Sentence Variety

Sekilas Tentang Sentence

Sebelum membahas sentence variety, ada baiknya kita review sejenak pengertian sentence (kalimat). Sentence adalah kelompok kata yang terdiri dari subject dan predicate. Subject mungkin tidak disebutkan jika dianggap sudah dimengerti (elliptical construction). Predicate dapat berupa bermacam-macam part of speech. Kombinasi subject dan beragam predicate menghasilkan berbagai sentence pattern (pola kalimat). 

Berdasarkan strukturnya, kalimat dapat dibedakan menjadi: simple, compound, complex, dan compound-complex sentence, sedangkan berdasarkan penggunaannya, dibedakan menjadi: declarative, interrogative, exclamatory, dan imperative sentence.

Pengertian Sentence Variety

Sentence variety berarti menggunakan bermacam-macam sentence pattern (pola kalimat), length (panjang), dan rhythm (irama). Terlalu banyak kalimat dengan struktur dan panjang yang sama akan terasa monoton bagi pembaca. Kalimat panjang baik untuk menggabungkan banyak informasi, sedangkan kalimat pendek dapat memaksimalkan poin-poin penting. Dengan demikian, sentence variety baik untuk membuat tulisan menjadi tidak membosankan sekaligus memberi penekanan terhadap suatu informasi secara tepat.

Lihat juga:

• Sentence Type
• Sentence Pattern
• Sentence Fragment

Beberapa Cara Menggunakan Sentence Variety

1. Mengombinasikan kalimat: jangan hanya menggunakan simple sentence yang pendek, melainkan juga compound, complex, dan compound-complex sentence. Gunakan juga transition (adverbial conjunction).

Contoh Sentence Variety

I steamed a potato. I chopped it. I sprinkled a little salt and  pepper on it. Revisi Sentence Variety: I steamed a potato, and then I chopped it. After that, I sprinkled a little salt and papper on it. (Saya mengukus kentang, lalu mengirisnya. Setelah itu, saya menaburkan sedikit garam dan lada diatasnya.)

2. Memulai kalimat dengan adverb atau prepositional phrase: Jika kita memulai kalimat dengan kata yang sama seperti: the, it, this, I, tulisan akan membosankan pembaca.

Contoh Sentence Variety

1	We went to the wedding reception. We met our old school friend. Revisi Sentence Variety: We went to the wedding reception. Luckily, we met our old school friend. (Kami pergi ke resepsi pernikahan. Beruntung, kami bertemu teman sekolah dulu.)
2	You look confident. You couldn’t look people in the eye. Revisi Sentence Variety: You look confident. In the past, you couldn’t look people in the eye. (Kamu tampak percaya diri. Di masa lampau kamu tidak bisa melihat orang di mata.)

3. Menghubungkan antar ide (kalimat) dengan -ing verb form (present participle), -ed verb form (past participle) jika subject-nya sama.

Contoh Sentence Variety

1	Ana is so kind. She has many friends. Revisi Sentence Variety: Being so kind, Ana has many friends. (Sangat baik, Ana mempunyai banyak teman.)
2	Romi was interested in math. He won the International Mathematical Olimpiad last year. Revisi Sentence Variety: Interested in Math, Romi won the International Mathematical Olimpiad last year. (Tertarik dengan matematika, Romi memenangkan olimpiade internasional tahun kemarin.)

4. Menghubungkan ide dengan appositive atau relative clause (menggunakan relative pronoun: who, that, which, etc) jika subject-nya sama.

Contoh Sentence Variety

Vera sent me a delicious rainbow cake yesterday. She is a talented baker. (Vera mengirimi saya bolu pelangi yang lezat kemarin. Dia tukang kue yang berbakat.) Revisi Sentence Variety: Vera, a talented baker, sent me a delicious rainbow cake yesterday. Vera, who is a talented baker, sent me a delicious rainbow cake yesterday.

Related Posts:

• Descriptive Paragraph
• Narrative Paragraph
• Concluding Sentences (Paragraph)
• Controlling Idea (Paragraph)
• Supporting Sentence (Paragraph)
• Topic Sentence (Paragraph)
• Procedure Text Bahasa Inggris
• Eliminating Unnecessary To Be Verbs (Metode dan Contoh)
• Pengertian dan Cara Menghindari Primer Style

References:

1. What is Sentence Variety? http://www.blinn.edu/humanities/writingroom/Sentence%20Variety%20WR.ppt. Accessed on March 23, 2013.
2. Sentence Variety. http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/sentences.htm. Accessed on March 23, 2013.
3. Strategies for Variation. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/573/01/. Accessed on March 23, 2013.
4. Sentence Variety. http://grammar.about.com/od/rs/g/Sentence-Variety-term.htm. Accessed on March 23, 2013.
5. Adverbial Clauses. http://fd.valenciacollege.edu/file/jbritton/Reducing%20Adverbial%20Clauses.pptx. Accessed on March 23, 2013.