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What Makes an E ective Sentence?

Homework due Jul 9, 2020 16:32 PKT
Writing beautiful sentences is not an exact science. Although there are basic rules of grammar,
good writers nd ways to express themselves through writing in di erent ways: using di erent
vocabulary, varying the length of sentences, using di erent sentence types, and more! 

As we've discussed, grammatically, a sentence needs a subject and a predicate. However,

stylistically, it needs much more:

clarity:  a sentence should be clear to the reader

well-chosen vocabulary: choose words whose meaning you are sure of, and use them correctly

strong verbs: when possible, use verbs that show the action of the sentence. The verb 'be' (in all
its forms -- is, are, was, were, etc.) is a weaker choice of verb in many cases. Try to nd a verb that
shows the action.

proper length: if your sentence expresses a simple idea, it probably needs to be a short
sentence. More complex ideas may need longer sentences. Vary your sentence lengths as well. If
all your sentences are short, your writing sounds "choppy." If all your sentences are long, your
writing can be overly complicated and hard to understand.

limited number of clauses and prepositions: the more clauses and prepositions you have in a
sentence, the harder it can be to understand. Think about how many clauses you have included
in a single sentence.

subject-verb agreement: be sure you can identify the subject of your sentence, then make sure
the verb agrees with it in number. For example:

The cup is full of co ee.

The cups are full of co ee.

correct verb tense: if you are speaking of things in the past, use past tense verbs. This may seem
obvious, but if your native language does not make this distinction with verbs, this can be a
di cult aspect of English. 

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