1. Sentences: Lessons 24-29

2.  To make your writing more interesting, you can combine related simple sentences to create compound, complex, or even compound-complex sentences.  Use compound sentences to join two related ideas that are of equal importance.  Use complex sentences to join two related ideas when one idea is more important than the other. Put the more important idea in the independent clause, and the less important idea in the subordinate clause.

3.  Students today worry about the future. However, they still manage to have fun.  Compound: Students today worry about the future, but they still manage to have fun.  Complex: Although students today worry about the future, they still manage to have fun.

4.  Sentences can be expanded by adding details to make them clearer and more interesting. Details are especially important in descriptive writing.  EXAMPLE: The snow fell.  All night, the soft snow fell silently.  Details added to sentences may answer these questions: When? Where? How? How often? To what degree? What kind? Which? How many?

5.  Words, phrases, and clauses that act as adjectives can be restrictive or non-restrictive.  Restrictive elements contain information that is necessary to the meaning of the sentence. They often provide information that helps differentiate the specific subject from the other possible subjects. Restrictive elements are never set off from the rest of the sentence by punctuation.  EXAMPLES:  The instructor who taught me to drive has a perfect driving record.  Singer-songwriters like Leonard Cohen do not come along every day.

6.  Non-restrictive elements are descriptive, but not essential to the meaning of the sentence. No necessary information is lost if they are removed. Non-restrictive elements often describe or rename a subject. Non- restrictive elements are set off from the rest of the sentence by commas, dashes, or parenthesis.  EXAMPLES:  Ms. Baggio, who taught me to drive, has a perfect driving record.  Some singer-songwriters, like Leonard Cohen, write poetry as well.

7.  {Activity} Underline the non-restrictive clause in each sentence that follows, and then add commas where necessary. 1. The polar ice caps which are sheets of ice that cover the North and South Pole are melting. 2. According to scientists, this is partly the result of human activity especially the burning of fossil fuels in cars and factories. 3. This phenomenon which is known as global warming will raise sea levels and cause widespread flooding. 4. Many low-lying areas such as Bangladesh may be covered by water.

8.  Parallel Structure is using the same pattern of words, phrases, or clauses to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance. Sentences with parallel structure sound rhythmic and balanced.  Items in a list or series should be in parallel structure.  EXAMPLE:  I am fond of books, music, and films. (three nouns) OR  I am fond of reading books, listening to music, and watching films. (three phrases) OR  I am fond of books, I am fond of music, and I am fond of music. (three clauses)

9.  In sentences with correlative conjunctions, such as not only... But also, either... Or, neither... Nor, and both... And, the words that follow each of the two conjunctions must be parallel in structure.  EXAMPLE:  Roberta Bondar was not only the first Canadian woman, but also the first neurologist to fly in the space shuttle.

10.  {Activity} Fill in the blank in each sentence with a parallel construction 1. I will never sign your petition___________ 2. Sally is clever not only in math, __________ 3. It will either rain ________________today.

11.  Use parallel structures to link ideas or reinforce an important point in advertisements, persuasive writing, and oral presentations.  EXAMPLE: Vote for honesty. Vote for decency. Vote for me.  {Activity} Rewrite the following passage, using parallel sentence structure to reinforce the main point.  Canada needs a leader who is willing to listen, but also willing to fight for what is right. In addition, our next prime minister should be someone with broad experience; she or he also needs a common touch, though. The leader must be a self-starter – but also a team player.

12.  A sentence fragment is a word or group of words, a phrase, or a subordinate clause that is punctuated as a complete sentence. Sentence fragments can be useful when used intentionally to create a specific effect (e.g., when writing dialogue, in advertising slogans, or as an answer to a question). However, unintentional sentence fragments should be avoided.  Example:  Fragment: Try to exercise. Walking, running, or swimming.  Corrected sentence: Try to exercise. You might enjoy walking, running, or swimming.

13.  A run-on sentence occurs when two or more independent clauses are mistakenly joined together without a co-ordinating conjunction or correct punctuation.  EXAMPLE: The trip was terrible the car broke down twice and we had to have to towed.  A comma splice error occurs when two sentences are separated only by a comma.  EXAMPLE: The trip was terrible, the car broke down twice and we had to have to towed.  There are several ways to correct both run-on sentences and comma splice errors.  Correct: The trip was terrible. The car broke down twice The trip was terrible; the car broke down twice. The trip was terrible because the car broke down twice.