Part of Sentence

                        SENTENCES

Parts of a Sentence

Punctuation Nouns Verbs Adjectives

Adverbs Prepositions Frequently Confused Words

             PARAGRAPHS

Parts of a Paragraph

Topic Sentence Supporting Details Closing Sentence

How to Write a Paragraph

Prewriting Paragraphs Writing Paragraphs Editing Paragraphs Publishing Paragraphs

Kinds of Paragraphs

Definition Classification Description Compare and Contrast

Sequence Choice Explanation Evaluation

Parts of an Essay

Introduction Supporting Paragraphs Summary Paragraph

How to Write an Essay

Prewriting Essays Writing Essays Editing Essays Publishing Essays

Kinds of Essays

Definition Classification Description Compare and Contrast

Sequence Choice Explanation Evaluation

A paragraph is a unit of text that develops one idea or topic in specific detail. Like a paper, a paragraph is further categorized in three different parts which are described below at length to give you an insight of Parts of Paragraph:

Topic Sentence Supporting Details Closing Sentence  

Q:   What is the topic sentence?        A:    The topic sentence is the first                sentence in a paragraph.        Q:    What does it do?        A:     It introduces the main idea of the                 paragraph.        Q:     How do I write one?        A:     Summarize the main idea of your                 paragraph. Indicate to the reader                 what your paragraph will be about.

Example:

There are three reasons why Canada is one of the best countries in the world. First, Canada has an excellent health care system. All Canadians have access to medical services at a reasonable price. Second, Canada has a high standard of education. Students are taught by well-trained teachers and are encouraged to continue studying at university. Finally, Canada's cities are clean and efficiently managed. Canadian cities have many parks and lots of space for people to live. As a result, Canada is a desirable place to live.  

Q:   What are supporting sentences?        A:    They come after the topic sentence,                making up the body of a paragraph.        Q:    What do they do?        A:     They give details to develop and support                the main idea of the paragraph.        Q:     How do I write them?        A:     You should give supporting facts, detailsr                 and examples.

Example: There are three reasons why Canada is one of the best countries in the world.
First, Canada has an excellent health care system. All Canadians have access to medical services at a reasonable price. Second, Canada has a high standard of education. Students are taught by well-trained teachers and are encouraged to continue studying at university. Finally, Canada's cities are clean and efficiently managed. Canadian cities have many parks and lots of space for people to live.
As a result, Canada is a desirable place to live.  

Q:   What is the closing sentence?      A:    The closing sentence is the last              sentence in a paragraph.      Q:    What does it do?      A:     It restates the main idea of your paragraph.      Q:     How do I write one?      A:     Restate the main idea of the paragraph               using different words.

Example: There are three reasons why Canada is one of the best countries in the world. First, Canada has an excellent health care system. All Canadians have access to medical services at a reasonable price. Second, Canada has a high standard of education. Students are taught by well-trained teachers and are encouraged to continue studying at university. Finally, Canada's cities are clean and efficiently managed. Canadian cities have many parks and lots of space for people to live.
As a result, Canada is a desirable place to live.

Tips for Writing a Paragraph

Characteristics of a good paragraph:

·         Topic sentence, which includes the topic and a controlling idea.

·         Supporting ideas (usually 3 - 6), which support the topic sentence.

·         RENNS (reasons, examples, names, numbers, senses), which develop the supporting ideas by giving details and explanation.

·         Optional concluding sentence, which expresses the importance of the information in the paragraph, may summarize the supporting ideas if the paragraph is long, or provides a transition to the next paragraph of the essay.

·         Unity, which means that all sentences in the paragraph directly support the topic sentence.

·         Coherence, which means that all the information of the paragraph is well-organized, logically ordered and easy to follow

·         How To Write A Good Paragraph

          Writing paragraphs are in fact the most basic structure in any writing. So understanding how to write effective and intriguing paragraphs can improve your writing greatly. So let's discover how to write a good paragraph.

What Is A Paragraph?

         A paragraph is a piece of writing that consists of several sentences. A paragraph should always have complete, correct, and concise sentences. As well it should be easy to read and well organized. The paragraph itself should focus on one subject, theme, or central idea.

         In other words, a paragraph could be about an object such as a young boy. If the paragraph starts out talking about the boy, it must stay the same throughout. For example, if the writer were to talk about where a young boy lives and then go on to describe what the boy looks like these are two separate ideas. This is demonstrated below:

John lived in San Francisco, California, with his two parents. He had his own bedroom, which he decorated himself. Him and parents all lived comfortably in the cozy apartment on the third floor. The apartments were only three blocks from where he attended J.U. High School.

John was only five years old, but he was extremely smart for his age. He wasn’t that tall and he was a bit on the skinny side. He had big blue eyes, light brown hair, rosy cheeks, and a friendly smile. Just looking at him he seemed like any other kid-- quite normal. Yet, everyone in his class looked at him differently because John could never be a normal kid. Instead, he wasn’t normal. No, he was a genius.

         In this example you can see that the first paragraph is about where John lives and the second paragraph covers another topic or idea, which is what he looks like. When examining a paragraph you can always ask yourself, what is the main idea in this paragraph? If you see two ideas as in the above example you might have to create two paragraphs. Although, in order to understand what a paragraph is and how to write one, you need to know how a paragraph is constructed.

Elements Of A Paragraph

         A paragraph should contain some structure and particular elements, which are listed below in relative order:

1.A Topic sentence- motivates the reader to want to read more.

2.The First main point- proves, backs up, or explains the topic sentence.

3.The Second main point- usually provides a reason for the first point made.

4.The Third main point- can help prove the topic sentence or back up the first or second main point of the paragraph.

5.The Conclusion- sums up the main points or ideas and it usually completes the topic.

Sentences:  Simple, Compound, and Complex

Experienced writers use a variety of sentences to make their writing interesting and lively. Too many simple sentences, for example, will sound choppy and immature while too many long sentences will be difficult to read and hard to understand.  This page contains definitions of simple, compound, and complex sentences with many simple examples.  The purpose of these examples is to help the ESL/EFL learner to identify sentence basics including identification of sentences in the short quizzes that follow.   After that, it will be possible to analyze more complex sentences varieties.  SIMPLE SENTENCE A simple sentence, also called an independent clause, contains a subject and a verb, and it expresses a complete thought. In the following simple sentences, subjects are in yellow, and verbs are in green.   A. Some students like to study in the mornings. B. Juan and Arturo play football every afternoon. C. Alicia goes to the library and studies every day. The three examples above are all simple sentences.  Note that sentence B contains a compound subject, and sentence C contains a compound verb.  Simple sentences, therefore, contain a subject and verb and express a complete thought, but they can also contain a compound subjects or verbs.  COMPOUND SENTENCE A compound sentence contains two independent clauses joined by a coordinator. The coordinators are as follows: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. (Helpful hint: The first letter of each of the coordinators spells FANBOYS.) Except for very short sentences, coordinators are always preceded by a comma. In the following compound sentences, subjects are in yellow, verbs are in green, and the coordinators and the commas that precede them are in red.  A.  I tried to speak Spanish, and my friend tried to speak English.  B.  Alejandro played football, so Maria went shopping.  C.  Alejandro played football, for Maria went shopping. The above three sentences are compound sentences.  Each sentence contains two independent clauses, and they are joined by a coordinator with a comma preceding it.  Note how the conscious use of coordinators can change the relationship between the clauses.  Sentences B and C, for example, are identical except for the coordinators.  In sentence B, which action occurred first?  Obviously, "Alejandro played football" first, and as a consequence, "Maria went shopping.  In sentence C, "Maria went shopping" first.  In sentence C, "Alejandro played football" because, possibly, he didn't have anything else to do, for or because "Maria went shopping."  How can the use of other coordinators change the relationship between the two clauses?  What implications would the use of "yet" or "but" have on the meaning of the sentence? COMPLEX SENTENCE A complex sentence has an independent clause joined by one or more dependent clauses. A complex sentence always has a subordinator such as because, since, after, although, or when or a relative pronoun such as that, who, or which. In the following complex sentences, subjects are in yellow, verbs are in green, and the subordinators and their commas (when required) are in red. A. When he handed in his homework, he forgot to give the teacher the last page.  B. The teacher returned the homework after she noticed the error. C. The students are studying because they have a test tomorrow. D. After they finished studying, Juan and Maria went to the movies. E. Juan and Maria went to the movies after they finished studying. When a complex sentence begins with a subordinator such as sentences A and D, a comma is required at the end of the dependent clause. When the independent clause begins the sentence with subordinators in the middle as in sentences B, C, and E, no comma is required. If a comma is placed before the subordinators in sentences B, C, and E, it is wrong. Note that sentences D and E are the same except sentence D begins with the dependent clause which is followed by a comma, and sentence E begins with the independent clause which contains no comma.  The comma after the dependent clause in sentence D is required, and experienced listeners of English will often hear a slight pause there.  In sentence E, however, there will be no pause when the independent clause begins the sentence.  COMPLEX SENTENCES / ADJECTIVE CLAUSES Finally, sentences containing adjective clauses (or dependent clauses) are also complex because they contain an independent clause and a dependent clause.  The subjects, verbs, and subordinators are marked the same as in the previous sentences, and in these sentences, the independent clauses are also underlined.  A. The woman who(m) my mom talked to sells cosmetics. B. The book that Jonathan read is on the shelf. C. The house which AbrahAM  Lincoln was born in is still standing. D. The town where I grew up is in the United States. Adjective Clauses are studied in this site separately, but for now it is important to know that sentences containing adjective clauses are complex.