Ch 2: Sentences

1. Can You Start a Sentence with Because or However?

You can start a sentence with 'because' or 'however,' but you have to know how to do it right. This lesson will walk through how to start with these transitional words but still make sure your sentence is complete.

2. Can You Start a Sentence with 'But' or 'And'?

You might have heard that you can't start a sentence with 'but' or 'and.' But both can be used at the beginning of a sentence, you just need to know how to do it. Read on to learn more.

3. Comparing Declarative & Imperative Sentences

One way to classify sentences is by function such as declarative, imperative, interrogative, and exclamatory sentences. In this lesson, you will learn about declarative and imperative sentences. You will learn the definitions and how to tell the difference.

4. Compound vs. Complex Sentences in English

There are several different types of sentences used in English. This is a lesson about two types, the compound sentence and the complex sentence. You will learn how to identify compound and complex sentences and you will learn about the parts of these sentences.

5. How Many Sentences Are in a Paragraph?

A good paragraph presents an idea that the reader can understand. In this lesson, you'll learn about the characteristics of a good paragraph and just how many sentences it takes to make one.

6. How to Fix a Sentence Fragment

When you are writing, you want to ensure that everyone understands what you are trying to say. Therefore, you must write in complete sentences. In this lesson, you will learn how to tell the difference between a complete sentence and a fragment as well as how to correct any fragments in order to make the sentence whole.

7. How to Identify & Fix a Fused Sentence

A fused sentence occurs when two independent clauses are included in one sentence with no proper punctuation between them. Usually, a few quick additions of proper punctuation can fix them.

8. How to Identify a Compound Sentence

The sentence is a basic building block of English writing. To write well, you should know how to use different types of sentences. In this lesson, you will review the parts of a sentence and learn how to identify a compound sentence.

9. How to Identify a Run-on Sentence

There are many common grammatical errors that a good writer needs to avoid. On the sentence level, this includes fragments and run-ons. In this lesson we will explore the various types of run-ons, and how to avoid them, or correct them if they occur.

10. How to Identify a Simple Sentence

The most basic type of sentence is a simple sentence. Simple sentences must have one clause, a subject, and a predicate. Although simple sentences are often short, they can be longer if they have additional detail and description.

11. How to Start & Write a Sentence

Before you can start and write a good paper, letter, job application, or business report, you need to be able to write a correct and interesting sentence. In this lesson, you will learn the parts of a sentence and how to organize sentences effectively.

12. How to Write a Complete Sentence: Parts & Structure

The most basic building block of writing is the sentence. This lesson describes the parts of a sentence, how to write a complete sentence, and two sentence errors to avoid.

13. How to Write a Complex Sentence: Structure & Practice

One element of strong writing is varied sentence structure. There are four basic sentence structures: simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex. In this lesson, you will learn about complex sentences and how to write them.

14. How to Write a Compound-Complex Sentence

One of the marks of good quality writing is the use of a variety of sentence structures. The compound-complex sentence is a sophisticated structure you can use in your writing. In this lesson, you will learn the components of a compound-complex sentence and how to write one.

15. How to Write a Rhetorical Question

A rhetorical question can be a question without an answer, but writing good rhetorical questions can get your reader to react, think, or even persuade them to agree with your opinion. In this lesson, explore some of the many different ways to write a rhetorical question.

16. How to Write a Simple Sentence

In this lesson, you will learn how to create and recognize a simple sentence. You will also learn about dependent and independent clauses and how they relate to simple sentences in writing.

17. Parallel Sentence: Definition, Structure & Examples

When you write, you want readers to understand what you are saying. If you are making lists or comparing items in a sentence, parallel structure must be used, otherwise, you will confuse your reader. This lesson will define and give many examples of parallel sentences.

18. Starting & Ending Sentences with a Preposition

Learn how to recognize prepositions and prepositional phrases as well as how to properly incorporate them into sentences. Starting and ending sentences with prepositions can be correct as long as you do it the right way!

19. The Difference Between a Comma Splice & Fused Sentence

A comma splice occurs when a comma is used to separate two independent clauses while a fused sentence occurs when two independent clauses are joined without any punctuation. There are a number of ways to correct these two sentence boundary errors.

20. What is a Conditional Sentence? - Definition & Examples

Conditional sentences are a grammatical mood used for sentences where a hypothetical action might occur or may have occurred in the past. This lesson will discuss the three types of conditional mood.

21. What is a Fused Sentence? - Definition & Examples

In this lesson, we will learn to identify fused sentences in writing. Fused sentences are easy to correct, and we will discuss several different ways to revise sentences to eliminate this error from our writing.

22. What is a Palindrome? - Definition & Examples

In this lesson you will learn about what a palindrome is. The definition will be provided, as well as examples of words and phrases which are considered palindromes.

23. What is the Object of a Sentence? - Definition & Examples

This lesson is about objects of a sentence. We'll learn how to identify objects, including direct and indirect objects. Jump right in to find quick tricks for identifying these parts of speech and get some practice doing so.

24. What is the Purpose of a Rhetorical Question?

Why do we ask questions? Usually we ask a question to obtain information, but not all questions are meant to be answered. In this lesson, you'll learn the purpose and explore examples of rhetorical questions.

25. When & How to Use 'e.g.' in a Sentence

Did you know that you could add examples to sentences you write using the abbreviation e.g.? Learn what the abbreviation e.g. stands for and when and how to use it in a sentence in this lesson.

26. When & How to Use 'i.e.' in a Sentence

This lesson is about the use of 'i.e.' in writing. You will learn the meaning of this abbreviation and why it is helpful in written communication. You will also learn how to use it correctly in your own writing and understand it in the writing of other people.

27. What is a Negative Sentence? - Definition, Structure & Examples

In this lesson, we'll learn the difference between an affirmative and a negative sentence. We'll also learn how to change an affirmative sentence into a negative sentence containing various verb forms.