Manage Your Noun Phrases
In my efforts to promote an alternative system of governance, I spent a lot of time on Writerbeat, an internet forum that had a fair share of both left- and right-wing thinkers. However, both camps had their fair share of writers who could learn to polish their writing skills. So I thought to enhance my image as someone who is politically neutral, I would write some articles on better writing. So I am reposting them here. I don’t think most writers contributing to Medium need these lessons, but they could be still a good quick review. Enjoy!
In a previous article, I discussed using pronouns properly. Even though pronouns are actually noun phrases, I won’t be repeating myself here again.
ADJECTIVES
Noun phrases can enhanced can be enhanced with adjectives. In English, we always put adjectives just before the noun to build our noun phrase. Each adjective gives a chance for the writer to relay information to the reader. Consider the three sentences:
· A man walked down the street.
· A tall skinny Caucasian man walked down the street.
· A tall skinny Caucasian man walked down the empty, dirty, sullen street.
Which sentence provides more information for the reader?
You will notice that commas were not used in the first noun phrase (man) but were used to separate the adjectives in the second (street). As a general rule, commas should not be used to separate adjectives when the adjectives have a connection with each other to build the description. And in these cases, there is a preferred order of how the adjectives should be placed: for example, most of us would not write “A skinny Caucasian tall man . . .” Somehow most English speakers have a good instinct for this correct order.
The connection between the adjectives is not so strong, commas should be used to separate the adjectives. Undoubtedly the second noun phrase could have been written without commas, but maybe the writer was trying for a certain effect, trying to disconnect the “empty”, “dirty,” and “sullen.”
RELATIVE CLAUSES
Adjectives go to the left of the noun, but we can also modify to the right of a noun by using relative clauses. Relative clauses are phrases which often start with “who,” “which,” and “that.” To rewrite the third previous sentences with relative clauses:
A man who was tall, skinny, and Caucasian walked down the street that was empty, dirty and sullen.
While this sentence is a bit clumsy, it offers a good comparison between using adjectives and relative clauses.
There are two types of relative clauses: restrictive and non-restrictive. To make this point, consider a meeting of national leaders:
The prime minister who was wearing a red tie spoke first.
The prime minister, who was wearing a red tie, spoke first.
The first case was the restrictive clause and it is not offset with commas. In this case, there are several prime ministers at the meeting and the writer is picking one of them out from the others; in this case, the one wearing the red tie.
The second case is non-restrictive and is offset by commas. In this case, either the writer has conveyed which prime minister is the focus from previous context or maybe the meeting has only one prime minister and several presidents. The relative clause “. . . , who is wearing the red tie, . . . “ is only providing additional information. The use of commas in relative clauses is conveying some subtle information.
“Who” can be used in both restrictive settings and non-restrictive settings. “That” is preferred for restrictive. “Which” is preferred for non-restrictive. Other interrogative pronouns can also be used to start relative clauses.
· The red tie that was worn by the prime minister at the G7 summit was auctioned for charity.
· The red tie, which used to belong to the prime minister, is in a collection of famous ties.
· The G7 Summit where the prime minister wore his famous red tie is regarded as a historical meeting.
· The last G7 Summit, when the world was at the brink of war, proved to useful to ease international tensions.
In each case, the reader should see how the relative clause enhances the description of the previous noun phrase. The writer has given additional information he believes will be important for the reader to better understand the story. Note that the third sentence is trying to pick one of several G7 summits. But in the fourth sentence already has the summit picked out by using the word “last”. So its relative clause becomes non-restrictive and therefore is offset by commas.
APPOSITIVES
Appositives can be described as shortened versions of relative clauses. The same restrictive/non-restrictive rules apply:
· Writerbeat, an online forum for writers, is slowly gaining popularity.
· The online forum for writers Writerbeat is slowly gaining popularity.
In the first sentence the noun phrase is “Writerbeat,” which is already well identified by its name. Its modifier “an online forum for writer” is only providing additional information for the reader; i.e. it is non restrictive and requires commas.
In the second sentence, the grammar roles are reversed. “The online forum for writers” becomes the noun phrase. “Writerbeat” is now the modifier and it signals which forum of several online forums the writer is talking about. The lack of commas communicates this information quite well.
MODIFIERS
I have used the term “modifiers” somewhat loosely in this article. Often grammarians will consider this term only to mean a prepositional or gerund phrase to the left of the noun phrase. Here are some examples:
· By swimming three times a week, I slowly saw my strength improve.
· Out on his own for the first time, 18-year old Mark finally had to do his own laundry.
Modifiers, in my opinion, should be separated by commas. But this usage is often debated in grammarian circles. Note how the modifier describes the noun phrase a little better: “swimming” describes “I” and “out on his own” describes “Mark.” This is the rule to properly use modifiers: the modifier should describe the noun phrase to its immediate right.
Misplaced Modifier
· By swimming three times a week, my wife slowly saw my strength improve.
I think many readers will realize that I — not my wife — was doing the swimming. Yet the modifier seems to suggest that she was swimming, which does not make a lot of sense because it was my strength that was improving.
Dangling Modifier
· By swimming three times a week, my strength improved.
In this case, there really is no noun phrase in the sentence to identify with swimming. “My strength” can not swim.
Dangling and misplaced modifiers are quite easy for writers to overlook because they fully understand what they are talking about. In the copy edit stage of writing, the modifiers should be identified and then connected directly with the appropriate noun phrases. If this check is not done, sentences can be somewhat comical and give an amateur presentation.
· Writing this Writerbeat article, some readers will gain some new insights into better writing.
Now that’s a misplaced modifier. But, hey, I knew what I was talking about!
DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS
I said I wouldn’t bring pronouns back into this article. But I’m going to bring in “demonstrative pronouns”, which are usually “this”, “that”, “these”, and “those.” I’m bringing this grammar to your attention because my English instincts still use this grammar not in the best way for my writing. Consider:
· I used to be a libertarian. This was later changed to a more progressive political stand.
There should be no doubt that “this” is a pronoun and its antecedent is “libertarian.” For some strange reason, I throw a lot of “this’s” in my writing — even though it is being used correctly. When I get into my editing stages, I have my “this” radar out — and look to change out this word for a more thorough description.
· I used to be a libertarian. This freedom-maximizing ideology was later changed to a more progressive political stand.
What I have done with this change is to bring a better description of libertarianism for readers that may not know much about this ideology.
And this brings us to an important writing tool, which some Medium writers may or may not know about.
THE KNOWN / UNKNOWN TECHNIQUE
While I have not been formally schooled in better writing, I did a lot of self study. One technique that I ran across — and have never seen again — is the “known/unknown” technique. I use this technique a lot in my writing. When the technique is applied, it is amazing at how much better sentences can come together.
The premise of this technique is that the first part of the sentence contains a noun phrase that the reader already understands (known). The writer then uses the second part of the sentence to introduce a new idea or two (unknown). In the next sentence, the “unknown” idea of the previous sentence becomes a known idea, so it can be used in the first part of the second sentence.
Maybe it’s better to explain this by example. Let’s assume that the reader fully understands what the writer means with “prime minister” is introduced in this text:
The prime minister (known) wore a red tie (unknown) at the historical G7 summit (unknown). That red tie (known) was later donated to the Canadian Red Cross (unknown). The Red Cross (known) put the tie (known) up for a fundraising auction (unknown). The auction (known)raised $200,000 for flood victims in BC. (unknown).
Here is the same ideas with the noun phrases all jumbled up.
Flood victims in BC got an additional $200,000 in funds. The prime minister donated a red tie to the Canadian Red Cross, who put it in a fundraising auction. The G7 Summit was the last time the prime minister wore the tie.
In this last paragraph, you will find two unknown noun phrases occupying the first part of sentences: “Flood victims” and “G7 Summit”. Many readers will be a little lost in this second paragraph even though the two paragraphs more or less have the same facts behind them. Using the known/unknown technique will better construct this paragraph — for the benefit of the reader.
Using the known/unknown technique usually means that writer has to put more effort into his work. I usually do not use this technique in my first drafts, just let my English instincts put the words together. But in the third of fourth round of editing, I will start consciously analyzing the known and unknown noun phrases and rearranging sentences — especially if I sense the paragraph is confusing.
If you liked this review on noun phrases, you know how to show your appreciation.
