GROWING BEYOND THE SIMPLE SENTENCE ADAPTED FROM PAINLESS

GROWING BEYOND THE SIMPLE SENTENCE ADAPTED FROM PAINLESS WRITING BY JEFFREY STRAUSSER

Commas! Paired correctly, commas can change the wimpy short, declarative sentence into a strong, sophisticated sentence. Pair with: a Participial Phrase, a Prepositional Phrase, a Coordinating Conjunction, a Semicolon

Participial Phrases What: A verb form of a word, ending in -ing or -ed that is derived from a verb. The phrase included additional words that together with the participle function as an adjective. Examples: Blending into the parade, the mastermind eluded the police. Paralyzed with fear, the children ran back home that Halloween night.

Beware of the Dangling Phrase! Don’t leave your participial phrase hanging! Rule: It MUST refer to the subject. Bad example: Having recently passed away, I thought of my cat every day. Changed: I thought of my cat, who had recently passed away, every day.

Prepositional Phrases Examples: With the flow, Against all odds, On a lark…etc. Convert the first sentence into a prepositional phrase and use a comma to set if off from the second sentence to make a flowing, complex sentence.

Example The moon glowed overhead. The boys enjoyed the stillness of the night. Prepositional phrase change: With the moon glowing overhead, the boys enjoyed the stillness of the night.

Use with a coordinating conjunction Coordinating conjunction words include: and, but, or, neither/nor, so, for, and yet. Use them to join two independent clauses to create a flowing sentence. Don’t overdo it…do it to make your writing more dynamic and connect ideas more clearly for your reader. Example: The students respect Ms. Kagihara. Similarly, she respects her class. Revision: The students respect Ms. Kagihara, and she respect her class.

Comma and Semicolon Join Forces There needs to be a very clear connection of ideas. Reduce the wordiness of your sentences. Example: John decided to attend Utah State. Mary decided to attend University of Utah. Revision: John decided to attend Utah State; Mary, University of Utah.