Business English at Work

2003 Glencoe/McGraw-Hill
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Demonstrate knowledge of terms used in sentence

construction. Objectives
Use correct ending punctuation for statements,
questions, commands, and exclamations.
Identify simple, compound, and complete subjects.
Identify simple, compound, and complete
predicates.

continued
Business English at Work PP 3-1a
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Recognize direct objects, indirect objects, and other
complements. Objectives
Identify normal and inverted sentence order patterns.
Differentiate between phrases and clauses.
Identify simple, compound, complex, and compound-
complex sentences.

Business English at Work PP 3-1b

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A Sentence
A sentence consists of words correctly arranged
to form a complete statement or idea.
A sentence
begins with a capital letter.
ends with an ending mark of punctuation.

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Ask these questions to determine

whether words are a sentence.
Do the words make sense?
Do the words indicate a complete thought?
Does the group of words begin with a capital
letter?
Does the group of words end with a period,
question mark, or exclamation point?

Business English at Work PP 3-3

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Four Purposes of Sentences

Express statements (declarative sentences).
End with a period.
We offer a 30-day return policy.
Ask questions (interrogative sentences).
End with a question mark if direct questions.
Are the new brochures available yet?
End with a period if indirect questions.
He asked whether I planned to revise the news
release.
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Four Purposes of Sentences
Give commands and requests (imperative sentences).
End with a period.
Direct Command
Place your order within two days to receive a discount.
Courteous Request
Will you please call me by the end of the week.
Express emotions (exclamatory sentences).
End with an exclamation point.
Always satisfy your customers!

Business English at Work PP 3-4a

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Sentences Have Two Parts

Subject
Often a noun or pronoun
Indicates who is speaking, who is spoken to, or who
or what is spoken about

Predicate
Verb (action or to be form)
Tells what the subject is doing or what the subject is

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Simple Subject
The simple subject is the main word of the
subject.

Users can schedule unlimited sales calls

with contact management software.
We offer a discount to our employees.
Outstanding customer service is our goal.

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Compound Subject
The compound subject is two or more main
words in a subject.
Hudson Communications and Cellular Depot
share an office building in the Redwood Business
Park.
Evening hours and free parking interest customers.
Focus groups, phone messages, and postal card
responses are all ways to obtain user opinions.

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Complete Subject
The complete subject consists of the simple or
compound subject plus any of its modifiers.
Most customers comment on our window
displays.
Sales brochures describe our products.
Free upgrades and extra bonus miles
attract some travelers.

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Simple Predicate
The simple predicate is a single verb or verb
phrase.
Tim speaks softly.
I take inventory once a week.
Our store hours are convenient.
We have advertised our sale in the local
newspaper.

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Compound Predicate
The compound predicate is two or more verbs.
I researched our orders and designed our latest
sales brochure.
Our accountant and the sales manager analyzed
our sales and recommended new pricing of
products.
Other companies have visited our call center
and ordered similar telephone headsets.
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Complete Predicate
The complete predicate consists of the simple
or compound predicate plus all modifiers that
limit or describe the verbs.
This short survey asks for your opinions about our
customer service.
Our company has an extensive video training
library.
The reports on this Website review a wide range of
customer service issues.
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A Direct Object
Can be a noun or pronoun.
Completes the verb by answering the
questions whom? or what? after the verb.
Glenda plans seminars for our company.
Service companies need outstanding delivery
records.
My supervisor praised me for resolving the
problem.
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An Indirect Object
Can be a noun or pronoun.
Answers the questions to whom? or for
whom?
Usually precedes the direct object.
Usually follows verb forms such as give,
offer, wish, ship, make, refuse, present, or
send.

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Examples of Indirect Objects
Dynamic Designs offers me a 15 percent
discount.
The warehouse shipped Kerry the furniture
last week.
Our company gives customers a money-
back guarantee.

Business English at Work PP 3-13b

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A Subject Complement
Is a predicate noun or predicate pronoun that
follows a linking verb (am, are, is was, were).
Renames the subject.
Richard Herrera is a customer service
representative.
We are the best sales team.

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A Predicate Complement
Is a predicate adjective that follows a linking
verb (am, are, is, was, were).
Modifies (describes) the subject.
Billboard advertising is expensive.
Customers are a companys most
important asset.

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Sentence Order
Normal Order
The subject appears first and the predicate
follows.
Jerry responded.
Your companys competitors hired several young
salespeople.
I received the sales totals.
We wish you success.
The training video is free.
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Sentence Order
Inverted Order
The predicate or part of the predicate is before
the subject.
There are many compliments about our customer service.
Here is the latest inventory report.
Should we offer discounts to attract customers?
How much will a customer satisfaction survey cost?
On the Website are the details about our shipping policies.

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Phrase
A phrase is a sequence of words which has
neither a subject nor a predicate.
Prepositional phrase: Begins with a preposition such as
of, in, at, and for and ends with a noun or pronoun. Does
not include a verb.
in our call center at our warehouse
Infinitive phrase: Begins with to and includes a verb form.
to offer a compromise to request a refund
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Clause
A clause is a sequence of words with both a subject
and a predicate.
Independent clause: Is a complete sentence and can
stand alone.
We send a confirmation e-mail for each online order.

Dependent clause: Is not a complete sentence and

cannot stand alone. It must be joined to an independent
clause to make sense.
When you call our customer service department,

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Clause
When a dependent clause introduces an
independent clause, place a comma at the end
of the dependent clause.
If the office furniture was damaged in moving,
our standard guarantee still applies.
Because we have 24-hour customer service,
we have three customer service shifts.

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Sentence Formations
Simple sentences
Compound sentences
Complex sentences
Compound-complex sentences

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Simple Sentence
A simple sentence is one independent clause
in a subject-verb pattern.
We cancelled the order last week.
Rachel and I purchased a subscription to Advertising Age.
Our customers shop online and refer others to our Website.
The human relations specialist and my manager
recommended less phone work and offered me another
position.

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Compound Sentence
A compound sentence is two independent
clauses connected by a coordinating
conjunction.
Many of our customers are self-employed,
and they purchase items for themselves.
Limited quantities of this product are available,
but we will ship your order next week.

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Complex Sentence
A complex sentence consists of an independent
clause and a dependent clause.
When a product is listed as out of stock, your
order will be filled as soon as possible.
If your order cannot be shipped within 30 days,
we will cancel the order.
Because I arrived late for the sale, I could not find
the items that I wanted.
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Compound-Complex Sentence
A compound-complex sentence consists of
more than one independent clause and one or
more dependent clauses.
If your order has not been shipped within 30 days, we
will notify you of this delay by e-mail, and you will
have the option to cancel your order.
When you receive a promotional code, enter it on
your order, but only one promotional code may be
used for each order.
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