Lesson Introduction
Part 1
In the previous lesson, you learned how to alter the structure of a complex sentence using the participle clause. In today’s lesson, you’ll learn how to achieve sentence variety using the prepositional phrase at the beginning of the sentence.
Let’s look at an example of the prepositional phrase.
Here, the prepositional phrase is “in order to”, we can move it to the beginning of the sentence like this
As you can see, this is quite easy! Written this way, this sentence becomes more powerful in conveying the message and it grabs the reader’s attention. Since I started with "In order to succeed,", you now know the reason and purpose behind the sentence, which helps the reader follow along and understand.
Often we can just omit “In order”, so the sentence becomes more concise like this:
Let’s look at an example that uses this technique.
Finally, learning about the past enables people to gain an understanding of why the world exists as it does and offers insights on how to make the world better. Studying how governments came into existence helps us to perceive how to make them successful in the future. To further the knowledge of medical science, we need to study the findings and results of previous medical thinkers. By the same token, to understand the modern world, we need to know how and why it looks the way it does. Ultimately, the benefit of understanding the trials and tribulations of the past offers the advantage of knowing why the world has taken the shape it has. The information gained from studying history is highly useful and valuable.
Let me give you an example.
What is an important skill a person should learn in order to be successful in the world today? choose one skill and use specific reasons and examples to support your choice.
There are many things that people need to learn in order to be successful in life, and among them are perseverance, integrity, enthusiasm, and competence. In my opinion, in order to be successful today, it is necessary for everyone to be able to communicate effectively. The ability to converse with others is important in taking the first step towards an interview and acquiring a job, performing tasks that require both written and oral fluency at work, and conducting business with others.
If the thesis statement was written like this:
In my opinion, it is necessary for everyone to be able to communicate effectively in order to be successful today.
It would make it a rather weak thesis statement since the essay topic is “What is an important skill a person should learn in order to be successful in the world today?”. By putting “In order to be successful today” first, we let the reader anticipate what is coming next.
Okay! So starting a sentence with the prepositional phrase is a good technique to grab a reader’s attention, but do not overuse this technique. Use it when you want to put more emphasis on the idea of the sentence.
Alright! Now, let’s talk about other prepositional phrases. We usually start with prepositional phrases to show different types of relationships like:
Cause
Contrast
Comparison
Similarity
Addition
The phrase “in order to” can show the purpose, so what about the other types of relationships? Let’s have a look at them now.
To show cause, we can use the following phrases
Owing to, due to, as a result of, as a consequence of
Like we did before, we can put the prepositional phrases at the beginning of the sentence. Here are some example sentences:
Due to the increasing popularity of ebooks, the sales of paper books have declined substantially.
As a result of the continual release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from both electricity production and gasoline use, the world is getting warmer, causing irreversible damage to our environment.
As a consequence of global warming, the polar ice sheets are shrinking resulting in rising sea levels and many other detrimental effects on the environment on a global scale.
We can also use the phrase “with the ‘something’ of ‘something’” to show the cause. For example:
With the advent of motion pictures, we can now enjoy fantasies vicariously in an easier way.
With the help of government subsidies, many first-time small business owners can grow successful businesses.
Right! So next let’s look at prepositional phrases showing contrast and compare relationships. To show the contrast relationship, we can use the following phrases:
In contrast to, contrary to, in spite of, despite
To show the compare relationship, we can use the following phrases:
Compared to, In comparison to
These phrases are particularly useful when it comes to writing a “Preference” or “Support or Oppose” question which you are given two choices to compare or contrast.
Take a look at the following example paragraphs:
In contrast to most small towns which are homogenous in their people and lifestyles, a large city, however, is always filled with people of various backgrounds, ages, races, talents, and desires.
Contrary to dining out at restaurants, eating at home gives me more choices of food, more freedom to choose my ingredients, and a more challenging and satisfying cooking experience.
In spite of obvious benefits brought by a new shopping center, the disadvantages of having a new shopping center far outweigh its benefits. Therefore, I would adamantly oppose the idea of building a new shopping center in my country.
Despite the importance of attending class, making turnout mandatory is not logical. Unlike lower levels of school, college is not a requirement but a choice. As a choice, students should be allowed to decide when they wish to participate.
Compared to watching a football game on T.V. which is indeed visually stimulating, being at a live game, however, allows a person to see the players in real life, feel the cold air on their skin, and hear the loud roar of the crowd first hand.
In comparison to knowledge gained from reading books, knowledge gained from experience is personal realizations of knowledge so it is internalized deeper and stays longer in our brains. After all, books are a secondhand account of others’ experiences and knowledge.
Alright! Next, let’s see how we can use prepositional phrases showing similarity. To do that, we can use the following phrases:
In a similar fashion to, in the same way as
Here is an example paragraph:
Finally! Let’s see how we can use prepositional phrases for showing addition.
We can use "In addition to" and "aside from". These prepositional phrases are used at the beginning of a sentence to show the addition relationship. This technique is often seen in a topic sentence of a body paragraph. For example:
In addition to increased job and social opportunities, people go to college for personal gains.
Okay! This is the end of this “How to achieve sentence variety” lesson series. Remember that part of your score on the TOEFL Independent writing task will be based on your use of a variety of sentence structures. Not only will varying your sentences demonstrate your command of advanced grammar, but it will also make your essay much more interesting to read.
As you practice your writing, try to use more prepositional phrases and infinitive clauses at the beginning of the sentence.
You've completed the lesson: Achieving Sentence Variety - Part 3
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