English for Business and Entrepreneurship: Becoming an Entrepreneur

Content goals:

Understanding simple business and entrepreneurship concepts as well as the difference between a small business owner and an entrepreneur.

The language goals:

  1. Reading skills
  2. Comparative structure

Content Focus -- What is Entrepreneurship?

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Entrepreneurship is the making of a new business. A new business can be a startup, which is a business that did not exist before or a new business can be an old business that has changed so that it can be more successful. Entrepreneurs share some common business skills. First, finding the right opportunity, they are very good at finding the right idea that has the potential to succeed and grow. Second, entrepreneurs are very good at identifying needed resources like materials, people and money, as well as potential customers. They are also very good at making a plan, and getting support, such as attracting employees and investors. Finally, entrepreneurs are very good at implementing the plan and pursuing growth. This means, they are good at doing what the plan says and at looking for ways to increase the size of the business over time.

Entrepreneurs often begin with a startup. But may also buy an existing business and change it. Entrepreneurs also share other management styles. For example, they are efficient at starting a business and making plans for growth, but they may not be efficient at managing day to day operations. Day to day operations therefore are activities that happen on a daily basis to keep a business running. Like making products and selling them to customers. So, entrepreneurs may be not be efficient at managing day to day operations.

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In addition, entrepreneurs often sell a startup or a new business once it grows to a certain size and may own many business at the same time. Lastly, entrepreneurs often own many business over their careers. Entrepreneurs and business owners share many skills and styles. But they are not the same. A small business owner is a person who owns and manages a small business and is responsible for day to day operations.

Just like entrepreneurs, small business owners are very good at finding the right idea that has the potential to succeed, identifying needed resources and potential customers. Making a plan, getting support and implementing a plan. Small business owners are also good at maintaining success.

Harry and Frances Edelstein are good examples of small business owners. In 1980, they opened Cafe Edison in New York City, New York, In the United States. The restaurant was very popular for over 30 years and was their only business. Small business owners, like Harry and Francis Edelstein often being with a startup. But may also buy an existing business that they may or may not change. 

Unlike entrepreneurs, a small business owner efficiently manages day to day operations and often owns the business for a long time. This is because a small business owner is often more focused on stability. Keeping the business stable or safe than on growth. A small business owner also often owns only one business at a time and may own that on business for his or her entire life. Some small business owners start as entrepreneurs. 

But then they decide that they enjoy managing day to day operations more than looking for growth. Entrepreneurs and small business owners are both important to economic development. They share many of the same skills, but they are not the same.


Vocabulary Knowledge

Day to day operation -- The things that happen on normal days in a business.

Distribution -- The process of supplying something

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Entrepreneur -- A person who takes an idea and turns it into a successful new business

Entrepreneurship -- The making of a new business feature

Feature -- A noticeable or important characteristic or part

Function -- The way something works

Good -- A type of product that is tangible

Innovation -- A new idea or method

Manufacture -- To make a product or goods from raw material and/or by physical labor or machinery

Non Profit -- Describes an organization, corporation or company that does not operate in order to make a profit.

Operations -- Activities that happen as part of running a business

Prototype -- The first full - size working version of a product

Risky -- Involving the possibility of something bad happening

Service -- A type of product that is tangible

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Small business owner -- A person who owns and manages a small business and is responsible for day to day operations

Startup -- A business that did not exist before

Supplier -- A source for goods or services

Tangible -- Describes something that can be touched

Target market -- People who are most interested in buying a product





Language Focus – Reading skills

Basic: Entrepreneurship Seen as Solution to S. Africa’s Unemployment Crisis

Advanced: Entrepreneurship Seen as Solution to S. Africa’s Unemployment Crisis


Quiz -- Check your understanding 

1. When this article was published, unemployment in south Africa was 25.2%. What was it in previous year?

a. 20.5 %

b. 24.1 %

c. 25.2 %

d. 35.1 %

2. Put the following events in order from first to last (left to right)

(a) Marishane wrote a business plan using a simple phone

(b) Marishane entered DryBath Gel into competitions

(c) Marishane got the idea for DryBath Gel

(d) Marishane was unsuccessful at getting a bank loan

a. a, c, b, d

b. d, c, a, b

c. c, d, a, b

d. c, a, d, b

3. How many people did Ludwick Marishane contract with the idea for his waterless shower?

a. 20

b. 445,590

c. 80

d. 50

4. According to Jason Basel, what is the key to starting a new business?

a. Education

b. One great idea

c. Computer Cafe

d. Red tape and bureaucracy


Content Focus – Why Entrepreneurship?

We will discuss why people become entrepreneurs and some of the challenges that entrepreneurs can have. Let’s review what entrepreneurship means, the making of a new business. First , let’s look at how entrepreneurship helps local and global economic

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development. What is economic development? Economic development is the effort that improve people’s quality of life, by creating and maintaining jobs and supporting or growing incomes. Jobs and incomes, it provides people with money to spend. Entrepreneurship can help economic development by creating jobs. It can do this in two ways.

A startup, a new business that did not exist before, creates job for the entrepreneur and people the entrepreneur hires. This can include family and friends or people in the community. These people have money to spend to buy things and services in the economy. This helps the people who sell those products or services so they also have money to spend. This creates economic development. An example of this job creation can be seen in the article that you read: “Entrepreneurship Seen as Solution to S. Africa’s Unemployment Crisis

Marshawn created a company that produced a DryBath gel. Marshawn now has a job and he hired other people to work for his startup, who also now have jobs. All of these people who sell things, this creates economic development. A startup also creates jobs for suppliers. Suppliers are the people who provide things and services for the company. Marshawn needs to buy things to make his DryBath gel from suppliers. Maybe he also needs to buy services like electricity or tax advice. These are also suppliers. Some of these suppliers buy from other suppliers or they employ people. A lot of money can pass to many people who provide supplies. This is good for economic development in creating jobs. But it can also help the economy by creating innovation.

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What is innovation? Innovation is a new idea or a method. Entrepreneurs often create innovation in a product or service. Why is innovation important? It can improve people’s lives and increase economic development. How does it do this? Innovation can lead to increased access to resources. People can now do something that they could not do before. An example of this kind of innovation is the use of smartphones in rural Africa to do banking. People do not have access to banks before. This innovation allows for safe and efficient money transfer.

Small business people can buy, sell and save money more easily. They are more confident to start a business. Innovation can also lead to better use or resources. People can do more with what they have or use less of what they have but benefit the same. An example of this kind of innovation is improved technology in car engines. Cars can use less gas or petrol to drive the same distance or farther. People do not need to buy as much gas as a result. This saves them money and saves them money and saves the resources of gas for the future. 

Better use of resources can keep prices lower and can sometimes benefit the environment and society. If engines use less gas, there might be more gas available, which could lower the price. People have money to spend on other things now. If less gas is burned, the air might be cleaner. This also benefits the environment and society. Innovation has another benefit, it can provide a better quality of life. 

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Marshawn Dry gel can help provide stay clean and more comfortable even the water is not available to wash in. Think of all the innovations in transportation, in medicine, and in communication that have improve the quality of life for people in just a past few years, we have talked about how entrepreneurship can create jobs and innovation. It can also help increased private funding. Private funding is money that comes from individuals, not the government or NGOs. NGOs are non governmental organizations that promote economic development. An example if Oxfam, an organization that helps reduce poverty throughout the world. How can entrepreneurs increase private funding?

If there are many entrepreneurs with good ideas, people with money will be interested in providing funding to them. Usually the more entrepreneurs there are, the more private funders there are, the more private funding, the more entrepreneurs can be successful.

Silicon Valley in California has many famous startup computers. Because it has a large number of both entrepreneurs and private funders. The combination creates economic development.


Content Focus – Ideas, Products and Opportunities


Ideas, products and opportunities are all important to businesses. We will discuss these three concepts. Let's discuss about ideas first. How do people create new
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product ideas? There are usually two ways. The first, is too create an idea to fill a need in a market. Here’s another way to think about this. Many times an idea for a new product is an idea to solve a problem. Some people want to do or have something and this idea would help them. The smartphone was a new kind of product that did not exist before. People are now able to carry small computers in their hands and they could not do that before. The second source or beginning of new products ideas is to bring something that already exist somewhere else. This is also filling a need but in this case the idea is not the product. The idea is getting a product to a different place. An example of this would be smartphone banking, banking exists in some markets but not others.

Now let’s discuss about ideas and products. It’s important to know that ideas are not the same as products. Sometimes ideas do not become products, sometimes there only ideas and nothing more. This can happened because the idea never becomes fully defined or clear.

Maybe the entrepreneur has some understanding, but cannot clearly communicate it to others. Maybe the entrepreneur also could not understand it specifically. Ideas also may not be possible to make into products because the technology or materials needed do not exist, or there are other challenges such as lack of social acceptance. The idea is ahead of its time. For example, when the US decided to send American to the moon, it did not have the technology to do so. The idea was ahead of its time. What made it happen was the support money from the US government. 

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Most entrepreneurs cannot find the same challenge. When can ideas be presented as products? Ideas can be presented as products when they have a specific design. There are blueprint, or other design pictures that people can see and understand. Ideas can also be presented as products when they have specific features and functions that people can understand. A feature is a noticeable or important part. A function is how something works. Functions would be to protect the bottom of the foot or keep it warm. Additionally, ideas can be presented as products when they can be physically seen.

A drawing or a prototype. A prototype is a model, of what it would look like. When an idea is presented as a product, it should be one of three types. The first is a good. This is something tangible, something that can be touched. Often, people will mistakenly say the word product when they mean good. Examples of a good would be a book, a car, a shirt. The second type is a service. This is intangible. It cannot be touched, examples would be a taxi service. A medical procedure, a travel booking. The third is a hybrid product that combines a good and a service. Examples would be a bed and breakfast hotel, a restaurant meal, a flight. Both goods and services are provided on these three types of products. Marshawn’s DryBath gel is also a hybrid because it’s a tangible product but provides a service that impacts society. It helps people stay clean without water. 


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Now let’s discuss briefly about opportunity. Opportunity is a chance to do something. If a new product has a chance to succeed, if people are interested in
buying it, it is an opportunity whether an opportunity exists can be found by doing market research. Entrepreneurs and business people usually have many new product ideas. Some of these ideas become real designs or prototypes for new goods, services or hybrid products. Entrepreneurs in businesses must do research to see which new product people want to buy. The products people want to buy are the opportunities. Remember, not all new product ideas are opportunities. Entrepreneurs must do a lot of work to understand which ideas can be products and which products are great opportunities.



Quiz – Check your understanding “identifying different types of products” (3 questions)

1. Select items that belong to the goods category. Items belong to only one category (Choose two items)

a. Bed and breakfast

b. Coffee maker

c. Travel agency

d. Shirt

e. Taxi service

2. Select items that belong to the Hybrids category. Items belong to only one category (choose two items)

a. Coffee maker

b. Formal restaurant

c. Shirt

d. Bed and breakfast

e. Travel agency

f. Taxi service

3. Select items that belong in the service category (choose two)

a. Taxi service

b. Formal restaurant

c. Shirt

d. Travel agency

e. Coffee maker

f. Bed and breakfast


Content Focus – Creating Simple, One – Sentence Product Description

We will explore a sample sentence structure for simple one sentence product descriptions. Before we look at sample sentences, let’s take a moment to discuss about why simple product descriptions are an important first step when an entrepreneurs want to take an idea and make a potential products. First, the action of putting an idea into it, one simple specific sentence, helps entrepreneurs think clearly about their product. Second, entrepreneurs can use the one – sentence product description do have easy, helpful conversations about the new product with family, friends, consumers and investors and get their opinions about what they like or what they want. 


Let’s look at three simple one sentence product descriptions. Here’s the first sentence, “A paperclip is a tool that will help teachers and office workers hold papers togethers”. Before you read the next sentence, what kind of product is a paperclip? Is it a good, a service or hybrid product? It is a good, because it is tangible. Here is the second sentence. “ A taxi is a travel service that will help people in cities move from place to place”. It’s easy to guess what kind of products that is . Here is the last sample sentence. “DryBath is a personal product that will help people in dry places get clean and save water at the same time.” Is DryBath a good, s service or a hybrid product? It is a hybrid product because it is both a good and a service at the same time.

If entrepreneurs can think about and describe the general function of a product they can also begin to answer these three questions, first who needs what the product can do? This question helps entrepreneur think about the target market, more clearly. Second, what other products can do the same thing, as this new product? This question helps entrepreneurs think about competitors. Third, who produces or sell products that may be related to this new product, and therefore, maybe interested in supporting the new business either financially or operationally? This question helps entrepreneurs think about where he or she might find investors. Let’s use DryBath as example. What does DryBath help people do? Be clean. Who needs Drybath? People who live in dry places. What other products can do the same thing as Drybath? Soap and shampoos, but they also require water. Who produces or sells products that maybe related to DryBath, and therefore, maybe interested in supporting the new business, either financially or operationally. Soap and shampoo Companies. 


Quiz – Check your understanding “Creating Product descriptions” (5 questions)

1. A paperclip is a tool that will help ..................... hold paper together.

a. People who are busy

b. People in the cities

c. Teachers and office workers

d. People in dry places

2. A taxi is a ............................. that will help people in cities move from place to place

a. Tool

b. Communication device

c. Travel service

d. Product

3. A DryBath is a personal product that will help people in dry places...............

Communicate outside or in places where portability is important

a. Make consistent, quick coffee

b. Move from place to place

c. Get clean and save water

 

4. A mobile phone is a .............................. that will help people in or near cities communicate outside or in places where portability is important.

a. Tool

b. Communication device

c. Kitchen tool

d. Personal product

5. A coffee maker is a kitchen tool that will help .................. make consistent, quick coffee.

a. People who are busy

b. People in cities

c. Teachers and office workers

d. People in dry places


Language Focus – let’s do a quick grammar review of how to describe the general function of a product.


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The grammatical structure is a present tense verb and a complement which is a direct or indirect object, a prepositional phrase or adverbial phrase. Here are some examples. For paperclips, the general function is hold papers. This is verb and a direct object. For a taxi service the general function is, move from place to place. This is a verb and two prepositional phrases. For a DryBath, the general function is, get clean this is a verb and an adverb. Most products, have one general function. But some hybrid products may have two. Social impact products like DryBath are an example of this. So the Drybath product description includes, What does DryBath help people do? DryBath helps people get clean and save water. When a product has more than one function, entrepreneurs should ask the three questions for each function. Let’s use a comprehension check to work through the three questions for save water, just like we did for get clean. Writing simple, one sentence product descriptions is not difficult but it takes a lot of practice and careful word choice. The three questions entrepreneurs should ask about the function “save water” are:

  1. What other products can help people save water?
  2. Who needs to save water?
  3. Why do people take baths?

Who produces or sells products that may be related to saving water and therefore, may be interested in supporting the new business either financially or operationally.


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Deciding on a type of startup. When entrepreneurs think of creating a startup, they must decide what kind of business it will be. We will explore three types of business organizations, for profit, non profit and hybrid. We will also learn the difference between a company and a corporation. The term for profit can be a noun or an adjective. That means we can say that a business is a for – profit, where for – profit is used as a noun or we can say, that is a for – profit business, where for profit is used as an adjective. The primary or most important goal of a for – profit business is making money. Most businesses are for profit, some common examples are restaurants, stores and manufactures. The term non – profit can also be a noun or an adjective. The primary goal of a no – profit is helping the community. Making money is also important for non-profits because money is needed to support the operation and employees. But the goal of making money is secondary or less important, than the primary goal. For example, the United Nations Children’s Fund has a primary goal of helping children. Its secondary goal is making money through donations. The United Nation Children’s Fund needs this money to help the Children. But also to pay for employees, offices and other expenses. Not for profit is a newer term that is sometimes used to describe non – profit organizations. Not for profit has a more general meaning than non – profit. The term not for profit includes three types of organizations, non – profit, charities and NGOs which are Non Governmental Organizations. That means we can say that a non – profit is a type of not for profit. Doctors without Borders and the American Red Cross are some examples of Non Profit for each of these organizations the primary goal is to help local and global communities like not for profit, the term hybrid organizations also relatively new.


Language Focus – Reading

African Women Entrepreneurs Think Big and Share Dreams

Quiz – Check your understanding (3 questions)

1. What do participants learn as part of The African Women’s Entrepreneurship Program (AWEP)? Check all that apply

a. Business Strategies

b. Manufacturing contratcs

c. Distribution methods

d. Advocacy

e. Innovative techniques

f. Investor pitches

2. Khadija Ally said started her Company  on which special day?

a. Women’s entrepreneurship day

b. Her birthday

c. United Nations Day

d. Her mother’s birthday

3. Which two entrepreneurs created Companies that addressed the issue of food waste?

a. Anick Natacha Kouadjo

b. Justine Lamah

c. Mariama Adoulaye

d. Amina Azia Ouro – Agoro

e. Zainab Mustapha Jaji


Content Focus – Deciding on a type of startup


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I would like to discuss the words company and corporation. A company is any kind of business organization. Whereas a corporation is a specific  kind of business organization or company. That means company and corporation have different meanings. One way to think about is that a corporation is a type of company. Let’s
look at each word more closely. 
The word Company means any kind of business organization. For example, imagine two friends start a taxi service together. If the friends need more money to run their business, they might go to a bank and ask for money. In this case, the two friends must pay the money or debt back to the bank. Similarly, if one of the friends accidently hits a sign post while driving a taxi, the two friends are liable or responsible for paying to fix the signpost. Now, the word corporation means a legal entity separate from its investors. Let’s look at the definition a little more closely. A legal entity is a company or organization that has legal rights and responsibilities.

Separate is an adjective that means existing or happening independently or without connection. Therefore a corporation has legal rights and responsibilities that are independent from its investors. Here’s an example, Apple is a Corporation and therefore is liable or responsible for all of its debts or obligations or commitments, that means Apple must pay debt owed to a bank, not its investors. Similarly if an Apple product accidently causes harm to someone or something. Apple, not the investors, is liable or responsible for paying to fix the problem. Remember, a Company is any kind of business organization, whereas a Corporation is a legal entity separate from its investors.


Content Focus – Risk, Failure and Important Steps


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We will discuss the risks in creating a startup. We will also talk about the causes of failure and important steps to take to reduce risks and avoid failure. Entrepreneurs often have to take risks with their career and their money.
When they decide to create a new business. 
This happens because entrepreneurs usually do not have time to start a Company and have a regular job at the same time. If the startup does not succeed, they often have to find regular employment again, which could be difficult. Entrepreneurs also often invest some or all of their personal savings in their startup. In addition, because they often do not have another job, they do not have much money for daily living expenses. Because it can often take a few years for a startup to make money, this situation can be very stressful and risky, particularly in the startup does not succeed in the end. If an entrepreneur or other loved ones to support, this stress can be even worse. Now let’s look at the causes of failure.

Experienced entrepreneurs work and plan to avoid failure, but there are several common reasons for failure that the entrepreneur can not control. Let’s look at three important ones:

  1. The economy
  2. Customer loyalty
  3. Competition


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We will look at each of these now. An economic crisis can cause failure for an entrepreneur. Customers may no longer have money to buy products. The
entrepreneur will sell many fewer products than expected and the business might fail. An example of this is what happened in Greece for several years. Greece had an economic crisis, many people lost their jobs or had their wages or pensions reduced. They no longer had money to buy products and many businesses failed. Customer loyalty may also cause failure because target market . Customers are not always loyal. What does this mean? 
If customer is loyal, they buy the same product all or most of the time. When a customer buys toothpaste it is always the same product. When a customer is not loyal, they buy a different product instead. Why do they do this? One reason is customer are not sure what they want. So they try many products to find out. Another reason is other competitors come into the market with a new product, with a different style or lower price. The customer likes this style and price better. Entrepreneurs must always be aware of the risks of competitors. Economic changes. Changing customer loyalty, and competition. These can all cause a new business to fail. An entrepreneur has no direct control over these. 


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What can an entrepreneur do to decrease failure and increase success? There are three important steps that an entrepreneur should take. These are part of a long and detailed planning process. They are do market research, write a business plan, attract investors and get financial support. 

Let’s briefly look at each of these now. An experienced entrepreneur does market
research. What is market research? It is the collection and study of information about what products people prefer to buy. Entrepreneurs may think that their product will be successful. 
But they may not know if people in their target market will actually buy it. Market research helps the entrepreneur understand if the new product presents an opportunity. Will the target market want or need the new product? And will they pay for it? We will discuss market research in more detail. An experienced entrepreneur also writes a business plan. Once entrepreneurs have done market research to show that they have an opportunity, they need to do more research and planning for these important parts of their startup, operations, marketing and finance. All of this will be written in a business plan.


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The operations part of the business plan will discuss how to manufacture or distribute the products sold. The marketing section of the business plan will identify the target market and the best way to communicate with them. It will also
identify the competitors in the market. The finance section will discuss the cost to make or distribute the product and if these costs may change in the future. It will discuss how much money is needed to start and continue the business. 
This information will be supported by sales predictions. How many products will be sold in year one? Year two? Year three? Year four? and year five? We will discuss writing a business plan in more detail. Once entrepreneurs have written a business plan, they can use this to do the last important step, attract investors and get financial support. Most entrepreneurs do not have enough money to start and continue their own businesses. They will need funding from outside sources.


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Entrepreneurs need to understand their funding options, and how to present their new product and start up ideas to other people. We will discuss attracting
investors and getting financial support in more detail. 
We have reviewed a number of reasons why new products and new businesses fail. Market research, writing a business plan and getting financial support are important steps to avoiding failure. But there will always be risks for entrepreneurs and their businesses.





Language Focus – Comparative Structures

We will introduce comparative language, which help people describe  similarities and differences between things. Entrepreneurs and business people often use comparative language. For example, they may use comparative language to explain the similarities and the differences between their new product and a competitor’s product. We discussed the similarities  and the differences between an entrepreneurs and small business owner. We will use that comparison again to practice this language focus. Before we begin, use this quick comprehension check to remember the common business skills, strengths and styles of small business owners and entrepreneurs. Let’s review the answers to the comprehensions check.

Pay attention to the sample comparative structures that we use to compare the information in each sentence. Let’s begin. Small business owners focus on maintaining the success and profitability of their business, while entrepreneurs focus in rapid growth and high profitability. Small businesses often begin as start ups just as entrepreneurs ventures do. Both small business owners often own just one business over their careers, entrepreneurs may own several different businesses at a time and over their careers.

There are three kinds of Comparative structure: Sentence Connectors, Subordinating Conjunctions and Correlative Conjunctions. We will review each kind with examples. First, Sentence Connector. Sentence Connector or Conjunctive Adverbs join two Independent Clauses. Independence Clause contain a Subject and a Verb or Verb phrase. Independence Clause are complete sentence. Here are some examples. Amy is always on time is an independent clause because it has a subject and a verb phrase. Her sister is not is also an Independent Clause because it also has a Subject and a Verb phrase. We can use a sentence connector to join there two independent clauses. Amy is always on time, however, her sister is not. Common sentence connectors used to discuss differences are however, in contrast and on the other hand. Common sentence connector used to discuss similarities are similarly, likewise and at the same time.

Notice that you can use a semicolon or a period at the end of the first Independence Clause. There, start the next Independent Clause with a sentence connector. Follow it with a comma and then the next Independent Clause. Now, do a Comprehension check to practice.

Another comparative structure is subordinating conjunctions which we can also use to discuss the similarities and differences between two things. For example, Amy is always on time while her sister is not. While a subordinating conjunction joins in two clause it creates a main clause, Amy is always on time, adn a subordinate clause, while her sister is not.

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A subordinate clause is a dependent clause or an incomplete thought. A dependent clause can not stand alone. It is not a complete sentence. For example, her sister is not, is an incomplete thought and does not mean anything on it’s own. The information in the dependent clause is often less important than the information in the Independent Clause. Common subordinating conjunctions used for discussing differences are whereas and while. A common subordinating conjunction used for discussing a similarity is, just as.

Notice that there are two ways to structure sentences containing subordinating conjunctions. The main clause can come first, or the subordinate clause can come first. When the sentence starts with the subordinate clause, use a comma between the two clauses. When the sentence starts with the main clause no comma is needed. Practice your knowledge of coordinating conjunctions in the following comprehension check.

The last comparative structure we will review in this is correlative conjunctions, which are useful for discussing similarities. There is an example of correlative conjunction used to discuss two things that are true. Both Amy and her brother are always on time.

The correlative conjunctions in that sentence are “both” and  “and”. There is an example of correlative conjunctions used to discuss two things that are not true. Neither Amy nor her brother are late for meetings. The correlative conjunctions in that sentence are “neither” and “nor”. Look at these examples were correlative conjunctions are used to joined two nouns. Notice that the verb in the sentence must agree with the second noun in the pair. Here’s one more comprehension check to practice correlative conjunctions.

We have completed our review of these kinds of comparative structures. Sentence Connectors, Subordinate Conjunctions and Correlative Conjunctions.

This is a discussion board post where you will compare and contrast selling goods to selling services. That means you should use comparative structures to discuss both the similarities and the differences between selling goods and selling services. 


Quiz – Check your understanding “Correlative Connectors & Sentence Connectors”

1. Every year computer are .................... faster .................... cheaper.

a. Not only .................... but also ....................

b. Neither .....................nor .......................

2. She was    hired to cut costs;.................... she is being asked to increase production.

Choose the best connector for the sentence from the choices below:

a. At the same time

b. While

c. However

3. Some examples or services include .................... a taxi service .................... tutoring

a. Both .................... and ..................

b. Neither .................... nor ....................

4. ....................it is possible to have good coffee or cheap coffee, it usually is impossible to have good, cheap coffee.

a. While

b. At the same time

c. In contrast

5. PNK taxi service was founded to help women; ....................; pink ladies taxi service also tries to help women

a. However

b. While

c. Similarly 

6. Goods are mostly tangible, meaning you can see or touch them, ....................., services are mostly intangible.

Choose the best connector for the sentence from the choices below:

a. In contrast

b. At the same time

c. Similarly


Source: Cousera

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