By Taylor Hayes, Writing Consultant Sentence Starters By Taylor Hayes, Writing Consultant

The Basics A sentence is a collection of words and/or phrases that expresses a complete thought. A sentence must have a subject (names the person, place, thing, or idea) and a predicate (the action the subject takes or its description). Ex. Her sister plays outside. “Her sister” is the subject “plays outside” is the predicate

How to Start a Sentence There are many ways to begin sentences. You can start with: The Simple Subject Prepositional phrase(s) Gerund Phrase Dependent Clauses We will go into further detail with these terms and show how they are used in sentences.

The Simple Subject The simple subject is what the sentence will be addressing. As a simple subject, the word is usually something concise like a name, pronoun, place, or idea. Examples: I am studying late tonight. “I” is the simple subject New York City never sleeps. “New York City” is the simple subject. Starting a sentence with a simple subject addresses the topic of discussion quickly and concisely.

Prepositional Phrases A propositional phrase is a phrase that begins with a preposition (of, on, in, through, near, etc.). Examples: At the end of the road, a wolf growled angrily. On top of the roof, my dad put up the Christmas lights. Across the lake was a city. Starting a sentence with a prepositional phrase usually gives a little background information about your topic before you dive into the discussion of it.

Gerund Phrases A gerund phrase is a phrase that takes on the verb form using it as a noun. (Gerunds end in “ing.”) Examples: Drinking too much soda is unhealthy. Hiking in the mountains can be dangerous. Riding in airplanes makes me sick. Starting a sentence with a gerund phrase is an adequate way to discuss an activity or something that is usually considered a verb.

Dependent Clauses A dependent clause is a clause that cannot stand as its own sentence. Examples: Although we arrived to class late, the professor showed us mercy. Even though the children behaved poorly, they still received desert. Before moving on to the next chapter, I read the preface. Starting a sentence with any dependent clause gives some further detail before mentioning the subject of the sentence.

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