Sentence Structure Flashcards

Front

Purpose of a short sentence

Back

To the point, dramatic, grab attention of the reader, restates/emphasises a point, sums up the idea of a long sentence.

Front

Long Sentences

Back

provide detail, often build up to a climax, drawing our attention to and emphasising what is at the end of them

Front

Parenthesis

Back

add extra information

Front

Lists

Back

often draw our attention to what is actually listed, often to emphasise how much of something there is or how important it is.

Front

Rule of Three

Back

form of repetition to add to the point, emphasise a point

Front

Word order/syntax/inversion

Back

changes the order of the sentence to make the first word(s) stand out. Look out, in particular, for a technique called inversion, which takes what would usually be at the end of a sentence and places it at the start, e.g. “Horrified I was.” or “Being two-faced was the thing she was best at”. We pay attention to the word “Horrified” in the first example and “being two-faced” in the second. This is mainly due to the fact that they are so clearly placed in a strange position within the sentence.

Front

Colon

Back

often create a pause for emphasis, drawing our attention to what follows immediately after the colon. A colon can be used to introduce a list, definition, statement or explanation of something.

Front

Semi-colon

Back

used to divide sentences into two equal parts, allowing us to compare or contrast different ideas or qualities mentioned in each half.

Front

Dash

Back

used to separate something from the rest of the sentence, thus emphasising what is in parenthesis, e.g. an example, additional information, change of tone, important ideas.

Front

Repetition

Back

instils importance by using a word or phrase or idea over and over again