Transcript Sentence Pattern Review

Sentence Pattern Review
From The Art of Styling Sentences
by Ann Longknife and K.D.
Sullivan
Pattern 1
• Compound Sentence: Semicolon, no
conjunction (two short, related sentences
now joined)
• S V
;
S
V.
– Some people dream of being something;
others stay awake and are.
Variations 1A, 1B, & 1C
• Pattern 1A:
– SV
; however,
S
V.
• She ate hamburgers everyday; however, she never seemed
to gain weight.
• Pattern 1B:
– SV;
S
V, and S
V.
– SV, but SV;
S
V.
• The shirt was the right color; it fit, and it was cheap.
• Pattern 1C;
– SV;
S
V;
S
V.
• I went to the fair; Joseph met me there; Larry couldn’t make
it.
Pattern 2
• Compound Sentence with Elliptical
Construction (comma indicates the omitted
verb)
• S V
DO or SC; S ,
DO or SC.
– We like chocolate candies; Mike, gummy
bears.
Pattern 3
• Compound Sentence with Explanatory
Statement (independent clauses separated by a
colon)
• General Statement (idea): specific statement
(example).
• S V
:
S
V.
– Remember Yogi Berra’s advice: it ain’t over till it’s
over.
Pattern 4
• A Series without a Conjunction (a series in
any place in the sentence)
• A, B, C
– The U.S. has a government of the people, by
the people, for the people.
Variation 4A
• A or B or C. (in any place in the sentence)
• A and B and C. (in any place in the
sentence)
– Looking down from the Empire State Building,
Jeannie felt thrilled and amazed and scared.
Pattern 5
• A Series of Balanced Pairs
• A and B, C and D, E and F. (may be in any
part of the sentence)
– Antony and Cleopatra, Romeo and Juliet,
Tristan and Isolde, Lancelot and Guinevere
were all famous lovers in literature.
Appositive
• Definition: noun, pronoun, or phrase
placed next to another noun or pronoun to
identify, rename, or explain it
– Her greatest attribute, charm, was not
enough.
– Some villagers, the old-timers, prefer the dirt
roads.
– Amethyst, a purple birthstone, is the gem for
February.
– Eve wore high boots, the latest fad.
Pattern 6
• An Introductory Series of Appositives (with
a dash and a summarizing subject)
• Appositive, appositive, appositive—
summary word S V.
– Gluttony, lust, envy—which is the worst sin?
Pattern 7
• An Internal Series of Appositives or
Modifiers (enclosed by a pair of dashes or
parentheses)
• S —or ( appositive, appositive, appositive —or )
V.
– The basic writing skills (good vocabulary, knowledge of
grammar, sense of style) can be learned by almost everyone.
Pattern 8
• Dependent Clauses in a Pair or in a Series
(at beginning or end of sentence)
• If…, if…, if…, then S V.
• When…, when…, when…, S
• S V
that…, that…., that…
V.
– With no money and with no time, she had to
refuse the vacation package.
Pattern 9
• Repetition of a key term (dash or comma before
repetition)
• S V
key term —or , repeated key term.
• Careful: the repetition should NOT be a clause
– She suddenly felt filled with joy—a joy she could not
explain but that she gladly embraced.
Variation 9A
• Same word repeated in parallel structure
• S V
repeated key word in same position of
the sentence.
– He has known her for many years, before she went to
college, before she was a star, before she won the
Oscar.
– This government is of the people, by the people, and
for the people.
Pattern 10
• Emphatic Appositive at End, after a Colon
• S V word: the appositive (the second
naming).
– Her luggage was filled with oddities: a small
lamp, staplers, and darts.
Variation 10A
S
V word — the appositive.
– There is a new drug dealer in town—the
security guard.