Sentence with small

Small is mighty: the power of short sentences

Most of your sentences turn out okay, don’t they? If they seem right, they probably are right. If you learned English as your first language, your instincts are usually fairly trustworthy.

By the same token, if you think there’s something wrong with a sentence, there probably is. Take another look at the one that bothers you. Can you say it more simply? Of course you can. And is that sentence really necessary? If in doubt, cut it out.

Short sentences communicate powerfully

As Winston Churchill said, ‘the essential structure of the ordinary British sentence... is a noble thing.’

Writing short sentences is a very good plain language trick. Plain language uses short sentences. If you write short sentences, your meaning is usually clear and your grammar is usually correct.

It’s that simple.

Aim for an average of 16-20 words per sentence in business documents. The danger point occurs at 20 words.

If you are having trouble writing a particular sentence, it’s probably too long. Just chop it into two or more sentences. Or shorten the sentence by removing unnecessary words.

When you write complete documents, vary the length of your sentences. Too many short sentences in a row can become boring for the reader.

And it’s fine to start a sentence with ‘and’. But it’s equally legitimate to start a sentence with ‘but’. You read such sentences every day in the newspaper, in advertising, in letters and in books. Sentences starting with ‘And...’ or ‘But...’ are commonly used by Shakespeare and other literary stars. Be aware that some people frown on this usage in formal documents.

Structure sentences logically

The goal in corporate communications is to write clearly. Don’t try to be literary as you construct your sentences. Write plain, ordinary sentences, not fancy ones. 

In the ordinary English sentence, the words go in this order:

1. SOMEBODY or SOMETHING (subject)
2. DOES or IS (subject)
3. SOMETHING (object or complement)
4. extra information if any.

Use this as your default sentence structure. Start sentences with their real subject, not some irrelevant or fancy phrase. You’re not trying for the Nobel Prize in Literature. You are trying to write quickly, clearly and correctly.

Whenever you are struggling with a sentence, go back to the basic English sentence structure: ‘Somebody does something.’

How many ideas should there be in a sentence?

One idea in a sentence is enough. Two is plenty. Three ideas usually create confusion. (By the way, a clause is an idea, a sentence, or a sentence-within-a-sentence.) In a two-idea sentence, put the ideas in their logical order.

This is a crude but useful rule of thumb: put ‘if’ and ‘when’ clauses first, and ‘because’ and ‘so that’ clauses second.

In this blog, 'fancy' means not plain. Avoid fancy sentences.

FANCY We will need new uniforms if the coup succeeds.
PLAIN If the coup succeeds, we will need new uniforms.

FANCY Because he is sick, she is visiting Paul.
PLAIN She is visiting Paul because he is sick.

FANCY So that they can use the Internet, they have ordered a modem.
PLAIN They have ordered a modem so that they can use the Internet.

Try this easy fix

Never use more than one of these words per sentence:  although, because, if, since, unless, but, yet.

FANCY Although the roadworks are essential, the noise is disturbing the residents but they are tolerating it without complaint.

PLAIN The noise is disturbing the residents. They are tolerating the noise without complaint because they know the roadworks are essential.

(So ‘noise’ is repeated? In business documents, that’s good.

People read faster when you use the same word for the same thing.) Don’t overuse phrases like ‘It is...’ ‘There are...’ ‘It was...’ ‘It has...’  ‘There is...’ ‘There was...’ ‘There were...’ ‘There has...’ ‘There have...’ ‘It’ and ‘There’ are called false subjects.

Sentences that begin with a false subject:

• are often hard to finish writing
• are longer than necessary
• can lose focus.

Naturally it’s OK to break this rule occasionally. (I just did.) But don’t make a habit of it.

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How To Make The Most Of Simple Sentences For Kids

When a child finally learns how to construct their own simple sentences, for kids (and parents!), it’s a really special moment.

Word combinations such as “knee sore” turn into, “Mommy, my knee is sore.” Or “now juice” develops into, “Can I have some juice?”

There’s no denying the importance of sentences — they help us better express our thoughts and feelings. So the only question now is: How can you help your child start constructing their own sentences so that they, too, can communicate better?

Two words: simple sentences.

When Do Kids Start Forming Sentences?

Children start forming sentences once they know a few words. But language development is quite a journey!

Somewhere between 18 and 24 months, a toddler will begin constructing two-word “sentences,” like “want milk” or “no sleep.” At this stage, they are linking two or more words together to express an idea. This is the first step and a big milestone.

By four years old (sometimes earlier), most children are speaking in complete sentences. But that doesn’t mean they’ve reached the end of their sentence journey.

While your child may be speaking in complete sentences, finding playful ways to expose four and five year olds to sophisticated aspects of sentences while being kid appropriate is beneficial. This will help them continue developing their language skills.

One of the best ways to do so is to encourage children to speak in complex sentences to express their ideas. How? This can be achieved by simply resisting the temptation to simplify our own speech.

Remember that children are learning sponges! They will naturally pick up on the language habits you expose them to. So, continue speaking in complex sentences while in their presence. It’s not a bad thing if your child asks, “What does that mean?”

Of course, simple sentences come first.

What Makes A Simple Sentence?

A simple sentence is the most basic form of a sentence. It contains only one independent clause — a group of words that forms a complete thought and is made up of a subject and predicate (which includes a verb and expresses what is said about the subject).

For example, in the simple sentence, Thomas kicks the ball, “Thomas” is the simple subject and “kicks the ball” is the predicate, with “kicks” being the verb, or simple predicate.

Simple sentences for kids are mostly short, but they can also be long. The length of the sentence isn’t the focus. What’s important is that the basic elements (subject and predicate) are always present.

When we communicate in our everyday lives, there’s usually a good mixture of both simple and more complex sentences without us even thinking about it. In order to help our kids reach this effortless communication stage, we need to help them understand the basics.

The good thing about the English language (and every other language, actually!) is that once you understand the basics, moving on to complicated structures is easier.

Simple Sentences For Kids To Act Out

One of the best ways for children to learn is through acting things out. If you have an active young child who enjoys moving around, why not use their energy to encourage some learning?

Here are some simple sentences for kids they will have fun acting out.

• He reads a book.
• The dog barks.
• The cat sits on the mat.
• I hop on one foot.
• The pig gobbles his food.
• The rooster crows.

With these sentences for kids, your child will have a blast while naturally learning what makes up a sentence!

Other Ways To Practice Sentences For Kids

1) Use Pictures

We recommend having your child use pictures to make up stories. You can even record the stories and listen to them for a little added fun!

If your child wants to write their ideas, too, that’s great! But don’t worry about standard spelling; much more important is the creative effort involved in thinking of a great story composed of interesting sentences of their own creation.

You can use pictures of animals, nature, sports, or even family photos. Then encourage your child to share whatever comes to their mind after having a look at these images.

During the first session, your child may need a few verbal prompts to help them get started. Simple questions like, “What’s happening in the picture?” or “What does this image remind you of?” can help to get their creativity flowing.

If you have multiple children, you can allow them to share what they came up with about the same image. As individuals, they will most likely think of different sentences, so this is a great opportunity to emphasize how everyone has unique ideas.

We encourage you to allow your children creative freedom here. The idea is to place an image in front of them and let them create anything they feel like creating.

2) Play Sentence Games

If you’ve been following our blog for a while, you’ll know one thing for sure — the HOMER team loves a good game! Games are not only fun, but they’re also great ways to help children remember fundamental learning concepts.

One of our favorite sentence games is Sentence Mix & Match.

What You’ll Need:

• Several index cards
• Markers to write with

What To Do:

• Write interesting subjects on half of the index cards (Ideally, these are things that your child likes. For example: dinosaurs, ice cream, different shapes, colors, etc.).
• On the other half, write predicates or sentence endings that make sense with your individual subjects.
• After writing, place the cards so that they make realistic sentences.
• Then, turn all the cards over and shuffle them. At this point, you want to ensure that you separate sentence beginnings and endings.
• After the shuffle, turn your cards over and discover what silly sentences you get.
• Remember to begin the subject cards with capital letters and sentence-endings cards with a period.

This is a fun activity to help children see that sentences are not always set in stone. They will also quickly learn that the meaning of a sentence can change when words get moved around.

3) Play With Types Of Sentences

Sentence Mix & Match is not the only way to help children learn sentences for kids while also having fun. Another activity we’re huge fans of is playing with types of sentences. Specifically — statements, questions, and exclamations.

To get started, pick any simple sentence that your child will already be familiar with (e.g., “I like playing outside.”).

Next, encourage your child to say this same sentence as a statement, a question, and then an exclamation.

Similar to Sentence Mix & Match, this game helps children understand that minor tweaks can change the meaning of a sentence.

Children will come across punctuation marks during reading time, but they may not always understand the significance of each. This game will help your child learn how periods, question marks, and exclamation points affect a sentence.

5) Make A Switch

The subject and predicate for each simple sentence have a specific function. For children to use these correctly, they will need to understand what their roles are.

When kids start speaking as babies and then toddlers, they often repeat words, phrases, or the simple sentences they’ve heard from you, your partner, siblings, or other people around them.

At this stage, they haven’t fully grasped the functions of subjects and predicates. If we want to help our children develop their own sentences, we will need to help them understand the roles of these sentence parts.

A creative game they (and you!) will enjoy involves switching the subjects and predicates of a sentence.

Start with a simple three-word sentence, like, “A cat played. ” Then take turns changing either the subject or the predicate of the sentence.

This may look something like this:

• A cat jumped
• A dog jumped
• A dog growled
• A gerbil growled
• A gerbil scampered

Once your young learner is confident switching three-word sentences, move on to four words, five words, and so forth.

Through this fun activity, your child will start understanding the roles of predicates and subjects in sentences.

Simple Sentences For The Win!

A child’s language journey is pretty incredible. It often starts with lots of babbling and moves to single words. Soon, you get two-word combinations, and before you know it, you’re given a detailed account of what happened in class today.

As you’re doing the activities we’ve mentioned, remember to allow your child creative freedom. We know that language has a lot of rules, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun! Encourage your young learner to be as imaginative as they want to be.

For instance, if they write or say, “The lion growls at the dinosaur,” let’s celebrate the correct sentence construction and, for a moment, imagine a world where lions and dinosaurs exist in the same age!

For more fun and effective learning activities, check out the HOMER Learn & Grow app.

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Sentences with the word "small"

We found 80 sentences with the word "small". Synonyms for small. Meaning of the word. Characters. "small" - morphemic analysis.

• Saint Francis was small , lean, taut as a string, and swift as an arrow.
• If even the smallest projectile hits here, there will be nothing alive within a hundred yards.
• The local cooks could not understand for a long time why Pugacheva stared at small TV screen and so impatiently waiting for something.
• New Year 1938 was celebrated in the house where Alik, Irina and little Kirochka lived.
• The little wanderer became "toothy" and settled in the hotel "Uzbekistan" in a room "without windows, without doors."
• That was the name of the piece of land where now stood the small house of the Poet.
• And I myself gouged out a small anchor on my arm .
• Small , blond, blue-eyed man.
• A small piece of sargassum floats past me to the north.
• Little man , happy with the right to dispose of yesterday's lord of kings.
• The small circle has little contact with the unknown.
• At the same time, little George Stephenson was enjoying idleness, watching the bouncing lid of the kettle that his mother was boiling.
• Fifteen years later small magic case with matches had its own special epilogue.
• My friend wished me to make you a small present in exchange for the night cap you gave me.
• Looking at her, I understand what I was then small .
• And since I was the smallest in the yard (both in age and height), I ended up in the very tail.
• It went on, despite the small orchestra, small choir, very tolerably.
• Otherwise, Tanya even seemed nice to me: a small upturned nose, a small mouth.
• Despite this, Pizarro, after a difficult passage through the full-flowing rivers of the Coaqua region, raided a small city.
• I also realized that my little nephew joined him in his prayer.
• And streams and a small fountain murmured to the sounds of love inside my house.
• Blood, lots of blood wherever the little black man appears.
• This " little sparrow" with his "wild news" amused the students, and Raisa Bloch was nicknamed the "little sparrow" and "wild messenger".
• Fist, violence and merciless struggle seen from birth little Soso.
• At the same time, they carefully examined a small greenish computer screen filled with rows of numbers.
• But “overgrown with black hair, small pockmarked Georgians” is preparing to go to his first link.
• And in one of the rooms a small pockmarked Georgian fell asleep with an extinct pipe , who would later exterminate all these lucky ones.
• The small detachment turned back, and soon Mademoiselle Petit found herself under the protection of the khan.
• Little man that I care about.
• Little Jean seemed to be the same "senior" as little Montmore.
• But this little Soso cannot understand: all his childhood he was taught to strike back.
• True, by the time I get close to these paths, even the smallest chance may work.
• We set up a small camp and lived happily for several weeks.
• Jorge stood on the podium and heard what people were saying: “He is too small , too small ”.
• I still remember how they laughed when little Aleksey pretended to be a rabbit and jumped up and down the room.
• In a matter of minutes, my "Solo", a good small ship , turned into a half-sunken wreck.
• Dine at home with your sister, and without delay rent yourself a small office on the fifth floor .
• My little Mozart was so funny in it: a toy man in a powdered wig and a red coat with a sword.
• The little round-headed Baron Neuhof became the first king of Corsica.
• There is a little devil in the bank, but I, as usual, have no right to tell my parents about it.
• https://sinonim.org/
• At the same concert in the front row a small child burst into tears.
• With the departure of Beso, Keke continues to fulfill his vow: little Soso must become a priest.
• A mosquito buzzes over his ear, small - small .
• The power of a gaze and the fear of a man who does not dare to look away, small Soso remembered forever.
• And it was created when I was still quite “ small - small ”.
• He simply took the boy to Tiflis and assigned him to Adelkhanov's factory: small Soso helped the workers, waited on the elderly.
• How little sobbed Andrei June 22, 1941.
• With what diligence, with what love the little savage drew flowers and then gave the drawings to his friends.
• The troupe has become a small city on wheels sometimes really very small .
• Especially our Victor, a square little little man with a long twitching nose.
• There is a small foot pump, similar to those used to inflate mattresses, with a long hose connected to the valves.
• The little bell rings merrily when I close the door.
• I looked around, and he was standing on the shore, such a small - small and desperately waving his hands at me so that I could swim back.
• This is a small boat , it goes from Josefizraelskade, and the carrier immediately transported us as soon as we asked.
• A small town with an old cathedral dozed on a mountain in the setting sun.
• Joe, let's give him a small exam.
• Leaving for a small summer house with two terraces.
• A small frail old man in a general's uniform was sitting at the table and was writing something.
• The small Boer force was still resisting.
• It was the smallest cyclotron in the world, but the results were fantastic.
• Knunyants: " Little , frail, somehow defective, dressed in a kosovorotka from someone else's shoulder, a ridiculous Turkish fez on his head."
• They say, having heard from his student the question why he was overcome by doubts, Anaximenes drew two circles on the ground: small and large.
• Dordrecht, small , an extremely busy river port in South Holland, one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands.
• Little Rodion Gazmanov, well, quite tiny, button, sang the song "Lucy" in "Meetings" with great success.
• They rented a small cafe, put small apparatus and invited all my musician friends.
• One tattered little boy about ten years old also cracked the whip behind the oxen.
• Later, I received little advice from a sympathetic colleague in my studies.
• The small square of lawn bordered by rose bushes did not seem small to me.
• A small studio bus raced along Nevsky Prospekt, empty at that hour, stuck in the March ice.
• We beat each other mercilessly, and the little puny Soso was one of the most dexterous fighters.
• He was appointed preacher in Vam, another small town in the coal basin, a few kilometers from Patyuraz.
• Our small ridiculous squad fearlessly rushed into the boundless desert of snow.
• A few days later, when my mother gave us for dinner only a glass of tea without sugar and a small piece of bread for everyone, I decided to go to the market.
• Yes, I really was a witch's child, a small magician and wizard.
• The next day I was dragged on a stretcher to the Shakhovskaya station: in front of me was a small soldier , and behind me was an old, tall one.
• At the church of Santa Maria in Trastevere boys of different colors are chasing a ball, a small mulatto with a shaved head responds to the nickname "Ronaldo".
• Round pink face, small upturned nose and dark hair in a bun.
• From childhood little Simon became an obedient shadow of the domineering Soso.
• It is the same small as their own open fishing boats that run along the coast.
• Colonel of the Imperial Regiment brave small Chisholm, rushing forward, received two mortal wounds.