Exclamatory Sentences and Questions

ü  An exclamation point is used in an expressive sentence, or an exclamation, usually of surprise.  These sentences could, in some cases, be considered correct as fragments, but generally not. Sometimes an exclamation of surprise is put as a fragment, and this is considered correct. Thought it is not something that should be exercised regularly, it is a good trait to know.

    A question mark is used to show that a question is being asked. This is the end point of a question, and in writing this is important to show that there is a question being asked. Questions are a special case of a sentence, and they do not necessarily require the same as a normal sentence. Questions still need a subject, and a complete thought. However, a question will not always have a verb.

Nouns, Pronouns, and Adjectives

A noun is the person place, thing, or idea, which is almost always the subject of a sentence. Nouns affect our writing because without these, we would not have subjects, and our writing would rarely, if ever, follow a real focus. (See subject for further)

ü  Pronoun--the word used in place of a noun. These must match the nouns in number, gender, and case. Examples of pronouns are I, you, me, we, they, them, he, she, him, her, there, here, and so on. These affect our reading and writing, because a pronoun simplifies what we are writing and reading. If we had to write out a name every time we talked about a person, place, thing, or idea, then our writing would be much longer, and the reading would be far more tedious.

     Adjective—is the word that describes a noun. Just as the adverb describes the verb, the adjective is what describes the noun. These can be anything from a colour (“she wore a purple vest”) to a number (“there were thirteen dwarves present”). The adjective could describe a person’s appearance, intelligence, or personality. An adjective is useful when one is trying to learn more about a character in a book. When we need help envisioning a character, we think of the adjectives used to describe them to create that picture in our head. The adjective does not in fact have to be describing a person, but it must describe a noun. (“She lived in a filthy city.”)

Subordinating Conjunctions

A subordinating conjunction is a word that is a secondary conjunction used to make a transition from one statement to another smoother. (See, FANBOYS)
FANBOYS are transitioning words, specifically: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, and So. These help us get a smooth transition between sentences and paragraphs that are about two different subjects. They are important in our writing and reading because of the smooth transition that they provide, without which it would be very rough writing and reading.

Subject

The subject

is the thing that the sentence, or paragraph is about; usually a noun, specifically a person. Occasionally the subject of a sentence, paragraph or story will be a place, or idea, but it is usually, particularly in the case of fiction, about a person. These affect our writing because they give our writing purpose. If your writing had no subject whatsoever, then you would find writing anything would be very hard. Because the fact is that without a subject, and therefore a purpose, your writing is really just a bunch of words lumped together. And you can’t have a story, paragraph, or even a sentence without a subject. It is one of the fundamentals of writing. Also, you really wouldn’t want to read a story about nothing, would you? Not really. So a subject is an imperative part of our writing and reading.

Verbs and Adverbs

A verb is what one is doing, or has done. These are a key element that separates a sentence from a fragment. These show you what the subject of a sentence is doing, about to do, or has done, which becomes an important thing to know. Without it, there is almost never a complete thought, so having verbs is very important.
An adverb is a word that is used to describe the verb. ((Example: She ran quickly.—the verb is ran, the adverb is quickly.)This affects our writing more in that it isn’t a necessary part of our sentences, but a useful part. When one is reading, it can sometimes paint a much more vivid (or at least interesting) picture in your head to read “Anna was going to be walking very quickly to her grandmother’s house,” than to simply read, “Anna was going to be walking to her grandmother’s house.” Sometimes you need the adverb, and sometimes you do not.

Sentence Fragments

A sentence fragment is a “sentence” that is missing one of the major elements necessary of a sentence, therefore making it incomplete. The major elements necessary to make a complete sentence are having a subject, a verb, and a complete thought. For example, if you write, “Paul the period is.” you have a sentence fragment, because the thought isn’t complete. Compare that to “Paul the period is smart.” Now, by adding smart, you have completed the thought, and there is a complete sentence rather than a fragment.

Commas

A comma can be used to indicate a pause in speech, or a break in the conversation. These do not signify the end of a sentence, but they can often signify the point where a person needs a break, or it can show where the focus of a sentence is changing, when you have a situation in which the subject can stay the same, but the focus of the sentence is changing slightly. A comma can be a very useful tool in writing, but it can also cause a lot of mistakes, as in the case of a comma splice. This is a situation in which you have a long, run-on sentence, and the writer chose to "fix" it by adding a comma in place of a period or a semicolon. In this situation, the best thing to do (if you are the writer) is to definitely try to read the sentence aloud. If it sounds unnatural, or you seem to be addressing more than one major point, then you will probably have a comma splice, and need to fix it. You can definitely have a case of too many commas, if you aren't careful.

Comma Splicing

Comma Splicing is a situation in grammar where we add a comma in place of what should be either a semicolon or a period. This is usually used in an attempt by a writer to break up subjects in a run-on sentence; however this is not the proper way to write a sentence, you are supposed to add a period, or a semicolon, to break up a run-on and separate two different subjects. As was just demonstrated, a run-on split by commas can be very confusing to the reader. You can often still see the different subjects, and even understand the differences, and when the subject changes. But if the subjects are very similar, then it can be hard to understand that the subject has changed, and the sentence should have as well.

Semicolons

A semicolon connects two separate ideas that are too different that you cannot connect them with just a common transition word, but are also unable to stand as their own sentences. This is helpful in writing, because sometimes it is necessary to put two separate ideas together by a semicolon, because you don’t want to, or have the ability to expand the ideas, or they are just fine and don’t need expansion to make sense, but they are still too different to just leave them with a comma and be done. So we use a semicolon, which is a clean split, without making it two separate sentences.

Periods

A period can be used the break up a long, run-on sentence, usually to avoid comma splicing in reading. In speech, this is useful to show the speaker where they are supposed to take a breath. In our writing and reading, periods show you where the sentence ends and where a new one begins. This can suggest a change in subject or focus, but this can also break up a run-on where it is a long sentence that has the same subject and focus, but is too long. Mostly, periods are used to end a sentence, and they are used to split the subjects and focuses of a writing piece. These are one of two ways to fix a run-on sentence. The other way is to use a semicolon, which we will explore on the next post.

Run-Ons

A run-on sentence is

a sentence that includes two separate subjects, rarely connected, that can easily be split into two separate sentences that often make more sense when split. These affect our writing and reading a lot, mainly the reading though. So run-ons affect the flow of writing, and they affect how we write a sentence, as when one writes on a piece of binder paper a sentence that spans five lines and could easily be taken as a paragraph if they break it up. In reading, the main worry is when the reader doesn’t have any pause between subjects, or a clear end to one subject, so they may get desperately confused by a run-on with 2 or more subjects and no break between them, because readers may try to connect the different subjects.
There are two ways to fix a run-on properly—split it up using a period, or split the sentence using a semicolon. (See next)