Ernie Mazzatenta grammar column: Fine-tuning your sentence structures

Whenever you are re-structuring sentences, keep in mind that you have plenty of readily-available, effective tools to employ. A particularly useful one consists of four parts — they are the rhetorical forms called  simple, complex, compound, and compound-complex sentences. Because they are not likely to be recalled from your high school English classes, these forms will be featured in today’s column that defines and illustrates how they can be applied to rewriting.

The simple sentence is probably the easiest to understand: it consists of only one clause, the basic parts being a subject (usually a noun), a verb and, most often, an object. In rewriting first drafts, remember that simple sentences can be — and usually  are — used to deliver one important idea in a direct, relatively concise way.

Notice how the following simple sentence conveys a single, main idea: Writing to a family member living away from home, a mother might begin with this simple sentence: “For the first time (phrase), your brother Sam received all As this term.” (main clause).

FINE-TUNING YOUR SENTENCE STRUCTURES 

While many simple sentences require only a subject, a verb, and an object, others may benefit from the inclusion of supporting phrases. These phrases often begin with a preposition like “in”, “at” or “on.” Example: “At that moment, Professor Morrison walked in.”

Because phrases can be added, the simple sentence can be short, medium-length, or long.

Simple/short: “Sleep without snoring.”

Simple/medium-length: “Priscilla can’t stand pizza with anchovies.”

If you find that some of your early sentences are too bulky and involved, convert them into simple sentences to gain clarity and impact. Simple sentences also serve to supply continuity and lend emphasis when used at the beginning and/or at the end of a paragraph, section or chapter. Don’t overlook the opportunity to use these locations to your advantage — and the reader’s.

The complex sentence is often meant to compare related ideas — whether the ideas are similar or contrasting. It also can be used to express a cause-and-effect relationship.

Grammatically, this sentence construction basically consists of a main clause that provides the central idea and one or more subordinate ones. While the subordinate clauses also must contain a subject and verb, they cannot stand alone. They are incomplete sentences. They, too, may appear at the beginning or end of a paragraph, as well as somewhere in between.

To compare: “While this method may be more accurate (subordinate clause) it also is more expensive.” (main clause)

To connect cause and effect: “As soon as Dick started a coin collection (cause) his wife bought a set of antique China. (effect) On Christmas morning, they exchanged coins and dishes.”

In their Harbrace College Handbook, John C. Hodges and Mary E. Whitten note another advantage for integrating complex sentences: “to avoid loose, stringy compound sentences.” Their example follows:

Awkward Compound: “The Mississippi River is one of the longest rivers in the world, and in the springtime it often overflows its banks, and the lives of many people are endangered.”

Smoother Complex: “The Mississippi River, which is one of the longest in the world, often overflows its banks in the springtime, endangering the lives of many people.”   

The compound sentence provides at least two main clauses (two subjects and verbs). These clauses often are effective in bringing together several related ideas that otherwise might require several sentences.

Observe:

“Jack will erect the tent; Sally will set the table, and Mark will start the fire.” (three clauses within a compound sentence)

In other cases, compound sentences can effectively serve to summarize at the end of a paragraph, section, chapter, or report.

As EwritingService explains: “A concluding sentence in a paragraph wraps up the entire argument while guiding the readers regarding the information that you have provided.” Example:

Summary sentence: “This manual not only offers the necessary ‘do’s’ of assembling our product, but it adds the ‘don’t’s, both of which are summarized below:”

The compound/complex sentence combines at least two main clauses and one or more subordinate clauses. The next example illustrates how this form can serve to begin an essay or an editorial on a subject that needs attention.

“Silt, which is a product of strip mining, is the most widespread pollutant in North America but, while it may seem unbelievable (subordinate clause), the general public remains unaware of the extent to which ecosystems are harmed by silt pollution.”

To avoid overwhelming readers with too many words, supplementary phrases should be limited or placed in follow-up sentences.

BROADER APPLICATIONS

Some useful changes can be applied across all four rhetorical forms. To introduce or ‘showcase’ a main idea, consider these options:

Look for the essential words in each sentence of your first draft. If they are buried in the middle of the sentence, relocate them to the beginning or the end.

Original: “There have been many, great discoveries made by scientists in the Twentieth Century.”       

Replacement: “Scientists in the Twentieth Century have made many, great discoveries.”

Use single-sentence paragraphs to emphasize a main idea. Placing them away from other sentences tells your reader, “This is important.”

To summarize, each rhetorical form offers you a fresh pathway to reshaping or replacing unwieldy first-draft sentences. Periodically review how each form works, then apply what you know. Choosing the “right” form may enable you to make changes that could — and very likely will — add to your readers’ understanding of your message.

Go for it.

Ernie Mazzatenta, a resident of Hendersonville, has been providing Times-News readers with a monthly grammar column since the mid-1990s. He can be reached at joern8@morrisbb.net.  

This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Fine-tuning your sentence structures