A high-quality essay is composed of high-quality sentences. This page focuses on rules for writing complete sentences that flow together to create a well written academic piece. Clauses and Sentences ...

An independent clause is basically a complete sentence; it can stand on its own and make sense. An independent clause consists of a subject (e.g. “the dog”) and a verb (e.g. “barked”) creating a ...

The five patterns illustrated below provide the basis for all other sentence structures: that is, other kinds of sentences are transformations of these basic patterns. Though the above sentences are ...

Letters represent sounds. Words are built from letters. A group of words makes a phrase. Add a subject and verb, and you have a clause. If that clause expresses a complete thought, we call it a ...

Semicolons must combine similar elements and are either used to combine complete sentences or items in a long, complicated list. Use semicolons in the following situations: Combine two complete ...

A sentence is a group of words that include a subject and verb, and usually expresses one complete thought. ‘Selena lives on the new space station’ is an example of a sentence. Sentences are made up ...

Sign up for the daily CJR newsletter. The little word “and,” we probably all know, is a conjunction. It connects things: “She is tall and thin” means she is ...