Sentence Fluency

Achieving good flow in your writing

A few limericks, shall we…

A flea and a fly in a flue

Were caught, so what could they do?

Said the fly, "Let us flee."

"Let us fly," said the flea.

So they flew through a flaw in the

flue.

A bather whose clothing was strewed,

By winds that left her quite nude,

Saw a man come along,

And unless we are wrong,

You expected this line to be lewd.

The limerick packs laughs

anatomical

Into space that is quite

economical.

But the good ones I've seen

So seldom are clean -

And the clean ones so seldom

are comical.

What makes limericks fun

to listen to?

• They have a rhythm and flow

• They are funny

• The follow a certain rhyme scheme

Writing can flow easily too!

What is wrong with the following sentences?

We came home.

We ate cookies.

We played games.

That’s better…

After school we rode our

bikes home and shared

a plate of homemade

cookies.

Then we decided to play a

quick game of Chinese

Checkers followed by

our favourite Monopoly.

What’s wrong with this sentence?

At this point in time, we feel we are about

ready to begin to fight.

That’s better…

Now we are ready to fight.

-- Make every word work hard and your

sentences will be powerful, full of punch.

Sentence Fluency has:

• Rhythm, flow and natural cadence

• Smooth phrasing

• Well-built sentences

• Varied sentence lengths

• Sentence length that enhances meaning

• Varied sentence beginnings

Can you feel the rhythm and flow?

In yesteryear, when

Moby Dick was just a

tadpole and the seas

rolled and thundered

over the jetties and

onto the shore….

In my old battered wallet I carry many things. A

letter from a friend. My lunch ticket. My social security

card. Many other tidbits and items as well. There is

one thing, however, which I prize above all

possessions. It is a photograph. It’s small, and the

photograph was not good. That does not matter. What

matters is the person in the photograph. His name is …

What is poetry

Poetry is moosick to me

on a piece of paper

Moosick that rhymes

soft moosick to my

ears

Some tips:

• Read what you write aloud and listen to the rhythm

of the language

• Do you like what you hear?

• Does it make you sit up and take notice, or are you

lulled to sleep by the sing-song sameness of each

sentence pattern?

• Develop “sentence sense” – some ways to say

things just sound better than others

Sentence fluency check:

1. Take a section of your writing.

2. Number each sentence

3. Write the first four words of each sentence next to

its number

4. Count the total number of words in the sentence

and write that as well

Did you notice a variety in sentence lengths and

beginnings? If you did, then you have a good

grasp of sentence fluency.

Sentence combining –

an activity in gaining “sentence sense”

Aaron skis on snow.

Aaron skis on water.

Aaron skis on ice.

Instead – Aaron skis on snow, water and ice.

The writer published a new book.

The writer is working on publishing a new book.

Instead – The writer, who has already published a book, is

working on a new one.

Now you try it…

1. Sam is a good friend.

He is trustworthy.

He always comes up with something fun to do.

2. Charlottetown is our capital city.

Charlottetown is beautiful in spring.

3. Colonel Gray is a big school.

There are over one thousand students who attend

school there.

It is a friendly learning community.

Combine these too:

4. Andrew forgot to set his alarm.

Andrew was late for the exam.

The alarm was at his bedside.

5. My computer is a piece of junk.

It is old and very slow.

My connection to the printer wouldn’t work.

My assignment was late.

Transitions – aiding in sentence fluency

In both academic writing and professional writing, your

goal is to convey information clearly and concisely, if

not to convert the reader to your way of thinking.

Transitions help you to achieve these goals by

establishing logical connections between sentences,

paragraphs, and sections of your papers.

In other words, transitions tell readers what to do with

the information you present them. Whether single

words, quick phrases or full sentences, they function as

signs for readers that tell them how to think about,

organize, and react to old and new ideas as they read

through what you have written.

Common transitional phrases –

showing cause and effect

• because….then

• with the result that

• consequently

• therefore

• thus

• then

Example: I missed the bus this morning, thus I was late for

school.

Common transitional phrases –

showing similarity or contrast

• similarly

• likewise

• also

• as

• like

Example: He was as

nervous as a

porcupine in a

balloon factory.

•in contrast

•on the other hand

•an opposing view

•but

•however

•instead

•nevertheless

•still

•unfortunately

•that being said

Example: He was

strong; however, he

wept occasionally.

Common transitional phrases –

drawing conclusions

• Therefore

• Finally

• Hence

• Together these

• To sum it up

• In short

• For these reasons

• In conclusion