Sentence of the Week #24

[From Michelle Yeoman and Barbara Gastel:]

Editing Solution: Sentence of the Week #23

As a reminder, below is Sentence of the Week #23:

The custodian swept the floor, and then dusted the cabinets.

We said that 1 small item should be removed from this sentence. The item that should be removed is the comma. Thus, the revised sentence reads as follows:

The custodian swept the floor and then dusted the cabinets.

The wording “swept the floor and then dusted the cabinets” is a compound predicate. Normally, a comma should not separate the parts of a compound predicate.

(A comma should, however, separate the parts of a compound sentence. For example, it is correct to write, “The custodian swept the floor, and the trainee then dusted the cabinets.”)

If a compound predicate is long and confusing, a comma can be inserted to clarify where the first part ends and the second begins. But in these cases, it may be preferable to divide the sentence into 2 sentences.

And now, onward to this week’s sentence.

Sentence of the Week #24

Welcome to the newest installment in this series. 

The sentence below has 1 definite error:

The new budget cuts are quiet disturbing.

Please correct the error, and submit the corrected sentence and any remarks as a comment on this post. We plan to provide and discuss the solution as a comment in about 2 days, as well as including it in the next Sentence of the Week post.

Do you have a sentence that you would like us to consider using as the Sentence of the Week? Please e-mail submissions to Michelle at msyeoman@gmail.com with the subject line “Sentence of the Week”. Submissions should be your own work—don’t nominate a colleague’s writing :). 

Please also feel free to e-mail suggestions relating to this series.