Sentence Structures

Dr. Seif Fateen

Quotations: On Writing Sentences

When it comes to language, nothing is
more satisfying than to write a good
sentence. –Barbara Tuchman
I work on each sentence until I’m satisfied
with it and go on. I may rewrite one
sentence nineteen times, and the next
sentence eight times, and the next
sentence three times. When I’m lucky, one
sentence just once. –Larry L. King

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 How is a sentence defined?
On a strictly mechanical level, a sentence
starts with a capital letter and finishes with
a period, question mark, or exclamation
point.
Grammatically, a sentence consists of an
independent clause.

Sentences and Their Purposes

A declarative sentence
Skydiving is dangerous.
makes a statement:
An interrogative sentence
Is skydiving dangerous?
asks a question:
An imperative sentence
Be careful when you skydive.
give a command:
An exclamatory sentence
How I love skydiving!
expresses strong feeling:

2
 What is a subject and a predicate
in a sentence?
Complete Subject Complete Predicate

The red telephone {simple subject} rang {simple predicate} loudly

The telephone and the doorbell {compound

rang loudly.
subject}
rang and startled everyone in the
The red telephone
room. {compound predicate}

What are direct and indirect

objects?
A direct object is a noun, pronoun, or
group of words acting as a noun that
receives the action of a transitive verb.
An indirect object is a noun, pronoun, or a
group of words acting as a noun that tells
to whom or for whom the action expressed
by the verb was done.

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 Direct and Indirect Objects
Complete Subject Complete Predicate

offered {verb} money. {direct

The caller
object}
offered {verb} the lawyer {indirect
The caller
object} money. {direct object}
Sent the lawyer {indirect object} a
The client
retainer. {direct object}

What is a phrase?
A phrase is a group of words that does not
contain both a subject and predicate and
therefore cannot stand alone as an independent
unit.
Some people would like to distinguish
between the writing done by scientists and
engineers. However, though there may be a
distinction in the source of the technical
material, the principles of writing are the
same.

4
 Exercise
Combine each set of sentences into a single sentence by converting
one sentence into a phrase.
Example: Stress is an increasing burden to businessmen. Because of
this, everyone looks for ways to lessen the pressures of work.
With stress an increasing burden for businessmen, everyone looks for
ways to lessen the pressures of work.
Stress levels among businessmen are increasing. This increase is
caused by companies that are cutting their expenses by downsizing.
Researchers have spent years studying stress in the workplace.
They have developed many techniques to prevent and reduce
stress.
Management psychologist John Howard began studying stress in
1971. He compiled a list of symptoms of stress and the most
common causes.
According to Dr. Howard, uncertainty and feeling overworked are the
most common causes of work-related stress. These feelings result
from increasing competition in the market place.

Exercise
Combine each set of sentences into a single sentence by converting
one sentence into a phrase.
Example: Stress is an increasing burden to businessmen. Because of
this, everyone looks for ways to lessen the pressures of work.
With stress an increasing burden for businessmen, everyone looks for
ways to lessen the pressures of work.
Dr. Howard discovered simple ways to combat stress. His
techniques include exercising, deep breathing, and visualizing.
Dr. Salvatore Maddi believes stress levels falls when businessmen
deal effectively with change. Successful businessmen see change
as a challenge, not a threat.
According to Dr. Maddi, businessmen with a strong sense of
commitment and control cope best with change. They cope by
examining the reasons for change and focusing on self-
improvement.
Dr. Maddi called his technique compensatory self-improvement.
Consciously practicing this technique can bring a renewed sense of
accomplishment and self-esteem.

5
 What is a clause?
A clause is a group of words with both a
subject and a predicate. Clauses can be
either independent clauses, or dependent
clauses.
An Independent clause can stand alone as
a sentence
A dependent clause cannot stand alone as
a sentence.

Dependent Clauses
Dependent Clause Independent Clause

Although {subordinating conjunction} the the telephone {complete

hour {complete subject} was quite late, subject} rang. {complete
{complete predicate} predicate}

First Part of Second Part of

Dependent Clause
Independent Clause Independent Clause
The red telephone, which {relative pronoun} rang loudly. {complete
{complete subject} belonged to Ms. Mona, predicate}

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What are the four sentence types?
A simple sentence is composed of a
single independent clause and no
dependent clauses
Charlie Chaplin was born in London in 1889.
A compound sentence is composed of
two or more independent clauses:
His father died early and his mother spent
time in mental hospitals.

Exercise
Use subordinate conjunctions and relative pronouns
from the list below to combine each pair of sentences:
Who, that, although, because, if when, which, after, since, even
though, as, unless
Most U.S. military personnel thought that the
unintelligible messages were some strange Japanese
code. The U.S. military personnel overheard the
messages.
The Japanese were listening in. They could not
understand the messages either.
A few members of the U.S. forces understood what the
messages said. Those members of the U.S. forces were
Navajo speakers.
The overheard messages were in a code. The code was
based on the Navajo language.

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 Exercise (cont.)
Use subordinate conjunctions and relative pronouns
from the list below to combine each pair of sentences:
Who, that, although, because, if when, which, after, since, even
though, as, unless
Only Navajo Marines sent and received these
messages. The Navajo Marines were specially recruited
for this assignment.
The messages conveyed meaning by tone of voice as
well as vocabulary. Decoding techniques using only
written words could not break the code.
Were any Navajos living in Japan? The mystery of the
messages was never explained.
Navajo is an extraordinarily complex language. The
Japanese were never able to break the code.

What are the four sentence types?

A complex sentence is composed of one
independent clause and one or more dependent
clauses.
When times were bad, Chaplin lived in the streets.
A compound-complex sentence integrates a
compound sentence and a complex sentence.
Chaplin’s comedies were immediately successful, and
he became rich because of the enormous popularity
of his character, the Little Tramp, who was famous for
his tiny mustache, baggy trousers, and big shoes.