{"id":16623,"date":"2017-11-03T18:25:18","date_gmt":"2017-11-03T18:25:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy?page_id=16623"},"modified":"2026-04-23T14:29:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T19:29:00","slug":"making-sentences-more-distinct","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/making-sentences-more-distinct\/","title":{"rendered":"Making Sentences More Distinct"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t<div id=\"mmDeferVideoEncompass_IBWi91yzSGY\" style=\"position: relative;\">\n\t\t\t<picture>\n\t\t\t\t<source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/circle-play-duotone.webp\" type=\"image\/webp\">\n\t\t\t\t<source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/circle-play-duotone.png\" type=\"image\/jpeg\"> \n\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"eager\" id=\"videoThumbnailImage_IBWi91yzSGY\" data-source-videoID=\"IBWi91yzSGY\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/circle-play-duotone.png\" alt=\"Making Sentences More Distinct Video\" height=\"464\" width=\"825\" class=\"size-full\" data-matomo-title = \"Making Sentences More Distinct\">\n\t\t\t<\/picture>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<style>img#videoThumbnailImage_IBWi91yzSGY:hover {cursor:pointer;} img#videoThumbnailImage_IBWi91yzSGY {background-size:contain;background-image:url(\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/25-making-sentences-more-distinct-1.webp\");}<\/style>\n\t\t\t<script defer>\n\t\t\t  jQuery(\"img#videoThumbnailImage_IBWi91yzSGY\").click(function() {\n\t\t\t\tlet videoId = jQuery(this).attr(\"data-source-videoID\");\n\t\t\t\tlet helpTag = '<div id=\"mmDeferVideoYTMessage_IBWi91yzSGY\" style=\"display: none;position: absolute;top: -24px;width: 100%;text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;font-size: small;border-top: 1px solid #fc0;\">Having trouble? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v='+videoId+'\" target=\"_blank\">Click here to watch on YouTube.<\/a><\/span><\/div>';\n\t\t\t\tlet tag = document.createElement(\"iframe\");\n\t\t\t\ttag.id = \"yt\" + videoId;\n\t\t\t\ttag.src = \"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/\" + videoId + \"?autoplay=1&controls=1&wmode=opaque&rel=0&egm=0&iv_load_policy=3&hd=0&enablejsapi=1\";\n\t\t\t\ttag.frameborder = 0;\n\t\t\t\ttag.allow = \"autoplay; fullscreen\";\n\t\t\t\ttag.width = this.width;\n\t\t\t\ttag.height = this.height;\n\t\t\t\ttag.setAttribute(\"data-matomo-title\",\"Making Sentences More Distinct\");\n\t\t\t\tjQuery(\"div#mmDeferVideoEncompass_IBWi91yzSGY\").html(tag);\n\t\t\t\tjQuery(\"div#mmDeferVideoEncompass_IBWi91yzSGY\").prepend(helpTag);\n\t\t\t\tsetTimeout(function(){jQuery(\"div#mmDeferVideoYTMessage_IBWi91yzSGY\").css(\"display\", \"block\");}, 2000);\n\t\t\t  });\n\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t\n<p><script>\nfunction eDO_Function() {\n  var x = document.getElementById(\"eDO\");\n  if (x.style.display === \"none\") {\n    x.style.display = \"block\";\n  } else {\n    x.style.display = \"none\";\n  }\n}\n<\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"moc-toc hide-on-desktop hide-on-tablet\">\n<div><button onclick=\"eDO_Function()\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/toc2.svg\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"show or hide table of contents\"><\/button><\/p>\n<p>On this page<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<nav id=\"eDO\" style=\"display:none;\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"toc-h2\"><a href=\"#Making_Sentences_More_Specific\" class=\"smooth-scroll\">Making Sentences More Specific<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"toc-h2\"><a href=\"#Avoiding_Wordiness\" class=\"smooth-scroll\">Avoiding Wordiness<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"accordion\"><input id=\"transcript\" type=\"checkbox\" class=\"spoiler_button\" \/><label for=\"transcript\">Transcript<\/label>\n<div class=\"spoiler\" id=\"transcript-spoiler\">\n<p>Hi, and welcome to this video lesson on how to make sentences more distinct!<\/p>\n<p>In the English language, sentence structure is extremely important to how we express our ideas. All sentences need a subject and a verb to be considered a complete sentence, but we also need to add distinction to our sentences. Distinction in your sentences will allow others to fully understand what you are trying to tell them.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Making_Sentences_More_Specific\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>Making Sentences More Specific<\/h2>\n<p>\nOne of the main ways that we can make sentences more distinct is by making them more specific. For example, let\u2019s look at the following sentence:<\/p>\n<div class=\"transcriptcallout\">He played outside.<\/div>\n<p>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nNow, technically, there is nothing wrong with this sentence. It has a subject and a verb and is a complete thought. We understand that someone played outside, but we do not know any specific details such as who played outside, where he played specifically, and what he played. So, let\u2019s add some specific words to make this sentence more distinct.<\/p>\n<p>We can first start by stating that &#8220;Thomas played outside.&#8221; Just by changing the word <em>he<\/em> to <em>Thomas<\/em>, we now know who specifically played outside. It is no longer a singular <a class=\"ylist\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/pronoun-usage\/\">pronoun<\/a>, but a proper noun that allows for those reading or hearing the sentence to know who the exact person was.<\/p>\n<p>Since we know who it was that played outside, let\u2019s add what he was playing to the sentence. We can make the sentence state that &#8220;Thomas rode his bicycle outside.&#8221; These words help us to have a better understanding of what Thomas was doing. In our original sentence, <em>played<\/em> was just too vague and could apply to any number of activities. But by replacing <em>played<\/em> with just three words, we know exactly what Thomas was doing.<\/p>\n<p>We can also change the word <em>outside<\/em> to something more specific. Instead of saying that \u201cThomas rode his bicycle outside,\u201d let\u2019s say &#8220;Thomas rode his bicycle on the sidewalk.&#8221; By adding <em>on the sidewalk<\/em> in the place of <em>outside<\/em>, we know where Thomas was exactly when he was riding his bicycle.<\/p>\n<p>If we compare our original sentence of \u201cHe played outside\u201d to our new sentence \u201cThomas rode his bicycle on the sidewalk,\u201d we can see that the new sentence is more distinct. After reading or hearing the sentence, we know exactly what happened, where it happened, and who it happened to. This sentence helps readers to have a better understanding of what we are trying to tell them.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Avoiding_Wordiness\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>Avoiding Wordiness<\/h2>\n<p>\nAdding specific words to a sentence is a great way to add distinction to sentences, but you will want to make sure that you do not add too many words. Look at this sentence for example:<\/p>\n<div class=\"transcriptcallout\" style=\"text-align: left\">Thomas, a young, four-year-old boy with blonde hair and blue eyes, pedaled his cherry-red bicycle with a bell and training wheels on the dark, medium-gray- colored concrete which made up the structure of the sidewalk near the road and houses.\u201d<\/div>\n<p>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nThis sentence is definitely descriptive and helps the reader to grasp what is happening exactly, but it is also just too wordy. There are so many specific words and phrases that the sentence is bombarding the reader with too much information. So, although adding specific words and phrases to sentences can help them to be distinct, it can also make the sentence worse if we add too many words to sentences.<\/p>\n<p>I hope this video helped you understand <a class=\"ylist\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/sentence-structure\/\">sentence structure<\/a> a little better!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"home-buttons\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/writing\/\">Return to Writing Videos<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Return to Writing Videos<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":90925,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-16623","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"page_category-video-pages-for-study-course-sidebar-ad","7":"page_category-writing-videos","8":"page_type-video","9":"subject_matter-english"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16623"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16623\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":292199,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16623\/revisions\/292199"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}