Letters represent sounds. Words are built from letters. A group of words makes a phrase. Add a subject and verb, and you have a clause. If that clause expresses a complete thought, we call it a ...

An independent clause is basically a complete sentence; it can stand on its own and make sense. An independent clause consists of a subject (e.g. “the dog”) and a verb (e.g. “barked”) creating a ...

In English, our sentences usually operate using a similar pattern: subject, verb, then object. The nice part about this type of structure is that it lets your reader easily know who is doing the ...

Whether you are writing a brief, a research memorandum or a client report, what you write, and how you write it, communicates your ideas to your audience. Are your sentences wordy and rambling, or ...

Most writers assume they write well. Yet most writers grapple with the reality of writing as a black box. That is, we know that writing works, but we’re a bit fuzzy on what makes readers grasp the ...

A complex sentence communicates more than one idea. One part (the main clause) is like a simple sentence: it can stand on its own. The other part (the minor clause) gives more detail about the simple ...