Transcript Sentence Construction

Sentence Construction
There are three main problems that
prevent people from writing
complete, grammatically correct
sentences.
• sentence fragment
• run-on sentence
• lack of subject-verb and pronounreference agreement
What must a complete sentence
have?
Verb
To find the verb,
change the time
expressed in the
sentence (from the
present to the past,
from the past to the
future, and so on).
The word that
changes is the verb.
Subject
To find the subject,
first
look for the verb, and
then ask who or
what is doing the
action for active
verbs. Ask who or
what is acted on for
passive verbs.
Identify Complete Sentences
The student felt nervous before the speech. Thought about
leaving the room.
Many scientists change the world with their discoveries.
Einstein, for example.
Look for danger words in a
sentence
If
When
Because
When these words are used at the
beginning of a phrase, they require a
follow-up phrase to conclude the
thought.
Identify Complete Sentences
It will be a cold day. If it rains.
I don’t want to go to school. Because he is
mean.
I drove for miles this morning. When I lost
my dog.
More Danger Words
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After
Unless
Although
How
As if
When
Because
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Where
Before
While
If
Until
Once
So that
Since
Whether
Revise!
Interviewer: How much rewriting do you do?
Hemingway: It depends. I rewrote the ending
of Farewell to Arms, the last page of it, 39
times before I was satisfied.
Interviewer: Was there some technical
problem there? What was it that had
stumped you?
Hemingway: Getting the words right.
(Ernest Hemingway, "The Art of Fiction," The
Paris Review Interview, 1956)
Revise!
• The main thing I try to do is write as clearly
as I can. I rewrite a good deal to make it
clear.
(E.B. White, The New York Times, August
3, 1942)