WRITING WORKSHOP 2

SIMPLE SENTENCES AND TRANSITION EXPRESSIONS

A. INTRODUCTION
In the English language we can basically talk about three different types of sentences: Simple, Compound and Complex. In this part of our course,
we are going to start constructing solid SIMPLE SENTENCES; with solid and correct simple sentences we can write very good paragraphs using basic
structures. So, it is not necessary to be an expert writer or fully bilingual to write good paragraphs from beginning levels, and this is the goal of this
workshop. Finally, it is extremely important to understand and properly manage the elements of the WRITING WORKSHOP 1 (parts of speech) in
order to successfully reach the goals and carry out the exercises of this workshop.

En el idioma inglés podemos hablar básicamente de tres tipos de oraciones: Simples, Compuestas y Complejas. En esta parte del curso vamos a
comenzar a construir ORACIONES SIMPLES. Con oraciones simples sólidas y correctas podemos escribir muy buenos párrafos utilizando estructuras
básicas. Así que no es necesario ser un experto escritor o completamente bilingüe para escribir buenos párrafos desde niveles principiantes, y este es
el objetivo de este taller. Finalmente, es extremadamente importante entender y manejar apropiadamente los elementos del WRITING WORKSHOP
1 (parts of speech) con el fin de alcanzar las metas y desarrollar los ejercicios de este taller.

B. WHAT IS A SIMPLE SENTENCE?

A simple sentence is essentially conformed by two elements that must be in perfect agreement: a SUBJECT and a VERB. In the English language,
the subject of a sentence is usually before the verb, and in most of the occasions its main part is a noun (or a subject pronoun). But be careful, this
does not mean that all nouns are subjects of sentences; the idea is that all subjects are nouns. Let’s take a look at the examples of the following
Simple Sentences. In the following sentences you can identify subjects in green and verbs in yellow. Check the order of these colors in the sentences.

¿QUÉ ES UNA ORACIÓN SIMPLE?

Una oración simple está esencialmente conformada por dos elementos que deben estar en perfecto acuerdo: Un SUJETO y un VERBO. En el idioma
inglés, el sujeto de una oración está usualmente antes del verbo, y en la mayoría de las ocasiones su principal elemento es un sustantivo ( o un
pronombre personal). Pero cuidado, esto no significa que todos los sustantivos son sujetos de oraciones, la idea es que todos los sujetos sí son
sustantivos. En las siguientes oraciones usted puede identificar los sujetos en verde y los verbos en amarillo. Fíjese en el orden de los colores en las
oraciones.

1. My grandfather owns a small grocery store.

2. Every December, Andrea and Tom visit their cousins in Cali.
3. The boys in the park play soccer three times a week.
4. She usually travelled to Miami on holidays.
5. The new student in the class is very talkative and friendly.
6. The plane from United Airlines landed with no difficulties.
7. Accidentally gravity was discovered by Isaac Newton.
8. In my city you can visit a lot of museums and many other interesting places like restaurant zones and parks
9. The final grades of our course in English Pedagogy will appear in our system next week.
10. Cooperation between users and administrative personnel can become an essential aspect to improve Transmilenio.

Please note that:

- These ten (10) sentences only have a subject and a verb.

- Examples 8, 9 & 10 demonstrate that a simple sentence is NOT necessarily a short sentence.
- The subject is usually a noun (sentences 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9 and 10) or a subject pronoun (sentences 4 and 8).
- The subject is ALWAYS BEFORE the verb.

Fíjese en que:

- Estas diez (10) oraciones solo tienen un sujeto y un verbo.

- Los ejemplos 8, 9 y 10 demuestran que una oración simple NO es necesariamente una oración corta.
- El sujeto es usualmente un sustantivo (oraciones 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9 y 10) o un pronombre personal (oraciones 4 y 8).
- El sujeto está SIEMPRE ANTES del verbo.
- To verify the subject of your sentence, ask the question: who/what does the action of my sentence? For example:

Para verificar el sujeto de su oración, formule la pregunta: ¿quién/qué hace la acción de mi oración? Por ejemplo:

Sentence 1: Who owns a grocery store? (Answer: my grandfather)

Sentence 2: Who visits their cousins in Cali? (Answer: Andrea and Tom)
Sentence 3: Who plays soccer in the park three times a week? (Answer: the boys)
Sentence 4: Who usually travelled to Miami on holidays? (Answer: she)
Sentence 5: Who is very talkative and friendly? (Answer: the new student)
Sentence 6: What landed with no difficulties? (Answer: the plane)
Sentence 7: What was discovered by Isaac Newton? (Answer: gravity)
Sentence 8: Who can visit a lot of museums? (Answer: you)
Sentence 9: What will appear in our system next week? (Answer: the final grades)
Sentence 10: What can become an essential aspect to improve Transmilenio?

- Note that in the previous questions we only asked who or what? Questions with prepositions like: for whom / about who / in
what / about what / for what DO NOT CORRESPOND TO THE SUBJECT OF A SENTENCE, they refer to objects that work like
complements.

- Note que en las preguntas anteriores sólo preguntamos ¿quién o qué? Preguntas con preposiciones como: ¿para quién? / ¿sobre
quién? / ¿en qué? / ¿acerca de qué? / ¿para qué? NO CORRESPONDEN AL SUJETO DE UNA ORACIÓN, ellas harán referencia a
objetos que funcionan como complementos.

- Now check the following set of incorrect sentences. They look apparently normal due to their similarity in structure to the
Spanish language. However, they have some problems. Let’s analyze them. We keep identifying subjects in green and verbs
in yellow:

- Ahora revise el siguiente grupo de oraciones incorrectas. Ellas aparentemente lucen normales debido a su semejanza en
estructura con el idioma español. Sin embargo, ellas tienen algunos problemas. Analicémoslas. Seguimos identificando
sujetos en verde y verbos en amarillo.

1. This morning ate eggs and bread for breakfast.

2. In my city can practice different extreme sports.
3. Is necessary to implement new security policies in our offices.
4. At the National Museum work more than 150 people every day.
5. Among students of this university exist very serious discrepancies.

- Now check them identifying Subjects and Verbs. Do you see anything unusual in the pattern?

- Ahora analícelas identificando Sujetos y Verbos. ¿Ve algo inusual en el patrón?

1. This morning ate eggs and bread for breakfast.

2. In my city can practice different extreme sports.
3. Is necessary to implement new security policies in our offices.
4. At the National Museum work more than 150 people every day.
5. Among students of this university exist very serious discrepancies.
What are the problems with these sentences? Let’s see the following chart and the possible different ways to correct each sentence.

SENTENCE AND PROBLEM POSSIBLE CORRECTIONS

1. This morning ate eggs and bread for breakfast.

a. This morning we ate eggs and bread for breakfast.
NO SUBJECT. Who ate eggs and bread for breakfast? b. This morning Francisco ate eggs and bread for breakfast.

NO HAY SUJETO. ¿Quién comió huevos y pan al desayuno?

2. In my city can practice different extreme sports.

a. In my city, young people can practice different extreme sports.
NO SUBJECT. Who can practice different extreme sports? b. In my city, everybody can practice different extreme sports.

Oración 2= NO HAY SUJETO. ¿Quién puede practicar diferentes deportes c. In my city, you can practice different extreme sports
extremos?

3. Is necessary to implement new security policies in our offices.

NO SUBJECT. Which word works as the subject of the verb “is”?
Oración 2= NO HAY SUJETO. ¿Qué palabra funge como sujeto del verbo
“is”?
a. It is necessary to bring a dictionary to his French class.
Este es un típico caso en el que el pronombre “it” no tiene ningún
significado o traducción, simplemente se utiliza para cumplir con la
norma de que toda oración en inglés requiere un sujeto, incluso en
verbos impersonales como este.

4. At the National Museum work more than 150 people every day.
a. More than 150 people work at the National Museum every day.
WORD ORDER. The subject is ALWAYS BEFORE the verb. In addition, b. At the National Museum more than 150 people work every day.
“the National Museum” is NOT the subject because it is preceded by the
preposition “at”. Who works at the Museum?
Importante fijarse en el orden de los colores (los elementos) Primero
Oración 4= ORDEN DE LAS PALABRAS. El sujeto está SIEMPRE ANTES el sujeto (verde), luego el verbo (amarillo).
del verbo. Además, “The National Museum” NO es el sujeto porque viene
precedido de la preposición “at”. Por último, formule la pregunta: ¿Quién
trabaja en el museo? = 150 personas

5. Among students of this university exist very serious

discrepancies.
WORD ORDER. The subject is ALWAYS BEFORE the verb. In addition,
“students” is NOT the subject because it is preceded by the preposition
“among”. What exists among students?
a. Very serious discrepancies exist among students of this
university.
Importante fijarse en el orden de los colores (los elementos) Primero
el sujeto (verde), luego el verbo (amarillo).

Oración 5= ORDEN DE LAS PALABRAS. El sujeto está SIEMPRE ANTES

del verbo. Además, la palabra “students” NO es el sujeto porque viene
precedida de la preposición “among”. Por último, formule la pregunta:
¿Qué existe entre los estudiantes?= Serias discrepancias

So remember!

- The subject is ALWAYS BEFORE the verb.

- A noun preceded by a preposition CAN NEVER BE the subject of a sentence.
- ALL YOUR SENTENCES IN ENGLISH NEED A SUBJECT AND A VERB (except in the Imperative form).
- There are NO TACIT SUBEJCTS in the English language

¡Así que recuerde!

- El sujeto está SIEMPRE ANTES del verbo.

- Un sustantivo precedido por una preposición NUNCA PUEDE SER el sujeto de una oración.
- TODAS SUS ORACIONES EN INGLÉS NECESITAN UN SUJETO Y UN VERBO (visibles), excepto en el modo imperativo.
- EN INGLÉS NO HAY SUJETOS TÁCITOS CÓMO: (jugamos mañana = We play tomorrow // son muy lindas = They are very pretty).
Now, it’s time to do a simple exercise!

Es el momento de hacer un sencillo ejercicio

EXERCISE 1

Analyze the following simple sentences and decide whether they are CORRECT (C) or INCORRECT (I). Please correct the incorrect sentences. 

Analice las siguientes oraciones simples y decida si son CORRECTAS (C) o INCORRECTAS (I). Por favor corrija las incorrectas. 

Examples:

a. My mother always cooks ajiaco for my birthday. C .

b. Next year will travel to new destinations in far countries. I .
Possible correction: Next year, we will travel to new destinations in far countries.

1- Recently has rained very much in our city. ______

2- Our principal is considering a strategic alliance with an Italian university. ______

3- Of all the courses in the program, quantum physics is the most difficult. ______

4- The HHRR department has designed a series of activities to improve the worker’s mood during working hours. ______

5- Next year will be opened a new branch of our University in Africa. ______

6- A simple password is required to turn on the computers of the teachers’ lounge. ______

7- The most important documents are filed in the locked cabinet. ______

8- Our systems staff development a new registration software. ______

9- In November starts the new environmental project developed by the Ecology committee. ______

10- With all the necessary tools can complete the task in no more than 2 weeks. ______

11- The company manager is considering a serious layoff policy to improve the finances of the company. ______

12- We must grade all of the exams immediately. ______

13- Amanda did not continuation the course due to her multiple responsibilities with the new research project. ______

14- The day of the Colombian national team match, many students and teachers called in sick. ______

15- The accreditation documents for the Ministry of Education were uploaded yesterday morning. ______
 C. TRANSITION EXPRESSIONS
TRANSITION EXPRESSIONS help the reader to follow the author’s immediate intentions and line of thought as he moves from one idea to the
next. In some way, they announce the reader what kind of information is contained (or follows) in the next sentence. Using TRANSITION
EXPRESSIONS diminishes the reader’s frustrations by making the text more compact, coherent and interesting. This reflects on the writer’s
credibility.

EXPRESIONES DE TRANSICIÓN

LAS EXPRESIONES DE TRANSICIÓN ayudan al lector a seguir las intenciones inmediatas del escritor en relación con el tipo de información que se
va a incluir en el párrafo a partir de dicha expresión. Utilizar EXPRESIONES DE TRANSICIÓN disminuye los riesgos a las frustraciones del lector
haciendo el texto más compacto, coherente e interesante. Esto se refleja en la credibilidad que el texto despierta en quien lo lee.

The table below presents the most commonly used TRANSITION EXPRESSIONS in the English Language:

La siguiente tabla presenta las EXPRESIONES DE TRANSICIÓN que se usan más comúnmente en la lengua inglesa

INTENTION INTENTION
TRANSITION FOLLOW UP INFORMATION TRANSITION FOLLOW UP INFORMATION

In addition Additional information follows: The next For example Example: A specific example follows.
Additionally sentence will provide information that For instance
Besides supports the previous idea. However Opposite or contrast: The next sentence
Moreover On the other hand will provide information that is opposite
For this reason Cause & effect: The next sentence will On the contrary or contrasting to what was just
As a consequence provide information that explains the Nevertheless mentioned in the previous idea.
Therefore effect of what was just mentioned Nonetheless
Thus before. Finally Concluding or summarizing: The next
Consequently On the whole sentence(s) will either summarize all the
First – Initially – To begin Sequence: They provide a logical order to Summarizing information mentioned before, or it will
then, later, next, after that the text when the information describes In conclusion provide a conclusion to finish with the
Finally a process or a sequence. To summarize text.
In fact Emphasis: The next sentence will provide To conclude
Indeed deeper emphasis in relation to the In other words Explanation: The next sentence(s) will
Truly previous idea. That is explain what was just mentioned before.
Likewise Similarity: The next ideas will express a Interestingly Adverbs “___ ly”: They are a way for the
In the same way similar situation or process in relation to Surprisingly author to express his feelings about the
Similarly the previous ideas. Luckily text itself.

TRANSITION EXPRESSIONS express and connect ideas, but THEY ARE NOT CONNECTORS. TRANSITION EXPRESSIONS have a very different
punctuation pattern in comparison with CONNECTORS (we will study them in our WRITING WORKSHOP 3). Please check the following examples
on how punctuation is important when we use TRANSITION EXPRESSIONS:

Las EXPRESIONES DE TRANSICIÓN expresan y conectan ideas, pero NO SON CONECTORES. Las EXPRESIONES DE TRANSICIÓN tienen un patrón
de puntuación muy diferente en comparación con los CONECTORES (que serán estudiados en el WORKSHOP 3). Por favor revise los siguientes
ejemplos para observar cómo funciona y qué tan importante es la puntuación cuando usamos EXPRESIONES DE TRANSICIÓN.

a. My father is very generous. In fact, he helps more than three different charity projects.
b. First, I take a shower in my beautiful bathroom. Then, I have a big breakfast in a bakery next to my house.
After that, I drive to work…
c. As a conclusion, all attendants to the workshop were very satisfied with it.
d. Our boss is a great leader; in addition, she is a very sensitive person.
e. Surprisingly, our budget for the project was fully accepted by the investment committee.
f. Some students had great results in the final exam; in contrast, some others had very low scores.
g. We hired a new exporter for our products. For this reason, we are changing many documents and processes
these days.
IMPORTANT PUNCTUATION PATTERNS:

- As you can see there is a comma (,) right after each TRANSITION EXPRESSION. (All sentences)
- TRANSITION EXPRESSIONS are very usual beginning sentences and paragraphs (b, c, e)
- In the middle of a paragraph, or after a sentence TRANSITION EXPRESSIONS are usually after a period (.) (a, b, g) or a semicolon
(;) (d,f)
-

PATRONES IMPORTANTES DE PUNTUACIÓN:

- Como puede ver siempre hay coma (,) justo después de cada EXPRESIÓN DE TRANSICIÓN. (Todas las oraciones)
- Las EXPRESIONES DE TRANSICIÓN son muy comunes comenzando las oraciones (oraciones b, c, e)
- En la mitad de un párrafo, o después de una oración, las EXPRESIONES DE TRANSICIÓN van después de un punto seguido (.)
(oraciones a, b, g) o un punto y coma (;) (oraciones d,f)

EXERCISE 2

It is essential to check on the CORPUS VOCABULARY file located in the v-room for the ideal development of this task.

Write a 5-to-7-line paragraph describing your job in your company.

1- It’s a paragraph not a list of sentences.

2- Don’t try to write as in Spanish. Use only SIMPLE SENTENCES in your paragraph.
3- Check the structure of your sentences by identifying SUBJECTS and VERBS with a color convention as in the examples provided.
4- Use PUNCTUATION AND TRANSITION EXPRESSIONS to connect the ideas and sentences in your paragraph. (Three transition expressions
AT LEAST)

Es esencial revisar el archivo CORPUS VOCABULARY ubicado en el aula virtual para el desarrollo ideal de este trabajo.

Escriba un párrafo de 5 a 7 líneas describiendo sus labores en su empresa.

1- Es un párrafo no una lista de oraciones.

2- No trate de escribir como en español. Use sólo ORACIONES SIMPLES en su párrafo.
3- Revise la estructura de sus oraciones identificando SUJETOS y VERBOS con convención de colores como en los ejemplos dados en el taller.
4- Utilice PUNTUACIÓN Y EXPRESIONES DE TRANSICIÓN para conectar las ideas en su párrafo. (Al menos tres expresiones de transición)

A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF MY JOB

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© DESIGNED BY:

Mg. Mauricio Buitrago

Universidad Santo Tomás

Licenciatura en Lengua Extranjera Inglés.