Page 249 - Effective Communication Soft Skills Strategies For Success by Nitin Bhatnagar, Mamta Bhatnagar

Project Name: Manual for Soft Skills
ACE Pro India Pvt. Ltd.
\\mtpdy01\Womat\Indesign\Bhatnagar-Manual for Soft skills\06-Pagination\06-A-Finals\06-AA-Appl\Bhatnagar_Chapter 10.indd

Communication: Written English | 237

give such extra curricular documents a less professional look. If compound
sentences help you list required details or provide alternatives or indicate the
caveats to your assertions, complex sentences can enrich your professional
writing with subtlety. The following examples will help you understand these
statements
A compound sentence (all the three varieties) may be used in a policy
statement, for example:

i. The government should introduce English at the primary stage or the
learners in our state may suffer later when they compete with candi-
dates from other states (providing an alternative).
ii. The concerned authorities may provide language laboratories in the
rural areas and our students are sure to overcome their pronunciation
problems (adding on details).
iii. Teachers may use all possible measures to improve the learners’ writ-
ten communication but they cannot ensure a total success, given the
limitations, human and/or technological ( indicating caveats to your
assertion).

Different types of complex sentences may be used in an annual report, for
example:

i. The school donated handsomely when the earthquake destroyed the
normal life in Gujarat.
ii. Whenever a science exhibition is organized within the twin cities, our
brilliant and enthusiastic students participate in it to win a few more
laurels for us.
iii. If we strive hard, we are sure to win.
The other sentence construction that you may need is the ‘empty it’ or
the ‘empty there’ construction. The grammatical subject in such a sentence
is a dummy subject. Hence, it is known as the ‘empty’ construction. It is very
useful to objectively present information or opinions. Let us look at some
examples that you may use in your reports.
It is appreciable that our students are taking up water conservation projects.
It is a worthy experiment. There is a need to encourage it.
In addition, a good writer at times uses infinitival and gerundive construc-
tions as well as such transformations as passive or conditionals or so-that or
not only-but also to add variety to his writing. A word of caution, however,
is that an excessive use of passive, though Indians use it rather fondly, is a
stylistic blemish. In fact, passive is preferably used for certain such registers
as science, commerce, banking, and management.

Bhatnagar_Chapter 10.indd 237 2011-06-23 7:53:36 PM
Modified Date: Thu, Jun 23, 2011 06:50:37 PM Output Date: Thu, Jun 23, 2011 07:53:35 PM
TEMPLATE Page Number: PB