English for Academic

Purposes
Utilization of Grammar
in Writing
 Types of Sentences

 There are four main types of sentences:

 Simple or Declarative Sentence

 Command or Imperative Sentence
 Question or Interrogative Sentence
 Exclamatory Sentence

Depending on your purpose, you will use one

of the above types of sentences in your writing.
 Declarative Sentences

 These sentences are used to state information.

They are the most commonly used sentence type.
Most academic writing employs simple or
declarative sentences. Declarative sentences end
with a period. For example:

 Research on the topic suggests that grammar is

essential to success.
 Imperative Sentences

 These sentences give commands or make

requests. Imperative sentences end with a
period. For example:

 Open the window.

 Interrogative Sentences

 These sentences ask questions. Accordingly,

they end with a question mark.
For example:
 Did you complete the assignment?
 Exclamatory Sentences

 These sentences express emotion and, as such, end

with an exclamation mark.
 She is going to fall!
 Exclamatory sentences are not common in academic
writing. You should only use them if you have to
convey a strong emotion, which does not happen
often in academic writing as it tends to be objective
and formal.
 Simple, Compound, Complex, and
Compound-Complex
 Simple Sentences - A simple sentence contains a
subject and a verb. - It expresses a single complete
thought that can stand on its own.

Examples: 1. The baby cried for food.

 There is a subject and a verb that expresses a

complete thought.
Examples
 2. Professor Maple’s intelligent students completed
and turned in their homework.

 A simple sentence does not necessarily have to be

short. It can have adjectives. In this case, there are
two verbs “completed” and “turned in.” However, the
sentence expresses one complete thought and
therefore is a simple sentence.
Examples
 3. Megan and Ron ate too much and felt sick.

 Although there are two subjects and two

verbs, it is still a simple sentence because
both verbs share the same subjects and
express one complete thought.
 Compound Sentences - A compound sentence
has two independent clauses. An independent
clause is a part of a sentence that can stand
alone because it contains a subject and a verb
and expresses a complete thought. -
Basically, a compound contains two simple
sentences. - These independent clauses are
joined by a conjunction (FANBOYS: for, and,
nor, but, or, yet, so).
 Examples: 1. The shoplifter had stolen clothes, so he ran
once he saw the police.

 Both sides of the conjunction “so” are complete sentences.

“The shoplifter had stolen clothes” can stand alone and so
can “he ran once he saw the police.” Therefore, this is a
compound sentence.
 2. They spoke to him in Spanish, but he responded in English.

 This is also a compound sentence that uses a conjunction to

separate two individual clauses
 Complex Sentences - A complex sentence is an
independent clause joined by one or more
dependent clauses. A dependent clause either
lacks a subject or a verb or has both a subject
and a verb that does not express a complete
thought. - A complex sentence always has a
subordinator (as, because, since, after, although,
when) or relative pronouns (who, that, which).
 Examples: 1. After eating lunch at The Cheesecake
Factory, Tim went to the gym to exercise.

 The independent clause is ‘Tim went to the gym to

exercise.” The subordinating clause before it is
dependent on the main, independent clause. If one
were to say “after eating lunch at The Cheesecake
Factory,” it would be an incomplete thought.
 2. Opinionated women are given disadvantages in
societies that privilege male accomplishments.

 The subject is “opinionated women” and the verb is “are

given.” The first part of the sentence “opinionated
women are given disadvantages in societies” is an
independent clause that expresses a complete thought.
The following “that privilege male accomplishments” is a
relative clause that describes which types of societies.
 3. The woman who taught Art History 210 was fired
for stealing school supplies.

 The dependent clause in this sentence is “who taught

Art History 210” because if removed, the rest of the
sentence would stand as an independent clause. “Who
taught Art History 210” is an adjective clause that
provides necessary details about the subject, woman.
 Compound-Complex Sentences - A compound-complex
sentence has two independent clauses and at least one
dependent clause.
 Examples: 1. After the two soccer players lost their game,
they joined their other teammates for lunch, and they went
to the movies.

 If we remove the dependent clause “after the two soccer

players lost their game,” we have a compound sentence. The
dependent clause makes this sentence compound-complex.
 2. The man believed in the system, and he
knew that justice would prevail after the
murderer was sent to jail.
20 Grammar Rules

 Here are 20 simple rules and tips to help you

avoid mistakes in English grammar.
 Besides these, there are more comprehensive
rules under the appropriate topic (part of
speech etc)
 1. A sentence starts with a capital letter and
ends with a period/full stop, a question mark
or an exclamation mark.

 The fat cat sat on the mat.

 Where do you live?
 My dog is very clever!
 2. The order of a basic positive sentence is
Subject-Verb-Object. (Negative and question
sentences may have a different order.)

 John loves Mary.

 They were driving their car to Bangkok.
 3. Every sentence must have a subject and a
verb. An object is optional. Note that an
imperative sentence may have a verb only, but
the subject is understood.

 John teaches.
 John teaches English.
 Stop! (ie You stop!)
 4. The subject and verb must agree in number,
that is a singular subject needs a singular verb
and a plural subject needs a plural verb.

 John works in London.
 That monk eats once a day.
 John and Mary work in London.
 Most people eat three meals a day.
 5. When two singular subjects are connected
by or, use a singular verb. The same is true
for either/or and neither/nor.

 John or Mary is coming tonight.

 Either coffee or tea is fine.
 Neither John nor Mary was late.
 6. Adjectives usually come before a
noun (except when a verb separates the
adjective from the noun).

 I have a big dog.
 She married a handsome Italian man.
 (Her husband is rich.)
 7. When using two or more adjectives
together, the usual order is opinion-adjective
+ fact-adjective + noun. (There are some
additional rules for the order of fact
adjectives.)

 I saw a nice French table.

 That was an interesting Shakespearian play.
 8. Treat collective nouns (eg committee, company, board of

directors) as singular OR plural. In BrE a collective noun is

usually treated as plural, needing a plural verb and pronoun.
In AmE a collective noun is often treated as singular, needing
a singular verb and pronoun.

 The committee are having sandwiches for lunch.

Then they will go to London. (typically BrE)
 The BBC have changed their logo. (typically BrE)
 My family likes going to the zoo. (typically AmE)
 CNN has changed its logo. (typically AmE)
 9. The words its and it's are two different

words with different meanings.

 The dog has hurt its leg.

 He says it's two o'clock.
 10. The words your and you're are two
different words with different meanings.

 Here is your coffee.
 You're looking good.
 11. The words there, their and they're are
three different words with different
meanings.

 There was nobody at the party.

 I saw their new car.
 Do you think they're happy?
 12. The contraction he's can mean he is OR he has.
Similarly, she's can mean she is OR she has, and it's can
mean it is OR it has, and John's can mean John is OR John has.

 He is working
 He has finished.
 She is here.
 She has left.
 John is married.
 John has divorced his wife.
 13. The contraction he'd can mean he had OR he
would. Similarly, they'd can mean they
had OR they would.

 He had eaten when I arrived.

 He would eat more if possible.
 They had already finished.
 They would come if they could.
 14. Spell a proper noun with an initial capital
letter. A proper noun is a "name" of
something, for example Josef, Mary, Russia,
China, British Broadcasting Corporation,
English.

 We have written to Mary.

 Is China in Asia?
 Do you speak English?
 15. Spell proper adjectives with an initial capital
letter. Proper adjectives are made from proper
nouns, for example Germany → German, Orwell
→ Orwellian, Machiavelli → Machiavellian.

 London is an English town.
 Who is the Canadian prime minister?
 Which is your favourite Shakespearian play?
 16. Use the indefinite article a/an for countable
nouns in general. Use the definite article the for
specific countable nouns and all uncountable
nouns.

 I saw a bird and a balloon in the sky. The bird was

blue and the balloon was yellow.
 He always saves some of the money that he earns.
 17. Use the indefinite article a with words beginning
with a consonant sound. Use the indefinite
article an with words beginning with a vowel
sound. see When to Say a or an

 a cat, a game of golf, a human endeavour, a

Frenchman, a university (you-ni-ver-si-ty)
 an apple, an easy job, an interesting story, an old
man, an umbella, an honorable man (on-o-ra-ble)
 18. Use many or few with countable nouns.
Use much/a lot or little for uncountable
nouns. see Quantifiers

 How many dollars do you have?

 How much money do you have?
 There are a few cars outside.
 There is little traffic on the roads.
 19. To show possession (who is the owner of
something) use an apostrophe + s for
singular owners, and s + apostrophe for
plural owners.

 The boy's dog. (one boy)

 The boys' dog. (two or more boys)
 20. In general, use the active voice (Cats eat
fish) in preference to the passive voice (Fish
are eaten by cats).

 We use active in preference to passive.

 Active is used in preference to passive.
 Practice: Identify whether the sentences are
simple, complex, compound or compound-
complex.
1. Vampires Dairies is my favorite television
show, but I also love True Blood.
2. The student wiped the white board that was
filthy with last week’s notes.
3. The trendy fashion designer released her new
line on Wednesday.
4. Trina and Hareem went to a bar in Hollywood to
celebrate their anniversary.
5. Wicked Regina cast a spell on the entire city, so the
citizens decided to rebel.
6. While waiting for the paint to dry, Angela went to Home
Depot, and Martin organized the kitchen appliances.
7. After listening to the Kanye West CD, I have new
respect for his music. 8. After the teacher chose groups,
John and Sara were selected as partners for a project,
yet Sarah did most of the work.