Write with Might #14
Dear writers,
EDP SocW 501 Workshop: January 26th, 10:30 am- 12pm, 305 A/5
To continue the conversation from last week, this week’s writing tip again focuses on
sentence structure. In academic and professional writing it is essential that sentences are not only grammatically correct, but also that they are varied in pattern. This week I present information on the various types of sentence patterns. Good news for all writers: there are only nine basic sentence patterns in the English language.
Thus, if we can familiarize ourselves with the basic patterns, we can learn how to combine them to create more complex, unique sentences with ease. The following information is adapted from Chapter 7 in Webster’s New World English Grammar Handbook, Second Edition, with citation following.
Basic Sentence Patterns
1. Noun + Verb (to be) + Adjective
The dog is cute.
2. Noun + Verb (to be) + Adverb
My computer was charged.
3. Noun 1 + Verb (to be) + Noun 2
Many MSW students will be leaders.
4. Noun + Intransitive Verb
The music faded.
A note on intransitive verbs: an intransitive verb is is a verb that
communicates action but does not have a direct object
5. Noun 1 + Transitive Verb + Noun 2
The musician played the guitar
A note on transitive verbs: a transitive verb is a verb that
communicates action and has a direct object. In this case, the direct object is
“guitar.”
6. Noun 1 + Transitive Verb + Noun 2 + [to] + Noun 3
The chef brought our table a complimentary appetizer.
7. Noun 1 + Transitive Verb + Noun 2 + [Noun/Pronoun/Adjective/Adverb/Verb/Prepositional Phrase/Infinitive Phrase with
“to be”]
The professor considered the student to be bright.
8. Noun + Linking Verb + Adjective
The salted caramel ice cream tastes delicious.
A note on linking verbs: a linking verb shows a relationship
between the subject and predicate of the sentence, but does not covey action.
Linking verbs often relate to the senses, such as “smell,” “look,” “taste,” “appear.”
9. Noun 1 + Linking Verb + Noun 2
The vistas became invisible during the hike.
Loberger, G., & Shoup, K. (2009). Webster’s New World
English Grammar Handbook (2nd ed.) (pp. 149-156) Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Publishing,
Inc.
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