how to improve sentence structure in essays

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How to Improve Your Sentence Structure

Last Updated: July 11, 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 9 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 107,192 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

• 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
• Dependent clauses cannot stand alone and must be linked with another an independent clause to form a sentence. For example: “Because she wanted to watch TV” is a dependent 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/style/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

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Sentence Structure in English | Explanation & Examples

Sentence structure determines how the different parts of a sentence are put together, from its punctuation to the ordering of its words. As well as following basic word order rules , there are many other things you have to consider to write correctly and clearly structured sentences.

There are two especially common sentence construction mistakes:

• Run-on sentences : incorrect punctuation used to join different parts of a sentence
• Sentence fragments : missing necessary components to form a full grammatically correct sentence

Sentence structure is not just a matter of grammar, but also of style and flow. Strong academic writing uses a variety of sentence lengths and structures. It’s important to avoid overly long sentences that can be confusing for readers, but too many very short sentences can make your text feel choppy and disjointed. If you struggle with this, you could consider a proofreading and editing service .

Table of contents

Avoid run-on sentences, avoid sentence fragments, split up overly long sentences, link together overly short sentences, fix sentence structure with a paraphrasing tool, other sentence structure tips.

An independent clause is a group of words that could stand as a full sentence on its own. There are various ways to join independent clauses, but a run-on sentence occurs when they are joined without proper punctuation.

Run-on sentences are a matter of grammar rather than length—even relatively short sentences can contain this error. There are two common mistakes that result in run-on sentences.

Comma splice

Two independent clauses cannot be joined by a comma alone. This form of sentence is called a comma splice .

• The project ran over the deadline, data processing was extensive.

There are three ways to fix this error. You can split the clauses into two separate sentences.

• The project ran over the deadline. Data processing was extensive.

You can replace the comma with a semicolon or (if appropriate) a colon .

• The project ran over the deadline; data processing was extensive.

Alternatively, you can use a conjunction to create a connection between the clauses.

• The project ran over the deadline because data processing was extensive.

Comma splices can also appear in longer sentences with multiple clauses. In this context they are especially likely to cause confusion.

• Jimmy likes to take cream and sugar with his coffee, when he drinks it warm, he also likes it black.

Here it is not clear which part of the sentence should be connected to the clause  when he drank it warm.  Does he like cream and sugar when he drinks coffee warm, or does he like coffee black when he drinks it warm? A semicolon, period or conjunction clarifies the meaning of the sentence, which changes in meaning depending on where the punctuation is placed.

• Jimmy likes to take cream and sugar with his coffee; when he drinks it warm, he also likes it black.
• Jimmy likes to take cream and sugar with his coffee when he drinks it warm. He also likes it black.
• Jimmy likes to take cream and sugar with his coffee, but when he drinks it warm, he also likes it black.

Missing comma with a coordinating conjunction

There are seven coordinating conjunctions in English: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so (you can remember them with the acronym FANBOYS). When you use one of these conjunctions to join two independent clauses, you need to use a comma before it.

• Data was gathered through questionnaires and selected respondents participated in interviews .

The missing comma creates a run-on sentence, and like the comma splice , it can often cause confusion. Because we use these conjunctions so often and for so many purposes, it’s useful to know how they are being used when we encounter them.

The comma before and helps the reader navigate the sentence by signalling that the next part is a new, related, and complete thought.

• Data was gathered through questionnaires, and selected respondents participated in interviews.

Check for common mistakes

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A fragment is a group of words that doesn’t contain all the components of a grammatically correct sentence. For a string of words to be considered a sentence, it has to contain a subject and a predicate.

Note that sentence fragments are often used stylistically in journalism and creative writing, but they are rarely appropriate in academic or other formal writing.

Subjects and predicates

The  subject  of the sentence tells us about the person or thing that acts, while the predicate tells us about what the subject does or is. Put another way, the subject is the noun part of a sentence, and the predicate is the verb part.

Some sentences have more than one subject-predicate combination, but the subject position always comes first. No matter how many subject-predicate pairs come in a sentence, the ratio is always 1:1—every subject needs a predicate, and every predicate needs a subject.

• Ducks fly .
• Haggard and elderly ducks and geese fly slower, lower, and with more caution.
• Haggard and elderly ducks and geese fly slower, lower, and with more caution, perhaps because of rheumatism .
• Haggard and elderly ducks and geese fly slower, lower, and with more caution , perhaps because their rheumatism hinders them .
• Ducks fly ; dogs walk .
• Ducks fly faster than geese when dogs run and bark .
• The dog catches the ball .
• The dog catches the ball , which is covered in slobber .
• The dog catches the ball , which we bought .
• The ball is caught .
• The ball now has the following characteristics: a slipperiness, a smelliness, and a chewiness .
• The ball now has the following characteristics : it is slippery , it is smelly , and it is chewy .
• The ball now has the following characteristics : it is slippery, smelly, and chewy .

Missing predicate

The simplest form of sentence fragment is a sentence missing a main verb. A noun phrase alone is not a sentence—it needs a predicate to be grammatically correct.

• After they settled the argument , they became friends . A fortunate turn of events .

The fragment can be revised either by using appropriate punctuation to join it to the preceding sentence, or by rewriting the sentence to include a predicate.

• After they settled the argument , they became friends: a fortunate turn of events .
• After they settled the argument , they became friends . It was a fortunate turn of events .

Dependent clause on its own

A dependent clause has a subject and a predicate, but it does not express a complete thought. It has to be attached to an independent clause to form a full sentence.

Dependent clauses are often formed with subordinating conjunctions , which include words such as when, after, since, while, although, if, unless, because, while , and whereas . When one of these words is added to the beginning of an independent clause, it turns into a dependent clause.

• The coast was clear .
• When the coast was clear .

The first sentence is an independent clause that can stand as a full sentence on its own. The subordinating conjunction when transforms it into a dependent clause. On its own, this is a sentence fragment. It needs to be correctly connected to another clause to form a full sentence.

• They would go to safety . When the coast was clear .
• They would go to safety ; when the coast was clear .
• They would go to safety when the coast was clear .
• When the coast was clear , they would go to safety .

Note that these clauses cannot be joined with a semicolon . A semicolon can only join two independent clauses.

Misuse of the present participle

The present participle is the form of a verb that ends with  -ing (e.g. running, researching, being ). Sometimes it is misused where a present or past simple form should be used instead. An -ing verb on its own can be part of a modifier  that refers to another part of the sentence, but it can’t mark the beginning of a predicate.

The most common verb abused with this mistake is to be , which is conjugated as being when it should be conjugated is  or was .

• He argued all night long . The point being important .

The point being important is a sentence fragment. It needs to be connected to another clause or revised with a properly conjugated verb.

• He argued all night long . The point was important .
• He argued all night long, the point being important .

Sometimes a long sentence is grammatically correct, but its length makes it difficult to follow. To make your writing clearer and more readable, avoid using too many overly long sentences.

The average sentence length is around 15–25 words. If your sentence starts to exceed 30–40 words, you might want to consider revising it. Removing redundancies and inflated phrases is a good way to start, but if all the words in the sentence are essential, try to split it up into shorter sentences.

This sentence doesn’t contain any grammatical errors, but the information can be presented more clearly by revising its structure.

Another issue to watch out for is overly long introductory phrases or clauses. If your sentence starts by repeating material that has already been presented, it can bury the new information you want to communicate.

The main point of the sentence is that none of the findings were significant , but the long introductory clause distracts us from this information. To clarify the point and shorten the sentence, focus on reducing repetition .

Shorter sentences are generally clearer and more readable, but using too many very short sentences can make a text feel choppy, disjointed or repetitive. Try to use a variety of sentence lengths, and use transition words to help readers see how your ideas fit together.

While all of these are grammatically correct sentences, the text reads more smoothly if they are merged.

At the end of the day, you want your writing to be natural and easy to understand. And we get it. When you’re in the middle of writing your paper, you might not remember all the rules for making sentences.

Why not use new technology to make your sentence structure flow more smoothly? With the AI-powered paraphrasing tool , you can easily copy your sentences into the tool, choose “fluency”, and fix your sentence structure. It only takes one click.

Apart from these basic rules, there are some other techniques you can use to improve your sentence structure.

Use parallel structure   Fix dangling modifiers Fix misplaced modifiers

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Free English Lessons

Grammar lesson #1 – improve sentence structure.

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In this lesson, you can learn the most important grammar rule in English.

Of course, you need to know many things to use grammar correctly in english. however, there’s one tip that can dramatically improve your english grammar —especially in writing., you’ll learn how to use this simple idea to make your english writing clearer, simpler and more accurate., quiz: grammar lesson #1 – improve sentence structure, quiz summary.

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Click ‘view questions’ to see the correct answers and explanations for each question.

1 . Question

Write one word in the space to complete the sentence.

We’ve made some progress, but are still a lot of problems to solve.

2 . Question

The tickets were cheap, but was surprisingly comfortable on the plane. I had more space than I expected.

3 . Question

There were a lot of people there, but still wasn’t as busy as I expected.

4 . Question

Is enough time to get a cup of coffee before we leave?

5 . Question

Identify the subject in this sentence: “My friend Jim doesn’t like staying up late.”

• My friend Jim

6 . Question

Identify the subject in this sentence: “The bottle on the table over there still has a little wine left in it.”

• The bottle on the table over there
• The bottle on the table over there still

7 . Question

Identify the subject in this sentence: “Anybody who wants to leave can go whenever they want.”

• Anybody who wants to leave
• who wants to leave
• Anybody who wants

8 . Question

Identify the subject in this sentence: “Overall, despite the issues which I have explained in this paper, carbon capture technology remains a viable way to reduce CO2 emissions which should be given serious consideration and, in my opinion, should be adopted more widely than it currently is.”

• carbon capture technology
• a viable way to reduce CO2 emissions

9 . Question

Put the words in order to make a complete sentence.

• good idea to ask
• why it's not a
• anyone else there.
• several reasons
• him if there'll be

View Answers:

10 . Question

• about it yet, but
• I'm sure
• haven't
• told me anything

11 . Question

• able to tell us what to do.
• at the head office who was 
• knew anything about what was
• through to someone 
• happening, we managed to get 
• Although none of the people I was with  

12 . Question

• the same things 
• goal won't help us 
• Just talking about 
• having any kind of clear 
• over and over without 
• to move forwards.

13 . Question

Correct or incorrect? Focus on the sentence structure, and whether it obeys the rule of ‘one subject + one main verb per clause’: “Tomorrow will be sunny weather.”

14 . Question

Correct or incorrect? Focus on the sentence structure, and whether it obeys the rule of ‘one subject + one main verb per clause’:

“Although not difficult to apply for a license, many business owners never do so.”

15 . Question

“The alderman, who in over thirty years of service had never seen such a commotion, remarked that it would be prudent to restrict the number of guests to such events in the future.”

16 . Question

“In conclusion, and notwithstanding the objections which were mentioned previously, I do believe, though with some reservations, that pursuing a policy based on the principle of damage reduction, while of course taking into consideration the needs of those who might be affected, would be the best option among all of those currently available.”

17 . Question

True or false: every complete sentence in English must have a subject.

18 . Question

True or false: a subject or a main verb could be any number of words.

19 . Question

True or false: a sentence can have several subjects and several main verbs.

20 . Question

True or false: modals verbs (e.g. ‘will’, ‘would’, ‘can’, etc.) can function as main verbs.

1. Subject Plus Verb

Here’s the basic idea: make sure your sentence has a subject and a verb, and that you know what the subject and main verb are. Every sentence needs a verb, and unless your sentence is an imperative—meaning that you’re giving someone a command—then your sentence needs a subject, too. Each clause in your sentence should have one subject and one main verb, and only one subject and one main verb.

It sounds simple. Maybe you’re thinking, ‘This is too easy! I know this already!’ However, we see students make mistakes with this all the time, especially in writing. Mistakes with this point are serious, because they often make it hard to understand what you want to say. Even if your meaning is clear, sentences with this problem are often difficult to read. In any situation, that’s a problem. It’s especially serious if you’re taking an exam, like IELTS .

Let’s look at the most basic point. Your sentence needs a subject, which should be a noun or noun phrase, like ‘they’, ‘everybody’, or ‘my maths teacher from high school’. Then, you need a main verb, which generally goes after the subject. With this, you can make simple sentences like these:

• They have a nice house.
• Everybody agreed.
• My maths teacher from high school was really good at explaining complicated things.

After the main verb, you might have a simple complement, like ‘a nice house’. You might have nothing at all. Your sentence might finish after the verb, like ‘Everybody agreed.’ Or, you might have a longer complement, possibly including other verbs, as in ‘My maths teacher from high school was really good at explaining complicated things.’ So, you’re probably still thinking that this is easy. And, so far, it is! Let’s see how it can go wrong. Look at five sentences:

• We will back home next Friday.
• Imposing higher taxes on fast food it’s a good idea.
• Secondly, affects individuals’ life directly.
• If anybody visits Egypt, he will find many and many old buildings in many cities, especially in Cairo and Alexandria, these buildings are around 400 years old.
• In conclusion, each society is a large set of people, forced medical treatment could make sure residents’ have equally healthy condition and therefore also avoid risking to infect or be infected by others just by some people’s unwise choices.

By the way, these sentences are all real examples from our students’ writing. Most of them come from IELTS writing practice. All these sentences break the basic rule we mentioned above. Can you see how? Pause the video, read the sentences, and try to find the problems. Start again when you’re ready. In the first sentence, there’s no main verb. ‘Will’ is a modal verb, but a modal verb can’t be a main verb; you need a main verb after it. For example:

• We will go back home next Friday.

The second sentence has two subjects: ‘Imposing higher taxes on fast food’ and ‘it’. One clause can’t have two subjects. To correct this sentence, remove ‘it’:

• Imposing higher taxes on fast food is a good idea.

The third sentence has a main verb, but no subject. What affects individuals’ lives directly? This is difficult to correct, because it’s impossible to know what the writer wanted to say. You would need to add a noun before the verb ‘affects’ to make it understandable.

The fourth sentence has a fragment at the end which includes a subject and a verb. This means the sentence has too many subjects and verbs; each clause can only have one subject and one main verb. What’s the solution? There are many possibilities, but the easiest way to correct this is to break the sentence into two parts. You can do this by changing the comma after ‘Alexandria’ to a semicolon.

Finally, what about the fifth sentence? It’s difficult to understand, right? Again, it’s difficult to correct this sentence, because it’s hard to see the writer’s ideas. The problem is that this sentence has several parts with several subjects and verbs, and it’s not clear what relates to what. For example, ‘each society’ is a subject, but then ‘forced medical treatment’ is also a subject. Later in the sentence, we have a verb—‘avoid’—and it isn’t clear which subject goes with it. On a more practical level, it just isn’t clear what this sentence is about. Does the writer want to say something about ‘each society’, or about ‘large sets of people,’ or about ‘forced medical treatment’? We don’t know. This is why subject-verb structure is so important: if it isn’t clear, it will be hard to understand what your sentence is about. Sometimes, this might mean that your ideas aren’t clear in your mind.

Next, let’s expand this basic rule and see how you can use it to make a wider range of sentences.

2. Using Phrases as Subjects and Verbs

You heard before that both subjects and verbs can be words or phrases. Sometimes, your subject or verb might be a longer phrase. This often leads to mistakes, because when your subject and verb are multiple words, it’s more difficult to keep track of your sentence structure. Let’s do an example together. Take a sentence you saw before:

You can make the subject—‘everybody’—into a phrase. For example:

• Everybody who was at the meeting agreed.

You can make the verb into a phrase, like this:

• Everybody who was at the meeting agreed to change the office dress code.

You can make each phrase even longer. For example:

• Everybody who was at the board meeting held last Tuesday evening agreed to change the existing office dress code to something more informal.

Even though we’ve added lots of new words and ideas, this sentence has the same basic structure as before. It still has one subject and one main verb. Although we’ve added a complement after the verb, the verb doesn’t have a direct object. We haven’t added anything grammatically new to the sentence; we’ve simply expanded the existing parts. Let’s do one more example of this. This time, we want you to try! Here’s a basic sentence:

• My sister called.

Can you make this sentence longer by changing the subject and verb to longer phrases? For this exercise, there are a couple of rules. You can’t add a noun after ‘called’, because that would change the structure. You also can’t use conjunctions like ‘although’ or ‘because’. The idea is to keep the basic structure the same, so that the sentence has one subject and one verb which doesn’t have a direct object. Pause the video and try it now. How did you do? Of course, there are many ways to do this. Let’s look at three possibilities.

• My sister Mandy called last night.
• My sister, who I haven’t spoken to for ages, called to tell me about her new job.
• My younger sister, who lives in Spain and who I don’t see very often, called late last night to ask me if I could lend her money to buy an apartment.

You can see that you can do this in a simpler way, or you can make the sentence much more complicated, by adding relative clauses, adjectives, adverbs, and so on. However, remember the basic idea: all of these sentences have the same basic structure: one subject and one main verb. Even in the third sentence, adding all of these things doesn’t change the basic structure. Let’s move on and talk about one more important point.

3. Sentences with Empty Subjects

As you heard before, almost all sentences need a subject. Only imperatives , like ‘Come here!’ don’t need a subject. Interjections , like ‘Wow!’, also don’t need a subject, but many linguists—including us—would say that these are not sentences. However, sometimes there isn’t a clear noun subject. In this case, you need to use a word like ‘it’ or ‘there’. For example: ‘It won’t take long to get there.’ [pause]

• It’s worth going.
• There’s a mosquito on your nose.
• There have been several developments since the last time we spoke.

In these sentences, the words ‘it’ and ‘there’ are empty subjects; they don’t refer to a specific noun or thing. You use them only because the sentence needs a subject. They don’t add any meaning to the sentence. So, what’s the difference? When do you need to use ‘it’, and when do you need to use ‘there’? Use ‘it’ to talk about distances and times. For example:

• It’s not far to the metro.
• How long will it take you to finish everything?
• It’s six thirty.

You often use ‘it’ to talk about the weather, too. For example:

• It’s sunny.
• It’ll be cold tomorrow.
• It was really wet last month.

You also use ‘it’ to talk about situations, and in a number of phrases like ‘it’s worth…’ For example:

• It’s safe to walk around at night here.
• It’s good that you could join us.
• It’s really cosy in here.

What about ‘there’? Use ‘there’ to say that something exists, or doesn’t exist. Usually, when you use ‘there’, it’s the first time you’re mentioning something. For example:

• There’s some salad in the fridge.
• There are several reasons why I have to say ‘no’ to this idea.
• There didn’t use to be so many homeless people here.

Let’s practise together. Look at five sentences. Do you need to add ‘it’ or ‘there’?

• ________ isn’t enough time to eat before we go.
• ________’s time to go.
• ________ took me longer to get here than I thought it would.
• ________ won’t be much fun if you don’t know anyone.
• ________ won’t be many people you know at the wedding.

Pause the video, and think about your answers. Ready? Here they are:

• There isn’t enough time to eat before we go.
• It’s time to go.
• It took me longer to get here than I thought it would.
• It won’t be much fun if you don’t know anyone.
• There won’t be many people you know at the wedding.

Finally, we have one more thing to show you.

4. Subject-Verb Word Order

In general, the subject of your sentence goes immediately before the main verb. You can see this in the sentences you’ve already seen in this lesson.

Sometimes, the main verb also has an auxiliary verb, like ‘have’, ‘has’, ‘do’, ‘does’, ‘will’, ‘can’ and so on. In positive sentences, the auxiliary verb and the main verb almost always go together. For example:

• They have bought a nice house.
• My sister Mandy will call tonight.

However, there’s one case where the main verb goes before the subject: questions with ‘be’. For example:

• Are you ready?
• Were there many people there?

In some cases, the auxiliary verb needs to come before the subject. This is most common in questions. For example:

• Can you help me?
• What time does she arrive?
• How many pieces of cake have you had already?

Learn more about auxiliary verbs in this Oxford Online English lesson: Adding Emphasis .

It’s also possible in certain structures which are mostly used in formal writing, like:

• At no time did I suspect that he was the thief.

At this point, let’s review the most important points that you should take away from this lesson.

One: make sure every sentence has a subject and a main verb in each clause. Don’t put more than one subject or main verb in one clause.

Two: if your subject and main verb are longer phrases, or if you add a lot of adverbs or subordinate clauses to your sentence, it might be harder to keep track of the structure. Before you write a sentence, think about this question: what are you talking about, and what are you saying about this thing? Decide what you’re talking about—the subject—and what you’re saying about it—the main verb. Keep these in your head.

Three: study the difference between main verbs and auxiliary verbs. Remember that auxiliary verbs can’t generally be used alone. Make sure every auxiliary verb has a main verb attached. Learn the cases when the auxiliary verb needs to come before the subject.

If you can follow these simple steps, your writing will be clearer, better-organised, and more accurate. Thanks for watching!

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5 Simple Tips for Better Sentence Structure and Higher Grades

Do you struggle to write professionally for university? Do you feel like you’re just smartening up your language; throwing in a few words like ‘ thus ’ and ‘ utilise ’; and hoping for the best? Read on for simple tips to help improve your sentence structure. 

In this blog post, you’ll discover:

• Simple writing tips for better sentence structure (which equals higher grades!)
• That – with simple tweaks to your punctuation, sentence length and idea ordering – the writing you’ve worked so hard on will be clear and easy to understand
• Free resources to improve your academic writing.

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1. Vary your sentence length

If your sentences are too short your writing will appear clunky and the reader will soon get bored by the monotony. Yet, if your sentences are too long their value becomes lost; buried deep among multiple clauses and punctuation.

Instead, vary your sentence structure by using a combination of short, medium and long sentences. When used correctly, short sentences add impact and can focus the reader’s attention. Conversely, well-crafted longer sentences can develop a key idea, add in details and build to an important conclusion.

Read Gary Provost’s ‘ This Sentence Has Five Words ’ to experience the impact of great sentence structure.

Top sentence structure tips

· Copy and paste a section of your work into a new document. Edit your section without fear of making it worse then add it back into your work when you’re happy with it.

· Each sentence should contain one idea so you may need to split some to aid clarity

· Play around with sentence length so longer, detail-filled sentences are interspersed with shorter, snappier sentences to add impact and sum up an idea.

Here’s a before and after paragraph where you can hopefully see the difference some changes to sentence structure make.

2. Become best friends with linking words

You want your writing to flow and for each point to be logically connected to the next. If you’re successful your writing will take the reader on a clear journey, they will understand your work and, therefore, find it easier to award marks.

The magic ingredient for clear, flowing arguments…

…is linking (or transition) words. Whenever you switch topics, ideas or perspectives, you need to give the reader a verbal cue. Linking words improve your sentence structure and progress your writing. Without them, your essay would simply read as a list of unrelated ideas and statements – which is definitely not what you want!

You might already be using linking words, but here’s some examples to help you gain the full benefits of them in your writing.

For addition or indicating similarity:

· In addition,

· Furthermore,

· Similarly,

· Likewise,

For contrast:

· Nevertheless,

· On the other hand,

· Alternatively,

· Conversely,

· In contrast

For exemplifying:

· For example,

· To illustrate,

· For instance,

· To exemplify,

For consequences:

· As a result,

· Therefore,

· Consequently

For summarising/concluding:

· To conclude,

· To summarise,

· In conclusion,

Top sentence structure tip

When you’re editing your writing, try and pay attention to how often you’re using linking words. If you notice you have to include these words between most of your sentences, you may be jumping between ideas too much. If this is the case, spend some time reorganising your writing so related ideas are grouped together.

3. Read your writing out loud

This is a simple tip that could be so valuable, but people rarely do it!

Reading out loud to yourself might make you sound a little silly but it’s a great way to check your sentence structure. Read slowly and pause according to the punctuation you’ve used. You’ll soon be able to tell whether a comma is needed or not. If you find you need to catch a breath while reading a sentence, try splitting it in two.

4. One idea, one sentence

Each sentence should contain one idea. Make sure you don’t try to fit two separate points into one long sentence. This means you need to omit digressions ( shifts in focus ) from your writing so each point is strong and stays on topic. Also, omit any deviations ( unrelated details ).

Every word in your essay should be there for a reason: either to directly gain you marks or to provide additional information that supports your ideas. Get rid of any irrelevant details and you’ll: improve your sentence structure, cut words, and make your writing stronger.

Have a look at the below sentence.

Honda’s smaller motorbikes opened up the market to younger buyers not interested in the “gang persona” of big bikes; Pascale argues that Honda’s success was not due to “bold insight” from executives, but from not “taking their initial strategic positions too seriously”.

Here, a semi-colon has been used to connect these two clauses when, instead, this sentence should be split into two with a full stop. The first clause is a description of Honda’s success. The second clause is an author’s opinion on the reasons behind this success. Though these points are related, they are SEPARATE points so should be structured like it.

Honda’s smaller motorbikes opened up the market to younger buyers not interested in the “gang persona” of big bikes. Pascale argues that Honda’s success was not due to “bold insight” from executives, but from not “taking their initial strategic positions too seriously”.

Changing one semi-colon to a full stop may not seem like a big deal but if your writing is clear and easy to read, your tutor will find it easier to award marks.

5. Don't bury the main idea

Complex sentences – those with multiple clauses – are necessary in academic writing. As you learned above, you cannot just write in short, punchy sentences as you’ll never be able to give the details or build the arguments necessary for high marks.

But, complex sentences can be hard to follow. You may have spent hours crafting the perfect argument for your essay, yet this brilliant idea may not stand out if your sentence structure buries it deep within your sentences. Include the main idea early in a sentence to ensure your point is always clear.

Younger buyers are not interested in the “gang persona” of big motorbikes so Honda’s small motorbikes opened up the market and became a huge success.

The main idea is that Honda’s bikes became a success, but the sentence implies the “gang persona” phrase is key. With some simple editing the main idea moves to the start of the sentence with the details following afterwards.

The small motorbikes became a huge success and opened up the market to younger buyers not interested in the “gang persona” of big motorbikes.

You might say this sentence is relatively easy to understand both ways. This is because the topic of motorbikes is fairly understandable to ‘ normal ’ people. However, sentences full of subject terms and academic jargon become harder to follow when they have poor sentence structure. Learn this skill now and you’ll know your sentence structure will allow your key points to be noticed.

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How to structure sentences for a better flow in your writing

Do you long to write sentences that are easy to understand and flow smoothly like a river? Your scientific texts don’t need to feel choppy and your readers don’t need to struggle. Using the appropriate sentence structure helps you convey your message clearly and effectively, even when you write about a highly complex topic.

4 rules for effective sentence structure

Well-structured sentences are crucial in scientific writing. Together with well-structured paragraphs , they are a key to comprehensive and captivating texts. There is no magic to it — just follow a few simple rules and you will be amazed by the result:

We have presented a model of AZM [active zone material] mediated SV [synaptic vesicle] docking and priming proposing that the SV docking and priming at resting active zones are regulated by random shortening and lengthening of AZM macromolecules, which directly link SVs to the plasma membrane at active zones.

Until you finish reading the sentence, you have already forgotten what was said at the beginning. Splitting the sentence in two makes the message easier to grasp:

We have presented a model of SV [synaptic vesicle] docking and priming mediated by AZM [active zone material]. We propose that the SV docking and priming at resting active zones are regulated by random shortening and lengthening of AZM macromolecules, which directly link SVs to the plasma membrane at active zones.

• “Old information” at the beginning of the sentence (topic position) The first few words of a sentence act as a context that we use to interpret the rest of the sentence. Therefore, don’t include anything new (that you mention for the first time) or unknown at the beginning of the sentence: the reader would have to keep this new info in their mind and wait until they get more information to make sense of the new stuff. This is exhausting and frustrating. Moreover, including “old” information at the beginning of the sentence creates a natural connection to the preceding text, thus contributing to the feeling of flow as we read.
• “New information” at the end of the sentence (stress position) What comes at the end of the sentence is naturally emphasized — it sticks most in our memory. So after you have given the context at the beginning of the sentence, present new information at the end of the sentence.
• Person or thing whose “story” the sentence is telling in the topic position The most relevant context for a sentence is its topic — that’s why the beginning of a sentence is called topic position. This together with the previous points means that you should first introduce a new concept at the end of the sentence and link it to something known (“old info”), before you place this concept at the beginning of the sentence and give more details about it.

From sentence structure to text flow

This knowledge about topic position and stress position of a sentence allows us to construct sentences that flow smoothly one after another. Even in the Introduction of a research article, where one needs to move quickly from topic to topic, an appropriate sentence structure creates a pleasant reader experience ( topic position — stress position are marked):

An important strategy to increase agricultural production is to improve soil fertility . In many agricultural soils , a major limiting factor for plant growth is phosphorus . Phosphorus is involved in essential metabolic pathways including photosynthesis, biological oxidation, nutrient uptake, energy transfer and cell division. It is also a contributing factor promoting early root growth, increasing water-use efficiency, and enhancing resistance to plant diseases as well as the quality of crops. However, a large proportion of the total phosphorus in the soil is insoluble and, thus, unavailable for plant uptake .

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Fixing incomprehensible sentences

By priming brain circuits, associations between low-salience stimuli often guide future behavioral choices through a process known as mediated or inferred learning.

Since this is the very first sentence of an article, there is no “old” information that has been previously introduced. Instead, we need to begin the sentence with something that is otherwise familiar to the reader. I think you agree that “by priming brain circuits” does not fulfill this role well. But “future behavioral choices” is quite general, and appears to be relevant for the sentence. Concerning the stress position, “mediated or inferred learning” seems to be appropriate. Indeed, the whole sentence is a definition of this term — so we can keep it at the end of the sentence. Now that we have the beginning and end of the sentence, we can try to order the rest in a logical way:

Future behavioral choices are often guided by associations between low-salience stimuli that prime brain circuits in a process known as mediated or inferred learning.

Even when you don’t know what “low-salience stimuli” mean, I hope you agree that the second version looks much more accessible.

Alright, let’s consider another example — a sentence from conference instructions:

If you have a regular talk (25 min), lightning talk (5 min) or workshop (3.5 hours) idea, we will be very happy to hear about it.

This sentence does not convey rocket science, yet reading it feels mildly inconvenient. What’s the reason? The position of the word “idea” is not optimal: we first get all the details about talks and workshops, and only then we learn that it’s about talk and workshop *ideas*. The fix in this case is simple: put the word “idea” before the details:

If you have an idea for a regular talk (25 min), lightning talk (5 min) or workshop (3.5 hours), we will be very happy to hear about it.

Now let’s practice our new sentence structure skills. Here are a few sentences that can be substantially improved by considering the old and new info and the sentence topic and stress position:

As one of the most unique properties of nerve cells, their intrinsic excitability allows them to transform synaptic inputs into action potentials.

The model-free approaches to control of neural systems presented here suggest that deep reinforcement learning has potential for application to this area.

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Grammar: Sentence Structure and Types of Sentences

Definitions and examples of basic sentence elements.

The Mastering the Mechanics webinar series also describes required sentence elements and varying sentence types. Please see these archived webinars for more information.

Key: Yellow, bold = subject; green underline = verb, blue, italics = object, pink, regular font = prepositional phrase

Independent clause : An independent clause can stand alone as a sentence. It contains a subject and a verb and is a complete idea.

• I like spaghetti .
• He reads many books .

Dependent clause : A dependent clause is not a complete sentence. It must be attached to an independent clause to become complete. This is also known as a subordinate clause.

• Although I like spaghetti,…
• Because he reads many books,…

Subject : A person, animal, place, thing, or concept that does an action. Determine the subject in a sentence by asking the question “Who or what?”

• I like spaghetti.
• He reads many books.

Verb : Expresses what the person, animal, place, thing, or concept does. Determine the verb in a sentence by asking the question “What was the action or what happened?”

• The movie is good. (The be verb is also sometimes referred to as a copula or a linking verb. It links the subject, in this case "the movie," to the complement or the predicate of the sentence, in this case, "good.")

Object : A person, animal, place, thing, or concept that receives the action. Determine the object in a sentence by asking the question “The subject did what?” or “To whom?/For whom?”

Prepositional Phrase : A phrase that begins with a preposition (i.e., in, at for, behind, until, after, of, during) and modifies a word in the sentence. A prepositional phrase answers one of many questions. Here are a few examples: “Where? When? In what way?”

• I like spaghetti for dinner .
• He reads many books in the library .

English Sentence Structure

The following statements are true about sentences in English:

• H e obtained his degree.
• He obtained his degree .
• Smith he obtained his degree.
• He obtained his degree.
• He (subject) obtained (verb) his degree (object).

Simple Sentences

A simple sentence contains a subject and a verb, and it may also have an object and modifiers. However, it contains only one independent clause.

Key: Yellow, bold = subject; green underline = verb, blue, italics = object, pink, regular font =prepositional phrase

Here are a few examples:

• She wrote .
• She completed her literature review .
• He organized his sources by theme .
• They studied APA rules for many hours .

Compound Sentences

A compound sentence contains at least two independent clauses.  These two independent clauses can be combined with a comma and a coordinating conjunction or with a semicolon .

Key: independent clause = yellow, bold ; comma  or semicolon = pink, regular font ; coordinating conjunction = green, underlined

• She completed her literature review , and she created her reference list .
• He organized his sources by theme ; then, he updated his reference list .
• They studied APA rules for many hours , but they realized there was still much to learn .

Using some compound sentences in writing allows for more sentence variety .

Complex Sentences

A complex sentence contains at least one independent clause and at least one dependent clause. Dependent clauses can refer to the subject (who, which) the sequence/time (since, while), or the causal elements (because, if) of the independent clause.

If a sentence begins with a dependent clause, note the comma after this clause. If, on the other hand, the sentence begins with an independent clause, there is not a comma separating the two clauses.

Key: independent clause = yellow, bold ; comma = pink, regular font ; dependent clause = blue, italics

• Note the comma in this sentence because it begins with a dependent clause.
• Note that there is no comma in this sentence because it begins with an independent clause.
• Using some complex sentences in writing allows for more sentence variety .

Compound-Complex Sentences

Sentence types can also be combined. A compound-complex sentence contains at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause.

Key: independent clause = yellow, bold ; comma  or semicolon = pink, regular font ; coordinating conjunction = green, underlined ; dependent clause = blue, italics

• She completed her literature review , but she still needs to work on her methods section even though she finished her methods course last semester .
• Although he organized his sources by theme , he decided to arrange them chronologically , and he carefully followed the MEAL plan for organization . 
• T hey studied APA rules for many hours , and they decided that writing in APA made sense because it was clear, concise, and objective .
• Using some complex-compound sentences in writing allows for more sentence variety .
• Pay close attention to comma usage in complex-compound sentences so that the reader is easily able to follow the intended meaning.

Sentence Structure Video Playlist

Note that these videos were created while APA 6 was the style guide edition in use. There may be some examples of writing that have not been updated to APA 7 guidelines.

• Structuring Sentences: Types of Sentences (video transcript)
• Structuring Sentences: Simple Sentences (video transcript)
• Structuring Sentences: Compound Sentences (video transcript)
• Structuring Sentences: Complex Sentences (video transcript)
• Structuring Sentences: Combining Sentences (video transcript)
• Common Error: Unclear Subjects (video transcript)
• Mastering the Mechanics: Punctuation as Symbols (video transcript)
• Mastering the Mechanics: Commas (video transcript)
• Mastering the Mechanics: Periods (video transcript)
• Mastering the Mechanics: Semicolons (video transcript)

Related Resources

Knowledge Check: Sentence Structure and Types of Sentences

Didn't find what you need? Email us at [email protected] .

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Sentence Structure: A Complete Guide (With Examples & Tasks)

This article is part of the ultimate guide to language for teachers and students. Click the buttons below to view these.

  A TEACHER’S GUIDE TO SENTENCE STRUCTURE

This article aims to inform teachers and students about writing great sentences for all text types and genres. I would also recommend reading our complete guide to writing a great paragraph here. Both articles will find great advice, teaching ideas, and resources.

WHAT IS SENTENCE STRUCTURE?

When we talk about ‘sentence structure’, we are discussing the various elements of a sentence and how these elements are organized on the page to convey the desired effect of the author.

Writing well in terms of sentence structure requires our students to become familiar with various elements of grammar and the various types of sentences that exist in English.

In this article, we will explore these areas and discuss various ideas and activities you can use in the classroom to help your students on the road to mastering these different sentence structures. This will help make their writing more precise and interesting in the process.

TYPES OF SENTENCE STRUCTURE

In English, students need to get their heads around four types of sentences. They are:

Mastering these four types of sentences will enable students to articulate themselves effectively and with personality and style.

Achieving this necessarily takes plenty of practice, but the process begins with ensuring that each student has a firm grasp on how each type of sentence structure works.

But, before we examine these different types of structures, we must ensure our students understand the difference between independent and dependent clauses. Understanding clauses and how they work will make it much easier for students to grasp the following types of sentences.

A COMPLETE UNIT ON TEACHING SENTENCE STRUCTURE

This complete  SENTENCE STRUCTURE UNIT  is designed to take students from zero to hero over  FIVE STRATEGIC LESSONS  to improve  SENTENCE WRITING SKILLS  through  PROVEN TEACHING STRATEGIES covering:

SENTENCE CLAUSES

Teaching sentence clauses requires a deep understanding of the topic and an ability to explain it in an engaging and easy way for students to understand. In this article, we’ll discuss the basics of sentence clauses and provide some tips for teaching them to students.

What are Sentence Clauses?

A sentence clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb. It can be a complete sentence on its own or a part of a larger sentence. There are two types of sentence clauses: independent and dependent.

Independent Clauses

Put simply; clauses are parts of a sentence containing a verb. An independent clause can stand by itself as a complete sentence. It expresses a complete thought or idea and includes a subject and a verb  – more on this shortly!

Here’s an example of an independent clause in a sentence:

“I went to the store.”

In this sentence, “I went to the store” is an independent clause because it can stand alone as a complete sentence and expresses a complete thought. It has a subject (“I”) and a verb (“went”), and it can be punctuated with a period.

Dependent Clauses / Subordinate Clauses

Dependent clauses, on the other hand, are not complete sentences and cannot stand by themselves. They do not express a complete idea. To become complete, they must be attached to an independent clause. Dependent clauses are also known as subordinate clauses .

An excellent way to illustrate the difference between the two is by providing an example that contains both.

For example:

Even though I am tired, I am going to work tonight.

The non-underlined portion of the sentence doesn’t work as a sentence on its own, so it is a dependent clause. The underlined portion of the sentence could operate as a sentence in its own right, and it is, therefore, an independent clause. 

Now we’ve got clauses out of the way, we’re ready to look at each type of sentence in turn.

Teaching sentence clauses to students is essential because it helps them understand sentence structure. Understanding the structure of sentences is essential for effective writing and communication. It also helps students to identify and correct common errors in their writing, such as sentence fragments and run-on sentences.

Simple Sentences

Simple sentences are, unsurprisingly, the easiest type of sentence for students to grasp and construct for themselves. Often these types of sentences will be the first sentences that children write by themselves, following the well-known Subject – Verb – Object or SVO pattern.

The subject of the sentence will be the noun that begins the sentence. This may be a person, place, or thing, but most importantly, it is the doer of the action in the sentence.

The action itself will be encapsulated by the verb, which is the action word that describes what the doer does.

The object of the sentence follows the verb and describes that which receives the action.

This is again best illustrated by an example. Take a look at the simple sentence below:

Tom ate many cookies.

In this easy example, the doer of the action is Tom , the action is ate , and the receiver of the action is the many cookies .

Subject = Tom

Object = many cookies

After some practice, students will become adept at recognizing SVO sentences and forming their own. It’s also important to point out that simple sentences don’t necessarily have to be short.

This research reveals that an active lifestyle can have a great impact for the good on the life expectancy of the average person.

Despite this sentence looking more sophisticated (and longer!), this is still a simple sentence as it follows the SVO structure:

Subject = research

Verb = reveals

Object = that an active lifestyle can have a great impact for the good on the life expectancy of the average person.

Though basic in construction, it is essential to note that a simple sentence is often the perfect structure for dealing with complex ideas. Simple sentences can effectively provide clarity and efficiency of expression, breaking down complex concepts into manageable chunks.

MORE SIMPLE SENTENCE EXAMPLES

• She ran to the store.
• The sun is shining.
• He likes to read books.
• The cat is sleeping.
• I am happy.

Simple Sentence Reinforcement Activity

To ensure your students grasp the simple sentence structure, have them read a photocopied text pitched at a language level suited to their age and ability.

On the first run-through, have students identify and highlight simple sentences in the text. Then, students should use various colors of pens to pick out and underline the subject, the verb, and the object in each sentence.

This activity helps ensure a clear understanding of how this structure works and helps to internalize it. This will reap rich rewards for students when they come to the next stage, and it’s time for them to write their own sentences using this basic pattern.

After students have mastered combining subjects, verbs, and objects into both long and short sentences, they will be ready to move on to the other three types of sentences, the next of which is the compound sentence .

EXAMPLES OF SIMPLE, COMPLEX AND COMPOUND SENTENCES

COMPOUND SENTENCE S

While simple sentences consist of one clause with a subject and a verb, compound sentences combine at least two independent clauses that are joined together with a coordinating conjunction .

There’s a helpful acronym to help students remember these coordinating conjunctions; FANBOYS .

Some conjunctions will be more frequently used than others, with the most commonly used being and , but , or , and so .

Whichever of the conjunctions the student chooses, it will connect the two halves of the compound sentence – each of which could stand alone as a complete sentence.

Compound sentences are an essential way of bringing variety and rhythm to a piece of writing. The decision to join two sentences together into one longer compound sentence is made because there is a strong relationship between the two. Still, it is important to remind students that they need not necessarily be joined as they can remain as separate sentences.

The decision to join or not is often a stylistic one.

For example, the two simple sentences:

1. She ran to the school.

2. The school was closed.

It can be easily joined together with a coordinating conjunction that reveals an essential relationship between the two:

She ran to the school, but the school was closed.

As a bonus, while working on compound sentences, a convenient opportunity arises to introduce the correct usage of the semicolon. Often, where two clauses are joined with a conjunction, that conjunction can be replaced with a semicolon when the two parts of the sentence are related, for example:

She ran to the school; the school was closed.

While you may not wish to muddy the waters by introducing the semicolon while dealing with compound sentences, more advanced students may benefit from making the link here.

MORE COMPOUND SENTENCE EXAMPLES

• I want to go to the beach this weekend, but I also need to finish my homework.
• She loves to sing and dance, so she decided to audition for the school musical.
• I enjoy reading books, and my brother prefers to watch movies.
• The dog barked at the mailman, and the mailman quickly walked away.
• He ate his breakfast, and then he went for a run in the park.

Reinforcement Activity:

A good way for students to practice forming compound sentences is to provide them with copies of simple books from early on in a reading scheme. Books for emergent readers are often written in simple sentences that form repetitive patterns that help children internalize various language patterns.

Challenge your students to rewrite some of these texts using compound sentences where appropriate. This will provide valuable practice in spotting such opportunities in their writing and experience in selecting the appropriate conjunction.

COMPLEX SENTENCES

There are various ways to construct complex sentences, but essentially any complex sentence will contain at least one independent and one dependent clause. However, these clauses are not joined by coordinating conjunctions. Instead, subordinating conjunctions are used.

Here are some examples of subordinating conjunctions:

●     after

●     although

●     as

●     as long as

●     because

●     before

●     even if

●     if

●     in order to

●     in case

●     once

●     that

●     though

●     until

●     when

●     whenever

●     wherever

●     while

Subordinating conjunctions join dependent and independent clauses together. They provide a transition between the two ideas in the sentence. This transition will involve a time, place, or a cause and effect relationship. The more important idea is contained in the sentence’s main clause, while the less important idea is introduced by the subordinating conjunction.

Although Catherine ran to school , she didn’t get there in time.

We can see that the first part of this complex sentence (in bold ) is a dependent clause that cannot stand alone. This fragment begins with the subordinating conjunction ‘although’ which joins it to, and expresses the relationship with, the independent clause which follows.

When complex sentences are organized this way (with the dependent clause first), you’ll note the comma separates the dependent clause from the independent clause. If the structure is reorganized to place the independent clause first, with the dependent clause following, then there is no need for this comma.

You will not do well if you refuse to study.

Complex sentences can be great tools for students to not only bring variety to their writing but to explore complex ideas, set up comparisons and contrasts, and convey cause and effect.

MORE COMPLEX SENTENCE EXAMPLES

• Despite feeling exhausted from a long day at work, she still managed to summon the energy to cook a delicious dinner for her family.
• In order to fully appreciate the beauty of the artwork, one must take the time to examine it closely and consider the artist’s intentions.
• The new student, who had just moved to the city from a small town, felt overwhelmed by the size and complexity of her new school.
• Although he had studied diligently for weeks, he was still nervous about the upcoming exam, knowing that his entire future depended on his performance.
• As the sun began to set, the birds flew back to their nests, signalling the end of another day and the beginning of a peaceful evening.

Reinforcement Activity

A helpful way to practice writing complex sentences is to provide students with a subordinating conjunction and dependent clause and challenge them to provide a suitable independent clause to finish out the sentence.

After returning home for work,…

Although it was late,…

You may also flip this and provide the independent clause first before challenging them to come up with a suitable dependent clause and subordinating conjunction to finish out the sentence.

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COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCES

Compound-complex sentences are, not surprisingly, the most difficult for students to write well. If, however, your students have put the work in to gain a firm grasp of the preceding three sentence types, then they should manage these competently with a bit of practice.

Before teaching compound-complex sentences, it’ll be worth asking your students if they can make an educated guess at a definition of this type of sentence based on its title alone.

The more astute among your students may well be able to work out that a compound-complex sentence refers to joining a compound sentence with a complex one. More accurately, a compound-complex sentence combines at least two independent clauses and one dependent clause.

Since the school was closed, Sarah ran home and her mum made her some breakfast.

We can see here the sentence begins with a dependent clause followed by a compound sentence. We can also see a complex sentence nestled there if we look at the bracketed content in the version below.

( Since the school was closed, Sarah ran home ) and her mum made her some breakfast.

This is a fairly straightforward example of complex sentences, but they can come in lots of guises, containing lots more information while still conforming to the compound-complex structure.

Because most visitors to the city regularly miss out on the great bargains available here, local companies endeavor to attract tourists to their businesses and help them understand how to access the best deals the capital has to offer.

A lot is going on in this sentence, but it follows the same structure as the previous one on closer examination. That is, it opens with a dependent clause (that starts with subordinating conjunction) and is then followed by a compound sentence.

With practice, your students will soon be able to quickly identify these more sophisticated types of sentences and produce their own examples.

Compound-complex sentences can bring variety to a piece of writing and help articulate complex things. However, it is essential to encourage students to pay particular attention to the placement of commas in these sentences to ensure readers do not get confused. Encourage students to proofread all their writing, especially when writing longer, more structurally sophisticated sentences such as these.

MORE COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCE EXAMPLES

• Despite the fact that he was exhausted from his long day at work, he went to the gym and completed a gruelling hour-long workout, but he still managed to make it home in time for dinner with his family.
• The orchestra played beautifully, filling the concert hall with their harmonious melodies, yet the soloist stole the show with her hauntingly beautiful rendition of the final movement.
• Although the road was treacherous and steep, the hiker persevered through the difficult terrain, and after several hours, she reached the summit and was rewarded with a breathtaking view of the valley below.
• The chef prepared a mouth-watering feast, consisting of a savory roast beef, a colorful array of fresh vegetables, and a decadent chocolate cake for dessert, yet the dinner party was still overshadowed by the heated political debate.
• After a long and tiring day, the student sat down to study for her final exam, but she couldn’t concentrate because her mind was consumed with worries about her future, so she decided to take a break and go for a run to clear her head.

Regenerate response

You could begin reinforcing student understanding of compound-complex sentences by providing them with a handout featuring several examples of this type of sentence.

Working in pairs or small groups, have the students identify and mark the independent clauses (more than 1) and dependent clauses (at least 1) in each sentence. When students can do this confidently, they can then begin to attempt to compose their own sentences.

Another good activity that works well as a summary of sentence structure work is to provide the students with a collection of jumbled sentences of each of the four types.

Challenge the students to sort the sentences into each of the four types. In a plenary, compare each group’s findings and examine those sentences where the groups disagreed on their categorization.

In teaching sentence structure, it is essential to emphasize to our students that though the terminology may seem quite daunting at first, they will quickly come to understand how each structure works and recognize them when they come across them in a text.

Much of this is often done by feel, especially for native English speakers. Just as someone may be a competent cyclist and struggle to explain the process verbally, grammar can sometimes feel like a barrier to doing.

Be sure to make lots of time for students to bridge the gap between the theoretical and the practical by offering opportunities to engage in activities that allow students to get creative in producing their own sentences.

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WHAT IS A SENTENCE FRAGMENT?

A sentence fragment is a collection of words that looks similar to a sentence but actually isn’t a complete sentence. Sentence fragments usually lack a subject or verb or don’t express a complete thought. Whilst a fragmented sentence can be punctuated to appear similar to a complete sentence; it is no substitute for a sentence.

Sentence fragment features:

These are the distinguishing features of a sentence fragment:

• Example: Jumped further than a Kangaroo. (Who jumped?)
• Example: My favorite math teacher.  (What did the teacher do or say?)
• Example: For better or worse.  (What is better or worse? What is it modifying?)
• Example: When my mother married my father.  (What happened when “my mother married my father?”)
• Example: Such as, my brother was practising martial arts.  (It is unclear; did something happen when my brother was practising martial arts?)

The methods for correcting a sentence fragment are varied, but essentially it will boil down to three options. Either attach it to a nearby sentence, revise and add the missing elements or rewrite the entire passage or fragment until they are operating in sync with each other.

Let’s explore some of these methods to fix a fragmented sentence. Firstly, one must identify the subject and verb to ensure that the fragment contains the necessary components of a complete sentence. For instance, in the sentence “Running down the street, I saw a dog,” the subject (“I”) and verb (“saw”) are present, making it a complete sentence.

Furthermore, it is important to check for a complete thought within the sentence fragment. In other words, the fragment should express a complete idea; if it doesn’t, it should be revised accordingly. An example of a sentence fragment with a complete thought is “Running down the street, I saw a dog chasing a cat.”

Lastly, combining sentence fragments with independent clauses can help create complete sentences. For instance, “Running down the street, I saw a dog. It was chasing a cat” can be combined into one sentence: “Running down the street, I saw a dog chasing a cat.” This not only creates a complete sentence but also enhances the overall coherence and readability of the text.

In summary, sentence fragments can hinder effective communication and must be avoided in writing. To fix a sentence fragment, one must identify the subject and verb, ensure a complete thought is expressed, and consider combining it with an independent clause. By doing so, writers can create clear, concise, and meaningful sentences that easily convey their intended message.

TOP TIPS FOR TEACHING SENTENCE STRUCTURE

• Start with the basics: Begin by teaching students about the different parts of a sentence, such as subject, verb, and object. Use examples and visual aids to help them understand the function of each part.
• Use varied sentence structures: Show students examples of different sentence structures, such as simple, compound, and complex sentences. Please encourage them to use varied sentence structures in their writing.
• Practice with sentence combining: Give students several short, simple sentences and ask them to combine them into a longer sentence using conjunctions or other connecting words. This exercise will help them understand how to construct complex sentences.
• Use real-life examples: Incorporate examples from everyday life to help students understand how sentence structure affects meaning. For example, “I saw the man with the telescope” and “I saw the man, with the telescope” have different meanings due to the placement of the comma.
• Provide feedback: Give students feedback on their writing, focusing on the structure of their sentences. Encourage them to revise and improve their writing by experimenting with different sentence structures. Please provide specific examples of how they can improve their sentence structure.

SENTENCE STRUCTURE VIDEO TUTORIALS

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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 subordinate clauses

Avoid interrupting the main clause with a subordinate clause if the interruption will cause confusion:

Clear (subordinate clause at the end):

Clear (subordinate clause at the beginning):

Not as clear (subordinate clause embedded in the middle):

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):

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• Writing Tips

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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5 Ways to Improve Your Sentence Structure

By Smitha Abraham

You have some amazing ideas. Your imagination is superb. And you want to become a remarkable writer. But if you cannot craft effective sentences, how would you communicate? Everything you write, be it a blog, an e-mail, an official letter, a short story begins and ends with a sentence. Whenever you communicate some content, you should be able to write effective sentences. How do you improve your sentence structure?

1. Include logic

“The skill it takes to produce a sentence”, Stanley Fish said, “the skill of lining events, actions, and objects in a strict logic—is also the skill of creating a world.” In other words, your sentence should sound logical. How do you write a logical sentence? The key is to ensure subject-verb agreement in your sentence. Ensure that the subject of your sentence matches with the verb. When you write, see if it answers this: Who, What, Why, When, Where and How. Take this sentence for instance: Moses hid under the thicket of willows in the dark . The sentence has a structure and piques your curiosity. That is what an effective sentence does. It conveys logic and a story.

2. Create images

We love images; anything that is visual appeals to us. Use your imagination to craft image-filled sentences or stories. Use active verbs and nouns in your writing. For instance, look at this sentence. The screaming cannibal fled out of the cave . What does the sentence do to you? It paints a picture in your mind.

3. Keep track of verbs

Keep track of your verbs. Sometimes, people use wrong verbs. For instance, if you want to say somebody questioned, then you should use the verb asked or questioned and not said or told . Said or told sounds better in a reported speech context. When you are reporting something, you should use the verb said or told in the past or the present tense. Ideally, you should not mix these verbs. This will only lead to confusion. How do you keep a track? You keep a track by reading what you have written once again. If you cannot do it immediately, then do it at a later point. This makes you look at your writing from a fresh angle.

4. Do not mix person

Sometimes, you begin your sentences with “I” and then end up mixing all other forms like “you” or “we.” This may happen when you write a lot. You should keep an eye on the person that is used in your write-up. Usually, built in grammar checkers do not spot those errors. It is wiser to keep a track yourself.

5. Write short sentences

Nobody likes to read long essays, especially when you are in a hurry. Use short, clear and crisp sentences. How do you make your sentences shorter? You combine them. You do not have to write long-winding sentences to generate impact. Read what you have written and see if you can understand it. It is a good idea to make somebody else read what you have written. Ensure that your nouns, verbs, adverbs, etc, are in the correct sequence. Develop your sentences slowly.

Remember that it is your sentences that sell, be it fiction or non-fiction. When you review your writing, try to create sentences that make sense so that they appeal to your readers.

Image credit: Aaron Smith on flickr and reproduced under Creative Commons 2.0

A clear, arguable thesis will tell your readers where you are going to end up, but it can also help you figure out how to get them there. Put your thesis at the top of a blank page and then make a list of the points you will need to make to argue that thesis effectively.

For example, consider this example from the thesis handout : While Sandel argues persuasively that our instinct to “remake”(54) ourselves into something ever more perfect is a problem, his belief that we can always draw a line between what is medically necessary and what makes us simply “better than well”(51) is less convincing.

To argue this thesis, the author needs to do the following:

• Show what is persuasive about Sandel’s claims about the problems with striving for perfection.
• Show what is not convincing about Sandel’s claim that we can clearly distinguish between medically necessary enhancements and other enhancements.

Once you have broken down your thesis into main claims, you can then think about what sub-claims you will need to make in order to support each of those main claims. That step might look like this:

• Evidence that Sandel provides to support this claim
• Discussion of why this evidence is convincing even in light of potential counterarguments
• Discussion of cases when medically necessary enhancement and non-medical enhancement cannot be easily distinguished
• Analysis of what those cases mean for Sandel’s argument
• Consideration of counterarguments (what Sandel might say in response to this section of your argument)

Each argument you will make in an essay will be different, but this strategy will often be a useful first step in figuring out the path of your argument.  

Strategy #2: Use subheadings, even if you remove them later  

Scientific papers generally include standard subheadings to delineate different sections of the paper, including “introduction,” “methods,” and “discussion.” Even when you are not required to use subheadings, it can be helpful to put them into an early draft to help you see what you’ve written and to begin to think about how your ideas fit together. You can do this by typing subheadings above the sections of your draft.

If you’re having trouble figuring out how your ideas fit together, try beginning with informal subheadings like these:

• Introduction  
• Explain the author’s main point  
• Show why this main point doesn’t hold up when we consider this other example  
• Explain the implications of what I’ve shown for our understanding of the author  
• Show how that changes our understanding of the topic

For longer papers, you may decide to include subheadings to guide your reader through your argument. In those cases, you would need to revise your informal subheadings to be more useful for your readers. For example, if you have initially written in something like “explain the author’s main point,” your final subheading might be something like “Sandel’s main argument” or “Sandel’s opposition to genetic enhancement.” In other cases, once you have the key pieces of your argument in place, you will be able to remove the subheadings.  

Strategy #3: Create a reverse outline from your draft  

While you may have learned to outline a paper before writing a draft, this step is often difficult because our ideas develop as we write. In some cases, it can be more helpful to write a draft in which you get all of your ideas out and then do a “reverse outline” of what you’ve already written. This doesn’t have to be formal; you can just make a list of the point in each paragraph of your draft and then ask these questions:

• Are those points in an order that makes sense to you?  
• Are there gaps in your argument?  
• Do the topic sentences of the paragraphs clearly state these main points?  
• Do you have more than one paragraph that focuses on the same point? If so, do you need both paragraphs?  
• Do you have some paragraphs that include too many points? If so, would it make more sense to split them up?  
• Do you make points near the end of the draft that would be more effective earlier in your paper?  
• Are there points missing from this draft?  
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What is Parallelism in Grammar? Parallel Structure Explained

by Fija Callaghan

Do you ever look at a sentence that doesn’t quite work, or doesn’t feel like it was written by a native speaker, but you’re not sure why? There’s a good chance it comes down to a misuse of parallel structure, or parallelism—a grammatical quirk that keeps prose moving along smoothly and cleanly.

But what do we mean by parallelism, exactly, and how can you incorporate it into your work to elevate your prose? We’ll take you through everything you need to know about what parallel structure means and how to master it in your writing.

What is parallel grammatical structure?

Parallel sentence structure means organizing a sentence or series of ideas into the same grammatical form. A successful parallel sentence structure means that everything in the sentence matches: nouns paired with nouns, ing-verbs with ing-verbs, and so forth. This makes the sentence more concise and easier to read.

For example, “Sandra Lonleyhart likes reading, shopping, and ice cream” is what’s called a faulty parallelism—its structure doesn’t quite match up. That’s because it lists three ideas, but two of them are verbs, and one is a noun (“ice cream”). To repair this faulty sentence, you can write it using a parallel construction with either all verbs or all nouns: “Sandra Lonleyhart likes reading, shopping, and eating ice cream” or “Sandra Lonleyhart likes books, clothes, and ice cream.”

By using a consistent grammatical form, the sentence reads more smoothly and naturally.

Why is parallel structure important for writers?

Parallel structures don’t just convey ideas in a clearer way; they make those ideas more emphatic and persuasive.

As we saw above, faulty parallels in writing aren’t always glaringly obvious. However, they do snag the reader’s attention and make them feel like something’s wrong. Remember: anything that pulls the reader out of your story is going to work to your detriment. By using parallelism in your writing, your story will move along more smoothly and keep your readers engaged.

This is even more essential in nonfiction writing like essays and articles. Because this type of writing is often geared at persuasion —convincing someone of a belief or idea—parallelism can help make these ideas feel more trustworthy and appealing.

Types of parallelism literary devices

Parallel structure can come in a few forms, and understanding them can help you use them more effectively in your writing. Here are the different ways parallelism can appear in both poetry and prose.

Anaphora is using the same words or phrases at the beginning of successive sentences. You see this a lot in poetry, as well as in famous speeches.

An example of anaphora is Martin Luther King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech: “So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania…” He uses parallelism to emphasize the point he’s trying to make and hold his audience’s attention.

Epistrophe is the opposite of anaphora; it means using the same words or phrases at the end of successive sentences. A good example is the famous legal vow, “I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” Each of the clauses land on the same word, creating a strong and compelling rhythm.

Symploce is a combination of anaphora and epistrophe. This type of parallelism gives a phrase, poem, or speech a cyclical sense of balance.

An example would be Bill Clinton’s famous speech:

When there is talk of hatred, let us stand up and talk against it. When there is talk of violence, let us stand up and talk against it.

He uses parallels at both the beginning and the end of these sentences. The repetition makes for a much more engaging speech than it would have been without the clever parallel construction.

This is a rhetorical device in which the conjunction is removed in order to draw attention to the parallel elements. Remember, a coordinating conjunction is a word that links together separate words or ideas: and, or, but, so, etc. A correlative conjunction is a similar bridging word that compares words or ideas: either, both, as, like, and so forth. Asyndeton discards these minutiae to enhance its emphasis.

Look at the following example from a speech by John F. Kennedy:

We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

He doesn’t waste space on filler words; instead the parallel verbs of “pay”, “bear”, “meet”, “support”, and “oppose” command the listener’s attention.

Escalating parallels

Escalating parallelism is when the elements of a sentence or series of sentences match in grammatical form, but increase in intensity. This is a clever trick that makes the reader think that the information gets more and more important as it goes on.

A famous example of this kind of parallelism is a line from Shakespeare’s Richard III :

To-day, to-day, unhappy day, too late, O’erthrows thy joys, friends, fortune and thy state.

The speaker uses parallelism to state that misguided actions will first lose you friends, then your financial stability, and then finally your kingdom. Each consequence is more serious than the last.

Antithetical parallels

Antithetical parallelism uses parallel grammatical elements to contrast two opposing ideas. This is especially popular in religious poetry.

John Milton uses antithetical parallelism in his poem Paradise Lost : “Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.” The two clauses follow the same grammatical structure, yet convey completely opposite ideas. This type of writing makes for great marketing slogans (Milton’s line, above, is essentially a “Vote Lucifer!” marketing slogan), because it’s catchy and memorable.

A zeugma is a literary device in which a single word (usually a verb) is used in two parallel ways.

For example, “She kicked him out, and then he kicked the bucket” is a zeugma. The first refers to the action of forcing someone to leave, and the second is a euphemism for dying. Note that the example uses parallel sentence structure; they both use third-person pronouns and past-tense verbs.

Another example is a brilliant line from Star Trek :

You are free to execute your laws, and your citizens, as you see fit.

Here, “execute” is working twice as hard to give this moment depth.

Examples of parallelism from literature

To see how this looks in practice, let’s look at some parallelism examples from our favorite reads.

Pygmalion , by George Bernard Shaw

If you can’t appreciate what you’ve got, you’d better get what you can appreciate.

In Shaw’s play, Professor Higgins offers the protagonist some words of wisdom that act as a turning point in Eliza Doolittle’s journey. This line uses inversion to create a mirror-like effect, which makes it memorable.

“Vacation ’58” by John Hughes

It wasn’t a big cliff. It was only about four feet high. But it was enough to blow out the front tire, knock off the back bumper, break Dad’s glasses, make Aunt Edythe spit out her false teeth, spill a jug of Kool-Aid, bump Missy’s head, spread the Auto Bingo pieces all over, and make Mark do number two.

This line from Hughes’ short story acts a little bit like an escalating parallelism. Even though the sequence of events doesn’t exactly get more serious, there’s just so many of them that it feels like the day gets worse and worse. The first two sentences use anaphora, or repeated opening words. Then, the paragraph uses a series of clauses which all use the same grammatical form: blow, knock, break, etc. Without the parallel construction, it wouldn’t have nearly the same impact.

“Litany” by Billy Collins

You are the bread and the knife, the crystal goblet and the wine. You are the dew on the morning grass and the burning wheel of the sun. You are the white apron of the baker, and the marsh birds suddenly in flight.

Parallel lines are a mainstay in poetry, as former US poet laureate Billy Collins demonstrates. This poem uses repeating parallel sentences to create a strong rhythm. “Litany” follows in the tradition of classical love poems, which incorporate parallelism in order to effectively describe the poet’s beloved.

How to fix a faulty parallelism

So with all that in mind, how do you create parallel structure in a struggling sentence? The trick is to break it down into its individual parts.

We saw above that sentence parallels normally happen in lists. Here’s an example:

“This summer when I was camping, I tried rock climbing, kayaking, and even foraged for mushrooms.”

Does this sentence work? Kind of, but it could be better. Look at what we have here: pronoun, past-tense verb, gerund (or ing-verb). You can create parallelism by ensuring each element follows this pattern.

In this case you have “I tried rock climbing” (pronoun/past-tense verb/gerund), “[I tried] kayaking” (pronoun/past-tense verb/gerund; the first two are implied), and “[I tried] foraged” (pronoun/past-tense verb/past-tense verb). To match the earlier parallelism, we can simply adjust the final element: “[I tried] foraging”.

Then, the final product looks like this:

“This summer when I was camping, I tried rock climbing, kayaking, and even foraging for mushrooms.”

What you can also do is give the list elements different past-tense verbs so that they stand on their own. For example, “This summer when I was camping, I tried rock climbing, went kayaking, and even foraged for mushrooms.” Now this sentence is a satisfying parallel because each one follows an independent pattern of pronoun/past-tense verb/gerund. Both versions are correct.

If you’re not sure, always ask yourself, “does every list element in this sentence follow the same grammatical construction?” If not, now you know how to fix it!

Parallelism helps tighten your writing

We encounter parallelism in our daily lives all the time. Even if we don’t recognize it consciously, we can instinctively know that the sentence feels right. Now with these tricks, you can avoid faulty parallelism in your writing and craft prose that shines.

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19 August 2024

How do I strengthen my writing?

“ How do I strengthen my writing? I tend to fall back on bad habits because I can’t find good habits to replace them. “

It’s a tale as old as cuneiform: you have an amazing idea for a story, but when you look at your inky splotches on the page (or a wall of digital text), it’s not quite like you imagined it would be. Maybe it sounds stilted, or forced, or it lacks the depth and complexity you saw in your head.

Sound familiar? We’ve all been there. Fortunately, there are ways to improve your writing so that this happens less and less often. Eventually, you’ll be able to spin feelings and images that make your readers forget everything but the story they’re reading. 

How to strengthen your writing

Here are ten (count em!) tips to make your writing the very best it can be. 

1. Clear out your creative faucets

Many people who don’t write as well as they’d like become so resistant to the feeling of dissatisfaction that they don’t write at all. This means they never get any better! What happens when you take a significant break from writing is your creative pathways get backed up, just like rusty old taps that haven’t been used in forever and a day. What emerges isn’t going to be particularly palatable, but it needs to come out in order to access the clear, healthy water behind it.  

This means writing clunky, cringe-worthy prose as long as it takes to clear out your mental blocks and get your ideas flowing smoothly. 

2. Read voraciously

You’ll hear this a lot, because it’s so essential. In the immortal words of Stephen King : “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have time to write.” 

Read widely in the genre you’re trying to write in, as well as other genres that you can learn from. Look at the way authors have structured their sentences and their stories, how they make you love or despise certain characters. Prose writing is just like learning a language; the best way to absorb it is through immersion. 

3. Read some bad writing, too

I know, I know, but hear me out. Have you ever read a novel or short story that made your eyes ache from cringing so hard? Maybe it was because their sentences were awkwardly put together, or maybe the plot felt unbelievable or forced. Breaking down exactly why these pieces don’t work for us can be super helpful for understanding what to avoid in our own work. 

For example, maybe you read a romantic relationship and feel like it’s unconvincing because the author didn’t take enough time to develop the characters’ connection. Once you’re able to pinpoint that flawed element, you can give it the attention it deserves in your own work in progress. 

4. Try on different writing styles

Not all great writers are great in the same way. Some like long, explorative sentences pulsing with sensory imagery (see: Angela Carter), while others prefer concise, austere sentences that get straight to the point (see: Ernest Hemingway). You might gravitate to one or the other of these extremes, or fall somewhere along the spectrum in between. 

Try out different approaches to storytelling to find the voice that feels most like yours .

5. Explore characterisation 

Breaking: people are messy . Accurately and compellingly conveying this innate messiness is essential to creating a powerful story. 

As a warmup exercise, practice sketching out characters that you could incorporate into your stories. You can do this by looking at public domain photographs, or sitting in a public place and dreaming about who passersby might be. Consider where they’ve come from, what they might be going, and what they’re hoping to find or accomplish along the way. Explore body language, voice, and social cues that might tip off their intentions (but be wary of stereotypes and clichés!). 

6. Make friends with your thesaurus 

A great way to make a piece of prose shine even brighter is to expand your vocabulary . There are a lot of words in the English language that mean similar things, but have slightly different moods and tones. Finding the exact right word to convey what you’re trying to say will help your writing land more emphatically with your reader. 

For instance, if you want to describe a moment that feels a little chaotic, you could call it scattered, unsteady, distorted, unbalanced, cacophonous, pandemonious, discordant, anarchic, fractured, tumultuous, and so forth. Or you could just call it chaotic. Each of these words has a slightly different connotation and lends a different feeling to the sentence it carries.  

7. Banish filtering words

Filtering is one of the most common mistakes new writers make. It involves describing a character’s sensations or feelings with filtering words like felt, saw, heard, knew, watched, or realised. This holds the reader at a distance and makes them feel like they’re hearing a story, rather than living it.

An example of filtering would be, “She watched the sun rise majestically over the mountains”. It would feel more immediate to simply say, “The sun rose majestically over the mountains”. The reader already knows your point-of-view character is watching; now, the reader can watch it with them. 

8. Glare disapprovingly at the passive voice

Passive voice isn’t necessarily wrong all the time , but nine times out of ten, it will slow down the pace of your story and encourage the reader to lose interest in your characters. Passive voice means having something done to a character — “John was punched in the face by Nick” — instead of a character actively doing something: “Nick punched John in the face”.

You can adjust this in your editing process by doing a search for the word “was”. You won’t need to change every single one, but you’ll find it helpful to ask yourself if the sentence is serving the story in the best possible way. 

9. Familiarise yourself with story structure

The best stories follow an established plot structure , and follow it so smoothly that the reader doesn’t even realise there’s an ancient storytelling template behind it. Before you write — especially if you’re attempting a longer-form piece like a novella or a novel — it’s helpful to look over plot structures like the three-act structure, the five-act structure, or Freytag’s pyramid. 

These structures are designed to introduce just the right amount of tension and suspense, and to give the reader the ideal payoff by the end. These predetermined patterns won’t make your work feel formulaic; instead, they’ll resonate with your reader’s inherent storytelling instincts. 

10. Get peer feedback

Finally, the best way to make your work as strong as it can be is to get some feedback from other writers. This can be from a professional editor, a beta reader , or a collaborative writing group . 

When we’ve been spending a lot of time on a big writing project, we can go a bit cross-eyed and lose the ability to see things clearly. Getting a second pair of eyes can help you catch plot holes or inconsistencies before you send your story out into the world.

Great writing abilities aren’t something we’re born with; we earn them through hard work and lots of practice! You can use these tips to take your writing from explorative to sensational. 

How to Make AI Writing Sound More Human

Generative AI tools have revolutionized content creation, making the process faster and more efficient. However, AI-generated text often lacks the nuanced touch of human writing, which can lead to content that feels robotic, odd, or impersonal. In this article, we will explore various strategies you can apply to infuse AI writing with a natural touch. We'll begin by understanding the importance of humanizing AI text and then delve into practical techniques to make AI text more human.

From applying simple edits and varying sentence structures to using emotional language and cultural references, this article provides tips to transform your AI content. Additionally, we'll discuss enhancing specific document types and advanced techniques like storytelling and humor. Whether you're working on business documents or academic essays, this guide will help you make AI writing sound more human, engaging, and relatable.

Understanding the Importance of Humanizing AI Text

Humanizing AI text is crucial for creating content that resonates with readers. While AI can generate text almost instantly, it tends to lack the emotional depth and personal touch that a human writer can portray. This can result in content that feels sterile and unengaging. Additionally, AI-written text can be identified up by some best AI detectors that discern between text written by a human and that written by an AI tool.

By changing AI writing to human, you enhance its relatability and effectiveness, making it more likely to connect with your audience. This is important in marketing, customer service, and similar customer-facing content, where it is crucial to build an authentic connection with the reader. However, it is also critical to make text sound more human when writing a research paper, essay, or other academic document, as the use of AI writing tools to compose is often prohibited at colleges and universities. Overall humanizing AI text can improve reader trust, drive engagement, and ultimately achieve better results for any kind of writing.

Techniques to Make AI Text More Human

Apply a combination of the following techniques to make AI sound more human when writing your important documents. Some of these suggested methods may be more suitable for specific types of writing, but using multiple techniques will ensure that you thoroughly make it sound human.

How to make AI writing sound more human

To make text sound more human after using AI, apply a more conversational language and tone. Incorporate personal anecdotes and experiences to add authenticity and a personal touch.

For example, if the AI text output reads, "The company's revenue increased by 20% last year," add personal pronouns and qualitative adjectives:

"Last year, we saw our revenue grow by an impressive 20%, which was a huge milestone for us."

This not only provides factual information but also conveys that the author is proud of this achievement, making the content more compelling and human-like.

Make AI text sound human with contextual adjustments

Add context-specific details to make the content more relatable. Tailoring the message to the reader's own situation can significantly improve engagement.

If the output text flatly states, "It is important to exercise regularly," you could instead write, "For those of us working long hours at a desk, fitting in regular exercise is crucial to staying healthy." This adjustment not only provides needed information but also connects with the reader's daily life, making the advice come across as more relevant and impactful.

Grammatical ways to make AI sound more human

To make AI-generated text more human, focus on the grammatical aspects. Start by applying synonyms and expressions that people use in everyday conversation. For instance, replace "commence" with "start" and "purchase" with "buy."

Use contractions and informal constructions

Using contractions can also make the text sound more natural. Instead of "do not," use "don't," and replace "will not" with "won't."

Avoid overly formal or technical jargon unless necessary. For example, instead of saying "utilize," simply use "use," and instead of "assistance," opt for "help."

By incorporating these grammatical adjustments, you can significantly enhance the relatability and readability of AI-generated content, making it sound more human.

Apply synonyms and expressions

Incorporate synonyms and expressions that are common in everyday language. Use contractions to create a conversational tone. For example, instead of "cannot," use "can't," and replace "you will" with "you'll." This makes the text sound more natural and relatable.

Avoid overly formal or technical jargon unless it's essential to the context. Instead of saying "facilitate," use "help," and swap "purchase" for "buy." These changes ensure clarity and make the text more accessible to a wider audience.

By applying these strategies, you can enhance the readability and relatability of AI-generated content, making it feel more like it was written by a human.

Make AI sound human by varying sentence structure

Another way AI-generated text sounds a but “inhuman” is in the way it often uses a similar cadence of sentences. To make your AI text more human, vary the sentence structure by mixing short and long sentences. This creates a natural rhythm and keeps readers engaged.

For example, instead of writing only long sentences, combine them with shorter ones:

"The project was challenging. We overcame obstacles through teamwork and determination."

Using active voice instead of passive voice can also make sentences more direct and engaging.

For instance, change "Mistakes were made by the team" to "The team made mistakes." Similarly, replace "The proposal was approved by the committee" with "The committee approved the proposal." These adjustments make the writing clearer and more dynamic, enhancing the human-like quality of the text.

Additional Ways to Rewrite AI Content to Human

Humanize ai text with emotional language.

Humanizing AI text involves infusing it with emotional language and personal touches. Adding emotions and opinions can transform dry, factual text into engaging and relatable content.

For instance, instead of writing "The product launch was successful," you could say, "We were ecstatic about the incredible success of our product launch."

Incorporating opinions can also make content more human-like.

For example, change "The book received positive reviews" to "Readers loved the book, praising its compelling narrative and vivid characters."

To further humanize AI text, include sensory details and personal reflections. Instead of "The event was well-attended," try "We were delighted to see a full house, with guests buzzing with excitement throughout the event."

These strategies add depth and personality to AI-generated content, making it resonate more with readers on a personal level.

Use cultural references to make AI text more human

Incorporating cultural references, idioms, and slang can make AI-generated text feel more warmer and more personal. By using language that is familiar to your audience, you can create a stronger connection with the reader.

For example, whereas an AI writer might say "The project is difficult," add an idiom such as "The project is no walk in the park."

Replace somewhat stiff language like "The deadline is approaching" with the idiom "The clock is ticking on our deadline." This adds urgency and a sense of familiarity to your writing.

Using idioms and cultural phrases that resonate with your audience not only enhances readability but also helps convey complex ideas in a way that feels natural and engaging. These small adjustments can significantly humanize AI text, making it more appealing and effective for your readers.

Enhancing Specific Document Types

The following will illustrate how to make AI writing more human in two different types of documents: academic essays and admissions essays.

AI academic essay example

Ai-written academic essay passage.

The Weimar Republic was in Germany after World War I and was known for its culture and art. Even though there were political and economic problems, art culture grew a lot. This time was important for modern art because new movements started. Artists and intellectuals tried new things and did not follow old ways. This led to styles like Expressionism and Bauhaus. Berlin was a place where many artists, writers, and musicians came together. They created a lot, even though the times were hard. Art during this time was not just about creating but also commenting on politics and society. It showed the changes and challenges after the war.

Academic essay made more natural and human with revisions

The Weimar Republic was the German national government that formed following World War I. It represented a time of historic dynamism and cultural creativity. Although the period was economically and politically turbulent, artistic movements flourished, birthing innovations that permanently changed the course of modern art. Both intellectuals and artists experimented in many ways and interrogated social norms of traditional Germany, resulting in the groundbreaking Expressionism and Bauhaus styles. Berlin was an especially lively hub for these avant-garde writers, artists, thinkers, and musicians, and a spirit of creative and defiant flame was sparked in sharp relief to the turbulent times. This “cultural renaissance” could be identified by its nonconformity to conventions and the desire of its purveyors to explore the nuances of modern life. The art captured the chaotic-yet-hopeful zeitgeist of the Weimar Republic. Art became a means of political and social commentary, underlying the difficulties and optimism of post-war Europe.

Explanation of revisions

More natural phrases and idioms applied: The human-altered passage uses phrases like "giving birth to innovative movements" and "spirit of creativity," which are more vivid and expressive compared to the basic passage's simpler descriptions.

More emotional language used: Emotional language is applied with words like "remarkable cultural dynamism" and "bold defiance of conventions," which convey a stronger emotional impact than the straightforward statements in the basic passage.

Sentence length and structure varied: The altered passage varies sentence lengths and structures to create a more engaging rhythm, while the basic passage uses mostly short, simple sentences.

Contractions introduced: The altered passage includes contractions like "wasn't just a form of expression" to mimic natural speech, enhancing readability and making the tone more conversational.

Synonyms and expressions applied: Synonyms like "flourished" and "fostering" replace repetitive words in the basic passage, enriching the text and avoiding monotony.

See more tips on how to write an academic essay , including examples, best practices, and academic editing services

AI college admissions essay example (Common App Essay)

Ai-written admissions essay passage.

Growing up in a small town, I always found solace in the pages of books. Stories became my escape, offering endless worlds to explore and characters to meet. It was during a summer of volunteering at my local library that I realized the profound impact literature could have on a community. Watching children light up with curiosity and imagination as they discovered new stories inspired me to pursue a career in education. I want to create a classroom environment where students feel the same excitement and wonder about learning that I felt. My passion for teaching is fueled by a desire to empower young minds, encouraging them to ask questions and embrace creativity. I believe education is the key to unlocking potential and that, as a teacher, I can inspire the next generation to dream big and aim high.

Admissions essay made more natural and human with revisions

When I was growing up in my smal town, I absolutely adored reading novels. Reading was a way for me to escape to new fantastic worlds. While volunteering at my local library in summers, I came to understand just how crucial books are to enriching someone’s life. I watched young children’s eye light up while reading short stories. These experiences were the catalyst that made me want to become a teacher. Now that I am pursuing education, my goal is to make my classroom into a place where students are excited about learning. My goal is to help students think deeper about ideas and to express their creativity in their own ways. I believe education is a prerequisite for anyone who wants to reach their goals. When I finally achieve my education degree, acquire my license, and become a teacher, my primary mission will be to help students dream and achieve their own goals through reading.

More natural phrases and idioms included: The human-altered passage uses idiomatic expressions like "find solace in the pages of books" and "unlocking potential," which are more vivid and compelling compared to the plain statements of the AI-written passage.

Some emotional language applied: Emotional language such as "stories became my escape" and "lit up with curiosity and imagination" conveys a stronger emotional connection and passion.

Sentence length and structure varied: The revised passage includes a mix of longer and shorter sentences, creating a more dynamic and engaging flow. The basic passage uses simple, uniform sentence structures.

Contractions introduced: Contractions like "can't" and "it's" are used in the altered passage to create a more conversational and relatable tone.

Synonyms and expressions applied: The altered passage employs synonyms and expressive language, like "profound impact" instead of "important," to enrich the narrative and convey a deeper meaning.

Read more tips on how to write a college admissions essay , including how to write the Common App Essay , Common App Essay prompts , college personal statement examples , and essay editing services .

Use an AI proofreader or grammar checker before submitting your document

If you’ve made if this far, congratulations! You now know there are many ways to make your AI writing sound more natural and human. Of course, one sure-fire way is to write all of the text yourself, without the aid of an AI writer. But if you do use an AI tool to draft your document , make sure to apply careful revision and use the methods surveyed in this article and you are sure to make the text sound more human.

Before submitting any important document, you might also want to run your work through an AI proofreader or AI grammar checker to ensure that there are no objective language errors. For other AI revision needs, use the Wordvice AI Writing Assistant , a suite of revision tools that includes an AI translator , AI paraphraser , AI summarizer , AI spell checker , AI plagiarism detector , AI content detector , and more!

Best of luck writing your next paper. But remember: always use AI writing tools responsibly and ethically.

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• Practice Parts of Speech Exercises to Improve Your Grammar Skills

Parts of Speech Exercises with Answer

Understanding the Parts of speech is crucial for mastering the English language. Whether you're a student or a writer, knowing how to identify and use the different parts of speech will improve your grammar, writing, and communication skills. This guide will explain the meaning, definition, and uses of each part of speech, along with practical examples and exercises to solidify your understanding.

What are Parts of Speech?

Parts of speech refer to the categories into which words are classified based on their function within a sentence.

The main parts of speech in English are nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives , adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections.

Common Confusions:

Noun vs. Pronoun: A noun names a specific item, while a pronoun replaces a noun.

Example: "John (noun) loves his (pronoun) dog."

Adjective vs. Adverb: Adjectives modify nouns, while adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.

Example: "She is a quick (adjective) learner." vs. "She learns quickly (adverb)."

Tips for Learning

Regularly practice identifying the parts of speech in sentences.

Incorporate varied parts of speech into your writing to make it more dynamic.

Try creating sentences that use multiple parts of speech effectively.

Worksheet to Solve

Complete the exercises below to practice identifying and using the different parts of speech. Each section is designed to help you recognize nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections.

Part 1: Identify the Parts of Speech

Underline the word in each sentence and identify its part of speech.

The cat jumps over the fence.

She went to the store to buy groceries.

The flowers in the garden are beautiful.

They quickly finished their homework.

He sat under the tree to read a book.

And they lived happily ever after.

Wow! That was an amazing performance!

Part 2: Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the appropriate part of speech indicated in parentheses.

The sun sets in the __________ (noun).

__________ (pronoun) is going to the park with her friends.

He __________ (verb) the ball across the field.

The __________ (adjective) puppy wagged its tail.

She spoke __________ (adverb) during the presentation.

The gift is __________ ( preposition ) the table.

I like pizza, __________ (conjunction) I also enjoy pasta.

__________ (interjection), that’s a great idea!

Part 3: Sentence Creation

Create one sentence for each part of the speech listed below:

Preposition:

Conjunction:

Interjection:

Part 4: Paragraph Practice

Write a short paragraph (4-5 sentences) and underline one example of each part of speech (noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, interjection).

Part 5: Multiple Choice Questions

Choose the correct part of speech for the underlined word in each sentence.

The cat sat on the mat.

c) Preposition

d) Adjective

Quickly, the rabbit dashed into the bushes.

d) Conjunction

He is a brilliant student.

b) Adjective

They went to the concert last night.

The children played outside until it got dark.

a) Conjunction

b) Interjection

Part 6: Match the Columns

Match the word in Column A with its correct part of speech from Column B.

Part 7: Correct the Sentences

Correct the following sentences by choosing the right part of speech.

She drive the car fastly.

Him is going to the market.

They was very excited for the trip.

The book is in the table.

Wow, you did good in your exams!

Answer Key:

jumps – Verb

She – Pronoun

beautiful – Adjective

quickly – Adverb

under – Preposition

And – Conjunction

Wow! – Interjection

The sun sets in the west (noun).

She (pronoun) is going to the park with her friends.

He kicked (verb) the ball across the field.

The playful (adjective) puppy wagged its tail.

She spoke confidently (adverb) during the presentation.

The gift is on (preposition) the table.

I like pizza, but (conjunction) I also enjoy pasta.

Wow (interjection), that’s a great idea!

Noun: The dog barked loudly.

Pronoun: He is my best friend.

Verb: She danced gracefully at the party.

Adjective: The red car is very fast.

Adverb: He ran quickly to catch the bus.

Preposition: The book is on the shelf.

Conjunction: I wanted to go to the movie, but I was too tired.

Interjection: Oh no! I forgot my keys.

Example Answer:

Wow! (Interjection) She (Pronoun) quickly (Adverb) ran to (Preposition) the store because (Conjunction) she needed a new red (Adjective) dress (Noun). It (Pronoun) was raining (Verb), but she didn't mind.

She drives the car quickly. (Corrects verb tense and adverb)

He is going to the market. (Corrects pronoun usage)

They were very excited for the trip. (Corrects verb tense)

The book is on the table. (Corrects preposition)

Wow, you did well in your exams! (Corrects adverb use)

Test Your Understanding: Parts of Speech

Which word in the sentence "The cat slept on the sofa" is a noun?

What is the pronoun in the sentence "He finished his homework early"?

a) Finished

d) Homework

Identify the verb in the sentence "They played football yesterday."

a) Football

d) Yesterday

Which word is an adjective in the sentence "The tall man walked quickly"?

What is the adverb in the sentence "She always arrives on time"?

Check the Answers Below

Takeaways from the topic “parts of speech”.

Understanding and mastering the parts of speech is fundamental to effective communication and writing.

With regular practice, you’ll be able to identify and use each part of speech correctly, leading to better grammar and more polished writing.

Keep practising with various exercises to strengthen your skills!

FAQs on Practice Parts of Speech Exercises to Improve Your Grammar Skills

1. What are parts of speech exercises?

Parts of speech exercises are activities designed to help students identify and correctly use the different parts of speech, such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, in sentences.

2. Where can I find parts of speech exercises with answers?

You can find parts of speech exercises with answers on Vedantu.

3. How can parts of speech exercises help improve grammar?

Parts of speech exercises provide structured practice, allowing students to repeatedly work through examples, reinforcing their understanding and helping to improve overall grammar skills.

4. Why should I use parts of speech exercises with answers?

Using parts of speech exercises with answers allows you to check your work, understand mistakes, and learn the correct usage of different parts of speech, leading to better grammar comprehension.

5. Can I learn parts of speech exercises for offline practice?

Yes, you can learn parts of speech exercises for offline practice from the Vedantu website, making it easy to study anytime, anywhere.

6. What is the benefit of using parts of speech exercises with answers?

The benefit of using parts of speech exercises with answers is that it provides instant feedback, helping you to learn from your errors and solidify your understanding of grammar rules.

7. How does the transformation of parts of speech exercises help in learning?

Transformation of parts of speech exercises helps in learning by challenging students to change the form of words (e.g., nouns to adjectives) within sentences, thus deepening their understanding of how different parts of speech function.

8. Where can I find comprehensive parts of speech exercises?

Comprehensive parts of speech exercises can be found on educational websites, in grammar textbooks, and through online learning platforms that offer downloadable content.

9. How can I practice the transformation of parts of speech exercises?

You can practice transformation of parts of speech exercises by working through examples where you convert one part of speech to another within a sentence, such as turning a noun into a verb or an adjective into an adverb.

10. Are there free parts of speech exercises with answers available online?

Yes, there are free parts of speech exercises with answers available on Vedantu.

Improve Your Writing With ChatGPT (5 Powerful Prompts)

Improve your writing with ChatGPT (5 powerful prompts)

There’s no better way to build an audience than writing online. Creating the habit of showing up and hitting publish will serve you well for everything in your professional future. But there’s a wrong way to produce. Without studying the data and learning how to improve, your words won’t hit the mark. Don’t get stale. Don’t let people switch off. Take your online writing to a whole new level and be forever proud of everything you share.

Hone your craft with an unbiased critique. Study your art and approach perfection. These ChatGPT prompts will make improving easy. Copy, paste and edit the square brackets in ChatGPT, and keep the same chat window open so the context carries through.

Online writing made simple: ChatGPT prompts to reach the next level

Resonate from the start.

Let’s learn from the music industry. To get someone’s interest and keep it, chart-topping singles change something up every six seconds. A different beat, melody or key. A way to keep short attention spans hooked. Your online writing is no different. Set up for success by reworking your opener. Resonate hard, and give someone a compelling reason to keep reading. Tease what they’ll achieve by sticking to the end. Boring openers win zero readers, but you want millions. Here’s the prompt to achieve just that.

“Analyze the opening of my online article. I'll paste the first paragraph below. Rewrite it 3 different ways to make it more compelling and hook the reader instantly. For each rewrite, explain the key changes and how they improve engagement. After presenting the 3 options, give me 5 general tips for crafting attention-grabbing openers that keep readers hooked. Here's my current opening paragraph: [paste your paragraph].”

Include relevant statistics

88% of statistics are made up on the spot (including that one), but people still love them. Data is memorable. Results speak volumes. When you’re trying to make a point, appeal to the logical members of your target audience by including some numbers. Ask ChatGPT to provide studies, examples and stats that back up your point. (For your best shot at accuracy, ask Perplexity too.)

“Help me strengthen my article with compelling data. I'll provide the main points of my piece below. For each point, suggest 2-3 relevant statistics or research findings that support my argument. Include the source for each stat. After we've covered all the main points, summarize the most impactful statistics and explain how I can seamlessly weave them into my writing for maximum effect. Here are my main points: [list your key points].”

Cut out the fluff

If you can say what you want to say in half the words, that’s what you should do. Clever means concise. Rather than rambling away and being verbose, cut to the absolute essence of what you mean, to sound more definite and amass more fans. Imagine each paragraph was a tweet. Keep cutting and combining until you’re packing more punch with every line.

“Sharpen my writing by eliminating unnecessary words. I'll paste a section of my article below. Your job is to cut it down by 30% without losing the core message. Present the condensed version alongside the original, highlighting the key changes. Then, give me 3 rules for identifying and removing fluff in my future writing. Here's the section to condense: [paste your section].”

Add more personal stories

There are no unique messages, just unique messengers. And you’re the messenger that people want to hear from. Deliver the goods by including stories. Don’t just share a lesson, say how you learned it. Teach based on experience. Explain with anecdotes. Give depth to your online writing when you explain from personal experience. Don’t skip this step.

“Help me incorporate personal anecdotes into my writing. I'll share the main topic and lessons of my article. For each key point, ask me probing questions about related experiences in my life. Help me craft these experiences into concise, relevant stories that illustrate my message. After we've developed 5 anecdotes, advise me on how to smoothly integrate them into my piece for maximum impact. My article's main topic and lessons are: [describe your article].”

Identify your unique style

Anyone can take a writing course or follow a template. But the more you copy other people, the less you sound like you. Don’t leave your writing style to chance. Give ChatGPT some samples and get it to find your quirks. Those common words, signature sentence structures and unmissable ways you get your message across. Be more you with every future piece, and build familiarity with readers who are hungry for more.

“Analyze my writing style to uncover my unique voice. I'll provide 3 samples of my online writing below. Your task is to identify recurring patterns, signature phrases, and distinctive elements that define my style. After analyzing each sample, summarize my key stylistic traits and suggest how I can amplify these in future pieces to make my writing more recognizably 'me'. Here are my writing samples: [paste your samples].”

Improve your online writing in minutes: 5 powerful ChatGPT prompts

Easily improve everything you write with these 5 prompts for ChatGPT. Resonate from the start to get people on board, and include relevant statistics that are remembered for months. Cut out the fluff to make your message clearer, add more personal stories to avoid being generic, and apply your signature style for every new piece. Become a better online writer and watch your business transform. Put your ego aside and join the greats.