Sentence Structure Questions

Introduction

Sentence Structure questions on the CLT challenge students to evaluate how effectively sentences are constructed within a passage. These questions often require a keen eye for grammatical correctness, logical flow, and rhetorical style. They can feel challenging because they combine grammar knowledge with the ability to assess clarity and emphasis. We will discuss both of these aspects in this module, but the primary emphasis will be on the grammar knowledge necessary for Sentence Structure questions.

Approach Question

Should you leave the sentence below as it is or opt for one of the three alternatives listed in the answer choices?

She enjoys hiking, to swim in the river, and biking through the woods.

1. NO CHANGE
2. She enjoys to hike, to swim in the river, and to bike through the woods.
3. She enjoys hiking, swimming in the river, and biking through the woods.
4. She enjoys a hike, a swim in the river, and biking through the woods.

The issue in this sentence is one of parallelism or parallel structure. The rule is that if there is more than one subject, verb, or object in a sentence, they must be parallel (identical) in form. If an “-ing” form is appropriate for the three verbs in the above sentence, then that ending must be used with each parallel verb. If an infinitive form like “to hike” is appropriate, then that should be the consistent usage. Finally, if the verbs are put in a noun form (“a hike” instead of “hiking”), then all three should be done so if a noun form is appropriate.

With this in mind, we can begin by eliminating the two non-parallel answer choices. Choice has two “-ing” forms, but “to swim” doesn’t match. Choice D has two noun-based forms with “a” in front of them, but “biking” doesn’t match.

That leaves two answers that are parallel in structure. As is often the case, it is not enough here to identify parallelism; we also have to determine what kind of verb form is appropriate after the word “enjoys”. If you imagine saying “I enjoy to hike,” you can better understand why this form doesn’t work after “enjoys” and an “-ing” form (technically, we’re using what’s called a gerund, or a verbal form that functions as a noun). What does she enjoy? She enjoys hiking, swimming, etc. The answer is C.

Part 1: General Strategy

1. Understand the nature and building blocks of a sentence.

   The Subject, Verb, and Object (SVO) are the building blocks of any complete sentence (also known as an independent clause), and they follow essential rules:

• The parts must agree in number. Contrary to common sense, the proper combinations are singular subjects + verbs with an s, and plural subjects + verbs with no s.

• The parts cannot be separated by a single punctuation mark. Double is okay.

  Example: You can’t, the teacher warned, have it all.

• You can have multiple subjects, verbs, or objects in a clause (S, S, S V, V, V O, O, O), but you can never put a punctuation mark between an S and V or a V and O. That’s a comma splice (see discussion of the Clause Test below).

  Example: Tonya, Ryder, and Jared swam, biked, and hiked in the lake, on the trails, and in the mountains.

• Verb imposters (usually gerunds ending in -ing) do not constitute a complete sentence.

  Incorrect example: *Being that Elizabeth comes late to every meeting.

  Correct example: Being that Elizabeth comes late to every meeting, we provided her with a start time 30 minutes in advance of the actual meeting.

• The parts cannot be separated by a single punctuation mark. Double is okay.

• Although not all sentences have an object and some even lack a subject, you cannot have a true sentence without a verb. An owner saying to a dog, “Sit!” is constructing about the shortest possible legitimate sentence. The shortest verse in the Bible is “Jesus wept,” but even that one has both a subject and a verb!

2. Analyze the grammatical flow.

• The heart of the compound sentence: the Clause Test.

  The Clause Test is our way of equipping you to assess the punctuation between two clause (remember that a clause is a grammatical unit containing the subject-verb-object structure already discussed). Clauses can be independent, meaning that they could stand on their own as a complete sentence, or dependent, meaning they could not stand on their own as a complete sentence.

  The Clause Test works like this: when asked about the punctuation between two clauses, ask yourself: are there 1) two independent clauses or 2) one independent and one dependent clause? If the former is true, your options for punctuation are a period, a semicolon, or a FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) conjunction (or, occasionally, a colon). If a dependent clause is present, you must use a comma (or possibly a colon). Here is a summary of the thought process in a table:

  THE CLAUSE TEST

• Look out for examples of parallelism (see Approach Question above).

• Make sure there are no misplaced modifiers. A modifier is a string of words that describes a noun; to make clearer, the modifier must be placed next to the noun.

  Incorrect Example: Rolling down the street and covered in cheese, I spotted a meatball.

  Correct Example: I spotted a meatball rolling down the street and covered in cheese.

3. Prioritize clarity and conciseness.

• Is the sentence easy to understand?
• Does it convey its idea with simplicity and directness?

Practice Passage

In this section, you’ll find an excerpt from Willa Cather’s essay on Edgar Allan Poe, published in the public domain at A Collection of Short Stories, Reviews and Essays. We have included five Sentence Structure questions to go with the passage.

Among all the thousands of life’s little ironies that make history so [1] diverting, there is none more paradoxical than that Edgar Poe should have been an American. Look at his face. Had we ever another like it? He must have been a strange figure in his youth, among those genial, courtly Virginians, this handsome, pale fellow, violent in his enthusiasm, ardent in his worship, but spiritually cold in his affections. Now playing heavily for the mere excitement of play, now worshipping at the shrine of a woman old enough to be his mother, merely because her voice was beautiful; now swimming six miles up the James River against a heavy current in the glaring sun of a June midday. He must have seemed to them an unreal figure, a sort of stage man who was wandering about the streets with his mask and buskins on, a theatrical figure who had escaped by some strange mischance into the prosaic daylight. [2] His speech and actions were dramatic and, always as though done for effect, sincerely unconscious. He had that nervous, egotistic, self-centered nature common to stage children who seem to have been dazzled by the footlights and maddened by the applause before they are born. It was in his blood. With the exception of two women who loved him, lived for him, died for him, he went through life friendless, misunderstood, with that dense, complete, hopeless misunderstanding which, as Amiel said, is the secret of that sad smile upon the lips of the great. Men tried to befriend him, but in some way or other he hurt and disappointed them. He tried to mingle and share with other [3] men; but he was always shut from them by that shadow, light as gossamer but unyielding as adamant, by which, from the beginning of the world, art has shielded and guarded and protected her own, that God-concealing mist in which the heroes of old were hidden, immersed in that gloom and solitude which, if we could but know it here, is but the shadow of God’s hand as it falls upon his elect.

We lament our dearth of great [4] prose, with the exception of Henry James and Hawthorne, Poe is our only master of pure prose. We lament our dearth of poets. With the exception of Lowell, Poe is our only great poet. Poe found short story writing a bungling makeshift. He left it a perfect art. He wrote the first perfect short stories in the English language. He first gave the short story purpose, method, and artistic form. In a careless reading, one cannot realize the wonderful literary art, the cunning devices, the masterly effects that those entrancing tales conceal. [5] They are simple and direct enough to delight us when we are children, subtle and artistic enough to be our marvel when we are old. To this day they are the wonder and admiration of the French, who are the acknowledged masters of craft and form. How in his wandering, laborious life, bound to the hack work of the press and crushed by an ever-growing burden of want and debt, did he ever come upon all this deep and mystical lore, this knowledge of all history, of all languages, of all art, this penetration into the hidden things of the East? As Steadman says, “The self-training of genius is always a marvel.” The past is spread before us all and most of us spend our lives in learning those things which we do not need to know, but genius reaches out instinctively and takes only the vital detail, by some sort of spiritual gravitation goes directly to the right thing.

1. diverting, there
   A. NO CHANGE
   B. diverting; there
   C. diverting, and there
   D. diverting. There

2. His speech and actions were dramatic and, always as though done for effect, sincerely unconscious.
   A. NO CHANGE
   B. His speech was always dramatic and sincere and his actions unconsciously, as though always done for effect.
   C. His speech and actions were unconsciously and sincerely dramatic, always as though done for effect.
   D. His actions and his speech were done always as though for effect, and dramatic though sincerely unconscious.

3. men; but
   A. NO CHANGE
   B. men, but
   C. men
   D. men,

4. prose, with
   A. NO CHANGE
   B. prose with
   C. prose and with
   D. Prose. With

5. They are simple and direct enough to delight us when we are children, subtle and artistic enough to be our marvel when we are old.
   A. NO CHANGE
   B. They are subtle and artistic enough to delight us when we are children, simple and direct enough to be our marvel when we are old.
   C. They are simple and artistic enough for the delighting of children, direct and subtle enough to bring the old to marveling.
   D. Simple and direct, they are enough to delight us as children; our marvel when we are old, they are subtle and artistic.

For Reflection

1. Rate the difficulty of CLT Sentence Structure questions for you from 1 (no problem) to 5 (problem!). This will help you decide how much time to spend preparing for this passage.
2. Can you summarize the Clause Test without looking? Make sure you can instinctively apply this valuable test.
3. Do you have more difficulty with Sentence Structure questions involving punctuation or those concerning the order of words and phrases? Take care to identify which kind of questions should occupy more of your time.