There is though, another possibility. It is now because of widespread usage
acceptable to use the plural form “they” and its cognate forms as a common
singular pronoun. For example: “Members of the tribunal are appointed for
three years. They can, however, resign at any time”.
Level 2: Sentences
Level 2 Sentences
Write proper sentences. Observe the rules of grammar and syntax.
Meanwhile, a whole range of deeply significant systems of grammatical
choice remain submerged by widespread public ignorance and the failure of
education systems to take language seriously as an object of study.
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Introduction
Part of good writing, as Level 2 asserts, is to compose proper sentences. A
proper sentence is a sentence that
is both grammatically and syntactically
correct.
Grammar and Syntax
Rules of grammar
and syntax operate within a sentence in three ways. First,
where a sentence has two or more clauses, the rules describe the level of
relations between each clause. There are two possible relations - a clause may
be coordinate or subordinate.
Second, within a clause each word is a part of speech. Parts of speech assign
a role to words and enable words to play their part with other words in
producing meaning in a sentence. This
determines a word’s function, and by
determining its function, determines the nature of its relationship with other
words.
Third, within a sentence the other words to which a word can relate are
determined by the positioning of words. Positioning of words, however, does
not always give a definite indication of relationships between words.
Better Grammar and Syntax
Facility with English syntax is heightened when one knows the syntax of a
foreign language –
to go from one language to another entails looking behind
the form of language encoded in the syntax and identifying the meaning. This
thought was no doubt the reason for a comment by Sir Frank Kitto: “I believe
that part at least of the reason why an ability and concern to express oneself in
clear English are becoming alarmingly rarer even in the Universities is to be
found in the modern neglect of the study of Latin”.
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93
Annabelle Lukin “We’d say it better with a theme effort” Higher Education,
The Australian, 23 June 2004
94
Kitto (1992) p 792
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