Super

Sentences! Clarifying the

parts and the structure of

English sentences

Today’s program

1. Pre-Quiz

2. The Parts of Speech

3. Sentence Patterns

4. Phrases & Clauses

5. Kinds of Sentences

6. Post-Quiz

7. Q & A

8. Workshop Evaluation

The Parts of

Speech

There are 8 parts if speech.

• What are they?

• What do you know about them?

Verbs

“Go!”

Adverbs (place and time)

“Go there now!”

Adverbs (manner)

“Go there quickly!”

Nouns

Kato bought a car.

Pronouns

He drove the car.

Prepositions

He hit a tree

with his car.

Conjunctions

He wasn’t injured, but

the car was totaled.

Adjectives

Kato was lucky.

(He had insurance!)

Interjections

“Boy-oh-boy!” was all he could say.

Sentence

Patterns

What is a “sentence”? A group of words that has

• a subject

• a predicate

• a complete thought

• a final punctuation mark

The best things in life are free.

Subject

• WHO or WHAT the sentence is about

Sam read a book. (WHO did it?)

The book was fabulous! (WHAT was

fabulous?)

• Subjects can be nouns, pronouns, infinitives,

gerunds, or clauses.

Predicate • Tells about the subject

• Contains a verb and all its modifiers

Sam read a book. (WHAT did Sam DO?)

The book was fabulous! (HOW was the book?)

• There are 3 types of verbs: Action

Linking

Auxiliary

Action Verbs: 2 types

• Intransitive

Doesn’t have an object.

It rained. She is working.

• Transitive

An object follows the verb.

Kato bought a car. (Kato bought WHAT?)

Linking Verbs

• “Be” and others, especially those involving

the 5 senses

• Connect the subject and the complement.

• Is like an = sign.

Dogs are good pets. (Dogs = good pets)

George looks sad. (George = sad)

Pizza tastes delicious. (pizza = delicious)

Auxiliary Verbs

• Often called “helping verbs”

• Add meaning to the main verb

Bob was sleeping in class.

He has lived in Nanaimo for a year.

(show tense and aspect)

You should go if you can.

(also called “modals”)

Sentence Patterns • S-V (intransitive verb)

• S-V-A (verb with adverb)

• S-V-C (intransitive verb with complement)

• S-V-O (transitive verb with object)

• S-V-O-A (transitive verb …)

• S-V-IO-O (transitive verb with indirect and

direct objects)

• There/It-V-S (linking verb followed by subject)

S-V

Subject – Verb

She left.

The snow is falling.

It works!

S-V-A

Fay went upstairs.

The test took three hours

Subject – Verb – Adverb

S-V-C

Subject – Verb – Complement

Yuki is cute.

Wonshik looks tired.

The soup tastes great.

The test was very difficult.

S-V-O

Subject – Verb – Object

George studies English.

Sarah cooked dinner.

Obama won the election.

S – V – O – A

Subject – Verb – Object – Adverb

She wore her dress all night.

Our boss kept the money in her office.

They bought sunglasses at the mall.

Kids today understand technology perfectly.

S-V-IO-O Subject – Verb – Indirect Object – Object

The police officer gave Alan a ticket.

(Or: The police officer gave a ticket to Alan.)

S V O IO

Sarah baked her husband a cake.

Mark bought his wife a new car.

There/It-V-S There/It – Linking Verb – Subject

There are activities on Fridays.

(Activities are on Fridays.)

It was nice to meet you.

(To meet you was nice.)

Note: Only use a linking verb. Do not use “have.”

• S-V (intransitive verb)

• S-V-A (verb with adverb)

• S-V-C (intransitive verb)

• S-V-O (transitive verb with object)

• S-V-O-A (transitive verb …)

• S-V-IO-O (transitive verb + objects)

• There/It-V-S (linking verb)

Once more: Sentence Patterns

Phrases and

Clauses

What is a “phrase”?

A group of words that belongs together which is missing a subject or verb or both

“a very good student”

“on the desk”

“after class”

“to improve his English”

“drinking with my friends”

(Here, “drinking” is a gerund, not a verb.)

What is a “clause”?

A group of words that:

• has a subject

• has a verb

• might not be a complete thought on its own

• doesn’t necessarily include a final punctuation mark

Two Kinds of Clauses

• Independent clause (like a sentence –

expresses a complete thought)

Matty works out every day.

• Dependent clause (does not express a

compete thought)

because he loves it

Connecting Clauses

• If you don’t connect clauses correctly, you

could end up with two things English teachers

HATE!

• a fragment Because he loves it.

• a run-on sentence (“run ons”) Ming loves movies he watches one every day.

How to avoid fragments

and run-ons

1. Separate sentences with

appropriate punctuation.

2. Use coordination.

3. Use subordination.

Separate Sentences • Use final punctuation: a period, question

mark, or exclamation mark. ( ● ? ! )

• Ensure that each new subject (noun,

noun phrase, or pronoun) heads its own

sentence unless you are using a

conjunction (and, but, or, because, if…)

Ming loves movies. He watches one every

day.

Coordination

• Connects independent clauses to

other independent clauses.

• There are 3 ways to co-ordinate

independent clauses:

1. Use a comma (,) and a

coordinating conjunction

for and nor

but or yet so

Ming loves movies, so he watches one

every day.

2. Use a semicolon (;)

Ming loves movies; he watches one

every day.

3. Use a semicolon (;)followed by

a conjunctive adverb and, then,

by a comma (,)

however furthermore moreover

therefore for example in fact

etc…

Ming loves movies; therefore, he watches one

every day.

Subordination

Connects a dependent clause

to an independent clause with

a subordinating conjunction.

Subordinating Conjunctions

• Independent clause + dependent clause

Ming watches movies every day because he is a film student.

• Dependent clause + comma + independent clause

Because Ming is a film student, he watches a movie a day.

after because before even though

if since until although

when while unless etc…

Kinds of Sentences

• Simple

• Compound

• Complex

• Compound-complex

Simple

• One independent clause

Ming went to the Vancouver International

Film Festival.

Compound • Two independent clauses

• Connect them with coordination.

Remember the three ways to do that?

Ming went to the VIFF, and he saw over forty

films. (Note: Ming went to the VIFF and saw over forty films.)

Ming had a great time at the VIFF; he saw

over forty films.

Ming watched over forty films, yet he was

not able to see all the movies he wanted to.

Complex

• ONE independent clause and at least

ONE dependent clause

Ming went to the VIFF after he had completed

his first year of film studies.

After he had completed his first year of film

studies, Ming went to the VIFF.

Compound-complex

• At least TWO ▪independent clauses and

at least ONE dependent clause

Ming preferred the independent films, but he

saw one big-studio film, which he really liked.

It was directed by a woman who had previously

made low-budget films, so this was her first

foray into major film making.

Finally . . .

Understanding

the parts and the structure

of English sentences

will help you read and write more clearly!

“Clear thinking

becomes

clear writing.”

(William Zinsser in On Writing Well)