2009 | OriginalPaper | Chapter
The secret of clear sentences
Readers look for two bits of information when they read a sentence: 1Who or what is the sentence about? (SUBJECT)2What is the subject doing? (MAIN VERB) If you provide that information quickly and clearly, your sentences will be easy to understand. If, on the other hand, you ask your readers to work too hard (by taking a long time to get to the subject, for instance) the chances are you’ll end up confusing them. And that is the very last thing you want to do — especially if one of the readers in question is your tutor, with a whole pile of other essays to mark.