Writing Effective Sentences

Objectives of this Unit

At the end of this unit, the students will be able to:
 Define what a sentence is
 Identify constituent elements of a sentence
 Recognize simple and compound subjects and predicates
 Identify different types of sentences
 Use these different types of sentences in their paragraphs
 Identify qualities of effective sentences
 Recognize errors that affect clarity of sentences
 Find errors in their own writing
 Eliminate errors from their writing
 Write unified sentences
 Write coherent sentences
 Construct effective sentences
 1. Fundamentals of the English Sentence
1.1 Definition

 We tend to think of a sentence as a group of words with

a period, a question mark, or an exclamation point at the
end and a capital letter at the beginning, but there is
more to it than that.

 In order to be a sentence, a word group must be

complete enough to stand independently.

 In other words, sentence is a group of words that

expresses a complete thought.
 Definition …
 A sentence is usually defined as a grammatically
independent unit made up of a word or group of words
so related as to convey a complete thought.
 The words in a sentence must be arranged in a sensible
way that is acceptable in the given language.
 In English, most sentences follow a
“Subject – Verb – Object” word order.
For example:
 “In the town caught a policeman a thief”
 ‘’A policeman caught a thief in the town.”
 1.2 Constituent elements of a sentence
• Every sentence, short or long, is made up of one or more
units containing two main parts:
subject and predicate.
• Subject is a part of a sentence about which a statement is
made. It is a noun or pronoun, with any of its modifiers.
• Predicate is the statement made about the subject. It is a
verb or verb phrase, with any modifiers or words used to
complete its meaning.
• Example
Our soccer team won the state championship.
Our soccer team / won the state championship.
Subject Predicate
Simple Subject and Simple Predicate
• Every sentence, we said, usually has a subject
and a predicate.
Example:
John fights.
They run.
• In sentence 1, John the actor is, a simple
subject, and fights, the action, is a simple
predicate.
• In sentence 2, the simple subject is they, the
actor, and the simple predicate is run, the act.
Complete Subject and Complete Predicate
A. Complete Subject
• When a simple subject is expanded by the addition of
modifying words, the subject thus expanded is called a
complete subject.
Examples of expanded form of subject:
• Flowers are blooming. (Flowers, one word, is a simple
subject)
• The flowers are blooming.
• The small flowers are blooming.
• The small red-petaled flowers are blooming.
• Flowers, the simple subject in the first sentence, has been
expanded by the modifiers the, small, and red-petaled.
Hence, it is a complete subject.
 B. Complete Predicate
 In the same way, when the predicate consists of a single
word or a verb phrase, it is called a simple predicate.
 When it is expanded by the addition of other words, then
the simple predicate plus its modifiers, plus any other
words that completes its meaning, are called complete
predicate.
Examples of expanded form of predicate:
• Solomon is walking.
• Solomon is walking quickly.
• Solomon is walking quickly to school.
• Solomon is walking quickly to school in the morning.
 Compound Subject and Predicate
Compound Subject
• A subject can be made up of two or more nouns
or pronouns. In this case the sentence has a
compound subject. Example:
• Gemechu and Chaltu saved $ 500 a year with
grocery coupons.
• A right attitude and a winning personality
/should be your best principles to get a job.
• The movement of the tropical fish and the
bubbles from the filter/ fascinate the young cat.
 Compound Predicate
• A sentence can have two or more verbs for the
same subject. In this case the sentence is said to
have a compound predicate.
Example:
• We chopped the celery, diced the carrots, and
sliced the onions.
• The snow fell throughout the night and
blanketed the area.
• You should leave at six o’clock and arrive by
midnight.
 1.3 Types of sentences
 Sentences can be classified based on their functions and
structure.
 We call the former approach functional classification,
while the later is called structural classification.
1.3.1 Functional Classification
 Functional classification is based on the use or purpose of
a sentence.
 The different types of functional sentences are:
I. A declarative sentence - is used to state facts or opinions.
e.g. Many people celebrate Ethiopian New Year.
There should be sufficient water for us.
Cats chase rats.
II. An interrogative sentence - is used to ask questions.
E.g. How old are you?
What are your plans for the future?
III. An imperative sentence - is used to give a command or
instructions.
e.g. Work hard for success.
Take out your notebook.
Go home and eat dinner.
IV. An exclamatory sentence - is used to tell amusing, surprising,
or worrying news.
 Exclamatory sentences are often accompanied by interjections.
e.g. Wow, he is very smart!
What an amazing race!
Oh, I am afraid of that dog!
 1.3.2 Structural Classification
• As you expand your sentences by adding phrases
and clauses or by combining two or more
sentences you create various structural
relationships in your writing.
• Based on this, we can categorize sentences into
four main classes.
1. Simple Sentence
2. Compound Sentence
3. Complex Sentence
4. Compound-Complex Sentence
The following is a detailed discussion of the above sentence
types.
1. Simple Sentence is a sentence consisting of one subject and
one predicate, either or both of which may be compound.
Example:
• The players arrived.
• The players and the judges arrived.
• The players arrived and reported.
• The players and the judges arrived and reported.
• I have never played tennis.
• The big oak tree in front of our house is a permanent house
for thousands of birds.
• I watch birds and wander around Awash Park in search of my
favorite species.
• N.B. Don’t be confused by the length of a sentence. You
should simply count the number of clauses in the sentence.
• In other words, simple sentences have one independent
(main) clause. They do not have any dependent
(subordinate) clauses.
• Simple sentences may have one of the following basic
patterns:
• Subject + Verb
e.g. I shouted. You laughed. She died.
• Subject + Verb + Direct Object
e.g. I buy potatoes. I play football.
• Subject + Verb + Indirect Object + Direct Object
e.g. I gave my friend a nice gift.
Fenan took me to the nearby clinic.
2. Compound Sentences have two or more main
clauses and do not have any dependent
(subordinate) clauses.
Such clauses are often joined by commas,
semicolons, or coordinating conjunctions like
“for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so” (FANBOYS) or
conjunctive adverbs.
Example:
• I have never played tennis, but I hope to start taking lessons
next year.
• I steamed the carrots, then, I baked the potatoes.
• I ate everything on the tray; I was really hungry.
• I bought coca cola, and I drank it at once, for I was very thirsty.
• The Amazon River is actually a network of several rivers, but
most people think of these combined tributaries as only one
river.
• It started raining and we ran to the nearby café.
• Zinat doesn’t have any information about our assignment, or
she didn’t ask us.
• Does your father buy you clothes, or does he give you money?
Exercises 1
Identify if the following sentences are simple or
compound.
1. Stories entertain and amuse, but poems are
delightful.
2. Lina and Sara will conduct experimental research
this year.
3. Mr. Johnson assigned us a paper and a project.
4. Genzabe ran quickly in the race, but her sister
Tirunesh won.
5. Sara worked and saved a lot of money last summer.
6. Sinbony washed and dried her uniforms yesterday.
3. Complex Sentence is a sentence, which consists of
one main clause, but may have one or more
dependent (subordinate) clauses.
 Common dependent clauses attached to main
clauses are adjective clauses (introduced by
relative pronouns like “who, which, that, whose,
etc.”) and adverb clauses that can express
condition, comparison, reason, result, manner,
place, purpose, contrast, and time.
 The subordinate clause modifies a word (a noun/
a verb/ the whole main clause) in the sentence,
and it can be either adjectival or adverbial.
 Example:
• Although I have never played tennis, I planned to
start taking lessons next year.
• He met a student who left school last year.
(adjective clause)
• After I took a nap, I felt better. (adverb clause)
• If you come late, you will miss the bus. (adverb
clause).
• The man whom I told you about yesterday when
we were at the café is a lawyer.
• There were five main kingdoms from which the
present Jimma was founded.
• When I was a child, I used to play korbo.
• If you work hard, you will be successful in your
life.
• Although many scientists study the question, no
one knows exactly when the earth was created.
• When I read Joanne’s stories, I feel happy
because the stories are so realistic.
• N.B. Using a variety of simple, compound, and
complex sentences is a prominent feature of
modern writing and the effective use of the
different forms is indicative of one’s English
competence.
4. Compound -Complex Sentence is a sentence which
consists of two independent clauses with one or more
subordinate clauses.
Example:
• Although I have never played tennis, I planned to start
taking lessons next year; I really need the aerobic exercise
that tennis provides.
• Although I have never played tennis, I really need the
exercise, so I planned to start taking lessons next year.
• I bought Coca Cola, and I drank it at once because I was
very thirsty.
• As the rumors spread through the town, the police began
searching for the thieves and the criminals attempted to
cover their tracks.
 EXERCISE 2
Read the following sentences and identify whether each of them is simple, compound, complex,
or compound-complex. Then write the answer on the space provided.
• ________ 1. Bekele dislikes sitting on the beach; he always gets nasty sunburn.
• ________ 2. Although they are 250 miles apart, they keep in constant contact on the internet.
• ________ 3. Those students who live in the area often find the local college boring, but students
• from out of the area seem to like it.
• ________ 4. After a lengthy and noisy debate, they decided to take separate vacations
• ________ 5. Ronaldiniho dribbled past two defenders and made a good shot, but the goalkeeper
• easily saved.
• ________ 6. A gentle man of wealth and position has been found guilty of theft.
• ________7.The life which seems so fair is like a bubble blown in the air.
• ________8. There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it bad.

• ________9. Those who seek faultless friends remain friendless.

• ________10. Reading a novel after work is a pleasant way of spending leisure.
• _______11. If you really want me to help you wash your floors, please give me a week’s notice
• for I am busy this month.
• _______12. The people of Bahir Dar are throwing garbage anywhere in the city; consequently,
• the air is polluted.
• _______13. My brother who used to give me money whenever I want has been fired out of his
• work, and I am in a financial problem now.
1.4 Characteristics of Effective Sentences

CLARITY
ECONOMY
EMPHASIS
 CLARITY:
The first requirement of a good sentence is clarity. Most failures in
clarity come from three sources:
1. from errors such as :
• confused pronoun reference
• omission of necessary words
• dangling modifier
• misplaced modifier
• inadequate punctuation
• • run-on
• • fragment
• faulty parallelism
2. from vague diction (the choice and use of words in speech or
writing)
3. from over involved sentence structure
 1. Confused Pronoun Reference
 A pronoun depends for its meaning up on its antecedent,
the noun or other pronoun to which it refers.
 If the antecedents of the pronouns in your writing are
not clear, your writing will not be clear.
 To avoid faulty reference of pronouns each pronoun
should refer to a single antecedent.
 Pronouns can, of course, refer to compound antecedents
in such sentences as:
 Daniel and Abel both believed they had performed well.
(Here, the pronoun they refer to Daniel and Abel.)
• However, if a pronoun can refer to either of two possible
antecedents, it will be ambiguous, and readers will not
know which antecedent intended.
Example
AMBIGUOUS
Arthur went with John to the airport, where he took a
plane to Phoenix.
[Who took the plane to Phoenix, Arthur or John?]
CLEAR
After going to the airport with John, Arthur took the plane
to Phoenix.
After Arthur went to the airport with him, John took the
plane to Phoenix.
2. Omission of necessary word
• A sentence will be confusing if the writer omits words
needed for clarity and accuracy. Sometimes, of course,
writers omit words through haste or carelessness. This sort
of omission can be caught with careful proof reading.
• Right: I admire her more than Solomon does.
• Meaning: I admire her more than I admire Solomon.
• (This was the meaning what the writer wanted to convey)
• ERROR I admire her more than Solomon ( ).
• [Because of the omission of the word does in the above
example, it could be ambiguous, i. e, it is not clear if the
writer wants to mean more than Solomon admires her? Or
more than the writer admires Solomon? ]
• Here what we have seen was how omission of a word can
affect the clarity of a sentence.
• Not only the omission of a word but also omission of an
apostrophe can affect the clarity of a sentence.
• Right: A lawyer’s income is greater than a doctor’s.
• MEANING: A lawyer’s income is greater than that of a doctor.
OR
• A lawyer has a greater income than a doctor has.
• ERROR A lawyer’s income is greater than a doctor ( ).
• [Because of the omission of the apostrophe -‘s in the above
example the comparison is illogical since it compares or
seems to compare two things
• (income to a doctor) that cannot be sensibly compared. But
actually logic requires the comparison of income to income or
of lawyer to doctor.]
• See how omission of an article can affect clarity of a
sentence.
• In writing, the student should not allow even careless
omissions of an article.
• In the following example, we will look how the writer’s
omission of an article altered the meaning of the
sentence.
Right: She has a black and a white dress.
MEANING: (two dresses, different colors)
(This was the meaning what the writer wanted to convey)
ERROR: She has a black and ( ) white dress.
MEANING: (one dress, two colors)
 3. Dangling Modifiers
 A dangling modifier is a phrase or clause which
says something different from what is meant
because words are left out.
 It is not clearly and logically related to the words it
modifies.
 A modifier that opens a sentence must be followed
immediately by the word it is meant to describe.
 Dangling modifiers create confusion.
 To avoid dangling modifiers, make sure that each
modifier has a clear antecedent.
Example
Dangling: Driving through the town, three lions were seen.
Correct: Driving through the town, Helen saw three lions.
Dangling: Flood damage was visible crossing the river.
• [The modifier makes it sound as though the flood damage was
crossing the river.]
Correct: Flood damage was visible as we cross the river.
Dangling: Taking the exam, the room was so stuffy that Paula almost
fainted. (Who took the exam? The answer is not room but Paula.
The subject Paula must be added.
Correct: Taking the exam, Paula found the room so stuffy that she
almost fainted.
There are two ways to revise dangling modifiers:
1. Add a word or words that the modifier clearly describes.
Place the new material just after the modifier.
Dangling: While watching television the cake burned.
Correct: While watching the television Sarah burned the
cake.
2. Change the dangling modifier to a subordinate clause.
Dangling: While watching television the cake burned.
Correct: While Sarah was watching television, the cake
burned.
 4. Misplaced Modifiers
 A misplaced modifier is simply a word, a phrase, or a
clause describing something, but not placed near enough
to the word it is supposed to modify.
 Misplaced modifiers, because of awkward placement, do
not describe the words the writer intended to describe.
 Often confuse the meaning of the sentence.
Example
 Misplaced: I saw a dress in a magazine that cost $ 1200.
[Did the magazine or the dress cost $1200?]
 Correct: In a magazine, I saw a dress that cost $ 1200.
Kinds of Misplaced Modifiers
i. Misplaced adjectives
 These are incorrectly separated from the nouns they modify and
almost always distort the intended meaning.
Misplaced adjective: The child ate a cold dish of cereal for breakfast
this morning.
Correct: The child ate a dish of cold cereal for breakfast this morning.
ii. Placement of adverbs
Example:
 Just Kasa was picked to host the program.
(Only Kasa was picked, no one else.)
 Kasa was just to host the program. (Kasa was picked now.)
 Kasa was to host just the program.
(Kasa hosted only the program, nothing else.)
 Each of these sentences says something logical but quite different,
and its correctness depends upon what the writer has in mind.
iii. Misplaced phrases
Example
Misplaced phrase: They saw a fence behind the house made of
barbed wire.
Correct: They saw a fence made of barbed wire behind the house.
iv. Misplaced clauses
Misplaced clause: The waiter served a dinner roll to the woman that
was well buttered.
Correct: The waiter served a dinner roll that was well buttered to the
woman
 To avoid misplaced modifiers in general, be sure to place the
modifier immediately before or after the word or words it
modifies, or
 To avoid them, place words as close as possible to what they
describe.
 Caution!
 In correcting a misplaced modifier, don’t create a
sentence with two possible meanings.
 Example: The teacher said on Monday she will return
our essay.
 a. The teacher said she will return our essay on Monday.
(The essay will be returned on Monday.)
 b. On Monday the teacher said she will return our essay.
(The teacher spoke on Monday.)
To Sum up
 Here are some tips to help you avoid misplaced
modifiers:
 Check to see if your modifiers are close to the subject
they are referring to.
 Be careful with the placement of limiting modifiers
(almost, even, hardly, just, merely, nearly, and simply).
 These modifiers must be placed right next to the words
they modify.
 Check to see if modifiers that describe verbs are close to
the verbs.
 5. Errors in Punctuation

A. Sentence Fragment
• A sentence fragment is a sentence that is missing either
its subject or its main verb.
• Some sentence fragments occur as the result of simple
typographical errors or omission of words. They can
often be avoided with careful proofreading.
Incorrect: Went to the store yesterday.
Incorrect: After the classes, the library. My life nowadays.
• The first sentence above does not have a subject, and the
second one does not have a main verb.
 Rule to Remember
• A sentence fragment is a sentence that is missing either
its subject or its main verb.

Correcting the Problem

• There are many ways to correct the sentences above. In
the first sentence, introduce the subject and in the
second add the main verb.
• Correct: I went to the store yesterday.

• Correct: After the classes, I am going to the library.

This happens to be my life nowadays.
• Aside from typographical errors, the two most
common causes of fragments are the misuse of
subordinators and the misuse of prepositions.
In order to understand how these errors occur,
it is first necessary to define clauses in English.
• In English, a clause is defined as a unit that
contains both a verb and its subject. As the
following examples illustrate, a sentence may
consist of a single clause or may contain
multiple clauses:
 One clause: I hate listening to political pundits.

Two clauses: Students dislike Mr. Jones because his classes can be tough.

Two clauses: I am upset that it is snowing in the middle of April.

Since you drew the short straw, you must walk to the
Three clauses:
gas station while we stay here.
• The easiest way to count the number of
clauses in a sentence is to count the number of
verbs, then find their corresponding subjects.
Phrase fragments
Since I was done with the exam, I put my pen and paper
Incorrect:
down. Waiting for the teacher to start collecting papers.

Unattached phrases must be made part of a complete sentence. We

can join them either using a comma or a conjunction.

Since I was done with the exam, I put my pen and paper
Correct:
down, waiting for the teacher to start collecting papers.
I was done with the exam; I put my pen and paper down and was
Correct:
waiting for the teacher to start collecting papers.
 Subordinate clause fragments

Students dislike Mr. Jones. Because his classes can be

Incorrect:
tough.

Since you drew the short straw. You must walk to the gas
Incorrect:
station while we stay here.
• This type of sentence fragment occurs because
the subordinate clause is separated from the
main clause and cannot stand on its own.
• Two clauses can be combined using a
subordinating conjunction or an adverb to show
the dependence of one clause on the other.
 Rule to Remember
• Correct sentence fragments by joining two
fragmented parts with either a conjunction or an
adverb.
Correct: Students dislike Mr. Jones because his classes can be tough.

Since you drew the short straw, you must walk to the gas
Correct:
station while we stay here.
B. Run-on sentences
• The term run-on sentence labels an error with several different names, the
most common being fused sentence and comma splice.

i. Fused sentence - refers to the error of two independent clauses put together
without any separating punctuation or linking device between them.

Example

(The last four sentences in the examples given above are fused sentences)
 The witness was unwilling to testify, he was afraid of the accused man.

 I avoided deserts I was trying to loose weight.

ii. Comma Splice refers to the error of two
independent clauses punctuated as one sentence. Placing
a comma in between two main clauses without a
coordinating conjunction (and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet)
results in the comma fault or comma splice.
• Example

 The witness was unwilling to testify, he was afraid of

the accused man.
 I avoided deserts, I was trying to loose weight.
• Fused sentence and comma splice can be
corrected in one of the following ways:
- Connect the main clauses with a coordinating
conjunction and a comma.
- Replace the comma with a semicolon.

- Make a separate sentence of each main clause.

- Change one of the main clauses to a separate

clause.
Example 1

Revised 1: The witness was unwilling to testify, for he

was afraid of the accused man.

Revised 2: The witness was unwilling to testify; he was

afraid of the accused man.

Revised 3: The witness was unwilling to testify. He

was afraid of the accused man.

Revised 4: Because the witness was afraid of the

accused man, he was unwilling to testify.
Example 2
Revised1: I avoided deserts, for I was trying to loose weight.
Revised 2: I avoided deserts; I was trying to loose weight.
Revised 3: I avoided deserts. I was trying to loose weight.
Revised 4: Because I was trying to loose weight, I avoided
deserts
6. Agreement Errors
 A verb must agree with its subject in number.
 A subject that refers to one person, place, or
thing is called a singular subject.
 A subject that refers to more than one thing is
called a plural subject.
 A singular subject must be used with a singular
verb.
My brother wants to go jog with me.
 A plural subject must be used with a plural verb.
My brothers want to go jogging with me.
Mistakes to Watch for:
 Subject-verb agreement errors often occur in the following
situations:
1. with compound subjects (two or more subjects)
Incorrect: Samuel and Sarah wants to buy a car.
Correct: Samuel and Sarah want to buy a car.
2. when the verb comes before the subject
Incorrect: There is four gas stations on the main street.
Correct: There are four gas stations on the main street.
3. when a word or phrase comes between the subject and the verb.
Incorrect: The woman standing in the waves with the other
swimmers win a prize for her endurance.

Correct: The woman standing in the waves with the other

swimmers wins a prize for her endurance.
4. with indefinite pronouns: treat the pronoun as
singular if it refers to something that cannot be
counted. Treat the pronoun as plural if it refers to
more than one of something that can be counted.
Incorrect: Everybody wish to become a millionaire.
Correct: Everybody wishes to become a millionaire.
7. Faulty Parallelism
 Parallelism means that words, phrases or clauses in a series
should have similar grammatical form.
 Keeping corresponding parts of a sentence parallel in structure
and length will make your writing clearer and easier to read or
understand.
Items to be parallel in a sentence:
1. Words in series: When two or more nouns, verbs, or adjectives
appear together in a sentence, they should be parallel in
grammatical form. Verbs should be in the same tense.
Incorrect: All night long the music from the next apartment was
banging, thumping, and pounded so loudly that I couldn’t sleep.
Correct: All night long the music from the next apartment banged,
thumped, and pounded so loudly that I couldn’t sleep.
2. Phrases
Incorrect: His sister likes wearing crazy hats, dressing
in funky clothes, and to go to classic music.
Correct: My sister likes wearing crazy hats, dressing in
funky clothes, and going to classic music.
3. Clauses
 Incorrect: While Almaz studied Math and worked
on Psychology, her husband was watching the baby.
 Correct: While Almaz studied Math and worked on
Psychology, her husband watched the baby.
 Diction
 Diction is the use and choice of words.
 Words that you choose should be appropriate for your audience and
express your meaning clearly.
 The following suggestions will help you improve your diction:
1. Avoid slang. Slang refers to the informal, special expressions
created and used by groups of people who want to give themselves
unique identity.
Slang is appropriate and useful way to communicate in some social
situations and in some forms of creative writing.
However, it is not appropriate for academic or career writing.
Slang: We pigged out at the ice cream shop.
Revised: We consumed enormous quantities of ice cream at the
ice cream shop.
2. Avoid colloquial language.
 Colloquial language refers to casual, every day, and
spoken language.
 It should be avoided in formal situations.
Colloquial: I almost flunked Bio last sem.
Revised: I almost failed in Biology last semester.
3. Avoid nonstandard language.
 Non-standard language consists of words and
grammatical forms that are used in conversation but
are neither correct nor acceptable standard written
English.
4. Avoid trite expressions.
 Trite expressions are old, worn out word and
phrases that have become stale and do not
convey meaning as effectively as possible.
 These expressions are also called clichés.
Trite expressions
• Needle in a hay sadder but wiser As old as the hill
• Hard as a rock white as a snow Pretty as a picture
• Face the music gentle as a lamb
 Sentence Variety
 Sentence variety means assorted sentence patterns, lengths, and
rhythms.
 It gives your writing better rhythm and flow; it makes your writing
more mature.
 Good writers use a variety of sentence structures to avoid
wordiness and monotony and to show relationships among
thoughts.
 To achieve sentence variety, one does not have to use all simple
sentences or complex or compound sentences, and again, one does
not have to begin or end all sentences in the same way.
 Instead, one has to vary the length; the amount of detail and the
structures of one’s sentences.
 How to Use Sentence Variety

1. Use sentences of various lengths (Don’t use all simple

sentences). This makes your writing choppy.
Choppy: We went to the movies. We went out to eat. We came
home. We went to bed.
2. Avoid stringing simple sentences together with coordinating
conjunctions (and, but, or, and so on).
 Instead, one has to use some introductory participial phrases.
Simple: There was a long queue at the bakery, so Samson
decided to leave.
Varied: Seeing the long queue at the bakery, Samson decided to
leave.
3. Begin some sentences with a prepositional phrase
Example: During the concert, the fire alarm rang.
Inside the theatre, the crowd waited expectantly.
4. Begin some sentences with a present or past participle
(cooking, eating, tired, informed)
Example: Singing and dancing, the Greece expressed their joy.
• Still laughing, two girls left the movie.
• Slapped and pushed, the thief fell into the ditch.
5. Begin some sentences with adverbs.
• Angrily, the guard slammed the gate shut.
• Patiently, the father advised the boy.
6. Begin some sentences with infinitive phrases (‘to’ plus the
infinitive form; to make, to go, to prepare, to eat etc.)
Example: To make a lot of profit, the merchant labored a lot.
 To develop their writing skill, students practiced writing a lot.
 To get break fast ready on time, I set my alarm for 7 A.M.
7. Begin some sentences with a dependent clause introduced by
subordinating conjunctions.
 Because I studied hard, I managed to pass the exam.
 Provided that the company pays all the money, the workers are
ready to resume their work.
8. Begin sentences with a conjunctive adverb.
Consequently, we decided to have fried meat for lunch.