Sentence logic

Faulty predication

The subject and the predicate should make sense together. When they don’t, the error is known as faulty predication.

Example sentence with editing. Original sentence: Reluctantly we decided that Tiffany's welfare would not be safe living with her mother. Revised sentence: Reluctantly we decided that Tiffany would not be safe living with her mother.

Tiffany, not her welfare, may not be safe.

Example sentence with editing. Original sentence: Under the revised plan, the elderly, who now receive a double personal exemption, will be abolished. Revised sentence: Under the revised plan, the double personal exemption for the elderly will be abolished.

The exemption, not the elderly, will be abolished.

Faulty apposition

An appositive and the noun to which it refers should be logically equivalent. When they are not, the error is known as faulty apposition.

Example sentence with editing. Original sentence: The tax accountant, a lucrative field, requires intelligence, patience, and attention to detail. Revised sentence: Tax accounting, a lucrative field, requires intelligence, patience, and attention to detail.

The tax accountant is a person, not a field.

Exercise: Mixed constructions 1

Exercise: Mixed constructions 2

Exercise: Mixed constructions 3

Exercise: Mixed constructions 4

predicate A verb and its objects, complements, and modifiers.

appositive A noun or noun phrase that renames a nearby noun or pronoun: Bailey, the representative from Alabama, voted for the bill.