1. BBI2421 GENERAL WRITING SKILLS
Sentence Structure
BBI2421
GENERAL WRITING SKILLS

2. Four Types of Sentences
SIMPLE sentence
COMPOUND Sentence
COMPLEX Sentence
COMPOUND-COMPLEX Sentence

3. What are clauses?
A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb.
e.g. Ecology is a science
s v
2 types of clauses
Independent clause and dependent clause.

4. Independent Clause
A clause that can stand by itself and still make sense. An independent clause could be its own sentence, but is often part of a larger structure, combined with other independent clauses and with dependent clauses.
It contains a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought.
E.g.
The student yawned.
S V
Independent clause is often formed with a complement.
The student yawned during the lecture.
S V complement

5. Dependent Clause Begins with a subordinator.
Does not express complete thought, so it can not stand on its own.
Is formed with subordinator, subject and verb.
e.g.
….when the student yawned
Subordinator s v

6. Simple sentence
A simple sentence has one independent clause and no dependent clauses:
The student yawned.
Subject Verb

7. Although a simple sentence cannot have a dependent clause, it can have modifiers:
The tall student sitting in the back in my algebra class yawned loudly.
The basic sentence is ‘The student yawned’. The other words are modifiers - they are descriptive words.

8. A simple sentence contains only one independent clause, but it can have more than one subject or verb:
TWO SUBJECTS: The student and his friend yawned.
TWO VERBS : The student yawned and fell asleep.

9. A sentence with all these elements will be long, but it is still simple because it contains only one independent clause:
The tall student sitting in the back in my physics class and his friend yawned loudly and fell asleep.

10. Fragments
A fragment is a sentence error that happens when the sentence is incomplete, for example:
Is one reason for child abuse. ( No subject)
Poverty is one reason for child abuse.
2. Smoking bad habit. (no verb)
Smoking is a bad habit.
When we wake up. (incomplete because this is not an independent clause)

11. Compound sentence
A compound sentence has two or more independent clauses that are usually joined by a coordinating conjunction:
Henry got a new job, so he has to move.
s v
I have a lot of homework, but I am not going to have time to study tonight.

12. Compound sentence with coordinating conjunctions
For – to give reasons
And – to combine similar ideas
Nor – to combine two negative ideas
But – to combine ideas that are opposite
Or – to give alternative
Yet – to add a surprising idea
So – to show results of something
The students were unhappy with their professor, for he often wasted their time in class.
Sheila likes tea, and she likes to eat cakes.
He does not drink, nor does he uses drugs.
I like chocolate, but I do not like coffee.
You can buy the dress, or you can buy the skirt.
The experiment was deemed successful, yet our results were unsatisfactory.

13. Notice the difference between a simple sentence with a compound verb and a compound sentence with two clauses:
SIMPLE My house guests returned from a long day of shopping and went straight to bed.
COMPOUND My house guests returned home from a long day of shopping, and we decided to stay at home instead of going out.
What is the difference?

14. Complex sentence
A complex sentence has an independent clause with one or more dependent clauses (or it’s called a subordinate clause). It is connected using a subordinating conjunctions/ subordinators.
Note that introductory dependent clauses must be followed by commas:
- Since we got to the concert late, we had to make our way to our seats in the dark.
-We left the class early as we wanted to attend a special lecture.

15. Complex sentences should be punctuated in one of two ways:
INDEPENDENT CLAUSE dependent clause (no comma)
WE LEFT THE CLASS EARLY as we wanted to attend a special lecture.
Dependent clause, INDEPENDENT CLAUSE (comma)
As we wanted to attend a special lecture, WE LEFT THE CLASS EARLY.

16. Continued… Example 1 Example 2 Astronauts often feel seasick.
They first experience weightlessness.
Astronauts often feel sick when they first experience weightlessness.
When they first experience weightlessness, astronauts often feel sick
Example 2
The students were being noisy.
The teacher handed out the test.
The students were being noisy while the teacher handed out the test.
While the teacher handed out the test, the students were being noisy.

17. Subordinating Conjunctions / Subordinators
Time subordinators: Begin a clause that tells when sth happens
After – After Jessica goes to class, she finishes her assignments.
As – As the time passed by, Roy has grown to be a very mischievous boy.
As soon as – We will leave the airport as soon as Masitah arrives.
Before – Jamie cooks lunch for his family before he goes to work everyday.
Since – Puan Saripah has been sorrow since her husband passed away a few years ago.

18. Continued…
Until – I will keep the cat with me until the owner claims for it.
When – When Dalila is busy, her husband will take care of their children.
Whenever – Whenever there is a robbery case, Hashim would be the main suspect as he just got out from the prison.
While – Syima is eating a pack of nasi lemak while she is driving.

19. Continued…
Reason subordinators: Begin a clause that tells why sth happens.
Because – Camelia cries loudly because her mother scolds her.
Since – Latifah gets scolded by her lecturer since she always comes late to class.
As – Nobody dares to speak to her as she is a bad-tempered girl.

20. Continued…
Place subordinators: Begin a clause that tells where sth happens or where sth is located.
Where – I write my phone number where my students can easily see it.
Wherever – I will follow you wherever you go.

21. Continued… Comparison subordinators:
Although (in spite of the fact that)
Although it’s raining, the boys don’t want to go home.
Even though (to show something that is unexpected or to make a comparison stronger)
Even though he is my father, he doesn’t have a right to beat me.
Just as – Selina is good in Math just as her twin sister, Serina.
Whereas – Ahmad is tall whereas his elder brother is short.

22. Comparing compound and complex sentences
interest, variety, and coherence
compound sentences differ from complex sentences in one important way:
In a compound sentence, both clauses have equal importance;
in a complex sentence, the independent clause is more important.

23. Compare these sentences
COMPOUND John was tired, but he finished his homework.
COMPLEX Although John was tired, he finished his homework.
In the first sentence, the writer is communicating that both clauses are equally important. In the second sentence, the writer is saying that the subordinate clause ("John was tired") is less important than the independent clause ("he finished his homework").

24. Parallelism
Parallelism in sentences refers to matching grammatical structures.
Elements in a sentence that have the same function or express similar ideas should be grammatically parallel, or grammatically matched.

25. Faulty parallelism
A failure to create grammatically parallel structures when they are appropriate is referred to as faulty parallelism. Notice the difference between correct parallel structure and faulty parallelism.
The president promises to reform health care, preserve social security, and a balanced budget.
The president promises to reform health care, preserve social security, and balance the budget.

26. Continued
Check for faulty parallelism in your own writing. Nouns should be parallel with nouns, participles with participles, gerunds with gerunds, infinitives with infinitives, clauses with clauses, and so on. E.g:
1. The children are energetic and noisy.  =
adjective + adjective 2.  She bought a skirt and a blouse. = noun +
noun 3.  He walked slowly and confidently to the
witness stand.  = adverb + adverb 4.  She ate cake and drank coffee. = simple past + simple past.

27. Parallel ideas in a sentence
Simple sentence
Sara bought a skirt and a blouse.
Compound sentence
Melissa stirred the pot, and she poured the soup into a bowl.

28. Sentence errors Run-Ons
Happens when you join two simple sentences without a comma or a connecting word.
Men like to shop quickly women like to browse.
Comma splice
Happens when you join two simple sentence with only a comma.
Men like to shop quickly, women like to browse.

29. How to correct these errors?
Add a coordinating conjunction (and comma for run-ons).
Men like to shop quickly, but women like to browse.
2. Separate the two sentence with a period.
Men like to shop quickly. Women like to browse.
3. If you want show relationship between the two sentences, add a sentence connector after separating them.
Men like to shop quickly. However, women like to browse.