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Building Sentences
Some English sentences are very basic:
Shakespeare was a writer.
Einstein said something.
The Inuit are a people.
You could write an entire essay using only simple sentences like these:
William Shakespeare was a writer. He wrote plays. It was the Elizabethan age. One
play was Hamlet. It was a tragedy. Hamlet died. The court died too.
It is not likely, however, that your essay would receive a passing grade. This chapter helps
you learn to recognise diIIerent types oI sentences and to use them eIIectively in your own
writing.
Written by David Megginson
Sentence Structure Matters
lthough ordinary conversation, personal letters, and even some types oI proIessional writing
(such as newspaper stories) consist almost entirely oI simple sentences, your university or
college instructors will expect you to be able to use all types oI sentences in your Iormal
academic writing. Writers who use only simple sentences are like truck drivers who do not
know how to shiIt out oI Iirst gear: they would be able to drive a load Irom Montreal to
Calgary (eventually), but they would have a great deal oI trouble getting there.
II you use phrases and clauses careIully, your sentences will become much more interesting
and your ideas, much clearer. This complex sentence develops a major, central idea and
provides structured background inIormation:
Since it involves the death not only oI the title character but oI the entire royal court,
Hamlet is the most extreme oI the tragedies written by the Elizabethan playwrite
William Shakespeare.
Just as a good driver uses diIIerent gears, a good writer uses diIIerent types oI sentences in
diIIerent situations:
O a long complex sentence will show what inIormation depends on what other
inIormation;
O a compound sentence will emphasise balance and parallelism;
O a short simple sentence will grab a reader's attention;
O a loose sentence will tell the reader in advance how to interpret your inIormation;
O a periodic sentence will leave the reader in suspense until the very end;
O a declarative sentence will avoid any special emotional impact;
O an exclamatory sentence, used sparingly, will jolt the reader;
O an interrogative sentence will Iorce the reader to think about what you are writing;
and
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O an imperative sentence will make it clear that you want the reader to act right away.
Written by David Megginson
%e Structure of a Sentence
#emember that every clause is, in a sense, a miniature sentence. simple sentences contains
only a single clause, while a compound sentence, a complex sentence, or a compound-
complex sentence contains at least two clauses.
Tbe Simple Sentence
The most basic type oI sentence is the simple sentence, which contains only one clause.
simple sentence can be as short as one word:
"
&sually, however, the sentence has a subject as well as a predicate and both the subject and
the predicate may have modiIiers. ll oI the Iollowing are simple sentences, because each
contains only one clause:
Me|t"
lce me|ts
1he lce me|ts qlckly
1he lce o Lhe rlver me|ts qlckly er Lhe warm March s
Lyl expose wlLhoL lLs blakeL of sow Lhe lce o Lhe rlver me|ts qlckly er Lhe warm
March s
s you can see, a simple sentence can be quite long -- it is a mistake to think that you can tell
a simple sentence Irom a compound sentence or a complex sentence simply by its length.
The most natural sentence structure is the simple sentence: it is the Iirst kind which children
learn to speak, and it remains by Iar the most common sentence in the spoken language oI
people oI all ages. In written work, simple sentences can be very eIIective Ior grabbing a
reader's attention or Ior summing up an argument, but you have to use them with care: too
many simple sentences can make your writing seem childish.
When you do use simple sentences, you should add transitional phrases to connect them to
the surrounding sentences.
Tbe Compound Sentence
compound sentence consists oI two or more independent clauses (or simple sentences)
joined by co-ordinating conjunctions like "and," "but," and "or":
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mp|e
Caaa ls a rlch coLry
mp|e
SLlll lL has may poor people
Compound
Caaa ls a rlch coLry but sLlll lL has may poor people
Compound sentences are very natural Ior English speakers -- small children learn to use them
early on to connect their ideas and to avoid pausing (and allowing an adult to interrupt):
1oay aL school Mr Moore brohL l hls peL rabblL a he showe lL Lo Lhe class a l oL
Lo peL lL a kaLe hel lL a we colore plcLres of lL a lL aLe parL of my carroL aL lch
a
OI course, this is an extreme example, but iI you over-use compound sentences in written
work, your writing might seem immature.
compound sentence is most eIIective when you use it to create a sense oI balance or
contrast between two (or more) equally-important pieces oI inIormation:
Monta| has better c|ubs bL 1oronto has better cnemas
Special Cases of Compound Sentences
There are two special types oI compound sentences which you might want to note. First,
rather than joining two simple sentences together, a co-ordinating conjunction sometimes
joins two complex sentences, or one simple sentence and one complex sentence. In this case,
the sentence is called a compound-complex sentence:
compoundcomp|ex
1he package arred n the mornng bL the courer |eft before I cou|d check the contents
The second special case involves punctuation. It is possible to join two originally separate
sentences into a compound sentence using a semicolon instead oI a co-ordinating
conjunction:
r Iohn A Macdona|d had a serous drnkng prob|em hen sober hoeer he cou|d be
a formdab|e foe n the nouse of Commons
&sually, a conjunctive adverb like "however" or "consequently" will appear near the
beginning oI the second part, but it is not required:
1he s rlses l Lhe easL lL seLs l Lhe wesL
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Tbe Complex Sentence
complex sentence contains one independent clause and at least one dependent clause.
&nlike a compound sentence, however, a complex sentence contains clauses which are not
equal. Consider the Iollowing examples:
mp|e
My frle lvlLe me Lo a parLy l o oL waL Lo o
Compound
My frle lvlLe me Lo a parLy bL l o oL waL Lo o
Comp|ex
AlLhoh my frle lvlLe me Lo a parLy l o oL waL Lo o
In the Iirst example, there are two separate simple sentences: "My Iriend invited me to a
party" and "I do not want to go." The second example joins them together into a single
sentence with the co-ordinating conjunction "but," but both parts could still stand as
independent sentences -- they are entirely equal, and the reader cannot tell which is most
important. In the third example, however, the sentence has changed quite a bit: the Iirst
clause, "lthough my Iriend invited me to a party," has become incomplete, or a dependent
clause.
complex sentence is very diIIerent Irom a simple sentence or a compound sentence because
it makes clear which ideas are most important. When you write
My frle lvlLe me Lo a parLy l o oL waL Lo o
or even
My frle lvlLe me Lo a parLy bL l o oL waL Lo o
The reader will have trouble knowing which piece oI inIormation is most important to you.
When you write the subordinating conjunction "although" at the beginning oI the Iirst clause,
however, you make it clear that the Iact that your Iriend invited you is less important than, or
subordinate, to the Iact that you do not want to go.
Written by David Megginson
%e Order of a Sentence
ot all sentences make a single point -- compound sentences, especially, may present several
equally-important pieces oI inIormation -- but most oI the time, when you write a sentence,
there is a single argument, statement, question, or command which you wish to get across.
When you are writing your sentences, do not bury your main point in the middle; instead, use
one oI the positions of empasis at the beginning or end oI the sentence.
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Tbe Loose Sentence
II you put your main point at the beginning oI a long sentence, you are writing a loose
sentence:
|oose
I am ||ng to pay s|ght|y hgher taxes for the pr|ege of |ng n Canada coslerl Lhe
free healLh care Lhe cheap LlLlo fees Lhe low crlme raLe Lhe compreheslve soclal
prorams a Lhe woerfl wlLers
The main point oI this sentence is that the writer preIers to live in Canada, and the writer
makes the point at the very beginning: everything which Iollows is simply extra inIormation.
When the readers read about the Iree health care, the cheap tuition Iees, the low crime rate,
the comprehensive social programs, and the wonderIul winters, they will already know that
these are reasons Ior living in Canada, and as a result, they will be more likely to understand
the sentence on a Iirst reading.
Loose sentences are the most natural Ior English speakers, who almost always talk in loose
sentences: even the most sophisticated English writers tend to use loose sentences much more
oIten than periodic sentences. While a periodic sentence can be useIul Ior making an
important point or Ior a special dramatic eIIect, it is also much more diIIicult to read, and
oIten requires readers to go back and reread the sentence once they understand the main
point.
Finally, it is important to remember that you have to structure a loose sentence as careIully as
you would structure a periodic sentence: it is very easy to lose control oI a loose sentence so
that by the end the reader has Iorgotten what your main point was.
Tbe Periodic Sentence
II your main point is at the end oI a long sentence, you are writing a periodic sentence:
perodc
Coslerl Lhe free healLh care Lhe cheap LlLlo fees Lhe low crlme raLe Lhe
compreheslve soclal prorams a Lhe woerfl wlLers I am ||ng to pay s|ght|y
hgher taxes for the pr|ege of |ng n Canada
The main point oI this sentence is that the writer preIers to live in Canada. t the beginning
oI this sentence, the reader does not know what point the writer is going to make: what about
the Iree health care, cheap tuition Iees, low crime rate, comprehensive social programs, and
wonderIul winters? The reader has to read all oI this inIormation ithout knowing what the
conclusion will be.
The periodic sentence has become much rarer in Iormal English writing over the past hundred
years, and it has never been common in inIormal spoken English (outside oI bad political
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speeches). Still, it is a powerIul rhetorical tool. n occasional periodic sentence is not only
dramatic but persuasive: even iI the readers do not agree with your conclusion, they will read
your evidence Iirst with open minds. II you use a loose sentence with hostile readers, the
readers will probably close their minds beIore considering any oI your evidence.
Finally, it is important to remember that periodic sentences are like exclamatory sentences:
used once or twice in a piece oI writing, they can be very eIIective; used any more than that,
they can make you sound dull and pompous.
Written by David Megginson
%e Purpose of a Sentence
The other classiIications in this chapter describe ho you construct your sentences, but this
last set describes hy you have written the sentences in the Iirst place. Most sentences which
you write should simply state Iacts, conjectures, or arguments, but sometimes you will want
to give commands or ask questions.
Tbe Declarative Sentence
The declarative sentence is the most important type. You can, and oIten will write entire
essays or reports using only declarative sentences, and you should always use them Iar more
oIten than any other type. declarative sentence simply states a Iact or argument, without
requiring either an answer or action Irom the reader. You punctuate your declarative
sentences with a simple period:
LLawa ls Lhe caplLal of Caaa
1he lsLlcLlo beLwee ecosLrcLlo a posLmoerlsm eles me
Pe aske whlch paLh leas back Lo Lhe loe
ote that the last example contains an indirect question, "which path leads back to the
lodge." n indirect question does not make a sentence into an interrogative sentence -- only a
direct question can do that.
Tbe Interrogative Sentence
n interrogative sentence asks a direct question and always ends in a question mark:
Jho ca rea Lhls a oL be move"
Pow may roas msL a ma walk ow"
uoes moey row o Lrees"
ote that an indirect question does not make a sentence interrogative:
rect]Interrogate
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Jhe was LesLer earso prlme mllsLer"
Indrect]ec|arate
l woer whe LesLer earso was prlme mllsLer
direct question requires an answer Irom the reader, while an indirect question does not.
Tbe Rbetorical Question
ormally, an essay or report will not contain many regular direct questions, since you are
writing it to present inIormation or to make an argument. There is, however, a special type oI
direct question called a retorical question -- that is, a question which you do not actually
expect the reader to answer:
Jhy l Lhe Jar of 1812 Lake place" Some scholars are LhaL lL was slmply a larab by
Lhe Amerlcas
II you do not overuse them, rhetorical questions can be a very eIIective way to introduce new
topics or problems in the course oI a paper; iI you use them too oIten, however, you may
sound patronising and/or too much like a proIessor giving a mediocre lecture.
Tbe Exclamatory Sentence
n exclamator sentence, or exclamation, is simply a more IorceIul version oI a declarative
sentence, marked at the end with an exclamation mark:
1he bLler l lL"
Pow beaLlfl Lhls rlver ls"
Some Lows l upper Caaa losL p Lo a Lhlr of Lhelr poplaLlo rl Lhe cholera
eplemlcs of Lhe early leLeeLh ceLry"
Exclamatory sentences are common in speech and (sometimes) in Iiction, but over the last
200 years they have almost entirely disappeared Irom academic writing. You will (or should)
probably never use one in any sort oI academic writing, except where you are quoting
something else directly. ote that an exclamation mark can also appear at the end oI an
imperative sentence.
Tbe Imperative Sentence
n imperative sentence gives a direct command to someone -- this type oI sentence can end
either with a period or with an exclamation mark, depending on how IorceIul the command
is:
SlL"
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ea Lhls book for Lomorrow
You should not usually use an exclamation mark with the word "please":
Jash Lhe wlows"
lease wash Lhe wlows
ormally, you should not use imperative sentences in academic writing. When you do use an
imperative sentence, it should usually contain only a mild command, and thus, end with a
period:
Cosler Lhe lcas
Written by David Megginson