[Grammar] wasteful

[Ashiuhto]

Please help me correct the sentence. Thanks!

According to extensive literature reviews and documents dealing with this topic, giving a warning that not only are disposable chopsticks extremely wasteful, they also are not necessarily sanitary.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Please help me correct the sentence. Thanks!

According to extensive literature reviews and documents dealing with this topic, giving warnings that not only are disposable chopsticks extremely wasteful, they also are not necessarily sanitary,....

The problem is that it's not a sentence yet. You have a complicated clause, including a dependent clause inside another dependent clause. You still need a subject and a verb.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Will it work if 'giving warnings that' is replaced with 'it is warned that'?

 

[lotus888]

According to warnings from extensive scientific reviews and documents dealing with this topic, not only are disposable chopsticks extremely wasteful, they are also not sanitary.



--lotus

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Will it work if 'giving warnings that' is replaced with 'it is warned that'?

No, that doesn't make it a sentence. Lotus has given you a fine example of a sentence that has a subject (they) and verb (are).

No matter how many phrases you have, a sentence still needs to grow from a subject and verb. Some people find that diagramming helps.

 

[lotus888]

These are two of the best sentence diagramming books I have ever owned.
There's a reason why they cost $60-$100 new.

http://www.amazon.com/Skills-Sentence-Structure-Through-Diagraming/dp/1568221754/
http://www.amazon.com/Better-Sentence-Structure-Through-Diagraming/dp/1568221762



--lotus

 

[MikeNewYork]

When I was in elementary school, we had diagramming sentences pounded into our heads. It was very helpful. These days, it seems that nobody teaches that. Sad.

 

[Rover_KE]

I still think 'hygienic' is more suitable for food-related items. I can't be the only one who associates 'sanitary' more with toilet cleanliness or 'feminine products'.

 

[Matthew Wai]

No, that doesn't make it a sentence.

Do you mean the following is not a sentence?
'It is warned that not only are disposable chopsticks extremely wasteful, they are also not sanitary.'

 

[lotus888]

Do you mean the following is not a sentence?
'It is warned that not only are disposable chopsticks extremely wasteful, they are also not sanitary.'

Yours is a sentence. The original is not. I would change "warned" to "cautioned".

The original would be a sentence with your slight edit:

According to extensive literature reviews and documents dealing with this topic, it is cautioned that not only are disposable chopsticks extremely wasteful, they are also not sanitary.

The bold is what Charlie Bernstein had indicated was missing (subject-verb).


--lotus

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

No, that doesn't make it a sentence. Lotus has given you a fine example of a sentence that has a subject (they) and verb (are).

Sorry, Ashiuhto! I misunderstood you. Yes, that would make it a sentence.

Lotus, thanks for paying attention!

 

[Matthew Wai]

Sorry, Ashiuhto! I misunderstood you.

You did not misunderstand Ashiuhto, whose original 'sentence' was actually not a sentence.

Not a teacher.