Nuts and Bolts of Writing Ten Formulas to Increase Sentence Variety in Your Writing (and learn punctuation, too)

Rule # 1 S.S and S;S  The simple sentences in your writing are separated by periods.  I am Sally. I am in middle school. I have a cat. I love to read.  If the sentences are closely related, use a semi-colon instead of a period.  I have a large family; I’m never alone.

Rule # 2 S, conj S  When you combine two sentences of equal value, use a coordinating conjunction (and, but, yet, so, or, for, nor) and a comma.  I am Sally, and I am in middle school.  I have a cat, but I wish I had a dog.  I have two brothers, so I have to fight for my privacy.

Rule #3 A,B,conj C  When you have multiple items in a series, use commas to separate all of the items but the last. Use a conjunction before the last one.  I have paper, pencils, notebooks, and books.  I have walked the dog, fed the cat, chased the mouse, and finished the cheese.

Rule #4 A,B,C Noun  When describing something using several adjectives, separate all but the last from the noun with commas.  He was a tall, dark, handsome stranger.  I saw a creepy, wiggly, gooey worm.

Rule #5 NP,App,  An appositive is a noun phrase that renames, defines, or describes the noun phrase in front of it. If it trades places, the IT becomes the noun phrase and the other becomes the appositive.  Sally, my best friend, is in middle school.  My best friend, Sally, is in middle school.

Rule #6 LB,S  This is all about adverb clauses, also called subordinate clauses. When one is added to the beginning of a sentence, the adverb clause needs a comma after it.  When one is added to the beginning of a sentence, the adverb clause needs a comma after it.  When one is added AFTER the main sentence, it does NOT need any punctuation.  The adverb clause needs a comma after it when one is added to the beginning of a sentence.

Rule #7,embed,  When an adverb clause (subordinate clause) is embedded within the simple sentence, it gets a comma on BOTH sides.  We will go, if the weather is nice, to the park on Sunday.

Rule #8 S;sc,S  A special group of words is used to connect sentences and to connect their relationships. These are called “sentence connectors”.  Some common ones are:  However  Therefore  Nevertheless  Additionally  Subsequently  For example  Furthermore  On the other hand  Because  Since

Sentence Connector Rule  Combine two related sentences with a semi-colon and a sentence connector. If the connector is MORE than two syllables (however) or MORE than one word (for example), follow it with a comma.  Sally is a middle school student; nevertheless, she is taking Algebra II.

Rule #9 S;sc,S var  There is a variation (var) of the sentence connector rule. The sentence connector can be EMBEDDED (just like the subordinate clause). When it is, it gets commas on both sides.  Sally is a middle school student; she is, nevertheless, taking Algebra II.

Rule #10 Cor S, Cor S  Correlatives (Cor) are conjunctions that come in pairs. There are four sets:  Either…or  Neither…nor  Not only…but also  Both…and  When they are used to combine PARTS of a sentence, they do not need punctuation.  You may eat either at home or at school.

The Correlative Sentence  When two whole sentences are combined with a correlative pair, they must be separated with a comma.  Either go to your room, or do as I say.  Not only was I late to class, but I also forgot my homework.  Not only…but also is the most commonly used pair to combine sentences.