Sentence Variety By Alfred Taylor 1www.booksbyalfredtaylor.com

Sentence Variety Please practice utilizing these ten 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 John fought crime. John bought a diamond ring for his lovely wife Jeanette.

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 John bought a diamond ring for his AdjAdjIdo / Proper Noun lovely wife Jeanette.

Sentence Variety #2 Compound Subject / Verb / Object A compound subject, verb, or object sentence has two subjects, two verbs, or two objects. John and Jeanette are married. Jeanette danced and sang at her wedding. She danced the tango and the waltz. 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. John and Jeanette rescued and protected humans and androids.

Sentence Variety Please don’t confuse a sentence with a compound verb with a compound sentence. Compound Verb John arrested criminals and fought crime. Compound Sentence John arrested criminals, and he fought crime. 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 John fought crime; he enjoyed it. These two sentences seem to be completely unrelated when joined with a semicolon. John fought crime, so he enjoyed it. 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. John fought crime, for he enjoyed it. John fought crime, yet he enjoyed it. John fought crime, but he enjoyed it. John fought crime, and he enjoyed it. John fought crime, so he enjoyed it.

Sentence Variety sub verb obj. C.C. Subverb obj. John fought crime, 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 John fought crime, or he enjoyed it. John fought crime, 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 John fought crime, 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 Amalthea. It is a good day to read a book.

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 hated corruption. 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 An infinitive phrase consists of “to” plus a verb. To go into space was John’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 #7 Complex Sentence Complex sentences consist of a dependent clause and an independent clause. The independent clause is the important part of the sentence. The dependent 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 John fought crime. dependent clause When John fought crime.

Sentence Variety Common subordinating words include: asbecauseIfafter sinceprovidedbeforewhere unlesswhetherwhileonce whenalthoughso thatuntil thoughwheneverthanas if

Sentence Variety When John fought crime. 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 John fought crime, what happened?

Sentence Variety dependent clauseindependent clause When John fought crime, he almost died. When the dependent clause comes first, separate the clauses with a comma. Independent clausedependent clause John almost died when he fought crime. 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, John was captured by thugs. 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. A prepositional phrase may not be the subject or verb of a sentence.

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. John was captured by thugs; however, he escaped with Jeanette.

Sentence Variety Common conjunctive adverbs include words such as: accordingly, also, anyway, besides, certainly, consequently, finally, furthermore, hence, however, incidentally, likewise, meanwhile, moreover, therefore.

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 #10 Present Participle Phrase A present participle is a word that ends in “ing” such as thinking, running, and talking. When a present participle is followed by a noun or pronoun, it becomes a present participle phrase.

Sentence Variety A present participle phrase behaves very much like a prepositional phrase. It can’t be the subject or verb of a sentence. Trying to impress a girl, John dodged a bullet.

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