Grammar and Sentence Structure

This section is adapted from Chapter 6 of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (the Publication Manual), and from the Learning Portal. You can find a link to the Learning Portal at the end of this chapter. It introduces the most common elements of grammar and sentence structure, and explains how to apply them properly. This section is only a summary; students and instructors should consult the Publication Manual for more details.
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Grammar

Grammar is the set of rules that explain how words are used in a language, and these rules apply to both written and spoken words. The rules of grammar tell us how words and sentences should be arranged together. Good grammar is an important part of writing; it helps you to communicate your ideas clearly, and makes written work easier to understand. The information below explains the basic elements of grammar, and the most common errors students are likely to encounter.

Verb Tense (4.12)

Verbs are words or phrases that describes an action, condition, or experience, e.g.: In the sentence, “A few years ago, Meaghan won an award.”, ‘won’ is the verb. Verb tenses tell readers when the action took place – in the past, the present, or the future:

• Present tense represents actions happening now
• Past tense represents actions that happened earlier
• Future tense describes actions that will happen later

The chart below gives examples of past, present and future tense.
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Present tense should always be used in academic writing, and the same verb tenses must be used throughout an assignment.

There are also four grammatical aspects which can be combined with the past, present, and future tenses. These grammatical aspects tell readers about the duration of something, or how long something takes. The four grammatical aspects are simple tense, perfect tense, continuous tense, and continuous perfect tense:

• Simple tense refers to the normal forms of the past, present, and future tenses. It does not add any new information.
• Perfect tense refers to actions that relate to other points in time, either completed or ongoing.
• Continuous tense refers to ongoing actions or actions that happen for a while before completion.
• Perfect continuous tense is similar to perfect tense, but it describes ongoing actions that happen over a period of time.

The chart below gives examples of these tenses combined with the past, present, and future tenses. This chart is adapted from Grammarly’s lesson on verb tenses.
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These can be confusing! The authors of this text recommend Grammarly’s lesson on verb tenses for more information. A link to this page can be found at the end of this section.

Active and Passive Voice (4.13)

In written work, voice describes the relationship between a verb and the subject and object associated with it. In the active voice, the subject is presented first, followed by the verb and then the object of the verb, e.g.: The students completed their assignments.

In the passive voice, the object of the verb is presented first, followed by the verb and then the subject, e.g.: Assignments were completed by the students.

Both active and passive voice are permitted in APA Style, but active voice should be used as much as possible.

Subject and Verb Agreement (4.15)

Verbs can be singular or plural. A singular noun names one person, place, thing, or idea. e.g.: child, person, woman, man. A plural noun names more than one person, place, thing, or idea, e.g.: children, people, women, men. A verb must agree in number with its subject. Below are examples of correct and incorrect verb and subject agreement:

Correct: The students are preparing for their final exams.

In this example, “students” is plural; it refers to more than one student. “Are” is also plural, so the verb and the subject agree.

Incorrect: The students is preparing their their final exams.

In this example, “students” is plural, but “is” is singular, so the verb and the subject do not agree.

Subject and verb agreement can be confusing. The authors of this text recommend Grammarly’s lesson on subject-verb agreement for more information. A link to this article can be found at the end of this section.

First- and Third-Person Pronouns (4.16)

Pronouns are words or phrases that can be substituted for nouns when the reader or listener already knows which noun the writer is referring to. Their job is to make communication faster and more efficient because words do not need to be repeated. First person pronouns refer to the person or people who are speaking, e.g.: I, me, my, mine, we, our, us, our, ours. Third person pronouns refer to the person or people bring talked about, e.g.: he, him, his, himself, she, her, hers, herself, it, its, itself, they, them, their, theirs, and themselves.

If an assignment or essay is being written by one person and the author must refer to themselves, use “I”. If an assignment or essay is being written by a group and the authors must refer to themselves, use “we”.

Singular “They” (4.18)

The pronoun “they” can be plural or singular, e.g.: “The students said they will all attend class today” uses “they” as a plural pronoun. “A customer called, but they did not leave their name” uses “they” as a singular pronoun. From the Publication Manual: “Writers should always use the singular “they” to refer to any person who uses “they” as their pronoun” . . . Also use “they” as a generic third-person singular pronoun to refer to a person whose gender is unknown or irrelevant to the contexts of the usage”. (p. 20)

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Sentence Structure

Being able to write a clear, understandable sentence is an important part of writing. There are three main types of grammatically correct sentences: simple sentences, compound sentences, and complex sentences. Below are examples of each of these types of sentences.

Simple Sentences

A simple sentence consists of one independent clause, which means that it has a single subject and a single verb. A simple sentence expresses a complete thought, e.g.: I bought my textbooks at the campus bookstore.

Sentences typically have one of four different functions:

• Declarative sentences communicate information or make statements. They declare something, e.g: Your assignment will be due by next Friday.
• Interrogative sentences ask questions, or interrogate; e.g.: Did you finish your assignment?
• Imperative sentences give an order or a directive, e.g.: The test is now over. Finish the sentence you are working on and stop writing.
• Exclamatory sentences are similar to declarative sentences, but they make statements that are charged with emotion. The use of an exclamation point at the end of a sentence tells us that the sentence is exclamatory, e.g.: I’m so excited that I passed my class!

Compound Sentences

Simple sentences can be combined to create compound sentences. A compound sentence is made up of two simple sentences with independent clauses that are joined by a comma and followed by a coordinating conjunction, e.g.: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so are all examples of coordinating conjuctions.

Example

I bought my books at the campus bookstore, but Irene bought hers at store that sells used books.

In this example, the conjunction “but” signals a contrast.

Example

She is a good researcher and he is a strong writer, so it makes sense for them to collaborate.

In this example, the conjunction “so” shows both the addition of an idea, and a result or consequence.

Complex Sentences

Complex sentences have at least one independent clause and one dependent clause. A dependent clause contains a subject and a verb, but does not express a complete thought. If the dependent clause appears first, it is followed by a comma. There is no comma when the independent clause is followed by a dependent clause.

Example

Michelle bought her books at the campus bookstore before her classes started.

Complex sentences also show relationships between the independent clause and the dependent clause, such as cause and effect, or the passage of time.

Examples

Cause and effect: Because she studied for the midterm exam, she did better than she had on the in-class quizzes.

Time: Before her first class started, Michelle bought her books at the campus bookstore.

Run-on Sentences

A run-on sentence is a sentence in which two or more independent clauses are joined without either a semicolon or a comma with a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so). There are two types of run-on sentences: fused sentences and comma splices.

A fused sentence happens when independent clauses are merged without any punctuation or coordinating conjunctions, e.g: The boy is sad he is crying.

A comma splice occurs when two or more independent clauses are joined only by a comma, e.g.: The boy is sad, he is crying.

There are different ways to correct a run-on sentence:

• Break the run-on sentence into two separate sentences, e.g: The boy is sad. He is crying.
• Join the two clauses with a comma and a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so), e.g.: The boy is sad, so he is crying.
• Join the two clauses with a semicolon, e.g.: The boy is sad; he is crying.
• Join the two clauses with a semicolon and a conjunctive adverb, e.g.: The boy is sad; therefore, he is crying.
• Change one of the two independent clauses into a dependent clause, e.g.: The boy is crying because he is sad.

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Sources

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association: The official guide to APA style. (7th ed.).

College Libraries Ontario. (2024). Grammar and punctuation. The Learning Portal. https://tlp-lpa.ca/writing/grammar

Ellis, M. (2022, June 28). What is subject-verb agreement? Grammarly. https://www.grammarly.com/blog/grammar-basics-what-is-subject-verb-agreement

Ellis, M. (2023, May 10). Verb tenses explained, with examples. Grammarly. https://www.grammarly.com/blog/verb-tenses

Purdue Online Writing Lab. (2024). Identifying independent and dependent clauses. Purdue University. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/independent_and_dependent_clauses/index.html