What is subject-verb agreement?

Subject-verb agreement is the grammatical rule that the subject and

verb in a sentence should use the same number, person, and
gender. With the exception of the verb be, in English subject-verb
agreement is about matching the number.
How does subject-verb agreement work?
In English, if a subject is singular, use the singular form of the verb;
if the subject is plural, use the plural form of the verb. The only
exception to this rule is the verb be, which uses different forms
based on both number and person.

Usage and subject-verb agreement examples

Basically, most subjects except third-person singular use the standard
form of a verb in the present tense.

The dogs roll in the mud.

I need to catch my breath.

You look like a celebrity!

However, if the subject is third-person singular, you must use the singular
form of the verb when speaking in the present tense. Most of the time, this
means adding an -s to the end of the verb.

The dog rolls in the mud.

She needs to catch her breath.

He looks like a celebrity!

If the verb ends in -x, –ss, –sh, –ch, –tch, or –zz, you add –es to the end to
match the third-person singular.

My snake hisses to say “I love you.”

She only matches with creeps in online dating.

If the verb ends in a consonant + y, remove the y and add –ies to match the
third-person singular.

Atlas carries the world on his shoulders.

The new drone flies higher than the old one.

However, with words that end in a vowel + y, follow the normal format and
add only –s to make the third-person singular.

My roommate stays in his bedroom from morning to night.

With the exception of the verb be, these guidelines apply

to irregular verbs as well as regular verbs.
Our father eats with the ferocity of a tiger.
So why does the verb be have so many exceptions? The most
common verb in English, be doesn’t just represent a general state of
existence; it’s also an auxiliary verb necessary for the continuous
tenses.
In English, be is the only verb that changes based on the person. If
you’re using the verb be, alone or as part of a continuous tense, the
subject-verb agreement rules require that you match both the
number and the person. Here’s a quick reminder of how to
conjugate be in the singular and plural of each person:

Singular Plural

1st Person (I) am (we) are

2nd Person (You) are (you) are

3rd Person (he/she/it) is (they) are

Considering how frequently be is used in English, it’s best to

memorize this chart so you can apply the proper subject-verb
agreement instinctively.
You are always welcome in our home.
I am running a marathon tomorrow.
It is raining even though it is sunny.
If the subject-verb agreement rules seem complicated, there is
some good news: the simple past and simple future don’t
change based on the number or person of the subject. Both
singular and plural subjects use the same form for those tenses.
They will be here tomorrow.
He will be here tomorrow.
The potatoes grew overnight!
The potato grew overnight!
The only exception is, again, the verb be, which changes
between was and were based on the subject in the simple past
tense.
I was young once.
We were young once.
On the other hand, the perfect tenses change their auxiliary verb
depending on the number of the subject. Singular subjects use has,
and plural subjects use have.
They have not seen the movie yet, so no spoilers.
She has not seen the movie yet, so no spoilers.

Advanced subject-verb agreement rules

Here’s a list of some additional subject-verb agreement rules to
clear up the more problematic areas. If you’re still confused, review
the subject-verb agreement examples to see how they work.
1 When using the negative form in the present tense, only the
verb do needs to match the subject.
She does not like reading before bed.
She likes reading before bed.
2 Likewise, in questions that involve the word do, only do needs to
match the subject.
Do you know where the train station is?
Does anyone know where the train station is?
3 If the subject consists of multiple nouns joined by the
conjunction and, treat the subject as plural and use the plural form
of the verb.
Lucas and Maxine are in love!
Only Lucas is in love.
However, some common phrases that form a single unit can act as
singular.
This bed and breakfast is delightful!
4 If the subject consists of multiple singular nouns joined by or, treat
the subject as singular.
Penne or rigatoni works fine for the recipe.
However, if the subject consists of multiple plural nouns joined
by or, treat the subject as plural.
Cats or dogs make good friends.
If there’s a combination of singular and plural nouns joined by or,
the verb follows the number of the final one listed.
 The teacher or the students have to inform the principal.
The students or the teacher has to inform the principal.
5 If there is more than one active verb, as with
compound predicates, all the verbs must agree with the subject.
After work, I go shopping, pick up the kids, cook dinner, and
then relax for the night.
6 Mass nouns, otherwise known as “uncountable nouns” or
“noncount nouns,” act as singular subjects.
Love makes the world go around.
7 Collective nouns can be either singular or plural, depending on
whether they act together or separately.
[Together, singular] The team goes to practice at 4:00.
[Separately, plural] The team go to their own homes after
practice.
8 Verbs used in alternative forms, such as gerunds, infinitives,
or participles, do not need to follow subject-verb agreement.
However, the main verbs of the sentence still do.
The coach makes running mandatory.
The coaches make running mandatory.
9 Unless you’re using an appositive or other descriptive phrase, do
not put a comma between subjects and verbs.
The holiday is becoming a total disaster.
The holiday, which I was looking forward to, is becoming a
total disaster.
10 The words each and every count as singular when they’re used
as the subject, even if they’re followed by multiple nouns.
Each window and door needs to be sealed.
Every doctor, nurse, and technician gets free training here.
11 Likewise, these words always act as singular subjects, even
when they describe more than one thing:
 anybody
 anyone
 either
 everybody
 everyone
 neither
  no one
 nobody
 somebody
 someone
Everybody loves using correct grammar!
Either blue or green works for the wallpaper color.
12 If additional phrases come between the subject and the verb, the
verb must still agree with the subject. These sentences can be
tricky, so be careful.
A group consisting of Professor Lidenbrock, the Icelandic
guide Hans Bjelke, and the professor’s nephew Axel departs for the
volcano.
Be particularly careful of subjects that use the phrase “one of . . . ”
The word one is singular, even when followed by plural nouns.
One of the world’s leading scientists still has trouble speaking
in public.
13 In the active vs. passive voice debate, the verb in the passive
voice still follows whatever word acts as the subject.
They pay the electric bill online.
The electric bill is paid by them online.
14 When choosing between “there is . . . ” and “there are . . . ,” the
verb should match the number of the noun that follows it. The same
goes for sentences beginning with “here . . . ”
There is a new map in the DLC.
There are new maps in the DLC.
15 Similarly, words that indicate a portion, including percentages,
use the number of the noun they describe. This noun is typically the
object of the phrase “of . . . ”
All of the book is ruined!
All of the books are ruined!
Some of the film is funny.
Some of the films are funny.
Fifty percent of the house is made of wood.
Fifty percent of the houses are made of wood.
16 When referring to distances, periods of time, or amounts of
money—taken as a whole—use the singular form of the verb.
 Twenty dollars is too much for IMAX!
17 Be careful of nouns that exist only in the plural form; they
sometimes act as singular.
The news has been depressing lately.
Politics is getting too combative.
However, some of these nouns act as plural.
The scissors do not work.
If a plural noun is preceded by the word pair, treat the subject as
singular because pair is singular.
The pair of scissors does not work.

What is sentence structure?

Sentence structure is the order of all the parts in a sentence:
subject, predicate, objects, phrases, punctuation, etc. It deals a lot
with independent and dependent clauses and how they combine
(explained below), the placement of words and phrases next to what
they modify, as well as the use of proper grammar.

Basic parts of a sentence

Every sentence requires at least a verb and a subject; a verb is an

action, and a subject is the noun that does the action.
I am waiting.
In this example, am waiting is the verb. The main verb is wait, but
when we conjugate it in the present continuous, we use the –
ing form and add the auxiliary verb am. The subject is I, the person
who waits.
The exception to this rule is imperative sentences (commands),
which only need a verb. We can assume the subject is the person
the speaker is talking to.
Stop!
This single word is a complete sentence. The verb is stop, and no
subject is necessary because it’s a command.
Some sentences can add objects, which are nouns that also
participate in the action. Let’s say you forgot your calculator and
you ask your friend to borrow theirs.
 My buddy lends me their calculator.
In this example, lends is the verb and my buddy is the subject
because they’re the one lending. The word calculator is what’s
called a direct object, the noun that receives the action. In this case,
the direct object is the thing being lent—a calculator.
The indirect object is the noun that receives the direct object. In the
example above, the indirect object is me, because that’s who
receives the calculator. Indirect objects come between the verb and
direct object.
Did you notice that the subject uses the pronoun I but the objects
use the pronoun me? Subject and object pronouns are different, so
make sure you’re using the right one.
Only a certain type of verb called transitive verbs can use direct and
indirect objects. However, transitive verbs are quite common, so
you’ll be using them a lot.
Let’s look at another example.
Herrera passes Mbappé the ball.
Can you identify the verb, subject, direct object, and indirect object?
 The verb is passes because that’s the action in the sentence.
 The subject is Herrera because Herrera is the person who passes.
 The direct object is the ball because the ball is the thing being
passed.
 The indirect object is Mbappé because Mbappé receives the ball.

4 sentence structure grammar rules

Aside from knowing the parts of a sentence, you also have to follow
the grammar rules. In case you forget, here’s a quick list:
. Capitalize the first letter of the first word in a sentence.
. End a sentence with a period, question mark, exclamation point, or
quotation marks.
. Most of the time, the subject of the sentence comes first, the verb
comes second, and the objects come last. (Subject -> Verb ->
Object)
. If the subject is singular, the verb must also be singular. If the
subject is plural, the verb must be plural. This is known as subject-
verb agreement.

Here’s a tip: Reword sentences instantly with Grammarly’s AI

sentence rewriter, which simplifies rephrasing and effortlessly
transforms your text.
Types of clauses

If every sentence were as simple as subject + verb + object, books

would be so boring! That’s why English has developed a few
different sentence structures to keep things interesting and give us
more options for speaking and writing.
Before we get into those different sentence structures, it’s crucial to
understand how clauses work. A clause is a group of words that
contains a subject and a verb. Sometimes a clause is a complete
sentence on its own, but other times it needs help before it
expresses a complete thought.
A clause that is a complete sentence is called an independent
clause. It contains everything you need for a complete sentence:
subjects and verbs, with objects optional.
We’ll eat dinner at five.
Faria and Bertuccio assisted the Count of Monte Cristo.
A clause that is not a complete sentence is called a dependent
clause, or subordinate clause. These support independent clauses,
usually by adding necessary information.
The roads are icy because it rained last night.
This sentence contains two clauses: (1) The roads are icy and
(2) because it rained last night. Each sentence has a subject (the
roads & it) and a verb (are & rained), but only the first clause is a
complete sentence by itself.
Notice that the subordinate clause because it rained last
night slightly changes the meaning of the first sentence by adding
new and important information. That’s the main purpose of
subordinate clauses—to improve an independent clause with
essential details.
Although subordinate clauses have both subjects and verbs, they
cannot exist on their own. They contain special words
called subordinating conjunctions, which connect them to
independent clauses.
Common subordinating conjunctions
include because, since, although, unless, and while, as well
as relative pronouns like that, which, whatever, whenever, whoever,
etc.
If you see a subordinating conjunction, it means that group of words
is a subordinate clause. It helps to memorize them so you can easily
identify different clauses. You can find a complete list of
subordinating conjunctions here.
 4 types of sentence structure

Depending on how you combine clauses, you can create four

different types of sentence structure:
. Simple: 1 independent clause
. Compound: 2 or more independent clauses
. Complex:1 independent clause + 1 or more subordinate clauses
. Compound-Complex: 2 or more independent clauses + 1 or more
subordinate clauses
Note: Sentences are also categorized by their function, i.e.,
declarative, interrogative, exclamation, and imperative. These are
separate from the types of sentence structure (complex, compound,
etc.), and the two categories can be mixed and matched. To read
more about each, check out our guide on the types of sentences.
Let’s take a deeper look at each type of sentence structure and how
to form it.

Simple sentences
Simple sentences are pretty simple: just a single independent
clause, no more, no less. This includes subject and verbs, but can
also include objects.
“Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale.”—Hans Christian
Anderson
“Real glory springs from the silent conquest of ourselves.”—Joseph
P. Thompson

Compound sentences
A compound sentence joins together two or more independent
clauses into a single sentence. You can connect the independent
clauses in two ways:
 Using a comma and a coordinating conjunction
(for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so, known as FANBOYS) between the
clauses.
 Using a semicolon between the clauses.
“It may seem difficult at first, but everything is difficult at first.”—
Miyamoto Musashi
“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”—Oscar Wilde
“We know they are lying, they know they are lying, they know we
know they are lying, we know they know we know they are lying,
but they are still lying.”—Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn
Complex sentences
A complex sentence uses one main independent clause with any
number of subordinate clauses. While compound sentences use
coordinating conjunctions to join the clauses together, complex
sentences use subordinating conjunctions, explained earlier.
If the subordinating clause comes first, use a comma before the
independent clause. If the independent clause comes first, you don’t
need a comma at all.
“Until the lion learns to write, every story will glorify the hunter.”—
African proverb
“When a person can’t find a deep sense of meaning, they distract
themselves with pleasure.”—Viktor Frankl
“It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the
light.”—Aristotle

Compound-complex sentences
As the name suggests, compound-complex sentences combine
compound sentences with complex sentences. They require at least
two independent clauses and at least one subordinating clause. To
combine them, follow the specific grammar rules for each; be sure
you’re using your coordinating conjunctions and subordinating
conjunctions in the right places.
“If you’re going to be crazy, you have to get paid for it, or else
you’re going to be locked up.”—Hunter S. Thompson
“Don’t aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and
believe in, and it will come naturally.”—David Frost

What is a sentence fragment?

A sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence; it’s a partial
sentence that’s missing another necessary part to make it
complete.
Put simply, a sentence fragment is a clause that falls short of a
complete sentence because it is missing one of three critical
components: a subject, a verb, and a complete thought.

Fixing sentence fragments

Fixing a sentence fragment involves one of two things: giving it the
components it lacks or fastening it onto an independent clause.
Consider the following:

There are many ways to frighten little brothers; for example, hiding
under their beds and waiting for dark.

Notice that in order to properly connect these two clauses with a

semicolon, you need to do some rewriting in order to ensure both
can function as independent clauses. In other words, you need to
fortify the fragment with a subject and a verb to turn it into a
sentence. Notice in the example above that by doing so, you’ll need
to edit other parts of your fragment to turn it into a grammatically
correct independent clause.
If a semicolon seems too formal for your purposes, you could write
your text as two sentences—but don’t forget to make sure the
second one has a subject and a verb:

There are many ways to frighten little brothers. For example, you
could hide under their beds and wait for dark.

Both remedies result in structurally sound sentences.

Sentence fragment examples

Here is a glaring example of a sentence fragment:

Because of the rain.
On its own, because of the rain doesn’t form a complete thought. It
leaves us wondering what happened because of the rain. To
complete it, we need further explanation:
Because of the rain, the party was canceled.
Now the fragment has become a dependent clause attached to a
sentence that has a subject (the party) and a verb (was canceled).
Our thought is complete.
In that example, making the sentence longer was the solution. But
that doesn’t mean that short sentences can’t be complete. This
teensy sentence is complete:
I ran.
I ran may be a short thought, but it has a subject (I) and a verb
(ran). Nothing in the sentence demands further explanation.
Another famous example of a short-but-complete sentence is “Jesus
wept.”
Avoiding sentence fragments not only makes your writing easier to
read, but it can also make you sound more polished in polite
correspondence. We’ve all had emails ending with:
Looking forward to seeing you.
That sentence lacks a subject. Adding the subject will build a
stronger, more confident-sounding sentence:
I’m looking forward to seeing you.
It’s a subtle psychological difference, but if you are corresponding in
a formal setting, it is worth taking care to write complete sentences.
Fragments can sound as if they are carelessly blurted out.

Stylistic sentence fragments

Without question, you should avoid sentence fragments in formal
situations and academic writing. That said, a fragment within a clear
context can sometimes serve a valid dramatic purpose. Journalists,
bloggers, and fiction writers often use them. For example:
No one thought that Ethan could make the jump; it was just too
high. All the same, he was determined to astound us. No matter
what.
And he did.
Your high school English teacher would find three things wrong with
this description. No matter what is a sentence fragment. And he
did is a sentence beginning with a conjunction, and it’s a one-
sentence paragraph.
Gasp!
As always, judge for yourself who your audience is and how much
wiggle room you have for breaking the rules. If you are telling a
story, a few fragments might suit your purpose and style well, but if
you are writing an essay or crafting a business document, it’s best
to steer clear of them.

What are run-on sentences?

To understand run-on sentences, you first have to
understand independent and dependent clauses. A clause is a basic
unit of language that includes a subject and a predicate (which
requires at least one verb). A single clause alone, with proper
punctuation, is a complete sentence.
I fell asleep.
The TV woke me up.
If you want to connect two or more clauses together in English, you
need to use the right grammar. Usually, you can connect clauses
correctly by adding a comma with a conjunction or adding
a semicolon to the sentence.
I fell asleep, but the TV woke me up.
I fell asleep; the TV woke me up.
If you don’t connect the clauses with a semicolon or comma with a
conjunction, the sentence is incorrect. These mistakes are called
run-on sentences.

I fell asleep the TV woke me up.

Likewise, if you use too many conjunctions or use them incorrectly

(for example, without the comma), that’s also a run-on sentence.

I fell asleep but the TV woke me up and now I want to sleep again
but I can’t.

3 ways to fix a run-on sentence

1 Divide the clauses into two sentences

Often in writing, the best way to fix a run-on sentence is to split it
into two or more separate sentences. Be sure to capitalize the first
letter of each sentence and use a period, question mark,
or exclamation point between them.

Our training was successful we won our first game!

Our training was successful! We won our first game!

2 Insert a semicolon between the two clauses

Another way to write better sentences is by using a semicolon to
connect two clauses in the same sentence. This works great for
comma splices because you can simply replace the comma with a
semicolon.

It hasn’t rained in weeks, my flowers are turning brown.

It hasn’t rained in weeks; my flowers are turning brown.

3 Use a comma and a conjunction
Conjunctions work well for describing the relationship between two
clauses. You can use either a coordinating
conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so) or a subordinating
conjunction (because, if, while, etc.).
If you use a coordinating conjunction, place a comma before the
conjunction. If you’re using a subordinating conjunction, use a
comma only if the subordinate clause comes first. You don’t need a
comma if the subordinate clause comes second.

This is a special trip we should get matching tattoos.

This is a special trip, so we should get matching tattoos.

Because this is a special trip, we should get matching tattoos.

We should get matching tattoos because this is a special trip.

WHAT IS PARALLELLISM

Parallel sentence elements in grammar are just like parallel lines in

geometry: they face the same direction and never meet.
More precisely, in grammar, it’s less about meeting and more about
balance. Parallelism in grammar is defined as two or more phrases
or clauses in a sentence that have the same grammatical structure.

The purpose of parallelism

A sentence with parallel construction makes your writing effective,

classy, and certain to impress anyone who reads your work.

How to create parallelism

Here’s a handy trick for testing parallelism: rewrite the sentence for
each element that should be parallel. For example:
A sentence with parallel construction makes your writing effective.
A sentence with parallel construction makes your writing classy.
A sentence with parallel construction makes your writing certain to
impress anyone who reads your work.
Effective, classy, and certain are all adjectives. Even though “certain
to impress anyone who reads your work” is a mouthful compared to
the other two, each sentence element is the same part of speech.
That makes the sentence balanced, and therefore, parallel.

Parallelism mistakes

Lack of parallelism can happen in a lot of ways, but the mistake is

usually clear enough to make you wince when you hear it. Read on
for the most common parallelism problems you’ll encounter—and
how to avoid them.

Verb forms

Olympic athletes usually like practicing, competing, and to eat ice

cream sandwiches.

In this sentence, practicing and competing are gerunds (verbs

functioning as nouns) and “to eat” is an infinitive. It sounds pretty
awkward—just like being an athlete with a sweet tooth.
Instead:

Olympic athletes usually like practicing, competing, and eating ice

cream sandwiches.

or

Olympic athletes usually like to practice, compete, and eat ice

cream sandwiches.

Note that you don’t need to repeat the “to” in each instance of the
infinitive form of the verb. As long as the form of the verb is the
same in all three cases, you’re good to go.

Nouns vs. verbs

For dinner we like lamb chops and to fry brussels sprouts.

Lamb chops is a noun. Brussels sprouts is a noun too, but to fry is a

verb.

For dinner we like lamb chops and brussels sprouts.

Or
For dinner we like to grill lamb chops and fry brussels sprouts.
Delicious.

Noun number

Public transit such as buses or a train can help reduce air pollution.

Multiple buses, one train? That’s not going to solve any

environmental issues. Here’s a better solution:

Public transit such as buses or trains can help reduce air pollution.

More mismatched parts of speech

The detective deftly and with pizzazz outlined how the crime had
been committed.

What’s the adverb of “pizzazz”? Great question. Both deftly (adverb)

and with pizzazz (a prepositional phrase) need to be the same part
of speech for this sentence to be properly parallel. And if
“pizzazzilly” isn’t a word, that means two nouns are needed.

With deftness and pizzazz, the detective outlined how the crime had
been committed.

Subject matter

He decided to cover the gown in sequins, and had a steak for

dinner.

Huh? Unless being a fabulous designer is a recipe for steak, these

two actions don’t seem to have much in common. Parallelism in
subject matter means that everything discussed in a sentence
should have at least some amount of clarity and relatedness.

He decided to cover the gown in sequins, and to celebrate, he had a

steak for dinner.

or

He was hungry after he covered the gown in sequins, so he had a

steak for dinner.

The possible connections are endless, but for proper parallelism,

that connection must be clear to the reader.
Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers

A modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that adds to the meaning of,

changes, clarifies, or describes another word, phrase, or clause.

Sometimes writers use modifiers incorrectly, leading to strange and

unintentionally humorous sentences. The two common types of
modifier errors are called misplaced modifiers and dangling
modifiers. Another type of modifier error is called squinting error;
this means that the writer “squints” at their sentence, trying to
force a modifier error to work. Don’t squint!

If either of these errors occurs, readers can no longer read

smoothly. Instead, they become stumped trying to figure out what
the writer meant to say. Here, a reader may “squint” as well to
figure out what the writer is saying. A writer’s goal must always be
to communicate clearly and to avoid distracting the reader with
strange sentences or awkward sentence constructions.

Misplaced Modifiers

A misplaced modifier is a modifier that is placed too far from the

word or words it modifies. Misplaced modifiers make the sentence
awkward and sometimes unintentionally humorous.

Incorrect: She wore a bicycle helmet on her head that was too
large.

Correct: She wore a bicycle helmet that was too large on her head.

Notice in the incorrect sentence it sounds as if her head was too

large! Of course, the writer is referring to the helmet, not to the
person’s head. The corrected version of the sentence clarifies the
writer’s meaning.

Incorrect: She wore a bicycle helmet on her head that was too
large.

Correct: She wore a bicycle helmet that was too large on her head.

Notice in the incorrect sentence it sounds as if her head was too

large! Of course, the writer is referring to the helmet, not to the
person’s head. The corrected version of the sentence clarifies the
writer’s meaning.

Dangling Modifiers

A dangling modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that describes

something that has been left out of the sentence. When there is
nothing that the word, phrase, or clause can modify, the modifier is
said to dangle.

Incorrect: Riding in the sports car, the world whizzed by rapidly.

Correct: As Jane was riding in the sports car, the world whizzed by
rapidly.

In the incorrect sentence, riding in the sports car is dangling. The

reader is left wondering who is riding in the sports car. The writer
must tell the reader!

What is a paragraph?

A paragraph is a unit of writing that consists of one or more

sentences, all of which relate to the same topic. Paragraphs are
essential for organizing long pieces of writing such as novels,
papers, or even emails. Each paragraph should focus on a single
topic.

Parts of a paragraph
Like other forms of writing, paragraphs follow a standard three-part
structure with a beginning, middle, and end. These parts are
the topic sentence, development and support,
and conclusion.
Topic sentences, also known as “paragraph leaders,” introduce
the main idea that the paragraph is about. They shouldn’t reveal too
much on their own, but rather prepare the reader for the rest of the
paragraph by stating clearly what topic will be discussed.
The development and support sentences act as the body of the
paragraph. Development sentences elaborate and explain the idea
with details too specific for the topic sentence, while support
sentences provide evidence, opinions, or other statements that back
up or confirm the paragraph’s main idea.
Last, the conclusion wraps up the idea, sometimes summarizing
what’s been presented or transitioning to the next paragraph. The
content of the conclusion depends on the type of paragraph, and it’s
often acceptable to end a paragraph with a final piece of support
that concludes the thought instead of a summary.

Types of paragraphs
Depending on the kind of writing you’re doing, you may need to use
different types of paragraphs. Here’s a brief explanation of the
common paragraph types most writing deals with.
 Expository: Common in nonfiction and all types of essays,
expository paragraphs revolve around explaining and discussing a
single point or idea.
 Persuasive: Just like expository paragraphs, persuasive paragraphs
focus on discussing a single point; however, they support opinions
instead of facts.
 Narrative: When telling a story, a narrative paragraph explains an
action or event. Each new sentence furthers or expands upon the
action by providing new information.
 Descriptive: Also common in storytelling, descriptive paragraphs
focus on describing a single topic, such as a person or an
environment. Each new sentence adds a new detail about that
topic.

What is story structure?

Story structure, sometimes called narrative or plot structure, is the

framework within which the narrator tells a story. Writers use story
structure as a template to ensure they have everything needed to
tell a clear and entertaining story from beginning to end.
Following a story structure ensures that you include important
details and avoid unnecessary elements that might distract or bore
the reader.