Vary Sentence Beginnings

Instead of writing your sentences in a subject/verb order, try varying your sentence beginnings.

Examples of subject/verb order:

They lay together in the corner.

The soft, blue butterfly pictures crumbled.

My first contest still jolts me.

The strange, eclectic symbols of my childhood resist my probing.

1. Begin with an adverb (quickly, slowly, merrily, miserably, furiously—most of these words end in ly)

Examples: Annoyingly, the alarm clock blares out each morning.

Quickly, he spurts out his frantic message.

2. Begin with adjectives followed by a comma before the main clause (plush scratch, blue, cracked, tarnished, sweet, etc.)

Examples: Sizzling and pungent, the sausages grabbed center stage.

Limp, frayed, and discolored, the small handbag still bulged with mystery.

3. Begin with a prepositional phrase (around the corner, in the closet, over the bed, beneath, the clothes, beside the book, during the night, etc.) Prepositions include “under, by, with, at, of, in, from, over, after, on, against.”)

Examples: In the far corner, the old party souvenirs stick out the package at awkward angles.

Across the top, scrawled handwriting detailed the contents of his poignant message.

4. Begin with a participial phrase (Participials are verbs ending in ing that are used as adjectives.)

Examples: Whispering softly, the pictures call to me from forgotten years.

Spinning in tiny circles, the dust particles dance gently from the velvet costume.

Lifting her skirt and leveling her cane fiercely before her, she began to march across the park.

5. Begin with a subordinate clause (even though, although, while, because, if, since, whenever, etc.)

Examples: Even though I disliked them at the time, I admit their value now.

Whenever she sings, the nostalgia of her words takes me back.

6. Begin with a subject

Examples: Mr. Alvarez is a handsome man.

The best tutor in the program understands both math and science.

7. Begin with an infinitive (placing “to” before the verb.)

Examples: To feed the ducks, we walked to the pond.

To tell you the truth, I really do not like greasy food.

8.Absolute phrase (consists of a noun followed by a participle.)

Teeth chattering, we waited in the cold.