Simple sentence exercise
Make two kinds of basic English sentences. This exercise is deceptively simple. There are inevitably many stumbles, but students gain a bit of mastery. There is much more to be said about the form of English sentences, but the exercise should be kept simple. Elaboration on sentence forms comes another day.
Subject-Verb-Object is the basic English sentence; “The dog saw its master,” “The man hit the baseball,” ad infinitum. The nouns on either side of the verb are different entities.
Noun-Linking Verb (to be)-Noun is another basic form; “The woman is a nurse,” “Apples are a fruit.” The entities on either side of the verb are the same.
The students were asked to make their very simple sentences as interesting as possible. The maximum length for a such a sentence would be five words. The winners:
Subject-Verb-Object: “The elephant ate an olive.”
Noun-Linking Verb-Noun: “The mobster was a pussycat.”
Noun-Linking Verb-Adjective: “Her dress was fluffy.”
(The class might begin with the students looking through poetry texts for a poem to read aloud to the rest of the class. This loosens them up for a unique and daring choice of words in their sentences.)
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