Simple, Complex, & Compound Sentences Simple, complex, and compound sentences help make writing interesting. Every writer starts with simple sentences but a whole paragraph full of them soon becomes boring. One way of providing variety is to create compound sentences by linking independent clauses, or to create complex sentences with independent and dependent clauses. Knowing these ways of presenting thoughts will give you the tools to express an endless variety of information. Mini-Grammar Unit I

Dependent & Independent Clauses To distinguish between simple, complex, and compound sentences it is important to know what dependent and independent clauses are. Independent clause: Can stand on its own as a sentence. Example: Jim studied in the coffee shop for his chemistry quiz. It is a group of words that contains a subject and verb and expresses a complete thought – an indy clause is a sentence.

Dependent & Independent Clauses Cannot stand on its own as a sentence. Example: When Jim studied in the coffee shop for his chemistry quiz… (What happened when he studied? The thought is incomplete.) It is a group of words that contains a subject and verb but does not express a complete thought. It cannot be a sentence. Often a dependent clause is marked by a dependent marker word.

Dependent Marker Word Dependent Marker Word – A word added to the beginning of an independent clause that makes it into a dependent clause. Example: When Jim studied in the coffee shop for his chemistry quiz, it was very noisy. Some common dependent markers are: after, although, as ,as if, because, before, even if, even though, if, in order to, since, though, unless, until , what ever, when, whenever, whether, and while.

Dependent Marker Word Some common dependent marker words are: after, although, as, as if, because, before, even if, even though, if, in order to, since, though, unless, until, whatever, when, whenever, whether, & while These can also be referred to as subordinators, or subordinating conjunction) such as after, since, because, when, or although OR a relative pronoun such as who, that, or which.

Sentences can be simple, complex, or compound Simple Sentence – Has one independent clause Complex Sentence – Has one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses. Compound Sentence – Joins two independent clauses. Compound-Complex Sentences – Has two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause. So now that we understand a little about independent and dependent clauses, lets take a look at some sentence types.

A Simple Sentence A simple sentence has one independent clause with one or more subjects (nouns), and one or more predicates (verbs). It expresses a complete thought, for example: The dog sat. The dog and cat ate and sat. A predicate is a part of the sentence which tells us what the subject does or is. AT the heart of a predicate is a verb. In addition to the verb, it can also contain direct objects, indirect objects and various kinds of phrases.

A Compound Sentence To make a compound sentence, join two independent clauses, or sentences that could stand on their own, and split them with a comma and a conjunction (FANBOYS) or a semicolon (;) Example with a conjunction: I was too busy to play, so he went outside without me. “So” is the conjunction that joins the two independent clauses. FANBOYS = For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So Call on a student to identify the subject and verb in the sentence!!!!---- Someone give me a simple sentence. Someone give me another simple sentence.

A Compound Sentence Example with a semicolon: “The game ended; our team lost. The semicolon (;) joins the two independent clause

A Complex Sentence Has one independent clause which can stand on its own as a sentence AND one or more dependent clauses which cannot stand on their own. A complex sentence always has a subordinator, e.g. as, because, since, after, although, when OR Relative pronouns, e.g. who, that, which Remember a dependent clause either lacks a subject or a verb or has both a subject and a verb that does not express a complete thought.

A Complex Sentence Example: When I walked downstairs, I had a big surprise. Which is the independent clause and which is the dependent clause? I had a big surprise… is the independent clause because it could stand on its own. When I walked down stairs… is the dependent clause because it is not a complete sentence on its own.

A Complex Sentence Here are a couple more examples of complex sentences. Read each sentence and identify the independent and dependent clauses. 1. After the big storm, the neighbors helped pick up branches. 1. After the big storm (dependent clause), the neighbors helped pick up branches (independent clause).

A Complex Sentence 2. Because I didn’t clean my room, I wasn’t allowed to watch television. 2. Because I didn’t clean my room (dependent clause), I wasn’t allowed to watch television (independent clause).

Compound-Complex Sentences Has two independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses. Some examples: Although I like to go camping, I haven’t had the time to go lately, and I haven’t found anyone to go with. Independent clause: “I haven’t had the time to go lately” Independent clause: “I haven’t found anyone to go with” Dependent clause: “Although I like to go camping” Compound-complex sentence are very common in English, but one mistake that students often make is to try to write them without having mastered the simple, compound, and complex sentences first.