Chapter 3

1. McGraw-Hill/Irwin Business English at Work, 3/e © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Chapter 3 Sentence Development

2. Objectives • Demonstrate knowledge of terms used in sentence construction. • Use correct ending punctuation for statements, questions, commands, and exclamations. • Identify simple, compound, and complete subjects. • Identify simple, compound, and complete predicates. continued PP 3-1a

3. Objectives • continued • Recognize direct objects, indirect objects, and other complements. • Identify normal and inverted sentence order patterns. • Differentiate between phrases and clauses. • Identify simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences. • Identify complete sentences, fragments, and run-on sentences. PP 3-1b

4. A Sentence A sentence consists of words correctly arranged to form a complete statement or idea. A sentence • begins with a capital letter. • ends with an ending mark of punctuation. PP 3-2

5. Ask these questions to determine whether words are a sentence. • Do the words make sense? • Do the words indicate a complete thought? • Does the group of words begin with a capital letter? • Does the group of words end with a period, question mark, or exclamation point? PP 3-3

6. Four Purposes of Sentences • Express statements (declarative sentences). • End with a period. We offer a 30-day return policy. • Ask questions (interrogative sentences). • End with a question mark if direct questions. Are the new brochures available yet? • End with a period if indirect questions. He asked whether I planned to revise the news release. PP 3-4a

7. Four Purposes of Sentences continued • Give commands and requests (imperative sentences). • End with a period. • Direct command Place your order within two days to receive a discount. • Courteous request Will you please call me by the end of the week. • Express emotions (exclamatory sentences). • End with an exclamation point. Always satisfy your customers! PP 3-4b

8. Sentences Have Two Parts Subject • Is often a noun or pronoun. • Indicates who is speaking, who is spoken to, or who or what is spoken about. Predicate • Is a verb (action or “to be” form). • Tells what the subject is doing or what the subject is. PP 3-5

9. Simple Subject The simple subject is the main word of the subject. • Users can schedule unlimited sales calls with contact management software. • We offer a discount to our employees. • Outstanding customer service is our goal. PP 3-6

10. Compound Subject The compound subject is two or more main words in a subject. • Hudson Communications and Cellular Depot are in an office building in the Redwood Business Park. • Evening hours and free parking interest customers. • Focus groups, phone messages, and postal card responses are all ways to obtain user opinions. PP 3-7

11. Complete Subject The complete subject consists of the simple or compound subject plus any of its modifiers. • Most customers comment on our window displays. • Sales brochures describe our products. • Free upgrades and extra bonus miles attract some travelers. PP 3-8

12. Simple Predicate The simple predicate is a single verb or verb phrase. • Tim speaks softly. • I take inventory once a week. • Our store hours are convenient. • We have advertised our sale in the local newspaper. PP 3-9

13. Compound Predicate The compound predicate is two or more verbs. • I researched our orders and designed our latest sales brochure. • Our accountant and the sales manager analyzed our sales and recommended new pricing of products. • Other companies have visited our call center and haveordered similar telephone headsets. PP 3-10

14. Complete Predicate The complete predicate consists of the simple or compound predicate plus all modifiers that limit or describe the verbs. • Teresa developed a training program for new customer service representatives. • Our company has an extensive video training library. • Our Web site analysts reviewed a wide range of customer service issues. PP 3-11

15. Sentence Order Normal Order The subject appears first and the predicate follows. • Jerry responded. • Your company’s competitors hired several young salespeople. • I received the sales totals. • We wish you success. • The training video is free. PP 3-16a

16. Sentence Order continued Inverted Order The predicate or part of the predicate is before the subject. • There are many compliments about our customer service. • Here is the latest inventory report. • Should we offer discounts to attract customers? • How much will a customer satisfaction survey cost? • On the Web site are the details about our shipping policies. PP 3-16b

17. Phrase A phrase is a sequence of words that has neither a subject nor a predicate. • Prepositional phrase: Begins with a preposition such as of, in, at, and for and ends with a noun or pronoun. Does not include a verb. in our call centerat our warehouse • Infinitive phrase: Begins withto and includes a verb form. to offer a compromise to request a refund PP 3-17

18. Clause A clause is a sequence of words with both a subject and a predicate. • Independent clause: Is a complete sentence and can stand alone. We send a confirmation e-mail for each online order. • Dependent clause: Is not a complete sentence and cannot stand alone. It must be joined to an independent clause to make sense. When you call our customer service department, PP 3-18a

19. Clause continued When a dependent clause introduces an independent clause, place a comma at the end of the dependent clause. • If the office furniture was damaged in moving, our standard guarantee still applies. • Because we have 24-hour customer service, we have three customer service shifts. PP 3-18b

20. Sentence Formations • Simple sentences • Compound sentences • Complex sentences • Compound-complex sentences PP 3-19

21. Simple Sentence A simple sentence is one independent clause in a subject-verb pattern. • Weplaced the order last week. • Rachel and Ipurchaseda subscription to Advertising Age. • Our customersshop online and refer others to our Web site. • The human relations specialist and my managerrecommended less phone work and offered me another position. PP 3-20

22. Compound Sentence A compound sentence is two independent clauses connected by a coordinating conjunction. • Many of our customers are self-employed, and they purchase items for themselves. • Limited quantities of this product are available, but we will ship your order next week. PP 3-21

23. Complex Sentence A complex sentence consists of an independent clause and a dependent clause. • When a product is listed as out of stock, your order will be filled as soon as possible. • If your order cannot be shipped within 30 days, we will cancel the order. • Because I arrived late for the sale, I could not find the items that I wanted. PP 3-22

24. Compound-Complex Sentence A compound-complex sentence consists of more than one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses. • If your order has not been shipped within 30 days, we will notify you of this delay by e-mail, and you will have the option to cancel your order. • When you receive a promotional code, enter it on your order, but only one promotional code may be used for each order. PP 3-23

25. Sentence Fragment A sentence fragment consists of words, phrases, or dependent clauses that cannot stand alone even though they may contain subjects and predicates. The multiple gift certificates Ordered by phone last week PP 3-24

26. Run-On Sentence A run-on sentence is a complete sentence with period or comma faults. • I want to order online credit card thefts worry me. • Your serial number is provided with your product documentation you can also find the serial number by opening the software and clicking on the Help menu. PP 3-25a

27. Run-on Sentence continued A comma without a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, or nor) between two independent clauses is referred to as a comma splice and results in a run-on sentence. • Jerri answers the phones, she responds to customers’ e-mail inquiries. • The customer returned the damaged computer monitor, we sent a replacement yesterday. PP 3-25b