Module One: Building Sentences

Grammar Module One: Building Sentences

1. 
   Introduction
   
2. 
   The Independent Clause and Simple Sentence
   
3. 
   Avoiding Run-On Sentences and Comma Splices
   
4. 
   Combining Simple Sentences to Make Compound Sentences
   
5. 
   The Subordinate Clause and the Complex Sentence
   
6. 
   Avoiding Sentence Fragments
   
7. 
   The Compound- Complex Sentence
   

I. Introduction
This grammar module looks at the ordering of words to make up clauses and sentences. The larger parts of written texts - the paragraphs, sections, chapters- are only as clear as the sentences of which they are made. You cannot write a paragraph clearly if you cannot write clear sentences. Clear sentences are well-ordered, well-constructed sentences.
This module is cumulative; the later sections are based on what is in the first sections. We recommend working through sections one to six slowly, trying the exercises in each and going on to the next when you feel ready. It takes time and practice to begin to absorb and use this information in your own writing. When you do, you will be able to not only avoid the two most common sentence structure errors in student papers, the run-on sentence and the sentence fragment, but you will also be able to put together short simple sentences and long complex ones with ease and clarity.
II. The Independent Clause and Simple Sentence
A sentence is made up of one or more clauses. To understand what a sentence is, it helps to understand what a clause is. To do that, you must understand what a subject and verb are.
Clause
A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb. A clause may have other words besides these, but to be a clause, it must have the two.
Subject
A subject is usually a noun (person, place, thing, idea) or a pronoun (a word that substitutes for and refers to a noun: e.g. "he" for "Sam"). The subject of a sentence is the noun or pronoun that name who or what the sentence is about: 
Fish swim. (Fish is the subject.)
He wrote the letter. (He is the subject.)
Verb
A verb conveys action or "states of being or mind."
Fish swim. (Swim is the verb.)
He seems happy. (Seem is the verb.)
It is not always easy to recognize verbs which convey states of being or mind, but they are some of the most used. Examples are: to be, to seem, to have, to appear.
In English, subjects usually come before verbs:
The battle rages. 
However, sometimes the subject comes after the verb:
In our neighbours' yard are two big maple trees.
There are several books on the table.
Subject-verb order is often reversed or modified in questions:
Who are you?
Are you going home this weekend?
In something called an "expletive construction," the subject follows the verb and the sentence begins with either "there is" or "there are."
There is a book on the table.
There are several books on the table.