UNIT ONE

WRITING EFFECTIVE
SENTENCES:
SENTENCE TYPES AND
SENTENCE ERRORS
 1.1 Sentence Types Base on Their Structures
( Type and Number of Clauses)
A. Simple Sentence
- a sentence with one independent clause
- contains one main clause and no
subordinate clauses
- usually contains one subject and one verb
- may contain one subject and more than
one predicate , or more than one subject and one
predicate
- its name doe not refer to its length
Examples:
Kids love television.
Does this seem a normal activity?
I like simple sentences.
Olivia Pope and Associates is a law firm
that fixes complicated crime scenes

Being an English teacher with a desire for syntactical

complexity, I like simple sentences.

Being an English teacher with a desire for syntactical

complexity, I love to read simple sentences upon
getting up and before going to bed.
v A simple sentences can have a single subject
and multiple predicates , or multiple subjects
and a single predicate.

Examples

- I love to jog, to swim and to watch movies.

- Miriam and Huck failed the national exam.
- Ethiopia , Uganda and Sudan are countries
with a recorded lowest child death rates in
Africa.
Sentence Types Based on Structure continued …,

B. Compound Sentence
- contains two or more independent clauses (main
clauses).

- consists at least two main clauses connected with

i) just a semicolon , or

ii) a comma followed by one of the following

coordinating conjunctions;

FANBOYS For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet and So

 Examples

Don’t ask what your country can do for you, but

ask what you can do for your country. - JFK

I love conjunctive adverbs; my students love each

other, and we all love holidays.

The deadline of the final exam is approaching,

yet I have not started preparation.
Sentence Types Based on Structure continued …,

C. Complex Sentence
- contains one independent clause and one or more
dependent clauses.
- The most common type of complex sentence uses
adverbial clauses.
- Adverbial clauses contain subordinating conjunctions
such as: Since Even if After While
Though Despite Before As a result
Hence Even though for the reason that
Examples:

Because life is complex, we need complex

sentences.

Despite the weather was bad, she decided

not to cancel her flight.

After studying very hard and graduating

with a great distinction, he finally became
successful to go to college.
 Sentence Types Based on Structure continued …,

D. Complex- Compound Sentence

- Contains two or more independent clauses and one or more

dependent clauses.

- a combination of compound and complex sentences

- the independent clauses are joined by just a semi-colon, or

a comma followed by coordinating conjunctions

- the dependent clauses are attached to the independent

caluses by subordinating conjunctions.
 Examples

B e c a u s e I a m a n E n g l i s h t e a c h e r, s o m e
people expect me to speak perfectly, and others
expect me to write perfectly.

Despite the great economic crisis the country

has suffered, the big inflation the monetary
system has endured, the living condition of its
people has improved remarkably, and the
country has registered a double-digit growth.
 1.2 Sentence Types Base on their Purpose

A. Declarative Sentence
- A declarative sentence

makes a statement;

gives information,

expresses/describes ideas, things,

events, persons or places.

- A declarative sentence ends with a period.

 Examples

Now you are declared as husband and wife

I am still in my bed thinking how I managed to

survive the car accident.

Smoking makes the life of your lungs shorter, and

increase your chance of being diagnosed with cancer.

she is a woman combining spectacular beauty and

extraordinary intelligence.
 Sentence Types Base on their Purpose continued…,

B. Interrogative Sentence

- asks a question

- usually needs answer from another body.

- ends with a question mark (?)

Examples : How do you find the lesson?

 Sentence Types Base on their Purpose continued…,

C. Excalamtory Sentence

- shows strong feeling, emotion, and excitement or

admire

- ends with an exclamation mark (!)

Example: The monster is attacking!

The movie was breath taking!
What a nice car!
The match was spectacular!
 Sentence Types Base on their Purpose continued…,

D. Imperative Sentence

- gives a command or order to do something

- may end with a full stop (.) or an exclamation mark (!)

Example: Chala, try the other door.

Stop shouting!
Write three examples of imperative sentence.

- Sometimes the subject of an imperative sentence (you) is

understood.

• Example: Look in the closet. (You, look in the closet.)

 Activity -1
Identify an write the type of the following sentences as simple,
compound, complex and complex-compound sentences

1. Health insurance protects people from large medical bills.

2. The manager who employed Bikila as directorate of he business
processing is a though boss
3. If we type a grammatically incorrect sentence, one of these
programs highlights the incorrect parts of the sentence, and
corrects them.
4. Many people today are overweight, and being overweight has
been connected to some kinds of cancer
5. Marie an Bill and I stayed up until four in the morning
 Activity -1
First , identify the type of the following sentences based on
function; then put the appropriate punctuation at the end of each
sentence.
1. How come you forget our appointment
2. It is freezing to death
3. Grab that book for me
4. What a shame
5. Most people like being addressed by their names.
6. Don’t forget to put on your seatbelt whenever you drive
7. I always find pleasure and happiness in being with her.
8. Everyday of my life in the past three years was full of misery that
no can ever think of bearing it.
9. Haste makes waste
Sentence Errors/Faults

B e c a u s e o f s e n t e n c e p ro b l e m s , w r i t i n g o f t e n f a i l s t o
communicate what the writer means.

This section deals with the most common sentence errors that
keep sentences from communicating your meanings clearly.

Sentence errors are of many kinds such as sentence fragments,

subject-verb disagreement errors, run-on sentence, comma splice,
pronoun antecedent and pronoun reference errors, dangling
modifier, misplaced modifier, choppy sentences, wordiness,
redundancy,
1. Sentence Fragments

-Is an incomplete sentence that miss key words, as a result;

fails to communicate a complete meaning.

-Lacks a subject, a verb, or is a dependent clause that needs to

be subordinated to an independent clause to give a complete
meaning.

-Participial Phrases and Prepositional Phrases

-To correct a sentence fragment, ask the following three

questions:

-A) Does the sentence have a verb?

-B) Does the sentence have a subject?
-C) Is the sentence simply a group of words that does not give
a complete meaning?
Example: Sentence Fragments

1. Yoyo, who lost his friend last year.

2. Defeated his opponents and claimed victory

3. To write effective sentences.

4. After completing her assignment.

5. Crying out for help.

6. Determined to win the race.

Corrected Versions

1. Didimos, who lost his friend last year, stood first from his
class.

2. She defeated her opponents and claimed victory.

3. To write effective sentences, students should learn about

sentence errors.

4. After completing her assignment, she decided to hangout

with her friends to have a few break.

5. Crying out for help, she went out to the street and
screamed a lot.

6. Determined to win the race, she practiced every morning

for at least four hours a day.
1. Exercise

Rewrite the following sentences by correcting the fragment

faults.

1. Thinking of finding a good book.

2. To let her anger leave her.

3. Spoiled her life and career.

4. Ananiya, a renowned Ethiopian writer.

5. Depressed and not knowing what to do,

2. Run –on /Fused Sentence

- is a sentence that holds two or more sentences together

without being joined by the proper use of punctuation,
coordination, and subordination.

Examples:

She hesitated to take a step-in into the business she was

afraid that it would not earn her a good profit.
How to Correct a Run-on Sentence

1. Separating the two sentences by a full stop

She hesitated to take a step-in into the business. She was

afraid that it would not earn her a good profit.

2. Using a comma and a coordination conjunction

She was afraid that it would not earn her a good profit, so
she hesitated to take a step-in into the business.
3. Using just a semi-colon

She hesitated to take a step-in into the business; she was

afraid that it would not earn her a good profit.

4. Changing one of the sentence into a dependent clause and

subordinating it the other sentences by using subordinating
conjunctions and conjunctive adverbs.

She was afraid that it would not earn her a good profit, she
hesitated to take a step-in into the business
Run on: He lost all what he had accumulated before he didn’t
want to give up and decided to have a fresh start

Correct Versions:

He lost all what he had accumulated before, however; he

didn’t want to give up and decided to have a fresh start.
al
After he lost all what he had accumulated before, he didn’t
want to give up and decided to have a fresh start.
 Exercise: Rewrite the correct version of the following run-
on sentences

1. The professor suffered from a severe cancer for many years

he finally passed away and buried in his home town.
2. She believed the profession would earn her a lot of money
and a good prestige she made up her mind to study
medicine. al
3. The criminal appealed to the court two times he was given
the death penalty at the end.
4. She knew that he loved her so much in all his heart she left
him in pursuit of another man for his money and power.
5. My friend is arrogant and not an easy-going person I
managed to live with him for the past four years.
6. He is a liar and a gossiper, no body trusts and listens to him.
 3. Comma- Splice

- is a wrong use of a comma to join sentences.

Example:

A visit to the country side during winter is not a good idea,

there is a lot of rain and cold
al
out there.

She celebrated her 28 t h birthday, she received many

interesting gifts from her friends.
 How to Correct a Coma-Splice

1. Add an appropriate coordinating conjunction after the

comma.

Example:

A visit to the country side during

al
winter is not a good idea,
for there is a lot of rain and cold out there.

2. Separate the sentences by period.

Example:

She celebrated her 28 t h birthday, she received many

interesting gifts from her friends.
3. Use just a semi colon to join the sentences

Example:

A visit to the country side during winter is not a good idea;

there is a lot of rain and cold out there.

4. Turn one of the sentencesal into a dependent clause and

subordinate it the other sentences using a subordinate
conjunction and a conjunctive adverb.

Example;
A visit to the country side during the winter time is not a
good ides since there is a lot of rain and cold out there.
While she celebrated her 28th birthday, she received many
gifts from her friends.
Exercise: Avoid the comma splice in the following sentences
and re-write them correctly.

1. She couldn’t remember the burglar , she didn’t have

enough time to see his face.

2. She left for Kuwait for a better life, she returned back to
her home almost bare-handed
al
and harshly beaten by her
employers.

3. Her father didn’t like the idea of leaving her job, she didn’t
listen to his advice and decided to get a new one.

4. He didn’t have enough time to prepare himself, he

completed all the exams with straight A’s.
4. Subject-Verb Disagreement

- A subject should agree with its verb

- A singular verb should be used with singular subject

- A plural verb should be used with a plural subject

al

- Example:

The teacher do not agree with his student’s opinion.

He hate her for she tries to take advantage of his money.

 Situations in which subject verb disagreement may
occur
4.1. Words and phrases come between the subject and verb

Any words or phrases that come between the subject and

verb does not determine the subject-verb disagreement
al
Example: The woman standing in the waves with the other
swimmers win a prize for her performance.

Correct: The woman standing in the waves with the other

swimmers wins a prize for her performance.
More Examples

- Doctors in a small town (has, have) many advantages

- One of my son’s worst habits (is, are) smoking and missing

classes.

- She, unlike students at heral

age, (has, have) always a
different way of seeing things.
4.2 Compound Subjects

A. Compound subjects joined by ‘and’ are plural

Examples: Incorrect

Good lighting and thoughtful

al
composition makes pictures
perfect.

Fear and ignorance has to do with hatred.

Samuel and Sarah wants to buy a car.

4.3 Singular words joined by ‘or, nor, either…or, and
neither…nor’

Examples

- Neither your manner nor your argument is convincing.

- Either Helen or Kassahun has

al
you jacket.

- Dad or Mom drives us to school.

4.4 When a singular subject and plural subjects are joined by
‘‘or, nor, either…or, and neither…nor’

Examples:

Neither the firefighters nor their chief (know, knows) how

the fire started.
al
The first paragraph or the last paragraphs (is, are)
unnecessary.
4.4 Collective Nouns- nouns that name a group of people or
things; committee, club, team, crew, herd, crowd, etc…

- A singular verb is used with a collective noun when the

group acts together as single unit.

- A plural verb is used with a collective noun when the

members of the group actsalseparately as individuals.

- Examples:
The crew works all together.
The crew were reading in the library.

The committee has decided to suspend the students

The committee have seen the case very seriously.
4.5 Indefinite Pronouns

- Some indefinite pronouns are always singular, and some

are always plural, while some others can be singular or
plural based on their use in a sentences.

- Singular Indefinite Pronouns

al
anybody anything everything one
each either neither nobody
everybody everyone somebody anyone
someone no one

- Plural Indefinite Pronoun –

Many Several Few Both

Examples:

Each of the books has pages missing.

Neither of the coaches wants to complain.

Everybody in the auditorium was excited.

al
Nobody agrees with the premier’s proposal.

Several are injured by the fire.

Few in the race have dropped out.

Both doors at the front were open.

Many decide to take part in the campaign.

- Singular or Plural Indefinite Pronouns

Some all any most none

- Examples:

Some of the money was robbed.

al
Some of the monuments were destroyed.

Most of the story was distorted.

Most of the protesters were dispersed by
the police.

All of the oil was leaked into the sea.

All of her belongings were confiscated.
5. Pronoun Antecedent Agreement

A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number and gender.

Rule: 1

A singular pronoun must replace a singular noun; a plural pronoun

must replace a plural noun. al

Example:

President Lincoln deliver his State of the Union address.

She made it clear to him that it is her final decision.
Many students thought that they would make it to the next
grade.
 Situations that a Pronoun antecedent agreement Error
may Occur

1. A phrase or clause between the subject and verb does not

change the number of the antecedent.

Example : The can of Lima beans sits on its shelf.

al
2. Indefinite pronouns as antecedents

Singular indefinite pronoun antecedents take singular pronoun

referents.

Example:

Each of the clerks did a good deal of work around his/her office
3. Plural indefinite pronoun antecedents require plural
referents.
PLURAL: several, few, both, many

Example: Both did a good job in their office yesterday.

4. Some indefinite pronouns that are modified by a prepositional

phrase may be either singular or plural.

Examples:

Some of the Sugar fell out of its bag.

All of the jewellery has lost its glow.
Some of the marbles fell out of their bags.
All of the jewels have lost their glows.
5. Compound subjects joined by and always take a plural referent.

Example: Jones and Smith made their presentation.

6. With compound subjects joined by or/nor, the referent

pronoun agrees with the antecedent closer to the pronoun.

Example: Neither their director nor the actors did their job.
Neither their actors nor the director did his/her job.

7. Collective Nouns (group, jury, crowd, team, etc.) may be

singular or plural, depending on meaning.

Example: The jerry reads its verdict.

The jerry members gave their individual opinions
8. Titles of single entities. (books, organizations, countries, etc.)
take a singular referent.

Examples: The United States cherishes its democracy.

The United Nations expressed its concern on human
rights in Syria.
The Grapes of Wrath made its characters seem real.

9. Plural form subjects with a singular meaning take a singular

referent. (news, measles, mathematics, physics, etc)

Example: The news has lost much of its sting two days latter.
10. Every or Many a before a noun or a series of nouns requires a
singular referent.

Examples: Every cow, pig and horse had lost its life in the fire.
Many a girl wishes she could sing like Tina Turner.

11. The number of Vs A number of before a subject:

The number of is singular:

Ex- The number of volunteers increases its ranks daily.

A number of is plural:

A number of volunteers are offering their help.

6. Parallelism Faults

Words, phrases and clauses in series should have a parallel

structure; it will keep a sentence to be clearer and easier to
understand.

Examples:
al
Nonparallel Structure Parallel Structure

1. Kiros enjoys reading Kiros enjoys reading and

and to go the theatre
2. No one told Yared to
bring a note and that he
has to go to the office
going to the theatre.
No one told Yared that he
has to bring a note and
that he has to go to the
office.
Nonparallel Structure
3. Betty is tall, fast, and
good coordination
4. The single life offers
al
more freedom of choice;
more security is offered by
marriage
Parallel Structure
Betty is tall, is fast and has
good communication
The single life offers more
freedom of choice; marriage
offers more security
7. Modifier Problems

Modifiers- are words, phrases or clauses that modify a noun in

some ways.

7.1 Misplaced Modifier

Occurs when modifiers do not describe words as the writer

intends to because of their awkward placement in a sentence

Modifiers should be placed immediately before or after the

word they describe.
Examples:

Incorrect: Jhon was trying attentively trying to listen

Correct: Jhon was trying to listen attentively.

Incorrect: The boys were warned about reckless driving by the

police

Correct: The police warned the boys about reckless driving

 Kinds of Misplaced Modifiers

A. Misplaced Adjectives

Incorrect: The child ate a cold dish of cereals for breakfast this
morning.

Correct: The child ate a dish of cold cereal for breakfast this
morning.

B. Placement of Adverbs

Adverbs such as just and only can have a different meaning

when they take different positions in a sentence.
1. Just Kassa was picked to Only Kassa was picked to
host the program host the program

2. Kassa was just picked to host Kassa was picked now…

the program.

3. Kassa was to host just the Only the program, nothing else.
program

4. I only ate the spaghetti There was only spaghetti,

nothing else.

5. I ate only the spaghetti There were other things to eat,

but I ate only the spaghetti
C. Misplaced phrases

Incorrect: They saw a fence behind the house made of barbed

wire

Correct; They saw a fence made of barbed wire behind the

house.

D. Misplaced Clauses

Incorrect: 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.
7.2 Dangling Modifier

Occurs when;

- Some important words are missing from the sentence

- When the modifier is not logically related to the words it

modifies

- As a result, it becomes vague and the sentence takes

unintended meaning.

- A modifier that opens a sentence must be followed

immediately by the words it modifies
 Dangling Correct

1. Swimming at the lake, a Swimming at lake, Henok

rock cut Henok’s foot cut off his foot on a rock.

2 . R e a d i n g t h e p a p e r, Reading the paper, I can

many facts can be learned. learn many facts.
3. To get a license, a test To get a license, you must
must be passed. pass a test.
Walking to the cinema, the Walking to the Cinema,
rain drenched Sosina. Sosina was drenched by
the rain.
8. Wordiness and Redundancy

Wordiness- Using words more than unnecessary to express an

idea in a sentence

Redundancy: Repeating the same idea indifferent ways or

expressions in a sentence.

Example

For all intents and purposes, the reason Mr. Johnson arrived late
for class was due to the fact that he stopped at very many traffic
lights that were red in color.

Correction: Mr. Johnson arrived late for class because he stopped

at many red lights.
1. Helina is of the opinion H e l i n a b e l i e ve s i n t h e
that death penalty should death penalty.
not be allowed
2. I would like to say that My speech is about my
my subject in this speech generous father.
will be the kind of
generous person my
father was.
a). Eliminate wordiness

appear to be appear

dash quickly dash

completely finished Finished

b) Delete empty words and phrases

Examples:

generally, apparently, really, I believe I feel, virtually, needless to

say, obviously, etc…
c) Avoid expressions that can be more clearly said in a different
way
at this point in time now
had an effect upon influenced
the purpose of for
until such a time until

d) Avoid unnecessary use of passive voice/verbs

Examples: It is felt that an exercise program should be attempted

by this patient before any surgery is performed.

Improved Sentence
The patient should attempt an exercise program before surgery.