Writing Sentences Gooder
And to be most clearerest.
We all know these basic parts
of speech
NOUN: person,
place, thing, idea.
= Someone or
something.
VERB: action word.
Tells what a subject
does/did/will do.
Sentences have similarities:
A Noun Part and a Verb Part, and end punctuation.
Numero Uno: the simple
sentence
Maybe you’ve seen these before.
Noun Part
+
=
Simple Sentence (then
add punctuation (. !
?).
“John ran.” Or, “We left.”
Verb Part
Numero Dos:
Maybe you’ve written these and not even recognized it.
NP.
VP.
+
NP.
VP.
Compound
Sentence
=
For example, “I ran; I fell.” Or, “I ran, [coordinating conjunction] I
fell.”
Wait, a coordinating whassis?
Coordinating conjunctions are linking words. They coordinate, or join together. They are easy, and
they are most commonly seven, known by the acronym “FANBOYS.” You must use punctuation before
a coordinating conjunction!
F - for
A - and
N – nor
Looking at it again then, a compound
sentence with FANBOYS could read, “We
ran, but they fell.” Or “We ran, so they fell.”
Or “We ran, and they fell.”
B - but
O - or
Y - yet
S - so
FANBOYS may look
like K-Stew with teeth out. But I am not sure.
So you’ve seen simple and
compound sentences, what
next? Another rule!
Remember “FANBOYS?” Well there is one more step
only:
IF the independent clauses you are joining are less than
3 words long (e.g. “He ran, he fell.”) then you just need
the coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS).
So, “He ran and he fell.” Or “He ran so he fell.” Both
are correct, actually.
Sentence type three-o
NP
+
VP
+
NP+ VP
.?!
= Complex Sentence.
• The
is a DEPENDENT CLAUSE, meaning
it is not a complete phrase/sentence like the NP+VP
above!
• The dependent clause needs a connector, a
SUBORDINATING conjunction, which has a different
acronym than a coordinating conjunction.
• Last, these sentences are used to “weight” the first/main
clause most, so that it is the most important over the
dependent clause. It’s a writing trick.
Before the Example, You Get:
A – After
The Mighty AAAWWUBBIS! (consumer of tasty Guinea Pigs.)
A – Although
-There are more subordinating conjunctions, but these are the most
A – As
common, and you should try to remember them.
W - When
W – Whenever
U – Unless
WARNING, WARNING! Coordinating conjunctions (FANBOYS)
always use a comma before them if the clause is over 3
words long. However, subordinating conjunctions
B – Before
(AAAWWUBBIS) do NOT use punctuation. Ever.
B – Because
I remember it like this: “If you have a lot of FANBOYS, you need something to
I – If
break them up (punctuation). But if you have the mighty AAAWWUBBIS,
S – Since
you need nothing else, it can see itself into the sentence just fine.”
If FANBOYS looks like K-Stew, I think the AAAWWUBBIS looks like HyperboleAndAHalf.com’s ALOT.
So, here are our Complex
Sentence Examples:
NP+VP
Remember, + NP
+
.?!
VP
(d.c.)
So, “He went to the party” + “Billie-Joe Bob Doyle was
there.”(2 independent clauses) Could become:
“He went to the party because Billie-Joe Bob Doyle was there.”
Or it could become:
“He went to the party before Billie-Joe Bob Doyle was there.”
See how it can change? Note the lack of punctuation.
iz +1
b/c it needz no , : ;
lawl.
But wait, there’s more!
Complex sentences can also begin with a subordinating
conjunction, so bring your AAAWWUBBIS and put
him/her/it at the front to make a point.
+
np+ vp
,
,
np+ vp
.!?
For example, “Because Snoop Dizzle was there, we sang
Christmas carols.”
-note the dirty trick: when the AAAWWUBBIS starts your
sentence, you need punctuation between the clauses!
Next, Interrupters and
Clarifiers NEEDS FIXIN!
When aunt Interrupter and uncle Clarifier come to
town, life gets cheesy and more complicated, so bring
brother Comma along, because he might be needed.
An Interrupter is something that literally interrupts a
sentence, such as “All students who are here must see a
counselor immediately.”
A Clarifier is something that helps to clarify, or to aid
understanding, such as “Jack took his wife, Jill, to the
party.” THIS CAN’T WORK WITH LET’S EAT
GRANDPA ????*************
Note:
In the previous Interrupter about the students, note it
has no comma. The meaning is largely lost if you take
out “who are here,” so this is need to know info. For this
kind, you don’t use a comma.
Note the pause with the previous Clarifier: were there
no comma in the sentence, “Jack took his wife, Jill, to
the party,” we would assume that Jack is a polygamist.
This is nice to know info. That Jack has a wife is the
crucial information.
Why note these?
Interrupters and Clarifiers are important because they help us
place natural pauses and emphasis on certain parts of a sentence.
They are also used to help with meaning.
1.) In the previous example, how important is it to know that Jack
is not a polygamist?
2.) Try this sentence with—and without—commas: “Let’s eat,
Grandpa!” and “Let’s eat Grandpa!”
Or, what about the famous book title Eats, Shoots and Leaves.
See? Commas are important wherever they are placed, or not.
The Final Sentence: the
compound-complex
This type of sentence is made up of two independent
clauses (meaning two complete sentences) and one
dependent, so it’s only a step larger than the complex
sentence.
Put another way, it’s a complex sentence joined with a
simple sentence by a conjunction like FANBOYS.
Typically, the independent clause, if it is imbedded
within the sentence, will need punctuation prior to it.
Sample Compound-Complex
Sentences
“I got to the restaurant before she arrived, and then we
all ate guinea pig.”
“Although English is a difficult language to learn, it is
not impossible, but we should all try not to burst our
brains.”
“Whenever my dog eats beans, he smells terrible, but
the house smells like beans, too.
(The 2nd and 3rd AAAWWUBBIS-begun sentences
start with a Subordinate Clause)
Subordinate Clauses for the
glorious of more gooder
sentence
make!
After the boy ate forty pounds of cheese…
Whenever I take my girlfriend to McDonald’s…
Because my dog gets gas on Friday nights…
Because of my affinity for delicious guinea-pig and
hamster relish soup…
(All you have to do is complete the thought, then add a
simple sentence at the end and wah-la, a compoundcomplex sentence).
Semicolons and Other Wacky
Comma Rules