Sentence

Variety
 What is Sentence Variety?
• Sentence Variety means using
assorted sentence patterns, lengths,
and rhythms.

• Sentence Variety is what gives your

writing better rhythm and flow; it
makes your writing more mature.
 How do I use sentence variety?
• Combine sentences.
– Don’t use all simple sentences. This
makes your writing choppy.
• Choppy: We went to the movies. We went
out eat. We came home. We went to bed.
– Combine independent and dependent
clauses to create compound and complex
sentences. Also, use transitions!
• We went to the movies, following which we
went out to eat. After that, we came home
and went to bed.
How do I use sentence variety?
• Begin sentences with an adverb.
– Luckily, I won the lottery last night.
– Unfortunately, no one passed the exam.
– Yesterday, we went to the zoo.
• Begin sentences with a prepositional
phrase.
– In the morning, I hope to feel better.
– At lunchtime, I’m going to meet some friends
at Red Lobster.
– Under the desk, you’ll find your notebook.
How do I use sentence variety?
• Join ideas using an –ing verb form.
– Two sentences:
• She studied all night.
• She passed the exam.
– Combined:
• Having studied all night, she passed the exam.
How do I use sentence variety?

• Join ideas using an –ed verb form.

– Two sentences:
• The student ran through the hall screaming.
• The student was amazed at his grade.
– Combined:
• Amazed at his grade, the student ran
through the hall screaming.
How do I use sentence variety?
• Join ideas using an appositive
• What is an appositive? An appositive is a
noun phrase that renames a noun.
– Two sentences:
• Ms. Bonnie helped me with my paper.
• Ms. Bonnie is our class tutor.
– Combined:
• Ms. Bonnie, our class tutor, helped me with
my paper.
How do I use sentence variety?
• Join ideas using a relative clause.
• Review: What is relative clause? A relative
clause is a group of words that begins with
who, which, or that, has a subject & a verb,
and modifies or describes a noun.
– Two sentences:
• Ms. Bonnie helped me with my paper.
• Ms. Bonnie is our class tutor.
– Combined:
• Ms. Bonnie, who is our class tutor, helped
me with my paper.
Appositive vs. Relative Clause
• Two sentences:
– The Simpsons is my favorite show.
– The Simpsons comes on Sunday nights.
• Combined with an appositive:
– The Simpsons, my favorite show, comes
on Sunday nights.
• Combined with a relative clause:
– The Simpsons, which is my favorite
show, comes on Sunday nights.
IMPROVING WRITTEN EXPRESSION

• Practise joining simple sentences

into complex sentences, using a
range of connectives and participles.
Above all avoid using ‘and’, ‘but’ and
‘so’.
• To develop competency and
variety of style, practise varying the
order of clauses so that your
sentences don’t all follow the same
formula and start the same way.
IMPROVING WRITTEN EXPRESSION

i) main clause followed by one or more

subordinate clauses e.g. ‘The cat fell
asleep, after it had eaten, although someone
had switched on loud music.’
ii) subordinate clause(s) followed by
main clause e.g. ‘After it had eaten, the cat
fell asleep.’
iii) subordinate clause followed by main
clause followed another subordinate
clause. e.g. ‘After it had eaten, the cat fell
asleep, although someone had switched on
loud music.’
IMPROVING WRITTEN EXPRESSION
iv) main clause containing
embedded subordinate clause e.g.
‘The cat, which had been sleeping all
day, fell asleep again.’
v) main clause containing embedded
subordinate clause, followed by
another subordinate clause e.g. ‘The
cat, which had been sleeping all day, fell
asleep again, even though there was
loud music playing.’
IMPROVING WRITTEN EXPRESSION
• Learn commonly misspelt words which you
know you are likely to need to use e.g. separate,
definitely, business, opportunity, surprise,
privilege. The best way to learn them is:

i) to stare at them and try to ‘photograph’ them;

cover them while you write them from the
imprint on your memory; check back to see if
you were correct. This is the Look, Cover, Write,
Check method. Copying words letter by letter
does not fix the ‘letter-strings’ in your mind
successfully. Break difficult words down into
syllables in your mind, so that you can hear how
‘in-terest-ing’ must be spelt.
 IMPROVING WRITTEN EXPRESSION

ii)remember the rule ‘i’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c’,

if the sound your are making is long double ‘ee’.
(The only known exception, apart from in names,
is ‘seize’.)
iii) if in doubt whether a word has a single or
double consonant, apply the generally sound rule
that if the vowel is short the consonant is double,
but if the vowel is long the consonant is single
e.g. ‘hopping and hoping’, ‘sitting and siting’,
‘dinner and diner’, ‘writing’ and ‘written’.
iv) to create mnemonics, little sayings and
rhymes which, however silly, actually work e.g.
‘necessary’ is spelt with one c and two s because
‘one coat has two sleeves’; ‘possesses’ possesses
five esses