Slide 1
Welcome to the Sensational
Sentences recording.
Building the Basics: Sensational
Sentences
Slide 2
How to use this recording
• Watch
• Pause to do activities
• Download the slides from: http://sls.navitasprofessional.edu.au/webinar-recordings-materials/all
Slide 3
Goals for this session
Learn how to:
• Join simple sentences together using the correct
punctuation
• Use a variety of linking words
• Identify run-on sentences and sentence fragments (two
common sentence structure errors)
You may want to just watch the
video straight through, or use the
pause button to stop and do the
activities. To download the slides for
this presentation: go back to the SLS
website page and click on the link
below this recording.
In this recording we’ll look at how to
join sentences together using the
correct punctuation, how to use
linking words, and how to identify
two common sentence structure
errors that often appear in students’
writing.
Slide 4
Joining simple sentences
Simple sentence: The counsellor was quiet.
Examples of simple sentences joined together:
The counsellor was quiet and the client spoke.
The counsellor was quiet because the client was speaking.
Let’s first take a look at simple
sentences. A simple sentence is
usually made up of a subject (in this
case “the counsellor”) and verb (in
this case “was”) plus other
information. A simple sentence like
this is obviously very clear and easy
to understand. These types of
sentences are also good when you
want to emphasise an important
point, and it’s easier to get the
grammar correct. However, simple
sentences cannot express complex
ideas or show the relationship
between ideas. Texts with lots of
simple sentences together have a
choppy, stop-start style of writing
that is not easy to read. Take a look
at these examples of simple
sentences joined together. Can you
identify the two simple sentences in
each example? In the first example
we have “the counsellor was quiet”
joined with “the client spoke” linked
together with “and”. In the second
example we have “the counsellor
was quiet” joined with “the client
was speaking” linked together with
“because”. The benefits of these
sentences are that we can see how
the different ideas relate to each
other. This is necessary for formal
writing. Of course, the grammar and
punctuation is a little trickier and
sometimes if the sentence is too
complex it can confuse the reader.
Pause here and review your
understanding of simple sentences.
Slide 5
Compound sentences
A compound sentence is made up of two simple sentences that
can exist as whole sentences on their own:
Words you can use to make compound sentences:
FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so
Slide 6
Compound sentences
Two simple sentences:
The counsellor was empathetic. The client was not pleased.
Compound sentences:
The counsellor was empathetic, but the client was not pleased.
The counsellor was empathetic, yet the client was not pleased.
When two simple sentences are
joined together, they are called a
compound sentence. There’s a group
of words you can use to make
compound sentences, all of which
you would be very familiar with: for,
and, nor, but, or, yet, so. One way to
remember this list is to think of the
word “FANBOYS”. You often need a
comma before you use these words,
except for '"and". The comma is
really needed with “and” when it is
used in a long sentence. Let’s now
take a look at some examples of
compound sentences using these
linking words.
In this example we have two simple
sentences (1) The counsellor was
empathic. (2) The client was not
pleased. You can join these
sentences together with “but”: The
counsellor was empathic, but the
client was not pleased. Or “yet”: The
counsellor was empathic, yet the
client was not pleased. As you can
see in both of these cases the linking
words used marks a contrast. Also
note the comma in the sentence
before the linking word.
Slide 7
Compound sentences
Two simple sentences:
The counsellor was empathetic. The client was not pleased.
Compound sentences:
The counsellor was empathetic, but the client was not pleased.
The counsellor was empathetic, yet the client was not pleased.
Slide 8
Compound sentences
Important!
The word you choose to join sentences together affects the
meaning of the sentence.
For example, which of these sentences doesn’t make sense?
A. The patient was given medication, yet it had no effect.
B. The patient was given medication, but it had no effect.
C. The patient was given medication, so it had no effect.
Slide 9
Activity: Compound sentences
Suggest a ‘FANBOYS’ word that can join the following sentences
together. FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so
1. The client had a positive attitude to counselling. He could not
wait to start.
2. The nurse manager appeared reserved. The team members
seemed friendly.
3. The counsellor could use a Rogerian approach. She could use
narrative therapy.
In this example we have two simple
sentences (1) The counsellor was
empathic. (2) The client was not
pleased. You can join these
sentences together with “but”: The
counsellor was empathic, but the
client was not pleased. Or “yet”: The
counsellor was empathic, yet the
client was not pleased. As you can
see in both of these cases the linking
words used marks a contrast. Also
note the comma in the sentence
before the linking word.
Keep in mind that you can’t just use
just any FANBOYS linking word to
join simple sentences. The
conjunction has to show the correct
relationship between the
information. Take a look at the
examples on the slide and work out
which one doesn’t make logical
sense. You may want to pause the
video here to give yourself time to
read. As you can probably see,
sentence “C” doesn’t make sense.
Here are some pairs of sentences
that can be joined with a FANBOY
linking word. Try not to use the same
linking word every time; it will make
your writing repetitive and
disengage the reader. Pause the
video now to do the activity.
Slide 10
Complex sentences
A complex sentence has one main sentence (independent idea)
and one or more secondary sentences (dependent ideas).
Independent idea
The counsellor was quiet
+
because the client was talking.
Dependent idea (doesn’t
make sense on it’s own)
=
The counsellor was quiet because the client was talking.
Complex
sentence
Slide 11
Complex sentence: Independent idea first
To give a reason
The counsellor was quiet because the client was talking.
To explain time
The counsellor was quiet whenever the client was talking.
To make a contrast
The counsellor was quiet whereas the client was talking.
Another type of sentence is a
complex sentence. A complex
sentence has one main sentence
(independent idea) and one or more
secondary clauses (dependent
ideas). In this example we have “the
counsellor was quiet” which is a
complete sentence and “because the
client was talking”, which wouldn’t
make sense on its own since we
wouldn’t know what the “because”
relates to. When we join the sections
together though, we get “The
counsellor was quiet because the
client was talking”, which makes
sense and is known as a complex
sentence.
Complex sentences can be formed
by putting the independent idea first
as in these examples. Notice that
there are lots of different words you
can use to join the ideas together
such as “because”, “whenever” or
“whereas”. Notice that in these
examples, you don’t need a comma.
Slide 12
Complex sentences: dependent idea first
To give a reason
Because the client was talking, the counsellor was quiet.
To explain time
Whenever the client was talking, the counsellor was quiet.
To make a contrast
Whereas the client was talking, the counsellor was quiet.
Slide 13
Some linking words for complex sentences
Examples of words we can use to join independent and
dependent ideas in complex sentences:
To make a contrast
To give a reason
To explain time
although
even though
while
whereas
because
as
since
after
before
since
until
when
whenever
while
as soon as
Slide 14
Connecting two separate sentences
Words such as ‘similarly’ and ‘however’ can be used to connect
the ideas in two separate sentences. There are a few different
ways to do this:
The first patient was anxious. Similarly, the second patient was
feeling nervous.
The first patient was anxious. The second patient, similarly,
was feeling nervous.
The first patient was anxious; similarly, the second patient was
feeling nervous.
Now take a look at these examples
and notice how they are different
from the previous examples. In these
examples, the dependent idea is
first. In other words, we’ve flipped
the sentence around. The other
thing to notice is that now we need
to use a comma to separate the two
parts of the sentence.
As mentioned before, there are lots
of different words you can use in
complex sentences. They can have
different purposes too. For example,
these are contrasting words; these
are words that demonstrate a
reason; and these ones show a
relationship in time.
You may also want show a
relationship between two separate
sentences. In other words, you may
not want to join them together into
one sentence, but you want them to
flow logically. Words such as
‘similarly’ and ‘however’ can be used
to connect the ideas in two separate
sentences. Take a look at the
examples on the slide. The third
option is a little less common, so if
you’re not confident using
semicolons, you should stick with
the first two.
Slide 15
Here’s another example with the
linking word “however”.
Connecting two separate sentences
Another example with ‘however’:
The first patient was anxious. However, the second patient was
quite calm.
The first patient was anxious. The second patient, however,
was quite calm.
The first patient was anxious; however, the second patient was
quite calm.
Slide 16
Activity
Which of the following is not correct?
A. The client was quiet. The lawyer, therefore, asked questions.
B. The client was quiet, therefore, the lawyer asked questions.
C. The client was quiet; therefore, the lawyer asked questions.
Slide 17
Sentence connectors
To list ideas
in order
To add similar To make a
ideas
contrast
First,
Second,
Finally,
Furthermore,
In addition,
Moreover
Similarly,
Likewise,
Also,
In addition,
Furthermore,
In contrast,
On the other
hand,
However,
To give a
result
To give an
example
Therefore,
For example,
Consequently For instance,
As a result,
In one such
case,
… such as
In this case,
Now it’s time for you to practice:
take a look at these sentences and
identify which one is not correct. You
can pause the video now to do the
activity. Sentence B in not correct
because the two sentences should
be separated by a full stop or a semicolon – NOT just a comma.
Here are some words to link two
separate sentences. You can use
words like “Firstly” and “In addition”
to list ideas. These ones let you build
on previous ideas; these are good for
showing a contrast or difference.
These show the result of an action
and these are alternatives to “for
example”. Again, don’t use the same
linking words over and over in a
single assignment because it will not
be enjoyable for the reader.
Slide 18
Review the three sentence types:
• Simple
• The patient was in pain.
• Compound
• The patient was in pain so she yelled at the
doctor.
It is important to understand simple
sentences, compound and complex
sentences because good writers use
a combination of all three in their
writing.
• Complex
• The patient was in pain because her leg was
broken.
Slide 19
Common sentence mistakes
Mistake 1:
The client was quiet, the counsellor asked questions, the client
answered.
• What is the problem here?
• How can we fix it?
The client was quiet so the counsellor asked questions and then the client
answered.
Mistake 2:
Several key factors have been linked to mental health
problems. Some of which are lifestyle related.
Several key factors have
• What is the problem here?
been linked to mental health
problems, some of which are
• How can we fix it?
lifestyle related.
Let’s now take a look at two
common sentence errors. Pause the
video and see if you can work out
what’s wrong with each sentence
and how it could be fixed. In the first
example, it is not grammatically
correct to join sentences with
commas like this. How can we fix it?
Use linking words and/or create
separate sentences. For example,
you could say: The client was quiet,
so the counsellor asked questions,
and the client then answered. The
first one is called a run-on sentence.
In the second example, the second
sentence is a sentence fragment (an
incomplete sentence). Try reading it
aloud and you should be able to
‘hear’ that it doesn’t sound right.
How can we fix it? Join sentences
with a comma e.g. Several key
factors have been linked to mental
health problems, some of which are
lifestyle related. OR with a linking
word: Several key factors have been
linked to mental health problems
and some are lifestyle related.
Slide 20
Common sentence mistakes
Mistake 3:
The client was quiet. The counsellor asked questions. The
client answered.
• What is the problem here?
• How can we fix it?
The client was quiet so the counsellor asked questions and
then the client answered.
Slide 21
Sentences and punctuation activity
1. Compound sentences – which is correct?
A. The manager was reserved but the team members were
friendly.
B. The manager was reserved, but the team members were
friendly.
C.
The manager was reserved. But the team members were
friendly.
Slide 22
Sentences and punctuation activity
2. Complex sentences – which is correct?
A. Because the counsellor was empathic, the client relaxed.
B. The client relaxed because the counsellor was empathic.
C. Both of the above.
Now take a look at this example.
Pause the video now if you like.
There is not a grammatical problem
in this example; however, the short
separate sentences make the writing
choppy and there are no links
between the ideas. How can we fix
it? Join sentences with linking
words: e.g. The client was quiet, so
the counsellor asked questions, and
then the client answered.
The next three slides feature a short
activity to help you consolidate what
you’ve learned in this video. Pause
when you get to each new slide, try
the activity, then press play to hear
the answer. The answer for question
1 is B.
The answer for question 2 is C. You
may have been told that you can’t
start a sentence with ‘because’, but
that’s a tip for beginning writers
since it’s hard to do correctly. This
sentence is correct since the
‘because’ clause is followed by a
comma and then another clause. It
would be incorrect to write ‘because
the counsellor was empathetic’. This
is a sentence fragment.
Slide 23
The answer for question 3 is C.
Sentences and punctuation activity
3. Using a sentence connector - which is correct?
A. The first client was quiet, in contrast the second was
talkative.
B. The first client was quiet. In contrast the second was
talkative.
C.
The first client was quiet. In contrast, the second was
talkative.
Slide 24
More resources
For more resources, go to the SLS
website.
Learning support website: http://sls.navitas-professional.edu.au/
Slide 25
More resources
Information and exercises on sentences and punctuation
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/clause-phrase-andsentence/sentence-structure
Videos on the basics of sentences
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krCygx8bFJs&list=PL315B56FD23BFBF62&index=18
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYoQ3KYGcr8&list=PL315B56FD23BFBF62&index=19
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NwORPawZBk&list=PL315B56FD23BFBF62&index=20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=monKm7ITups&list=PL315B56FD23BFBF62&index=21
There are also some more great
resources at these links too.
Slide 26
Contact the Student Learning Support (SLS) team
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(02) 8236 8051
[email protected]
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(03) 9633 0191
[email protected]
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students
(03) 8327 2639
[email protected]
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(07) 3234 4405
[email protected]
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(07) 3234 4405
[email protected]
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