Sentence Structure: Sentence Types

Sentence Types
Simple
Compound
Complex
Compound-Complex

Basic Elements of Every Sentence
SUBJECT
PREDICATE

Basic Elements
Mary
plays tennis.
SUBJECT
PREDICATE

Simple Sentence

Simple Sentence
A simple sentence has one subject and one predicate.

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 SENTENCE
with compound subject
Tom and Mary play tennis.

SIMPLE SENTENCE
with compound subject
and
compound predicate
Tom and Mary play tennis and swim.

Compound Sentence

Compound Sentence
A compound sentence has more than one part that can stand alone (independent clauses).
Independent clauses are connected by coordinating conjunctions, conjunctive adverbs or a semi-colon.

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
Coordinating
Conjunction
Predicate
Verb
Prepositional phrase
Modifying phrase
Subject

Compound Sentence
Use of Coordinating Conjunctions
SUBJECT
PREDICATE
SUBJECT
PREDICATE
and

Compound Sentence
Tom
swims,
Mary
plays tennis.
and

COMPOUND SENTENCE:
COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
FOR
AND
NOR
BUT
OR
YET
SO

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
MOREOVER
HOWEVER
OTHERWISE
THEREFORE

Bob is handsome; moreover, he is rich.
Clause 1 Clause 2
Independent Independent
COMPOUND SENTENCE:
CONJUNCTIVE ADVERBS

Note: Semicolon
before conjunctive
adverb 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.

Complex Sentence

Complex Sentence
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
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.
Predicate
Subject
Subordinating
Conjunction
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 2
Independent 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

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
Subordinating
Conjunction
Coordinating
Conjunction
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

Exercises
Say if the following sentences are:
Simple, compound, complex or compound-complex.

The bell rang.
Bridget ran the first part of the race, and Tara biked the second part.
He stands at the bottom of the cliff while the climber moves up the rock.
The skier turned and jumped.
Naoki passed the test because he studied hard and understood the material.

Answers
Simple
Compound
Complex
Simple
Compound-complex

Because Kayla has so much climbing experience , we asked her to lead our group.
You and I need piano lessons.
I planned to go to the hockey game, but I couldn’t get tickets.
Dorothy likes white water rafting, but she also enjoys kayaking.
There are many problems to solve before this program can be used, but engineers believe that they will be able to solve them soon.

Answers
Complex
Simple
Compound
Compound
Compound-complex