Transcript Sentence Variety

Sentence Variety
Sentence Variety
Please practice utilizing these
sentence patterns throughout the
semester. Good sentence variety
keeps writing from becoming dull.
Understanding these sentence
patterns will improve your ability to
communicate.
Sentence Variety
#1 Simple Sentence
Spock drank a Pepsi.
Carlos bought a diamond ring for
his lovely wife Esperanza.
Sentence Variety
Both of the sentences are simple
sentences because they each only
have one clause. The second may
have more adjectives and adverbs, but
it is still a simple sentence.
Sub
Verb
Art
Adj
Do/ noun prep
PN
Carlos bought a diamond ring for his
Adv
Adj
Ido / Proper Noun
lovely wife Esperanza.
Sentence Variety
#2 Compound Subject / Verb / Object
Kirk and Spock drank Pepsi.
Spock slurped and gulped his drink.
Spock drank Pepsi and Diet Pepsi.
Note: There are no commas in these
sentences
Sentence Variety
Sentences utilizing a compound
subject, verb, or object are still simple
sentences because they only have one
clause. A clause is a phrase that
contains both a subject and a verb.
It is possible to have a sentence that
has a compound subject, verb, and
object.
Kirk and Spock ate and drank pizza and Pepsi.
Sentence Variety
Please don’t confuse a sentence with a
compound verb with a compound sentence.
Compound Verb
Spock drank Pepsi and belched loudly.
Compound Sentence
Spock drank Pepsi, and he belched loudly.
A compound sentence must have a subject on both
sides of the coordinating conjunction.
Sentence Variety
#3 Compound Sentence
A compound sentence uses one of the
seven coordinating conjunctions (and,
but, or, for, nor, so, yet) and connects
two complete simple sentences. Each
half of the sentence is equally important
to the meaning of the sentence. The
coordinating conjunction must be
proceeded by a comma.
Sentence Variety
The seven coordinating conjunctions
are also known as BY AN OFS words.
If These words are written out, the first
letter of each one spells BY AN OFS.
But
Yet
And
Nor
Or
For
So
Sentence Variety
sub
verb
art
obj
C.C. Sub
verb
obj.
Spock drank a Pepsi, and he enjoyed it.
This is a compound sentence because
it has a complete sentence on both
sides of the coordinating conjunction,
the sentences make sense together,
and the coordinating conjunction makes
sense with the sentences.
Sentence Variety
Spock drank a Pepsi, or he enjoyed it.
Spock drank a Pepsi, nor he enjoyed it.
These are examples of faulty
coordination since the coordinating
conjunction does not make sense with
the sentences it is connecting.
Sentence Variety
Spock drank a Pepsi, so computers hate people
who have poor usage skills.
This is another example of faulty
coordination because these two
sentences don’t make any logical
sense together.
Sentence Variety
#4 Complex Sentence
Complex sentences consist of a
dependent clause and an independent
clause. The independent clause is the
important part of the sentence. The
subordinate clause is only additional
information. There are many varieties
of this sentence. A comma separates
the dependent clause from the
independent clause when the
dependant clause precedes (comes
before) the independent clause.
Sentence Variety
Dependent clauses are created by
placing either a subordinating word or a
relative pronoun in front of a sentence.
independent clause
Spock drank a Pepsi.
dependent clause
When Spock drank a Pepsi…
Sentence Variety
Common subordinating words include:
as
because
If
after
since provided
before
where
unless whether
while
once
when although
so that until
though whenever
than
as if
Common relative pronouns include:
which what
who
that
whom whatever
whoever
Sentence Variety
When Spock drank a Pepsi…
This is a dependent clause because it
doesn’t express a complete thought
and must rely upon an independent
clause to give it meaning. When Spock
drank a Pepsi, what happened?
Sentence Variety
dependent clause
independent clause
When Spock drank a Pepsi, he slapped Mr. Sulu.
When the dependent clause comes
first, separate the clauses with a
comma.
Independent clause
dependent clause
Spock drank a Pepsi when he slapped Mr. Sulu.
When the independent clause comes
first, no comma is necessary.
Sentence Variety
#5 Prepositional Phrase
A prepositional phrase begins with a
preposition and ends with an object. A
preposition is a word with some
meaning of position, time, or other
abstract relation. Words like above,
below, near, far, from, of, to, after,
before, and until are all prepositions.
Sentence Variety
After lunch, the Universe exploded.
In this example, after is the preposition,
and lunch is the object of the
preposition. The noun or pronoun that
follows the preposition is object of the
preposition that makes up the
prepositional phrase.
Sentence Variety
#6 Appositive
An appositive renames a noun in a
sentence, usually the subject of the
sentence. This helps to make the
significance of the noun more clear. An
appositive is usually separated from the
sentence by a comma.
A monster-dog, a two-hundred pound
German Shepherd, stole my lunch.
Sentence Variety
Please practice with these sentence
patterns whenever writing a essay.
Understanding how and when to use
these types of sentences will improve
the coherence of your writing.
Sentence Variety
The End