Steps towards improved sentence construction

IMPROVED style of writing leads to better understanding of the students’ work by the examiner or any other reader. You will recall that you can improve sentences by changing the subject, verb or object. For example, a simple sentence like, I walked into the room, can be improved this way: Peter ran into the room. This is an improved subject. We can improve the verb “ran” with words like, trotted, to make the sentence read: Peter trotted into the room. The same applies to final part, the object could be changed to make clear what kind of a room Peter ran into.

The sentence could read as follows: Peter trotted into the classroom. The whole sentence has improved, instead of I, we now know that the person who ran is Peter. The verb trotted makes clear how he ran. It is not just the usual running he made but trotted. He trotted into a classroom, not just any other ordinary room. Sentences become more complex as students mature. The higher the level the students attain the more complex the sentences they make. Whatever the case might be, sentences should remain simple even if they are complex.

The ability to communicate is key to any writing. Students should be understood as to what they are saying. This is the reason why I decided to go back to basics — parts of speech. I believe the new curriculum stresses the need of starting at the basics like definitions of what is learnt to the functions and applications of what is learnt. Today we pick up our discussion on the verb. A verb is a word used to express action or a state of being.

Please note that these are not the only definitions of these parts of speech. Wider reading will help students come up with other definitions and examples. Action verbs: an action verb expresses physical or mental activity. Examples of physical activities expressed by verbs: jump, speak, sleep, and carry. Mental activities expressed by verbs as well: think, believe, imagine, dream. Verb phrase: A verb phrase consists of a main verb and at least one helping verb (also called an auxiliary verb).

Examples: has played (Has is a helping verb; played is the main verb) will be going: (Will and be are helping verbs; going is the main verb). Here is a list of common helping (auxiliary) verbs. Forms of be: am, be, was, were, are, been, is, and being. Forms of have: has, have and had. Forms of do, does and did. Other helping verbs: may, might, must, can, shall, will, could, should and would. Note that these helping verbs are meaningless when taken in isolation. It is best to use them in sentences for better understanding.

While on the verb we might as well talk about the tense. The tense of a verb indicates the time of the action or state of being expressed by the verb. Every verb has six tenses: present, past, future, present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect. These six tenses are formed from the principal parts of a verb. Example of principal parts of the verb: Base Form — give, present participle(is) giving, past — gave, past participle — (have) given. What we have done here is listing all of the forms of a verb according to tense. This is called conjugating a verb.

e uses of the tenses. Each of the six tenses has its own special uses. The present tense is used mainly to express an action or state of being that is occurring now. For example: Sit down. (present). The present tense is also used to show a customary or habitual action or state of being or to state a general truth — something that is always true. Examples: After school I revise my notes and start homework. In Zimbabwe schools first term starts in January and ends in April. (general truth)

The past tense is used to express an action or state of being that occurred in the past but did not continue into the present. Examples: I stayed at the library until closing time. (past). A past action or state of being may also be shown in another way. Example: He used to stay next door.

The future tense is used to express an action or a state of being that will occur. Examples: I will attend the writers’ meeting next month. Note that a future action or state of being may also be expressed by using the present tense of be with going to and the base form of a verb and the present tense of a verb with a word or phrase that expresses future tense. Examples: She is going to visit the museum. The teacher is about to open the cupboard with examinations. Examinations begin next week.

The major learning activities on parts of speech are identification as well as function of the different parts of speech. Understanding functions of the various parts of speech leads to better writing techniques as basic grammatical mistakes are minimised.

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