BBI2421 General Writing Skills

Week 2:Simple Sentence

Subject-Verb AgreementFragment

Phrase

A group of related words: • without a subject and a verb.• which makes sense but not complete

sense.• e.g.:

1) The sun rises in the east.2) Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.3) She wore a hat with blue trimming.4) The accident on the bridge was not serious.5) The girl with red hair is an artist.

(Taken from http://english---language.blogspot.com/2006/10/what-is-phrase.html)

Clause

A group of related words: • containing a subject and a verb.• expresses complete/incomplete thought• e.g.:

a) She snores. a sentence (independent)

b) When she sleeps not a sentence (dependent)

*You will learn more about clauses in Week 4!

Sentence

A group of words that:a) contains at least one subject and

one verb. E.g.: Sarah cries.

My car is blue in colour.

b) expresses a complete thought.E.g.: Aminah is sending an email.

Types of Sentence

1.Simple Sentences

2.Compound Sentences

3.Complex Sentences

Simple Sentences

• Independent clause– Expresses a complete thought

• One subject-verb pair– Subject (S): (noun or pronoun) – Verb (V): action or condition (eg. Is, are, seem etc.)

• Sentence formula:1) SV2) SSV3) SVV4) SSVV

Simple Sentences (2)

1) SV– E.g.: • Rita bit into the hard doughnut. • The Star War movies were international hits.

2) SSV– E.g.: • Alif and Ammar play football every

afternoon.• Young people and adults enjoyed the movie.

Simple Sentences (3)

3) SVV– E.g.: • Alya goes to the library to study everyday.• The film entertained and thrilled audiences

everywhere.

4) SSVV– E.g.: • Jane and Jill finished their homework and

went to the park.• Luke Skywalker and his friends battled evil

and made us laugh at the same time.

Simple Sentences (4)

Remember!

*Simple sentences can be very short (Alif laughed.)

*Simple sentences can be very long(The tall, good-looking boy with the curly

blond hair laughed uproariously at his best friend’s suggestion.)

Subject-Verb Agreement (SVA)

• A singular subject demands a singular verb

1. My sister is married. 2. Donald Trump has five children.3. The sun rises in the east .

Subject-Verb Agreement (SVA-2)

• A plural subject demands a plural verb

1. They have a lot in common. 2. Japan and Korea were hosts for 2002 FIFA World Cup.3. Alya and Amni love baking.

Some Confusions in SVA1) there + be verb (is/are/was/were)

subject follows be verb

E.g.: • There is a student in the hall.• There are three students in the hall.• There was no reason for his action.• There were many reasons for his success.

Some Confusions in SVA (2)2) subject + prepositional phrase (PP)* +

verb Ignore the noun/pronoun in the PP!

E.g.:• One (of my sisters) is a singer.• The colour (of her eyes) changes when she is angry.• Six kinds (of rice) are available in the grocery store.

*PP: begins with a preposition (of, with, in, at, on) and ends with a noun or pronoun

Some Confusions in SVA (3)

3) Words that are always singular

E.g.:• One (of my brothers) is a musician.• Neither (of my parents) is living.• Much (of my time) is spent in the library.• Each (of my brothers) wants his own car.• Either (of my sisters) is able to baby-sit for you

tonight.• Nothing ever happens in my life.• Is anyone home?

Some Confusions in SVA (4)

4) Words that are always plural

E.g.:• Both (of my parents) are teachers.• Several (of the teachers) speak my

language.• Many (of my friends) work in the library.

Some Confusions in SVA (5)

5) singular/plural words refer to the noun in PP

E.g.:• Some (of the money) was missing. (singular)• Some (of the students) were missing.

(plural)

• All (of my time) is spent in the library. (singular)• All (of my brothers) are singers. (plural)

Some Confusions in SVA (6)

• Most (of the ice) was melted. (singular)• Most (of the ice cubes) were melted. (plural)

• A lot (of the work) was too easy. (singular)• A lot (of the people) were angry. (plural)

• None (of the furniture) is new. (singular)• None (of the apples) are fresh. (plural)

Fragment (sentence error)• 1 subject + 1 verb = sentence – E.g.:

• Ammar is an architect. (subject: Ammar, verb: is)

• 1 subject + 0 verb = fragment – E.g.:

• Maryam a teacher.• Correction: Maryam is a teacher.

• 0 subject + 1 verb = fragment – E.g.:

• Is an architect• Correction: Ammar is an architect.

Parallel Structure/Parallelism (sentence error)

“Parallelism is a similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases,

or clauses”

(Taken from http://rhetoric.byu.edu/figures/p/parallelism.htm)

Parallel Structure/Parallelism (2)

1)Parallelism of Words

The crowd clapped, cheered and cry while watching the show.

(past tense, past tense, present tense) Let’s compare!

The crowd clapped, cheered and cried while watching the show.

(past tense, past tense, past tense)

Parallel Structure/Parallelism (2)

2) Parallelism of Phrases

Singing a song or poem writing is joyous. (gerund-article-object of gerund, noun-gerund)

Let’s compare!

Singing a song or writing a poem is joyous. (gerund-article-object of gerund, gerund-article-object

of gerund)

Parallel Structure/Parallelism (3)

3) Parallelism of Clauses

Viva is inexpensive; Myvi is very spacious; and Preve is powerful. (noun-verb-adjective, noun-verb-adverb-adjective, noun- verb-adjective)

Let’s compare!

Viva is inexpensive; Myvi is spacious; and Preve is

powerful. (noun-verb-adjective, noun-verb-adjective, noun- verb-adjective)