WHAT IS A SENTENCE? LESSONS 8-9 Part Three

V isible S peech a short course in the fundamentals of writing / lesson eight By Joe Napora

Symbol Key : = Advance to next slide =Return to previous slide =Return to the first slide =Go to Part One =Go to Part Two =Go to Part Three =Go to Part Four =Go to Part Five Symbols Used in This Program

What is a sentence? Answer: Organized Writing Hey! Isn’t this the same answer for “What is an essay and what is a paragraph?” Yes, but it is organized differently.

How is a sentence organized? Sentences can be organized in the most simple manner: by type. They are either complete sentences, or they are incomplete. A complete sentence contains a subject, a verb, and most often an object phrase. An incomplete sentence is fragmented: it usually doesn’t contain a complete verb.

Complete Sentences A complete sentence has a subject and a verb, and usually a phrase. Subject = S Verb = V Phrase = P

Subjects Subjects can be people, objects, events, and ideas. Subjects are usually in the most important part of the sentence, the first part. John, Mary, Men, Women, my uncle, chairs, dogs, the World Series, freedom, next year John loves Mary. “John” is in the most important part of the sentence.

Verbs Action. Making connections. Relationships. MOVEMENT is the main function of verbs, movement that affects the subject. Subjects run, walk, and sleep. Subjects are and will be. And it’s verbs that allow subjects to move, and movement draws attention to our sentences.

Object Phrases Remember the equation S + V + P? P = Object Phrase A phrase comes in many shapes, does many things, and attaches to the main sentence in many ways.

Phrases Here is a simple sentence: John drives. [S + V] Add an object phrase: John drives to the park. [S + V + P] Add more phrases: According to Mary, John drives to the park in the morning. [P + S + V + P]

Fragmented Sentences Incomplete sentences usually result from writing a phrase as if it were a complete sentence. According to Mary. [P] John drives to the park in the morning. [S + V + P] This is the end of lesson 8

Simple and Complex Sentences Lesson Nine

V isible S peech a short course in the fundamentals of writing / lesson nine By Joe Napora

Symbol Key : = Advance to next slide =Return to previous slide =Return to the first slide =Go to Part One =Go to Part Two =Go to Part Three =Go to Part Four =Go to Part Five Symbols Used in This Program

Making Sentence SENSE The object of writing is to make sense of our ideas to other people. One way to do this is to write clearly, starting with standard sentences. A standard sentence is one that makes SENSE. SENSE = Standard ENglish SentencE

More SENSE The Basic SENSE sentence can easily be expanded to make your sentences more interesting, varied, rhythmic, attention getting. John loves Mary. According to Alice, John loves Mary. According to Alice, John loves Mary, who he met last week. This is the end of lesson nine