Sentence Exercises

Parallelism

When I found out the McRib had returned, I dived into my car and was off: horn blaring, gas pedal on the floor, several injured pedestrians in my wake.

Waves gently lapping at the shore, gulls crying overhead, boats listing lazily in the distance, the beach is such a tranquil place.

I thought the zoo would be fun, but when we arrived it was a nightmarish cacophony of elephants trumpeting, lions roaring, and apes shrieking among a million other ear-splitting noises.

The treasure hunter collected himself after falling down the trap door and looked upon a mountain of treasure like he had never seen: gold and jewels and paintings and sculptures from wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling, ripe for the taking!

The bicyclist was adamant; despite his sweat blinding his eyes, his spandex tights chafing his thighs, his helmet flopping loosely on his head, he pushed on.

My sisters found him repulsive, bought I felt he had a goofy sort of charm: the way he spat a little when he talked, the way his eyes twitched, his myriad speech impediments, oh, what is a man anyway?

Congeries

When leaving the theater, please ensure you have all your belongings: your phone, wallet and all its cards, car keys, and the self-respect your spouses stole from you all those years ago.

Far beneath the ocean waves lies an alien world: creatures unlike anything you've ever seen, some familiar but with too many appendages, others completely see-through, and yet more capable of bioluminescence.

I was lost in a blizzard of schoolwork: essays left unwritten, math exercises waiting impatiently for my input, classmates eagerly awaiting responses to their discussion posts, their hearts beating out of their chests in anticipation of my opinion, a pot of ramen boiling over: forgotten on the stove, and me: passed out on the couch, remote in one hand, chips in the other, once again.

A fast-food drive-thru is a sacred sort of social gathering: starving drivers honk their horns, employees mutter indecipherably through the speakers, the smells of salt and heart disease waft through the air, impossible numbers of children pour out of mini-vans, their parents swallow their disgust and follow behind, dead-eyed and soul-broken.

I tossed and turned all night, sleep an impossible dream: the indecisive heater kicking off and on as it willed, trains in the distance blaring horns all through the night, my wife's icy feet kicking my legs in their covetous slumber, their nails sharp and digging into my flesh, and just as my eyes finally fell heavy, my own alarm betrayed me.

Present Participles

Wandering lost through the dark, a maddening scratching sound stalked my mind as a droning hum grew in volume until I could no longer think.

Its innumerable eyes gazing, the creature in my dreams pierced my soul, accusing me--knowingly--of my many sins.

Stirring beneath the ocean waves, ancient creatures beyond mortal comprehension prepare to rain doom upon the nations of men.

Chattering endlessly, the rats in the walls chewed through the foundation of my sanity.

Buzzing happily, a million bees swarmed the garden, but they were probably eldritch abominations too. So was the garden.

Bleeding uncontrollably, the magician grabbed his stump with his prosthetic hand and cried out, "Not again!" as the children screamed and ran inside.

The body count rising, Roger realized that perhaps his pet bear wasn't quite ready to drive.

Raising his hand eagerly, Jimmy couldn't wait to rat my friends and me out. Nerd.

Crying inconsolably, the child refused to acknowledge that his precious lost toy was in his other hand.

Past Participles

The marathon runner collapsed after crossing the finish line, exhausted from his ordeal.

The smoker's lungs were colored a muddy black, polluted by years of abuse.

Two frogs in the pond dance strangely, engaged in a mating ritual.

The buried treasure lay buried somewhere on the island, hidden ages ago by infamous pirates who, for understandable reasons, couldn't use a bank to store their wealth.

Little Scotty ran screaming from my driveway, frightened by the fantastic Halloween decorations painstakingly designed to terrify him, specifically.