Higher Education Study Preparation Programme at University of Central Lancashire HESPP Writing skills, session 1

What is a sentence?

Simple sentences & parts of a sentence
1 subject, 1 verb
My father is an engineer.
2 subjects, 1 verb
My brother and his wife live in Oxford.
1 subject, 2 verbs
He lives and works in Preston.
2 subjects, 2 verbs
Her mother and father were born and grew up in India.

Subject + Verb + Complement

I study English.
I don’t understand you.
His girlfriend is smart.
It isn’t raining now.

He lives in Preston.
The children are at school.

Capital Letters

I
First word of a sentence
Acronyms
Names/titles
Places
Nationalities/languages
Days/months

The writing process

Identify your audience

Define your purpose

Collect your ideas

Select the material

Structure your ideas

Write!

HESPP Compound Sentences

Grammar: Compound Sentences

Compound Sentences

A compound sentence is a sentence that contains two complete ideas (called
clauses) that are related. These two clauses are usually connected in a compound
sentence by a conjunction. The coordinating conjunctions are "and", "but", "for", "or",
"nor", "yet", or "so".
Example:
Batman is a hero. He is successful in catching the criminals in his city.
Batman is a hero, and he is successful in catching the criminals in his city.
OR…
Batman is a hero, for he is successful in catching the criminals in his city.
Directions: In the following exercises, turn the sentence pairs into single compound
sentences, each with a coordinating conjunction. You can rearrange or add words in
the sentence to make it sound better, but only if it's necessary.

1. The black dog has won many prizes. He doesn't know many tricks.
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2. She saw a cat run in front of her. She fell down while roller-skating.
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3. There was a meteor shower. The crew did not know how to avoid the meteors.
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4. I wanted to buy a baby Chihuahua. I started to save my money.
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5. Gillian did not like to read. She was not very good at it.
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6. Pam liked Wayne. Leena also liked Wayne.
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7. The little boy did not like going to school. He went anyway.
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8. You can cry like a baby. You can clean your room like an adult.
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Grammar: Compound Sentences
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9. She didn't want to play with Jill. She didn't want to play with Tim.
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10. Arleen could not play with that boy. Arleen could not play with that other boy.
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11. Let's go to the swimming pool. It's hot inside the house.
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12. I don’t want to eat. I don't want to drink.
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13. I don’t want to practice playing my violin. I don’t want to disobey my mother.
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14. I want to own my own company. I want to pay all my workers a lot of money.
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15. I need to go to the store. I'm feeling too sick to drive.
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16. Rabbits make good pets. They don’t make too much noise and they are clean.
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17. I want to go to the circus. I want to ride a pony.
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18. I didn’t do my homework. My parents punished me.
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19. I have never visited Asia. I have never visited Africa.
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20. You can make a big poster. You can make a little clay statue.
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Answers (may vary):
1. The black dog has won many prizes, but he doesn’t know many tricks.
2. She saw a cat run in front of her, so she fell down while roller-skating.
3. There was a meteor shower in space, but the crew did not know how to avoid
the meteors.
4. I wanted to buy a baby Chihuahua, so I started to save my money.
5. Gillian did not like to read, for she was not very good at it.
6. Pam liked Wayne, and Leena also liked Wayne.
7. The little boy did not like to go to school, yet he went anyway.
8. You could cry like a baby, or you can clean your room like an adult.
9. She didn’t want to play with Jill, and she didn’t want to play with Tim.

HESPP Countable and Uncountable nouns

Nouns that can be Countable and Uncountable

Sometimes, the same noun can be countable and uncountable, often with a change of meaning.

Countable Uncountable

There are two hairs in my coffee! hair I don't have much hair.
There are two lights in our bedroom. light Close the curtain. There's too much light!
Shhhhh! I thought I heard a noise. noise It's difficult to work when there is too much noise.
Have you got a paper to read? (= newspaper) paper I want to draw a picture. Have you got some paper?
Our house has seven rooms. room Is there room for me to sit here?
We had a great time at the party. time Have you got time for a coffee?
Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's greatest works. work I have no money. I need work!


Countable nouns are easy to recognize. They are things that we can count. For example: "pen". We can count pens. We can have one, two, three or more pens. Here are some more countable nouns:
• dog, cat, animal, man, person
• bottle, box, litre
• coin, note, dollar
• cup, plate, fork
• table, chair, suitcase, bag
Countable nouns can be singular or plural:
• My dog is playing.
• My dogs are hungry.
We can use the indefinite article a/an with countable nouns:
• A dog is an animal.
When a countable noun is singular, we must use a word like a/the/my/this with it:
• I want an orange. (not I want orange.)
• Where is my bottle? (not Where is bottle?)
When a countable noun is plural, we can use it alone:
• I like oranges.
• Bottles can break.
We can use some and any with countable nouns:
• I've got some dollars.
• Have you got any pens?
We can use a few and many with countable nouns:
• I've got a few dollars.
• I haven't got many pens.


"People" is countable. "People" is the plural of "person". We can count people:
• There is one person here.
• There are three people here.


Uncountable nouns are substances, concepts etc that we cannot divide into separate elements. We cannot "count" them. For example, we cannot count "milk". We can count "bottles of milk" or "litres of milk", but we cannot count "milk" itself. Here are some more uncountable nouns:
• music, art, love, happiness
• advice, information, news
• furniture, luggage
• rice, sugar, butter, water
• electricity, gas, power
• money, currency
We usually treat uncountable nouns as singular. We use a singular verb. For example:
• This news is very important.
• Your luggage looks heavy.
We do not usually use the indefinite article a/an with uncountable nouns. We cannot say "an information" or "a music". But we can say a something of:
• a piece of news
• a bottle of water
• a grain of rice
We can use some and any with uncountable nouns:
• I've got some money.
• Have you got any rice?
We can use a little and much with uncountable nouns:
• I've got a little money.
• I haven't got much rice.

HESPP Expressing Opinions

Expressing Opinions

1. Expressing Opinions: These terms are used to introduce an
opinion, either for or against:

I think……
I feel……..
I believe…….
As I see it……..
In my opinion…….
As far as I'm concerned……
My point of view is that…….
In my view……..
It seems to me that……..
I figure that…….
From my point of view…….

2. Agreeing with an Opinion:

My view about this is positive.
I agree with this idea.
I agree completely with this idea.
I agree partially with this idea.
This idea is absolutely right.
This idea is partially right.
I couldn't agree more on this.
I think this idea is good.
3. Disagreeing with an Opinion:
I think this idea is impossible/impractical/bad.
I think this idea is possible, but……
I think this idea cannot be implemented.
I don't agree with this idea.
I think it is a bad idea.
I'm not sure that I agree with this idea.
The project is feasible, but…….

4. Asking somebody's opinion

What do you think about...?

How d'you feel (about...)?

What d'you reckon (about...)?

What's your opinion of...?

(What do think about) that?

What are your views on...?

Where do you stand (on...)?

What would you say to... / if we...?

Are you aware of.....?