
Sentences & Punctuation
Sentences
One of the Assessment Criteria under the IELTS Writing and Speaking Tests is Grammatical Range & Accuracy. To have a good band score, you need to show you can write a variety of sentence types.
A sentence is a group of words expressing a complete thought. It can be a statement, question, instruction, or exclamation that starts with a capital letter. A good sentence must have a finite verb.
Example:
- Jane will travel to Canada.
- Jane will make a brief stop at Heathrow Airport.
- Will Jane travel to Canada?
- What a day!
Types of Sentences
Sentences have various forms and they are:
- SIMPLE SENTENCE: a simple sentence contains an independent clause. (subject and its predicate)
Examples:
- Jane has traveled to Canada.
- Jane stopped at Heathrow Airport.
- COMPOUND SENTENCE: this has two simple sentences which are joined by a coordinating conjunction, punctuation, or both.
- Jane will travel to Canada but make a brief stop at Heathrow Airport. – Compound Sentence (using the conjunction ‘but’)
- Jane will travel to Canada; she will make a brief stop at Heathrow Airport. – Compound Sentence (using a semi-colon)
- COMPLEX SENTENCE: a complex sentence comprises a simple sentence and one or more subordinate clauses.
Examples:
Jane will not arrive in Canada today – Simple sentence
because she will make a stop at Heathrow Airport.. – Subordinate clause
- Jane will not arrive in Canada today because she will make a stop at Heathrow Airport. – Complex Sentence
As soon as the match began – The subordinate Clause
It started raining. Simple sentence (Main Clause)
2. As soon as the match began, it started raining. – Complex Sentence
- COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCE: A compound-complex sentence contains at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause. It has many clauses, one of which is a relative clause.
Examples:
- Although she left Canada, she decided to make a brief stop at Heathrow Airport, and she then took a connecting flight to Canada.
- The team, which won the trophy, is happy, but the other team is sad.
Punctuation
Apart from your Grammar, IELTS also assesses your writing based on the use of appropriate punctuation. We will look at the most common punctuation marks briefly.
- COMMA { , }
This is used to separate a pause in a sentence thereby allowing the reader to observe a slight pause.
Example:
If there is no delay at the airport, Jane will arrive today.
– To separate lists
Example:
Jane will buy a phone, a laptop and a printer at the mall.
– To set off a transition for clarity/emphasis.
Example:
You may, if you wish, add more sugar to the tea.
2. FULL STOP { . }
– To end a sentence when it is a statement or an instruction.
Example:
I will add more sugar to the tea.
3. COLON { : }
– To precede an extended explanation
Example:
We will visit the zoo: if we all pass our examinations.
– To introduce a list
Example:
I have these items to ship: a laptop, 6 phone tablets and 1 HP printer.
4. SEMI COLON { ; }
– It is used in place of a conjunction such as ‘and’ and ‘but’
Example:
The movie was quite boring; it went on far too long as well.
5. QUESTION MARK { ? }
This used at the end of a question.
Example:
What time is the match today?
6. CAPITALISATION
This is used to:
– Begin a sentence or question.
Example:
The Navy has flown the jet.
–To begin a name of a person and place.
Example:
John and Pat will be travelling to Jamaica next week.
– Days of the week, months and titles
Example:
Laura read The Pride and Prejudice last month October.
Note: letter ‘I’ as a first person singular pronoun must always be capitalised irrespective of the part it appears in a sentence.