Here is the beginning of a sentence adapted from an article about decontaminating polluted soil that I helped to edit:
"Higher effectiveness of removal of both metals in soil X than in soil Y..."
How do you think the sentence ends?
Maybe like this:
"Higher effectiveness of removal of both metals in soil X than in soil Y...was probably due to the fact that more of the metals were in mobile fractions in soil X than in soil Y."
Or this:
"Higher effectiveness of removal of both metals in soil X than in soil Y...was achieved with the use of a 3:1 ratio of washing agents A and B."
Or this:
"Higher effectiveness of removal of both metals in soil X than in soil Y...was observed when the pH of the washing solution was less than 6."
Or something else? The point is, you don't know what the sentence is about until you get to the verb, and in this sentence, we have 14 words with no verb.
Unlike some other languages, English sentences should have a precise verb near the beginning (e.g. Zeiger 2000, 22-26; Harmon and Gross 2010, 198-211; Schimel 2012, 112-122, 137-140). This makes them easier to understand. English-language sentences that put an imprecise verb at the end are harder to understand and are considered to be in poor style.
The original sentence was like this (with a few minor grammar errors corrected):
