| Exemplary Prose: |
| Essential Writing Skills in Context |
A common error among novice writers is neglecting to pay attention to the way they begin their sentences. Speaking from my own informal survey complied over the years, I'd say that eighty to ninety percent of my students sentences begin with a subject. For variation, try employing any or all of the following sentence openers:
subject - The subject of the sentence begins the sentence.
I will be home by midnight.
Joe scored three goals against the Mighty Ducks.
Mosquitoes like to attack people with yellow shirts.
prepositional - Begin the sentence with a preposition.
In a pickle, Magnum decided to dodge the gunfire and jump for his car.
Up above the town, the Queen's palace overlooks all her subjects.
Since last month we have had nothing but rain.
"ly" word - Begin a sentence with an adverb.
Calmly, I tried to recollect where I left my car keys before it became late.
Amazingly, the Indians overcame a twelve run deficit to beat the best team in the Majors.
"ing" word - begin a sentence with a word that has "ing" at the end (usually a gerund).
Crying nonstop, the infant gave its parents a headache.
Shrieking with fear, the villagers ran from Smaug.
clausal - Begin a sentences with a clause (when, while, where, since, as, if, although, because)
Although he was a kind man, he would never tolerate abuse from anyone.
Since the bear is the strongest creature in Alaska, it knows no fear.
Because salmon taste so good, many people fish for them in Alaska's rivers.
"ed" word - Begin a sentence with a word with "ed" at the end.
Tricked by my arch enemy, I quickly set forth my plan of revenge.
Tired from working long hours, Ben often found himself nodding off.