As with everyone, the number of sentences you write day after day, whether for obligation or for other reasons, is incalculable. Maybe you are not sure if they are right. Nevertheless, all sentences, however long and complicated they are, need only two things: a subject and a predicate. Adding more is like frosting a cake - it makes it even more delicious, but if you delete this layer you can still convey the basic concept to the reader. You don't have to be a great writer to communicate your thoughts.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Simple and Compound Sentences
Step 1. Start with the subject
This is the person or thing that will perform the action indicated in the sentence. It can represent an individual or a group: me, you, the girl, the people of India. Sometimes, however, it can indicate an animal (such as a cat), an inanimate object (such as a wall) or something intangible, such as an idea or a feeling (for example jealousy).
Step 2. Choose the verb, that word that indicates the action performed by the subject
The conjugation of verbs can get very complicated depending on the moment in which the action takes place and its duration. In any case, despite the varying ways and times, there is still only one concept left, the one expressed by the verb itself, which explains what the subject does: walk, think, read, hope, die, etc.
Don't stress yourself out about verbs. Most people cannot remember the names of the different tenses and verbal modes, but everyone who is fluent in Italian knows the difference between Maria reads and Maria will have read. The first sentence has been conjugated to the Present Indicative, the second to the Anterior Future
Step 3. Make sure the verb agrees with the number, which can be singular or plural
- If we take the subject of the previous sentences as an example, it is singular: Mary is one person and the verb must be conjugated accordingly. The girl reads, plays or walks. If the subject represents children, so it is plural, the verb must also be: children read, play or walk.
- If you work with a time and a way that require auxiliaries, they too must be properly conjugated: the girl ate and the children ate.
Step 4. Add a direct object, ie the person or thing the subject of the sentence intervenes on by the action indicated by the verb
In the sentence "The girl is reading a book", the object is the book, read by the girl. However, the phrase "The girl is sad" does not need an object.
Step 5. Add an indirect complement if you need more information that you can only convey this way
For example, in the sentence "The girl lent the book to her brother", the object complement is the book, while the indirect complement is to her brother. You will not only know who the girl lent the book, but also to whom.
Step 6. Use other words that you want to add to the sentence to make it more descriptive, but which are not necessary
Taking up the phrase "The girl lent the book to her brother", you can think of other words to enrich it. Here's an example: "The girl with the pigtails lent a book about Assateague Island ponies to her younger brother, who was bedridden with the flu."
Step 7. Create a compound sentence by combining two simple sentences with a coordinating conjunction, which connects syntactically or logically homogeneous clauses or words
These conjunctions can be of different types (copulative, like and, disjunctive, like or, conclusive, like and yet, and so on). Sometimes it is better to insert a comma before these words, others not.
Step 8. Here are some examples of compound sentences:
"The girl read the book and her brother played baseball" or "The boy read the book so he couldn't go to practice."
Method 2 of 2: Complex Sentences
Step 1. Form a complex sentence by combining two sentences with the following conjunctions:
since, since, when, so that, though, since, as long as. These words are called "subordinating conjunctions" (there are many others, the ones illustrated here are for example only). The sentence following one of these terms allows the other to be more descriptive.
For example, in the sentence "Because the boy had to read a book, he couldn't go to training", explain why he missed
Step 2. Create a complex proposition by combining two sentences that share the same subject
In this case, you only have to write it once, and the other sentence becomes a so-called "relative clause".
For example, you can take the sentences "The girl lent a book to a boy" and "The girl was watching the baseball game" to construct a complex one with the relative clause: "The girl who was watching the baseball game lent a book to a boy"
Advice
- In rare cases, you don't even need a subject because the sentence has an implied one. For example, when you hear the phrase "Look!", You understand that the subject is you. One of the shortest sentences in Italian is "Vai.".
- A simple sentence could have more than one subject, verb or object. Unless you have two complete sentences that can be broken down, this is still a simple sentence. Here are some examples: "The girl and the boy read their books" (two subjects), "The girl sat down and wept" (two verbs), "The boy read the book and the notes taken at school" (two objects).
- Remember that all sentences must end with a full stop, question mark or exclamation point.
