FV11A8900 Academic Writing in English
Parts of Speech and Parts of a Sentence
Sentence Structures
I PARTS OF SPEECH AND PARTS OF A SENTENCE
1. PARTS OF SPEECH
Enter a word from the column on the left, into the blank spaces on the right. Do not go on to
the exercises until we have the answers to this section.
A/An
_______________indicates what is being talked about.
Adjective
_______________ modifies a noun or a pronoun.
Adverb
_______________is used with a noun or pronoun as a phrase to modify
some other word in the sentence.
Conjunction
Determiner
Interjection
_______________connects words, phrases or clauses and indicates their
relationships.
_______________ names a person, place, thing or idea. It may change form
to show number or possession.
Noun
_______________ is a substitute for a noun, which becomes its antecedent.
Preposition
Pronoun
_______________ expresses a state of being or an action or occurrence. It
may combine with an auxiliary _____________ to form a ______________
phrase.
Verb
Verbal
_______________ modifies (describes or limits) verbs, adjectives or other
____________ and entire sentences.
_______________expresses emotion or surprise
_______________is a verb part functioning as a noun, adjective, or adverb
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FV11A8900 Academic Writing in English
Parts of Speech and Parts of a Sentence
Sentence Structures
Underline and label all nouns (N) and pronouns (P) Circle all articles.
You might not know very much about Queen Elizabeth II. She was very active in World War II, serving as a driver
and a mechanic. It is interesting that she was still a princess then. She was not treated as the heir to the throne.
When she started she couldn’t drive a car. However, the future queen was a fast learner, and by the end of the war,
she could even repair many kinds of engines. Nowadays, she probably loves the sound of a well-tuned car engine.
Underline all verbs.
The first president of Israel was Chaim Weizmann. When Weizmann passed away in 1952, Albert Einstein was
suggested to be the next president by an Israeli newspaper. Many people wanted him to accept the position, but he
refused. Evidently, he was not interested in politics.
Underline all verbals.
Our vacation driving route is along Interstate 57. To eat now is inconvenient, because finding a good restaurant on
such a highway can be difficult. Still, we have a long drive ahead and thirst is becoming more of a problem.
Boiled, filtered water is safe to drink, but running water on the side of the road may not be safe.
Underline and label all adjectives (ADJ) and all adverbs (ADV).
According to “curriculumbits.com”, waterfalls are one of the most spectacular erosional aspects of rivers. This
happens as a river flows over a cliff where softer rock is covered by harder rock, the softer rock erodes away.
Beautiful Niagra Falls is one such waterfall. These famous falls are already 12,000 years old. Seven miles of that
precious land has already been eroded. Perhaps this rate of erosion will diminish because the powerful water has
been diverted by hydroelectric plants, two on the Canadian side and one on the American side.
Identify the part of speech of each underlined word. Choose from noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb,
preposition, coordinating conjunction and subordinating conjunction.
Many1 different kinds2 of devastating natural disasters happen around the world and3 affect4 people in different
ways. Some examples include5 tsunami waves, tornadoes, earthquakes, volcanoes, and floods. In 2004, a tsunami
wave happened in the Indian Ocean. A teacher at a school here6 in7 Lappeenranta experienced that8 and almost lost
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FV11A8900 Academic Writing in English
Parts of Speech and Parts of a Sentence
Sentence Structures
his9 life. His wife also10 survived, but many days passed before they knew the fates of each11 other12. Tsunamis
usually happen after volcano eruptions. However13, volcanoes can cause many other kinds of problems. On April
5, 1815, when Mount Tambora erupted, most deaths took place as14 a result of the cloud of volcanic ash which15
circled the globe. The cloud was so thick that the sun’s rays could not penetrate it. Freezing temperatures and16
snow continued throughout the summer in North America, resulting in crop failures and more death. When17 I was
in high school, a tornado came through the town we lived in. One18 of my friends was driving in a car trying to
outrun it. However, he was not fast enough. His car was picked up19; he fell out and landed on his back in a corn
field. He has been paralyzed from the waist down20 ever since. Natural21 disasters seem much worse when they
affect us in some22 personal way.
If you had trouble with these exercises, get some practice. Here are some practice sites, and I’m sure there
are many more on the Internet. Put “Parts of speech + exercises” in Google.
http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/writersref6e/Player/Pages/Main.aspx
Scroll down to Basic Grammar and click. Do exercises B1-1 through B1-7.
http://www.writingcentre.uottawa.ca/hypergrammar/rvpartsp.html
http://a4esl.org/q/f/z/zz30fna.htm
http://www.funbrain.com/grammar/index.html
2. PARTS OF S SENTENCE
A. Answer the following statements true (T) or false (F):
1.
All sentences must have a verb and a subject.
2.
All elements (words) are stationary (cannot move) in English language sentences.
3.
Noun phrases (noun + adjectives) do not need articles.
4.
Intransitive verbs need a direct object.
5.
Checking for subject-verb agreement involves identifying those elements in the sentence.
B. Draw a vertical line to separate the subject from the predicate and draw a line under the subject and a double
line under the main verb.
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FV11A8900 Academic Writing in English
Parts of Speech and Parts of a Sentence
Sentence Structures
Many different kinds of devastating natural disasters happen around the world and affect people in different ways.
Some examples include tsunami waves, tornadoes, earthquakes, volcanoes, and floods. In 2004, a tsunami wave
happened in the Indian Ocean. A teacher at a school here in Lappeenranta experienced that and almost lost his life.
His wife also survived, but many days passed before they knew the fates of each other. Tsunamis usually happen
after volcano eruptions. However, volcanoes can cause many other kinds of problems. On April 5, 1815, when
Mount Tambora erupted, most deaths took place as a result of the cloud of volcanic ash which circled the globe.
The cloud was so thick that the sun’s rays could not penetrate it. Freezing temperatures and snow continued
throughout the summer in North America, resulting in crop failures and more death. When I was in high school, a
tornado came through the town we lived in. One of my friends was driving in a car trying to outrun it. However, he
was not fast enough. His car was picked up; he fell out and landed on his back in a corn field. He has been
paralyzed from the waist down ever since. Natural disasters seem much worse when they affect us in some
personal way.
C. Now look back at the predicate. Mark parts of the predicate, e.g. the main verb and any auxiliary verbs, object
nouns or subject complements. Notice where the adverbs are and think about all those other elements in the
passage.
D.
Do the same kind of work (exercises B & C) with sentences from your sample journal text. Pick the sentences
at random from the text. Type your sentences and do the work on paper that you bring to class to share with
others. Spend at least 45 minutes on this assignment.
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FV11A8900 Academic Writing in English
Parts of Speech and Parts of a Sentence
Sentence Structures
II SENTENCE STRUCTURES : SIMPLE, COMBINE AND COMPLEX SENTENCES
Why is it important to know whether a sentence is simple, compound, or complex?
I believe a writer must know how to define simple, compound, and complex sentences before using them
consciously. To me, that's so obvious it hardly needs stating.
Once a writer knows how to write a simple sentence, it is possible to apply strict mechanical "rules" for writing
both compound and complex sentences. And with just these three sentence types, it is possible to write good
essays, with good sentence variety, perfectly acceptable for academic work.
Experienced writers use a variety of sentences to make their writing interesting and lively. Too many simple
sentences, for example, will sound choppy and immature while too many long sentences will be difficult to read
and hard to understand.
This page contains definitions of simple, compound, and complex sentences with many simple examples. The
purpose of these examples is to help the ESL/EFL learner to identify sentence basics including identification of
sentences in the short quizzes that follow. After that, it will be possible to analyze more complex sentences
varieties.
SIMPLE SENTENCE
A simple sentence, also called an independent clause, contains a subject and a verb, and it expresses a complete
thought. In the following simple sentences, subjects are in yellow, and verbs are in green.
A. Some students like to study in the mornings.
B. Juan and Arturo play football every afternoon.
C. Alicia goes to the library and studies every day.
The three examples above are all simple sentences. Note that sentence B contains a compound subject, and
sentence C contains a compound verb. Simple sentences, therefore, contain a subject and verb and express a
complete thought, but they can also contain a compound subjects or verbs.
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FV11A8900 Academic Writing in English
Parts of Speech and Parts of a Sentence
Sentence Structures
COMPOUND SENTENCE
A compound sentence contains two independent clauses joined by a coordinator. The coordinators are as
follows: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. (Helpful hint: The first letter of each of the coordinators spells
FANBOYS.) Except for very short sentences, coordinators are always preceded by a comma. In the following
compound sentences, subjects are in yellow, verbs are in green, and the coordinators and the commas that
precede them are in red.
A. I tried to speak Spanish, and my friend tried to speak English.
B. Alejandro played football, so Maria went shopping.
C. Alejandro played football, for Maria went shopping.
The above three sentences are compound sentences. Each sentence contains two independent clauses, and they
are joined by a coordinator with a comma preceding it. Note how the conscious use of coordinators can change
the relationship between the clauses. Sentences B and C, for example, are identical except for the coordinators.
In sentence B, which action occurred first? Obviously, "Alejandro played football" first, and as a consequence,
"Maria went shopping. In sentence C, "Maria went shopping" first. In sentence C, "Alejandro played football"
because, possibly, he didn't have anything else to do, for or because "Maria went shopping." How can the use
of other coordinators change the relationship between the two clauses? What implications would the use of
"yet" or "but" have on the meaning of the sentence?
COMPLEX SENTENCE
A complex sentence has an independent clause joined by one or more dependent clauses. A complex sentence
always has a subordinator such as because, since, after, although, or when or a relative pronoun such as that,
who, or which. In the following complex sentences, subjects are in yellow, verbs are in green, and the
subordinators and their commas (when required) are in red.
A. When he handed in his homework, he forgot to give the teacher the last page.
B. The teacher returned the homework after she noticed the error.
C. The students are studying because they have a test tomorrow.
D. After they finished studying, Juan and Maria went to the movies.
E. Juan and Maria went to the movies after they finished studying.
When a complex sentence begins with a subordinator such as sentences A and D, a comma is required at the
end of the dependent clause. When the independent clause begins the sentence with subordinators in the middle
as in sentences B, C, and E, no comma is required. If a comma is placed before the subordinators in sentences
B, C, and E, it is wrong.
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FV11A8900 Academic Writing in English
Parts of Speech and Parts of a Sentence
Sentence Structures
Note that sentences D and E are the same except sentence D begins with the dependent clause which is followed
by a comma, and sentence E begins with the independent clause which contains no comma. The comma after
the dependent clause in sentence D is required, and experienced listeners of English will often hear a slight
pause there. In sentence E, however, there will be no pause when the independent clause begins the sentence.
COMPLEX SENTENCES / ADJECTIVE CLAUSES
Finally, sentences containing adjective clauses (or dependent clauses) are also complex because they contain an
independent clause and a dependent clause. The subjects, verbs, and subordinators are marked the same as in
the previous sentences, and in these sentences, the independent clauses are also underlined.
A. The woman who(m) my mom talked to sells cosmetics.
B. The book that Jonathan read is on the shelf.
C. The house which AbrahAM Lincoln was born in is still standing.
D. The town where I grew up is in the United States.
Adjective Clauses are studied in this site separately, but for now it is important to know that sentences
containing adjective clauses are complex.
(From: http://www.eslbee.com/sentences.htm)
Exercise 1. Combine the following sentences into complex sentences. Remember that a number of
answers may be correct
His name is Peter.
He's a famous professional athlete.
He's a baseball player.
He has a large house in Miami.
The house is beautiful.
He often travels around the US.
He plays away games in different cities in the US.
He travels by airplane.
He usually sleeps on the plane.
He stays up late after games.
He is an excellent pitcher.
Fans love his abilities.
Coaches love his abilities.
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FV11A8900 Academic Writing in English
Parts of Speech and Parts of a Sentence
Sentence Structures
Every week he plays a home game.
The game is played in Glover Stadium.
The game is usually sold out.
Glover Stadium is old.
Glover Stadium doesn't have enough seats for all the fans.
The fans wait in line to buy tickets.
The fans often pay more than $60 dollars for a ticket.
The fans are unhappy about the ticket prices.
The fans love Peter.
Adapted from: http://esl.about.com/od/intermediatewriting/a/cplex_sentence.htm
Exercise 2. Write two simple and two complex sentences using the data from the table below
2005
135, 470
2006
156,935
2007
164,820
2008
159,550
2009
123,075
Complex sentences contain conjunctions, relative pronouns or punctuation, which link the
clauses.
Example
In 2005 the company produced over 135,000 vehicles.
Between 2005 and 2006 vehicle production increased by 20 per cent.
In 2005 the company produced over 135,000 vehicles but between 2005 and 2006 vehicle production
increased by 20 per cent.
1.____________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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FV11A8900 Academic Writing in English
Parts of Speech and Parts of a Sentence
Sentence Structures
2._____________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
3._____________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
4._____________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Adapted from: Bailey, S., 2011, Academic Writing: A Handbook for International Students, 3rd edition, Oxon:
Routledge.
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