Writing+Skill+14

listen [|here] Writing Skill 14: REVIEW SENTENCE STRUCTURE After you have written your essay, it is important for you to review the sentence structure in your essay. You should check the sentence structure of simple sentences, compound sentences, and complex sentences.

Look at the following sentences from an essay about a test. Because the test in history class was extremely difficult.

s v !finally passed the test, otherwise !would have had to take it over. s v S v The grade that I intended to get !!was much higher.

s s v The sentence structure of each of these sentences is not correct. The first sentence is an incorrect simple sentence. In this sentence, the subordinate connector Because in front of the subject­ and verb test ... was makes the sentence incomplete. The second sentence is an incorrect compound sentence. In this sentence, the main clauses I ... passed ... and I would have had ... are connected with a comma, and a comma cannot be used to connect two main clauses. The third sentence is an incorrect complex sentence. In this sentence, the main subject is grade and the verb is was; there is an extra subject it, which makes the sentence incorrect.

290 WRITING '

The following chart outlines the key information you should remember about reviewing sentence structure.