The Basics of Sentence Structure

What Is Sentence Structure? Good sentence structure is about putting together words, phrases, and clauses – the essential building blocks of sentences- in logical ways.

As he ran across the room, Tom broke the vase This sentence consists of two clauses. Each clause has a subject and a verb. The second clause (Tom broke the vase) is considered the main clause and is independent because it can stand alone. The first clause (As he ran across the room,) is called a dependent clause because it cannot stand alone.

Clauses You can easily change a dependent clause and vice versa. He ran across the room By removing “as” from the dependent clause, we suddenly have a sentence that can stand on its own.

Clauses By adding an “as” to the second clause, we can instantly change it to a dependent clause. As Tom broke the vase,… If we place these two new clauses together now, the meaning of the sentences would be very different. We can keep the meaning more or less the same and still make the first clause independent.

Clauses Tom ran across the room, breaking the vase. The first half of the sentence contains the main independent clause. “He” had to be changed to “Tom” so that the reader would know about whom the sentence is talking. The second half of the sentence had to be changed from a clause into a modifying phrase. While a clause has a subject and a verb, a phrase is missing at least one of these.

Putting the Pieces Together Proficient writers use a mixture of dependent clauses, independent clauses, and phrases to add variety to their writing and to create emphasis By combining these building blocks in different ways, writers create a rhythm and show readers which thoughts are most important.

Common Errors in Sentence Structure Sentence Fragments Run-ons and Comma Splices Misplaced Modifiers Non-parallel Construction

Works Cited Martz, Geoff, Kim Magloire, and Theodore Silver. Cracking the ACT ed. New York: Random House, 2007.