Part Three Sentence

1

• Part Three Sentence
• II Types of sentences
• In order to make good use of sentences, we should
  understand types of sentences. You can find types
  of sentences in A handbook of Writing, p.45.

2

• 1.Declarative, interrogative, imperative, and
  exclamatory sentences
• According to their use, sentences are divided
  into declarative, interrogative, imperative, and
  exclamatory sentences.
• A declarative sentence makes an assertion or a
  statement.
• An interrogative sentence asks a question.
• An imperative sentence expresses a command or a
  request.
• An exclamatory sentence expresses a strong
  feeling or emotion, such as surprise, pain, or
  joy.

3

• 2. Simple, compound, complex, and
  compound-complex sentences
• According to their structure, sentences are
  divided into simple, compound, complex, and
  compound-complex.
• A simple sentence has only one subject and one
  predicate-verb, but it may contain more than one
  object, attribute or adverbial. Short simple
  sentences are usually emphatic they have special
  clarity, and provide variety when used with
  longer sentences.
• A compound sentence consists of two or more
  independent clauses (or simple sentences) related
  to each other in meaning, and linked by a
  coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, etc.) or
  by a semicolon without a conjunction. Coordinated
  ideas should be compatible and roughly equal in
  importance, or take shape one by one in orderly
  sequence.

4

• A complex sentence contains one main clause and
  one or more dependent (or subordinate) clauses,
  with a connective word denoting the relation
  between the two parts.
• The dependent clause may be a subject clause, an
  objective clause, a predicative clause, an
  attributive clause, or an adverbial clause. As a
  rule, the major idea is expressed in the main
  clause and the idea or ideas of lesser importance
  in the subordinate clauses.
• Long complex sentences express complex ideas
  clearly and accurately, for they have room for
  all kinds of modifiers.

5

• e.g. He laughed to himself as he gazed at the
  stars.
• A compound-complex sentence contains at least two
  main clauses and at least one dependent clause-a
  combination of a compound and a complex sentence.
• e.g. The Student looked up from the grass, and
  listened, but he could not understand what the
  Nightingale was saying to him.

6

• 3. Loose, periodic, and balanced sentences (p.47)
  
• From a rhetorical point of view, sentences are
  divided into loose, periodic, or balanced
  sentences.
• A loose sentence puts the main idea before all
  supplementary information.
• e.g. She decided to study English though she was
  interested in music.
• A periodic sentence puts the main idea at or near
  the end of the sentence, and the reader does not
  know what it is mainly about until he finishes
  reading it.

7

• e.g. Although she was interested in music, she
  finally decided to study English.
• It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a
  single man in possession of a good fortune must
  be in want of a wife.
• A balanced sentence contains two parallel clauses
  similar in structure but contrasted in meaning.
• e.g. On hearing the news, he was angered, and I
  was saddened.
• The politician is concerned with successful
  election, whereas the statesman is interested in
  the future of his people.
• Loose sentences are easier, simpler, more natural
  and direct.
• Periodic sentences are more complex, emphatic,
  formal, or literary.
• Balanced sentences are emphatic and forceful.

8

• 4. Short and long sentences
• According the length of a sentence, sentences are
  divided into short and long sentences.
• Short sentences are usually emphatic, and
  suitable for the presentation of important facts
  and ideas,
• Long sentences are capable of expressing complex
  ideas, and suitable for the explanation of views
  and theories, or the description of things with
  many details.

9

• III. Effective sentences
• Effective sentences are unified, coherent, and
  concise. Effective sentences should have unity,
  coherence and conciseness.

10

• 1. Unity
• A unified sentence expresses a single complete
  thought. It does not contain ideas that are not
  closely related, nor does it express a thought
  that is not complete by itself. e.g.
• Born in a small town in South China in the early
  50s, he grew up to be a famous musician.
• He was born in a small town in South China in the
  early 50s. In his childhood he liked to sing
  songs. Later he entered a conservatory. In the
  70s he became a famous musician.
• Du Fu was one of the greatest poets.
• Du Fu was one of the greatest poets of the Tang
  period.

11

• 2. Coherence
• Coherence means clear and reasonable connection
  between parts.
• A sentence is coherent when its words or parts
  are properly connected and their relationships
  unmistakably clear.
• It is not coherent if it has faulty parallel
  constructions, pronouns with ambiguous reference,
  dangling or misplaced modifiers, confusing shifts
  in person and number, or in voice, tense, and
  mood. e.g.
• A man is judged not only by what he says but also
  by his deeds.
• A man is judged not only by what he says but also
  by what he does.
• A man is judged not only by his words but also by
  his deeds. e.g.
• She told my sister that she was wrong.
• Im wrong, she said to my sister
• She admitted that she was wrong and said so to
  my sister.
• Youre wrong, she said to my sister.
• My sister was told that she was wrong.

12

• 3. Conciseness

13
A sentence should contain no unnecessary words.

• If the idea is fully expressed, the fewer words
  are used, the better.
• Wordiness only obscures, instead of clarifying,
  the idea.
• Wordy It was blue in color.
• Concise It was blue.
• Conciseness can sometimes be achieved by changing
  the sentence structure.
• Wordy There was a pine tree that stood like a
  giant on the top of the mountain. It towered over
  the trees around it. (23 words)
• Concise The pine tree on the top of the mountain
  stood like a giant and towered over the trees
  around it. (20 words)
• On the top of the mountain was a giant pine
  tree, which towered over the trees around it. (18
  words)
• The giant pine tree on the top of the mountain
  towered over the trees around it. (16 words)

14

• 4. Emphasis
• (1)Emphatic sentences
• 1) Short sentencesShort sentences are more
  emphatic than long ones, especially at the
  beginning or at the end of a paragraph, or in the
  middle of long sentences.2) Sentence
  fragments.They are also called one-member
  sentences. They are emphatic because they contain
  only the few words that express the main
  idea.e.g. The sky was overcast. A north wind was
  blowing. It threatened to rain at any moment. A
  gloomy day.

15

• 3) Inverted sentences.They are emphatic because
  their unusual word order draws the readers
  attention.e.g. In rushed the noisy
  children.4) Parallel constructions and balanced
  sentences5) Periodic sentencesTheir climactic
  word order makes them emphatic. 6) Imperative
  and exclamatory sentences7) Rhetorical
  questionsThey are questions in form but emphatic
  statements in meaning. e.g. Didnt I tell you
  that you mustnt touch this machine?

16

• 8) Negative-positive statements e.g. The
  delegates shouted and quarrelled. It was not a
  meeting it was a farce. There were so many
  errors in the performance that the result was not
  a tragedy, but a comedy9) Sentences with
  repeated words or phrasesThe repetition gives
  emphasis to such sentences.e.g. Government of
  the people, by the people, for the people shall
  not perish from the earth. Abraham Lincoln

17

• (2) Emphasis within the sentence
• Very often we want to emphasize a part of a
  sentence, a word or a phrase, because that is the
  main point of the sentence. How to do it? Here
  are some ways.
• 1) Placing
• The beginning and the end, especially the end, of
  a sentence are the two places that attract the
  readers attention. If possible, important words
  should be put there.
• e.g. Wang Bing is modest and hardworking and is a
  good student.Modest and hardworking, Wang Bing
  is a good student.Wang Bing is a good student,
  modest and hardworking.

18

• 2) Repetition
• Unnecessary repetition adds nothing new to the
  meaning of a sentence therefore it should be
  avoided. But sometimes, in a proper context
  repeating a word or an idea in different words
  may be a means of emphasis.e.g. Bright, very
  bright, were the stars over the wild, dark Yenan
  hills. --Anna Louise
  Strong

19

• 3) The verb and the active voice
• When describing actions, one had better use verbs
  instead of nouns denoting actions, for verbs are
  generally more vivid and emphatic than
  nouns.e.g. At the sight of the disorderly crowd,
  he was aware that something bad would be
  possible.The moment he saw the disorderly crowd,
  he knew that something bad would happen.The
  three verbs in the second sentence (saw, knew and
  happen) give it a feeling of immediacy and
  urgency, which is absent in the first.

20

• 4) Subordination
• This means putting a minor idea in a dependent
  element of the sentence so as to give the main
  idea a prominent position.
• e.g. The professor walked into the classroom and
  he carried a bag of books with him.The professor
  walked into the classroom, carrying a bag of
  books with him.The professor walked into the
  classroom with a bag of books under his arm.The
  professor walked into the classroom, a bag of
  books under his arm.
• 5) A series of short sentences, if related in
  meaning, may be combined with the main idea
  properly emphasized
• e.g. They were waiting for the meeting to begin.
  They talked with each other. They talked about
  the womens football team. The team had won
  victories in Guangzhou. While waiting for the
  meeting to begin, they talked about the victories
  won by the womens football team in Guangzhou.

21

• 6) Emphatic words and phrases
• There are words and phrases that may be used to
  emphasize other words. The following are a few
  examplesThis is the very dictionary I have been
  looking for.The director himself told me this
  news.Do tell us about your recent Antarctic
  expedition.His latest novel is by far the best
  he has ever written.This theatre is far better
  than the one we went to last time.Im so hungry
  that Ill eat whatever food I can find.What on
  earth are the children doing in the next room?I
  dont like the play at all.You can buy
  everything under the sun in this department
  store.

22

• 7) Alliteration
• Alliteration means the appearance of the same
  consonant sound at the beginning of two or more
  words, like He smiled and milked steadily, two
  strong streams rushing into the pail, frothing
  and fragrant.