HOW TO COMPOSE A TEXT?

Dra. Coral Ivy Hunt Gmez

coralhuntg@us.es
Despacho: 4.109

Universidad de Sevilla
2015-2016

1. Types

of Words
2. Basic Sentence
Structures
3. Punctuation Marks in
English
4. Register

Types of words
To understand sentence structures in the English
language, you must first have a general
understanding of the types of words that are used
to make sentences.

Noun
Verb

Adjective

Adverb
Subject
Object

Noun

Noun- a person, place or thing

Singular examples (one):

brother, home, sock, mouse
Plural examples:
brothers, homes, socks, mice

Find the plural of these words

Salmon
n Swine
n Fish
n Tooth
n Woman
n Goose
n

Formula
n Crisis
n Series
n Datum
n Alumnos
n Corpus
n

Verb

Verb- an action

jump
sit
talk
have

Adjective

Adjective- describes a
noun

Colourful shirt
Funny story
Tall boy

Adjective

Adverb

Adverb- describes other

words (not nouns)

Jumped yesterday
Talks fast
Signs loud
Very pretty
Luckily for us

Subject

Subject- the noun or nouns

that perform the action

The dog jumped

Dogs and cats sleep

Object

Object- the noun or nouns

that receive the action

The girl drank milk

He is eating bread and cheese

Five basic sentence structures

1.

Subject-Verb
The boy plays. Jack eats. Sara sits.

2.

Subject- Verb- Object

I love apples. Bill kicks the ball.

3.

Subject- Verb- Adjective

Lisa is pretty. I am happy.

4.

Subject- Verb- Adverb

Maria laughs loudly. Apples are everywhere.

5.

Subject- Verb- Noun

I am the teacher. The boy is a student.

Expanding sentences
Basic sentences can be expanded by adding
adjectives, adverbs and objects. Subject-Verb
Subject- Verb
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Jack
Jack
Jack
Jack
Jack

eats (+ adverb= 2)
quickly eats (+ object = 3)
quickly eats carrots (+ adverb =4)
quickly eats carrots at home (+ adjective= 5)
quicly eats fresh carrots at home

Please expand the following

sentences
1.

Subject- Verb- Object

Bill kicks the ball

2.

Subject- Verb- Adjective

She looks pretty

3.

4.

Subject- Verb- Adverb

Apples are everywhere

Subject- Verb- Noun
John is a student

Period (full stop) ( . )

Comma ( , )
Ques6on mark ( ? )
Colon ( : )
Semicolon ( ; )
Quota6on marks ( )
Parentheses ( )
Brackets [ ]
Hypen (-)
En dash (-)
Em dash ( _ )
Ellipsis (. . .)
Apostrophe ( )
Slash ( / )

Punctuation Marks
in English
A punctua:on mark is a
sign used in wri:ng to
divide text into phrases
and sentences.

English Punctua6on Rules

nTo end a sentence

nPeriod
nQues:on mark
nExclama:on mark
nEllipsis

Period (full stop)

The period looks like a small dot ( . ). The period
is the most common form of punctuation used to
end a sentence in the English language.
We use periods at the end of sentences.
n that are statements

I like to eat pizza

n

that are commands

Hand me the pencil

that are indirect ques:ons
Tim asked about that book
Periods are also used for abbreviations and website
addresses.
n

Ques6on Mark

We use ques:on marks when trying to get
informa:on.
Where is the gas sta:on?

Do you like pizza?

We can turn statements into ques:ons
See you there at eight tonight?
With tag ques:ons
You speak English, dont you?
AMer rhetorical ques:ons
Who cares?

Exclama6on Mark

A warning
Watch out!
A direct order
Do not enter!
Expressing strong feelings
Its good to see you again!

Not to be used in formal wri:ng
Not to be overused

Ellipses ()

It is a form of punctua:on used in wriPen English

language to
show an omission of a word in a quote
AMer school I went to her houseand then came
home
to show a pause in a though, to create suspense
I opened he door and I sawa cake!

English Puctua:on Rules

n To separate phrases or items

nComma
nSemicolon


Are used
n when lis:ng items in a sentence or separa:ng
words or phrases of three or more

Commas

My best friends are Richard, Nick, Beth and Lisa.

n

to separate two adjec:ves if you can reverse the

order or insert and between them.

He is a liPle, short man > The man is liPle and short

when wri:ng a date in a sentence

He was born on March 17th, 1993.

n when wri:ng a loca:on
I am traveling to Glasgow, Scotland, this week.
n when directly addressing someone.
Do you like ice-creams, Rob?
n


Are used
n with an introductory phrase to set it apart from
the main sentence

Commas

In about two weeks, I will nally be 18 years old.

n

with a coordina:ng conjunc:on to connet two

independent clauses.

She likes owers, so I bought her a bouquet.

n

when wri:ng a quote

Please, take care of yourself?, said the doctor.

when wri:ng tag ques:ons

His name is Bill, isnt it?
n when you have two contras:ng phrases
I am :red, but s:ll awake.
n

Semicolon

Are used
n to connect two related, or similar,
sentences.

My shirt is green; my brothers is blue

n

to join to related , or similar, sentences

when using a conjunc:ve adverb.

We will drive to school; then, we will go to the

museum.
n

to connect items in a list if there are

already commas in the sentence

I have lived in Paris, France; London, England;
and Edinburgh, Scotland.

English Punctua:on Rules

Colon
nTo begin a list
I like healthy foods: carrots,
broccoli, apples, spinach and
oranges.
nAMer the gree:ng
Dear Sir or Madam:

English Punctua:on
Rules

To quote or indicate a :tle

n Single quota:on marks
nDouble quota:on marks

Quota:on Marks

Bri:sh English
Double quota:on marks
for a quota:on within a
quota:on
The Red Ballon is my favourite
story , my father said.

Scare quotes, ironic words

or phrases, or being used
in an unusual way.
My brother shared his wisdom
with me.

English Punctua:on Rules

n To indicate extra informa:on

n Parentheses
n Brackets
n Em dash

Language Register
The language register determines the
vocabulary, structure, and some grammar in
your wri:ng.
Formal- professional wri:ng and lePers to a
boss or stranger
Informal conversa:onal and appropriate
when wri:ng to friends and people you know
very well.
Neutral- non-emo:onal and s:cks to the facts.
Technical wri:ngs.

Formal Register
When do we use formal wri:ng?

n Business LePers
n LePers of complain
n Some essays
n Reports
n Ocial speeches
n Professional emails

Rules of the formal register

1.
2.
3.
4.

Do not use contrac:ons

Spell out numbers less than
one hundred
Write in the third person
point of view
Avoid using slang, idioms,
hyperboles and clichs

Rules of the formal register

6.

7.

8.
9.

D o n o t u s e s l a n g
abbrevia:ons or symbols
that you would use in
friendly emails and texts.
Do not start sentences
with words like, so, but,
also.
Always write in complete
sentences
W r i t e l o n g e r , m o r e
complex sentences.

Informal Language Register

When do we use formal wri:ng?

n Personal emails
n Phone text
n Short notes
n Friendly LePers
n Most blogs
n Diaries

Rules of the informal register

There are no major
rules to informal
writing
You can include
n
n
n
n
n

Slang and clichs

Symbols and abbrevia6ons
Incomplete sentences
Extra punctua6on
Jokes

Neutral Language Register

When do we use formal wri:ng?
Non-emo:onal topics and informa:on
n Reviews
n Ar:cles
n Some lePers
n Some essays
n Technical wri:ng