Learn to Write

Chapter : the sentenceⅠ

Lecture one: the basics

The basics

1

2

3

The criterion

Sentence patterns

Chinese VS English sentence

Study the following sentences:

1. The number of motorcycles on the road this morning are unbelievable.

2. I love Beijing, it’s a beautiful city.

3. When Bob handed over the lap computer to Peter, he was not sure if it was in good condition.

4. There maybe other reasons for his behavior.

grammar

punctuation

meaning

diction

1. The criterion

(1) Correct in grammar

(2) Right in punctuation

(3) Clear in meaning

(4) Good in diction

2. Four sentence patterns

Simple

Compound

Complex

Compound complex

Study the following sentences:

John loves Mary. John loves Mary and gives her money.John and Cliff love Mary and her sister (and give them money) .

Simple

Simple

Simple

The simple sentence: a single subject – verb pattern, more than one subject , or more than one verb,

or several subject and verbs.

Study the following sentences: John loves Mary, but she doesn’t love him.Finally John persuaded Mary to marry him ,for he is a charming , persistent young man.The wind is blowing; the lightning flashing; the thunder roaring; the rain pouring down; the earth rocking.

Compound

Compound

Compound

The compound sentence: two or more simple sentences,linked by : a comma + conjunction ( and, but, for,

or , so, etc.), or a semicolon

Study the following sentences:

Although John loves Mary, she does not love him.Whatever happens, my heart will go on.

Complex Complex

The complex sentence: one main clause +subordinate clauses, the more important idea

is put in the main clause

Study the following sentences:

When heavy rain comes, the streams rise; and farmers know that there will be floods. The neighborhood that Henry grew up in was fairly prosperous, but it was by no means wealthy. compound complex

Compound complex

Class work: combine the sentences

Many rivers are so seriously polluted. There is no fish. There is no clean water.

In school, we work mainly with our brains. Sports must be given more attention.

Many rivers are so seriously polluted that there is no fish nor clean water can be found.

In school where we work mainly with our brains, sportsmust be given more attention.

Class work: combine the following sentences

We can use our own money. Using the money we can go traveling. We can buy things we like, we needn’t take money from our parents.

They don’t know how to form their own opinions. Teachers should develop students’ ability of thinking independently.

We can use our own money when we want to go traveling or buy things we like, instead of taking money from our patents.

As They don’t know how to form their own opinions, teachers should develop students’ ability of thinking independently.

3. Differences between Chinese and English language:

1. 来客人了。 / 客人来了。A guest has come./ The guest has come.

2. 他在写书。 / 他喜欢读书。He is writing a book./ He likes reading books.

3. 我以为你没有到呢 !I thought you had not come yet.

3. Differences between Chinese and English language:

中国地大物博，历史悠久，人口众多。China has a vast territory, abundant resources ， a long history and a large population.

topic comment

3. Differences between Chinese and English language:

Chinese: implicit,no grammatical change, meaning conveyed through word order and context.

English: explicit,emphasis on form.

topic comment

No grammatical relation

Chinese sentence

s v

agreement

tense modifiervoice

English sentence

Class work: correct the following sentences:

1. The eating habit of Chinese people have changed dramatically in the past decade.

2. There are so many countries using English that it had been regarded as an international language.

has

it is now regarded

3. In the story, Janie married Joe Starks and and then goes to New York with him.

marries

Class work: correct the following passage

My favorite type of TV program is the game show. I like to watch the players trying to do funny things or guessing the answers to difficult questions. I sometimes imagine that I am someday be a player, too. I practiced guessing the answers along with the player. Sometimes I guessing the correct answers, but usually I can’t. The questions are too difficult for me. They were even more difficult than my school homework! Anyway, I really enjoy game shows. Watching them is my favorite way to kill time.

willpractice

guess

are

Last summer I went to England to study English. After I arrived in London, I immediately went to the college. Then we started our classes. Every day we have six hours of classes. We also had to watched TV and movies in English every night. Besides, on the weekends, we often go out to restaurants, museums, or famous spots, in addition, I had to speak English with my Korean roommate every day. As a result, my English was much better now than it was last year.

hadwatch

went

is

Class work: correct the following passage

Assignment: complete the sentences

(1) The question is ( 采取什麽措施来控制人口的快速增长 ） .

(2) It seems certain ( 自行车在人们的生活中起着重要的作用） .

(3) It is important ( 学生用英文写日记） .

(4) More and more people have realized ( 吸烟对人体的健康会造成多麽严重的危害） .

how we can bring the rapid population increase under control. that the bicycle plays an important

role in our life that students should keep a dairy

in Englishwhat serious

damage smoking may do to people’s health

Assignment: complete the sentences

(5) There is little possibility ( 人们能在短期内成功地解决污染的问题） .

(6) Scientists want to find out( 为什麽色彩会影响人们的情绪 ).

(7) We are confident ( 太阳能在不久的将来会得到广泛的应用） .

(8) Studies show( 电视对儿童的智力发展会产生消极的作用） .

that the problem of pollution can be solved in a short time

why color can affect people’s mood

that solar energy will be made use of widely in the near future

that television may result in a

negative effect on the development of children’s intelligence

Assignment: complete the sentences

(9) use of it. ( 既然时间是宝贵的）

(10) When the domestic robot becomes available,

( 家庭主妇将可以从繁忙的家务中解放出来） .

(11) He was so pleased（当听到这个消息时） .

( 我的家乡发生了如此巨大的变化）

, we should make good

(12)

that I couldhardly recognize it after an absence of ten years.

Now that ( since ) time is precious

housewives can be relieved from busy domestic routines

when he learned about the news

Such great changes have taken place in my hometown

Assignment: complete the sentences

(13) speaking Chinese than those speaking English. ( 尽管很多国家讲英语）

(14) Traffic accidents will result in more losses in lives and properties

( 除非采取有效的措施 )

(15) Where there are schools,

Trees are so important to man（那就有考试） .

( 没有树木人类就无法生存）

, there are far more people

(16)

Although English is spoken in many countries

unless effective measures are taken

there are examinations

that he can not survive without them