Uplevel a Sentence
When you uplevel a sentence, you take it to the next level in terms of detail and complexity. You may want to uplevel a sentence in a paper to get a better grade. You may also want to improve your sentences in a report to show off your writing skills. You can uplevel a sentence by making it more dynamic and by using description. Making your sentences longer and more complex can also strengthen them.
Contents
Steps
Creating Dynamic Sentences
- Use strong verbs in the sentence. Strong verbs are usually connected to a direct action the subject is doing in the sentence. They carry a specific meaning. Avoid weak verbs, such as "to be" or "have." Strong verbs will grab the reader’s attention and add more intent to the sentence.
- For example, rather than write, “The man was going up the hill,” you may write, “The man strode up the hill” or “The man ran up the hill.”
- You may also use strong verbs in an academic paper to describe a source. For example, rather than write, “Shakespeare has an argument that man is trapped by his own ambition,” you may write, “Shakespeare argued that man is trapped by his own ambition.”
- Start the sentence with a verb. This will put the reader right in the heart of the action from the very start. Use a verb with -ing at the end, followed by a comma. The verb should describe the action of the subject in the sentence.
- For example, you may write, “Jogging, Mark nearly stumbled over a rock.” Or you may write, “Screaming, Sarah crawled away from the bear.”
- Make the sentence more descriptive with an adverb. Adverbs are a great option for adding more description and detail to a sentence. Adverbs end in -ly and describe the verb in the sentence. It should appear after the verb.
- For example, you may write, “Fred sang soulfully to the crowd,” or “Della wept quietly in the corner.”
- Make the sentence into a question. Sometimes you can uplevel a sentence by transforming it into a question. Having questions in a paragraph can help to vary the sentence type and add complexity to your writing. Use “who,” “what,” “where,” “how,” and “why” to start the question.
- For example, you may change a sentence like “I wonder how you dig a hole in winter” to “How do you dig a hole in winter?” or “I question why we say a prayer before dinner” to “Why do we say a prayer before dinner?”
Using Description to Uplevel a Sentence
- Improve the sentence with more than one adjective. Adjectives should describe the subject of the sentence in detail. They should paint a detailed picture of the subject for the reader. Having more than one adjective will add more detail and give the reader a better sense of the subject. Use a comma to separate the two adjectives.
- For example, you may write, “He was a tall, lanky man” or “She had a wide, eager face.”
- Having more than two adjectives in one sentence to describe the subject can make the sentence wordy and confusing. Try to have no more than two adjectives in a sentence.
- Describe an emotion with an adjective. You can also use adjectives in the sentence to tell the reader how a subject is feeling emotionally. Place the adjective at the beginning of the sentence and end it with -ed. You can have more than one adjective at the beginning of the sentence, but try not to have more than one to two at a time.
- For example, you may write, “Confused and scared, the kids ran from the room.”
- You do not have to use “and” to separate the two adjectives. For example, you may write, “Elated, thrilled, she held up the winning trophy.”
- Repeat the same adjective twice. Another way you can use adjectives to uplevel your sentence is through repetition. Use a comma to separate the adjectives. Try to only use the same adjectives twice in a sentence. Repeating it three to four times can make the sentence feel redundant.
- For example, you may write, “She was a quick study, quick because she had to be” or “It was a cold night, so cold you could see your breath outside.”
- Create similes and metaphors with nouns. Similes and metaphors compare one thing to another. You can use descriptive nouns to create similes and metaphors. Adding them to a sentence can give it more detail and complexity.
- Similes use “like” or “as” to describe a subject. For example, you may write, “She was as skinny as a pole” or “She is like a raging tornado.”
- Metaphors compare one thing to another without “like” or “as.” For example, you may write, “He was a bull in a museum,” or “He is the missing piece in the puzzle.”
Extending Your Sentences to Add Complexity
- Use “but,” “so,” and “and.” Connecting terms can be a good way to extend the length of a sentence and make it more complex. “But,” “so,” “and”, and “yet” are all good connectors you can put in a sentence to give it more detail. Always put a comma before the connector.
- For example, you may write, “She wanted to go to the party, but she had homework to do first.” Or you may write, “He finished dinner early, so he went for a walk around the neighborhood.”
- Another example would be, “They ran through the square shouting, and it angered the locals,” or “We needed another person, yet we resisted asking our mother.”
- Make a compound sentence with a colon. Compound sentences is when two independent clauses are brought together. Use a colon to separate the two clauses so they are still distinct and easy to read. Only combine two clauses that relate to each other directly.
- For example, you may write, “I was tired: I hadn’t slept in two days” or “She was confused: she hadn’t seen the smoke in the woods.”
- Create a compound sentence with a semicolon. You can also make a compound sentence with “some” and “others” using a semicolon instead of a colon. This is a good option if you want to compare two groups or perspectives in one sentence.
- For example, you may write, “Some people love swimming; others can’t stand being in water” or “Some enjoy talking; others prefer to listen.”
