The Sentence

A sentence is a group of words that expresses a complete thought.   Every sentence has two parts, subject and predicate.   (See sentence types below.)

1. The subject is the person, place, thing or idea about which something is said, asked, ordered, or exclaimed.

2. The predicate tells what the subject did, or what happened to the subject, or describes the subject, or asks something about the subject.   The predicate includes a verb, which expresses an action, a condition, or a state of being.   Examples:

The rains came.

"Maverick" has an interesting history.

She is a finalist!

Is she a finalist?

The good die young.

Joe and Hank run and play.

To study is to progress.

Walking is excellent exercise.

The beautiful new car runs with ease.

The boys of Exeter and those of Williams are in the best of training and will compete on Saturday.

Occasionally, the subject or predicate is implied, usually in exclamations:

Go!
Ouch!
Heavens!
Henry?   Henry Aldrich!
Forget it!
Walter!   Yes?   Coming?   No.   Why not?   Too tired.

1. Write complete, not fragment, sentences.

Bad: When he arrives.

Good: When he arrives, I'll be gone.

Bad: The children singing and dancing in the garden.

Good: The children were singing and dancing in the garden.

2. Avoid run-on sentences.

Bad:  The president of our board is a man about fifty years old and he is very much liked in spite of the fact that he has to take strict measure with us members.

3. Use correct punctuation.

Bad: Mary wanted to go, however, she was not well.

Good: Mary wanted to go.   However, she was not well. OR

Good: Mary wanted to go; however, she was not well.

The point: A period must be replaced by a semicolon - not a comma.

4. Make nouns and pronouns agree with the verb.

Bad: Either Mary or Jane are going.

Good: Either Mary or Jane is going.

Bad: Nobody has done their work.

Good: Nobody has done his work.

Note: The following pronouns are singular: Each, every, everybody, anybody, anyone, nobody, no one, someone, either, neither, one.

These adjectives can be singular or plural, depending on the subject: some, most, none.   Examples:

Some of the water is contamined.
Some of the carrots are spoiled.

Most of the jewelry was stolen.
Most of the eggs were rotten.

None of the porridge has been eaten.
None of the guests are going home soon.

5. Make clear pronoun reference to antecedent noun.

Bad: John told Bill he was wanted elsewhere.

Good: John said that Bill was wanted elsewhere.

6. Use consistent verb tense.

Bad: Tom noticed that he had a Canadian quarter and wonders whether it would work in the vending machine.

Good: Tom noticed that he had a Canadian quarter and wondered whether it would work in the vending machine.

7. Don’t split infinitives and other verb forms.

Bad: I want you to not ever again think of doing such a thing.

Good: I want you to think about never doing such a thing.

8. Use parallel constructions.

Bad: Peter is my brother, Jack being my cousin.

Good: Peter is my brother and Jack is my cousin.

9. Prefer the active voice to the passive voice.

Bad: My first visit to New York will always be remembered by me.

Good: I shall always remember my first visit to New York.

Note: Some sentences require the passive voice:   Seventy-five people were killed in yesterday's train wreck.

10. Don’t shift from active to passive voice (or vice-versa).

Bad: Tom ran to the station and the bus was taken by him.

Good: Tom ran to the station and took the bus.

11. Use action verbs rather than condition verbs.

Bad: Most Americans are believers in capital punishment.

Good: Most Americans believe in capital punishment.

Point: "Are" states a condition; "believe" is an action verb.

Bad: Many Americans are of the opinion that foreign cars are more durable than American cars.

Good: Many Americans think foreign cars last longer than American cars.

12. Begin most sentences with the subject.

Tom and Jerry are very bold mice.

13. If not the subject, then begin a sentence with an adverb.

Very bold mice are Tom and Jerry.

14. Avoid beginning sentences with "there" and "it is".

Bad: There are several reason why he refused to smoke.

Good: He refused to smoke because he feared cancer, his family hated it, and he once set fire to his bed while smoking.

Bad: It is common for people who tan often to get skin cancer.

Good: Skin cancer is common for people who tan often.

15. Put important words in important positions.   The middle is less important than the beginning or end of a sentence, and the end is is more important than the beginning.

Bad: Richard was in a serious accident, we were told.

Good: Richard, we were told, was in a serious accident.

Bad: They will call me a liar, in all probability.

Good: They will, in all probability, call me a liar.

Bad: Rebecca flatly refused to see Charles, for some unknown reaon.

Good: For some unknown reason, Rebecca flatly refused to see Charles.

16. Avoid misplaced and dangling modifiers.

Bad: The wagon rumbled down the road, caked with mud.

Good: The wagon, caked with mud, rumbed down the road.

Bad: Puffing and panting, the journey was completed at last.

Good: Puffing and panting, we completed the journey at last.

Bad: Gazing out my bedroom window, the meadow appeared with blossoming wild flowers.

Good: Gazing out my bedroom window, I could see the meadow with blossoming wild flowers.

Bad: To slice the cake, the knife must be held firmly.

Good: To slice the cake, hold the knife firmly.

Bad: To avoid squeaking, the driver should lubricate the auto doors.

Good: To avoid squeaking, the auto doors should be lubricated by the driver.

Bad: While on a visit to Paris, the Bourse was closed for a week.

Good: While on a visit to Paris, we found the Bourse closed for a week.

Bad: Although only eight years old, my grandmother bought me my first bicycle.

Good: Although I was only eight years old, my grandmother bought me my first bicycle.

Bad: Being fully boiled, I took the soup from the microwave.

Good: Since the soup was fully boiled, I took it from the microwave.

17. Don’t digress from the basic thought.

18. Combine thoughts to eliminate short, choppy sentences.

19. Avoid too many dependent clauses.

20. Use adjectives to clarify, but be economical with them.

21. When using long sentences, balance them with short ones.

Most readers appreciate variety in sentence length.   Don't write a report or essay with too many short or too many long sentences following each other.   Example:

Perhaps you think John was afraid?   Not at all.   He was, if anything, inclined to be too daring under the circumstances.   What a man!   One night in the pitch darkness of the jungle, he felt an ominous, upward-working coil around his ankle.   Not a sound out of him!   But presently - a sharp clip of the shears and a kind of sickening sizzle.   He had as quick as a flash cut the head off a tree boa that had already wriggled its way up to his waist line.

22. Avoid wordiness.

23. Use good diction, not slang.

24. Use correct spelling.

25. Add interest and clarity with similes, metaphors, hyperbole, irony.

26. Avoid biased language.

27. Avoid sexist language.

28. Don’t use redundancies.

29. Avoid illogical arrangement of thoughts.

30. Don’t use of broad or vague words.   Be specific.

Check the sentences in this essay on poverty to determine if the author has followed his advice and admonishments.   If not, email your corrections and advise him to practice what he preaches!

Sentence types:

A simple sentence contains no clauses.

A compound sentence contains 2 or more independent clauses and no dependent clauses.

A complex sentence contains 1 independent clause and 2 or more dependent clauses.

A compound-complex sentence contains 2 or more independent clauses and 1 or more dependent clauses.

A clause is a group of words that contain a subject and verb.   There are two kinds of clauses: independent (main) and subordinate (dependent).

• An independent (main) clause can stand alone as a sentence because it expresses a complete thought.   Independent clauses are joined by coordinating conjunctions: and, but, for, yet, nor, or, so, whereas.
  
  
• The prisoner escaped from prison, but the police arrested him later. (Two independent clauses.)
  
  
• A subordinate (dependent) clause cannot stand alone as a sentence because it does not express a complete thought.   Subordinate clauses are joined to main clauses by subordinating conjuntions: as, after, although, because, before, how in order that, than, if, since, that, though, unless, until, when, where, while.   There are three kinds of subordinate clauses: adjective, adverb, and noun.
  
  
• An adjective clause modifies a noun or a pronoun.
  
  
• People who are blind develop sensitive hearing.
  
  
• My roommate spoke German, which I did not understand.
  
  
• An adverb clause is used as an adverb to modify a vferb, adjective, or adverb.
  
  
• Mark carries his water bottle wherever he goes.
  
  
• A noun clause is used as a noun.
  
  
• The belief that unicorns exist is a myth.