v Sentence and Paragraph Writing

Chapter 5 Sentence Structures

Although there is in the subject position of a sentence, it is not the subject. There has no meaning. It only
shows that the subject exists. The real subject of the sentence comes after there is or there are, and the
verb (is or are) must agree with the real subject.

There is a new student in our class.

There is a cat and two dogs at my house.
There are six books and a pen on my desk.

More than one noun can come after there + be. If the first noun phrase is singular, use there is:
There’s a cat and two dogs at my house.

If the first noun phrase is plural, use there are:

There are six books and a pen on my desk.

Exercise 5.1
Write sentences using There + be.

Example: a computer on my desk

There is a computer on my desk.

1. two tests this week at school

_________________________________________________________________________
There are two tests this week at school.

2. one plate and two glasses on the table

_________________________________________________________________________
There is one plate and two classes on the table.

3. two students and a professor in my office

_________________________________________________________________________
There are two students and a professor in my office.

4. twenty pages of homework today

_________________________________________________________________________
There are twenty pages of homework today.

5. ten students and only five books for the class

_________________________________________________________________________
There are ten students and only five books for the class.

Exercise 5.2
Write sentences with the words given. Use there is or there are. Don’t forget to add articles and
prepositions where needed.

Example: two cars / in front of my house

There are two cars in front of my house.

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1. 500 paintings / the art gallery

_________________________________________________________________________
There are 500 paintings at the art gallery.
2. twenty problems / the test
_________________________________________________________________________
There are twenty problems in the test.

3. book / two pencils / Minsu’s desk

_________________________________________________________________________
There is one book and two pencils on Minsu's desk.

4. answers / the last page of the book

_________________________________________________________________________
There are answers at the last page of the book.

5. new computer / Dr. Seon’s office

_________________________________________________________________________
There is a new computer in Dr. Seon's office.

6. duck / two geese / the lake

_________________________________________________________________________
There is one duck and two geese at the lake.

7. many problems / life

_________________________________________________________________________
There are many problems in life.

8. a new car / my garage

_________________________________________________________________________
There is a new car in my garage.

Subject-Verb Agreement
Subject-verb agreement when using there has several rules:

1. If the subject is uncountable, use a singular verb.

There is some trouble at school today.
There is some coffee in your cup.

2. If the subject is countable and is plural, use a plural verb.

There are some problems at school today.
There aren't any clean coffee cups in the cup board.

When using there is or there are many sentences will contain prepositional phrases of place.

Examples of prepositional phrases of place:

on the water in town in line

at the bank near my house upside down
on the bus at the beach by the fountain

There are many large sea shells on the beach.

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Exercise 5.3
Write There are / There is sentences using prepositional phrases of place and the subjects from the list
below.

Example: many colorful fish There are many colorful fish in the pond.

many new people a park some large fishing boats

a lot of money Mr. Park

1. __________________________________________________________________________
There are many new people who have just moved to that apartment.
2. __________________________________________________________________________
There is a park near my house.
3. __________________________________________________________________________
There are some large fishing boats at sea.
4. __________________________________________________________________________
There is a lot of money in banks.
5. __________________________________________________________________________
There is Mr. Park whom my dad is talking to.

Word Order

When writing sentences in English, there are several common “word orders” that can be used. One of the
most common is below.

Who + Verb + What + Where + When

Professor Lim teaches her first class in the library at 10:00 o’clock.

Exercise 5.4
Put the scrambled sentences below into the word order above.

Note: Not every sentence will have a What, Where and When part.

1. English / in the library / every morning /Jenna / studies

__________________________________________________________________________
Jenna studies English in the library every morning.
__________________________________________________________________________

2. in the math building / are studying / the students /for the test
____________________________________________________________________________
The students are studying in the math building for the test.
____________________________________________________________________________

3. a difficult language / Chinese / is / to learn

___________________________________________________________________________
Chinese is a difficult language to learn.
___________________________________________________________________________

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4. was stolen / this morning / his new BMW / from the parking lot
___________________________________________________________________________
His new BMW was stolen from the parking lot this morning.
___________________________________________________________________________

5. on Friday / her new job / starts / she

___________________________________________________________________________
She starts her new job on Friday.
___________________________________________________________________________

Exercise 5.5
Now write six sentences (on a separate sheet of paper) using your own words. Use the same word order
as the exercise above.

Simple Sentences with complements

A simple sentence has a subject and one main verb. It may also contain a describing phrase (or
complement).

The subject is the noun or pronoun that identifies the person place or thing the sentence is about. The
verb tells the action done by the subject or explains its condition.

These are examples of simple sentences:

Subject Verb
She studies.
He runs.
My dog is sleeping.
My dog and cat are fighting.

A sentence may also have a describing phrase (or complement), but it does not have to have one. A
describing phrase or complement gives additional information about the subject or verb.

Following are examples of simple sentences with complements. Note that the complements or phrases
can function as pronouns, adjectives, nouns, adverbs, verbs, prepositions, or a combination of descriptive
phrases.

Subject Verb Describing Phrase or Complement

1. He loves her. (pronoun)
2. Her new car is super fast. (adjective phrase)
3. Her major was English Literature. (noun phrase)
4. She runs fast. (adverb)
5. His girlfriend wants to buy a new car (verb phrase)
6. Professor Em is in the classroom. (prepositional phrase)
7. Yusun bought a new car yesterday. (noun phrase + adverb)
8. He wants to start a new business on the internet.
(verb phrase + prepositional phrase)

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Exercise 5.6
Look at the sentences below and write S, V, or C above the subjects, verbs, and complements.

Example: S V C
My car is a Daewoo Leganza.
s v c
1. My hometown is Kyeongju.
s v c
2. Most of my classes are in English.
s v c
3. Seoul has over 12 million people living there.
s v c
4. Kyeongju is one of the many historical centers of Korea.
s v c
5. Happiness is a hike in the mountains.
s v c
6. The East Sea of Korea is a beautiful area.
s v c
7. Every one of the students is a delight to work with.
s v c
8. Chinese is a difficult language to learn to read and write.
s v c
9. Life is a bowl of cherries.
s v
10. I am going to sleep.

Exercise 5.7
Write sentences below using each one of the complement structures above.

1. _________________________________________________________________________
My hometown is Ho Chi Minh City.

2. _________________________________________________________________________
Ho Chi Minh City has over 9 million people living there.

3. _________________________________________________________________________
I am going to buy some gifts this weekend.

4. _________________________________________________________________________
Happiness is being with family.

5. _________________________________________________________________________
My Khe beach is one the most beautiful beach in Da Nang.

6. _________________________________________________________________________
My family and I are going to eat a big cake on Christmas.

7. _________________________________________________________________________
My classes are in both Vietnamese and English.

8. _________________________________________________________________________
Korean is a easy language to learn to write.

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Subject-Verb Agreement

A singular subject must be followed by a singular verb, and a plural subject must be followed by a plural
verb. This rule is called subject-verb agreement.

Her book is missing. (singular)

Her books are missing. (plural)
Her books and pens are missing. (plural)

Each and every (when used with a singular noun) should be followed singular noun.

Each pen is of the highest quality. (singular)

Every pen is of the highest quality. (singular)

The following pronouns require a singular verb:

everyone anyone someone no one

everybody anybody somebody nobody
everything anything something nothing

Everyone is going to the party tonight. (singular)

Anything is better than nothing at all. (singular)
Something is wrong. (singular)
Someone came by to see you. (singular)

It is difficult sometimes to decide if a subject is singular or plural. This is especially true when there is
additional information following the subject, but before the verb. The additional information is often
written in a prepositional phrase.

A prepositional phrase connects a subject to the rest of the sentence. It is a group of words that begins
with a preposition and ends with a noun. A prepositional phrase usually tells where, when, how, or why.
Thus a prepositional phrase works as an adverb or adjective.

at my house at noon of my friends

on Monday on the edge of town behind the books
n the chairs under the table by Tuesday afternoon

A prepositional phrase often comes after the subject of a sentence, but before the verb. The phrase is not
a part of the subject, so it should not be used to determine the form of the verb.

Examples which use singular verbs:

None of my friends is a student. The subject none is singular.

One of his cars is red. The subject one is singular.
Each of them wants to come. The subject each is singular.

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Examples which use plural verbs:

Both of us are tired. The subject both is plural.

Several of us are going to the cinema tonight. The subject several is plural.

Phrases referring to amounts, measurements, and quantities use a singular verb.

Five hundred won is all I have.

The number of people here tonight is amazing!
Three tablespoons of sugar is all I need.

There are times when you will need to use the noun or pronoun in the prepositional phrase to determine
the correct verb form. If the noun in the prepositional phrase is a non-count noun, you should use a
singular verb. If the noun in a prepositional phrase plural, use a plural verb. If it is a singular noun, use a
singular verb.

With the phrases– if the noun is plural use a singular verb

any of, each of, none of
either of, neither of

None of the students studies on the weekend.

With the phrases– if the noun is plural us a plural verb

most of, some of, all of
a lot of, a/the majority of
a number of, plenty of
a few of

A few of the students study on the weekend.

With the phrases– if the noun is non-count use a singular verb

the majority of, most of
plenty of, all of, some of
a lot of, none of

All of the candy is fattening.

With the Phrase- if the noun is plural use a singular verb

the number of

The number of students that study on week end is increasing.

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Exercise 5.8
Fill in the blanks in the following sentences. Use the correct form of the verb in parenthesis.

1. The number of students at the university _______

has (have) increased this year.
2. A lot of the problems on the test _______
are (be) impossible to solve.
3. Most of my friends _______ (be) went home for the holidays.
4. Neither of my parents _______
had (have) studied at university.
5. A majority of the voters _______
were (be) not going to vote for him.
6. None of them _______(be)
is coming to the party tonight.
7. Each of them _______
has (have) their own ideas.
8. The price of the pencils _______(be)
is 1000 won.
9. Something _______(need)
needs to be done about the problems.
10. None of the coffee _______
was (be) left.

Exercise 5.9
Write ten sentences of your own (on a separate sheet of paper) following the rules explained above.

Dependent Clauses

An independent clause is a complete sentence. It expresses a complete thought and can stand alone. A
dependent clause is not a complete sentence. It may have a subject and a verb, but it does not express a
complete thought. It is a sentence fragment because it can not stand alone. When a sequence word or
other transition word such as so or because is added to a sentence it becomes a dependent clause.

Sammy is hungry. → a complete sentence

When Sammy is hungry → dependent clause
Susan went to the store. → a complete sentence
Before Susan went to the store → dependent clause

In order to form a complete sentence or thought, a dependent clause must be joined to an independent
clause. Use a comma after the dependent clause if it comes at the beginning of a sentence. Do not use a
comma if the dependent clause comes at the end of the sentence.

As soon as Paul ate dinner, he left. (independent clause at beginning of sentence)

Paul left as soon as he ate dinner. (independent clause at end of sentence)
Before Henry goes on a date, he showers and shaves. (beginning)
Henry showers and shaves before he goes on a date. (end)
When I study, I always listen to classical music. (beginning)
I always listen to classical music when I study. (end)

When writing about the sequence of events, dependent and independent clauses can be joined together
with sequence words to form complete thoughts. Some common sequence and transition words are
before, after, as soon as, when, but, so, and because.

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Exercise 5.10
Fill in the blanks in the following paragraph with before, after, as soon as, when, because, but, or so.
Some of the words are used more than once.

The children of Mrs. Peterson’s class went on a field trip to the city’s natural history
museum. __________
Before they could go however, they had to give the principle their permission
slips that their parents had signed. __________
After collecting all the slips, the children got on the
bus. Many of the children had never been to a museum ________ so they were very excited
about the outing. The drive to the museum took a long time __________ but they had fun. Mrs.
Peterson led the children in singing and playing games __________
so time went by quickly.
__________
When they arrived at the museum, the group went straight to the dinosaur section.
They went to this section first __________
because they had been studying dinosaurs in class.
____________
As soon as the children saw the display of dinosaur bones, they began asking the museum
guide questions. __________
Because the outing was very informative all the children had a great
time.

Exercise 5.11
Look at the sentence fragments below and rewrite them to form complete sentences. Be sure to use
correct punctuation and capitalization.

1. before I go to sleep I
_________________________________________________________________________
Before I go to sleep, I do personal hygiene.
_________________________________________________________________________

2. i like English class because

_________________________________________________________________________
I like English class, because English is one of my favorite languages.
_________________________________________________________________________

3. after i take a test I

_________________________________________________________________________
After I take a test, I take a rest for the next test.
_________________________________________________________________________

4. when Elliot finally got his drivers license

_________________________________________________________________________
When Elliot finally got his drivers license, he drove to a beach near his house by himself.
_________________________________________________________________________

5. as soon as this class is over

_________________________________________________________________________
As soon as this class is over, my group of friends and I go to a small restaurant to have dinner.
_________________________________________________________________________

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6. miss kim got a new job but

_________________________________________________________________________
Miss Kim got a new job, but she did not like it.
_________________________________________________________________________

7. so I did not pass the test

_________________________________________________________________________
I did not study seriously so I did not pass the test.
_________________________________________________________________________

Exercise 5.12
Write more sentences containing a dependent and independent clause using these sequence words:
before, after, as soon as, so, because, and when.

Example: Before I started college, I traveled in Europe for six months.

Before
_________________________________________________________________________
Before I went to school, I traveled in Da Nang for 3 weeks.
_________________________________________________________________________
After
_________________________________________________________________________
After I graduated high school, my parents bought me a new laptop.
_________________________________________________________________________
When
_________________________________________________________________________
When I tired and stress, I take a rest or go for a walk.
_________________________________________________________________________
So
_________________________________________________________________________
I studied hard last exams so I got good grades.
_________________________________________________________________________
Because
_________________________________________________________________________
I woke up tiredly this morning, because I went to bed late last night.
_________________________________________________________________________
But
_________________________________________________________________________
I have bought lots of books, but I have not read any of them yet.
_________________________________________________________________________
As soon as
_________________________________________________________________________
I will travel around the world as soon as the epidemic ends.
_________________________________________________________________________

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Exercise 5.13
Each of the following sentence fragments need something added to make them complete: add a
subject, verb, or complement. Rewrite the sentences using correct capitalization and punctuation.

1. I apartment
________________________________________________________________________
I have just moved to this new apartment.

2. study late every night

________________________________________________________________________
I study late every night.

3. works hard
________________________________________________________________________
She works hard, for she want to be promoted.

4. bob tall
________________________________________________________________________
She is a tall girl with a bob haircut.

5. my university is
________________________________________________________________________
My university is surrounded by great restaurants.

6. this class difficult

_______________________________________________________________________
This class is the most difficult class I have ever attended.
7. jim is
_______________________________________________________________________
Jim is the tallest boy in his class.

8. don’t late
_______________________________________________________________________
Do not be late or you will have trouble.

9. doesn’t study very hard

_______________________________________________________________________
He does not study very hard because of his laziness.

10. She is
_______________________________________________________________________
She is my energetic little sister.

11. Before I go to school

_______________________________________________________________________
Before I go to school, I have breakfast at home.

12. on weekends
_______________________________________________________________
I do not have any classes on weekends.

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Descriptive Sentences

A common sentence structure for describing the characteristics or qualities of something is:

Article + adjective + noun + verb (has) + adjective(s) + noun

A sports car has a powerful, noisy motor.

To put variety in your writing you can also write the characteristic or quality first, use the preposition of,
and change the verb have to be. Then you must begin the sentence with the.

The + noun + (of a/an) + noun + is/are adjective(s)

The motor of a sports car is powerful and noisy.

Exercise 5.14
Rewrite the following sentences using the structure in Example 2.

1. An airplane has a long, sleek body.

_________________________________________________________________________
The body of an airplane is long and sleek.

2. A desk has a flat, hard surface.

_________________________________________________________________________
The surface of a desk is flat and hard.

3. A hotel has big, comfortable beds.

_________________________________________________________________________
The beds of a hotel are big and comfortable.
4. An eagle has strong, powerful wings.
_________________________________________________________________________
The wings of an eagle are strong and powerful.

5. A giraffe has a long thin neck.

_________________________________________________________________________
The neck of a giraffe is long and thin.

Exercise 5.15
Choose three familiar objects and write sentences like the example above.

1. _________________________________________________________________________
The phone case of my Iphone is flexible and durable.
2. _________________________________________________________________________
The 3D arts of my wardrobe are colorful and amazing.
3. _________________________________________________________________________
The configuration of my laptop is modern and powerful.

Describing Common Objects

To keep your writing interesting, describe things with the same information in a different way. Do this by
using a different word order.

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This is a typical word order: A TV weighs ten kilograms. (weight)

Alternative word order: The (noun) of a/an (thing) is _______.

The weight of a TV is ten kilograms.

Many characteristics of an object can be described using this structure. These characteristics include:
shape, size, color, weight, height, width, length, thickness, and texture.

Exercise 5.17
Rewrite each of the sentences below by using the descriptive structure in the example.

1. A wool blanket is soft. (texture)

_________________________________________________________________________
The texture of a wool blanket is soft.

2. A good pizza is two centimeters thick. (thickness)

_________________________________________________________________________
The thickness of a good pizza is two centimeters.

3. An apple is round. (shape)

_________________________________________________________________________
The shape of an apple is round.

4. A Boeing 747 is large. (size)

_________________________________________________________________________
The size of a Boeing 747 is large.

5. My bowling ball is ten kilograms. (weight)

_________________________________________________________________________
The weight of my bowling ball is ten kilograms.

6. That electric cord is four meters long. (length)

_________________________________________________________________________
The length of that electric cord is four meters.

7. His new Hyundai is black. (color)

________________________________________________________________________
The color of his new Hyundai is black.

8. That building is over 1000 meters high. (height)

________________________________________________________________________
The height of that building is over 1000 meters.

9. The Mississippi River is a mile wide. (width)

_______________________________________________________________________
The width of the Mississippi River is a mile.

Exercise 5.18
Write four sentences describing the same object. Use both sentence structures from he previous
exercise.

1a. _______________________________________________________________________
Her new Iphone is blue.
1b. _______________________________________________________________________
The color of her new Iphone is blue.

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2a. _______________________________________________________________________
My laptop is two kilograms.
2b. _______________________________________________________________________
The weight of my laptop is two kilograms.

3a. _______________________________________________________________________
My sister is five feet high.
3b. _______________________________________________________________________
The height of my sister is five feet.

4a. _______________________________________________________________________
A wool coat is cozy.
4b. _______________________________________________________________________
The texture of a wool coat is cozy.

Read this paragraph about a common object in our lives.

Chopsticks are common objects. We find them everywhere, usually in pairs. A single
chopstick is usually made of wood or steel. They are small in size. The length of a
chopstick is about fifteen centimeters. It can be round or square in shape. It is also tapered from
one end to the other. The color of a chopstick is often tan or silver, but could be any color. A
chopstick is very light in weight. Sometimes we find a pair of chopsticks in a paper wrapper.

Exercise 5.19
On a separate piece of paper, write a paragraph to describe a common object. Use the paragraph above
as a model and try to describe all the characteristics of the object using both sentence structures.

Begin the paragraph with a topic sentence like this one:

(plural noun) are common objects.

Exercise 5.20
The descriptive paragraph below has mistakes. Rewrite the paragraph on a separate piece of paper and
correct the mistakes. Use There are/There is when possible and vary the sentence structures (word
order).

My university is beautiful. It have a large lake and two small pond on the campus. The lake is
round in shape. The pond are square. One pond has a large fountain. Around the pond are garden.
One of the gardens has three rose bush and two large magnolia trees. They smell wonderful! Next to
the lake is a seating area for students. It has a bench and many chairs. The bench is hard, but the
chairs are very soft and comfortable. There are a covered area. It is to protect the students from the
sun and the rain. It is large and brown. The campus also has a very large grassy area. The grass is
soft and green. The beautiful lake, ponds and grassy area are where the students like to study and
spend time with their friends.

Exercise 5.21
Now write a paragraph (on a separate sheet of paper) about your own school (or workplace). What is it
like? Start with a topic sentence like the one in the paragraph above. Use There are/ There is when
possible and vary the sentence structures (word order).

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