Prior to the United States' construction of the Panama Canal,
A. the French had failed to build a channel at the same site.
B. the United States had failed to build a canal across Nicaragua.
C. the British had failed to build a canal across Costa Rica.
D. the Germans had failed to build a canal at the same site.
E. no country had attempted to build a canal connecting the Atlantic with the Pacific.

before we work more on piecing ideas together to form summaries and paragraphs, we need to look at fundamental sentence construction. imagine you are reading a book for school. you need to find important details that you can use for an assignment. however, when you begin to read, you notice that the book has very little punctuation. the sentences fail to form complete paragraphs and instead form one block of text without clear organization. most likely, this book would frustrate and confuse you. without clear and concise sentences, it is difficult to find the information you need.

for both students and professionals, clear communication is important. whether you are typing an email or writing a report or essay, it is your responsibility as the writer to present your thoughts and ideas clearly and precisely. writing in complete sentences is one way to ensure that you communicate well. this section covers how to recognize and write basic sentence structures and how to avoid some common writing errors.