The English Sentence Patterns

In English, the number of sentences is infinite. However, within this infinity, there are FIVE patterns:

Subject + verb

e.g. An accident happened.

            (subject) (verb)

Subject + verb + object (direct)

e.g. The man took the money.

              (s)     (v)         (o)

Subject + verb + object (indirect) + object (direct)

e.g. The man give me the money.

               (s)   (v)   (o)       (o)

Subject + verb + complement (of the subject)

e.g. She is pretty.

       (s) (v) (c)

Subject + verb + object + complement (of the object) 

e.g. They elected him President.

       (s)     (v)       (o)   (c)

e.g. They made her unhappy.

       (s)     (v)     (o)  (c)

Sir Winston Churchill once said that the English sentence is a "noble thing." As such, in order to write an effective sentence, one must know what an English sentence is.

A sentence is for communicating a complete thought, a command, a question, or an exclamation.

    e.g. I love you.

    e.g. Take it.

    e.g. Is it right?

    e.g. How wonderful!

In most cases, a sentence requires at least one subject-verb combination (e.g. I came.); in some cases, a sentence can be a single word (e.g. Help!).

The basic sentence pattern or sentence structure is made up of a subject and a verb:

           Subject                 Verb

           Birds                     sing

But you can add single descriptive words (modifiers) to add more meaning to the basic sentence pattern. These words can be: an article (a, an, the); an adjective (a word to describe the noun or subject); an adverb (a word to describe the verb).

e.g. The (specify which birds) yellow birds (the color of the birds) sing beautifully. (how they sing)

You can add a phrase (made up of two or more words with no subject-verb combination) to make the sentence longer. There are different types of phrases:

an infinitive phrase: to + verb e.g. to do the work, to play the piano

a participle phrase: present participle/past participle + noun, e.g. playing the piano, the broken window

a prepositional phrase: under the table, in the beginning

You can add a clause (made up of words with a subject-verb combination) to make the sentence longer. There are two different types of clauses:

an independent clause: communicating a complete thought, e.g. The man was singing.

a dependent clause: describing another clause, and not communicating a complete thought, e.g. When the man was singing (what happened?)

You can change sentences into different types by adding different clauses:

The simple sentence: one independent clause making one complete thought, e.g. The man was singing.

The compound sentence: more than one complete thought, with two or more independent clauses, e.g. The man was singing and the children were dancing.

The complex sentence: one independent clause with one or more dependent clauses, e.g. The man was singing (independent clause), when the children were dancing (dependent clause).

The compound complex sentence: two independent clauses with one or more dependent clauses, e.g. The man was singing (independent clause) and the children were dancing (independent clause) when the light suddenly went out.

Effective writing is the use of different types of sentences (simple, compound, complex, compound complex) to give variety. In addition, vary the sentence length to avoid monotony in writing.

Stephen Lau
Copyright© by Stephen Lau

       

Better English For You

 BETTER ENGLISH FOR YOU

WHAT this book is all about:

This book is about every aspect of both written and spoken English.

It covers the basics as well as the essentials of good and effective written and spoken English.

It helps you avoid all the common errors made by both native and non-native speakers of English.

WHY you should read this book:

This book is for every one who speaks and writes English every day.

This book is especially for ESL learners who are not familiar with the use of the English language.

This book is also for native speakers of English, who need to write good English in their education, and throughout their careers.

CONTENTS

ONE: WHY BETTER ENGLISH
TWO: HOW TO HAVE BETTER ENGLISH
LEARING TO SPEAK BY SPEAKING AND TO WRITE BY WRITING
GETTING BASIC TOOLS FOR BETTER ENGLISH
      An English Dictionary
      A Thesaurus
THREE: BETTER WRITTEN ENGLISH FOR YOU
THE PURPOSE OF WRITING
THE ENGLISH GRAMMAR BASICS
     Nouns
     Pronouns
     Adjectives
     Verbs
     Adverbs
     Conjunctions
     Prepositions
     Interjections
THE ENGLISH SENTENCE
     Sentence Patterns
     Different Types of Sentences
     Balanced Sentence Construction
THE TENSES
THE PUNCTUATION
      The Comma
      The Semi-Colon
      The Colon
     The Dashes
     The Period (Full-Stop)
COMMON SENTENCE ERRORS
     Avoid Double Negatives
     Avoid Omission of Key Verbs    
     Avoid Omission of Words in Comparison
     Avoid Dangling Participles
     Avoid Misusing Dependent Clause
BEGINNING TO WRITE
     Paragraph Development
     Learn Commonly Used Difficult Vocabulary
     Learn Commonly Used Difficult Vocabulary
     Learn Idioms and Colloquial Expressions
     Learn to Know the Difference
     Learn to Avoid Wordiness
DEVELOPING THE TOPIC
     Point of View
     Tone
     Planning the Writing
     Writing the Introduction
      Planning the Outline
      Expanding the Writing
      Writing the Draft
GOOD WRITING
      Clichés
      Figures of Speech
      Italics
      Simplicity in Writing
FOUR: BETTER SPOKE ENGLISH

      Slang and Colloquial Expressions

The Use of Italics

In English, sometimes words and phrases are slanted to the right--the use of italics. Effective writing requires the use of italics appropriately. The following  shows how to use italics effectively:

(1) Use italics for titles.

e.g. The film The Interview has caused much controversy.

e.g. Have you read Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace?

(2) Use italics for foreign words. The English language has acquired many foreign words, such as chef from France, and spaghetti from Italy, that have become part of the English language and they do not require to be put in italics.  However, many foreign words still require to be out in italics.

e.g. Gato is a Spanish word for cat.

e.g. Balance is expressed in the concept of yin and yang.

(3) Use italics for names of aircraft, ships, and trains.

e.g. Titanic  hit an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage.

(4) Use italics for emphasis, but avoid its overuse:

e.g. It is easy to find out how you can avoid credit card debt, but it is difficult to actually do it.

(5) Use italics for words, phrases, letters, and numbers used as words.

e.g. The alphabet b and d are easily confused by young children.

e.g. Do you know the difference between allude and delude?

e.g. Many people consider 13 an unlucky number.

EFFECTIVE WRITING MADE SIMPLE

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Learning Some Grammar Basics

Learning Some Grammar Basics

Learning a foreign language is never easy because you need to learn the rules of its sentence structure. The English language has many grammar rules to follow.

Knowing the rules of grammar does not mean that you will become a good writer, but at least it will help you avoid bad writing. In addition, knowing the essentials of grammar may give you the following advantages: avoiding grammatical errors in your sentences; providing clarity to your writing; giving credibility to your readers

Knowing grammar basics means knowing the eight parts of speech in English words and writing:

NOUNS

A noun names a person, place, or thing.

A noun can be singular (referring to only one) or plural (referring to more than one). Generally, you make a singular noun plural by adding an “s”; however, some nouns do not follow this general rule:

e.g. enemy becomes enemies

e.g. goose becomes geese

e.g. hero becomes heroes

e.g. sheep remains sheep

Some nouns are countable, e.g. books, while some are not, e.g. hunger and thirst.

A noun can be possessive (indicating ownership).

e.g. David and Daniel’s house (NOT David’s and Daniel’s house)

e.g. Jesus’ miracles (NOT Jesus’s miracles)

e.g. the bottom of the box (NOT the box’s bottom)

e.g. the characters of Star Wars (NOT Star Wars’ characters)

From the above, a possessive noun is applicable only to a person, and not to a thing.

A noun MUST AGREE with a verb in a sentence, that is, a singular noun requiring a singular verb, and a plural noun requiring a plural verb. A singular verb in the present tense generally needs an “s”; of course, there are exceptions, such as the following:

e.g. The data show (NOT shows) that people prefer this to that. (data is the plural form of datum.)

e.g. The criteria for selection are based (NOT is) on the recommendation of the mayor. (criteria is plural)

e.g. Human rights is an important issue in this country. (singular: human rights treated as a single unit and thus requiring a singular verb)

e.g. Human rights are ignored in many parts of the world. (plural: human rights considered individual rights of people)

e.g. Six thousand dollars is a lot of money. (singular: a monetary unit)

A proper noun names a specific person, place, or event, e.g. James Bond, New York, and the Civil War.

A proper noun is always capitalized, e.g. The Great Depression (BUT an economic depression).

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

You Correct the Incorrect

 

"YOU CORRECT THE INCORRECT" is a newly published book on how to write well. To write well, you must know how to avoid incorrect sentences.

First and foremost, you are given some grammar basics, such as the Eight Parts of Speech. Knowing how to avoid incorrect sentences is the first step toward good writing.

Then, you are given many groups of sentences, containing both the correct and the incorrect ones in each group. You will be provided explanation why the sentences are correct and incorrect. Correcting the incorrect is the only way to help you write correctly.

After correcting the incorrect many times, you will be shown how to write well through practice and practice, using the right tools, knowing the subject, knowing the readers, developing style and strategy.

Get this book YOU CORRECT THE INCORRECT for only $5.50. Learn how to write by writing and how to correct by correcting.

You Speak Like An American

Touch up: repair.

e.g. Can you touch up the scratches on the car?

e.g. This chair needs some touch-up.

Make up: invent; apply cosmetics; become reconciled.

e.g. He had to make up an excuse explaining why he was so late.

e.g. She made up beautifully before she put on the fancy dress.

e.g. After the heated argument, the man and his wife made up.

Run against: compete.

e.g. I am going to run against him in the coming mayor election.

Die away: disappear.

e.g. The noise died away and it was silent.

Hand over: yield control of.

e.g. The manager has handed over the human resources section to the assistant manager.

Call off: cancel

e.g. Due to the bad weather, the meeting was called off.

Walk over: go to where someone is.

e.g.  I have something to give to you. Can you walk over?

Back out: desert; fail to keep a promise.

e.g. You said you would help us, but you backed out the last minute.

Stephen Lau

The Subjunctive Mood

Subjunctive mood indicates making a hypothetical statement (i.e. not true).

e.g. If I were you, I would do it. (Past tense for a present action to indicate something contrary to the fact)

e.g. If he were the president, he would do it. (He is not the president, and therefore he will not do it.)

e.g. If you worked hard now, you would pass the exam. (You are not working hard now, and so you will not pass the exam; it is merely an assumption. Compare: “If you work hard, you will pass the exam.” Here, it becomes a condition, and therefore there is a probability that you will pass the exam.)

e.g. If pigs had wings, they would fly. (Pigs do not have wings, and therefore they will never fly.)

Subjunctive mood can also be used in the past tense. In that case, the past perfect tense (instead of the past tense) is used to show the hypothetical statement in the past.

e.g. If he had been the president, he would have done it. (He was not the president, and so he did not do it.)

e.g. If you had worked hard last year, you would have passed the exam. (You did not work hard last year, and so you failed in the exam last year.)

Stephen Lau  

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Misuse of the Semi-Colon

Misuse of the Semi-Colon

The Semicolon is one of the punctuation marks frequently misused in writing.

A semicolon is used between a dependent clause and an independent clause.

e.g. Although he was very tired; he did not want to go to bed. (incorrect)

e.g. Although he was very tired, he did not want to got to bed. (a comma should be used instead)

A semicolon is used to introduce a list.

e.g. The box was filled with everything but books; clothing, snacks, hammers and tools. (incorrect)

e.g. The box was filled with everything but books: clothing, snacks, hammers and tools. (a colon should be used instead)

A semicolon is not used between an introductory phrase and the rest of the sentence.

e.g. Her hands trembling; she managed to pour the toxic liquid into the tube. (incorrect)

e.g. Her hands trembling, she managed to pour the toxic liquid into the tube (a comma should be used instead)

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Tell the Difference

Writing has to do with words, in particular, the choice of words. A good stock of vocabulary is of course important. But other than that, you also need to know the exact meaning of each word so that you will use it correctly. There are many words that may sound similar, but they have different meanings, and thus they are confusing. 

Mellow / Melodious

Mellow: mature; soft and pure; rich and full.

e.g. As he continues to age, he become more mellow and compassionate.

Melodious: tuneful; pleasant to the ear.

e.g. He voice is melodious; he should take up singing.

Reign / Rein

Reign means to rule over; rein means to control (e.g. an animal)

e.g. The emperor reigned over the country for decades.

e.g. You must rein in your hot temper.

e.g. Beware of giving free rein to your reason. (i.e. not release from any restraint).

Defuse / Diffuse

Defuse means to decrease the danger, such as deactivate a bomb; diffuse means to spread over a wide area.

e.g. It is difficult to defuse the conflicts in the Middle East.

e.g. Once you open the bottle of fragrant herbs, their scents will diffuse.

Genteel / Gentle

Genteel: well-bred, polite; imitating the lifestyle of the rich.

e.g. Your friend is genteel. Is he very rich?

e.g. All along he has been living in genteel poverty. He is not practical.

Faint / Feint

Faint (both as a noun and a verb) means loss of consciousness; feint means a misleading attack.

e.g. She fainted when she heard the bad news.

e.g. The robber, who gave a feint, began to attack the policeman.

Studio / Studious

Studio: a place where pictures are taken, or films are made.

e.g. The film was made in a Hollywood studio.

Studious: fond of study; careful and thoughtful.

e.g. To be a good scientist, you must be studious.

Hail / Hale

Hail means to greet or salute; hale means healthy and strong.

e.g. "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee."

e.g. A man is hale when his complexion is rosy.

e.g. This dress is too loose for you (not tight enough).

Some time / Sometime / Sometimes

Some time means a period of time.

Sometime, as an adverb, means approximately; as an adjective, means former or occasional.

Sometimes, as an adverb, means now and then.

e.g. We have been for the train for some time.

e.g. Why don't you visit me sometime?

e.g. She was my sometime girlfriend.

e.g. Sometimes I like her, and sometimes I don't -- that's our relationship.

Accountable to / Accountable for

Accountable to means responsible to someone; accountable for means responsible for something or having to explain.

e.g. The Manager has to be accountable to the Board; he has to be accountable for all his business decisions.

Lose / Loose

Lose means being unable to find; loose means to set free or to become less tight.

e.g. Here is your ticket to the game; don't lose it.

e.g. Don't lose your temper (become angry).

e.g. You are too loose with your children (you have little or no control over them).

Impersonate / Personate

Impersonate is to copy or imitate a person for fun; personate is to claim to be another person with the purpose to cheat or deceive.

e.g. The comedian impersonated the President to entertain the audience.

e.g. Someone personated the client, and took the money.

Recourse / Resort

Recourse means turning to others or something for help; resort means to turn to for help (both noun and verb).

e.g. His only recourse was the police.

e.g. The police should not resort to violence to stop the peaceful demonstration.

e.g. The army decided using violence as the last resort.

Decorative / Decorous

Decorative: having an artistic or showy effect.

e.g. The ballroom with all the ribbons and flowers are very decorative.

Decorous: showing good taste.

e.g. The Princess looks decorous in that simple but elegant dress.

Foul / Fowl

Foul means dirty or offensive; fowl  a fowl is a bird, such as hen.

e.g. The smoke from that factory fouls the air. (as a verb)

e.g. He always speak foul language, even in the presence of ladies. (as an adjective)

e.g. We are going to have a roast fowl for Thanksgiving.

Admit / Admit of

Admit means to confess an act; admit of means allow of or leave room for.

e.g. He did not admit taking the key without permission.

e.g. The circumstance admits of no delay.

e.g. His admission of guilt shows his honest personality.

e.g. There is no admittance for error.

WORDS AND PHRASES FREQUENTLY CONFUSED AND MISUSED

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau