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ACT English: Punctuation Drill 2, Problem 3. Where does the semicolon fit best?
ACT English: Punctuation Drill 3, Problem 4. Which choice best formats this list of items?
ACT English: Punctuation Drill 2, Problem 5. Which choice indicates the best place for a semi-colon in the sentence?
ACT English 1.3 Sentence Structure 378 Views
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Description:
ACT English: Sentence Structure Drill 1, Problem 3. Proper word choice for independent clauses.
Transcript
- 00:03
Here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by grandparents. Keeping "Werther's" in business
- 00:08
since 1903.
- 00:12
How should you change the highlighted portion below, if at all?
- 00:15
The grandparents drove away in their car. As the children ran behind, shouting and waving
- 00:20
goodbye.
Full Transcript
- 00:28
In this question, the word "as" is doing its best to be what's called a "subordinating
- 00:33
conjunction."
- 00:34
When we slap a subordinating conjunction on the front of what was formerly an independent
- 00:38
clause, the clause's independent spirit is broken, and it suddenly becomes a dependent,
- 00:45
subordinate clause.
- 00:47
Subordinate clauses are always dependent on a main clause, and can never be on their own,
- 00:51
without becoming fragments.
- 00:53
The second supposed sentence here is a good example of this.
- 00:56
"The children ran behind, shouting and waving goodbye," totally works as an independent
- 01:01
clause.
- 01:01
It can stand on its own two feet as a complete sentence, since it has a subject, "children,"
- 01:05
and a predicate, "shouting and waving."
- 01:08
However, as soon as we put "as" in front of this formerly independent clause, its legs
- 01:13
are taken out from under it. Whoopsies.
- 01:17
The addition of "as" signals that the clause is meant to augment the main clause instead
- 01:22
of just doing its own thing.
- 01:24
So, in our sample clauses, the grandparents who are driving away are the main event, while
- 01:29
the children they're leaving behind are the secondary information.
- 01:32
Man, we hope these kids' parents are still around. These grandparents are pretty negligent.
- 01:37
One way to fix the original sentence would be to take out the period and just stick the
- 01:40
sentences together.
- 01:42
This would allow "as" to fulfill its dream of being a proper subordinating conjunction.
- 01:46
Unfortunately, dreams rarely come true...
- 01:50
None of the answer choices present this option, so none of these words are destined to connect
- 01:54
anything to anything.
- 01:56
We can't go around beginning full sentences with subordinating conjunctions, like "as,"
- 02:00
that don't connect anything; otherwise the world would descend into fragmented madness.
- 02:06
This means that we can not only get rid of choice (A), we can also eliminate choice (B).
- 02:11
"While" is a subordinating conjunction as well, and it has all the same problems as
- 02:15
its buddy "as."
- 02:16
Choice (C) suffers from a similar problem. "During" is a preposition, a part of speech
- 02:21
whose job it is to link nouns, pronouns, and phrases.
- 02:25
Because "during" isn't allowed to link anything here, it also transforms the final clause
- 02:29
into a fragment.
- 02:30
It's kind of like this version of the sentence begins with a bridge that leads to nothing
- 02:34
at all.
- 02:36
Choice (D) is the correct answer because it uses a period to separate both independent
- 02:40
clauses and lets them do their thing all by themselves.
- 02:43
Hopefully, the grandparents in question here didn't leave these kids all by themselves.
- 02:47
If so, somebody better call social services.
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