Grammar Presentation: The Sentence

1. Grammar Presentation:The Sentence • GradWRITE! Initiative • Writing Support Centre • Student Development Services

2. Outline • What is a sentence? • Phrases and Clauses • Sentences

3. What is a sentence? • Purpose: • To communicate an idea • Components: • Subject • Predicate • Punctuation

4. Subject • What the sentence is about • At the most basic level, a noun or pronoun • Examples: • She added methanol to the solution. • Methanol was added to the solution. • Add methanol to the solution. (Implied ‘You’)

5. Predicate • Describes what the subject is or does • At the most basic level, a verb • Examples: • She added. • She added methanol to the solution. • Add methanol to the solution.

6. Objects • Part of the predicate • What the subject is acting upon • Direct objects and indirect objects • Examples: • She added methanol to the solution.

7. Punctuation • Indicates where to pause in writing • Most sentences end in periods

8. Phrases and Clauses • Groups of words that are not quite sentences

9. Phrases • Word clusters without a subject-predicate pair • Provide more information than simple subjects and predicates • Cannot stand on own • Examples: • Noun phrase: The guitarist’s performance... • Verb phrase: ... seems to be starting.

10. Clauses • Contain a subject and a predicate • Two kinds: • Independent clause • Dependent clause

11. Independent Clause • Can stand alone as a sentence • Example: • She added methanol to the solution.

12. Dependent Clause • Cannot stand alone as a sentence • Needs an independent clause to complete it • Acts as a noun, adjective or adverb • Example: • After adding methanol to the solution, she stirred the beaker.

13. Sentences • Expresses an idea using a subject and a predicate • Four kinds: • Simple, Compound, Complex, Compound-Complex • Not just about length

14. Simple sentences • One subject-predicate pair • Independent clause • Example: • Methanol was added to the solution.

15. Compound Sentences • Two or more independent clauses in one sentence • Two methods

16. Compound Sentences • Semi-colon • Example: • Methanol was added methanol to the solution; she stirred the beaker. • Methanol was added to the solution; this caused a reaction. • Methanol was added to the solution; subsequently, a reaction occured.

17. Compound Sentences • Co-ordinating conjunctions • FANBOYS: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So • Example: • Methanol was added to the solution, and this caused a reaction.

18. Complex Sentences • 1 independent clause and 1+ dependent clauses • Example: • After adding methanol to the solution, the beaker was stirred. • Methanol was added to the solution, while the beaker was stirred.

19. Compound-Complex Sentences • 2+ independent clauses and 1+ dependent clauses • Example: • While methanol is added to the solution, the beaker is stirred, and the colour will change.

20. Sentence Variety • Think about the effect you want • Short simple sentences attract attention • Compound sentences invite comparison • Compound-complex sentences give lots of information

21. Resources • Sin and Syntax by Constance Hale • APA Style Guide • University of Ottawa’s HyperGrammar • www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/grammar.html • Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab • www.owl.english.purdue.edu • Search for Grammar and ESL resources