Introduction to Sentence Structure

Introduction to Sentence Structure

The two fundamental parts of every English sentence are the subject and the predicate. A simple sentence can also be described as a group of words expressing a complete thought. Subjects can be described as the component that performs the action described by the Predicate.

Subject + predicate = sentence

A simple sentence or independent clause must have a verb. A verb shows action or state of being. The subject tells who or what about the verb.

Subject + verb = sentence

Sentence Structure Vocabulary

The sentence format consists of a subject and a predicate.

The subject names the topic and the predicate tells about the subject.

A sentence with one subject and one predicate is called a simple sentence.

The receiver of actions is called the object.

A group of words used as a single value without subject or predicate is called a phrase.

A clause is a group of words with a subject and predicate.

Principal or independent clauses can form sentences.

A compound sentence contains two or more principal clauses.

A clause which cannot form a sentence is called a dependant clause.

A complex sentence contains a principal clause and one or more dependant or subordinate clauses.

A compound-complex sentence contains two principal clauses and one or more subordinate clauses.

Read the rest of the Introduction to Sentence Structure Article at:
http://www.eslincanada.blogspot.com

Past English Tenses

 

SIMPLE PAST

Simple past, form for regular verbs: base+ed

Example; walked, showed, watched, played, smiled, stopped

Simple past for irregular verbs.

Simple past, be, have, do:

Subject Verb

Be Have Do 

I was had did 

You were had did 

He was had did 

We were had did 

They were had did 

Affirmative

I was in Canada last year

She had a headache yesterday.

We did our homework last week. 

Negative 

We didn't do our homework last night. 

They weren't in Canada last summer. 

We hadn't any money.

We didn't have time to visit the Eiffel Tower.

We didn't do our exercises this morning.

Interrogative

Were they in Vancouver last January?

Did you have a bicycle when you were a boy?

Did you do much climbing in British Columbia? 

Simple past with regular verbs: verb + ed 

Affirmative 

I washed

Negative

I did not wash. 

Interrogative

Did she arrive? 

Interrogative negative

Didn't you like? 

Example: to walk, simple past.

Affirmative Negative Interrogative 

I walked I didn't walk Did I walk? 

You walked You didn't walk Did you walk? 

They walked They didn't walk Did they walk? 

For the negative and interrogative form of all verbs in the simple past, always use the auxiliary 'did''.

Examples: 

Simple past, irregular verbs  'to go'

He went to a gym last night.

interrogative form

Did he go to the club last night?

negative form

He didn't go to bed early last night.

Examples: Simple past, irregular verbs "to give"

We gave her a doll for her birthday.

They didn't give John their copy.

Did Barry give you my report?

Examples: Simple past, irregular verbs "to come"

My parents came to visit me last year.

We didn't come because it was snowing.

Did she come to your open house last week?

Simple past function is used to talk about a completed action in a time before now. Duration is not important. The time of the action can be in the recent past or the distant past. 

Examples:

John Cabot sailed to Canada in 1498. 

My father died last year. 

He lived in Calgary in 1986. 

We crossed Lake Superior yesterday. 

You always use the simple past when you say when something happened, so it is associated with certain past time expressions.

Examples:

Yesterday, I arrived in Montreal.

She finished her work at five o'clock.

We saw a good play last week.

I went to the hockey game last night.

She played the piano when she was a child.

He sent me a report six months ago.

Peter left five minutes ago

English language Article 1a Exercises

                                            English language Article 1a Exercises

                      https://english-language-exercises.blogspot.com

There are only three articles used in the English language: "a, an & the".

There are two types of articles: indefinite 'a' & 'an' and definite 'the'.

For these exercises we are not including: Partitive, Negative or Zero articles.

Example:

The fill-in-the-blanks grammar exercises also improve vocabulary comprehension.

Select the correct article from the Articles card to complete the sentence.

1. ___ Articles Card 1 contains three English articles.

2. ___ children knew ___ fastest way home.

3. English grammar has rules and ___ set of exemptions.

4. __ English sentence contains ___ idea or ___ complete thought.

5. ___ indefinite article indicates that its noun is not yet __ particular one. 

Check your answers with the exercise answers on video:

                             http://sentencemaster.blogspot.com/

English language Verb 2 Exercises

                                            English language Verb 2 Exercises

                      https://english-language-exercises.blogspot.com

Example:

We make  a diary entry every evening.

Select a verb from Verb card 2 to complete the sentence.

!. I watched the cooking show to ____ the procedures.

2. After watching the show I _____ how to prepare the dish.

3. later today I will ____ the ingredients for the dish.

4. I hope to _____ the dish this afternoon.

5. I want to ____ the dish to show my mother.

Check your answers with the exercise answers on video:

http://sentencemaster.blogspot.com/

English language Verb 1 Exercises

English language Verb 1 Exercises

https://english-language-exercises.blogspot.com

Example:

We do our English diary summary every evening.

Select a verb from Verb card 1 to complete the sentence.

I ____ the game codes that you are looking for.

I will __ fine after a short rest.

We will ___ the video edits tomorrow.

We ___ to the gym every day for cardio.

Experts ___ Tik Tok will continue to grow.

Check your answers with the exercise answers on video:

 http://sentencemaster.blogspot.com/

Present English Tenses

PRESENT TENSE

The simple present is used:

1. to express habits, general truths, repeated actions or unchanging situations, emotions and wishes:

I smoke (habit); I work in London (unchanging situation); London is a large city (general truth)

2. to give instructions or directions:

You walk for two hundred meters, then you turn left.

3. to express fixed arrangements, present or future:

Your exam starts at 09.00

4. to express future time, after some conjunctions: after, when, before, as soon as, until:

He'll give it to you when you come next Saturday. 

Writing Resources

There are many resources online to help you with your writing. The following list is only a sampling, but we will keep adding to it.

Reference Works

• Oxford English Dictionary OED Online at the University of Ottawa
• Merriam-Webster's Dictionary Online language center 
• Roget's Thesaurus at the University of Chicago.
• Strunk's Elements of Style at Columbia University.
• Bartlett's Familiar Quotations at Columbia University.
• List your electronic sources in MLA style
• MLA Citation Style 7th Edition , RDC library
• APA Citation Style 6th Edition, RDC library 

Textbooks and Workbooks

• The HyperGrammar at the University of Ottawa.
• The Hypertext Writer's Guide at the University of Victoria.
• An Online English Grammar Reference from EduFind.
• The Writers' Workshop On-Line Handbook at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (gopher interface).
• Handouts on writing from the the Online Writing Lab at Purdue University .
• Grammar and Style Notes from Jack Lynch at the University of Pennsylvania.

Writing Centres

• The Writing Centre at the University of Ottawa.
• The Writing Centre at Wilfred Laurier University (text file).
• The Online Writing Lab at Purdue University.
• The Trinity College Writing Center Online at Trinity College (Connecticut).
• The Online Writing Lab at Dakota State University.
• The Center for Talented Youth at The John Hopkins University.
• The Writing Center at the University of Delaware (gopher display).
• The Writing Labs at Iowa State University.
• The OnLine Writery at the University of Missouri.
• The RPI Writing Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
• The Sweetland Writing Center University of Michigan.

Scholarly Resources

• University of Ottawa Databases (A-Z)

Literary Resources

• Arts:Humanities:Literature at Yahoo!
• The Complete Works of William Shakespeare

The English Grammar Glossary Blog

How to Write English Sentences - Introduction

Before you write an English sentence you have to get organized.

The first stage of organization is choosing the single or complete thought that you are stating, describing, explaining or asking. The thought should include 1. a subject, and 2. an action or state of being.

The second stage of organization is choosing 2. an action or state of being.

Let's describe the different available actions or states of being that can be used in our sentences.

We can use visible, invisible or intangible actions in our sentence. We can use real or unreal actions in our sentence.

We can use visible, invisible or intangible states of being in our sentence. We can use real or unreal states of being in our sentence.

The very simple aspect about writing English sentences is that if you can think about "it" then "it" can probably be used as an action or state of being and even a subject in an English sentence.

The next "How to write Sentences" will discuss sentence types and sentence constructions.

If you liked this page of English grammar explanations and samples and would like more - you can buy the 96 page grammar summary "Blueprint for English" eBook (for 5 dollars)and get the SentenceMaster practice word cards.

Use this grammar eBook to become an English writer.

Learn English Grammar on Twitter

Example Twitter posts

We refer to the central element in a phrase as the head of the phrase. If the head is a noun then the phrase is called a noun phrase. #ESL

Phrases are considered as the 2nd level of classification as they tend to be larger than individual words, but are smaller than sentences.

Simple English sentence constructions and configuration examples: http://bit.ly/31aC9S - #ESL #education #English #grammar #blogger

Introduction to English Phrases:types definitions examples http://bit.ly/31aC9S #ESL #education

Introduction to English Clauses: types definitions examples http://bit.ly/31aC9S #ESL #education

Why international students fail English Tests - http://bit.ly/31aC9S #ESL #English #education

FREE ESL English Education Article Links - http://www.eslincanada.com/articles.html - #ESL #English #education #blogger

Study English as a Second Language Plan - Blog Article http://bit.ly/1bB6Gh #ESL #education

Link to Learn English Blog - http://learn-english-blog.blogspot.com/ - features English language education articles #ESL #blogger #education

English Language Conversation Skills require language ability + content + (social + non-verbal communication skills) + culture knowledge.

Introduction to descriptions definitions explanations: ESL EFL ISL ESOL ELT L1 L2 http://www.eslincanada.com/esl.html #ESL #Education

EFL stands for English as a Foreign Language - Many students study #EFL as an academic subject & not for using English for communication

#ESL students usually study and practice English as a language for communication and to improve their active abilities to use the language

Canada Job lists

Canada Job lists

http://www.jobbank.gc.ca/Intro_en.asp - Job Bank is an electronic listing of
jobs provided by employers from everywhere across Canada.

****

http://english.monster.ca/ - With the best job search tools and career
advice on the planet

****

http://search3.workopolis.com/jobshome/db/work.search_cri - Workopolis
site for Canada

****

http://www.jobport.ca Lots of Canada listings

****

http://www.alltorontojobs.com - More Than Just A Job Bank. We Provide You
With Links To Tons Of Career Resources & Job Banks

****

http://www.canadiancareers.com - Career and employment information for
Canadians. Explore hundreds of different career areas. Try some online
interest and skills tests. Learn about current labour market trends

****

http://www.tesl.ca/jobs.html - TESL Canada is the national federation of
English as a Second Language teachers, learners and learner advocates. We
are dedicated to advancing communication and coordinating awareness of
issues for those concerned with English as a Second Language and English
skills development.

****

http://www.summerjobs.com/do/search?SW=Canada - Canada summer jobs

****
****

International ESL Teacher Job Lists
http://www.eslcafe.com/joblist/ - ESL Cafe - international job postings -
updated daily

*****

http://www.eslteachersboard.com New free resources for ESL schools and
teachers recently added - 1121 ESL jobs in Korea, 842 in China, 575
elsewhere.

****

http://www.aacircle.com.au/esl-job-circle.htm Still searching for an English
Teaching job -Job-Circle can help.

****

http://www.eslcareer.com ESL Career: Job offers divided by area and updated
regularly. Allows free posting of resumes and offers ESL resources search.

****

http://www.tefl.net/jobs/index.htm
Welcome to TEFL.NET ESL Jobs. Here you'll find job offers for teachers
posted by schools around the world, as well as an ESL Jobs FAQ and tips on
writing your resume when applying for an ESL job.

*****

http://www.teachingjobs.com/index.phtml - Jobseeker: enter here to search
the 4955 available employment opportunities in the United States, Canada and
abroad.

****

http://www.eltweb.com/liason/Jobs/ - It has a large teaching jobs section, a
searchable database of English language schools around the world as well as
reports from teachers giving their real-life experiences in various
countries

****

http://www.tesall.com/jobboard/index.pl - Can't find the job you're looking
for listed below? Try TESall.com's unique vertical search engine

****

http://www.eslmonkeys.com/teacher/esl_job_center.php - Search international
ESL employment vacancies in the job listings.

*****

http://www.teachoverseas.ca/jobs/index.pl - ESL job search resources for
Canadians seeking teaching positions and schools seeking Canadians.

****

http://www.englishboard.com/esl/job/job_list.asp - Englishboard.com is a
free ESL job & resume posting site. Our simple web contents are simply
focusing on Jobs and resumes.

****

http://esljunction.com/jobs/ - This is a free site with ESL/EFL jobs around
the world. We currently have over 1000 different positions being advertised.

*****
Blog URL: http://tjandct.blogspot.com/