Unit 31: Sentences and Paragraphs
Learning Objectives
After studying this unit, you will be able to:
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- understand different sentence types
- develop direct and indirect paragraphs
- construct active and passive sentences
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Introduction
Showing your writing abilities involves understanding how to structure sentences and paragraphs. Clear, error-free and context-specific sentences create well-developed paragraphs and improve the likelihood of clear with an audience. Understanding different types of sentences and paragraph structures will make you an effective communicator in business.
Types of Sentences
Determining how to arrange your words to communicate a clear and coherent idea takes skill. The key to developing this skill is to understand how to construct the four types of sentences: simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex. Each type of sentence has its own distinctive quality and purpose. Figure 31.1 explains each type of sentence and their structure.
Knowledge Check
Tone
Your writing is an expression of you and involves how you choose and use your words to develop ideas and build paragraphs. These factors will communicate a certain tone to your writing or a reader’s perception of the message: friendly, helpful, angry, demanding, or combative. At all times, you want to ensure you communicate goodwill and a helpful tone to your reader. Choosing to write in the active or passive voice and using courteous and polite language will help you communicate the right tone in your writing.
Active and Passive Language: When a sentence is structured so the subject of the sentence is the doer of the action, you are using the active voice. The active voice produces short, direct, easy-to-read sentences that communicate good/neutral information by emphasizing the doer of the action (the “you” view). For these reasons, most of your business writing will be done using the active voice.
On the other hand, when the subject in a sentence is receiving the action, you are using the passive voice. The passive voice produces indirect, formal, vague, and longer sentences. In business communications, the passive voice is used in very specific situations:
- To de-emphasize bad news or a mistake
- To show tact and allow diplomacy
- To de-emphasize the doer of the action
Although the active voice is used most often in business, sometimes the passive voice is a better strategy to communicate your message. When an error has been made or negative news must be delivered, using the active voice will make your writing sound accusatory or unsympathetic. Review Figure 31.3 for examples of when using the passive voice creates a better tone in your writing.
Knowledge Check
Positive Language: Generally, readers are more receptive to positive or neutral news than negative news. Using positive language will make your message reader-friendly. In addition, positive language conveys more information, is instructive, is forward looking, and communicates goodwill. The trick to p