We have learned, in Stage 1, that — in English grammar — every complete sentence must include, as its essential component, a main clause (MC), which combines a subject (S) – what we are talking about – and its predicate (P) – what the subject is 1) being, 2) having, or 3) doing.
This pair–that-makes–one, this grammatical yin and yang, I call “the essence of a sentence.” Well, even as I write this, I just asked an AI search engine for a freshly updated rendering of my term’s presently understood “meaning.” How, I wondered, do mainstream grammar sites define “the essence of a sentence,” if they mention it at all?
I found (as you can do, yourself) that a few sites do present and define that term, usually simply naming certain requirements, such as “a capital letter to start,” an independent clause, and “end punctuation.” Okay, we can all agree on the need for an independent clause, also called “main clause,” the term I prefer, as you know.
But the simple grammatical necessity of those parts — esp. the capital letter and end punctuation — doesn’t really smack of “essence,” to me. Does such a “anatomical” definition seem, to you, Reader-student, a little basic/boring/ un–helpful, and decidedly non-“essential“? I thought so, too. Sometimes “clear and concise” turns out not all that clear.
In contrast, our understanding of the essense of a sentence dances with philosophy, wrestles with rhetoric, and holds hands along the way to authenticity. It took six essays, working together and in a planned sequence, to develop — toward practical usefulness in writing — our “essence.”
I say “toward” and not “to” because we have still some work to do — namely this next stage — before I would consider what we have covered as significantly practical. Of course all reader-students will learn at their own pace; to those in the top fifth or so of the readership, Stage 1 may well have produced for you some significant practicality. If you are now taking more notice of your own choices in subjects and predicates, when you write something, that counts. Our “essence” is getting you somewhere.
And ours works as both window and mirror — we do, indeed, name and describe what we see, but we also acknowledge that we, as author, are, of our own choices, designating the subject, predicate, and everything else in the sentence. They’re not, somehow, simply “there.” Our every utterance comes in “according to me.” This means you.
Well, now we move onto Stage 2, where you will learn some benefits and techniques for giving our sentences refreshing variety — and often added depth — by adding different parts, in different ways, at different times. These added parts will even, in some cases, include additional main clauses. Imagine that! 🙂
But, before we go any further (for actual, physical, measurable distance, we say “farther” — a freebie!), please take this little pop quiz, to give you a sense of how well you may already grasp (or not) the main concepts that you are about to learn (and/or learn in more detail) here in Stage 2.
#1. Which of the following serves as the best definition for a “run-on” sentence?
Select all that apply:
#2. What grammatical term applies to the following *enclosed* words: *Because my mom rocks,* I feel lucky.
#3. How many coordinating conjunctions are available?
#4. Which of the following can NOT function as a *subordinating conjunction*
#5. Which of the following sentences show all correct punctuation? (select all that apply)
Results
Congrats! You have correctly answered at least 4 of the 5 items. If you managed this on the first try, I’d call that exceptional.
I would estimate that 4 of 5 right on the first try places you around the top 5 percent (compared to an equivalent pre-test given right when starting Stage 2), among students I’ve taught.
And, if you aced all 5 items on the first try, then I’d estimate you in the top 1-2%.
If you took two or more tries to get to this screen, no worries. You’re on your way to the top tier — just keep reading and studying!
Oops! You have correctly answered 3 or fewer items. Try taking the quiz until you get to the “pass” screen, which takes at least 4 correct responses. That’s what Stage 2 is about to help you to understand.
After you read and study the posts here, you’ll understand all these items. More importantly, you’ll be able to write sentences in new ways.
Roll up your sleeves. It’s time to take a big step forward in your knowledge and ability to write sentences in a variety of lengths and types.
If you aced the quiz or even answered four of the five items correctly, you will be able to move through this stage at a pretty good pace. Still, I promise that you will gain a lot, to add to your commendable grasp of compound sentences.
If — as is far more likely — you answered fewer than four of those five tricky items (maybe even zero), take heart! Pretty soon you will understand all you need to know to easily ace this test.
Either way, I see this moment as a good time to remind you that Up-Wordz.com is not a “grammar” site; it’s a writing site. We are not going to cover one (sometimes tedious) grammar rule after another. Many sites exist as comprehensive resources. They may not connect the dots, but they cover a great deal of grammar topics. I use them, myself — usually at least two, for any question I have. That’s when I notice some big and interesting differences, and it’s why I almost always check at least two sources.
On this site, you will find some grammar to learn — such as what you’ll need to ace the quiz above — but the terms, concepts, and rules you’ll find here include only the terminology thatI have found essential to excellent writing. Unless it interests you greatly, you need not learn the whole “grammar book.” But, to transform your writing, you do need to gain a strong grasp of the selected grammar terms I present for you here. You are getting a short list of key grammar — strive to master it.
“Rules” become Resources
Our examination of this grammatical “foundation” of my writing system covered a lot more than simple “rules and tips” of grammar. As I just indicated, anyone can look up any rule and reasonably make sense of whatever info pops up, as spit out by the search engine used for the look-up. We went much further, with the goal of developing understandings of how we can use the rules as true resources toward improving our writing clarity and authenticity.
For example, the grammar rules dictate that every sentence needs a main clause, made of subject and predicate. We acknowledged this. But then we explored these terms in both practical and philosophical ways. For example, we considered what it means to “name a subject” (from the infinite choices always available).
And we examined how — when completing the MC with the subject’s predicate — we likewise choose its main verb, ourselves, as we “proclaim” just what the subject we named is (according to us) being, having, or doing. So in Stage 1, we learned not just the grammar of a sentence, but also the essence of a sentence — and our author-itative role in creating this essence.
How long does it take to learn this stuff?
Over many years of teaching my system to college writers, I found that Stage 1, and this closely related current lesson-set, Stage 2, would take most students a couple months to learn how to demonstrate at the practical level — the one that matters — the interrelated and sequential lesson within these first two stages of my system.
That is, about half-way through the four-month (traditional semesters) course, they could write as they never before would or could have written (as regards Stages 1 and 2 — wait ’til we get to Stage 3!). As you might imagine, they came to class quite excited to be learning skills that were immediately raising their grades in other courses (I always loved that!), while also appreciating that their learning was just getting started. (This means you, right now, BTW.)
Learning: Conceptual vs. Practical
As I would present my lessons, I would, right away, see heads nodding, in conceptual understanding. Maybe your head is nodding here and there, as you read things that may be new to your way of thinking about writing — but that make sense to you, as you read. During the first month of class, nodding heads make my day!
And, since I taught writing without a textbook, I relied on numerous worksheets (and write-ups of a page or two) to aid in the preliminary, mainly conceptual, learning. I could see, just walking around the room, as they worked on exercises I’d brought in on worksheets, who was learning what and how well. I tried to act nonchalant, strolling around our semicircle (always that, in my classrooms, if not a complete circle — never rows and columns), but I seriously craved to spy and see who is getting what and to what degree.
By about one month in, at three 50-minute classes (M/W/F) per week, Most of the students — sometimes all of them — could do pretty well (some very well!) on the tricky exercises I would give them on my worksheets. This means that they had learned — at least at the conceptual (“worksheet improvement”) level — the main ideas in Stages 1 and 2. They were mastering subjects and predicates and understanding the needs and rules for complex and compound sentencess, too, as you are about to learn, yourself, here in Stage 2.
But it would take about another month before I saw it, regularly, at the practical level — that is, in their actual writing, as turned in for a grade. And that’s with a lot of live lectures and demonstrations, group support, practice, and, especially, feedback on this practice. I would absolutely love for you to benefit from some of that interactive learning and feedback trading. My broad guess is that such would triple your benefit (the learning and enjoyment) from the time you spend on Up-Wordz.com, working to transform your writing.
Looking for somebody? Some buddy? Some Book Club?
That need — for support, practice, and feedback — to aid the learning process — adds to my hope that you will find a study buddy (or maybe friends in a book club!) to work through all this. It would give you a “peer reviewer” who is working from the same principles (in this book-course) that you are learning.
You could write little one-page “journal-style” essays — a little longer, if you like — and trade them for review and feedback. Plus, you would have someone to talk with, as regards my lessons, which I am presenting expressly as “what you won’t and can’t read elsewhere.” You would both gain to be able to discuss these ideas and principles with a partner (or a few) in learning.
Point is, you could exchange feedback with someone(s) who is reading and learning these same lessons. Do not expect some “friends who write pretty well” (but are not reading all this) to understand what you are working on, at the level that I am escorting you to reach. At best, your study buddy (and/or group-mates) should be learning the same stuff.
Remember, I have asked thousands of students, including a great many adults, many of whom wrote reasonably well at the start of class, what one thing makes a sentence complete, and only twice (that I recall) did anyone answer with what you, Reader-student, you have now learned, at least at the conceptual level. Good for you.
So let’s move onto Stage 2
Understanding the Stage 1 lessons, on the essence of a sentence helps to avoid the serious grammar error of sentence fragments. Further, your upgraded understanding of your author-itative role in naming subjects and assigning to them predicates, opens the door for writing sentences with vastly improved, clarity, correctness, and authenticity.
Now let’s take the next big step and explore rules and options for “compounding” sentences (sometimes!) with added “complexity.” And, as you learn why, when, where, and how to embellish a sentence beyond its essence (its main clause), you will — necessarily and with mastery — vanquish another common and serious grammatical error, the run-on sentence.
Just as I could almost never find, at our first class meeting, a student who could name the grammatical requirement of a complete sentence, that’s about my same “success rate” when asking, to kick off Stage 2, “What actually defines the ‘run-on’ sentence?” Oh, I would get answers, sometimes humorous answers. But I almost never heard, simply and correctly, the correct definition of the dreaded “run-on.”
You’re about to add your name to that short list of writers who can provide that definition — and explain it, too, as you may be asked, once people figure out that you actually get this stuff. So let’s move on, starting with the next post in this stage, Stage 2-b: Adding parts for a “complex” sentence.