How to Improve Your Sentence Structure

This article was co-authored by Christopher Taylor, PhD. Christopher Taylor is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Austin Community College in Texas. He received his PhD in English Literature and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014.

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If you’re learning English or trying to improve your writing skills, it’s important that you understand how to compose clear, effective, understandable sentences. To structure sentences well, begin by stating the subject, avoid the passive voice, and focus on clarity. Avoid writing sentences that only express partial thoughts or that join too many ideas together.

Method 1 of 2:

Composing Effective Sentences

The subject is the person or thing doing an action (in our example, the cat).
The object is the person or thing to which the action is done (in our example, the piano).
The SVO structure is used to create simple sentences. When you create compound and complex sentences, you'll add to this basic structure.

Avoid writing something like: “The trash was taken out by my mother before my little sister was dropped off by the school bus.”
Instead, try writing: “My mother took out the trash before the bus dropped off my little sister.”

You can combine two short sentences, which are independent clauses, into a single longer sentence by adding a comma and a conjunction between them. You can remember your conjunctions by using the acronym FANBOYS, which helps you remember "for," "and," "but," "or," "yet," and "so."
If you have one complete sentence and one incomplete or subordinate sentence, you can combine them into a complex sentence with a comma or by adding a conjunction like "because," "since," while," or "although." The complete sentence is an independent clause, while the incomplete sentence becomes a dependent or subordinating clause.
Add transitional words and phrases to the beginnings of your sentences to create a flow between your ideas. Otherwise, your sentences might seem choppy.
So, avoid writing sentences like: “First, I went to the supermarket. Then, I went to the art-supply store. Then, I bought a sandwich for lunch.”
Instead, change the structure to something like: “My first errand was a trip to the supermarket. After that I went to the art-supply store before buying a sandwich for lunch.”

This sentence switches tenses: “Jen drove to the mall and will buy a pair of jeans.”
Corrected, it reads: “Jen drove to the mall and bought a pair of jeans.”

For example, this sentence doesn’t contain parallel structure: “On my day off, I enjoy stopping at the bank, mow the lawn, and have a conversation with my neighbor.”
Corrected, it reads: “On my day off, I enjoy stopping at the bank, mowing the lawn, and having a conversation with my neighbor.”

For example, this sentence contains a semicolon in the wrong location since it is not between the independent clauses: “If you get an opportunity; stop at the store on your drive home, I’d like a gallon of milk.”
Corrected, it would read: “If you get an opportunity, stop at the store on your drive home; I’d like a gallon of milk.”

For example, it’s correct to write, “I had three classes on campus today: Chemistry, Physics, and American Literature.”
You can also write, “As they made their getaway, the bank robbers forgot something important: the loot from the safe.”

For instance, you might join two independent clauses like this: "I finished my homework early today, so my best friend came over to hang out."
You could join a dependent and independent clause like this: "Since my grades are good this semester, my parents said I can have a party this weekend."
If you had a descriptive clause, here's how you'd include it in your sentence: "I want to try that new pizza place, the one with pepperoni on its sign, when we go out on Friday."

Advertisement Method 2 of 2:

Fixing Problems in Sentence Structures

Dependent clauses that are not joined to an independent clause are also sentence fragments.

Fused sentences are commonly called "run-on" sentences.
For example, “Many of Shakespeare’s sonnets are about love they compare the speaker’s lover to various objects found in nature” is a fused sentence.
Corrected, it reads: “Many of Shakespeare’s sonnets are about love. The poems compare the speaker’s lover to various objects found in nature.”

For example, this sentence contains a comma splice: “The condition of the economy has been improving, many factors have caused this change.”
Corrected, it reads: “The condition of the economy has been improving. Many factors have caused this change.”
This is also correct: “The condition of the economy has been improving, and many factors have caused this change.”

This sentence contains too much subordination: “Steve wanted to go out for lunch because he hadn’t eaten for 8 hours, although one look at his wallet made him change his mind since he had no money.”
Corrected, it could read: “Steve wanted to go out for lunch because he hadn’t eaten for 8 hours. However, one look at his wallet made him change his mind. He had no money.”

Expert Q&A

How do I understand the difference of, in, on and at? Christopher Taylor, PhD
English Professor

Christopher Taylor is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Austin Community College in Texas. He received his PhD in English Literature and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014.

English Professor Expert Answer

Each of these words are prepositions, which means they tell you the location of something. It's hard for many people to choose the best preposition to use, but you can get better by practicing. First, think about which word might logically make sense for the item you're talking about. If you still aren't sure, do a quick Internet search of the preposition you plan to use to make sure it's right.

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How can I improve my grammar? Top Answerer

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Sentences are made up of clauses (groups of words). There are 2 types of clauses: independent and dependent. Independent clauses contain a subject, verb, and object, and make sense on their own. For example: “Please bring the pencils to class” is an independent clause.

Dependent clauses cannot stand alone and must be linked with another an independent clause to form a sentence. For example: “Because she wanted to watch TV” is a dependent clause.

Sentences fall into 3 broad categories: simple sentences (1 independent clause), complex sentences (1 independent and 1 dependent clause), and compound sentences (2 independent clauses).

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