Success with WritingOnline WorkshopPart 2: Sentences

Created by: Jane Mangano

What do you already know about sentences?

• Write down five things that you know about sentences in the task activity below.

The Sentence

• A sentence expresses a complete thought.• A sentence includes a subject.• A sentence includes at least one verb.• A sentence begins with a capital letter.• A sentence ends with a full stop, exclamation

mark or question mark.

The Simple Sentence

• A simple sentence is made up of a subject and a predicate.

• The subject does or is something.• The predicate expresses action (eg hit, run,

swim) or a state of being (eg am, is, was, will be).

The Simple Sentence

• Spring (subject) is approaching (predicate).

• The children (subject) are playing (predicate).

The Compound Sentence

• A compound sentence is made up of two independent clauses joined together.

• Mary was sad, but her husband was happy.• John worked hard; he was always in the

library.• Notice the independent clauses are joined by

a comma and a conjunction, or a semicolon.

More about conjunctions

• Independent clauses can be linked to dependent clauses by using a comma and one of the following conjunctions: and, but, for, nor, since, so, yet.

• She won her race. She trained regularly.• She won her race, for she trained regularly.

The Complex Sentence

• A complex sentence is one in which the independent clause has a dependent clause added to it.

• The siren was delayed, giving children extra playtime.

• Although she was tired, Janelle swam a personal best.

The Complex Sentence

• The dependent clause adds meaning or information. Without the independent clause, the dependent clause does not make complete sense.

Punctuation for complex sentences

• As a general rule, separate the independent clause from the dependent clause by using a comma or pair of commas.

• Even though it was raining, the sports day went ahead.

• The school, which recently won an award, had record enrolments.

Keen to find out more about sentences?

• Go to the ‘grammar’ stack on the AESC Delicious page.

• The ‘Writing Sentences: Introduction’ is particularly good https://www.delicious.com/stacks/view/K5XfQl

Your Turn

• In the task box below, write a simple sentence answering this question.

• What are the attributes of a successful student?

• Include only three attributes in your sentence.

Did your sentence look something like this?

• A successful student is organised, intelligent and motivated.

End of Part 2

Please ensure you have completed each of the tasks in section 2 online.