{"id":622,"date":"2018-11-14T10:00:17","date_gmt":"2018-11-14T15:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/learning-resources\/?p=622"},"modified":"2024-01-30T15:47:16","modified_gmt":"2024-01-30T20:47:16","slug":"sentence-structure-variety-spice-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/learning-resources\/sentence-structure-variety-spice-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Sentence Structure: Variety is the Spice of Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sentences are the building blocks of paragraphs, novels, and academic papers. Building a strong sentence is the start of an “A” paper. Keep the reader’s interest using subordination and coordination. Take a look at the following two examples.<\/p>\n

Sentences can be simple.\u00a0 They convey information to the reader. Readability is important to effectively convey this information. Simple sentences won\u2019t help a sleeping reader.<\/p>\n

Sentences can be simple, but they don\u2019t have to be that way to perform their function.\u00a0 Though readability is important to effectively convey information, more complex sentences can show how ideas are related and provide more interest to the reader.<\/p>\n

Make your sentence sparkle<\/h3>\n

Which one of those paragraphs would you prefer to read? (I\u2019m guessing the second.) Is the second paragraph really any harder to understand than the first? (I\u2019m guessing you\u2019ll say no.)\u00a0 The second paragraph uses what we crazy English types call coordination and subordination, the two main methods of joining ideas.\u00a0 Before we get into all of that, let\u2019s take a trip down memory lane to my last post<\/a>, where we discussed fragments, which are dependent clauses<\/em> while complete sentences are independent clauses<\/em>. This will all become relevant soon.<\/p>\n

Coordination<\/h4>\n

Coordination is the joining of two independent<\/em> clauses, so two complete sentences.\u00a0\u00a0 It is coordination because they are working together. Neither has any more weight than the other.\u00a0 Let\u2019s use those last two sentences to showcase different methods of coordination.<\/p>\n

Semicolon use<\/em><\/p>\n

It is coordination because they are working together; neither has any more weight than the other.<\/p>\n

Coordinating conjunction use (FANBOYS \u2013 for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)<\/em><\/p>\n

It is coordination because they are working together, so neither has any more weight than the other.<\/p>\n

Conjunctive adverb use (however, therefore, consequently, etc.)<\/em><\/p>\n

It is coordination because they are working together; therefore, neither has any more weight than the other.<\/p>\n

Subordination<\/h4>\n

Subordination is the joining of at least one independent<\/em> clause with at least one dependent<\/em> clause.\u00a0 It is subordination because one clause (the independent clause) carries more weight than the other.\u00a0 The dependent clause typically begins with a subordinating conjunction.\u00a0 Unfortunately, there is no nice mnemonic device to remember them, unlike the FANBOYS, but it is often easiest to think of these as expressing condition.\u00a0 For example, IF this, because this, when, while, during, after, etc.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll use a sentence from earlier as our example.\u00a0 In \u201cIt is subordination because one clause carries more weight than the other,\u201d \u201cIt is subordination\u201d is the independent clause while the rest is the dependent clause.\u00a0 There are two ways the sentence can be structured, with the independent clause<\/em> first or the dependent clause<\/strong> first.<\/p>\n

It is subordination<\/em> because one clause carries more weight than the other<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Because one clause carries more weight than the other<\/strong>, it is subordination<\/em>.<\/p>\n

We use subordination<\/em> if there is one part of the sentence we wish to emphasize.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If there is one part of the sentence we wish to emphasize,<\/strong> we use subordination.<\/em><\/p>\n

(Note the comma only appears when the dependent clause comes first.)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Perhaps most important to note about all of these methods is to not rely on any one of them too much.\u00a0 Varying your sentence structure helps to create a more interesting read. Intrigued? Have questions? Check out resources available<\/a> to help students learn more from research guides to free tutoring!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Make your sentences sparkle! Keep the reader’s interest using subordination and coordination. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":998,"featured_media":300,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"coauthors":[22],"class_list":["post-622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-learning-resources"],"yoast_head":"\r\nSentence Structure: Variety is the Spice of Life - Learning Resources<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Make your sentences sparkle! A humble sentence is the building block of your writing. 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