Sentence Variety By Alfred Taylor

Sentence Variety Please practice utilizing these nine sentence patterns throughout the semester. Good sentence variety keeps writing from becoming dull. Understanding these sentence patterns will improve your ability to communicate.

Sentence Variety #1 Simple Sentence Spock drank a Pepsi. Alfred bought a diamond ring for his lovely wife Thuy.

Sentence Variety Both of the sentences are simple sentences because they each only have one clause. The second may have more adjectives and adverbs, but it is still a simple sentence. Sub Verb Art Adj Do/ noun prep PN Alfred bought a diamond ring for his AdvAdjIdo / Proper Noun lovely wife Thuy.

Sentence Variety #2 Compound Subject / Verb / Object A compound sentence has two subjects or two verbs or both. Kirk and Spock drank Pepsi. Spock slurped and gulped his drink. Spock drank Pepsi and Diet Pepsi. Note: There are no commas in these sentences

Sentence Variety Sentences utilizing a compound subject, verb, or object are still simple sentences because they only have one clause. A clause is a phrase that contains both a subject and a verb. It is possible to have a sentence that has a compound subject, verb, and object. Kirk and Spock ate and drank pizza and Pepsi.

Sentence Variety Please don’t confuse a sentence with a compound verb with a compound sentence. Compound Verb Spock drank Pepsi and belched loudly. Compound Sentence Spock drank Pepsi, and he belched loudly. A compound sentence must have a subject on both sides of the coordinating conjunction.

Sentence Variety #3 Compound or Coordinate Sentence A compound sentence uses one of the seven coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, for, nor, so, yet) and connects two complete simple sentences. Each half of the sentence is equally important to the meaning of the sentence. The coordinating conjunction must be proceeded by a comma.

Sentence Variety The seven coordinating conjunctions are also known as FONYBAS words. If These words are written out, the first letter of each one spells FONYBAS. For Or Nor Yet But And So

Sentence Variety Joining two simple sentences together with a semicolon does not create a strong sentence; however, it does create a sentence that is awkward and difficult to understand. This type of sentence may have worked in High School, but college instructors expect well developed sentences. I hate semicolons!

Sentence Variety The chicken got well; we had salad. These two sentences seem to be completely unrelated when joined with a semicolon. The chicken got well, so we had salad. When joined with a coordinating conjunction, the sentence’s meaning is more clear.

Sentence Variety Each time the coordinating conjunction is changed the meaning also changes. The chicken got well, for we had salad. The chicken got well, yet we had salad. The chicken got well, but we had salad. The chicken got well, and we had salad. The chicken got well, so we had salad.

Sentence Variety sub verb artobj C.C. Sub verb obj. Spock drank a Pepsi, and he enjoyed it. This is a compound sentence because it has a complete sentence on both sides of the coordinating conjunction, the sentences make sense together, and the coordinating conjunction makes sense with the sentences.

Sentence Variety Spock drank a Pepsi, or he enjoyed it. Spock drank a Pepsi, nor he enjoyed it. These are examples of faulty coordination since the coordinating conjunction does not make sense with the sentences it is connecting.

Sentence Variety Spock drank a Pepsi, so computers hate people who have poor usage skills. This is another example of faulty coordination because these two sentences don’t make any logical sense together.

Sentence Variety #4 Expletive Sentence An expletive construction consists of “there” or “it” plus a form of the verb “be.” There was a man from Orlando. It is a good day to study English.

Sentence Variety Forms of “Be” I am You are He/She/It Is I was You were He/She/It was I will be We/They are We/They will be I/You/They have been

Sentence Variety Expletive sentences should be used sparingly. They tend to be wordy and they have weak subjects and verbs. There was a man who drank Pepsi. The subject of this sentence is “there,” and the verb is “was.” Both of these are weak words. Avoid using “be” verbs whenever possible.

Sentence Variety #5 Infinitive phrase An infinitive phrase consists of “To” plus a verb. To go into space was Captain Kirk’s Dream. If a word interrupts the infinitive phrase, it is called a split infinitive. To boldly go where no man has gone before.

Sentence Variety #6 Appositive An appositive renames a noun in a sentence, usually the subject of the sentence. This helps to make the significance of the noun more clear. An appositive is usually separated from the sentence by a comma. A monster-dog, a two-hundred pound German Shepherd, stole my lunch.

Sentence Variety There are two types of appositives, essential or restrictive and nonessential or nonrestrictive. A nonrestrictive appositive may be removed from the sentence without changing the meaning of the sentence. To indicate that it can be removed, it is set apart with commas.

Sentence Variety If a restrictive or essential appositive is removed, the meaning of the sentence will change. Since a restrictive appositive is essential to the meaning of the sentence, it is not separated by commas.

Sentence Variety Students who use debit cards eat more fast food. Missy a lazy dog chased three parked cars. Cars with bad spark plugs get poor gas mileage. Anna a good student studied English all night.

Sentence Variety Students who use debit cards eat more fast food. Restrictive or Essential Missy a lazy dog chased three parked cars. Nonrestrictive or Nonessential Cars with bad spark plugs get poor gas mileage. Restrictive or Essential Anna a good student studied English all night. Nonrestrictive or Nonessential

Sentence Variety We will discuss restrictive and nonrestrictive modifiers in greater detail later in the semester.

Sentence Variety #7 Subordinate or Complex Sentence Complex sentences consist of a dependent clause and an independent clause. The independent clause is the important part of the sentence. The subordinate clause is only additional information. There are many varieties of this sentence. A comma separates the dependent clause from the independent clause when the dependant clause precedes the independent clause.

Sentence Variety Dependent clauses are created by placing either a subordinating word or a relative pronoun in front of a sentence. independent clause Spock drank a Pepsi. dependent clause When Spock drank a Pepsi.

Sentence Variety Common subordinating words include: asbecauseIfafter sinceprovidedbeforewhere unlesswhetherwhileonce whenalthoughso thatuntil thoughwheneverthanas if Common relative pronouns include: whichwhatwho that whomwhateverwhoever

Sentence Variety When Spock drank a Pepsi. This is a dependent clause because it doesn’t express a complete thought and must rely upon an independent clause to give it meaning. When Spock drank a Pepsi, what happened?

Sentence Variety dependent clauseindependent clause When Spock drank a Pepsi, he slapped Mr. Sulu. When the dependent clause comes first, separate the clauses with a comma. Independent clausedependent clause Spock drank a Pepsi when he slapped Mr. Sulu. When the independent clause comes first, no comma is necessary.

Sentence Variety #8 Prepositional Phrase A prepositional phrase begins with a preposition and ends with an object. A preposition is a word with some meaning of position, time, or other abstract relation. Words like above, below, near, far, from, of, to, after, before, and until are all prepositions.

Sentence Variety After lunch, the Universe exploded. In this example, after is the preposition, and lunch is the object of the preposition. The noun or pronoun that follows the preposition is object of the preposition that makes up the prepositional phrase.

Sentence Variety #9 Conjunctive Adverb Two independent clauses joined by a conjunctive adverb. Each independent clause must be a sentence with a subject and a verb. A semicolon precedes the conjunctive adverb and a comma follows it. We saw a Star Trek double feature; hence,we were labeled “Trekies” by our coworkers.

Sentence Variety Common Conjunctive Adverbs Accordingly Also Anyway Besides Certainly Consequently Finally Furthermore Hence However Incidentally Indeed Instead Likewise Meanwhile Moreover Nevertheless

Sentence Variety A writer should only use a conjunctive adverb when she wants to get her reader’s attention. Conjunctive adverbs force the reader to pause and pay attention to the sentence; however, if conjunctive adverbs are overused, they lose their impact upon the reader.

Sentence Variety Please practice with these sentence patterns whenever writing a essay. Understanding how and when to use these types of sentences will improve the coherence of your writing.

Sentence Variety The End