Revising and polishing your writing/ENGA104/Polishing your sentences/Reading

The bones of a good sentence

The right words in the right order

Consider the following quote from Socrates: The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be. Now imagine someone typed the sentence in the wrong order: The way to be is to pretend we live to be with what greatest honor in this world. They used the exact same words but now the sentence doesn't make much sense.

Now consider the following questions:

1. What makes a series of words into a sentence?
2. What makes a sentence successful in conveying a message?
3. What do you look for when editing your writing at the sentence level?

Read the following sections from the Writing for success course, to learn more about what makes a good sentence and how to edit a bad one.

• Section 2.1 to learn more about the basics of sentence writing.
• Section 2.2 to learn about subject-verb agreement.
• Section 2.3 to learn about using the appropriate verb tense.
• Section 2.4 to learn about the proper use of capitalisation
• Section 2.5 to learn about why and how to use pronouns.
• Section 2.6 to learn about using adjectives and adverbs to brighten your writing.
• Section 2.7 to learn about modifiers and how to correct misplaced or dangling ones.