Sentence Patterns 2: The Number of Subjects and the Number of Associated Actions
Mastering comma use in written English
beyond the restrictive–nonrestrictive principle
Who can take this course?
- A must for every writer and copyeditor—except the conscious expert!
- Postgraduate students aspiring for a career in writing or editing
- Content writers, blog writers, and subject matter experts (SMEs) involved in serious writing
- Anyone who wants to understand how to connect, disconnect, and group ideas within the framework of a sentence
- Anyone who has completed the courses Essentials of Written English and Sentence Patterns 1 from The Art of Copyediting and wants to move forward
- Anyone who has struggled with comma use and wants to master its use
Course overview
Basic details
- 43 video lessons (totaling about 7½ hours), accessible 24 × 7 for a period of 10 weeks
- Approximate study time required: 5 weeks to complete the lessons
- Provides an in-depth discussion on the use of the comma in written English
- Discusses every sentence structure and comma use possible—way beyond the restrictive/nonrestrictive principle discussed in Sentence Patterns 1
- Analyzes the various relationships between specific words and the different functional parts of sentences
- Course download
- Summary PDF listing all the 10 base patterns and 33 subpatterns discussed in the course
Addresses your needs
- Every one of you—those entering the writing/editing profession, freelance as well as full-time writers/editors—can learn from the convenience of your homes
- Self-paced study (any time, weekdays, weekends, with breaks whenever you want)
- Mobile access to course lessons via a dedicated app
- Replay lessons any number of times till the concepts become clear to you
- Interaction with participants and instructor in the form of comments within the course; email support also available
- World-class training at affordable pricing, part-payments also possible
- This course has The Art of Copyediting guarantee
Background information
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Sentence Patterns 1 (the previous course) and Sentence Patterns 2 (the present course) are two courses to be taken in sequence, after completing Essentials of Written English (or directly, if you think you already know the basics covered in that course)
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These two courses look at the "wide-angle view" of sentences: that is i.e., they look at the structure as well as the functional relationships between the different parts of sentences, and therefore—by sheer logic—relate to the use (or nonuse) of commas in sentences
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Sentence Patterns 1 looks at the restrictive and nonrestrictive elements in sentences (Rule 5 in Essentials of Written English), and presents 21 sentence patterns categorized conveniently into 6 base patterns
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Sentence Patterns 2 looks at the interplay of simple sentences, compound sentences (Rule 9), and sentences with introductory elements (Rule 7) in terms of the number of subjects and associated actions and the 33 structural patterns that can emerge out of this interplay
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There is probably no book or course on this planet that covers all these aspects together
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These courses have been evolved after meticulously examining and documenting structural patterns of sentences for over 15 years
Why this may be important for you!
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This course will answer almost every question on comma use that has ever been—or will ever be—asked on any editing community or forum
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It discusses in one place scenarios that are scattered all over in books on the subject as well as scenarios that are never discussed at all
- This course—together with Sentence Patterns 1—will cover the entire ground logically and seamlessly
- You'll be so awed with what you learn that you'll wonder why English was not taught this way
- The course discusses every sentence pattern possible (and associated use or nonuse of commas) under 10 base patterns and 33 subpatterns
Benefits of taking this course
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You will learn that sentence structure is always an independent concept and that commas—the most ubiquitous of punctuation marks—play an important role in governing the intended syntax in a sentence (separating ideas with commas as appropriate and connecting ideas by consciously omitting them)
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You will learn how to read a sentence, how to connect and disconnect ideas, how to group ideas, and how to understand content overall
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The course discusses upfront many scenarios and possibilities that come to light only after years of editing
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Provides you a summary document—as a course download—that will serve as a reference document to help you connect any sentence to one of these patterns
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Will help you complete the second milestone in the journey of mastering written English
The Art of Copyediting guarantee
This course comes with The Art of Copyediting guarantee of satisfaction
- The value of content that you will receive and its practical use in earning will far outweigh the amount you pay for the course
- Brings together the cumulative effect of 25 years of learning and training by the instructor
- The course is completely self-contained; you do not need access to any specific style manual, although you can relate whatever you learn to any manual you may have access to
- You will learn within 5 weeks and bypass the many years of struggle and conscious reading of various books and style manuals to pick up what is presented here
- The course (built from scenarios encountered by copyeditors over 15 years) will answer almost any practical problem you may encounter—or at least empower you with sufficient information to help you solve newer problems
Course Outline
- Course introduction
- The learning process—challenges and solutions
- Overview of the sentence patterns discussed in the course
- Type 1: Single subject connected to an action
- 3 patterns within this group
- Type 2: Compound subject connected to one action
- Type 3: Simple sentences with introductory constructions
- 3 patterns within this group
- Type 4: Two independent clauses separated by a period
- 4 patterns within this group
- Type 5: Compound sentences with conjunction and
- 5 patterns within this group
- Type 6: Compound sentences with conjunction so
- 3 patterns within this group
- Type 7: Compound sentences with conjunction but
- 2 patterns within this group
- Type 8: Compound sentences with introductory constructions
- 3 patterns within this group
- Type 9: Compound sentences in which the subject is given only once
- 5 patterns within this group
- Type 10: Independent clauses connected by semicolon
- 4 patterns within this group
Course highlights
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Discusses comma use in sentences beyond the restrictive–nonrestrictive principle and in ways that may be unmatched
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Discusses all concepts using examples from academic manuscripts, which will help you take that great leap in understanding—moving from simple day-to-day sentences to the complex world of scholarly, academic writing
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Basic structural patterns are introduced as the main patterns and all possible variations within the pattern are discussed threadbare
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These subpatterns in turn are based on the use of certain connecting, contrasting, and transition words that can use be used with and without associated punctuation
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These in turn are guideposts to help us understand how to connect or delink ideas and make sense of the entire set of words that form what we call a sentence (or even a composite idea)
- Kindles the thinking process of the learner in a powerful way and introduces new ways of thinking and interpretation
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Provides a framework for examining sentences that may ever be written in the English language
Choose one of two offers for this course
The number of subjects and associated actions-1
$149
Single full payment
Access to 43 video lessons totaling about 7½ hours
Access to course videos: 24 × 7, for 10 weeks
Mobile access to courses via a dedicated app
Interaction with course participants and instructor via comments; also email support
Downloadable summary PDF listing all the 10 base patterns and 33 subpatterns
The number of subjects and associated actions-2
$89
Two part-payments: $89 upfront and another $89 after 30 days
Access to 43 video lessons totaling about 7½ hours
Access to course videos: 24 × 7, for 10 weeks
Mobile access to courses via a dedicated app
Interaction with course participants and instructor via comments; also email support
Downloadable summary PDF listing all the 10 base patterns and 33 subpatterns