句子是表达意思的最小单位。按目前中学的实际情况，造句首先要注意语法问题，尤其是：

1.主谓齐全。作为一个句子，在一般情况下都应具备主语和谓语，但同学们写的句子经常出现主谓残缺不全的现象。例如：

After graduated from the instifute,Einstein worked for ashort time in the government.

在这个句子里，after不是作介词用，而作连词，引导一个状语从句，所以不能缺少主语he，应该写作After he graduated...。

又如*　This place very quiet and clean.They will stay herea few more weeks.

该句主语This place和表语very quiet and clean之间不能没有连系动词is，否则这个句子的谓语部分就残缺不全。

2.关系一致。这里包括主谓关系的一致、代词指代关系的一致、句子前后时态关系的一致等等。例如：

*　Little Tom as well as his parents like swimming.

这句的谓语动词like应该与as well as前面的主语Tom保持一致关系，所以应为likes。

又如，*　"Help yourself to the fish,"the Host said to Mr.Smith and me.

“请吃鱼”这句话是对史密斯先生和我两个人说的，所以前面的代词yourself应为yourselves。

3.词序恰当。英语词的词序有些是有规则可循的，有些要根据作者强调的重点调整位置。例如：

He always gets up early.He is never late for school.

象always.never,often,seldom这些频度副词一般放在行为动词的前面，连系动词、助动词或情态动词的后面。

又如，Only Wang Ming saw some foreigners in the Children'sPalace.(强调只有王明看见)

Wang Ming only saw some...。(强调只是看见)

Wang Ming saw only some foreigners....(强调看见的只是一些外国人，没有中国人等。)

Wang Ming saw...only in the Children's palace.(强调只是在少年宫看见，而不是在别的地方看见。)

在语法过关的基础上造句还应该注意几个修辞上的问题。

1.突出中心。这里包含两层意思。首先，一个句子应该有一个中心意思，不能前面说东后面道西，令人不得要领。第二，确定了一个句子的中心是表达什么意思，就要运用修饰手段把这个意思强调出来。例如，

Being a famous scientist,Mr,Hunter has msde an importantinvention,but his daughter did not let him take the papers toLondon himself.

这个句子语法没错，但意思很分散。前面说享特先生是著名科学家，中间说他作出重大发明，后面说他的女儿不让他亲自把图纸送去伦敦。应该把它分成三个独立的句子，各自表达一个中心意思。

Mr.Hunter is a famous scientist.He has made an importantinvention recently.He wanted to take his papers to Londonhimself,but his daughter did not let him do so.

又如，Mr,Brown is the manager of the shop.I am only hisassistant.Mr.Brown will decide the price of all goods in theshop.

第三个句子的中心意思，显然是要强调只有布朗先生才能决定商品的价格，但是原句没有把这个意思突出出来，所以最好把它改为It isMr.Brown,not I who will decide...或The price...will bedecided by Mr.Brown,not by me.

2.前后连贯。这是指一个句子里的词语要衔接得当，关系清楚，合乎逻辑。例如：

* I do not like to sing or dancing.

这里sing和dance都是like的宾语，但前面用不定式，后面用动名词，就显得不平衡，句子的连贯性就差。所以应改为I do not like tosing or to dance.

又如* Although very tired,the stepmother forced Aqiao tocut qrass for the sheep.

这个句子按理是说虽然阿巧很累了，继母还强迫她割草。但原句条理不清，说成是继母很累，还强迫阿巧割草。这样的句子连贯性也很差，应改为

Although Aqiao was very tired,the stepmother forced her tocut...或

Although very tired,Aqiao was forced(by the stepmother)tocut...

3.简练。不要堆砌修饰性词语。在没有把握的情况下，不要用从句。应该多用简单句。例如翻译如下一句：“当我在打乒乓球的时候，就决定要到湖里去游泳。”有以下两种译法：

①While I was playing table tennis,I decided that I would go for a swim in the lake.

②While playing table tennis,I decided to go for a swim inthe lake.

以上两句从语法上讲都正确，但第二句简洁，运用了一个短语代替了一个从句，达到了简洁的目的。

又如，When Christmas was coming,Della had not enongh moneyto buy Jim,who is her husband,a present,so she went to a shopto sell her hair in order that she could buy a gold chainworthy of Jim's gold watch.

这个句子过份冗长，既有并列句，也有复合句，复合句中既有时间状语从句、目的状语从句，还有定语从句。与其辛辛苦苦去构筑这样的复杂句子，还不如把它分为几个简单句，显得轻松、洗练一些。

Christmas was coming.Della had not enough money to buy apresent for his husband Jim.So she had to sell her hair.Aftershe got the money,she bought Jim a gold chain.

下面再谈谈初学写作时在造句方面常出现的一些错误实例。

1)句子冗长累赘、意思重复，例如：

①The army advanced forward after the big battle.(一场大的战斗后，部队向前进发。)这个句子的问题在于句中的"advanced"本身就是"march forward"的意思，而在其后出现"forward"实属多余，应去掉。

②The reason why I took off my coat was because I felt hot.用词多，绕圈子，太罗嗦。可以改成：I took off my coat,becauseI felt hot.简短明了。只要句意明确，多余部分应尽量删去。

2)修饰语的位置不对。修饰语的位置用错直接影响意思的准确表达。这一点在文章上一部分已谈到。我们再来看两个例子。

①I nearly lost five dollars yesterday.

I lost nearly five dollars yesterday.

这两句话由于nearly的位置不同，其含义也截然不同。第一句“我昨天差点丢了5美元”，言下之意是：没丢钱。第二句“我昨天丢了近五美元”意思是我丢了钱。不过不到5美元。

再如：②She decided not to go.他决定不去了。She did notdecide to go.他没决定去呀。否定词用在不同的位置上，意思大不一样。因此，平时在阅读和练习中要注意。

3)代词所指不明确。例如：

Peggy held a piece of bread and jam in one hand and thetelephone receiver in the other.She kept eating it while shetalked.后面一句话中的"it"指什么呢?指"a piece of bread andjam"还是指"telephone receiver"，这使人费解。在英语写作中要避免这种指代不清的句子。这句话可改为：Peggy held in one hand thetelephone receiver and in the other a piece of bread and jam,which she kept eating while she talkcd.

4.模糊不清的比较。例如：

①I like John as much as Tom.这句话里究竟是I like John asmuch as I like Tom，还是I like John as much as Tom likes John.这种比较模糊不清。

②My home is nearer to our school than yours.不知这里的yours是指your home.还是your school.这句话应改为：My home isnearer to our school than yours is.或My home is nearer to ourschool than it is to yours.

③Tom is taller than anyone in his class.这里的比较是不符合逻辑的，因为被比较的对方包括了Tom和他班里的任何人(他自己也不例外)。

下面我们再说说有关释意能力问题。

学习英语写作，我们应学会释义(Paraphrase).就是用不同的词语来表达或说明一个词或句的意思。表达要正确，这种能力在阅读时要注意培养。一是注意老师在讲解生词时的释义，二是用英英词典学习释义。学会释义能更好地克服从汉语出发抠汉语字眼的毛病。汉语中说“拖某人的后腿”其涵义是牵制、阻挠别人作某事。理解了这层含义，就可以根据不同的上下文来选择不同的英语来表达这个意思。如："hold sb.back,be a drag on sb,blinder(impede,prevent)sb.from doingsth."等：学会释义，在用英语学习写作时遇到一些一时表达不出的思想时，就可以帮助我们越过词，句的障碍，去加以释义。

我们前面所谈到的都是练习用英语写作时要注意的一些基本问题，一般来说，练习写作是由开始的模仿性写作，到控制性写作(如改写文章、缩写文章、写提纲、复述等等)。写英文日记是练习英语写作的好办法，每天写几句。天长日久，笔头得到较多的锻炼。最后进入自由写作阶段。

三、组段

段落是文章中相对独立的一个部分。它通常由主旨句、扩展句和结尾句组成。例如：

Bamboo has many uses.Many people use it to make chairs,tables,curtains,birdcages and so on.Its tender young shootscan be eaten.The soft pulp in side the stems can be made intoa fine paper.No wonder people say bamboo is a useful plant.

这段话共有五个句子。第一句是主旨句，说竹有许多用途。第二、三、四句是扩展句，说明竹有哪些用途。第五句是结尾句，说明竹是一种有用的植物。

下面分别谈主旨句、扩展句和结尾句的写法。