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Sentence basics

Using the correct verb with a subject

Pronouns - singular or plural two

Compounded and non-compounded subjects

Pairs of things

Quantity describing expressions

Expletive constructions

Abbreviations

I.e. versus e.g

Mr and Mrs Smith

Date and time abbreviations

Name initials

Abbreviations of units

Avoiding sentence fragments

When its OK to use sentence fragments

Capitalisation

Proper nouns

The first word of any sentence

Capitalisation of titles

I gets capitalised

Using italics

To make something stand out

Onomatopoeia

Titles

When you are talking about the word itself not using it for what it represents

Names of vehicles

Short sentences

Joining parallel sentence subjects or objects

Compounding parallel objects

Compounding parallel subjects

Linking two sentences together more closely

The simple linking relationship

The contrast relationship

Intentionally subordinating a clause to another

Connecting using an absolute phrase

Connecting using appositive phrases

Connecting using a participial phrase

Using the correct sequence of tenses

Writing numbers correctly

Numbers of units

Decimal and fractional numbers

The number zero

Approximate numbers

Common phrases

Starts of sentences

Multiple numbers one after the other

Writing lists

Lists

Bullet point lists

Numbered lists

Intentionally subordinating a clause to another

Sometimes you have two separate sentences, which you’d like to change so that the reader gets an idea about the relationship between the information in the two sentences. You can do this by intentionally subordinating one of the sentences into a dependent clause and attaching it to the other sentence.

I will be running in the race today. I am really tired from last night.

Now, if you’re really tired, that’s usually going to have some impact on how well you perform in any sort of exercise. So the two pieces of information in these sentences are sort of linked - the fact that I’m tired might affect my performance in the race today. You can subordinate the second sentence into a dependent clause, and join it to the first sentence using a conjunction like ‘although’ and a comma:

I will be running today, although I am really tired from last night.

By linking them, we get the message across to the reader that there is a relationship between the information presented in each clause.

Click here to move on to the next topic: Connecting using an absolute phrase