Alan Peat Writing Exciting sentences
Sentence name
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Examples
BOYS sentence
A two part sentence joined with the conjunctions
But, Or, Yet and So (mnemonic for BOYS)
He was a friendly man most of the time, BUT he could become nasty.
2A sentence
Has 2 adjectives before the first noun, followed by
a further 2 adjectives before the 2nd noun.
Adj adj noun Adj adj noun
He was a tall, awkward man with an old, crumpled jacket.
Simile
… like a ….
The moon hung above us like a patient, pale white face
He could be really friendly, or he could be miserable.
It was an overgrown, messy garden with a lifeless, leafless tree.
… as ... as
3____ ed Opener
3 related adjectives at the start of a sentence all
ending in ed. Each adjective must have commas to
separate them.
2 pairs sentences
Sentences beginning with 2 pairs of related
adjectives. Each pair is followed by a comma and
separated by a conjuction.
De:De sentences
Description: Detail sentences = a compound
sentence in which 2 independent clauses (make
sense alone) are joined together with a colon.
Verb, person sentence – (ing opener)
Open sentence with a verb, then write about the
person.
Although it was August it was as cold as a late December evening.
Frightened, terrified, exhausted, they ran from the creature.
Genre
specific
examples
Narrative
Instructional
Biographical
Explanation
Persuasive
Narrative
Persuasive
Instructions
Narrative
Recount
Persuasive
Narrative
Recount
Amused, amazed, excited he left the circus reluctantly.
Exhausted and worried, cold and hungry, they did not know how much
further they had to go.
Narrative
Recount
Persuasive
The vampire is a dreadful creature: it kills by sucking all the blood from its
victims
Report
Recount
Snails are slow: they take hours to cross the shortest of distances
Walking, he seemed to have been walking for ever.
Flying, john had always been terrified of it.
Narative
Persuasive
Recount
Explanation
8
9
O. (I.) sentence
Outside (Inside) sentence. Made up of 2 related
sentences. The first tells the reader what a
character is supposedly thinking and shows what is
happening on the outside – the characters
reaction. The second related sentence, which is
placed in brackets, lets the reader know the
character’s true inner feelings.
She told the little girl not to be so naughty. (Inside, however, she was
secretly amused by what she had done.)
If, if, if, then sentence
A good way of starting or ending a story
If the alarm had gone off, if the bus had been on time, if the road repairs
had been completed, then his day would not have got off to such a bad
start.
10 Emotion word , comma
Adjective which describes someone’s feelings,
followed by a comma and then more information
about the opening emotive adjective.
11 Noun, which/who/ where sentences – ‘drop in’
Narrative
Report
He laughed heartily at the joke he had been told. (at the same time it
would be true to say he was quite embarrassed.)
If Hannibal hadn’t lost, if Rome hadn’t won, if Carthage hadn’t fallen then
the Mediterranean would be very different today.
Terrified, he froze instantly on the spot where he stood.
Narrative
Discussion
Persuasive
Recount
Narrative
Recount
Desperate, she screamed for help.
Cakes, which taste fantastic, are not so good for your health.
sentence
Example of a sentence with an embedded clause, it Snakes, which scare me, are not always poisonous.
begins with a noun, followed by a comma and an
embedded clause which uses who/which/were to
begin it, the final part of the sentence adds detail
to the opening.
12 Many Questions
Where is the treasure? the diamonds? the rubies? the gold?
Usually begins with one of the following (Who,
what, when, where, why, how of what if) then an
What if it rained? it poured? it thundered? it became stormy?
initial question ending with a ?, followed by further
phrases (or even single words)which in themselves
pose additional, related questions. Each of these
additional related words /phrases is concluded
with a question mark. Capital letters are not used
for these.
Recount
Narrative
Explanation
Narative
Persuasive
Recount
13 Ad, same ad
14
15
16
17
Contains two identical adjectives, one repeated
shortly after the other. The first use of the
adjective is in the opening clause, the second
comes directly after the comma.
3 bad – (dash) question
Begins with 3 negative adjectives, the first and
second adjectives are followed by a comma. The
third is followed by a dash, then a question which
relates to the 3 adjectives.
Double ‘ly’ sentence
Ends with 2 adverbs of manner which are joined
with the word ‘and’. The first part of the sentence
ends with a verb.
All the W’s
Short sentences which begin with:
Who? What? When? Where? Why? Would?
Will? What if?
List
It has no less than three and no more than four
adjectives before the noun.
18 Some; others
Compound sentence which begins with the word
‘Some’ and has a semi-colon rather than a
conjunction which separates it from the 2nd half
which begins with the word others.
19 Personification of weather
An element of the weather is given a human
attribute.
20 P.C (paired conjuctions)
21 The more, the more
Example of a paired sentence, the first more
He was a fast runner, fast because he needed to be.
Narrative
Persuasive
He was a smart dresser, smart because he had the money to buy the best.
Greed, jealousy, hatred – which of these was John Brown’s worst trait?
Incompetence, arrogance, stupidity – which of these was Jack’s fatal flaw?
He swam slowly and falteringly.
Verb 1st adverb 2nd adverb
He rode determinedly and swiftly.
What next?
Why did he run away?
It was a dark, long, leafy, lane.
It was a cold, wet, miserable and misty morning.
Some people love football; others just can’t stand it.
Some days are full of enjoyment; others begin and end terribly.
The rain wept down the window.
The wind screamed through the branches.
It was both cold and unpleasant for him to work there.
It was not so much lack of time as fear that stopped him from taking the
job.
The more upset she was, the more her tears flowed.
The more happy she became, the more talkative she seemed to be.
Narrative
Persuasive
Report
Narrative
Instruction
Recount
Narrative
Recount
Persuasive
Narrative
Recount
Explanation
Narrative
Report
Recount
Persuasive
Narrative
Recount
Narrative
Recount
Explanation
Narrative
Instruction
should be followed by an emotive word and the
second more should be followed by an actio n
related to the emotion.
22 Short
One, two or three words. Can be used for
dramatic effect.
Persuasive
Discussion
Then it happened.
Narrative
Persuasive
Everything failed.
23 __________ ing, _______ ed Always begins with a
Walking near the bush, she stopped at the sight of the crocodile facing her.
verb ending in ‘ing’ and is followed by the location
of the action and then a comma.
24 Irony
Overstates how good or bad something is.
Running near the beach, he halted as the ground gave way.
Our ‘luxury’ hotel tuned out to be a farm building.
Narrative
Recount
Narrative
The ‘trip f our dreams’ was, in fact, our worst nightmare.
25 Imagine 3 examples s
entences begin with the word imagine and then
describe 3 elements of something, the first two are
separated by a comma, the third concludes with a
colon. The writer then explains that such a time
/place exists.
Imagine a time when people were not afraid, when life was much simpler,
when everyone helped each other: this is the story of that time.
Imagine a place where the sun shines, where wars ever happen, where noone ever dies: in the Andromeda 5 system, there is such a planet.
Narrative
Persuasive