Sentence Writing
Strategies
A Review
Simple Sentences
independent
one
• A sentence that has ____
________________
clause.
Independent Clause
• An independent clause is a group of
complete
thought/statement
words that makes up a ________
__________
stand
alone
and can ________
__________.
This means
that the group of words makes sense by itself.
• Example- Susan ran.
subject
It has two important things: _________ and a
verb
__________.
The Subject
• The subject of a sentence is the person
_________,
thing
quality
place
________,
_________,
_________,
or
idea
____________
that the sentence is about.
nouns
• These are all ___________
(part of speech).
The Verb
• The next part of the simple sentence is the
VERB.
action
• A verb is a word that shows ___________
or
state of being
• _____________.
Verbs (cont.)
• Verbs that show a state of being are
linking
called ___________
verbs.
• Example- Jesse is happy.
is
• The verb ________
shows Jesse’s state of
being. It links the subject (Jesse) to his
state of being (happy).
More Verbs
• There are really three types of verbs:
Physical Action, Mental Action, and State of
Being/Linking Verbs.
• Let’s brainstorm some of
these….
Verb-Subject Identification
• You must know how to identify subjects and
complete
verbs to determine if you have a ______
sentence
________.
• To identify a verb and subject, you will
need to go through a two step process.
Verb-Subject Identification
• FIRST, look through the sentence to
discover words that show mental or physical
action or a state of being. You are looking for
the action or linking verb.
• Example- Kevin reported the theft.
Verb-Subject Identification
Who?
• Second, you ask yourself ________
or
What?
_______
and add the verb. In the previous
what
who
example, you would ask ______
or _______
“reported.”
Another example- Paula is an astronaut.
Lets look at some more examples!
Noun Phrases
• Sometimes two or more words are used as the
subject. When several words are used
together as the subject, they are called a
NOUN PHRASE.
• The NOUN PHRASE is the COMPLETE
SUBJECT.
• Example- The old gray mare limped down the
lane.
Noun Phrases (Cont)
• In the previous example, “mare” is the MAIN
SUBJECT.
• For this class, we are going to be concerned
mainly with the MAIN SUBJECT.
Verb Phrases
• Just like several words can form the subject of
a sentence, several words can form the verb of
a sentence.
• This is called a VERB PHRASE.
• Example- The bus must have left by now.
• The words form the COMPLETE VERB.
Verb Phrases
• Verb phrases are formed by putting one or
more HELPING VERBS in front of a main verb.
• Here is a list of HELPING VERBS:
• Am, are, is, be, been, being, was, were
• Can, could, may, might, must, do, does, did,
shall, should, has, have, had, will, would
Verb Phrases
• For this class, any time you are asked to
identify the verb of a sentence, you should
identify the VERB PHRASE. This will include
the linking or helping verb AND the main verb
The Infinitive Problem
• Sometimes there are verbs in a sentence that
show action but are not the main verb.
• Chad hoped to go sledding.
• An verb that has the word “to” in front of it is an
infinitive. Whenever you see a sentence with
multiple action verbs, you should look for the
word “to.” Verbs with “to” in front are NOT your
main verb or part of your main verb phrases.
Types of Simple Sentences
• Compound Subjects
• Example- Bill and Sue want to go to the
movies.
• Compound Verbs
• Example- The dogs barked all day and slept all
night
Types of Simple Sentences
• Compound subject and compound verb
• Example- Candles and flowers can brighten
the table and can make a meal feel special.
Simple Sentence Formulas
• SV- Subject/Verb
• SSV- Subject-Subject/Verb
• SVV-Subject/Verb-Verb
• SSVV-Subject-Subject/Verb-Verb
The PENS Strategy
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Pick a formulaSV, SSV, SVV, SSVV
Explore words to fit the formula
Remember noun phrases and verb phrases
Note the words
Write the words down; capitalize; punctuate.
Search and check
Use verb-subject ID; check for helping verbs;
remember infinitives.
Compound Sentences
• A compound sentence contains two (2) or
more independent clauses.
• Most often, it contains two independent
sentences.
• What is included in an independent clause?
• SUBJECT and VERB
Compound Sentences
• Writing a compound sentence is like putting
two simple sentences together into one.
• Example- The students finished class, and they
went to lunch.
• Example- The basketball team won the game,
so they went to Pizza Hut.
Compound Sentences
• FANBOYS – A way to remember your
Coordinating Conjunctions!
• For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So
Join two independent clauses with a FANBOY to
create a Compound Sentence…
The students dressed crazy, so they went crazy!
Compound Sentences
• You can join two independent clauses with a
semi-colon to create a Compound Sentence.
• The students went crazy; they lost their minds.
• Semicolons are used when the ideas are
related.
Compound Sentences
• Two Formulas
• I, cI (I= Independent Clause,
c= conjuction[fanboy]Independent Clause)
• I;I (Independent Clause ; Independent Clause)