Tips for Effective Sentences

Tips for Effective Sentences

  • Proofread your writing to make sure every sentence is complete, and that your ideas make sense.
  • Read your sentences aloud to check for clarity and flow.
  • Use a variety of sentence structures to make your writing more engaging.
  • Pay attention to grammar and punctuation rules.

Pro-tip: One way to make sure a complex paragraph is clear is to have each sentence’s subject refer to the same thing. Here are two paragraphs; in the first, the subjects  of each sentence are switched around. In the second, the subjects always refer to the same thing. which is clearer?

Sample Paragraph One: In a galaxy far, far away, the Millennium Falcon soared through the skies of an unnamed planet, racing above exotic creatures flying over the dense jungle, toward an active volcano. The rescue party was stranded. They flew under it. It flew quickly. They were relieved. It was about to erupt. They eyed them hungrily. There was an angry roar, and they flew away.

Sample Paragraph Two: In a galaxy far, far away, the Millennium Falcon soared through the skies of an unnamed planet, racing above exotic creatures flying over the dense jungle, toward a small volcano. The ship flew above the creatures below. Yet, the ship was a welcome sight to the rescue party, stranded near the summit of a volcano that seemed ready to erupt. The spacecraft’s fast approach scared away the flying creatures that were hungrily eying the rescue party. As it landed, one of the creatures gave an angry roar as it flew away from the happy reunion below.

In most paragraphs, the first sentence — which is often called the “topic” sentence — introduces what the paragraph is concerned with. It is the same in both paragraphs.

The sentences that follow describe what happens with several different nouns — the Falcon, the alien creatures, the rescue party, and the volcano.

The first paragraph is less clear because the subject of each sentence switches between the different nouns several times. It is also confusing because the pronouns — “it,” “they,” and “them” – switch between different nouns in each sentence.

The second paragraph is clearer because every sentence uses the same noun for their subjects — the Millennium Falcon. The paragraph also uses specific details to make the objects’ relationships to one another clearer.

If the paragraph had incomplete sentences, it would have been even less clear:

Sample Paragraph Three: A galaxy far, far away. The Millennium Falcon soared. Over the skies of an unnamed planet. Racing above exotic creatures flying. Over the dense jungle. Toward an active volcano. Stranded rescue party. They flew under it. It flew quickly. They were relieved. About to erupt! They eyed them hungrily. There was an angry roar, and they flew away.

If it had non-standard grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and misspellings, it would become even less clear:

Sample Paragraph Four: A Galaxy Far Far Away. The millennium falcon soard. Over the skys of an Unnamed Planet. Racing above exawtick creechurs flying. Over the dense jungle… Toward an active volcano, Stranded reskew Party. They flew under it It flew quickly! They were releived. About to erupt, They eyed them hungrily, There was an angry roar, and they flew away.

Our writing must use standard grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling to make our writing clear. If we aren’t clear, our writing won’t be effective or have much impact. If our writing is poorly done, our readers may decide we don’t care about the writing – or about them.

Learn to write well, and let people know that you care. When people write unclearly, misunderstandings may arise:

Employee: “Hey, boss! I didn’t get my hours yet. Am I going to work next week, or are you finally firing me? LOL!”
Boss: “Yeah.”

Additional Readings

For more detailed information on complete sentences and sentence fragments, please look over the following articles:

 

Now that you have a good grasp of sentence construction, let’s dig in deeper in the next part of the lesson.

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