1. What is point of view?

Point of view is from which perspective are you writing a paper.

2. What shifts we have to avoid?

Avoid unnecessary shifts in subject, voice, tense, mood, person, number, and from indirect to
direct discourse.

Examples:

• Unnecessary shift in subject: I like to play soccer, but basketball is also fun.

Explicación: the problem is that the subject shifts from I to basketball.

It should be: I like to play soccer, but I also like to play basketball.

Explicación: Now the sentence is correct because it has the same subject.

• Unnecessary shift in voice: The school’s volleyball team won the tournament, and a prize was
given to them.

Explicación: The problem is that “team won” is in active voice, and “prize was given” is in passive
voice.

It should be: The school’s volleyball team won the tournament, and they were given a prize.

Explicación: now the sentence is correct because both parts are in active voice.

• Unnecessary shift in tense: The girl played all morning with her dog, but now she is playing
with her toys.

Explicación: the problem is that in the first part of the sentence the verb: played, is in the past
tense, and in the second part the verb: is playing, is in the present continuous tense.

It should be: The girl played all morning with her dog, and in the afternoon she played with her
toys.

Explicación: now both verbs are in the past tense.

• Unnecessary shift in mood: Read the chapter carefully, and then you should do your
homework.

Explicación: The problem is that the first part of the sentence is in the imperative mood, and the
second part of the sentence is in the indicative mood.

It should be: Read the chapter carefully, then do your homework.

Explicación: Now the sentence is correct because both parts of the sentence are in the imperative
mood.

• Unnecessary shift in person: If he wants to get a good grade on the test, you should study.
Explicación: The problem is that the pronoun "he" is a third person pronoun and the pronoun
"you" is a second person pronoun.

It should be: If he wants to get a good grade on the exam, he must study.

Explicación: Now the sentence is correct because both pronouns are on the third person.

• Unnecessary shift in number: The students ate his lunches.

Explicación: The problem in the sentence is that "his" is a singular pronoun and "students" is a
plural antecedent.

It should be: The students ate their lunches.

Explicación: Now the sentence is correct because "students" and "their" are both plural.

• Unnecessary shift from indirect to direct discourse: My friend asked me if I had done the
homework that the teacher left and “Will the teacher ask for the homework today?"

Explicación: The problem is that the sentence change from indirect discourse to direct discourse.

It can be: My friend asked me if I had done the homework that the teacher left and if the teacher
would ask for the homework today.

Explicación: Now the sentence is correct because is in the indirect discourse only

Or it can be: My friend asked me: "Did you do the homework that the teacher left? Will the
teacher ask for the homework today?"

Explicación: Now the sentence is correct because is in the direct discourse only

3. What is the clause?

The clause is a group of words that contains both a subject and a verb.

4. How is classified the clause?

The clause is classified into two forms: the independent and the dependent clause

5. What is the independent clause?

An independent clause clause expreses a complete thought and can stand alone as a sentence.

Example: You may sit. (in this example of independent clause, you is the subject and sit is the verb,
and it express a complete thought)

6. What is the dependent clause?

A dependent clause does not express a complete thought and cannot stand alone as a sentence

Example: wherever you like (in this example of dependent clause, you is the subject and like is the
verb, it has a subject and a verb but it doesn´t express a complete thought)

Sentence with complete thought: You may sit wherever you like. (you may sit is the independent
clause and wherever you like is the dependent clause)
7. How is classified the dependent clause?

The dependent clause is classified as noun, adjective, or adverb.

8. What is a noun clause?

A noun clause is the one that functions as a noun within a sentence. It can function as a subject,
direct object, predicate nominative, object of preposition, and appositive.

Example: Whoever took this picture is a great photographer. (in this example the noun clause in
working as a subject)

9. How are called the words that introduce the noun clauses?

They are called signal words. They are: that, whether, if, who, whom, whose, which, what, when,
where, why, how, whoever, whomever, whichever, and whatever.

10. What is an adjective clause?

An adjective clause is the one that modifies a noun or a pronoun.

Example: The man who is sitting in the car is my dad. (this is an example of adjective clause, the
adjective clause is modifying the subject man)

11. How are called the words that introduce the adjective clauses?

They are called relatives They are: Who, whom, which, that are relative pronouns. Whose (and
occasionally which) are relative adjectives. When and where are relative adverbs.

12. What are the functions of the relative?

A relative (1) serves a grammatical function within its own dependent clause.

(2) joins the dependent clause that it introduces to another clause.

(3) refers to an antecedent in another clause.

13. What is an antecedent?

The antecedent is the noun or pronoun being modified by the adjective clause.

14. What is an adverb clause?

The adverb clause is the one that modifies a verb, an adjective, or an adverb

Example: Because he was sleepy, he went to bed. (in this example of adverb clause, the adverb
clause is modifying the verb went)

15. Which are the words that introduce the adverb clauses?

The words that introduce the adverb clauses are the subordinating conjunctions. They are: after,
although, as, as if, as much as, as long as, as soon as, because, before, if, in order that, lest, since,
so that, than, that, though, unless, until, when, whenever, where, wherever, whether, while.

16. What is an elliptical clause?

Essential parts of an adverb clause may properly be omitted if no misunderstanding will occur. This
clause is called an elliptical clause.

Example: elliptical clause: He runs faster than I. (run)

17. What is coordination?

Coordination is joining two independent clauses that contain related ideas of equal
importance.(two independent clauses)

18. How do we join independent clauses?

If the sentence is a compound sentence we use a comma and a coordinating conjunction.

19. What are the coordinating conjunctions?

A coordinating conjunction is a word that joins two independent clauses. The most common
coordinating conjunctions are: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so.

20. Why do we have to avoid excessive coordination?

We don’t have to use excessive coordination because coordination often cannot indicate the exact
relationship between ideas, nor can it indicate the relative importance.

21. How do we avoid the problem about coordination?

The problem is usually solved through subordination or division.

Subordination. Change a compound sentence into a complex sentence by making one of the
independent clauses into a dependent.

Division. Divide some compound sentences into two or more separate sentences.

22. What is subordination?

Subordination is joining two related ideas of unequal importance.

Subordination joins two sentences with related ideas by combinig them into an independent
clause and a dependent clause.

23. Why do we subordinate?

Because not every idea is a main idea. So we subordinate details that are not important.

24. What ideas should be subordinated?

Ideas that should be subordinated are:

- Ideas that indicate time, place, manner, cause, purpose, result, condition, concession, or
degree.
- Deatails stating size, color, cost, etc.
- Predication containing pronouns and the verb be.

25. How to express correctly subordination correctly?

In order to achieve subordination we have to:

• Avoid upside-down subordination, which occurs when the main idea is placed in the
dependent clause, and the subordinate idea is placed in the independent clause.
• Avoid illogical subordination:
a. Do not use an adverb clause in the place of a noun clause or other substantive
b. Do not use an independent clause in the place of a noun clause.
• Avoid excessive subordination.