Effective sentences should have four important characteristics.

Concise sentences convey their meaning in as few words as possible. Use the following suggestions to make your sentences concise.

1. Avoid wordy expressions. Omit words and phrases that contribute little or no meaning. If a sentence is clear without a particular phrase or if the phrase can be replaced by a more direct word or phrase, take it out or replace it:

2. Eliminate redundancy. Look for places where you have repeated an idea unnecessarily by using different words that have the same meaning:

3. Eliminate unnecessary sentence openings. Look for words you have expressed indirectly or tentatively. As you revise, edit to make them more direct:

4. Eliminate unnecessary adverbs. Using too many adverbs can weaken your writing. Adverbs such as extremely, really, and very add nothing and can weaken the words they modify. Notice that the following sentence is stronger without the adverb:

Other adverbs, such as somewhat, rather, and quite also add little or no meaning and are often unnecessary.

5. Eliminate unnecessary phrases and clauses. Wordy phrases and clauses make it difficult for readers to find and understand the main point of your sentence. This problem often occurs when you use too many prepositional phrases and clauses that begin with who, which, or that.

6. Avoid weak verb-noun combinations. Weak verb-noun combinations such as wrote a draft instead of drafted or made a change instead of changed tend to make ­sentences wordy.

Sentences that are varied will help hold your reader’s interest and make your writing flow more smoothly. Vary the type, length, and pattern of your sentences.

How to vary sentence type There are four types of sentences: simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex. Each type consists of one or more clauses. A clause is a group of words with both a subject and a verb. There are two types of clauses:

A brief summary of each sentence type and its clauses appears in Table 10.1.

Use the following suggestions to vary your sentence types.

1. Use simple sentences for emphasis and clarity. A simple sentence contains only one independent clause, but it is not necessarily short. It can have more than one subject, more than one verb, and several modifiers.

A short, simple sentence can be used to emphasize an important point or to make a dramatic statement.

If you use too many simple sentences, however, your writing will sound choppy and disjointed.

2. Use compound sentences to show relationships among equally important ideas. A compound sentence consists of two or more independent clauses joined in one of the following ways:

Notice that in each example, both clauses are equally important and receive equal emphasis.

You can also use compound sentences to explain how equally important ideas are related. For example, you can use different coordinating conjunctions to show the relationship between two important related ideas. (See Table 10.2.)

3. Use complex sentences to show that one or more ideas are less important than (or subordinate to) another idea. A complex sentence consists of one independent clause and at least one dependent clause. Either type of clause may Monotonous use of simple and compound sentences come first. When the dependent clause comes first, it is usually followed by a comma. When the independent clause comes first, a comma is usually not used.

In the preceding sentences, the main point is that the village flooded. The dependent clause explains why the flood happened. A dependent clause often begins with a subordinating conjunction that indicates how the less important (dependent) idea is related to the more important (independent) idea. Table 10.3 lists some subordinating conjunctions and the relationships they suggest.

Dependent clauses can also begin with a relative pronoun (that, who, which).

To see how complex sentences can improve your writing, study the following two paragraphs:

ORIGINAL

Are you one of the many people who has tried to quit smoking? Well, don’t give up trying. Help is here in the form of a nonprescription drug. A new nicotine patch has been developed. This patch will help you quit gradually. That way, you will experience less severe withdrawal symptoms. Quitting will be easier than ever before, but you need to be psychologically ready to quit smoking. Otherwise, you may not be successful.

REVISED

If you are one of the many people who has tried to quit smoking, don’t give up trying. Help is now here in the form of a nonprescription nicotine patch, which has been developed to help you quit gradually. Because you experience less severe withdrawal symptoms, quitting is easier than ever before. However, for this patch to be successful, you need to be psychologically ready to quit.

4. Use compound-complex sentences occasionally to express complicated relationships. A compound-complex sentence contains one or more dependent clauses and two or more independent clauses.

Use compound-complex sentences sparingly. When overused, they make your writing hard to follow.

How to vary sentence length If you vary sentence type, you often automatically vary sentence length as well. Simple sentences tend to be short, while compound and complex sentences tend to be longer. Compound-complex sentences tend to be the longest.

You can use sentence length to achieve a specific effect: Short sentences tend to be sharp and emphatic; they move ideas along quickly, creating a fast-paced essay. In the following example, a series of short sentences creates a dramatic pace:

Longer sentences, in contrast, move the reader more slowly through the essay. Notice that the lengthy sentence in this example suggests a leisurely, unhurried pace:

How to vary sentence pattern A sentence is usually made up of one or more subjects, verbs, and modifiers. Modifiers are words (adjectives or adverbs), phrases, or clauses that describe or limit another part of the sentence (a noun, pronoun, verb, phrase, or clause). Here are some examples of modifiers in sentences.

As you can see, the placement of modifiers may vary, depending on the pattern of the sentence.

1. Modifier last: subject-verb-modifier. The main message (expressed in the subject and verb) comes first, followed by information that clarifies or explains the message.

In some cases, a string of modifiers follows the subject and verb.

2. Modifier first: modifier-subject-verb (periodic sentences). Information in the modifier precedes the main message, elaborating the main message but slowing the overall pace. The emphasis is on the main message at the end of the sentence.

Use periodic sentences sparingly: Too many will make your writing sound stiff and unnatural.

3. Modifier in the middle: subject-modifier-verb. The modifier interrupts the main message and tends to slow the pace of the sentence. The emphasis is on the subject because it comes first in the sentence.

Avoid placing too many modifiers between the subject and verb in a sentence. Doing so may cause your reader to miss the sentence’s key idea.

4. Modifiers used throughout.

By varying the order of subjects, verbs, and modifiers, you can give emphasis where it is needed as well as vary sentence patterns as shown in the paragraphs that follow.

ORIGINAL

Theme parks are growing in number and popularity. Theme parks have a single purpose — to provide family entertainment centered around high-action activities. The most famous theme parks are Disney World and Disneyland. They serve as models for other, smaller parks. Theme parks always have amusement rides. Theme parks can offer other activities such as swimming. Theme parks will probably continue to be popular.

REVISED

Theme parks are growing in number and popularity. Offering high-action activities, theme parks fulfill a single purpose — to provide family entertainment. The most famous parks, Disney World and Disneyland, serve as models for other, smaller parks. Parks always offer amusement rides, which appeal to both children and adults. Added attractions such as swimming, water slides, and boat rides provide thrills and recreation. Because of their family focus, theme parks are likely to grow in popularity.

Parallelism means that similar ideas in a sentence are expressed in similar grammatical form. It means balancing words with words, phrases with phrases, and clauses with clauses. Parallel sentences flow smoothly and make your thoughts easy to follow. Study the following sentence pairs. Which sentence in each pair is easier to read?

In each pair, the second sentence sounds better because it is balanced grammatically. Large, bony, and friendly are all adjectives. Swimming and sailing are nouns ending in -ing.

The following sentence elements should be parallel in structure.

Strong, active verbs make your writing lively and vivid. By contrast, to be verbs (is, was, were, has been, and so on) and other linking verbs (feels, became, seems, appears) — which connect a noun or pronoun to words that describe it — can make your writing sound dull. Linking verbs often contribute little meaning to a sentence. Whenever possible, use stronger, more active verbs.

To strengthen your writing, use active verbs rather than passive verbs as much as possible. A passive verb is a form of the verb to be combined with a past participle (killed, chosen, elected). In a sentence with a passive verb, the subject does not perform the action of the verb but instead receives the action. By contrast, in a sentence with an active verb, the subject performs the action.

Notice that the first sentence emphasizes the action of claiming, not the person who made the claim. In the second sentence, the person who made the claim is the subject.

Unless you decide deliberately to deemphasize the subject, try to avoid using passive verbs. On occasion, you may need to use passive verbs, however, to emphasize the object or person receiving the action.

For more about possible problems with using passive voice, see Look for Purposeful Omissions.

Passive verbs may also be appropriate if you do not know or choose not to reveal who performed an action. Journalists often use passive verbs for this reason.