Rearrange the parts of the sentence in the correct order. P : the environment,…
2021
Rearrange the parts of the sentence in the correct order.
P : the environment, O.V. Vijayan produced
Q : articles on such subjects as politics and
R : several novels and a number of short stories
S : in addition to cartoons and journalistic
- A.
RPQS
- B.
QPRS
- C.
RQPS
- D.
SQPR
Attempted by 12 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Correct sentence: In addition to cartoons and journalistic articles on such subjects as politics and the environment, O.V. Vijayan produced several novels and a number of short stories.
How to form the sentence:
Start with the introductory modifier: "in addition to cartoons and journalistic". This signals that what follows will name the items being added.
Attach the descriptive noun phrase: "articles on such subjects as politics and the environment." Together with the introductory modifier this forms a complete introductory phrase.
Place the main clause after a comma: "O.V. Vijayan produced" — this is the verb phrase that tells what he did.
End with the objects produced: "several novels and a number of short stories."
Why other orders fail:
Starting with the clause about novels and short stories separates the introductory modifiers from the noun they describe, producing an awkward or ungrammatical sequence.
Putting the noun phrase about articles first but leaving the introductory phrase at the end creates a fragment and breaks the necessary noun-modifier pairing.
The correct structure groups the introductory modifier and the descriptive noun phrase together, then presents the main clause and its objects; any order that disrupts this grouping will sound incorrect.