Writing Sentences

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Writing Sentences

• by
• Tarasine A. Buck

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Warm-Up Writing

• What is your favorite place to go when you want
  to relax? What does this place look like? Why
  do you like it?
• Take 10-15 minutes to write about your answers.

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Questions for Discussion

• What is a sentence? What parts does a sentence
  need to be complete?
• A sentence is a group of words that express a
  complete thought. A complete sentence must also
  have a subject and a verb.

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The Complete Sentence
Complete Thought
Subject
Verb
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Sentence Combining Error Fragments

• A fragment is a group of words trying very hard
  to be a sentence, but not succeeding.
• A fragment is missing an important part of what
  it takes to be a true complete sentence. It may
  be missing a subject or a verb, or it may not be
  a complete idea.

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Sample Fragments

• There are three children in my family. My older
  sister, my younger brother, and I.
• On the street saw a small child crying.
• When I went to elementary school. I enjoyed
  playing with my friends.

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Turning Fragments into Complete Sentences

• You can help a fragment become a complete
  sentence by adding the missing part.

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Practice with Fragments

• There are three children in my family. My older
  sister, my younger brother, and I.
• On the street saw a small child crying.
• When I went to elementary school. I enjoyed
  playing with my friends.

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Sentence Combining Error Run-On Sentences

• When you want to combine two or more sentences,
  there are special rules you must follow.
• Sentences that are not combined correctly often
  become run-on sentences. They have too many
  subjects and verbs and too many complete thoughts!

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Sample Run-On Sentences

• I love to spend time in the park it is a very
  peaceful place.
• The ocean is my favorite place to go, it helps me
  to relax.
• I walked down to the library and I found a book
  that I liked so I checked it out.

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Combining Sentences Correctly
When you have 2 complete sentences, you can

1. Put a period after the first and begin the second
   with a capital letter.
2. Use a comma and a connecting word (like and, but,
   or, or so) between them.
3. Use a semicolon () between them.

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Practice with Run-On Sentences

• I love to spend time in the park it is a very
  peaceful place.
• The ocean is my favorite place to go, it helps me
  to relax.
• I walked down to the library and I found a book
  that I liked so I checked it out.

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One More Rule!

• In more formal English writing, we do not begin
  sentences with connecting words like and, but, or
  so. Try to connect these sentences to the
  sentence before or take out the connecting word.
• You can also replace these words with andin
  addition, buthowever, soas a result

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Practice with Connecting Words

• I feel very tired. So I want to go to bed.
• I walked down to the beach with my friend. And
  we spent the entire evening looking for shells.
• I did not want to leave the party. But I knew I
  needed to return home soon.