Sentence Patterns

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Sentence Patterns

• An Overview

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Pattern 1

• Compound Sentence Using a Semicolon
• There are three versions each version is
  slightly different.
• The pattern uses a semicolon to join two related
  sentences.
• On each side of the semicolon must be a complete
  sentence each side must have at least a subject
  and verb.
• Ex. English class is cool my teacher is awesome.
  

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Examples

• Teachers are like autocrats students are like
  the helpless citizens who have to do whatever
  they demand.
• At the beginning of class, the autocratic teacher
  said hello to all the students the students
  grumbled back.
• The teacher told the class to write their
  vocabulary sentences using sentence patterns and
  a theme the students felt this was too much
  work.
• The class planned an insurrection the teachers
  days were numbered.
• The teacher, unaware of his impending doom, was
  pelted with eggs the students made sure they
  were sufficiently rotten, too.

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Pattern 1a

• This variation of Pattern 1 involves the use of a
  conjunctive adverb, such as however, hence,
  therefore, thus, then, moreover, nevertheless,
  likewise, consequently, accordingly.
• A conjunctive adverb is an adverb that connects
  independent clauses however, the clauses cannot
  be of equal rank.
• Conjunctive adverbs require the use of a
  semicolon.

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Examples

• Teachers are like autocrats therefore, their
  decisions are final.
• No one appreciated the teachers greeting
  consequently, the students grumbled back.
• The teacher told the class to write their
  vocabulary sentences using sentence patterns and
  a theme thus their hatred of him grew.
• The class planned an insurrection however, they
  needed to keep it a secret.
• The teacher, unaware of his impending doom, was
  pelted with eggs nevertheless he continued to
  pile on the homework.
• (Notice that the comma is optional.)

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Pattern 1b

• This variation of Pattern 1 involves the use of a
  coordinating conjunction, such as and, or, for,
  but, yet, or so to connect two independent
  clauses on either side of the semicolon.
• A coordinating conjunction connects words,
  phrases, and clauses that have equal or the same
  grammatical functions.
• Ex English class is cool, and my teacher is
  awesome I wish class never ended.
• Ex English class is cool my teacher is awesome,
  but his jokes arent very funny.

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This weekend

• Write 6 sentences, each incorporating a
  vocabulary word from the root word list
• Use pattern 1 for two sentences,
• pattern 1a for two,
• and pattern 1b for two.

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This week

• Write ten sentences, each incorporating a
  vocabulary word from one of the first four
  lessons.
• Use pattern 1 for two sentences, pattern 1a for
  two, and pattern 1b for two.
• The remaining 4 do not need to use a pattern.

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Pattern 2

• Compound Sentence with Elliptical Construction
• This is the same as pattern 1, only there is no
  verb present in the second clause.
• The verb is omitted because and only if it would
  needlessly repeat the verb in the first clause.
• The omitted verb must match exactly, in form and
  tense, the verb in the first clause.
• Ex. English is my favorite subject science, my
  least favorite.
• Notice that you should only use this pattern if
  it sounds appropriate and clear.
• Bad Ex. English is my favorite subject math,
  not.
• Bad Ex. Yesterday my teacher assigned an essay
  tomorrow, a speech.

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Examples

• Teachers are like autocrats students, like their
  subjects.
• The teacher greeted each day with a smile the
  students, with a scowl.
• The teacher loved to assign a lot of work the
  students, to complain about the amount of work.
• The teacher planned for a pop quiz the class,
  for an insurrection.
• The teacher, unaware of his impending doom, was
  pelted with eggs his car, with paintballs.
• Notice in the second example there is more than
  just the verb missing. That is only possible with
  parallel construction this will be explained in
  pattern 5.

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Pattern 3

• Compound Sentence with Explanatory Statement
• This is basically the same as the first two
  patterns in structure it is a compound sentence
  however, it is different in content, as the colon
  implies.
• A colon in a compound sentence performs a
  specific function it signals to the reader that
  something important or explanatory will follow.
  The colon signals that the second clause will
  specifically explain or expand upon some idea
  only vaguely expressed in the first.
• In the second example above, the second clause
  defines the specific function. In the first
  example, the second clause explains specifically
  how the three patterns are similar.
• Ex. My English book is unique it is the only one
  of my schoolbooks I ever take home.

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Examples

• Teachers are like autocrats they treat their
  students like subjects.
• At the beginning of every class, the autocratic
  teacher said the same thing Good morning,
  children.
• The teacher told the class to write their
  vocabulary sentences using sentence patterns and
  this weeks theme homework is good.
• The class planned an insurrection they are going
  to egg him.
• The teacher, unaware of his impending doom, was
  pelted with special eggs they were sufficiently
  rotten.

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Pattern 4

• A Series without a Conjunction
• A series is a group of three or more similar
  items, all of which have the same grammatical
  function.
• You may have a series with any part of speech,
  not only with single words but also with phrases
  and dependent clauses.
• For variety, you can construct your series
  without a conjunction this gives each item in
  the series equal emphasis.
• Ex. My favorite books are The Chosen, A Separate
  Peace, The Cat in the Hat.
• I love to analyze the texts, to discuss them in
  class, to write papers about them.
• I am intelligent, conscientious, motivated.

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Examples

• Teachers are like autocrats students are
  helpless, hopeless, powerless.
• At the beginning of class, the autocratic teacher
  said hello to all the students, wrote his plans
  on the board, checked the previous days
  homework.
• The teacher told the class to write their
  vocabulary sentences using sentence patterns and
  a theme the students felt this was too much
  work, too irrelevant to their lives, too stupid
  for words.
• On their word, on their honor, on their mothers
  lives, the students vowed revenge.
• The teacher, unaware of his impending doom, was
  pelted with eggs, rotten sour cream, moldy cheese.

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Pattern 5

• Parallelismit is really a construction instead
  of a pattern, because parallelism can occur in
  many places throughout a sentence (or even the
  entire sentence).
• Parallelism has been very important for two of
  our patterns so far without parallelism,
  patterns 2 and 4 would be impossible to use.
• Look at these examples
• Teachers are like autocrats students, like their
  subjects.
• The teacher greeted every day with a smile the
  students, with a scowl.
• Because the same words are basically present on
  both sides of the semicolon, they are parallel
  clauses.

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Pattern 5 (continued)

• Now look at these examples
• Teachers are like autocrats students are
  helpless, hopeless, powerless.
• At the beginning of class, the autocratic teacher
  said hello to all the students, wrote his plans
  on the board, checked the previous days
  homework.
• On their word, on their honor, on their mothers
  lives, the students vowed revenge.
• Because each item in the series is the same part
  of speech, they are parallel the first are all
  adjectives the second, predicates the third,
  prepositions.

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Pattern 5 (continued)

• Now consider these poor examples
• Teachers are like autocrats students are
  helpless, hopeless, without power.
• At the beginning of class, the autocratic teacher
  said hello to all the students, wrote his plans
  on the board, and he checks the previous days
  assignment.
• On their word, on their honor, crossing their
  hearts and hoping to die, the students vowed
  revenge.
• Although the meaning is the same in each, they do
  not use a parallel construction.

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Pattern 5 (continued)

• Many famous speakers and writers use parallel
  construction effectively.
• The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal
  sharing of blessings the inherent virtue of
  socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.
  Winston Churchill
• Ask not what your country can do for you ask
  what you can do for your country. John F.
  Kennedy
• It was the best of times, it was the worst of
  times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age
  of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it
  was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season
  of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was
  the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,
  we had everything before us, we had nothing
  before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we
  were all going direct the other way . . .
  Charles Dickens

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Pattern 5 (continued)

• We hold these truths to be self-evident, that
  all men are created equal, that they are endowed
  by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
  that among these are Life, Liberty and the
  pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these
  rights, Governments are instituted among Men,
  deriving their just powers from the consent of
  the governed, --That whenever any Form of
  Government becomes destructive of these ends, it
  is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish
  it, and to institute new Government. Thomas
  Jefferson

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Pattern 5 (continued)

• Parallelism can occur at the word, phrase, or
  clause level.
• For example, if you are using gerunds or
  infinitives, be consistent.
• Ex. I like reading, writing, and speaking.
• or I like to read, to write, and to speak.
• not I like reading, writing, and to give
  speeches.
• You do not always have to use the same
  preposition in a phrase, but your phrases should
  be parallel.
• Ex. I lost my Science book in a ditch, by the
  road, on a
• trip.
• or I never lose my English book, because it is
  always in my bag,
• near my bag, or under my bag.
• A parallel structure that begins with clauses
  must keep on with clauses. Changing to another
  pattern or changing the voice of the verb (from
  active to passive or vice versa) will break the
  parallelism.
• The teacher told the students that they should
  get a lot of sleep, that they should eat a good
  breakfast, and that they should get to class
  early on the day of the big test.

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Pattern 5 (continued)

• You can create parallelism with coordinating
  conjunctions (and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet).
• Teachers are less like autocrats and more like
  monarchs they are authoritative yet benevolent.
• When the teacher greeted his students, he
  expected a succinct but polite response.
• What he normally got was something inappropriate
  for a student to say so inappropriate for me to
  repeat.
• You can also create parallelism with correlative
  conjunctions (either/or, neither/nor, both/and,
  not only/but also).
• The teacher let it neither phase him nor deter
  him he began class with both a smile on his face
  and a spring in his step.
• Either he was naively optimistic or he was
  tragically unsuspecting.
• Some masked members of the class followed him to
  his car after school and not only pelted him with
  eggs but also assaulted him with sour cream.

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Pattern 5 (continued)

• As you walk around the second floor, look at the
  words of wisdom in frames above the lockers
  notice how many of them use parallelism.

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Pattern 6

• An Introductory Series of Appositives (with a
  dash and a summarizing subject)
• An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that is
  named elsewhere in the sentence.
• Because you need a series of appositives, you
  need more than two (with or without a
  conjunction)
• Ex. The lazy, the stupid, the failuresmany of
  these were present at the pelting.

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Pattern 6 (continued)

• Ex. The lazy, the stupid, the failingmany of
  these were present at the pelting.
• Although lazy, stupid, and failing describe some
  students, in this sentence they are used as
  nouns--The lazy students, the stupid students,
  the failing students.
• Ex. The rotten eggs, the whipped cream, the
  Vaseline, the shaving creameach did damage to
  the teachers car.
• Ex. Mr. Gross, Mrs. Albrecht, Mrs. Travers, Mrs.
  Kupkawhich is your English teacher?

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Pattern 6 (continued)

• Notice that the series of appositives can be
  followed by the main clause or can follow it.
• Ex. The rotten eggs, the whipped cream, the
  Vaseline, the shaving creameach did damage to
  the teachers car.
• Which is your English teacher--Mr. Gross, Mrs.
  Albrecht, Mrs. Travers, Mrs. Kupka?
• Notice that the appositives can appear in a
  question or a statement, before or after the main
  clause.

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Pattern 6 (continued)

• Regardless of where the series of appositives
  appears or what type of sentence it appears in,
  the main clause must begin with a summarizing
  word
• such, all, those, this, many, each, which, what,
  these, something, someone
• Sometimes this will be the subject of the main
  clause, sometimes it will simply modify the
  subject.
• Ex. Math, Science, History, PEeach class
  requires so much less time doing homework at
  night.
• Ex. The Chosen, The Merchant of Venice, A
  Separate Peacethese are the greatest works of
  literature of all time.

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Pattern 7

• An Internal Series of Appositives or Modifiers
  (enclosed by a pair of dashes or parentheses).
• Appositives rename and Modifiers describe
  something named elsewhere in the sentence.
• Ex. The most important things in lifegetting
  good grades, getting into a good college, getting
  a good jobare now out of reach for most students
  in his class.
• Ex. A series of unfortunate eventstraumatic life
  experiences, irreversible mistakes, tragic
  miscalculationscaused the student to fail the
  semester.
• Ex. Many similar cars in the parking lot (rusted
  out, falling apart, on their last leg,
  stench-ridden) were mistaken for his car first.

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Pattern 8

• Dependent Clauses in a Pair or in a Series
• at the beginning or end of a sentence
• Success with this pattern is dependent (pun
  intended) upon you understanding the difference
  between dependent and independent clauses.
• An independent clause has a subject and predicate
  that can stand alone.
• A dependent clause has a subject and predicate
  that cannot stand alone.
• What makes it unable to stand alone is the use of
  a subordinating conjunction.

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Pattern 8 (cont.)

• Independent Clauses
• English is the greatest class ever.
• My English teacher is a genius.
• My life would seem somehow incomplete without
  English class in it on a daily basis.
• Dependent Clauses
• Because we learn so many valuable things.
• Although that may be underestimating his
  intelligence a little.
• As if hurtling through the emptiness of space
  without chance of meeting another being for eons
  were an eternal proposition.

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Pattern 8 (cont.)

• Combined Independent and Dependent Clauses
• English is the greatest class ever, because we
  learn so many valuable things.
• My English teacher is a genius, although that may
  be underestimating his intelligence a little.
• As if hurtling through the emptiness of space
  without chance of meeting another being for eons
  were an eternal proposition, my life would seem
  somehow incomplete without English class in it on
  a daily basis.
• The subordinating conjunctions make those clauses
  dependent.

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Pattern 8 (cont.)

• Common Subordinating Conjunctions
• after, although, as, as if, as though, because,
  before, even though, if, in order that, provided,
  since, so that, than, unless, until, when, where,
  whereas, while
• Do not confuse them with coordinating
  conjunctions
• and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet
• Both combine clauses, but coordinating
  conjunctions combine clauses that are not
  dependent upon independent clauses.

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Pattern 8 (cont.)

• Sentences with Subordinating Conjunctions
• I went to English class, so that the teacher
  could fill my head with knowledge.
• I never miss a day, unless I am close to dying
  and my mother has to tie me to my bed to keep me
  from going to school.
• Whereas most other classes bore me to tears with
  useless information and incessant busywork,
  English class is like the sweet, sweet air I
  breathe it is beautiful and life giving.
• Notice that the dependent clauses, if left alone,
  would leave you with questions. Why could the
  teacher? Am I really dying? Other than what?

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Pattern 8 (cont.)

• Sentences with Subordinating Conjunctions in a
  Pair or Series at the beginning or end of a
  sentence
• I went to English class, so that the teacher
  could fill my head with knowledge, so that my
  life would have meaning.
• Unless I am close to dying and my mother has to
  tie me to my bed to keep me from going to school,
  unless a pack of wild teenagers accosts me on my
  way to school and I am lying in a deep ravine in
  some distant woods, unless aliens abduct me and
  take me to their planet to make me their king, I
  never miss a day.
• Whereas most other classes bore me to tears with
  useless information and incessant busywork,
  whereas Id rather stick a needle in my eye than
  go to Algebra, English class is like the sweet,
  sweet air I breathe it is beautiful and life
  giving.

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Pattern 9

• Repetition of a Key Term in a Modifying Phrase
• You can make your writing more effective by
  repeating a key word in a modifying phrase
  attached to the main clause be sure the phrase
  modifies the main clause.
• English class teaches us many valuable things,
  valuable in school and valuable in life.
• English class teaches us many valuable things,
  things that we will use in school, things that we
  will use in life.
• It would be an understatement to say my teacher
  is a genius, the understatement of the century.
• As if hurtling through the emptiness of space
  without chance of meeting another being for eons
  were an eternal propositionto eternally be
  lonelymy life would seem somehow incomplete
  without English class in it on a daily basis.

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Pattern 9 (cont.)

• Notice that the term you repeat must be worthy of
  being repeated.
• Bad Ex. English class teaches us many valuable
  things, us boys and us girls.
• Notice that the phrase in which the word is
  repeated is not a complete sentence (or you may
  end up with a comma splice).
• Bad Ex. It would be an understatement to say my
  teacher is a genius, it would be the
  understatement of the century.
• Notice that your phrase must modify something in
  the main clause (or you may end up with awkward
  repetition).
• Bad Ex. Repeating repetitious words for the sake
  of repetition is something an un-repetitious
  teacher would repeatedly disapprove of.

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Pattern 9 (cont.)

• You may change the form of the word
• Not doing your English homework could make you a
  fool, foolish in the eyes of your classmates,
  foolish in the eyes of your parents, foolish in
  the eyes of college admissions officers.
• You may use a dash instead of a comma to suggest
  a longer pause, a greater break in thought than
  the comma permits.
• Not doing your English homework could make you a
  foolmortally foolishin the eyes of your teacher.

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Pattern 9a

• Same Word Repeated in Parallel Structure
• You may repeat an effective adjective or adverb
• Never doing your homework can be treacherous for
  your grade, treacherous for your future.
• If you find yourself always hastily completing
  your homeworkhastily ruining your gradeyou may
  find yourself hastily signing up for summer
  school.
• You may repeat the same preposition in a series.
• You could solve these problems by doing your
  homework in any placein the car on the way to
  practice, in the kitchen while you eat your
  supper, in the bathtub before school.
• You may repeat the same noun as the object of
  different prepositions.
• Remember, good grades are an indication of your
  effort, after much effort.

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Pattern 9a (cont.)

• Same Word Repeated in Parallel Structure
• You may repeat the same modifying word in phrases
  that begin with different prepositions.
• Without consistent effort--or on account of
  consistent slackingyou will find yourself in
  summer school.
• You may repeat the same intensifiers (really,
  truly, totally, completely, etc.)
• If you miss your family vacation because of
  summer school, your parents will be very
  disappointed, very angry, or very thankful,
  depending on whether or not they really want you
  to go with.
• You may repeat the same verb or alternative form
  of the same verb.
• Those who suffer through summer school may suffer
  through a lonely summer.

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Your assignment this week

• When you write your ten sentences, all of them
  must use pattern 9a.
• There are 7 variations, so use each variation at
  least once. (adjective, adverb, preposition,
  object of preposition, modifying word in prep.
  phrase, intensifier, verb)
• Use three of your choosing to complete the
  assignment.
• Label the part of speech being repeated for each
  sentence.

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Pattern 10

• Emphatic Appositive at End, After a Colon
• This pattern is used to build your sentence to a
  climax and provide a forceful, emphatic
  appositive that concludes the sentence.
• Remember, an appositive is a noun or noun phrase
  that renames something named elsewhere in the
  sentence.
• The colon is used to add formality to the
  sentence and emphasis the climax.
• The differences between this and Pattern 3 are
  that what follows the colon is not a complete
  sentence, and what follows is significant as well
  as renaming.

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Examples

• As the end of the semester approaches, I hope you
  have learned one thing an indisputable and
  significant truth.
• The most important tool you need to succeed in
  life is reverence the worship of your teachers
  genius.
• Every bit of wisdom your teacher has given you
  should be cherished vocabulary skills sentence
  pattern skills literary analysis techniques,
  such as motif identification, metrical analysis,
  etc. essay development.
• Note Since this series has internal punctuation,
  the items must be joined by semicolons rather
  than by commas

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Pattern 11

• Interrupting Modifier between Subject and Verb
• Remember, modifiers are words or phrases that
  describe something named elsewhere in the
  sentence.
• When a modifier comes between the subject and the
  verb, you may use a pair of commas, dashes, or
  parentheses to separate it from the main elements
  of the sentence.
• You may use a dash instead of a comma to suggest
  a longer pause, a greater break in thought than
  the comma permits.
• If the modifier is an aside within the sentence
  (a kind of whisper), you may use parentheses for
  variety.

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Examples

• As the end of the semester (long awaited)
  approaches, I hope you have learned one thing an
  indisputable and significant truth.
• The most important tool you need to succeed in
  life, difficult and unforgiving, is reverence
  the worship of your teachers genius.
• Every bit of wisdom your teacherimpressively
  intelligenthas given you should be cherished
  vocabulary skills sentence pattern skills
  literary analysis techniques, such as motif
  identification, metrical analysis, etc. essay
  development.

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Pattern 11a

• A Full Sentence (statement or question or
  exclamation) as Interrupting Modifier
• If the sentence is a statement, no period is
  used.
• If the sentences is a question or an exclamation,
  an exclamation point or question mark are
  required.
• If the sentence is a quotation, a period is
  acceptable.
• The modifier need not interrupt S-V.

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Examples

• As the end of the semester approacheswho isnt
  awaiting it with baited breath?I hope you have
  learned one thing an indisputable and
  significant truth.
• The most important tool you need to succeed in
  life (I assume you want a profitable future!) is
  reverence the worship of your teachers genius.
• Every bit of wisdom your teacher has given
  youfor example, he once suggested, The answer
  to every question in life is slant rhyme.should
  be cherished vocabulary skills sentence pattern
  skills literary analysis techniques, such as
  motif identification, metrical analysis, etc.
  essay development why The Chosen rules, etc.