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The Fundamentals of
Sentence Writing
Simple Sentence:
A sentence that has one independent clause
John ran home.
John ran home and ate dinner.
John and I ran home.
John and I ran home and ate dinner.
Independent Clause:
A group of words that
1. makes a complete statement
2. has a subject (S) and a verb (V).
The Fundamentals of
Sentence Writing
5 Requirements of ANY Sentence
•
Capital Letters Used Properly
–
•
Punctuation Used Properly *
–
•
•
•
Check your comma usage!
Has a Named Subject *
Has a Named Verb *
Makes sense
–
*
Beginning of each sentence and proper nouns
Read the sentence aloud and ask yourself, “Does this make sense?”
Check your sentence structure to ensure it follows the appropriate format and
rules
The Fundamentals of
Sentence Writing
The SUBJECT of a Sentence:
The Subject is the
PERSON
PLACE
THING
QUALITY
Nouns
or
IDEA
that the sentence is about.
John went for a walk.
PERSON
Towns are quiet after snowfalls.
PLACE
Eggs rolled off the counter.
THINGS
Silence is golden.
QUALITY
Peace is at hand.
IDEA
The Fundamentals of
Sentence Writing
The VERB of a Sentence:
The Verb of a sentence is a word that shows the action or state of
being of the subject of the sentence.
Sally sneezed.
John thinks.
Jesse is my friend.
PHYSICAL ACTION
MENTAL ACTION
STATE OF BEING
There are also helping verbs and linking verbs. Helping verbs “help”
show the action of the sentence.
The pig has been eating all day long.
Linking verbs “link” or connect the subject of a sentence to a description
of itself.
She is talented in her role as manager.
Linking & helping verbs will often look the same, but they act differently.
The Fundamentals of
Sentence Writing
The VERB of a Sentence:
The Verb of a sentence is a word that shows the action or state of
being of the subject of the sentence.
Sally sneezed.
John thinks.
Jesse is my friend.
PHYSICAL ACTION
MENTAL ACTION
STATE OF BEING
There are also helping verbs and linking verbs. Helping verbs “help”
show the action of the sentence.
The pig has been eating all day long.
Linking verbs “link” or connect the subject of a sentence to a description
of itself.
She is talented in her role as manager.
Linking & helping verbs will often look the same, but they act differently.
The Fundamentals of
Sentence Writing
The SUBJECT-VERB Identification Procedure:
STEP ONE: Look for the action or state-of-being word to find the verb.
Kevin reported the theft.
STEP TWO: Ask yourself, “Who or what is
Paula is an astronaut.
(VERB)
?
The Fundamentals of
Sentence Writing
SIMPLE Sentences can have the following combinations:
SV
1 Subject and 1 Verb
John ran home.
SVV
1 Subject and 2 Verbs
John ran home and ate dinner.
SSV
2 Subjects and 1 Verb
John and I ran home.
SSVV
2 Subjects and 2 Verbs
John and I ran home and ate dinner.
The Fundamentals of
Sentence Writing
COMPOUND Sentences have two or more independent ( I ) clauses
that are joined together by either a coordinating conjunction (, c )
or a semi-colon ( ; ).
I, cI
Baseball is my favorite sport to watch, but football is my favorite sport to
play.
I;I
Susan loves to swim; her brother likes to dive.
, for
, but
, and
, or
, nor
, yet
, so
The Fundamentals of
Sentence Writing
COMPLEX SENTENCES have one independent clause ( I ) and one
or more dependent clauses ( d ) and are sometimes joined together
by a subordinating conjunction.
Dependent Clause: A dependent clause is a group of words with a
subject and a verb that cannot stand alone.
Subordinating Conjunction: Words that show the relationship of the
dependent clause to the independent clause.
After
Because
Since
While
Although
Before
Until
Whenever
As
Once
When
The Fundamentals of
Sentence Writing
Examples of COMPLEX SENTENCES
There are three different possible sequences for Complex Sentences
Independent Clause 1st
I D (Comma not needed)
You will be sleeping when I get to Phoenix.
Dependent Clause 1st
D, I
When I get to Phoenix, you will be sleeping.
Ultimately, you will want to use a complex sentence when you have two
ideas that are related to one another and you want to show their
relationship.
The Fundamentals of
Sentence Writing
COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCES
A compound-complex sentence has two or more independent clauses
and at least one dependent clause.
Dependent Clause 1st
D, I, c I
When I get home, I will go to sleep and you will clean the house.
D, I; I
When I get home, I will go to bed; you will clean the house.
Dependent Clause 2nd
I D, c I
I will go to bed when I get home, and you will clean the house.
I D; I
I will go to bed when I get home; you will clean the house.
Dependent Clause 3rd
I, c I D
You will clean the house and I will go to bed when I get home.
I;ID