1. BBI2421 General Writing Skills
Week 2:
Simple Sentence
Subject-Verb Agreement
Fragment

2. Phrase A group of related words: without a subject and a verb.
which makes sense but not complete sense.
e.g.:
1) The sun rises in the east. 2) Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. 3) She wore a hat with blue trimming. 4) The accident on the bridge was not serious. 5) The girl with red hair is an artist.
(Taken from

3. Clause A group of related words: containing a subject and a verb.
expresses complete/incomplete thought
e.g.:
She snores.  a sentence (independent)
When she sleeps  not a sentence (dependent)
*You will learn more about clauses in Week 4!

4. Sentence A group of words that:
contains at least one subject and one verb.
E.g.: Amni cries.
My car is blue in colour.
b) expresses a complete thought.
E.g.: Ammar is sending an .

5. Types of Sentence Simple Sentences Compound Sentences
Complex Sentences

6. Simple Sentences Independent clause One subject-verb pair
Expresses a complete thought
One subject-verb pair
Subject (S): (noun or pronoun)
Verb (V): action or condition (eg. Is, are, seem etc.)
Sentence formula:
1) SV
2) SSV
3) SVV
4) SSVV

7. Simple Sentences (2) 1) SV 2) SSV E.g.:
Rita bit into the hard doughnut.
The Star War movies were international hits.
2) SSV
Alif and Ammar play football every afternoon.
Young people and adults enjoyed the movie.

8. Simple Sentences (3) 3) SVV 4) SSVV E.g.:
Alya goes to the library to study everyday.
The film entertained and thrilled audiences everywhere.
4) SSVV
Jane and Jill finished their homework and went to the park.
Luke Skywalker and his friends battled evil and made us laugh at the same time.

9. Simple Sentences (4) Remember! *Simple sentences can be very short
(Alif laughed.)
*Simple sentences can be very long
(The tall, good-looking boy with the curly blond hair laughed uproariously at his best friend’s suggestion.)

10. Subject-Verb Agreement (SVA)
A singular subject demands a singular verb
1. My sister is married.
2. Donald Trump has five children.
3. The sun rises in the east .

11. Subject-Verb Agreement (SVA-2)
A plural subject demands a plural verb
1. They have a lot in common.
2. Japan and Korea were hosts for 2002
FIFA World Cup.
3. Alya and Amni love baking.

12. Some Confusions in SVA 1) there + be verb (is/are/was/were)
 subject follows be verb
E.g.:
There is a student in the hall.
There are three students in the hall.
There was no reason for his action.
There were many reasons for his success.

13. Some Confusions in SVA (2)
2) subject + prepositional phrase (PP)* +
verb
Ignore the noun/pronoun in the PP!
E.g.:
One (of my sisters) is a singer.
The colour (of her eyes) changes when she is angry.
Six kinds (of rice) are available in the grocery store.
*PP: begins with a preposition (of, with, in, at, on) and ends
with a noun or pronoun

14. Some Confusions in SVA (3)
3) Words that are always singular
E.g.:
One (of my brothers) is a musician.
Neither (of my parents) is living.
Much (of my time) is spent in the library.
Each (of my brothers) wants his own car.
Either (of my sisters) is able to baby-sit for you tonight.
Nothing ever happens in my life.
Is anyone home?

15. Some Confusions in SVA (4)
4) Words that are always plural
E.g.:
Both (of my parents) are teachers.
Several (of the teachers) speak my language.
Many (of my friends) work in the library.

16. Some Confusions in SVA (5)
5) singular/plural words
refer to the noun in PP
E.g.:
Some (of the money) was missing. (singular)
Some (of the students) were missing. (plural)
All (of my time) is spent in the library. (singular)
All (of my brothers) are singers. (plural)

17. Some Confusions in SVA (6)
Most (of the ice) was melted. (singular)
Most (of the ice cubes) were melted. (plural)
A lot (of the work) was too easy. (singular)
A lot (of the people) were angry. (plural)
None (of the furniture) is new. (singular)
None (of the apples) are fresh. (plural)

18. Fragment (sentence error)
1 subject + 1 verb = sentence 
E.g.:
Ammar is an architect. (subject: Ammar, verb: is)
1 subject + 0 verb = fragment 
Maryam a teacher.
Correction: Maryam is a teacher.
0 subject + 1 verb = fragment 
Is an architect
Correction: Ammar is an architect.

19. Parallel Structure/Parallelism (sentence error)
“Parallelism is a similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses”
(Taken from

20. Parallel Structure/Parallelism (2)
Parallelism of Words
The crowd clapped, cheered and cry while
watching the show.
(past tense, past tense, present tense)
Let’s compare!
The crowd clapped, cheered and cried while
(past tense, past tense, past tense)

21. Parallel Structure/Parallelism (2)
2) Parallelism of Phrases
Singing a song or poem writing is joyous.
(gerund-article-object of gerund, noun-gerund)
Let’s compare!
Singing a song or writing a poem is joyous.
(gerund-article-object of gerund, gerund-article-object of
gerund)

22. Parallel Structure/Parallelism (3)
3) Parallelism of Clauses
Viva is inexpensive; Myvi is very spacious; and Preve is
powerful.
(noun-verb-adjective, noun-verb-adverb-adjective, noun-
verb-adjective)
Let’s compare!
Viva is inexpensive; Myvi is spacious; and Preve is
(noun-verb-adjective, noun-verb-adjective, noun-