Building Sentences

Remember, the S - V relationship is at the "heart" of every sentence. All sentences are
built around this core.
To give a sentence more substance, you may enhance the subject or verb
!VERB enhancements"
1. Change the verb in tense or aspect or a
combination of the two.
#e eats. !simple present"
#e $ill eat. !future%modal"
#e is eating. !continuous"
#e has eaten. !perfect"
#e has been eating. !combination"
#e should have been eating. !combination"
2. Add an adverb or adverb phrase, or
prepositional phrase.
#e should have eaten already% by no$. #e $as eating in the &itchen.
3. Add an adverbial clause.
#e $as eating $hen the bus arrived.
4. Add a participial phrase.
#aving finished his home$or&, he ate.
!SUBJECT enhancements"
. Change the noun to a pronoun or vice versa.
#e eats.
'ohn eats.
!. Add an article, demonstrative, or possessive.
The man eats.
This man eats.
#is father eats.
(ote Subjects and Objects may be enhanced in similar $ays.
". Add an ob#ect.
Subject )bject
'ohn eats rice.
The man eats an apple.
$. Add an ad#ective or ad#ectives.
The handsome man eats. The man eats the big, red apple.
%. Add a prepositional phrase.
The man in the &itchen eats. The man eats an apple from the bo$l.
1&. Add a relative 'ad#ective( clause.
The man $ho lives ne*t door eats. The man ate the apple that + bought.
11. )se *uantifiers.
Some of the men eat. They eat some of the apples.
12. )se a noun clause.
,hoever gets here first can eat. #e eats $hichever apple he chooses.
Enhance both the subject and the verb to make sentences more interesting.
The man $ho lives on the corner is eating his lunch no$.
The men from the health club eat every day after $or&ing out.
The tall, green men from -ars are eating tuna sand$iches.
Some of the men ate the apples !that" + left on the table.
,henever he feels li&e e*ercising, the fat man eats a huge meal instead.
Basic Sentence Structures
S-V #e sleeps. S-.V-( #e is a doctor.
S-V-) She eats rice. S-.V-Adj The doctor is sic&.
S-V-+)-/) She told him a lie. S-.V-Adv The doctor is here.