TYPE ONE SENTENCES. ------- .

A Type One sentence is very compact, and has no commas. Often, it has an S + V + O construction. When you make a Type One sentence, choose the verb first, and then choose the noun. Verbs are the heart of a sentence. Many times, college students will write a “verb-less” sentence; this deprives the sentence of its very core. Please choose the verb first! For example, you will start with a sentence like “The bird eats the bread”. Start with the verb “eat”, and then build the nouns around it. After you have the verb and the nouns, you can add the adjectives, adverbs, and more. Building up a Type One sentence is like making “pulled noodles”, in that you start short, and gradually make the sentence longer, using conjunctions as necessary. Here is an example:

Eat – birds – bread (Verb + Nouns)
Birds – eat – bread. (In correct, SVO order)
The birds eat the bread. (Make a basic sentence.)
The hungry birds eat the stale bread. (Add adjectives)
The hungry birds quickly eat the stale bread. (Add adverbs)
The hungry and cold birds quickly eat the stale bread and old beans. (Add some more,
using a conjunction).

This sentence could go on to become even longer, but every sentence has a limit; stop at a reasonable point.

When composing a Type One sentence, choose your topic first, then “brainstorm” the basic (S + V + O) words on some scrap paper, or on the blackboard, and then write. It is very important to choose your topic first, as this will guide your writing. Start small, then build up the sentence bit by bit, stage by stage. Remember, you must start from the beginning, in English, rather than conceptualizing the sentence–in its entirety–in Chinese.

A note concerning the ways to expand the sentence. There are two ways you can do this: (a) by stretching the sentence out, bit by bit, or (b) adding a convenient conjunction, and adding on from there–for example:

The hungry and cold birds quickly ate the stale bread and old beans left on the table by the old man.
There are many ways you can do this. Have a try!

Here are some more examples of making a Type One sentence:

Example 1–
Topic: Washing dishes.
Scrub – student – pot (Verb + Nouns)
Student – scrub – pot. (In correct, SVO order)
The student scrubs the pot. (Make a basic sentence)
The hurried student scrubs the dirty pot. (Add adjectives)
The hurried student fiercely scrubs the dirty pot. (Add adverbs)
The hurried and nervous student fiercely scrubs the dirty cooking pot with an old copper scouring pad. (Add some more)

Example 2–
Topic: The fire burning in the fireplace.
Burn – fire – wood (Verb + Nouns)
Fire – burn – wood. In correct, SVO order)
The fire burns the wood. (Make a basic sentence.)
The ever-hungry fire burns the dry wood. (Add adjectives.)
The ever-hungry fire steadily burns the dry wood. (Add adverbs)
The ever-hungry fire in my grandmother’s fireplace steadily burns the dry wood and peat blocks through the long winter nights. (Add some more)

There are many ways you can extend your Type One sentence; you decide which way is best for you. Remember–no commas!
Here are some exercises for you. Using the above two examples as a model, please choose five topics (unrelated), and develop a Type One sentence for each topic. Have fun!