Writing Effective Sentences

University of the Sacred Heart Department of Humanities

Center for Language Development Across the Disciplines

LAD

Objective
To help the student write clear and

effective sentences.

The Four Cornerstones of Writing Clear Sentences

Write a clear subject and a clear predicate

Place modifiers close to what is being modified

Use appropriate punctuation Make sure the meaning can be clearly understood

Use the Appropriate Conjunctions

Conjunctions help you write clear sentences by connecting words or groups of words in a sentence

Coordinating conjunctions: And, but, or Subordinating conjunctions: As, because, if, since, until, while Conjunctive adverbs: Accordingly, however, instead

Examples

Mary traveled to Florida, but she could not visit Disney World. Mary traveled to Florida because she had an important business meeting. Mary traveled to Florida to meet some business people; however, she had to return to Puerto Rico before the meeting.

Things to Avoid

Wordiness
The lack of responsibility of John made him fail the class.

VS
John failed the class because of his irresponsibility. Or Johns lack of responsibility made him fail the class.

Unnecessary Phrases
Students in the present time have to work to pay for college. VS

Today, students have to work to pay for college.

Eliminate Unnecessary Words and Phrases The movie was kind of disturbing.

VS The movie was disturbing.

Avoid Saying the Same Thing Twice (Redundancy) The computer is a new innovation. VS

The computer is an innovation.

For More Information

Index English Grammar and Composition http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/index2.ht m Tons of Fun with Grammar http://www.seasite.niu.edu/flin/103_handouts/sen tences_and_phrases.htm Grammar Book Table of Contents http://www.grammarbook.com/exercises/gramma r/cnt_gram.html

Center for Language Development Across the Disciplines

Prepared by: Thalia N. Nazario-Santiago Coordinator for the Center for Languages and Culture April-June 2003 Revised by: Patricia Kidd Revised by: Prof. Delia Serrano (January 2005) August 2004