56 Science Research Writing 2.2.3 Adverbs and adverb location When you are communicating complex ideas in another language, an obvious grammatical error is not as bad as an error which is invisible. A proofreader or editor will notice an obvious grammatical error and correct it, but if the sentence is written in grammatically correct English the error is not visible to proofreaders and editors. An example of an invisible error is where the sentence is grammatically correct but the choice of which verb tense to use is inappropriate or does not represent the intention of the writer. Th ese hidden errors are worrying because neither the writer nor the editor/proofreader knows they have occurred and yet the sentence does not mean what the writer intended. Common hidden errors include mistakes in the use of a and the (see Section 2.2.2 above), whether or not to use a comma before the word which in relative clauses and adverb location errors. Adverb location errors are easy to make and hard to detect. Adverbs don't always do what you want or expect them to do. In the fi rst place, adverbs needing prepositions can be ambiguous (Look at that dog with one eye can either mean USING one eye or HAVING one eye) and in the second place, adverbs may attach themselves to unexpected parts of a sentence. Be careful where you put your adverb, and be especially careful if you are using more than one adverb in a sentence. Here is an example of the kind of problem you may encounter: Th e patient was discharged from hospital aft er being shot in the back with a 9 mm gun. Did the doctors shoot her? He gave a lecture about liver cancer at the hospital last January. Was the lecture in the hospital — or the cancer? Did the lecture refer to cancer cases occurring in January or did the lecture itself occur in January? Although there are rules for adverb location, they are complex and hard to apply when you are writing. Since your aim is to stay safe and write clearly, it is better to avoid adverb clusters like these, and rewrite the information in a diff erent order. If your adverb relates to the whole
Methodology — Writing Task 57 sentence (i.e. clearly, last January, as a result) then consider putting the adverb at the front of the sentence: Last January he gave a lecture about liver cancer at the hospital If you are still left with ambiguous adverb clusters, consider breaking the sentence down into units, each with its own adverb: Last January he gave a lecture at the hospital; his subject was liver cancer 2.3 Writing Task: Build a Model 2.3.1 Building a model You are now ready to begin to build a model of the Methodology by writing a short description of what the writer is doing in each sentence in the space provided below. Th e Key is on the next page. Once you have tried to produce your own model, you can use the Key to help you write this section of a research article when you eventually do it on your own. GUIDELINES You should spend 30–45 minutes on this task.If you can't think of a good description of the fi rst sentence, choose an easier one, for example Sentence 4, and start with that. Remember that your model is only useful if it can be transferred to other Methodology sections, so don't include content words such as groundwater or you won't be able to use your model to generate Methodology sections in your fi eld. One way to fi nd out what the writer is doing in a sentence — rather than what s/he is saying — is to imagine that your computer has accidentally deleted it. What is diff erent for you (as a reader) when it disappears? If you press another key on the computer and the sentence comes back, how does that aff ect the way you respond to the information? Another way to fi gure out what the writer is doing in a sentence — rather than what s/he is saying — is to look at the grammar and vocabulary clues. What is the tense of the main verb? What is that tense normally used for? Is it the same tense as in the previous sentence? If not, why has the writer changed the tense? What words has the writer chosen to use? Don't expect to produce a perfect model. You will modify your model when you look at the Key, and perhaps again when you compare it to the way Methodology sections in your target articles work.