Sentence Writing Strategies

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Sentence Writing Strategies
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Simple Sentence
One independent clause.
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Clause
Has a subject and a verb
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Independent Clause
Contains a subject and a verb and makes a
complete statementcan stand alone.
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Subject of a Sentence

• The subject is the
• person
• place
• thing Nouns
• quality
• idea
• that the sentence is about.

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Examples of Subjects

• John went for a walk. (Person)
• Towns are quiet after
• snowfalls. (Place)
• Eggs rolled off the counter. (Things)
• Silence is golden. (Quality)
• Peace is at hand. (Idea)

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Verbs

• A verb is a word that shows the
• action
• or
• state of being
• of the subject of the sentence.

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Examples of verbs

• Sally sneezed. (Physical action)
• John thinks. (Mental action)
• Jesse is my friend. (State of being)

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Helping Verbs

• Am is may
• Are might
• Can do shall
• Could does should
• did
• Has be was
• Have been were
• Had being will
• would

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Verb-SubjectIdentification Procedure

• Step 1 Look for the action or state-of-being
  word to find the verb.
• Example Kevin reported the theft.

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Verb-SubjectIdentification Procedure

• Step 2 Ask yourself, Who or what (verb)? to
  find the subject.
• Example Paula is an astronaut.

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Phrase
A group of words that functions as one part of
speech and DOES NOT have a subject and verb.
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Noun Phrases

• A noun phrase is when several words, two or more,
  are used for the subject.

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Noun Phrases

• A noun phrase is the complete subject.
• The noun in the phrase is the main subject.
• -It is the most important word in the complete
  subject.
• -The main subject is the one word that tells what
  the sentence is about.

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Noun Phrases

• Examples
• The old gray mare limped down the lane.
• The silver-winged plane soared.
• The first three girls giggled.
• The chairman of the meeting left early.

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Verb Phrases

• A verb phrase is when several words, two or more,
  form the verb.

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Verb Phrases

• These words form the complete verb.
• The one verb that shows the action or state of
  being is called the main verb.
• Verb phrases are formed by putting one or more
  helping verbs in front of the main verb.

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Helping Verbs

• Am is may
• Are might
• Can do shall
• Could does should
• did
• Has be was
• Have been were
• Had being will
• would

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Verb Phrases

• Examples
• The bus must have gone by now.
• The light green grapes have been eaten.
• Stevens aunt is not following her new diet.
• The rickety wagon should not have been filled to
  the top.

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Inverted Simple Sentences

• In some simple sentences, the verb comes before
  the subject of the sentence.
• Example Onto the stage danced the
  performers.
• Will you go to the movie this
  weekend?

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Infinitives

• Sometimes words in the sentence show action
  without being the main verb of the sentence.
• Example Jason hoped to go skateboarding.

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Infinitives

• Any verb that has the word to in front of it is
  an infinitive.
• An infinitive is not the main verb of the
  sentence.
• When you have a sentence with several action
  words in it, check for the word to.

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Compound Subjects

• So far we have seen simple sentences with one
  subject and one verb ( S V ).
• The next kind of simple sentence contains two or
  more subjects and one verb ( S S V ).
• We call two or more subjects in a simple
  sentence a compound subject.

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Compound Subjects

• Examples
• Paul and Marci want to go to the mall.
• The slopes and the buildings were covered with
  snow.
• Ty, Shane, and Christine went to buy some new
  clothes.
• Are the car and truck getting new rims?

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Compound Verbs

• When a simple sentence has one subject doing more
  than one action, the sentence contains a compound
  verb ( S V V ).
• Like compound subjects, compound verbs are
  separated by the word and.

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Compound Verbs

• Examples
• Bobby surfed and skated all day.
• Mary sailed and skied at the lake.
• The dogs barked all day and slept all night.
• Children should not be allowed to watch
  television and should be encouraged to play.

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Compound Subjects and Compound Verbs

• Some simple sentences can have both a compound
  subject and a compound verb ( S S V V ).

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Compound Subjects and Compound Verbs

• Examples
• Jack and his father camped and fished at the
  campground.
• Radio towers and tall buildings must have lights
  and must be visible at night.
• The graduates and their parents posed for
  pictures and celebrated with a party.

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Simple Sentence Formulas

• S V
• S S V
• S V V
• S S V V

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Examples Simple
S V I have a cat. S S
V James and Cara have a cat.
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Examples Simple
S V V I fed and walked the dog.
S S V V Laura and Shirley fed and
walked the dog.
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Steps for Sentence Writing

• Step 1 Pick a Formula
• Step 2 Explore Words to Fit the Formula
• Step 3 Note the Words
• Step 4 Search and Check

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Search and Check

• Search
• Look for the action or state-of-being word(s) to
  find the verb(s).
• Ask the Who or What Question to find the
  subject(s).
• Check
• Capital letter
• End punctuation
• Makes sense

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Compound Sentence
Two independent clauses joined together with a
coordinating conjunction or a semicolon.
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Compound Sentences

• The students finished class, and they went to
  lunch.
• Kevin did not want to hurt Kathys feelings, so
  he said nothing about her mistake.
• I want to see my sister soon, for she has been in
  Vail snowboarding for five months.

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Comparing Compound Sentences to SSVV Simple
Sentences

• Simple Sentence
• The men and women met at the station and went to
  dinner.
• Compound Sentence
• The men met at the station, and the women went
  to dinner.

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Comparing Compound Sentences to SSVV Simple
Sentences

• Simple Sentence
• The ducks and geese squawked and fluttered their
  wings.
• Compound Sentence
• The ducks squawked, and the geese fluttered
  their wings.

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Coordinating Conjunctions
A word that is used with a comma to join two
independent clauses. ,For ,But ,And ,Or ,Nor
,Yet ,So
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Coordinating Conjunctions

• Examples
• -Baseball is my favorite sport to watch, but
  football is my favorite sport to play.
• -We did not see Mike at the movie, nor did we
  see him at the restaurant.

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Semicolons

• Semicolons () can also be used to join the two
  independent clauses of a compound sentence.

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Semicolons

• Examples
• -Susan loves to swim her brother likes to drive.
  
• -The meeting was over it was already midnight.
• -Jason was highly respected he always stood up
  for people who were being picked on.

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Examples Compound
I I We went to the movies my parents went to
the mall. I,c I We went to the movies, but my
parents went to the mall.
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Complex Sentence
One independent clause and one or more dependent
clauses.
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Dependent Clause
Contains a subject and a verb but CANNOT stand
alone a subordinating conjunction is used.
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Subordinating Conjunctions

• Subordinating conjunctions are words that show
  the relationship of the dependent clause to the
  independent clause.

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Subordinating Conjunctions
After so that Although than As when Until w
hile
After so that Although than As when Until w
hile
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Subordinating Conjunctions
Because when Before since If even
though Unless though
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Sequencing Complex Sentences

• Dependant Clause First D,I
• (Comma needed)
• EX When I get to Phoenix, you will be
  sleeping.
• Independent Clause First ID
• (Comma not needed)
• EX You will be sleeping when I get to
  Phoenix

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Examples Complex
I D I love dogs because they do not judge
anyone. D,I Because they do not judge anyone, I
love dogs.
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Complex Sentences

• We could play video games since we have an Xbox
  downstairs.
• Although you have to go soon, we could play one
  game of Grand Theft Auto.
• Since you are my best friend, I will tell you
  about when he called me.

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Complex Sentences

• Even though he told me he did not like me, David
  passed me a note asking to go me to the movies.
• Tiger Woods will soon be considered the best
  golfer of all times because he will eventually
  surpass Jack Nicholass major tournament win
  record.

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Compound-Complex Sentences

• A compound-complex sentence has two or more
  independent clauses and at least one dependent
  clause.
• Examples
• When you are ready, I will call the store, and we
  can talk to Tim.
• Before the trick-or-treaters came, Megan made
  candied apples they were delicious.

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Sequencing Compound-Complex Sentences

• Dependent clause first
• After the party was over, Jean had a headache, so
  Paul cleaned up the house.
• Dependent clause second
• Jean had a headache after the party was over, so
  Paul cleaned up the house.

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Sequencing Compound-Complex Sentences

• Dependent clause third
• Jean has a headache, so Paul cleaned up the
  house after the party was over.

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Compound-Complex Sentences

• Floyd planned to go to the game even though it
  was snowing Helen wanted to stay home.
• Helen wanted to stay home Floyd wanted to go to
  the game even though it was snowing.

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Compound-Complex Sentences

• Kevin, who had been late many times before, came
  late to class today his teacher gave him a hard
  time after class was over.
• The players who had been invited came to our
  house after the game was over they celebrated
  the win.