Sentence Structure: Sentence Types
Feb 23, 2016
Sentence Structure:Sentence Types
A Sentence...
• MUST have a subject and a verb (predicate)
• MUST have a complete thoughtAlso...• Begins with a capital letter• Ends with punctuation
Sentence Types
• Simple• Compound• Complex• Compound-Complex
Basic Elements of Every Sentence
SUBJECT PREDICATE
Basic Elements
Mary plays tennis.
SUBJECT PREDICATE
Simple Sentence
Types of Sentence StructureSimple sentence = ONE independent clauseMay have a compound subject or compound verb, but still only one main clause and no dependent clauses; may have phrases included, but still only one independent, main clause Examples:Brian ran down the field.(1 subject and 1 verb) Hope and Kelsie talked and laughed all night.(compound subject and compound verb)
Simple Sentence
We went to San Juan yesterday.
Observe how a simple sentence is constructed:
Simple Sentence
We went to San Juan .
Pronoun Verb
Simple subject Complete predicate
Prepositional phrase
SIMPLE SENTENCE
Mary plays tennis.
SUBJECT PREDICATE
one subject one predicate
Simple Sentence
play tennis.Tom and Mary
Compound Subject
&
Simple Sentence
play tennis and swim.Tom and Mary
Compound Subject Compound Predicate
& &
SIMPLE SENTENCEwith compound subject
Tom and Mary play tennis.
SIMPLE SENTENCEwith compound subject
andcompound predicate
Tom and Mary play tennis and swim.
Compound Sentence
Types of Sentence StructureCompound Sentence - = A compound sentence has 2 or more parts that can stand alone (independent clauses)
Can be joined by a comma and a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS), CONJUNCTIVE ADVERBS or by a semicolon Examples:Hannah likes to read, but she likes to watch movies, too. Hunter wants to play baseball, or he might go out for golf, but he will always play football. Ryan plays the trumpet well; he practices every day of the week.
Compound Sentence
We went to San Juan, and
most of us danced all night.
Compound Sentence
We went to San Juan,
and most of us danced all night .
Subject Verb
CoordinatingConjunction
Predicate
Verb
Prepositional phrase
Modifying phraseSubject
Compound Sentence
Use of Coordinating Conjunctions
SUBJECT PREDICATE
SUBJECT PREDICATE
and
Compound SentenceTom swims,
Mary plays tennis.
and
COMPOUND SENTENCE:COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
FORANDNORBUTORYETSO
Tom swims, and Mary plays tennis.
Clause 1 Clause 2
Independent Independent
COMPOUND SENTENCE:COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
Tom swims, and Mary plays tennis.
Comma before “and” in compound
sentences!
COMPOUND SENTENCE:COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
COMPOUND SENTENCE:CONJUNCTIVE ADVERBS
MOREOVERHOWEVEROTHERWISETHEREFORE
Bob is handsome; moreover, he is rich.
Clause 1 Clause 2
Independent Independent
COMPOUND SENTENCE:CONJUNCTIVE ADVERBS
Note: Semicolon before conjunctiveadverb and comma
after conjunctive adverb!
Bob is handsome; moreover, he is rich.
COMPOUND SENTENCE:CONJUNCTIVE ADVERBS
Conjunctive Adverbs “float”
• Conjunctive adverbs are sometimes called “floating” adverbs because they can be positioned at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a clause.
CONJUNCTIVE ADVERB:AT THE BEGINNING, IN THE MIDDLE,AT THE END
Bob is handsome; moreover, he is rich.Bob is handsome; he is, moreover, rich. Bob is handsome; he is rich, moreover.
Semicolons
• “If the relation between the ideas expressed in the main clauses is very close and obvious without a conjunction, you can separate the clauses with a semicolon” (Little, Brown Handbook, 9th Edition, p. 361).
COMPOUND SENTENCE:SEMICOLON
Tom has benefited from his exercise program; he is slim and energetic.
Sentence Structure Practice:Identify these sentences as Simple or Compound.
1. You and I need piano lessons.2. I planned to go to the hockey game, but I couldn’t get tickets.3. Bridget ran the first part of the race, and Tara biked the second part.4. The bell rang.5. Dorothy likes white water rafting, but she also enjoys kayaking.6. The skier turned and jumped.7. Ella hoped to win the contest and get a prize.8. Jonathan saw the opportunity, and he drew back the bow.9. Jack and Dustin scored well on the test in their math classes.10. Kelly bought some new shoes, and she wore them to a party.11. My horse loves to run and buck in the sunshine.12. Kevin wanted to stay home, so Sandy went shopping.13. Alicia goes to the library and studies every day.14. John and Mark played football and baseball in high school.15. Kim decided she did want to go on the trip, yet she still had to raise the money
to go.
Answers 1. Simple2. Compound3. Compound4. Simple5. Compound 6. Simple 7. Simple8. Compound9. Simple10. Compound11. Simple12. Compound13. Simple14. Simple15. Compound
THE END…FOR NOW…
Complex Sentence
Complex Sentence = 1 independent clause and 1 or more dependent clauses
• A complex sentence has at least two parts: one that can stand alone and another one that cannot
• The part that cannot stand alone is linked to the rest of the sentence by a subordinating conjunction
Complex Sentence
• Examples:• When it started to snow, the children
all cheered. • I will grade all of the tests after I
finish my lunch.
• Before he started playing in the band, Josh wondered what he would do with all of his spare time.
Complex Sentence
Since my boyfriend and I wanted to have
fun, we went to San Juan yesterday.
Complex Sentence
Since we wanted to have fun,
we went to San Juan yesterday.
PredicateSubject
SubordinatingConjunction
Part that cannot stand alone
Complex Sentence
SUBJECT PREDICATE
SUBJECT PREDICATE
even though
Complex Sentence
Bob is popular
he is ugly.
even though
COMPLEX SENTENCE:SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
The most common subordinating conjunctions are "after," "although," "as," "because," "before," "how,"
"if," "once," "since," "than," "that," though," "till," "until,"
"when," "where," "whether,” and while."
Bob is popular even though he is ugly.
Clause 1 Clause 2Independent Dependent
COMPLEX SENTENCE:SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
Even though Bob is ugly, he is popular.
Clause 1 Clause 2
Dependent Independent
COMPLEX SENTENCE:SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
Compound-Complex Sentence
Compound-Complex Sentences = at least 2 independent clauses (compound) and at least 1 dependent clause (complex)
Examples:• When I realized I was wrong, I
apologized, but I still felt bad about it.
• Katie wanted a new puppy, and she asked her mom after she had cleaned her room thoroughly.
• This type of sentence has more than one part that can stand alone, and at least one that cannot.
• Conjunctions link the different parts of this sentence.
Compound-Complex Sentence
Compound-Complex Sentence
Since we wanted to have fun,my boyfriend and I went to San Juan yesterday,and we danced all night.
Since we wanted to have fun,
my boyfriend and I went to San Juan,
and we danced all night.
Subject Predicate
SubordinatingConjunction
CoordinatingConjunction
Part that cannot stand alone
Compound-Complex Sentence
Compound-Complex Sentence
Mike is popular
he is good looking,
because
he is not very happy.
but
1. Michael always dresses nicely for school because he likes to be neat.2. He stands at the bottom of the cliff while the climber moves up the
rock.3. Since he studied hard, Nate passed the test, and he graduated with
honors.4. Because Kayla has so much climbing experience, we asked her to lead
our group.5. I must stay home until the man comes to repair the washing machine.6. There are many problems to solve before this program can be used,
but engineers believe that they will be able to solve them soon.7. I wrote Jane a letter while she was away at camp.8. When the rain began, we were playing tennis.9. When Tyler looks out his window, he sees the beautiful day waiting,
and he longs to be outside playing.10. In the late afternoon sunshine, Paige looked beautiful on her horse.
Sentence Structure Practice:Identify these sentences as Complex (CX) or Compound-Complex
(CD-CX).
Answers1. Complex2. Complex3. Compound-complex4. Complex5. Complex6. Compound-complex7. Complex8. Complex9. Compound-complex10.Complex
The Four Sentence Structures
SENTENCE STRUCTURE
INDEPENDENT CLAUSES
DEPENDENT CLAUSES
Simple 1 0
Compound 2 or more 0
Complex 1 1 or more
Compound-Complex 2 or more 1 or more
The End