CBSE Class 7 English Writing Effective Sentences Worksheet

Here are some tips for making your sentences more effective.

• Vary the length of your sentences. Avoid using all long sentences or all short sentences.

• Vary the structure of your sentences. Avoid using the same pattern for all sentences.
 

Exercise 1 Combine the repetitious short sentences into a longer, more interesting sentence. Reword as needed.
a. The sun was setting.
b. It was setting behind the barn.
c. The barn is red.
d. The swallows began to feed.
The sun was setting behind the red barn as the swallows began to feed.

1. a. Fumio plays on a team.
b. The team is a soccer team.
c. Fumio is the goalie.
d. The team’s name is the “Jets.”
Fumio is the goalie on a soccer team called the “Jets.”

2. a. Fall is a beautiful time of year.
b. Fall is a somewhat sad time, too.
c. The trees will soon be bare.
d. The grass will turn brown.
Fall is a beautiful, but somewhat sad, time of year because the trees will soon be bare and the grass will turn brown.

3. a. Alice is a curious girl.
b. She is intelligent.
c. Alice is the main character in Alice in Wonderland.
d. Her adventures in a make-believe world are humorous.
Alice, the main character in Alice in Wonderland, is a curious and intelligent girl who has many humorous adventures in a make-believe world.

4. a. This fable is by Aesop.
b. The title is “The Lion and the Mouse.”
c. The story is about good deeds.
d. In the story a good deed is rewarded.
Aesop’s fable “The Lion and the Mouse” is a story about how good deeds bring rewards.

5. a. Nils keeps a journal.
b. He uses a blue pen for all journal entries.
c. The journal is a notebook.
d. The notebook is spiral-bound.
Nils keeps his journal in a spiral-bound notebook and always writes in it with a blue pen.
 

Exercise 2 Rewrite the paragraph, changing some of the sentence patterns.

Lek and I had nothing to do. We rode our bikes down the street. We came to the old park. We used to play baseball in the old park. We saw a shed in the old park. The shed looked empty. We looked into a window of the shed. We saw a mother dog and her puppies on the floor. We opened the door to the shed. We went in. We played with the dogs. Finally, we went home.

Possible answer: One afternoon my friend Lek and I could think of nothing to do. After riding our bikes around town for a while, we came to the old park where we used to play baseball. We saw an empty-looking shed and peeked into a window. Imagine our surprise when we saw a mother dog and her pups! We spent the rest of the afternoon playing with the dogs.

Writing Effective Sentences

• Lead with an interesting topic sentence. Word the sentence so that it “hooks” your readers and makes them want to read on.
• Use active verbs primarily. In a sentence with an active verb, the subject performs the action (e.g., He speaks). In a passive-verb sentence, the subject is acted upon (e.g., He is spoken to). Active verbs generally make a stronger impression than passive verbs. Use a passive verb when the “doer” of an action is unknown or unimportant. 

Exercise 1 Underline the topic sentence that best hooks the reader.

Toonia, my new pen pal, lives with her grandmother in Bangkok, Thailand.
Having a pen pal is one way to learn about another country.
I know more about Thailand than I used to know.
Amid the bright colors and noisy streets of Bangkok lives my new pen pal, Toonia.

1. That stubborn girl who prefers MegaMedia over the new MultiMedia is none other than my sister!
My sister and I never agree on anything.
My sister and I like two different, but similar, stores that sell books and tapes.
I like the new store MultiMedia, but my sister prefers MegaMedia.

2. Twelve inches of snow fell yesterday, but it all melted today.
Not the usual one or two inches of snow fell yesterday.
How could we have ever guessed that twelve whole inches of snow would disappear almost overnight?
Due to temperatures rising to 60°, all the snow that fell yesterday melted today.

3. Here is what I think about smoking: Kids shouldn’t smoke because smoking is bad for their health and it becomes a habit that is nearly impossible to break.
Kids shouldn’t smoke because it is bad for their health and it is a hard habit to break.
Coughing every few minutes and pausing for an extra gasp of air, the speaker warned students about the dangers of smoking.

4. The water in the river was rough, and the water bounced the raft around.
If you are going out on the water, you should wear a life jacket.
When the rough water bounced the raft around, we were glad that we were wearing life jackets.
Here’s why you should wear a life jacket when you are on a boat.
 

Exercise 2 Rewrite the following passage, changing passive verbs to active verbs where appropriate.

The last scene in the movie is packed with action. Tex Carlson, the sheriff, is chased into a dead-end canyon by a band of nasty-looking outlaws. A way out is found by Tex, though, at the last minute. He scrambles up the cliff like an agile mountain goat, just as his deputy is arriving.

The last scene in the movie is packed with action. A band of nasty-looking outlaws chases Tex Carlson, the sheriff, into a dead-end canyon. Tex finds a way out at the last minute, though. He scrambles up the cliff like an agile mountain goat, just as his deputy is arriving.

Writing Effective Sentences

• Create special effects. You can repeat certain words or phrases for emphasis or to create a certain effect. You can also use interruption for emphasis. A sudden break in thought can call attention to an important point. Another way to emphasize is to use a different kind of sentence that stands out from all the others

Exercise 1 Use the list to identify how the sentence or sentences below were made more effective. Some may have more than one answer.
interesting topic sentence               repetition for emphasis
varied sentence length                    varied sentence structure
interruption for emphasis                unusual sentence for special effect

1. Did you know that 1 in 3 families today has a single parent? The situation was very different 25 years ago. At that time, only about 1 in 10 families had a single parent.
interesting topic sentence, varied sentence structure

2. Some people think that if you don’t learn how to ride a bike when you’re a child that you can never learn. It’s not true. My father learned to ride when he was 33 years old.
varied sentence length

3. I don’t have a ride. I don’t have any money. How can I possibly go to the concert?
repetition for emphasis

4. When you go out in the pasture, be sure to wear rubber boots. The ground is very soggy  and the little stream is swollen. It is April, after all.
varied sentence length, varied sentence structure

5. Who-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o! I heard the owl call again.
unusual sentence for special interest

6. My stomach tells me—oops, there it goes, growling again—that it’s time for lunch.
interruption for emphasis
 

Exercise 2 Rewrite the paragraph below using effective sentences

The school bus was racing up the twisty mountain road. There was a tree in the road. It fell there. It happened suddenly. The tree blocked the path of the bus. Then there was thunder. Then it began to rain in buckets. Night was falling. The busload of children wondered what would happen next.

The school bus was racing up the twisty mountain road. Suddenly, it screeched to a halt. A tree had fallen across the road, blocking the way. As the children stared at the tree, they heard thunder. Rain came down in buckets. They realized that night was falling. The children had only one thought: what