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Every sentence is composed of interchangeable parts. And you can rearrange the parts. This rearranging lies at the heart of revision—a process of seeing again to make your meanings more accurate or clear or memorable. Assembling and reassembling the parts is not a cosmetic act. It is an act of thinking.

There’s a surprisingly small amount of specialized vocabulary to master in order to see and talk about sentence shapes. We can best illustrate this vocabulary and how it works by looking at one comma rule and then four basic sentence shapes. We will then build on this foundation for the rest of the chapter, adding more technical terms as we need them.

Please be aware that all of these terms have been collected in the Glossary of Grammatical Terms located at the end of Chapter 19. In particular, see entries for the following terms: clause, conjunction, conjunctive adverb, coordination, direct object, phrase, preposition, subject, subordination, and verbals. Earlier in that chapter, you will also find a brief guide to punctuation entitled “What Punctuation Marks Say: A Quick-Hit Guide.” Punctuation makes sentence shapes visible.

THE PRIMARY COMMA RULE: IDENTIFYING THE MAIN CLAUSE

The main idea of most sentences resides in the main clause, the subject + verb that can stand by itself (aka independent clause). The main clause generally gets the most emphasis and carries the most meaning. Sentences are built around main clauses, and writers (as well as readers) will benefit from developing the ability to find the main clause in any sentence. Here’s one:

The cat / was happy.

The diagonal line separates the subject from the predicate. “Cat” is the subject, “was” is the verb, and “happy” is an adjective that modifies (describes) “cat.”

Let’s say we wish to add some modifying information to this sentence, such as “despite not having enough for breakfast.” There are three places (slots) in sentences where this modifying phrase might be added. In each sample sentence below we have underlined the main clause and italicized the modifying information.

beginning: Despite not having enough for breakfast the cat was happy.

middle: The cat despite not having enough for breakfast was happy.

end: The cat was happy despite not having enough for breakfast.

These “slots” for adding information at the beginning, middle, and end are generally separated from the main clause by commas. The commas are there to help the reader easily find and recognize the main clause.

The first example, with the modifying phrase at the end, doesn’t absolutely need a comma; we won’t misread the sentence without it, though the comma does help to clarify matters. And, what if we raise the level of complexity by adding more modifiers to a more complicated idea?

modifying phrase at beginning: Although both candidates claimed to be running clean races and blamed the other for the mud-slinging the campaign was ugly.

modifying phrase at middle: The campaign although both candidates claimed to be running clean races and blamed the other for the mud-slinging was ugly.

modifying phrase at end: The campaign was ugly although both candidates claimed to be running clean races and blamed the other for the mud-slinging.

Now let’s build on this primary comma rule by applying it to the four basic sentence shapes.

HOW TO RECOGNIZE THE FOUR BASIC SENTENCE TYPES & WHAT THEY DO

To see sentence shapes, always start by finding the clauses. A clause is any subject + verb combination. There are two types of clauses:

independent clauses, which can stand alone, such as The dog was depressed

dependent clauses, which cannot stand alone, such as Because the dog was depressed. A dependent clause literally depends (hangs on) another clause.

Sentences can be divided into four basic types depending on the kind and relation of clauses.

Consumers shop.

Consumers shop and producers manufacture.

Consumers shop in predictable ways so producers