Functional English

CREDIT 3 (3-0)

Lecture On
Practice in Unified Sentence

Muhammad Saddam
M.Phil English
Topic: Practice in Unified Sentence
Outline

• Introduction

• Unity

• Coherence

• Emphasis

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Topic: Practice in Unified Sentence

Introduction

A sentence is a complete thought expressed in words. The same thought may be

expressed in many other ways. It may be a simple statement or a statement enlarged
with several clauses, and phrases. The essentials of a good sentence:
 Unity
 Coherence
 Emphasis

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Topic: Practice in Unified Sentence

Unity
I. Unity.
The intention in dividing a piece of composition into sentences is to make it easier to comprehend. In order
to achieve this end, no sentence should be over-crowded. Two general rules can be laid down for preserving unity:
(1)Nothing should be inserted that is likely to distract attention from the main idea of the sentence.
(2)Where the sentence contains more than one idea, the ideas should have an intimate connection with
one another. In other words, every sentence should have one principal theme and this theme should be broadly
stated with as little qualification as possible. The length or shortness of a sentence does not ensure or damage unity.
It is the introduction of an incompatible idea that destroys unity, as it is the subordination of different ideas to the
central idea that preserves it. Just as in any one paragraph there should be only one theme, so in any one sentence,
there should be only one central thought. Subordinate clauses and phrases may be added to make the meaning clear,
but anything not pertaining to the main thought should be kept for a new sentence. Amongst other rules for
preserving the unity of a sentence, Dr. Blair gives the following statement: “Never crowd into one sentence things
which have so little connection with one another that they could bear to be divided into two or three sentences”.
The following are instances of the breach of unity:
Mehmood was a loving brother and he owned many mills at Lahore.
The peasants wear strangely-shaped flat caps, and grow huge crops of wheat.
Born in 1887, Hitler became the idol of people in Germany.
Many peasants are illiterate in the Punjab and many of them die of cholera every year.

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Topic: Practice in Unified Sentence

Unity
In all of these sentences, the principle of unity has been violated because the writer does not stick to the main
idea. In the first sentence, we read that Mehmood was a loving brother and he owned many mills at Lahore. Now the fact
of his owning many mills has nothing to do with the fact of his being a loving brother. In the second sentence again both
the ideas are totally unconnected with each other. The fact that the peasants wear curiously-shaped flat caps has no
connection with their growing huge crops of wheat. Similarly, in the third sentence, there is no connection between the
fact of Hitler’s being born in a particular year and his becoming idol of people late on. In the fourth sentence, the two
statements that have made are independent of each other.
The question has often been asked whether a parenthesis constitutes a violation of the rule of unity. It does not
if it is short and relevant. A cautious use of parentheses is not to be condemned. But many writers abuse this device to an
intolerable extent. This is the case with even such a recognized master of English prose as de Quincey. In his very essay on
‘Style’, he indulges in parenthetical style to such an unnatural extent that he distracts the reader from the main current of
thought. It is for this reason that some authorities on composition say: “Beware of parentheses!”. The principal of unity is
well exemplified in the following:-
“ the death of Nelson was felt in England as something more than a public calamity; men started at the
intelligence and turned pale, as if they had heard of the loss of a dear friend.”

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 Topic: Practice in Unified Sentence

Coherence

II. Coherence.
The second characteristic of a good sentence is Coherence. By Coherence, we mean that the components of a sentence are
arranged in logical order. Lack of coherence means lack of clearness. Whatever other qualities a good sentence may
possess, it is a bad sentence if it is not coherent.
Consider the following:-
“Lost a cane by a gentleman with a carved head”
The sentence as it stands is ridiculous because it suggests that the gentleman who lost a cane had a carved head while the
writer’s aim is to convey the idea that the cane which the gentleman had lost had a carved head. Therefore, the correct
form should be:
“Lost by a gentleman, a cane with a carved head”
Consider the following sentences:
He gave the stool to the servant that had a broken leg.
He gave to the servant the stool that had a broken leg.
It is quite clear that the question whether the man or the stool had a broken leg depends upon the position of the clause
“that had a broken leg”.

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 Topic: Practice in Unified Sentence

Coherence

Other Examples:
I have read Shakespear’s plays, who is a great dramatist. Incorrect
I have read the plays of Shakespear, who is a great dramatist. Correct
Akram left the money on the safe which he should have kept in the cash-box. Incorrect
Akram left on the safe the money which he should have kept in the cash-box. Correct
Lost a chair by a person with three legs. Incorrect
Lost a chair with three legs by a person. Correct
He put the money in the man’s pocket who wore a blue coat. Incorrect
He put the money in the pocket of the man who wore a blue coat. Correct

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Topic: Practice in Unified Sentence

Emphasis or Impressiveness
III. Emphasis or Impressiveness.
When a statement or a remark has the power of affecting or exciting the attention and
emotions, it is said to be impressive. Another name often used for this quality is
strength or emphasis because it fills us with a sense of power. It is the means adopted
to direct the attention more forcibly to what is said.
There are some methods by which Impressiveness or emphasis can be given to a
sentence:
• Emphasis due to position
• Introductory Phrase
• Climax

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Topic: Practice in Unified Sentence

Emphasis or Impressiveness

Emphasis due to position:

The most emphatic parts of a sentence are the beginning and the end. The middle of the sentence is the weakest
position of all. There can be no doubt that the first word we catch and the last word we hear are the words most likely
to make an abiding impression on our minds. e.g, “ Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom”. No better
arrangement could have been adopted. The emphasis lies on wisdom; it is wisdom which the writer considers to be the
chief thing worth obtaining, and we find that the beginning and the end of the sentence are occupied by the word
wisdom to give emphatic expression to the principal idea of the writer.

“ Nothing that you can do will ever agreed for this”

“ Add to your faith, virtue”.

Not from grammar do we learn to speak, but from the good English of those we live with. (Bad)
We learn to speak, not from grammar, but by living with those who speak good English. (good)

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Topic: Practice in Unified Sentence

Emphasis or Impressiveness

Introductory Phrase:
The usual way of securing emphasis is the use of impersonal constructions, “ it is”, “ it was”.

I did not ask you to go there. Un-emphatic

It was not I that asked you to go there. Emphatic
He died of plague in the year 1890. Un-emphatic
It was in the year 1890 that he died of plague. Emphatic

Climax:
The most effective way of securing emphasis is to arrange words, phrases, and sentences in an ascending order
of intensity or importance.

For instance, Bacon says:

“ some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested”.

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Topic: Practice in Unified Sentence

Questions/Answers

THANK YOU

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