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The Basics of Sentence Structure

The Basics of Sentence Structure. What is a sentence?. In linguistics, a sentence is a unit of language, characterized in most languages by the presence of a finite verb . For example, “The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog.”

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The Basics of Sentence Structure

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  1. The Basics of Sentence Structure

  2. What is a sentence? • In linguistics, a sentence is a unit of language, characterized in most languages by the presence of a finite verb. For example, “The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog.” • Traditionally, each sentence is regarded as having a subject, an object and a verb, even if one of these is implied. • In academic writing, you need at least a subject and a verb in order to have a complete sentence. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentence_(grammar)

  3. What is a clause? • No, a clause is not the same thing as Santa Claus! • A clause is a group of words consisting of a subject and a finite form of a verb. • Very often, a sentence and a clause are the same thing. This is not always the case, so lets learn about two different types of clauses.

  4. Independent Clause An independent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought. An independent clause is a complete sentence. I like English very much. SV My nameis Ms. McLaughlin-Rojas. SV

  5. Dependent Clause A dependent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and verb but does not express a complete thought. A dependent clause cannot be a sentence. Often a dependent clause is marked by a dependent clause marker (also known as a subordinating conjunction). BecauseIlike English very much, … DCM SV Because I like English very much, I study it every day. DCIC (Now that I have added an independent clause to the dependent clause, the sentence is complete.)

  6. Dependent Clause Markers (Subordinating Conjunctions) Here is a list of some common dependent clause markers (subordinating conjunctions): after, although, as, as if, because, before, even if, even though, if, if only, rather than, since, that, though, unless, until, when, where, whereas, wherever, whether, which, while You’ll learn more about how to use these words in a future lesson.

  7. Sentence Types To achieve sentence variety and avoid monotony in writing, four sentence types or formats can be used: • Simple • Compound • Complex • Compound-Complex

  8. Simple Sentences • A simple sentence consists of only one independent clause: I went to class. S V • Notice that this simple sentence (or independent clause) has both a subject and a verb. To be a sentence or clause, it must have a subject and a verb.

  9. Compound Sentences • A compound sentence consists of two independent clauses joined in one of the two following ways: 1. I went to class yesterday, and I took a test. (The two parts of this sentence are joined with a coordinating conjunction and a comma.) 2. I went to class; I took a test. (The two parts of this sentence are joined with a semicolon.) • Sometimes using a simple sentence is a great way to communicate an idea in a clear and direct way. However, you might choose to use a compound sentence using a connector word like “and” instead. Why?

  10. Coordinating Conjunctions Here are some coordinating conjunctions that will be useful for building compound sentences: • For • And • Nor • But • Or • Yet • So Remember the acronym “FANBOYS.” It will help you remember all the coordinating conjunctions.

  11. Complex Sentences • A complex sentence has one independent clause and at least one dependent clause (the order can change). 1. Because I like English very much, I study it every day. DC IC 2. I study English every day because I like it very much. IC DC • In the first example above, notice that the dependent clause comes first, followed by a comma and the independent clause. • In the second example, notice that the independent clause comes first, followed by the dependent clause. No comma is necessary when the independent clause comes first in the sentence. • Why use a complex sentence? It shows that one piece of information depends on another piece of information. You can express your ideas in a more complex way.

  12. Compound-Complex Sentences • These sentences are often the longest, consisting of at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause: Because I went to class, I passed the midterm DC IC exam, but absent students weren’t so lucky. IC • Do you notice that the first part of the sentence is a dependent clause marked by the dependent marker word (or subordinating conjunction) “because”? The second part is an independent clause, and the third part is another independent clause joined to the rest of the sentence with the coordinating conjunction “but.”

  13. Classwork Write an example of each type of sentence that you learned about in this presentation. If you need help, just ask.

  14. Some Definitions • Clause - A clause is a part of a sentence that contains a Subject and a Verb. A clause can be independent or dependent. • Coordinating Conjunction - A coordinating conjunction connect words, phrases or clauses that are of equal importance or have the same grammatical structure within a sentencehttp://grammar.uoregon.edu/conjunctions/coordinating.html • Dependent Clause - A dependent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and verb but does not express a complete thought. A dependent clause cannot be a sentence. Often a dependent clause is marked by a dependent marker word. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_clause.html • Dependent Marker Word (Subordinating Conjunction) – A dependent marker word is a word added to the beginning of an independent clause that makes it into a dependent clause. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_clause.html • Finite verb - The finite forms of a verb are the forms where the verb shows tense, person or singularplural. Non-finite verb forms have no person, tense or number. • I go, she goes, he went - These verb forms are finite. • To go, going - These verb forms are non-finite or infinitive. http://www.usingenglish.com/glossary/finite-verb.html • Independent Clause - a group of words that contains a subject and verb and expresses a complete thought. An independent clause is a sentence. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_clause.html • Monotony – sameness, lack of variety

  15. Improving Your Sentence Structure

  16. Why is it importantto study sentence structure? Although even native speakers of English instinctively know how to speak grammatically, as writers even they can make errors if they don’t fully understand how the parts of a sentence work together. For writers, another important issue is knowing how we can manipulate or play with these sentence elements to make our writing more lively. Varying our sentence structure can make our writing more rhythmic or emphasize certain information.

  17. Sentence Fragments A sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence. It is missing either a subject or a verb, or both. Can you see sentence fragments in the following examples? What corrections would you make? • I am very busy on the weekends. Studying very hard for my exams and practicing tennis. It isn’t easy being a student. Studying very hard for my exams and practicing tennis. Who is studying very hard? The subject is missing in this sentence. • I went shopping this weekend to get ready for the new semester. I bought a lot of things. Clothes, dishes for the kitchen and books for my classes. It was more expensive than I thought it was going to be! Clothes, dishes for the kitchen and books for my classes. Where is the verb in this sentence?

  18. Correcting sentence fragments Let’s take a look at the examples from the previous slide and some example corrections. • I am very busy on the weekends. I am studying very hard for my exams and practicing tennis. It isn’t easy being a student. • I went shopping this weekend to get ready for the new semester. I bought a lot of clothes, dishes for the kitchen and books for my classes. It was more expensive than I thought it was going to be! Notice that there is now a subject and verb in the highlighted sentences above. Remember that in formal academic writing, complete sentences must have subjects and verbs.

  19. Correcting Comma Splices There are three ways to correct a comma splice: Wehad a nice time, Ihope we can meet again soon. SVSV • Insert a coordinating or subordinating conjunction between the two independent clauses. We had a nice time, and I hope we can meet again soon. We had a nice time because you were there. • Start a new sentence. We had a nice time. I hope we can meet again soon. • Insert a semi-colon between the two independent clauses (only in cases where the independent clauses are closely related topics). We had a nice time;I hope we can meet again soon.

  20. Parallel Sentence Structure The parts of a sentence that are in sequence need to have the same grammatical structure. This gives the sentence a sense of balance and shows that the ideas in the sentence have the same level of importance. We usually join these parallel structures with coordinating conjunctions like “and” or “or.” Look at the color-coded structures in the sentences below. Do the sentences have parallel structure? Do they feel balanced? I like to play soccer, studying English and going to parties. This report summarizes the processes involved, the problems encountered, and how they were solved.

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