Awkward sentence structures can make your writing unclear, confusing, or hard to read. They can also affect your credibility, tone, and style. To avoid them, you need to understand what causes them and how to fix them. In this article, you will learn some common types of awkward sentences and some strategies to revise them for clarity and coherence.
Awkward sentences are sentences that have issues with grammar, syntax, word choice, or punctuation. These can make writing sound unnatural, vague, or illogical. For example: "Because of the rain, the game was cancelled, which disappointed the fans", "She likes to read books of mystery, romance, and science fiction genres", and "He was very hungry, so he ate the sandwich fastly". These sentences are awkward due to unnecessary words, incorrect modifiers, or improper adverbs. To fix them, you can remove or rearrange some words or phrases and replace them with others.
To identify awkward sentences, you can read your writing aloud or have someone else read it to you. Listen for any parts that sound unnatural, confusing, or choppy. Additionally, you can use a tool like Grammarly or Hemingway to check for grammar, readability, and style issues. If you notice any suggestions or warnings that indicate awkwardness, pay attention to them. Moreover, ask yourself questions such as if the meaning is clear and specific, the structure is logical and consistent, the word choice is appropriate and precise, and the punctuation is correct and helpful. If you answer no to any of these questions, you may have an awkward sentence that needs revision.
I agree that reading sentences out loud can help you figure. Always, when in doubt, get someone else to read your writing. Clarity and simplicity should be your best friends.
There are various methods to rectify awkward sentences, depending on the type and magnitude of the issue. To enhance your sentence structure, these general approaches can be of assistance: Simplifying by removing any irrelevant words or phrases that lack meaning or lucidity; splitting any long or complex sentences that contain many ideas or clauses with commas, semicolons, or periods; combining any short or elementary sentences that have related ideas or topics with conjunctions, colons, or dashes; and rephrasing any sentences that contain unclear, obscure, or unsuitable words or phrases with synonyms, definitions, or illustrations to make your meaning more accurate and precise.
Flip it - try making a sentence that is in passive voice in active voice and vice versa. Passive voice it not the villain, despite what you might have read. We speak passively (sometimes), and it's certainly a viable approach. You can also take an awkward sentence and break it up into smaller bites.
To avoid awkward sentences, practice and revise your writing regularly. Before you start writing, plan your main points and supporting details to organize your thoughts and structure your sentences logically. After you finish writing, proofread your work for any errors or inconsistencies. Utilize a checklist, a tool, or a peer to help you spot and correct any mistakes. Then, review your work for any improvements by simplifying, splitting, combining, or rephrasing any awkward sentences. Finally, rewrite your work to make it more polished and refined with the help of feedback, examples, or models to improve your tone and style.
One way to practice correcting awkward sentences is to use exercises or quizzes that test your skills. You can find many online resources that provide examples of awkward sentences and ask you to revise them. For example, you can try this quiz from Purdue University or this exercise from the University of Wisconsin.
Another way to practice correcting awkward sentences is to use your own writing or someone else's writing as a source of material. You can select a paragraph or a page and look for any awkward sentences. Then, you can use the strategies above to correct them and compare your revisions with the original. You can also ask for feedback from a teacher, a tutor, or a friend to help you evaluate your work.