Academic Writing Sentence Structure Exercises Text

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These owl resources offer information and exercises on how to clarify sentences and specifically discuss sentence clauses, sentence fragments, sentence structure, and subject verb agreement. please use the navigation bar on the left or the links below to access the individual exercises. this resource provides exercises on the differences between independent and dependent clauses that you may print. This resource includes three exercises on fragments of increasing difficulty that ask you to identify and correct sentence fragments. You may print the exercises and correct the errors by filling in the blank with the appropriate ending. This exercise in this resource asks you to apply your knowledge about common errors in sentence structure: run ons, commas splices, and fused sentences.

Print the exercise and fuse together sentences appropriately, avoiding run ons, comma splices, and fused sentences. This resource includes an exercise that asks you to identify the correct verb in a sentence that you may print. On the keyboard, press command + to zoom in, command to zoom out or command 0 to reset. On the keyboard, press command + mac or ctrl + windows to zoom in, command mac or ctrl windows to zoom out or command 0 mac or ctrl 0 windows to view actual size in the toolbar, select view > zoom > zoom in, reset or zoom out. On the keyboard, press command + mac or ctrl + windows to zoom in, command mac or ctrl windows to zoom out or command 0 mac or ctrl 0 windows to view actual size in the toolbar, select options > zoom > zoom in, custom or zoom out. Most people can improve their writing more when they read it aloud than when they read it to themselves silently.

An incomplete sentence is usually one which is lacking a subject what or who is doing the action and/or a verb the action. We use incomplete sentences all the time in speech, and in informal writing, and they can be very effective. However, in academic writing they give an impression of sloppiness and lack of seriousness. Indeed students sometimes try to imitate this style, thinking that the more complicated their writing is, the more impressed their marker will be. When you are editing your work but not necessarily when writing a first draft try to keep sentences from rambling on. To improve your academic writing skills, you must first understand possible problems with sentence structure so that you can not only recognize but write effective sentences. To understand sentences, you must first understand clauses, which make up sentences.

An independent clause contains both a subject and a verb and can stand alone as a sentence. A dependent clause contains both a subject and a verb, but cannot stand alone as a sentence. Dependent clauses are introduced by subordinating conjunctions such as because, that, what, while, who, which, although, if, etc.

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There are three kinds of sentences:

    simple: a simple sentence consists of one main or independent clause. To be complete, a simple sentence must have at least one subject and one 39 verb 39. The man and his son 39 went 39 to the store and 39 bought 39 some milk. compound: a compound sentence has at least two main or independent clauses, connected by coordinating conjunctions such as and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet.

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    The second clause should be separated from the first by a comma in front of the coordinating conjunction. complex: a complex sentence has one main or independent clause and one or more dependent or subordinate clauses. Dependent clauses can function in the sentence as nouns, adjectives or adverbs:

noun clauses function as nouns in the sentence and can be used as subjects, objects, predicate nominatives, and objects of prepositions.