Having a skill in developing a good sentence is crucial. This skill helps us both improve and vary a sentence easily and makes us write better paragraph or essay.
The use of a clause in improving a sentence
A clause is agroup of words
with a (s) subject and a (v)verb.
For example:
Computersare important. = 1 sentence with 1 clause.
We can have
two clauses though i.e. two groups of words with a subject and a
verb:
Computersare important, butthey can be dangerous too. = 1 sentence with 2 clauses.
How about three
sentence clauses?
Computersare important, butthey can be dangerous too, sowemust be careful. = 1 sentence with 3 clauses.
Now let’s
add a forth!
Computersare important, buttheycan be dangerous too, sowemust be careful whenwe use them. = 1 sentence with 4 clauses.
You’ll have
noticed then that a sentence is not the same thing as a clause nor a phrase.
A sentence is the group of words that has subject, predicate (verb) and object (S+P+O) which compose a complete thought that makes sense.
A clause is what builds a sentence, and one sentence can have several clauses.
What if there is no subject and verb?
If there is
no subject or verb in part of the sentence, then it is a phrase.
For example: In many countries around
the world
In many countries around the world, floodingis becoming more common.
A phrase is a group of words without
a subject and verb (a phrase on its own obviously cannot be a sentence because
every sentence has a subject and a verb!).
You should
now know the difference between a sentence, a clause and a phrase. Time to
practice!
Try to practice improving sentence on your own:
Studying abroad is important
We use gadget everyday
In big cities around the world, traffic jam is a major problem
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