Building a sentence

This branch covers English sentence construction, divided into clause patterns, information order, parallel structure and verb tense or form. Voice, nominalisation, ambiguous attachment, continuity between sentences, conciseness, punctuation, paragraph organisation and first-language transfer sit outside this branch.

• The four ways an English sentence can be built — simple, compound, complex and compound-complex patterns, combining short sentences and breaking up long ones
• Ordering a sentence for reading — information load, topic and stress positions, subject–verb placement, length, openings and emphasis
• Parallel structure and comparisons — coordinated forms, conjunctions, lists, emphasis, equivalent comparisons and ellipsis
• Tense and verb form for each kind of claim — tense choices for knowledge, methods, findings, displays and other claims, including participles and progressive forms