English language: Lesson three / writing skill and the rules for writing sentences

Lesson three / writing skill and the rules for writing sentences

How to write a Sentence

• In academic writing, every sentence you write must be grammatically complete. • A grammatically complete sentence consists of a complete thought, and can makes sense on its own.

• It consists of a subject, a verb, and a complement if required.

• A subject (i.e. a noun phrase, which can be a single word or group of words) tells you who or what the sentence is about.

• A verb (i.e. a verb phrase, which can be a single word or group of words) tells you about the subject.

• A complement (a group of words) provides more information about the verb.

The video includes an explanation of how to write the sentences )LOOK AT THE VEIDO)

Example of a complete sentence and its elements: The result of the study confirmed the writer’s hypothesis

The result of the study	subject
confirmed	verb
the writer’s hypothesis.	complement

• The sentence above is a simple sentence, in that it consists of only one clause (i.e. any group of words that contains a subject and a verb, which may or may not be a complete sentence).

• Many sentences consist of more than one clause; they may contain two or more independent clauses (i.e. clauses that contain the essential information and make sense on their own), or a combination of independent and dependent clauses (i.e. clauses that do not contain essential information, and depend on the main clause to express a complete thought). Examples:

Although the result of the study was inconclusive, the committee decided to implement the policy.

*dependent clause*	Although the result of the study was inconclusive,
independent clause	he committee decided to implement the policy.

If the result of the study confirmed the writer’s hypothesis, it would be a major breakthrough in the world of biochemistry.

dependent clause	If the result of the study confirmed the writer’s hypothesis,
independent clause	it would be a major breakthrough in the world of biochemistry

• A sentence is incomplete if it does not express a complete thought, even if it contains a subject and a verb (see the dependent clauses above). It is known as a sentence fragment

. • In summary, a complete sentence has a subject, a verb, and expresses a complete thought. It begins with a capital letter, and ends with an appropriate punctuation (i.e. full stop, question mark or exclamation mark)