Unit Three　Sentence Variety

Variety is essential for good writing.As an experienced writer, you should avoid monotony in your writing.You can use various sentence patterns, lengths and structures to make your writing more pleasing and effective.

Varying the Length of the Sentence

As a good writer, instead of being able to express your ideas in a series of short, simple and ineffective sentences, you should also know how to use longer sentences to relate your ideas.

But remember: variety is the content that determines the form.You should use different types of sentences with different purposes.

Choppy: Mike wrote a quick note.It was to Nora.She is his former secretary.

Effective: Mike wrote a quick note to Nora, his former secretary.

Varying the beginning

1.Begin with an adverb or an adverb clause.

a.Gently, he mixed the chemicals together.(adverb)

b.Even though baseball is essentially the same, the strategy of it now is different.(adverb clause)

2.Begin with a prepositional phrase or a participial phrase.

a.In spite of her hard work, she failed the course.

b.From the beginning, I disliked my boss.

c.Tired of studying, I took a short break.

d.Troubled by a dream, Tim woke up with a start.

3.Begin with an infinitive or an infinitive phrase.

a.To succeed in that course，you must attend every class．

b.To help me sleep better，I learned to quiet my mind meditation．

c.To get good seats，we went to the game early．

4.Begin with an appositive or an absolute.

a.The lady with a bag in hand, walked fast to the policeman.

5.Begin with -ly.

a.Skillfully, the teacher writers the words on the blackboard.

b.Anxiously, the contestant looked the game clock.

6.Begin with to infinitive.

a.To catch the first bus, he gets up early.

b.To succeed in that course, you must work hard.

Combine the following sentences to form single sentences by using a phrase at the beginning or within a sentence.Eliminate any unnecessary words.

Examples:

That spider is a black widow.It’s crawling up the lamp behind you.

That spider crawling up the lamp behind you is a black widow.

The man looked like a police．He was riding a motorcycle.

Riding a motorcycle, the man looked like a police.

1.The blood is staining Greta’s blouse.It came from the cut on her neck.

2.Helen pulled the lid of the manhole.She did it with all her strength.

3.Let’s go hiking.We’ll go despite the heavy fog.

4.Adam cried at the end of the movie E.T.He was amazed by his feelings.

5.The train is going to Dalian.It is departing at 11:00 p.m.

6.Willie raced into class.He got there just ahead of Professor Evens.

7.I could se the entire valley.I saw.it from the top of Mt.Clement.

8.The house floated down the river.It happened during the last flood.

9.Louis approached the dean’s office.She walked at a slow pace.

10.Marta crossed the finish line.She was dripping with sweat.

Combine the following sentences into one sentence by starting with a “to”word group and omitting repeated words.Use a comma after the “to” word group．

Example:

I fertilize the grass every spring.I want to make it greener.

To make the grass greener, I fertilize the grass every spring．

1.Doug ran five miles a day all summer.He wanted to prepare for the track season.

2.She wants to get the stain off her hand.She will have to use an abrasive soap.

3.I left the house early.I had to get to the church on time.

4.I punched in my code number.I did this to make the automatic banking machine work.

Combine each pair of sentences below into one sentence by using an -ing word and omitting repeated words.Use a comma or commas to set off the -ing word group from the rest of the sentence．

1.The sparrow tried to keep warm.It fluffed out its feathers.

2.I managed to get enough toothpaste on my brush.I squeezed the tube as hard as I could.

3.The janitor started up the enormous boiler.He checked the glass-faced gauges.

4.The runner set his feet into the starting blocks.He started straight ahead.

5.The produce clerk cheerfully weighed bags of fruit and vegetates.He chatted with each customer.

Combine each of the following pairs of sentences into one sentence by using an-ed word and omitting repeated words.Use a comma or commas to set off the-ed word group from the rest of the sentence.

1.I doze off.I was bored with the talk show.

2.The old dollar bill felt like tissue paper.It was crinkled with age.

3.The students acted nervous and edgy.They were crowded into a tiny, windowless room.

4.I waited for someone to open the door.I was loaded down with heavy bags of groceries.