Sentences and Writing a Good One Pt. 1
Parts of speech you need to know for this unit:
Noun – person, place, thing or idea. A.k.a. someone or something.
Verb – an action word. It tells what a subject does / did/ will do.
All sentences have similarities. At minimum, they have a noun part (a noun phrase),
a verb part (a verb phrase) and end punctuation.
For instance,
Noun phrase: “John,” “You,” or “The box.”
Verb phrase: “Ran,” “went home,” “ate.”
End punctuation: “ . , ? !” but never “!!” or “!!!1LolPwnded!” One point of punctuation
suffices.
There are several types of clauses, or phrases:
Independent Clauses express a complete idea (they are a complete sentence). They
have a subject and a verb. For instance, “I studied in the library for my math test.”
A Dependent Clause is a group of words with a subject and verb, but it’s not a
complete thought. It cannot be a complete sentence. It often has a “marker” word,
called a coordinating conjunction which we’ll come to. For instance, “When I studied
in the library for my math test…” could not be a complete sentence as it is. This is a
dependent clause.
1)
np+
vp
(+ end punctuation)
= Simple Sentence: a noun phrase, a verb phrase, and end punctuation.
For instance, “John ran.” Or “We left.”
2)
np +
vp
+
np+
vp
= Compound Sentence: 2 joined simple sentences.
For instance, “I ran, [coordinating conjunction] I fell.”
A coordinating conjunction is a linking word. It ties the two simple sentences
together, and an easy way to remember the most-often used coordinating
conjunctions is with the acronym, FANBOYS:
F = for, A = and, N= nor, B = but, O= or, Y= yet, S=so.
Using one in the example above, you might get “We ran, but they fell.” Or, “We ran,
and they fell.”
(As in the above examples, you MUST use punctuation BEFORE the coordinating
conjunction!)
3)
np +vp
+
np + vp (dependent clause) (=not a complete sentence)
= Complex Sentence: independent clause plus dependent clause (or, Complete +
Incomplete Phrases/Sentences).
They are separated by a Subordinating Conjunction, known as AAAWWUBBIS,
“After, Although, As, When, Whenever, Unless, Before, Because, If, Since.” (There are
more, but these are the most common.)
If you use an AAAWWUBBIS word, you NEVER use punctuation!
For example, “We went to the party because Snoop Dizzle was there.”
(“we went to the party” is an independent clause, while “because Snoop Dizzle was
there” is a dependent clause.)
4)
= Complex Sentence begun with a subordinating
conjunction. These will need punctuation after the
subordinate clause!
“Because I began the sentence with AAAWWUBBIS, I realized it was a complex
sentence.” “Before you learn to write compound-complex sentences, you need to
know what a simple sentence is.”
np+vp
+ s.c.
5)
Clause or
phrase
np +
vp
,—
Interrupter or
,—
Clause or
phrase
Clarifier
= Sentence with interrupters/clarifiers. These sentences have several points of
punctuation within them because they contain clauses or phrases which either
interrupt or clarify to create a point.
For instance, an example would be, “All students, who are enrolled in English, need
to see a counselor immediately.”
The phrase, “who are enrolled in English” clarifies “students.” It highlights that not
everyone needs to see a counselor.
Why does this matter? Think about this one:
“Jack took his wife Sandy to the party.” However, if it read, “Jack took his wife, Jill, to
the party,” then it would sound as though Jack has multiple wives due to the
clarification of “Jill.”
In many ways, the use of commas and other punctuation is important because it
separates “nice to know” from “need to know” information.
Don’t believe me? Watch this:
“Let’s eat, Grandpa!” vs. “Let’s eat Grandpa!” Nice to know/need to know.



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.
In the previous example, how important is it to know that Jack is not a
polygamist?
Or, what about the famous book title Eats, Shoots and Leaves. It could be
about someone walking into a restaurant, eating, shooting the place up, then
leaving, or instead it could be about a panda, with a misplaced comma who
eats shoots and leaves. The clarification (the clarifier) helps to give us
meaning.
6) Compound-Complex sentences are made of a compound sentence and a (wait for
it) complex sentence. As a result, they have two independent clauses and one
dependent (or, they are a complex sentence plus a simple sentence). They utilize
conjunctions and punctuation marks to help make the sentence both complicated
and clear at the same time. Typically, the independent clause, if it is imbedded
within the sentence, will need punctuation prior to it.
For e.g.:


“I went there, before she arrived there, and 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, and they can be used to create fun sentences)
Happy Fun-Time!
 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 compound-complex sentence).