一、句子开头多样化

　　英语是一种句型结构灵活多变的语言。由于拘泥于传统语法框架，许多初学写作的人都喜欢用名词开头写句子。这样写倒是无可非议，但若通篇文章都是干巴巴的同样结构的句子，就显得呆板生硬，缺乏生气了。事实上，在英语写作中除名词可放在句子的开头外，许多其它词类及词组均可放在句子开头的位置。

　　例句：Women leave their homes to take a fuller part in society as time passes.

　　上面这句话至少还有两种开头方式：

　　1. As time passes, women leave their homes to take a fuller part in society.

　　2. To take a fuller part in society, women leave their homes as time passes.

　　二、避免一个“I”写到底

　　初学英文写作的人的另一通病是一个“I”写到底，句首僵硬，缺乏变化。

　　试读下面这段文章：

　　One thing in particular I remember made me feel grateful toward my mother was that one day I went and asked her for my own garden, and she let me have my own little plot. I love it and take care of it well. I loved especially to grow peas. I was proud when we had them on our table. I would pull out the grass in my garden by hand when the first little blades came up. I would patrol the rows on my hands and knees for any worms and bugs, and I would kill and bury them.

　　上面这一段共用了八个“I”。当然上文若出自一个幼童笔下，倒不乏天真纯朴的趣味。不妨改写如下：

　　According to my recollection, one thing in particular that made me feel grateful toward my mother was the day I went and asked her for my own garden, and she did let me have my own little plot. I love it and take care of it well, especially the growing of peas. Having them on the table made me proud. I would pull out the grass in my garden by hand when the first little blades came up and would patrol the rows on my hands and knees for any worms and bugs, killing them and burying them.

　　改写后的段落仅有三个“I”，一看就出自成人手笔。

　　三、 注意句子的紧凑性

　　1. 当两个句子是围绕着同一主题的不同方面进行说明时，可以将两句中相同的成分省略，形成并列句，从而使句子更加紧凑。这也就是省略结构所表达出的英文的紧凑性。需要注意的是两句中形成对应关系的something要完全一致才可以省略，而且与相同成分相关的短语(主要是动词短语中的介词)不可以省略。另外，如果表示比较结构的句子前后有相同成分，而且此成分有短语修饰，后面的相同成分要由代词来置换，而不能直接将其省略。(如下面的例句三)

　　例句： They should acquire knowledge not only from books but also from the society.

　　他们不仅要从书本中学习知识，还要从社会中汲取知识。

　　Either Sally must be responsible for the matter or we’ll be (responsible for the matter).

　　或者赛丽对此事负责，或者由我们来承担责任。

　　The population of this country is three times as large as that of its neighbor.

　　这个国家的人口是它邻国的三倍。(汉语可以说是它邻国的三倍，但英语一定要说是它邻国的人口的三倍，这也是英语较为汉语更为严密的一种表现)

　　2. 条件句也是使句子紧凑的一种表达方式。这里我们介绍一下in which在条件句中的用法，它相当于条件句的引导词if，这时可译作“如果……那么……”或“当……时”。

　　例句：An ensemble that performs B in which the other performs A is excused from the rehearsal after that concert.

　　当另外一个乐团演奏A(乐曲)时，那麽演奏B(乐曲)的乐团就有充分的理由不去彩排了。