The Simple Sentence and You This is an exploration of the simplest of statements, told in a variety of ways.

What is a simple sentence? One subject: what the sentence is about The young Jimmy Cross The country of Vietnam The last of the guns The cold hard feeling of fear S

What is a simple sentence? One verb: what the subject is doing ran tightly gripped may have fired was/is V

What is a simple sentence? Sometimes, one object: what the verb is acting with ran to the headquarters. is an ancient land. may have fired without warning. tightly gripped all the soldiers. VO

What is a simple sentence? …and must be a complete thought. Subject: The young Jimmy Cross Verb: ran Object: to the headquarters. Simple sentence: The young Jimmy Cross ran to the headquarters. S V O

What is a simple sentence? A simple sentence looks like this: SV SVO

What is a simple sentence? More examples… The country of Vietnam is an ancient land. The last of the guns may have fired without warning. The cold hard feeling of fear tightly gripped the soldiers.

What is a simple sentence? Also, you can have compound subjects. Jimmy Cross and Henry Dobbins Vietnam and Cambodia The gun and the fireworks The feelings of fear and doubt SS

What is a simple sentence? …and compound verbs. ran and screamed is and will always be may or may not gripped and paralyzed VV

What is a simple sentence? They still need to be a single thought. Jimmy Cross and Henry Dobbins ran and screamed to the headquarters. Vietnam and Cambodia are and will always be ancient lands. The guns and fireworks may or may not have fired without warning. The feelings of fear and doubt gripped and paralyzed the soldiers.

What is a simple sentence? So a simple sentence can be: SVSVO SSVSVV SSVVO

Quiz Time! Simple sentence: yes or no? 1. The boys ran. 2. And the stars. 3. Fell to the earth.

Quiz Time! Simple sentence: yes or no? 1. The boys ran. 2. And the stars. 3. Fell to the earth. 1. Yes: one subject, one verb 2. No: no verb. It is a fragment. 3. No: no subject. It is a fragment. V S SV

Quiz time: a little bit harder Simple sentence: yes or no? 4. The boys and girls ran. 5. The soldiers ran through the woods and met at the base. 6. The men and women in uniform, so important.

Quiz time: a little bit harder Simple sentence: yes or no? 4. The boys and girls ran. 5. The soldiers ran through the woods and met at the base. 6. The men and women in uniform, so important. 4. Yes: compound subject 5. Yes: compound verb. 6. No: no verb. It is a fragment. SSV SVV SS

Quiz time: Harder still Simple sentence: yes or no? 7.Everyone I knew and their friends showed up and brought their hats. 7. Yes! It has a compound subject and verb. 8. He went to the store; it was closed. 8. No! There are two subjects and two verbs but they are not together, and it is two different ideas. SSVV SVSV

Quiz time: Harder still Simple sentence: yes or no? 7.Everyone I knew and their friends showed up and brought their hats. 7. Yes! It has a compound subject and verb. 8. He went to the store; it was closed. 8. No! There are two subjects and two verbs but they are not together, and it is two different ideas.

Quiz time: The Hardest! Simple sentence: yes or no? 9. The soldiers and civilians were the first to arrive and the last to leave. 9. Yes! It has both a compound subject and a compound verb but is still a single thought. 10. The soldiers of Vietnam were in the weeds, and we knew they were looking for us. 10. No! These are two simple sentences smashed together. SSVV SVSV

Simple Sentences: What’s up? Why use simple sentences? Simple sentences: 1. make short, simple statements. 2. can make points clear and powerful. 3. are great at introducing or summarizing paragraphs and ideas.

Simple Sentences: What’s up? Why use simple sentences? To add power or emphasis To change pace To show actionTo force your reader to ponder Effects:

Practice time Let’s try some on our own. 3. Write a simple sentence with a subject and verb. 4. Write a simple sentence with a compound subject and a verb. 5. Write a simple sentence with a subject and a compound verb. 6. Write a simple sentence with a compound subject and a compound verb. 1. Write a fragment with just a subject. 2. Write a fragment with just a verb.

Practice time Just a few more… 7. Write a simple sentence with a subject and a verb with an object. 8. Write a simple sentence with a subject and a compound verb with objects. 9. Write a simple sentence with a compound subject, a compound verb and with objects.

Simple Sentences: What’s up? Why use fragments? Fragments: 1. are used only for effect. 2. must be used wisely. 3. Should be the exception, not the rule.

Simple Sentences: What’s up? Why use fragments? Effects: To surprise To show actions or sounds To emphasis points To stop the reader or change pace

Simple Sentences: What’s up? What’s the effect? He was dead. In the dirt. The gun fired. Blam. Blam. Crash! He burst through the glass. “Two men enter. One man leaves.”

Here’ s a list of commonly used prepositions: across after among at before between by during for from in into like near off on out opposite over round since through to under until up with