Download Name Date ____ Basic Writing Skills

Name ___________________ Date ____ Basic Writing Skills -- Jordan
Quiz Two Preparation Sheet B
More Student Sentences from Business Letters &
Additional Punctuation Rules (see expl. page two)
Subordinating Conjunctions
before—because—if—
when—after—etc.
The Complex Sentence (CX): (might or might not have a comma or commas)
sc S + V, S + V.
S + V sc S + V.
S [S + V] + V.
S + V [S + V]. etc.
Before I enrolled at MCC, I worked for a local construction company.
I exceed minimum qualifications because I have ten years of experience.
The qualifications that you mention in your ad are all listed on my résumé.
I know what is required of customer service representatives.
I have the qualifications that the job you have advertised requires.
S V
S [ S + V--------V
]
V
Instructions:
1. I am applying for the receptionist position which was advertised on your company home page.
2. I am applying for the receptionist position advertised on your company home page.
3. I am looking for a part-time job that is compatible with my college class schedule.
4. I am looking for a part-time job compatible with my college class schedule.
5. I have all of the mechanical skills that are listed in the advertisement for the job with your company.
6. I have all of the mechanical skills listed in the advertisement for the job with your company.
7. I am very familiar with the highly popular games which have been designed by your company.
8. I am very familiar with the highly popular games designed by your company.
9. I am very accustomed to working in environments that are high stress.
10. I am very accustomed to working in high stress environments.
11. My last full-time job, which I had to resign from before I moved to the USA, was very similar to
the secretarial position that you have available on weekday afternoons.
12. My last full-time job, which I had to resign from before moving to the USA, was very similar to
the secretarial position you have available on weekday afternoons.
13. Your company’s part-time telephone consumer survey job, which you have advertised as
suitable for college students or stay-at-home mothers, offers ideal working conditions for a
person in my position.
14. Your company’s part-time telephone consumer survey job, advertised as suitable for college
students or stay-at-home mothers, offers ideal working conditions for a person in my position.
081QuizTwoPrepSheetB.S12
An adjective is a word that modifies or describes a noun or pronoun.
Adjective locations are after the verb “to be” and before nouns.
I am very good with technology.
S+V
adj.
The job description asks for a friendly person.
adj.
Punctuation Rules (regarding
items in a series and setting off
non-essential adjective clauses
and phrases)
You are already familiar with the use of commas after introductory phrases, dependent clauses, and
with adjectives in a series after the verb “to be” or before a noun.
I am responsible, hard-working, and punctual. If you need a polite, friendly, and bilingual
cashier-receptionist, I am the person for the job.
Not only one-word adjectives but also adjective clauses (and phrases) can describe nouns.
An adjective clause—also called an adjectival or relative clause—will meet three requirements:



First, it will contain a subject and verb.
Next, it will begin with a relative pronoun [who, whom, whose, that, or which] or a
relative adverb [when, where, or why].
Finally, it will function as an adjective, answering the questions What kind? How many? or
Which one? (an adjective phrase will also answer one of these questions but won’t have S + V)
If the adjective clause is non-essential, it will be set off from the noun it follows with commas.
EX: I am applying for the cashier position that you advertised on Craig’s list February 15th.
noun adjective clause modifying the noun “position”
An adjective clause that is essential to the full meaning of the sentence needs no commas.
My employment experience, which is explained in detail on my résumé, includes working as a
------Subject--------(noun)---Verb
cashier and a receptionist.
Remember the sentence that had so many commas in the article about cover letters?
N
The basic structure of the sentence is as follows.
Kyle Krzmarzick says [that] a cover letter should be [three things]. (He says something. = S+V+O)
Subject + V + Object (in this case a dependent clause because it has S + V)
The fully expanded sentence is a complex sentence with many dependent clauses and phrases.
[who is a]
[which is]
Kyle Krzmarzick, Minneapolis-based area manager for CDI Professional Services, a company that
S
offers engineering, IT and professional staffing solutions for Fortune 500 clients, says a cover letter
V
should be to the point, explain the reason for applying, and ask the hiring manager to please review
the document that really matters—the résumé. [=which is the résumé]
N
081QuizTwoPrepSheetB.S12