Ever written something that, on reading it a second time, just didn’t make sense? Or found a sentence that at first seemed so intelligent but looked quite the opposite when you took a second look? “I didn’t really write that,” you may say to yourself in amazement. But as disheartening as this can be and as difficult as it can be to write clear sentences that convey the meaning you intend – and this happens to even the best of writers – here are four useful guides to help you stay on track and write sentences that work:
1) Determine the type of sentence you have written: Sentences are of certain types: simple, compound, compound-complex, and complex. They also must (it’s mandatory and not optional) have certain elements: a verb of some sort indicating action or a statement of “what is”; a noun of some sort, and so forth. You, as the speaker or writer, have to follow the rules imposed by these forms, just as your audience, whether listeners or readers, also know these forms and expect to find them in your sentences.
2) Identify the parts of speech in your writing: These are the categories of words or phrases – nouns, verbs, or prepositions, for example – with specific meanings that you will find in a dictionary, and with specific functions or roles they play within a sentence or paragraph, just like actors in a play. If you are unsure, there is a way out of this confusion. Learning word meanings by consulting a dictionary and using a grammar and usage book to learn how a word functions within a sentence can mean big improvements in writing strong, clear sentences.
3) Understand the differences between spoken and written language: “I write the way I speak.” Well, uh, no, you don’t, at least not exactly. Writing flows somewhat differently from speech because writing and speaking occur in contexts where the clues are different. In speaking, you might smile to indicate you are telling a joke. In writing, you are required to use commas and other marks of punctuation that are never expressed in speech—and these can make for crucial differences in meaning. (Have you ever heard anyone say: “New paragraph”? Unlikely.) But the rules of engagement of speaking and writing are close enough so that reading a written sentence out loud – speaking it, in effect – can often help you locate what is and what is not working in that sentence.
4) Ask “Does this sentence make sense to me?” You have made the beef stew, but you’ve left out the beef! This can happen. Or something is wrong, but it’s not quite clear what it is — you just know the sentence doesn’t work. (I have had students who go on anyway, hoping that I will understand their sentence – which I don’t.) Here you can go back to the kernel sentence, and build it back up by rewriting it. Or, going even further back, take the single term or phrase that you started with and, in a creative leap, use that kernel word or phrase to build an entirely new sentence. Last, you might even find that the sentence itself makes sense, but not within a particular paragraph or when it is placed next to the sentence that precedes or follows it within the paragraph.
Keep in mind that if the downside of writing good sentences is that it’s not always easy, the upside is that written sentences provide a range of opportunities for you to express yourself, make your point, and participate in a world of communication, one that depends on words and sentences.
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