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Faulty Predicate. By: Marcel Pop Tiana Byrd Anthony Salter. Definition:. Faulty predication occurs when a sentence’s subject and predicate doesn’t make sense together.
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Faulty Predicate By: Marcel Pop Tiana Byrd Anthony Salter
Definition: • Faulty predication occurs when a sentence’s subject and predicate doesn’t make sense together. • Either the sentence’s subject can’t carry out the activity that the sentence’s verb describes, or the subject can’t be described by the verb.
Example #1 of Faulty Predicate: • Incorrect Version: • A vacation is where people get away from school or work to relax. • This example contains a faulty use of “is where.” Since vacation is not technically a specific place, a person cannot go there. • Correct Version: • A vacation is a break people take to get away from school or work. • This is correct because it defines a vacation as a “break.” Because a break is a subject which can be acted upon, saying that people “take” the break makes the sentence grammatically correct.
Example #2 of Faulty Predicate • Incorrect Version: • The purpose of the book persuades readers to get involved in sports. • In the sentence above, the subject is “purpose.” However, the purpose itself can’t “persuade,” as the verb in this sentence states. • Correct Version: • The author of the book persuades readers to get involved in sports. • In the revised sentence, the subject is “author,” and the verb is “persuades.” Because an author can attempt to persuade his or her readers, this sentence is grammatically correct.
Source: • Roseman, Richard R. "Unit 8 Sentence Errors." tc.umn.edu. Henry Holt and Company, 2001. Web. 7 Nov 2011. <http://www.tc.umn.edu/~hill0243/rhetor ic/coursecontent/Unit08.htm>.