Sentence Patterns #31-40

Sentence Pattern #31: Open with a verb…

Verbs supply action to a sentence: they make statements, ask questions, or give commands. When you open a sentence with a verb, you will also be using conversation. Be careful not to open with a verb that is really functioning as a gerund or participle (ie. Driving is so much fun or Driving down the street, he waved to his friend).

  1. Said she politely, “Good morning, Doctor Doolittle.”
  2. Declaimed Marc Antony: “I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.”
  3. Replied the senator, “I haven’t yet made up my mind about the legislation.”
  4. Answered Andy, “I didn’t hear you call me.”
  5. Retorted Marge, “You didn’t listen to me!”
  6. InquiredPeter, Paul, and Mary, “Where have all the flowers gone?”
  7. Whispered Dick, “I think I hear a footstep.”
  8. Grinned Tom, “How did you manage it?”

Sentence Pattern #32: Open with a noun clause…

A noun clause is a third type of dependent clause (the other two types are adjective and adverb clauses – remember that a clause has both a subject and a verb). These words may operate as noun clause openers: whoever, whomever, whatever, what, which, whichever, who, that, where, when, how, why, wherever, whom, whosoever. Note that when they are used to upon a noun clause, they will not be used to ask a question. These clauses can function in several ways:

Subject: Whatever you say will meet my approval.

Object of the Verb: The students know what they want discussed.

Predicate Noun: The important consideration becomes what a man does, not what he says.

Object of Preposition: Give refreshments to whoever comes.

Examples:

  1. How we will ever finish on time I do not know.
  2. Why people feel that way puzzles me.
  3. What people see in him is beyond me.
  4. Which place you mean I can’t get clear in my mind.
  5. Where we will hold the weddingis still to be determined.
  6. Whom they want for president the committee hasn’t decided yet.
  7. Whatever they could lay their hands on, they took.
  8. Whoever want to go with us should plan to meet in the lobby.

Sentence Pattern #33: Open with a nominative absolute …

A nominative absolute(aka. absolute phrase),which consists of a noun + a participle, is a free-standing (absolute) part of a sentence that modifies the entire sentence, not just a single part of it, and is set apart by a comma. It is usually at the beginning or end of the sentence, although it can also appear in the middle.

Writers use the nominative absolute effectively in descriptive and narrative prose for adding details or parenthetical material. One way to identify a nominative absolute is to add a verb; one can always create a sentence out of a nominative absolute by adding one verb (generally a form of to be):
* Their manes flowing, the horses ran from the burning barn.
Nominative absolute: Their manes flowing.
With a verb added: Their manes were flowing.

A prominent example of a nominative absolute is the sentence composing the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution: “A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.”

  1. His blanket torn and his finger burnt, Linus cried on Charlie Brown’s shoulder.
  2. His army tattered, exhausted, and hardened, Caesar continued his march through Gaul.
  3. My pension permitting, I plan to sail for Tahiti as soon as I retire.
  4. All things considered, the situation seems favorable.
  5. His nose twitching nervously, the rabbit watched us.
  6. His shoulders drooped in concentration, Datesat in the desk to my right.
  7. Her spirits unhampered by the teacher’s rebuke, Rosie continued chewing her gum vigorously.

Sentence Pattern #34: Write a compound sentence using the semicolon (;) before coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so) because commas already appear in the sentence …

  1. The Boy Scouts, the American Legion, and the Women’s Auxiliary will march; but any other organization that wishes may reserve a place in the parade, too.
  2. In the summer she visited Munich, Heidelberg, Frankfurt, and Salzburg; and in the early fall she went on to Albania, Greece, and Egypt.
  3. He said nothing, however, and this conduct greatly astonished me; yet I thought it prudent not to exacerbate the growing moodiness of his temper by any comment.
  4. He did not press me to remain; but, as I departed, he shook my hand with even more than his usual cordiality.

Sentence Pattern #35: Write a compound sentence with an introductory, or general, statement followed by a colon and a specific, or explanatory, statement …

The colon in this pattern performs a special function: it signals to the reader that something important or explanatory will follow. The first statement will contain a word or an idea that needs explaining; the second statement will give some specific information or example about that idea. BOTH statements can stand as independent clauses.

  1. Darwin’s Origin of Species forcibly states a harsh truth: only the fittest survive.
  2. A man has only one defense at a time like this: he must play dead in hope that the bear will consider the battle finished and go away.
  3. The empty coffin in the center of the crypt had a single horrifying meaning: Dracula had left his tomb to stalk the village streets in search of fresh blood.
  4. People called me impractical: I wanted to marry a poet.
  5. Pythons, anacondas, and boa constrictors rely on the same technique to kill their enemies: they coil about their victims and crush them to death.
  6. The sportsman had one ambition: he wanted to master hang-gliding.

Sentence Pattern #36: Open with an introductory series of appositives, followed by a dash and a summarizing subject …

This pattern begins with a cluster of appositives. After the appositives comes a dash, followed by a summarizing word, such assuch, all, those, these, this, many, each, which, what, something, someone. Sometimes this summarizing word may serve as the subject of the sentence; sometimes it may merely modify the subject. A highly stylized sentence, this pattern becomes effective for special places in your writing, places where you want to squeeze a lot of information into the same slot. The commas come between the appositives in the series; the dash follows the series; a summary word must occur at the beginning of the main clause.

  1. The crack of the lion tamer’s whip, the dissonant music of the calliope, the neighs of Arabian stallions - these sounds mean “circus” to all children.
  2. To struggle, to exist, and so to create his own soul - this becomes man’s greatest task.
  3. Love, hate, resentment, fear, anger, ambition - such emotions direct our daydreams!
  4. The trees and the earth and the green water on the lake, the near-hills and the far-off hills - all told their stories.
  5. An old forgotten photograph, a haunting fragrance, a sudden view of a half- forgotten scene - something unexpectedly triggers our nostalgia for the past.
  6. The tea tax, the lack of representation, the distance from the Mother Country, the growing sense of a new and independent country - what do you think caused the American Revolution?
  7. Courtesy, correctness, conciseness - these constitute the three essentials in a business letter.

Sentence Pattern #37: Use an emphatic appositive at the end of a sentence, following a colon …

Withholding an idea that you wish to repeat until the end builds a sentence to a climax and provides a pattern for a forceful, emphatic appositive at the end of the sentence, where it practically shouts for the reader’s attention. Use the colon in this pattern. It has more formality, and it usually comes before a rather long appositive.

  1. Most contemporary philosophies echo ideas from one man: Plato, a student of Socrates and the teacher of Aristotle.
  2. A teenage girl never forgets one thing: how to giggle.
  3. Anyone left abandoned on a desert should avoid two dangers: cactus needles and rattlesnakes.
  4. Adjusting to a new job requires one quality: the ability to laugh at oneself.
  5. One major characteristic dominates Iranian universities: the extraordinary role of politics on campus.
  6. Immigrants lost an unrecoverable currency: their language.
  7. Foreigners and their children saw only one safe route to the American Dream: assimilation.
  8. The rock group has another project in mind: a futuristic tale about the rediscovery of music in a totally programmed and controlled society.

Sentence Pattern #38: Use an emphatic appositive at the end of a sentence, following a dash …

For variation from Sentence Pattern #37, especially for a more informal construction, you may use a dash instead of the colon before a short, emphatic appositive at the end of a sentence. Dashes almost always precede a short, climactic appositive, whereas a colon will generally precede longer appositives.

  1. Adjusting to a new job requires one quality above all others - a sense of humor.
  2. Most contemporary philosophies echo ideas from one man - Plato.
  3. Now an even more miserable machine tyrannizes man’s daily life - the computer.
  4. Skid-row inhabitants have one thing in common - a sense of defeat.
  5. How we fare individually with aging depends upon three factors - luck, money, and genetic inheritance.
  6. The boy grew desperate with fear and struck at the bear with the only weapon he had - his string of fish.
  7. She knew what she wanted to serve at her birthday party – chocolate cupcakes.
  8. He knew where he wanted to go – Disneyland.

Sentence Pattern #39: Use an internal series of appositives or modifiers, enclosed by a pair of dashes …

Appositives will re-name and modifiers will describe something named elsewhere in the sentence. Because this kind of series serves as a dramatic interruption within the sentence and may even have commas, you must use the dash before it and after it.

  1. Many books that we read in Comp/Lit 9H - Ender's Game, The Bean Trees, The Odyssey - deal with the importance of finding a home.
  2. All the scholarly disciplines and especially all the sciences - physical, biological, social - share the burden of searching for truth.
  3. Many aspects of nature - the trees, the earth, and the green water on the lakes - told their stories.
  4. Certain sounds - the crack of the lion tamer’s whip, the dissonant music of the calliope, the neighs of Arabian stallions - mean “circus” to all children.
  5. Man’s great task - to struggle, to exist, and so to create his own soul - distinguishes him from beasts.
  6. Many emotions - love, hate, resentment, fear, anger, ambition - direct our daydreams.
  7. Something unexpected - an old photograph, a haunting fragrance, a sudden view of a half-forgotten scene - triggers our nostalgia for the past.

Sentence Pattern #40: Use a periodic sentence …

In a periodic sentence, descriptive elements (or details) introduce the sentence, pushing the complete thought to the end of the sentence. This pattern proves quite effective for emphasis or suspense. You can most effectively use this pattern as a summarizing paragraph placed at the end of certain types of essays. In that position, the periodic sentence becomes a "power paragraph" of one effective sentence.

  1. Because he wrote both tragedies and comedies, because he glorified England, and because he penned deathless lines, Shakespeare became immortal.
  2. Because of Peking and the Forbidden City, because of Shanghai and the Bund, and because of the harmony of man and nature in Hangchow, the China traveler will come away with a lifetime of kaleidoscope images.
  3. When the philosopher studies differences in the attitudes toward man, when he discovers the differences in religious beliefs, and when he observes the art of the Orient and the Occident, he finds obvious differences between Eastern and Western thought.
  4. By the creation of the American Gothic tale, by the origination of the detective story, and by the writing of many masterpieces, Edgar Allan Poe occupies an important niche in American literature.
  5. In his humorous light-stepping through human foibles, in his interpretation of God, and in his accentuation of the positive, Chaucer created tales that have lasted since the Middle Ages.
  6. Because a tourist has walked the Freedom Trail, because she has boarded the U.S.S. Constitution, and because she has attended a Patriot’s Day ceremony, Boston has come alive for her.