8. We had done the best we could and it obviously wasn't my fault because Jamie had called it the wrong way and Sally realized that and it obviously wasn't my fault and, as far as I could tell, the observers were certain since Sally was a loser and Sally realized that.
1. We had done the best we could. 2. We had done the best we could and it obviously wasn't my fault. 3. We had done the best we could and it obviously wasn't my fault because Jamie had called it the wrong way.
6. We had done the best we could and it obviously wasn't my fault because Jamie had called it the wrong way and Sally realized that and it obviously wasn't my fault and, as far as I could tell, the observers were certain.
Any Limit?
One of the properties of language is its unboundedness. Consider how long the longest English sentence can be. Is there an absolute limit – a point beyond which a string of words ceases to be English simply because it is too long?
Short vs. Long English Sentences • Short sentence -- a sentence of 16 words maximum. • Long sentence -- a sentence of over 16 words (?) and even more.
4. We had done the best we could and it obviously wasn't my fault because Jamie had called it the wrong way and Sally realized that.
5. We had done the best we could and it obviously wasn't my fault because Jamie had called it the wrong way and Sally realized that and it obviously wasn't my fault.
7. We had done the best we could and it obviously wasn't my fault because Jamie had called it the wrong way and Sally realized that and it obviously wasn't my fault and, as far as I could tell, the observers were certain since Sally was a loser.
• Literature • Science and technology • Other formal writings
Translation Techniques • Basic techniques for the students • Other translating techniques
10. We had done the best we could and it obviously wasn't my fault because Jamie had called it the wrong way and Sally realized that and it obviously wasn't my fault and, as far as I could tell, the observers were certain since Sally was a loser and Sally realized that so Seymour gave up because Fred lost his balance. the sentence below can be repeatedly extended by adding more phrases to the end of it. The result may be clumsy or redundant, but still, arguably, a sentence of English:
11. We had done the best we could and it obviously wasn't my fault because Jamie had called it the wrong way and Sally realized that and it obviously wasn't my fault and, as far as I could tell, the observers were certain since Sally was a loser and Sally realized that so Seymour gave up because Fred lost his balance and I am sure Gretchen knew why.
13. We had done the best we could and it obviously wasn't my fault because Jamie had called it the wrong way and Sally realized that and it obviously wasn't my fault and, as far as I could tell, the observers were certain since Sally was a loser and Sally realized that so Seymour gave up because Fred lost his balance and I am sure Gretchen knew why and Sally realized that since Sally was a loser.
International readers often read slowly, one word at a time. Therefore their short-term memory is strained by long sentences. (By contrast, native English speakers usually read in phrases)
16. We had done the best we could …because Jamie had called it the wrong way as Jamie explained to Gretchen over a hundred times . …
Frequent Use of Long English Sentences
Long English Sentences and Their Translation
• Short vs. Long English Sentences • Any Limit? • Frequent Use of Long English Sentences • Translation Techniques • Case Study
14. We had done the best we could … since Sally was a loser and Seymour certainly noted that. 15. We had done the best we could … and Seymour certainly noted that because Jamie had called it the wrong way.
12. We had done the best we could and it obviously wasn't my fault because Jamie had called it the wrong way and Sally realized that and it obviously wasn't my fault and, as far as I could tell, the observers were certain since Sally was a loser and Sally realized that so Seymour gave up because Fred lost his balance and I am sure Gretchen knew why and Sally realized that.
Short English sentences give international readers confidence and minimize the risk of crosscultural misunderstandings.