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 AdvAdjIdo / 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 artobj 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: asbecauseIfafter sinceprovidedbeforewhere unlesswhetherwhileonce whenalthoughso thatuntil thoughwheneverthanas if Common relative pronouns include: whichwhatwho that whomwhateverwhoever

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 clauseindependent clause When Spock drank a Pepsi, he slapped Mr. Sulu. When the dependent clause comes first, separate the clauses with a comma. Independent clausedependent 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