Julia Hartley Diem Nguyen Joshua Robertson BUS 2200 Fall Semester 2014

“Sentence generally flows from a subject to a verb to any objects, complements, or modifies, but they can be ordered in a variety of ways to achieve emphasis.” (Alred 526) Subject- is a noun or pronoun that the sentence makes a statement about. A compound subject means it has two or more nouns or noun equivalents For example: subject – the professor

Predicate-makes an assertion about the subject and completes the thought. There are simple predicates, complete predicates, compound predicates and predicate nominatives. For example: simple predicate – teaches complete predicate – teaches the class compound predicate – teaches the class but does not just give them the answer predicate nominative – the student is a prodigy

“A sentence maybe classified according to structure, intention and stylistic use.” (Alred 528) Structure- can be simple sentence, compound sentence, complex sentence and compound-complex sentence. For example: simple – The car runs efficiently. compound – It is important to complete the test in the given time frame, but it is also important to read and follow directions carefully. complex - When a safety meeting is held, the employees need to be attentive to what is said. compound-complex - Raises can only be give to employees who are performing well; if an employee does not sell as much product as his coworkers, he should not be offered a higher wage.

Intention- depending on your intention, you can convey information, make a factual statement, ask a direct question, issue a command or emphasize great feeling. For example: declarative sentence – The printer accepts color ink. interrogative sentence – How do I remove a jam in the printer? imperative sentence – Call maintenance to fix the printer. exclamatory sentence – How many times do we have to fix the printer!

Stylistic use- the way you organize a sentence can affect the way the recipient perceives the idea that is being expressed. For example: loose sentence – It was a disaster, the word party we went to last night, without any decorations, the food making people sick. periodic sentence – Without having proper direction, the children quickly devolved into chaos. minor sentence – How can we change the public view on marriage? Or should we?

In order to construct an effective sentence use the subject-verb-object pattern. An effectual way to present complex ideas is to use “uncomplicated sentences” and complex sentences to make simple ideas flow better and not so “choppy.” (Alred 529) Sentence faults can be caused by “including faulty subordination, clauses with no subjects, rambling sentences, omitted verbs, and illogical assertions.”

Sentence fragments are “an incomplete grammatical unit that is punctuated as a sentence.” (Alred 532) Sentence variety makes your writing not so monotone. Watch sentence lengths, use short sentences after long complex ones and vice versa. Word order is also important, because if all sentences begin with the same words or phrases, it makes the writing sound boring. Use a variation between loose and periodic sentences.

There are three functions of a paragraph: 1. It supports the topic sentence. 2. It provides a break in the material. 3. It divides by page by introducing a new topic.

When making paragraphs, it is good to have a topic in mind for each distinct paragraph. The topic sentence may be anywhere in the paragraph, but it is usually in the beginning to let the reader know what the paragraph is going to be about.

Paragraphs may vary in length, but should be sufficient enough to support the topic. When the subject changes significantly, a new paragraph should be formed. Having an outline beforehand would help with the organization of the paragraphs.

Works Cited Alred, Gerald J., Charles T. Brusaw, and Water E. Oliu. The Business Writer's Handbook. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, Print.