How To Improve Your English Writing - Sentence Options
How To Improve Your English Writing - Sentence Options
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Writing in a foreign language gives many students trouble. When you are learning, it’s easy to become lost inside a maze of strict grammar rules. Students can forget how to express their ideas, and they can forget the basics of sentence structure.
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Here are three simple sentence options that can help improve your English writing today:
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1) For the first option, we will combine two sentences. If you have two separate sentences of related topics, you can connect them with a comma and one of the words listed in bold below. This can help you communicate your ideas better.
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Sentence + and, but, or, for, nor, so, yet + Sentence
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The driver stopped quickly. He avoided an accident.
The driver stopped quickly, and he avoided an accident.
The house was old. It was still comfortable.
The house was old, but it was still comfortable.
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2) For the second option, you can connect two related sentences with one of the words listed below in bold without using a comma. This can help you show a different relationship between the ideas that you want to express.
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Sentence + after, although, as, because, before, if, since, until, while + Sentence
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The driver stopped quickly. He avoided an accident.
The driver stopped quickly because he avoided an accident.
The house was old. It was still comfortable.
The house was old although it was still comfortable.
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3) For the third option, we are going to combine two sentences again. The difference is that we are going to combine an incomplete thought and a complete thought. A key strategy is to look at the first word. If you see one of the words listed in bold below, you know that you are using option three. (For example, the previous sentence starts with ‘if’ and is option three.)
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After, Although, As, Because, Before, If, Since, Until, While + Fragment + Comma + Sentence
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Because the driver stopped quickly, he avoided an accident.
Although the house was old, it was still comfortable.
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These three sentence options are a good starting point for improving your writing. Although there are many more options to create good sentences, students can quickly improve their writing by practicing these three.
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How do you apply these options with your writing? First, practice writing a few examples. See if you can create more sentences like the examples above. Second, when you do write, think about how to fit your ideas into these three options. Use them to diversify your writing and to create your own style.
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Although there are many grammar rules that are important to learn, students do not need to consider those rules as a constraint. Your ideas, your emotions, and your personality can still emerge in your writing. The rules - like the options above - simply act as a foundation that helps you communicate.
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January 5, 2018
