1. VARYING SENTENCE OPENERS: PANIC
Technical Accuracy in writing Knowledge Organiser
1 – Sentence types and sentence openings – Punctuation Rules
Sentence Variety
Simple sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop. It is made up of one
main clause. E.g. The boy was cold. He had been playing football.
Compound sentence consists of two or more independent clauses (or simple sentences)
joined by connectives: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. E.g. The boy was cold, as he had been playing football.
Complex sentence contains one independent clause and at least one dependent clause. Unlike a compound sentence, however, a complex sentence contains clauses which are not equal. E.g. The boy, who had been playing football, was cold.
VARYING SENTENCE OPENERS: PANIC
P = Preposition. Examples: over there, behind, next to etc.
Prepositions usually describe the position of something, the time when something happens and the way in which something is done
A = Adjectives/Adverbs. Examples: Red, energetic/sympathetically
Words that describe. Words that describe how an action takes place
N = Noun. Examples: Mr. Jones, Mrs. Jones, table, St Bernadette, window
Words that name objects, people and places. (People and places need capital letters)
I = “Ing” Words (Verbs). Example: Running, throwing, skirting etc.
Words that end in ‘ing’ generally these indicate an action (verbs)
C = Connectives. Example: Next to, However, Firstly, Secondly, Also, Comparatively
Connectives are words that link sentences, when used at the start of the sentence it indicates that this is a complex sentence

2. E.g. Eventually, the sentence ended. Vary Sentence Openings
Full Stop (FS) .
Used to demarcate the end of a sentence.
E.g. Eventually, the sentence ended.
Capital Letters (CL)
Used for ‘I’
Used at the start of a sentence
Used for proper nouns – names of people & places & dates
E.g.
Certainly, I said…
Mr. Jones was born in January in Bristol…
Some people believe
Paragraphing (// NP)
TIPTOP = Time, Place, Topic, Person = New Paragraph
E.g.
Yesterday, we…//Today, was a…
The classroom…//Outside…
She was bursting with joy…//Black clouds were now following her…
“Go outside” exclaimed the teacher
“No, it is freezing”, Sarah shivered violently.
Question Marks (P) ?
Used when asking something
Often used with common command words – Who, What, Where, When, Why, How…
E.g.
Can you pick that up?
More Advanced
Punctuation
Colon (P) :
Used to introduce a list
Used to justify your reasoning
Comma Use (P) ,
Used in a list
Used in embedded clauses
Used for sentences starting with adverbs or connectives
E.g.
Mrs. Jones liked order, routine, lists, focus and control.
The commas, which were imperative, were often missed out.
Interestingly, commas are often missed in this example.
Furthermore, we need…
Semi-colon (P) ;
Used to separate longer linked clauses
Exclamation Mark (P) !
Used for humour
Used to emphasise a point
Used to show surprise or excitement
E.g.
That was a diamond shot! (after he missed the shot)
No, I meant the other one!
How utterly thrilling!
Apostrophe (P) ‘
Used to show possession (belonging)
Used for contractions
E.g.
Bob’s coat
James’ coat
I am = I’m
Does not = doesn’t
Vary Sentence Openings
Use PANIC
P = Preposition E.g. Over there
A = Adjectives/Adverbs E.g. Blue/suddenly
N = Nouns E.g. Tables
I = “Ing” words (active verbs) E.g. Running
C = Connective E.g. Also,
Brackets (P) ( )
Used to include extra information
Ellipsis (P) …
Used to omit
Used to interrupt or as a thought