear.
- The difficulties were tremendous. He said that he would do his best, nevertheless.
[Split Construction]
28. Elements that have a close grammatical connection should not be separated awkwardly or carelessly. These elements are: (a) subject and verb, or verb and object; (b) the parts of a compound verb; and (c) the parts of an infinitive.
- Awkward: One in the struggle for efficiency should not become a machine.
- Better: In the struggle for efficiency one should not become a machine.
- Awkward: What use of an education could a girl who married a penniless rogue and afterwards knew nothing but hard labor, make?
- Better: What use of an education could a girl make who married a penniless rogue and afterward knew nothing but hard labor?
- Crude: He was unable to even so much as stir a foot.
- Better: He was unable even to stir a foot.
[Note.]—It is often desirable to separate the forms enumerated under (a) and (b) above, either for emphasis (See [40]) or to avoid a bunching of modifiers at the end of a sentence (See [24]). The whole point of rule 28 is not to depart from a natural order needlessly.
Exercise:
- One thing the beginner must remember is to not get excited.
- Ralph, when he heard the news, came flying out of the house.
- The president called together, for the need was urgent, his cabinet.
- Bryce said that it is more patriotic to judiciously vote than to frantically wave the American flag.
- About the time Florence Nightingale had to give up her plans, a war between Turkey, England, and France on one side and Russia on the other, broke out.
[29. EXERCISE IN CLEARNESS OF THOUGHT]
[A. Reference of Pronouns]
In the following sentences make the reference of pronouns exact and unmistakable.