SENTENCES AND PARAGRAPHS SOME REMINDERS

What is a sentence? A sentence is a unit of sense. A sentence must always have a finite verb. A complete sentence must make complete sense: The man is tall. The dog barked loudly.

Types of Sentence There are three categories of sentences: Simple sentences Compound sentences Complex sentences

Simple sentences As the title suggests this is a simple form of sentence. It will usually only contain one verb, which can be a ‘doing verb’ or a ‘being verb’: The little girl ran down the road. The cat is very fat The verb could be formed of more than one word, but it would still count as one verb: The little girl has been running down the road.

Simple sentences cont. Simple sentences tend to be short by nature. If you string quite a few simple sentences together, one after another, they can make your writing sound fast and breathless and create a good atmosphere of suspense. She heard a scream. She held her breath. Who was in the house? Could she slip out without being seen?

Simple sentences cont. WARNING Although simple sentences can be used to good effect, if you use too many in your essays, it will lack variety and tend to sound rather uninteresting.

Compound sentences These consist of two or more equally important units of sense (i.e. sentences or main clauses) that are joined together with ‘and’ or ‘but’. Each unit must have a finite verb. The little girl ran down the road but the little boy walked up the hill. The man cooked the meal and the family ate it.

Complex Sentences This is when you have a main clause that can stand on its own and make perfect sense, but some other clauses have been added to make it more interesting. They will still have to have a finite verb in each, but usually there will be a word in one of the clauses that means that this clause does not make sense on its own. The next slide has an example and explanation.

Complex Sentences cont. Although it was raining very hard, she still went out to the park. Both parts of this sentence make sense but because of the word ‘although’, the first part of the sentence does not make complete sense on its own. If I said to you ‘Although it was raining very hard’ and then stopped, you would expect me to say something else to complete the sentence. This part of the sentence is called a subordinate clause, because it cannot stand on its own. The rest, the second part of the sentence, is called the main clause, because it does make sense on its own.

Complex Sentences cont. Complex sentences can come in many forms and are very useful tools indeed. You must always have at least one main clause that would make complete sense on its own. You can have more than one subordinate clause. You can also have more than one main clause. The next slide shows some more examples.

Complex Sentences cont. If it is fine tomorrow, we could go on a picnic. Subordinate clause, followed by main If it is fine tomorrow, we could go on a picnic but if it is still raining we shall have to eat in the house. Two complex sentences joined by ‘but’ – a mixture of complex and compound sentences!

Complex Sentences cont. As he walked through the door, he picked up his hat, which was on the hall table. Subordinate clause, followed by main clause, followed by another subordinate clause. There are many combinations of complex sentences, but I hope you have taken in the main principles.

A Paragraph A paragraph is a group of sentences about one main topic. It will usually have a ‘topic sentence’: that is a sentence which tells the reader what this paragraph is about. The topic sentence is often the first one of the paragraph – you will probably find that most convenient. However, this is in no way compulsory. A good paragraph will go on to develop the topic and give further information about it.

The Use of Paragraphs Paragraphs divide your essays up into chunks of writing that can be easily taken in. If you ever look at a page of writing without a paragraph break, it makes you feel tired just to look at it; the concentration needed to take this in, all in one go, will be enormous! Good paragraphs will lead you through a piece of writing gently, giving you information about topics in a logical order, with each paragraph giving you enough information to be interesting but not giving you ‘information overload’.

A Good Paragraph ...will probably be 5 or 6 sentences long. ...will be very clear what it is talking about. ...will give you interesting information about the topic – NOT waffle! ...will follow on from the last paragraph and will lead into the next. ...will use a variety of sentences and vocabulary.

ESSAYS and SENTENCES In your essays try use all the sentence types. Make sure you have some Simple and Compound sentences, but be more sparing with these. Ensure that you include plenty of Complex sentences. Punctuate your sentences properly.

ESSAYS ...consist of paragraphs, which consist of sentences. ...consist of an introduction, followed by paragraphs in a logical order, followed by a conclusion. Warning: Paragraphs, Punctuation and Planning are ESSENTIAL for all essays. Remember the 3 Ps!

HAPPY WRITING HAVE FUN