Page 131 - English for Writing Research Papers

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Often it is a good idea simply to break up the sentence or use and . An alternative to S3:

S4. This will improve performance and clients will ( thus ) be satisfi ed.

S5 is another ambiguous sentence. It can be disambiguated as in S6 and S7, both of
which have the same meaning.

S5. *The Euro indirectly raised prices, causing infl ation.
S6. … raised prices. This consequently / subsequently caused infl ation .
S7. … raised prices and so / thus caused infl ation .

It is best to replace the –ing form with and when you are simply giving additional
information. Thus S9 is clearer than S8.
S8. * This section focuses on the reasons for selecting these parameters, trying to explain the
background to these choices.
S9. This document focuses on the reasons for selecting these parameters, and tries to explain
the background to these choices.

Finally, note the difference between these three sentences.

S10. To burn CDs you just need some software.
S11. Burning CDs now takes only a few seconds.
S12. By burning CDs we deprive artists of royalties.
The infinitive (S10) means If you want to / If your aim is to …

The -ing form with no preceding preposition (S11) refers to the activity of burning
CDs, it acts as the subject of the sentence. S12 means If we burn CDs we will
deprive artists of royalties.