Basic Building Blocks: Clauses and Phrases Sentences Basic Building Blocks: Clauses and Phrases

Clause or Phrase? before I went to college both Alexander and his younger sister Lisa went to college in the U.S. before school because they wanted to learn English because of the rain in the morning they worked part-time there are several ways working late into the night

Clauses groups of words that contain both a subject and a verb. EXAMPLES: before I went to college because they wanted to learn English they worked part-time there are several ways

Phrases groups of words that may have either a subject or a verb—but not both. Examples: both Alexander and his younger sister Lisa went to college in the U.S. because of the rain in the morning

Combining Clauses & Phrases Both Alexander and his younger sister went to college in the U.S. because they wanted to learn English. They worked part-time in the mornings, and they took classes in the afternoons.

Two Kinds of Clauses: Independent and Dependent Independent Clauses - can stand alone / make sense on their own - start with capital letters and end with periods Dependent Clauses - cannot stand alone / do not make sense alone - must be connected to independent clauses - often have subordinators

Independent Clauses EXAMPLES: They went to college in the U.S. He’ll join us at the party.

Dependent Clauses EXAMPLES: because they wanted to learn English after he gets off work

Combining Clauses They went to college in the U.S. because they wanted to study English. Independent clause: they went to college in the U.S. Dependent clause: because they wanted to study English He’ll join us at the party after he gets off work. Independent clause: he’ll join us at the party Dependent clause: after he gets off work

Four Basic Sentence Types Simple Compound Complex Compound-Complex

SIMPLE SENTENCES (independent clauses) S+V acomplete idea S+S +V+V acomplete idea It is raining right now. I couldn’t understand the homework. Marta and Yoshiko went to college and traveled in the U.S.

(two independent clauses joined together) COMPOUND SENTENCES (two independent clauses joined together) S+V acomplete idea, conjunction S+V acomplete idea The movie was boring, but we watched it anyway. It was raining, so her children played inside. They worked part-time in the mornings, and they took classes in the afternoons.

Conjunctions (FANBOYS) IC + , + conjunction + IC for (reason) and (alike) nor (not this or that) but (opposite, contrast) or (choice, alternative) yet (opposite, contrast) so (result)

Conjunctive Adverbs IC + ; + conjunctive adverb + , + IC however therefore The movie was boring; however, we watched it anyway. It was raining; therefore, her children played inside.

COMPLEX SENTENCES (one independent clause and one dependent clause together) S+V acomplete idea subordinator S+V acomplete idea Subordinator S+V acomplete idea, S+V acomplete idea They went to college in the U.S. because they wanted to study English. After it stopped raining, they went outside to play soccer.

COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCES (at least 2 independent clauses and 1 dependent clause together) They wanted to travel after they graduated from college, but they had to get part-time jobs instead. independent clause: they wanted to travel dependent clause: after they graduated from college independent clause: they had to get part-time jobs

Common Sentence Errors Fragments Run-ons Comma Splices

FRAGMENTS Dependent clauses that are treated as if they are sentences. (incomplete idea) INCORRECT: While I was eating breakfast. CORRECT: I watched the news while I was eating breakfast. (put an IC in front of the fragment) CORRECT: While I was eating breakfast, my boyfriend called. (add an IC after the fragment)

RUN-ONS Two independent clauses written as one sentence without proper punctuation between the two ICs. INCORRECT: They didn’t play outside it was raining. CORRECT: They didn’t play outside because it was raining. (add a subordinator to create a DC) They didn’t play outside. It was raining. (put a period between the two ICs) They didn’t play outside, for it was raining. (add a comma and a conjunction (FANBOYS)

COMMA SPLICES Two independent clauses connected only by a comma. INCORRECT: They didn’t play outside, it was raining. CORRECT: They didn’t play outside, for it was raining. (add a conjunction)