sætningskontrol

Sætningskontrol is a term used in Danish linguistics and language education to describe the rules and processes that govern how sentences are formed and interpreted. It encompasses both the grammatical mechanisms that determine the structure of clauses and the editorial practices used to ensure clarity and correctness in written text. While the exact usage may vary by field, the concept is central to how speakers and writers control complexity, rhythm, and meaning in a sentence.

In linguistics, sætningskontrol often refers to clause-control phenomena, particularly how the subject or other noun phrases determine the form of a following non-finite clause. Examples include subject control, as in “John promised to attend” (John is understood as the subject of “to attend”), and object control, as in “John persuaded Mary to attend” (Mary is the subject of “to attend”). The concept also covers phenomena such as pronoun reference across clauses and agreement between verbs and subjects within sentences.

In writing and language education, sætningskontrol emphasizes sentence length, punctuation, and variety to improve readability. Practices include combining short statements to reduce choppiness, avoiding run-on sentences and sentence fragments, using parallel structure, and applying punctuation guidelines to indicate pauses and connections.

In technology and linguistics, algorithms for grammar checking, parsing, and readability assessment implement aspects of sætningskontrol to evaluate and improve text automatically. It informs style guides and language-learning curricula by providing criteria for sentence formation and coherence.