Created by José J. González, Jr. Spring 2002 1

Building a Sentence

“When the student is ready, the master appears.” Buddhist proverb

Created by José J. González, Jr. Spring 2002 2

Believe it or not, you can take a Believe it or not, you can take a two word sentence and turn it two word sentence and turn it into a fifty word sentence by into a fifty word sentence by following a couple of easy steps.following a couple of easy steps.

Created by José J. González, Jr. Spring 2002 3

Step one:

Start with the simplest of sentences-- the simple

sentence.

Andres walked. (2)

Created by José J. González, Jr. Spring 2002 4

Step two:

Add an adjective and a prepositional phrase to your simple sentence.

Young Andres walked to the grocery store.(7)

Created by José J. González, Jr. Spring 2002 5

Step three:

Add a dependent clause and make the sentence a complex sentence.

While Andres’s mother baked a pie, young Andres walked to the grocery store. (13)

Created by José J. González, Jr. Spring 2002 6

Step four:

Add an independent clause and make the sentence a compound/complex sentence.

While Andres’s mother baked a pie, young Andres walked to the grocery store, and he whistled a lively melody along the way.(22)

Created by José J. González, Jr. Spring 2002 7

Step five:Now add an adjective phrase which provides more detail to your sentence.

While Andres’s mother, the winner of several baking contests, baked a pie, young Andres walked to the grocery store, and he whistled a lively melody along the way. (28)

Created by José J. González, Jr. Spring 2002 8

Step six:

Add a relative phrase and add more detail to your sentence.

While Andres’s mother, the winner of several baking contests, baked a pie, young Andres walked to the grocery store which was only a couple of miles away, and he whistled a lively melody along the way. (36)

Created by José J. González, Jr. Spring 2002 9

Finally, add another appositive phrase adding even more detail to your sentence.

While Andres’s mother, the winner of several baking contests, baked a pie, young Andres walked to the grocery store which was only a couple of miles away, and Andres, tired but happily looking forward to eating his Mom’s prize winning finger licking apple pie, whistled a lively melody along the way. (51)

Created by José J. González, Jr. Spring 2002 10

Assignment:

If you didn’t write a sentence while you were viewing the presentation, go back and do so now. View the next slide so you can see how the assignment should look like when you are done.

Created by José J. González, Jr. Spring 2002 11

Complete assignment:

Andres walked. (2) Young Andres walked to the grocery store.(7) While Andres’s mother baked a pie, young Andres walked to the grocery store. (13)While Andres’s mother baked a pie, young Andres walked to the grocery store, and he whistled a lively melody along the way.(22) While Andres’s mother, the winner of several baking contests, baked a pie, young Andres walked to the grocery store, and he whistled a lively melody along the way. (28)

While Andres’s mother, the winner of several baking contests, baked a pie, young Andres walked to the grocery store which was only a couple of miles away, and he whistled a lively melody along the way. (36)

While Andres’s mother, the winner of several baking contests, baked a pie, young Andres walked to the grocery store which was only a couple of miles away, and Andres, tired but happily looking forward to eating his Mom’s prize winning finger licking apple pie, whistled a lively melody along the way. (51)

If you didn’t write a sentence while you were viewing the presentation, go back and do so now. The following illustrates what the assignment should look like when you are done.