Sentence Patterns

Repetitions
Patterns 9, 9A, 10, 10A
Repetition of a Key Term
• S V Key term or repeated key
term
– Use dash or comma before repetition

Examples
She suddenly felt filled with joy – a joy
she could not explain but that she fully
embraced.
He was a part of the older generation, a
generation born before the Depression.
 Pattern 9 Tips
• You may repeat the word exactly or
use another form (brute/brutal;
battle/battling)
• The key term is a word important
enough to be repeated
 Repetition With a
Variation
• S V repeated key word in same
position of the sentence
-same word repeated in parallel
structure

Example
Venice presents great gifts to the
visitor – great history, great art,
great crafts.
Ways to Use Repetitions
• Repeat an effective adjective or
adverb in phrases or clauses with
parallel construction
– She has an incredibly satisfying life,
satisfying because of her career and
satisfying because of her family.
• Repeat the same preposition in a
series
– He has known her for many years,
before she went to college, before she
was a star, before she won the Oscar.
 …continued…
• Repeat the same noun as the object of
different prepositions
– This government is of the people, by the
people, and for the people.
• Repeat the same modifying word in
phrases that begin with different
prepositions.
– Sidney devoted his life to those selfish people,
for their selfish cause, but clearly with his own
selfish motives dominating his every action.
 …continued…
• Repeat the same intensifiers
– The baseball game was very exciting,
very enjoyable, but very long.
• Repeat the same verb or alternative
forms of the same word
– In order to survive in war, a person
needs training, a person needs courage,
and, most of all, a person needs luck.
Emphatic Appositive at End,
After a Colon
• S V word; the appositive (the
second naming). (with or without
modifiers)

• Example
Her room contained a collection of trash:
old clothes, soda cans, McDonald’s
wrappers.
 Appositive Variation
• S V word - the appositive.
– After the dash, the appositive is the
echoed idea or second naming and can be
single or a pair of series.
Example
Those big burger taste great but
have lots if calories – over 1,000.
Ways to Use Appositives
• Use a dash rather than a colon
before a short, emphatic appositive
at the end of a sentence
• The second naming must be a true
appositive
• A dash cannot separate two complete
thoughts
 Examples of Varied
Appositives
1. Adjusting to a new job requires one
quality, humor.
2. Adjusting to a new situation requires one
quality: humor.
3. Adjusting to a new job requires one quality
above all others – a sense of humor.
4. Adjusting to a new job requires one
quality: the ability to laugh at oneself.
 Comparisons
• Pattern 3 – compound sentence with
explanatory statement
Example
Remember Yogi Berra’s advice: It ain’t over till
it’s over.
• Pattern 10 – emphatic appositive at end
after colon
Example
When I go to the movie, I need two things to
really enjoy it: popcorn and a soda.