Transcript Sentence Variety - Grafton Public Schools

Sentence Variety
By
Alfred Taylor
Sentence Variety
Please practice utilizing these nine
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.
Alfred bought a diamond ring for
his lovely wife Thuy.
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
Alfred bought a diamond ring for his
Adv
Adj
Ido / Proper Noun
lovely wife Thuy.
Sentence Variety
#2 Compound Subject / Verb / Object
A compound sentence has two subjects
or two verbs or both.
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 or Coordinate 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 FONYBAS words. If
These words are written out, the first
letter of each one spells FONYBAS.
For
Or
Nor
Yet
But
And
So
Sentence Variety
Joining two simple sentences together
with a semicolon does not create a
strong sentence; however, it does
create a sentence that is awkward and
difficult to understand. This type of
sentence may have worked in High
School, but college instructors expect
well developed sentences.
I hate semicolons!
Sentence Variety
The chicken got well; we had salad.
These two sentences seem to be
completely unrelated when joined with
a semicolon.
The chicken got well, so we had salad.
When joined with a coordinating
conjunction, the sentence’s meaning is
more clear.
Sentence Variety
Each time the coordinating conjunction
is changed the meaning also changes.
The chicken got well, for we had salad.
The chicken got well, yet we had salad.
The chicken got well, but we had salad.
The chicken got well, and we had salad.
The chicken got well, so we had salad.
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 Expletive Sentence
An expletive construction consists of
“there” or “it” plus a form of the verb
“be.”
There was a man from Orlando.
It is a good day to study English.
Sentence Variety
Forms of “Be”
I am
You are
He/She/It Is
I was
You were
He/She/It was
I will be
We/They are
We/They will be
I/You/They have been
Sentence Variety
Expletive sentences should be used
sparingly. They tend to be wordy and
they have weak subjects and verbs.
There was a man who drank Pepsi.
The subject of this sentence is “there,”
and the verb is “was.” Both of these
are weak words. Avoid using “be”
verbs whenever possible.
Sentence Variety
#5 Infinitive phrase
An infinitive phrase consists of “To” plus
a verb.
To go into space was Captain Kirk’s Dream.
If a word interrupts the infinitive phrase,
it is called a split infinitive.
To boldly go where no man has gone before.
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
There are two types of appositives,
essential or restrictive and nonessential
or nonrestrictive.
A nonrestrictive appositive may be
removed from the sentence without
changing the meaning of the sentence.
To indicate that it can be removed, it is
set apart with commas.
Sentence Variety
If a restrictive or essential appositive is
removed, the meaning of the sentence
will change. Since a restrictive
appositive is essential to the meaning
of the sentence, it is not separated by
commas.
Sentence Variety
Students who use debit cards eat more fast food.
Missy a lazy dog chased three parked cars.
Cars with bad spark plugs get poor gas mileage.
Anna a good student studied English all night.
Sentence Variety
Students who use debit cards eat more fast food.
Restrictive or Essential
Missy a lazy dog chased three parked cars.
Nonrestrictive or Nonessential
Cars with bad spark plugs get poor gas mileage.
Restrictive or Essential
Anna a good student studied English all night.
Nonrestrictive or Nonessential
Sentence Variety
We will discuss restrictive and
nonrestrictive modifiers in greater detail
later in the semester.
Sentence Variety
#7 Subordinate or 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 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
#8 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
#9 Conjunctive Adverb
Two independent clauses joined by a
conjunctive adverb. Each independent
clause must be a sentence with a
subject and a verb. A semicolon
precedes the conjunctive adverb and a
comma follows it.
We saw a Star Trek double feature; hence,we
were labeled “Trekies” by our coworkers.
Sentence Variety
Common Conjunctive Adverbs
Accordingly
Also
Anyway
Besides
Certainly
Consequently
Finally
Furthermore
Hence
However
Incidentally
Indeed
Instead
Likewise
Meanwhile
Moreover
Nevertheless
Sentence Variety
A writer should only use a conjunctive
adverb when she wants to get her
reader’s attention. Conjunctive adverbs
force the reader to pause and pay
attention to the sentence; however, if
conjunctive adverbs are overused, they
lose their impact upon the reader.
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