Well, it depends on what you’re trying to say.
If you want to describe something that happened in the past, use a paragraph. You can use a sentence to talk about something in the present or the future, and a phrase to talk about something that requires a specific amount of time to complete (e.g., a verb + preposition + object + complement).
Let’s explore the differences.
Past Versus Present
When you want to describe something that happened in the past, you use a paragraph. A paragraph is basically a sentence strung together, which means it can describe a past event or state of affairs. It can’t describe something that happened at the present time because there’s no way for you to know what’s going on at the moment the paragraph is being used.
On the other hand, if you want to talk about something that’s happening now or in the future, you use a sentence. A sentence is a group of words containing a subject and a predicate. The words in a sentence are frequently arranged in a narrative style with a sequence of events (e.g., a past, present, and future tense).
When something happens or exists in the present moment, you can use a phrase. A phrase is a group of words that can be used as a single unit and may consist of a verb, an adjective, a noun, or apronoun. A phrase can be used to refer to something that occurred or exists in the present moment.
Description Versus Narrative
If you’re writing an essay or article, you may want to write in the first person. This is usually done to establish a link with the reader and create a sense of intimacy. However, you need to be careful not to mix your description and your narrative too much since they serve two different purposes. You might want to think of one section of your writing to be descriptors (e.g., colorful adjectives, adverbs, and nouns) and another to be the narrative (e.g., the storyline, character, and setting descriptors).
When you use descriptive words in your writing, you’re adding color and life to your narrative. If you want to write a complete narrative in the first person, you can use third person for added perspective. If you want to keep your narrative in the first person for an intimate tone, you can use descriptive words sparingly (but not sparsely!) to bring your description to life.
Frequency Versus Time
When you use a phrase, you’re saying that something happens or exists with a certain degree of frequency. For example, if you want to talk about the “good old days,” when people had fewer jobs and life was simpler, you can say that social media existed back then but that it wasn’t as sophisticated as it is now. You would use the phrase “back in the day” to talk about how things were before the existence of social media. You could also use “those days” to refer to a specific time period in the past (e.g., “What are your thoughts on climate change, Amy, since it’s become such a big issue recently? Those days, we didn’t worry about climate change.”)
On the other hand, if you want to talk about something that happened only once, you use an uncommon word or phrase. So, if you want to describe a unique piece of artwork, you can say “That is a one-of-a-kind painting” or “That is a one-of-a-kind sculpture.” You can’t use a regular word or phrase to describe something that happens only once.
Time is generally used in two ways in English. You can use the word “today” to refer to the present moment or you can use it to talk about an upcoming event or situation. If you use time to talk about something that already happened, you can do so with the phrase “back then.” For example, if you want to talk about how much the cost of maintaining a big house has increased over the years, you can say “Back then, we didn’t have the monetary constraints that we have today.” You can also use “then” to introduce a key piece of information that you’re about to state or to prove. For example, “Then, I quit my job and started my own business” or “Then, we moved to the suburbs to avoid the urban chaos.”
When you write about something that occurred many years ago, you have to be careful about how you word things. You might want to use the past tense, but you have to be selective about which verbs to use. You can’t just write in the past tense because if you want your writing to sound natural, you have to use present continuous and past participles.
Length Versus Breadth
When you have a long phrase, you’re saying that something is an undetermined length. If you use a long phrase, you have to be careful about how you word things. For example, if you want to talk about a unique piece of artwork that you saw during an art exhibition, you can say “It was a really long walk from the beginning to the end of the exhibition, and I saw a lot of wonderful pieces, but none of them were as interesting as this one.” You can also use “this one” if you’re referring to a specific artwork in your sentence.
If you want to talk about a multi-paragraph piece, you can use “and” to connect the two paragraphs or parts. For example, “Since it was a particularly hot day, we went into the pool to cool off” or “Those jeans are a perfect fit for you” is a single, long sentence. However, it can be broken down into two shorter sentences “Since it was a particularly hot day, we went into the pool” and “Those jeans are a perfect fit for you.”
You can also use “versus” to compare two things that are of similar type or nature. For example, “This salmon versus that steak, which one do you think is better?” You might also use “either…or” to make a choice between two things or ideas. For example, “I like both the ocean and the mountains, so I either surf or snowboard all year long.” When comparing two things, you can either choose to state the comparison directly or you can use “which one is better” to lead to the comparison. You wouldn’t want to do that if you’re just asking about preferences since the answer might be “neither.” There’s also the phrasal “neither…nor,” which you can use to refer to a choice between three things or a possibility. For example, “I love to travel, either by air or by sea.” Finally, you can use the word “either” to mean “one or the other,” but it’s generally considered to be a filler word in English.
More Than One Word
Certain phrases and words can have more than one meaning. If you’re not sure of the meaning of a word or phrase, you can look it up in a dictionary or use the thesaurus we mentioned earlier to find associated words and phrases. An example of this is “passport,” which can mean an ID card or a travel document. Using a thesaurus can also help with choosing the right synonyms for a word that you don’t know much about. For example, “travel” can have a variety of meanings, but if you use a thesaurus, you can find synonyms such as “visit” and “explore” for the verb “travel.”
In writing, this can be useful for selecting the right words when you’re describing something. If you want to write about a multi-cultural society in the future, you can use this type of wordplay to give your writing a unique flavor.