Skills in Essay Writng : The use of

varied sentences.
By : ABIDAH BT SARAJUL HAQ ENGLISH LANGUAGE MASTER TEACHER Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman ,Ipoh

should use a variety of sentences to make their essays interesting and lively. Too many simple sentences, for example, will sound choppy and immature while too many long sentences will be difficult to read and hard to understand. The use of the following types of sentences in your essays is very useful . Before using these three different types of sentences for practice , you need to understand what they are and how you are going to use them in your writing activities.

Students

The Simple, Compound and Complex Sentences

A common weakness in writing is the lack of varied sentences. Becoming aware of three general types of sentences--simple, compound, and complex--can help you vary the sentences in your writing. The most effective writing uses a variety of the sentence types asexplained below.

1. Simple Sentences
A simple sentence has the most basic elements that make it a sentence: a subject and a verb and a complete sentence.

Examples of simple sentences include the following: 1. Syafiq waited for the train. "Syafiq" = subject, "waited" = verb

NOTE : A verb usually states what a subject is or does.

2. The train was late. A subject can be a noun or pronoun. "The train" = subject, "was" = verb 3. Shahira and Mawi took the bus. " Shahira and Mawi" = compound subject, "took" = verb 4. I looked for Shahira and Mawi at the bus station. "I" = subject, "looked" = verb 5. Shahira and Mawi arrived at the bus station before noon and left on the bus before I arrived. " Shahira and Mawi" = compound subject, "arrived" and "left" = compound verb

SIMPLE SENTENCES
A simple sentence is also called an independent clause . It contains a subject and a verb, and it expresses a complete thought. In the following simple sentences the subjects are coloured in yellow and the verbs are in green.

A. Some students like to study in the mornings. B. Syafiq and Syamim play football every afternoon. C. Shahira goes to the library and studies every day. The three examples above are all simple sentences. Simple sentences, therefore, contain a subject and verb and express a complete thought, but they can also contain compound subjects or verbs.

2. Compound Sentences
A compound sentence refers to a sentence made up of two independent clauses (or complete sentences) connected to one another with a coordinating conjunction. Coordinating conjunctions are easy to remember if you think of the words "FAN BOYS": 2

For And Nor But Or Yet So

Examples of compound sentences include the following: 1. Syafiq waited for the train, but the train was late. 2. I looked for Shahira and Mawi at the bus station, but they arrived at the station before noon and left on the bus before I arrived. 3. Shahira and Mawi arrived at the bus station before noon, and they left on the bus before I arrived. 4. Shahira and Mawi left on the bus before I arrived, so I did not see them at the bus station.

COMPOUND SENTENCES
A compound sentence contains two independent clauses joined by a coordinator. The coordinators are as follows: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. (Helpful hint: The first letter of each of the coordinators spells FANBOYS.) Except for very short sentences, coordinators are always preceded by a comma. In the following compound sentences, subjects are in yellow and the verbs are in green. The coordinators and the commas that precede them are in red.

A. I tried to speak Mandarin, and my friend tried to speak English. B. Ronaldo played football, so Maria went shopping. C. Ballack played football, because Rose went shopping. The above three sentences are compound sentences. Each sentence contains two independent clauses, and they are joined by a coordinator with a comma preceding it. Sentences B and C, for example, are identical except for the coordinators. In sentence B, which action occurred first? Obviously, " Ronaldo played football" first, and as a result, "Maria went shopping.

In sentence C, "Rose went shopping" first. In sentence C, also, "Ballack played football" because, possibly, he didn't have anything else to do, for or because "Rose went shopping."

3. Complex Sentences
A complex sentence is made up of an independent clause and one or more dependent clauses connected to it.
Examples of dependent clauses include the following:

because Shahira and Mawi arrived at the bus station before noon while he waited at the train station after they left on the bus

Dependent clauses begin with subordinating conjunctions. Below are some of the most common subordinating conjunctions:

after although as because before even though if since though unless until when whenever whereas wherever while

COMPLEX SENTENCES
A complex sentence has an independent clause joined by one or more dependent clauses. A complex sentence always has a subordinator such as because, since, after, although, or when or a relative pronoun such as that, who, or which. In the following complex

sentences, subjects are in yellow, verbs are in green, and the subordinators and their commas (when required) are in red.

A. When he handed in his homework, he forgot to give the teacher the last page. B. The teacher returned the homework after she noticed the error. C. The students are studying because they have a test tomorrow. D. After they finished studying, Juan and Ulma went to the movies. E. Juan and Ulma went to the movies after they finished studying.

Another set of examples are as follows :

A. The woman who(m) my mother talked to sells cosmetics. B. The book that Syamim read is on the shelf. C. The house which Shariffudin was born in is still standing. D. The town where I grew up is in Teluk Intan.

Remember that with the skill to write good simple, compound, and complex sentences, you will have the advantage to : (1) convey your ideas effectively (2) write a variety of sentences in an essay. 5

Below is an essay based on note expansion using the three types of sentences.

PMR Essay Practice

SECTION A You are advised to spend about 40 minutes on this question. Question : With the help of the notes below, write a story. Give a suitable title to your story. Make your story as interesting as possible.

Last week walking- heard screams searched- behind bushes under a tree shocked - baby wrapped in a box- carried quickly- police station felt sad.

When writing the article: use all the notes given. elaborate on the given notes to make it more interesting. make sure it is not less than 120 words.

Sample Answer

An unforgettable incident

Last week, as I was walking home alone from my friends house, I heard some screams on the way. The screams were coming from behind some nearby bushes . I went hurriedly to the direction of the screams, hoping to find what caused them. To my surprise, I found something moving under a shady tree. I was shocked to find a baby wrapped up in a piece of yellow cloth in a cardboard box. I supposed the baby had been left there by an irresponsible mother. I quickly picked up the cute baby boy and started to calm him down. After that , I carried the unfortunate baby quickly to the nearest police station. The police station was not far from the place where I had found the baby. As soon as I arrived at the police station, I handed the baby to the desk officer -on -duty . I lodged a report and the policeman thanked me for my kind gesture. As I left the police station , I felt sad to leave the baby but I was hopeful that someone would take care of baby soon , giving him love and kindness.