how to improve sentence structure in essays

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5 Tips for Improving Sentence Structure

6-minute read

• 8th August 2022

In elementary school, children are taught that a sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a period. However, these rules only describe what a sentence looks like on the page. To qualify as a sentence, a series of words must contain both a subject and a verb . Moreover, it must express a complete thought.

The subject of a sentence is whatever performs the action indicated by the predicate, and the predicate (i.e., the rest of the sentence) must include a verb. In the case of imperative (or command) sentences, the subject is always “you” and can therefore be omitted if desired (e.g., “Wait for me!” ).

Basic Sentence Structure

Simple sentences start with the subject and follow with the verb and the object:

I shot the sheriff.

From this simple foundation, you can create complex sentences by adding one or more dependent (or subordinate) clauses:

I shot the sheriff, which is a capital offense.

Or you can join two sentences with a coordinating conjunction to create a compound sentence:

I shot the sheriff, but I didn’t shoot the deputy.

Compound-complex sentences consist of two or more independent clauses and at least one independent clause:

Acting in self-defense, I shot the sheriff, who always hated me, but I didn’t shoot the deputy.

How to Improve Sentence Structure

Every sentence you write should express a thought clearly and concisely. It should be neither ambiguous nor unnecessarily complicated. Here are five tips from our editors to help you structure your sentences effectively:

1. Write in the active voice .

2. Use a parallel structure for connected items.

3. Watch out for misplaced or missing modifiers .

4. Avoid overusing subordinate clauses .

5. Vary the length and pattern of sentences.

 Read on for a full explanation of these tips for improving sentence structure:

1. Use the Active Voice for Dynamic Writing

When you use the active voice, the subject of the sentence performs the action toward the object:

Kelly scored the winning goal.

Conversely, when the passive voice is used, the object being acted upon becomes the subject of the sentence:

The winning goal was scored by Kelly.

The active voice places the emphasis on the one performing the action. It tends to be clearer and more concise than the passive voice, which can sound clumsy and less assertive. Sometimes it’s appropriate to use the passive voice, like if you’re describing the method of a scientific experiment. But in most writing, the active voice is preferable.

2. Connected Items Must Follow a Parallel Structure

When a sentence includes a list or series of actions, it’s vital that each item follows the same grammatical form:

My favorite things at the fairground are riding the roller coaster, be terrified on the ghost train, and eat cotton candy. ✘

My favorite things at the fairground are riding the rollercoaster, being terrified on the ghost train, and eating cotton candy. ✔

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My favorite things to do at the fairground are ride the roller coaster, be terrified on the ghost train, and eat cotton candy. ✔

You should also pay attention to parallel structure whenever you connect clauses with a FANBOYS coordinating conjunction ( for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so ) or a correlative conjunction (e.g., not only…but also ).

As well as watching out for mismatched verb forms, be careful to avoid mixing nouns and adjectives like this:

Too much cotton candy makes me feel nausea and ashamed. ✘

Too much cotton candy makes me feel nauseous and ashamed. ✔

Too much cotton candy makes me feel nausea and shame. ✔

3. Master Your Modifiers

A modifier is a word or phrase that adds a description to something else in the sentence. Used correctly, modifiers make your writing more interesting. However, if you use them wrongly, they can cause confusion! Therefore, whenever you use modifiers, be sure that there is no ambiguity about what is being modified.

Gazing at the distant island, the waves lapped at my feet. ✘

This sentence reads as if the waves are gazing into the distance. This is a classic case of a “dangling modifier” and can be fixed by restructuring the sentence to include the one doing the gazing:

Gazing at the distant island, I felt the waves lapping at my feet. ✔

In the following example, the noun being modified is present, but in the wrong place:

Generously sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, Gwen adores churros. ✘

Because the modifier “generously sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar” has been placed next to “Gwen,” the sentence suggests that Gwen specifically adores churros when she has been liberally coated with cinnamon and sugar! This confusion can be avoided by moving the modifier nearer to the noun it’s intended to modify:

Gwen adores churros generously sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. ✔

4. Don’t Use Too Many Subordinate Clauses

Subordinate (or dependent) clauses provide extra information in a sentence. They make writing more interesting, but if you use too many of them, you risk confusing your reader by overloading them with too much detail at once.

Rather than using one rambling sentence with several dependent clauses, try breaking your writing up into shorter sentences:

After looking forward to it all week, I had a fantastic time at the fairground and went on every ride, including the rollercoaster, which is my favorite, but I felt ill by three o’clock, because I had eaten way too much cotton candy, so I went home early. ✘

After looking forward to it all week, I had a fantastic time at the fairground. I went on every ride, including the roller coaster, which is my favorite. However, I felt ill by three o’clock because I had eaten way too much cotton candy. I went home early. ✔

5. Use a Mixture of Long and Short Sentences

By varying the length and structure of your sentences, you can make your writing more engaging and enjoyable to read. If you’ve produced a series of short, choppy sentences, try joining some or all of them together with conjunctions.

Likewise, long, complex sentences benefit from being split into a number of smaller ones. When you do this, remember to use transitional words (e.g., nevertheless, furthermore, consequently ) to indicate how your ideas are connected.

We hope our tips will help you write clear, concise, and engaging sentences. We know that when you’re focused on the content and structure of your work, it’s easy to miss typos, punctuation errors, etc. Our proofreaders are here to correct mistakes in your writing and will offer feedback on any potentially confusing sentences. Why not check out our service today with a free trial ?

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Improving Sentence Clarity

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There are many strategies for improving the clarity of your sentences and your papers.

Go from old to new information

Introduce your readers to the "big picture" first by giving them information they already know. Then they can link what's familiar to the new information you give them. As that new information becomes familiar, it too becomes old information that can link to newer information.

The following example sentence is clear and understandable because it uses old information to lead to new information:

Here is a sentence that is not as clear. It moves from new information to old information:

Did you find the second sentence hard to read or understand? If so, it could be because the old information comes late in the sentence after the new information. A clearer version that moves from old information to new information might look like this:

Transitional words

There are many words in English that cue our readers to relationships between sentences and join sentences together. See the handout on Transitional Devices (Connecting Words) . There you'll find lists of words such as however , therefore , in addition , also , but , moreover , etc.

I like autumn, and yet autumn is a sad time of the year, too. The leaves turn bright shades of red and the weather is mild, but I can't help thinking ahead to the winter and the ice storms that will surely blow through here. In addition, that will be the season of chapped faces, too many layers of clothes to put on, and days when I'll have to shovel heaps of snow from my car's windshield.

Be careful about placement of extra phrases and clauses

Avoid interrupting the main clause with a phrase or subordinate clause if the interruption will cause confusion.

Clear ( adverbial phrase at the beginning ):

Clear ( adverbial phrase at the end ):

Clear ( subordinate clause at the beginning ):

Clear (subordinate  clause is at the end ):

Not as clear ( adverbial phrase embedded between the subject and the verb ):

Not as clear ( subordinate clause embedded between the subject and the verb ):

Use active voice

Sentences in active voice are usually easier to understand than those in passive voice because active-voice constructions indicate clearly the performer of the action expressed in the verb. In addition, changing from passive voice to active often results in a more concise sentence. So, use active voice unless you have good reason to use the passive. For example, the passive is useful when you don't want to call attention to the doer; when the doer is obvious, unimportant, or unknown; or when passive voice is the conventional style among your readers.

Clear (active):

Not as clear (passive):

Use parallel constructions

When you have a series of words, phrases, or clauses, put them in parallel form (similar grammatical construction) so that the reader can identify the linking relationship more easily and clearly.

Clear (parallel):

Not as clear (not parallel):

In the second sentence, notice how the string of "things to be aware of in Florida" does not create a parallel structure. Also, notice how much more difficult it is for a reader to follow the meaning of the second sentence compared to the first one.

Avoid noun strings

Try not to string nouns together one after the other because a series of nouns is difficult to understand. One way to revise a string of nouns is to change one noun to a verb.

Unclear (string of nouns):

Avoid overusing noun forms of verbs

Use verbs when possible rather than noun forms known as " nominalizations ."

Unclear (use of nominalization):

Avoid multiple negatives

Use affirmative forms rather than several negatives because multiple negatives are difficult to understand.

Unclear (multiple negatives, passive):

Choose action verbs over forms of to be

When possible, avoid using forms of be as the main verbs in your sentences and clauses. This problem tends to accompany nominalization (see above). Instead of using a be verb, focus on the actions you wish to express, and choose the appropriate verbs. In the following example, two ideas are expressed: (1) that there is a difference between television and newspaper news reporting, and (2) the nature of that difference. The revised version expresses these two main ideas in the two main verbs.

Unclear (overuse of be verbs):

Avoid unclear pronoun references

Be sure that the pronouns you use refer clearly to a noun in the current or previous sentence. If the pronoun refers to a noun that has been implied but not stated, you can clarify the reference by explicitly using that noun.

This, that, these, those, he, she, it, they, and we are useful pronouns for referring back to something previously mentioned. Be sure, however, that what you are referring to is clear.

Unclear (unclear pronoun reference):

Does my paper flow? Tips for creating a well-structured essay.

by Jessica Diaz

A sure way to improve your paper is to strengthen the way you present your argument. Whether you only have a thesis statement or already have a fully-written essay, these tips can help your paper flow logically from start to finish.

Going from a thesis statement to a first outline

Break down your thesis statement

No matter what you are arguing, your thesis can be broken down into smaller points that need to be backed up with evidence. These claims can often be used to create a ready outline for the rest of your paper, and help you check that you are including all the evidence you should have.

Take the following thesis statement:

Despite the similarities between the documentaries Blackfish and The Cove , the use of excessive anthropomorphism in Blackfish allowed it to achieve more tangible success for animal rights movements, illustrating the need for animal rights documentaries to appeal to human emotion.

We can break the thesis down into everything that needs to be supported:

Despite the similarities between the documentaries Blackfish and The Cove , the use of excessive anthropomorphism in Blackfish allowed it to achieve more tangible success for animal rights movements , illustrating the need for animal rights documentaries to appeal to human emotion .

In the paper, we have to (1) explain and support the similarities between the two documentaries, (2) provide support for excessive anthropomorphism in Blackfish , (3) show that Blackfish achieved more tangible success than The Cove , and (4) demonstrate the importance of human emotion in animal documentaries.

Already, we have four main points that can serve as the backbone for an essay outline, and they are already in an order that makes some intuitive sense for building up the argument.

It is likely that you will need to rearrange, expand, or further break down the outline. For example, in this case we would probably need to add a paragraph that explains anthropomorphism. We also might want to move the section on differences in animal rights success earlier so that it contrasts with the similarities between the films. However, having this starting structure and identifying the main sections of the paper can allow you to go ahead and start writing!

Checking that your argument builds

Reverse outline

While writing, it is often hard to take a step back and assess whether your paper makes sense or reads well. Creating a reverse outline can help you get a zoomed-out picture of what you wrote and helps you see if any paragraphs or ideas need to be rearranged.

To create a reverse outline, go through your paper paragraph-by-paragraph. For each one, read it and summarize the main point of the paragraph in 3-5 words. In most cases, this should align closely with the topic sentence of that paragraph. Once you have gone through the entire paper, you should end up with a list of phrases that, when read in order, walk through your argument.

Does the order make sense? Are the ideas that should go together actually next to each other? Without the extra clutter, the reverse outline helps you answer these questions while looking at your entire structure at once.

Each line of your reverse outline should build on the last one, meaning none of them should make sense in isolation (except the first one). Try pretending you don’t know anything about this topic and read one of your paragraph phrases at random (or read it to someone else!). Does it make sense, or does it need more context? Do the paragraphs that go before it give the context it needs?

The reverse outline method and the line of thinking detailed above help put you in the mind of your reader. Your reader will only encounter your ideas in the order that you give it to them, so it is important to take this step back to make sure that order is the right one.

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How to Write Better Sentences

​​After hundreds of thousands of years of linguistic evolution, the sentence is perhaps our strongest way to share a single thought. It’s the default tool for communicating when a lone word isn’t enough. 

We all have a natural intuition when it comes to forming sentences, yet so few of us know the proper techniques and stylistic choices available. In this article, we explain everything you need to know about sentences (in English, at least), including different sentence types and constructions. Then we explain how to avoid common mistakes and take your sentence writing to the next level. 

Here’s a tip: Want to make sure your writing shines? Grammarly can check your spelling and save you from grammar and punctuation mistakes. It even proofreads your text, so your work is extra polished wherever you write.

Your writing, at its best Grammarly helps you communicate confidently Write with Grammarly

What is a sentence?

At its core, a sentence is a string of words used to express a complete thought. There’s a lot of flexibility about what constitutes a sentence, but the central rule is that it must contain both a subject and a verb —and even that rule is bendable for imperative sentences, as you’ll see below. 

Let’s start with the four main types of sentences: 

1 Declarative (statement) : This is a standard sentence that points out a fact.

Example: That dog won’t sit.

2 Interrogative (question) : This is a sentence asking a question.

Example: Why won’t that dog sit? 

3 Exclamatory (exclamation ): This is a modified declarative sentence used to add emphasis or show emotion, urgency, or high volume.

Example: I’ve tried everything, but that dog still won’t sit! 

4 Imperative (command) : This is a sentence telling someone or something to do an action. The subject is assumed, so you don’t need to include it.

Example: Please sit.  

Notice that the end punctuation changes for the sentence types. Declarative sentences use periods , interrogative sentences use question marks , exclamatory sentences use exclamation points , and imperative sentences can use either periods or exclamation points. 

Sentence rules and structures

Before we break down sentence structure, we have to discuss an element crucial to forming sentences: the clause. 

A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and verb (except for some imperative clauses) and can be either independent or subordinate . An independent clause can exist as a complete sentence on its own, whereas a subordinate or “dependent” clause can not. 

Why not? Sometimes a subordinate clause is missing either a subject or a verb, or sometimes it has both but still isn’t grammatically independent. In either case, subordinate clauses must be joined to an independent clause. 

Subordinate clauses are almost always introduced by special linking words or phrases known as subordinating conjunctions : connectors like “while,” “because,” or “as long as,” plus certain prepositions like “before” and “after.” If you’d like, you can see our comprehensive list of subordinating conjunctions. 

To build sentences, you can use an independent clause by itself or combine it with a subordinating clause, another independent clause, or both. We explain four sentence structures below. 

Simple sentence structure

First is your basic sentence: a standalone independent clause with a subject and verb. Note that a simple sentence can contain two subjects or two verbs, but not two of each. 

Example: King Kong and Godzilla destroyed the city.

Complex sentence structure

A complex sentence combines an independent clause with one or more subordinate clauses. Complex sentences always use subordinating conjunctions to connect the clauses. 

Example: King Kong and Godzilla destroyed the city because they were fighting. 

Compound sentence structure

A compound sentence combines two independent clauses using a coordinating conjunction like the FANBOYS ( For , And , Nor , But , Or , Yet , So ) or using a semicolon . It’s essentially two simple sentences joined together. 

Example: King Kong didn’t want to destroy the city, but Godzilla enjoyed it. 

Compound-complex sentence structure

Lastly, a compound-complex sentence has at least two independent clauses and at least one subordinate clause. Think of it as a compound sentence consisting of one or more complex sentences. 

Example: After King Kong mustered all this strength, he threw a final punch and Godzilla fell. 

5 common sentence mistakes

To help improve your sentences, here are five of the most common sentence mistakes and expert advice on how to resolve them. 

Also known as “fused sentences,” run-on sentences occur when clauses are mashed together without the proper connecting words. 

To fix a run-on sentence, you can simply apply the right conjunctions. If the sentence still seems awkward or too long, try breaking it up into two or more sentences.  

2 Sentence fragments

Sentence fragments occur when a sentence is incomplete—if it lacks a subject or a verb, or if it’s a subordinating clause by itself. 

To fix a sentence fragment , just identify what’s left out and add the missing part. Make sure your sentence has both a subject and a verb (unless it’s an imperative sentence), and if it’s a subordinating clause, try hooking it to a related independent clause. 

3 Subject-verb agreement

In English, if the subject is singular, the verb must also be singular; if the subject is plural, the verb must also be plural. 

In most cases, you can fix this and have subject-verb agreement just by adding or removing the plural s . The problem is that sometimes this error is hard to find. One common example of this is describing a singular subject with plural words. 

Example: A mixture of blood, sweat, and tears leads to success. 

The subject is mixture , which is singular, and the verb is leads , which is also singular. Don’t get fooled by “extra” words like blood, sweat, and tears —even though they are plural, they don’t make the subject plural. 

4 Ending with prepositions 

You often hear people telling you it’s wrong to end a sentence with a preposition , but that’s not entirely true. In formal writing like school papers it’s frowned upon, but usually, it’s perfectly acceptable—sometimes, even preferable. 

For starters, prepositions always need an object; if you end a sentence with an objectless preposition, you risk sounding unclear. For example, if you wrote, “The bird flew above,” your readers would wonder, “Above what?” 

It’s also worth noting that phrasal verbs often incorporate prepositions.

Example: Five excited puppies are almost too many to put up with. 

This sentence is fine because the phrase still has an object, even though the object comes first. Phrasal verbs are also frowned upon in formal writing, so you shouldn’t put them at the end—or the beginning—of a formal sentence anyway. 

5 Passive voice 

Although not technically a grammatical error, passive voice is a sign of unassertive writing. In passive voice, the subject of a clause receives the action. The main verb appears as a participle plus a form of “to be.” 

Example: A touchdown pass was thrown by the quarterback. 

Now, consider that same sentiment written in the active voice:

Example: The quarterback threw a touchdown pass. 

It’s not only more succinct, but also more direct and easier to understand. Active voice also tends to sound better, creating more vigorous and lively prose. In most cases, replacing passive voice with active voice makes your writing more clear. 

How Grammarly strengthens your sentences

Mastering the principles of writing clear and grammatical sentences takes practice: the more you do it, the better you get. But what about that paper due at the end of the week? Or, that important email you have to send at the last minute?

Luckily, the Grammarly Editor ensures your writing is readable, clear, and concise by offering sentence structure suggestions, plus clarity revisions as you write. Grammarly helps catch common mistakes with sentence structure—like run-on sentences, sentence fragments, passive voice, and more. The Grammarly browser extension can also improve your sentences in your emails. 

Here’s a tip: You don’t have to guess whether you’re using certain words correctly or breaking grammar rules in your writing. Just copy and paste your writing into our Grammar Checker and get instant feedback on whether your sentences have misspellings, punctuation errors, or any structural mistakes.

Wherever you write, Grammarly’s suggestions make your sentences clearer and engaging, so your writing is polished and professional.

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How to Improve Your Sentence Structure

Last Updated: October 21, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Christopher Taylor, PhD . Christopher Taylor is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Austin Community College in Texas. He received his PhD in English Literature and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014. There are 10 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 110,249 times.

If you’re learning English or trying to improve your writing skills, it’s important that you understand how to compose clear, effective, understandable sentences. To structure sentences well, begin by stating the subject, avoid the passive voice, and focus on clarity. Avoid writing sentences that only express partial thoughts or that join too many ideas together.

Composing Effective Sentences

• The subject is the person or thing doing an action (in our example, the cat).
• The object is the person or thing to which the action is done (in our example, the piano).
• The SVO structure is used to create simple sentences. When you create compound and complex sentences, you'll add to this basic structure.

• Avoid writing something like: “The trash was taken out by my mother before my little sister was dropped off by the school bus.”
• Instead, try writing: “My mother took out the trash before the bus dropped off my little sister.”

• You can combine two short sentences, which are independent clauses, into a single longer sentence by adding a comma and a conjunction between them. You can remember your conjunctions by using the acronym FANBOYS, which helps you remember "for," "and," "but," "or," "yet," and "so."
• If you have one complete sentence and one incomplete or subordinate sentence, you can combine them into a complex sentence with a comma or by adding a conjunction like "because," "since," while," or "although." The complete sentence is an independent clause, while the incomplete sentence becomes a dependent or subordinating clause.
• Add transitional words and phrases to the beginnings of your sentences to create a flow between your ideas. Otherwise, your sentences might seem choppy.
• So, avoid writing sentences like: “First, I went to the supermarket. Then, I went to the art-supply store. Then, I bought a sandwich for lunch.”
• Instead, change the structure to something like: “My first errand was a trip to the supermarket. After that I went to the art-supply store before buying a sandwich for lunch.”

• This sentence switches tenses: “Jen drove to the mall and will buy a pair of jeans.”
• Corrected, it reads: “Jen drove to the mall and bought a pair of jeans.”

• For example, this sentence doesn’t contain parallel structure: “On my day off, I enjoy stopping at the bank, mow the lawn, and have a conversation with my neighbor.”
• Corrected, it reads: “On my day off, I enjoy stopping at the bank, mowing the lawn, and having a conversation with my neighbor.”

• For example, this sentence contains a semicolon in the wrong location since it is not between the independent clauses: “If you get an opportunity; stop at the store on your drive home, I’d like a gallon of milk.”
• Corrected, it would read: “If you get an opportunity, stop at the store on your drive home; I’d like a gallon of milk.”

• For example, it’s correct to write, “I had three classes on campus today: Chemistry, Physics, and American Literature.”
• You can also write, “As they made their getaway, the bank robbers forgot something important: the loot from the safe.”
• For instance, you might join two independent clauses like this: "I finished my homework early today, so my best friend came over to hang out."
• You could join a dependent and independent clause like this: "Since my grades are good this semester, my parents said I can have a party this weekend."
• If you had a descriptive clause, here's how you'd include it in your sentence: "I want to try that new pizza place, the one with pepperoni on its sign, when we go out on Friday."

Fixing Problems in Sentence Structures

• Dependent clauses that are not joined to an independent clause are also sentence fragments.

• Fused sentences are commonly called "run-on" sentences.
• For example, “Many of Shakespeare’s sonnets are about love they compare the speaker’s lover to various objects found in nature” is a fused sentence.
• Corrected, it reads: “Many of Shakespeare’s sonnets are about love. The poems compare the speaker’s lover to various objects found in nature.”

• For example, this sentence contains a comma splice: “The condition of the economy has been improving, many factors have caused this change.”
• Corrected, it reads: “The condition of the economy has been improving. Many factors have caused this change.”
• This is also correct: “The condition of the economy has been improving, and many factors have caused this change.”

• This sentence contains too much subordination: “Steve wanted to go out for lunch because he hadn’t eaten for 8 hours, although one look at his wallet made him change his mind since he had no money.”
• Corrected, it could read: “Steve wanted to go out for lunch because he hadn’t eaten for 8 hours. However, one look at his wallet made him change his mind. He had no money.”

Expert Q&A

• Dependent clauses cannot stand alone and must be linked with another an independent clause to form a sentence. [13] X Trustworthy Source Purdue Online Writing Lab Trusted resource for writing and citation guidelines Go to source For example: “Because she wanted to watch TV” is a dependent clause. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Sentences are made up of clauses (groups of words). There are 2 types of clauses: independent and dependent. Independent clauses contain a subject, verb, and object, and make sense on their own. For example: “Please bring the pencils to class” is an independent clause. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Sentences fall into 3 broad categories: simple sentences (1 independent clause), complex sentences (1 independent and 1 dependent clause), and compound sentences (2 independent clauses). Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://www.plainlanguage.gov/guidelines/concise/keep-the-subject-verb-and-object-close-together/
• ↑ https://writing.wisc.edu/handbook/ccs_activevoice/
• ↑ https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/scholarlyvoice/sentencestructure
• ↑ https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/grammar/verbtenses
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/mechanics/parallel_structure.html
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/semi-colons-colons-and-dashes/
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/commas/extended_rules_for_commas.html
• ↑ https://guides.lib.uoguelph.ca/Grammar/SentenceStructure
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/mechanics/sentence_clarity.html
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/independent_and_dependent_clauses/index.html

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