1. Simple, Compound, & Complex Sentences
THE 3 SENTENCE TYPES
Simple, Compound, & Complex Sentences
Created 2015 by Cindy Leibel

2. Look at the sentences. what is a compound sentence
Look at the sentences. what is a compound sentence? What is a simple sentence?
SIMPLE
COMPOUND
I love to eat.
I love to eat, and she loves to relax.
We have cows and horses.
We have cows, but we don’t have horses.
John studies math.
John studies math, and I do, too.
Mizuho and Tyler eat meat and vegetables.
Mizuho eats meat, and Tyler eats vegetables.

3. SIMPLE SENTENCES

4. TELL your partner: WHAT IS A CONJUNCTION? WHAT IS A SUBJECT?
WHAT IS A VERB?
WHAT IS A PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE?

5. SIMPLE SENTENCES A simple sentence involves one S/V pair, or a clause.
This could be S and S V
S V and V
S and S V and V
Nadia talks.
Nadia and Danielle talk.
Nadia talks and walks.
Nadia and Danielle talk, eat, and walk.

6. COMPOUND SENTENCES

7. COMPOUND SENTENCES A compound sentence involves 2 or more S/V pairs.
John ran, but Joe stayed.
You can watch, or you can help me.
I hate it, but he’s right.

8. COMPOUND SENTENCES We use FANBOYS with simple and compound sentences!
For
And
Nor
But Or
Yet So

9. COMPOUND SENTENCES You can use more than one CC in a sentence!
I talked to my friend, and he was very excited about your idea, but he’s very worried about your reputation.

10. COMPOUND SENTENCES
AVOID starting a sentence with FANBOYS in formal writing!
It’s very common in speech and informal writing, but is often seen as lazy for academic writing.
I saw my mother. And I left home.
AAAAAAAAAAARRRRGHHH!!!

11. COMPOUND SENTENCES We don’t like to repeat the same word in English!
We just take away the extra words if the meaning is clear!
Are the new sentences simple or compound?
John ran, and John jumped.
John ran and jumped.
People laugh, and people cry.
People laugh and cry.
I ate a cake, and I ate a pie.
I ate a cake and a pie.

12. PRACTICE TIME! Combine A + B. A B Combined 1 I run. Nadia runs. 2
It’s cold outside.
We have numb fingers. 3
You can stay.
Or, you can go. 4
I want to watch.
But, it’s scary. 5
I’m hungry.
So, I’m eating food.

13. PRACTICE TIME! Combine A + B. A B Combined 1 I run. Nadia runs. 2
Nadia and I run. 2
It’s cold outside.
We have numb fingers.
It’s cold outside, and we have numb fingers. 3
You can stay.
Or, you can go.
You can stay or go. 4
I want to watch.
But, it’s scary.
I want to watch, but it’s scary. 5
I’m hungry.
So, I’m eating food.
I’m hungry, so I’m eating food.
PRACTICE TIME!

14. Look at the sentences. what is a compound sentence
Look at the sentences. what is a compound sentence? What is a simple sentence?
SIMPLE
COMPOUND
I love to eat.
I love to eat, and she loves to relax.
We have cows and horses.
We have cows, but we don’t have horses.
John studies math.
John studies math, and I do, too.
Mizuho and Tyler eat meat and vegetables.
Mizuho eats meat, and Tyler eats vegetables.

15. COMPLEX SENTENCES

16. Look at the sentences. what is a compound sentence
Look at the sentences. what is a compound sentence? What is a COMPLEX sentence?
COMPOUND
COMPLEX
I love to eat, and she loves to relax.
If you eat, you will relax.
We have cows, but we don’t have horses.
We have cows when we don’t have horses.
John studies math, and I do, too.
After John studies math, I will study.
Mizuho eats meat, and Tyler eats vegetables.
You should study English before you visit.

17. COMPLEX SENTENCES
Complex sentences follow different rules than compound sentences.
They are more difficult. They are more complex.

18. COMPLEX SENTENCES- COMMAS
We use subordinating conjunctions with complex sentences.
Sometimes we use commas, sometimes we don’t.
Can you guess when we use the commas?
If I go there, she’ll be angry. She’ll be angry if I go there. When you come, he’ll leave. He’ll leave when you come.

19. COMPLEX SENTENCES- COMMAS
We use subordinating conjunctions with complex sentences.
We call them SC for short!

20. COMPLEX SENTENCES- COMMAS
after
because
before if
since
until
when
while
There are MANY SC’s in English!
Here are some common SC’s, but there are many more!

21. COMPLEX SENTENCES
Next, let’s talk about DEPENDENT and INDEPENDENT clauses!

22. COMPLEX SENTENCES
As a student, if you are INDEPENDENT, you can do many adult things by yourself. You can do laundry, buy groceries, and pay rent.
If you are DEPENDENT, adults or friends do these things for you because you don’t know how, or you are afraid!
INDEPENDENT
DEPENDENT

23. COMPLEX SENTENCES When you study, you will do well.
You will do well when you study.
Dependent clause (DC)
Independent Clause (IC)

24. COMPLEX SENTENCES IC
Dependent clause = DC
Independent clause = IC DC

25. COMPLEX SENTENCES
If a clause starts with an SC, it’s DEPENDENT. It doesn’t want to be alone.
This clause is DEPENDENT on another, stronger, clause, the INDEPENDENT clause.
When she leaves, I cry.
She leaves when I cry.

26. COMPLEX SENTENCES An INDEPENDENT clause is very strong.
It does not need help going shopping, and it can stand in a sentence by itself.
I’ll buy you cake. = 
I’ll come to the store with you. =

27. COMPLEX SENTENCES A DEPENDENT clause gets sad when it is alone.
It doesn’t know how to do anything that adult sentences do, so it always needs an adult sentence.
When she leaves. = 
If you go. = 
When she leaves, I’ll buy you cake. = 
If you go, I’ll come to the store with you. =

28. COMPLEX SENTENCES When the DC is at the BEGINNING, we use a comma!
When the DC is at the END, we don’t use a comma!
If I go there, she’ll be angry. She’ll be angry if I go there. When you come, he’ll leave. He’ll leave when you come.

29. Look at the sentences. what is a compound sentence
Look at the sentences. what is a compound sentence? What is a COMPLEX sentence?
COMPOUND
COMPLEX
I love to eat, and she loves to relax.
If you eat, you will relax.
We have cows, but we don’t have horses.
We have cows when we don’t have horses.
John studies math, and I do, too.
After John studies math, I will study.
Mizuho eats meat, and Tyler eats vegetables.
You should study English before you visit.

30. TIME CLAUSES

31. TIME CLAUSES – PRESENT AND FUTUREDC IC
PRESENT
FUTURE or MODALS
After she buys a car,
I’m going to be excited!
When my friend leaves,
we can buy her a cake.
Before I leave Canada,
I’m going to kiss a boy.
If you cheat,
you’ll get in trouble.

32. TIME CLAUSES – PAST AND PASTDC IC
SIMPLE PAST
After she bought the car,
she drove to Calgary.
When my friend left,
I went to bed.
Before I left my home town,
I hugged my parents.
If I cheated,
my teacher called my parents
“If” is hard to use in the past!

33. TIME CLAUSES – PRESENT AND PRESENT/IMPERATIVEDC IC
PRESENT
After I come to class,
I take out my binder. (habit)
When my teacher comes,
I ask her questions. (habit)
Before you leave Canada,
take me to a bar. (order)
If you visit T&T,
bring me some snacks! (order)

34. the 3 sentence types SIMPLE SENTENCES I run and jump with my friend.
One clause, sometimes with a CC.
COMPOUND SENTENCES
I run, and my friend jumps.
Two independent clauses with a CC.
COMPLEX SENTENCES
If I run, my friend will jump.
One independent clause.
On dependent clause with an SC.

35. RUN-ONS and FRAGments

36. Look at the sentences. what is a RUN-ON?
GOOD
BAD – RUN-ON
I study, but you don’t.
I study, you don’t.
We eat cake. We also eat pie.
We eat cake, we also eat pie.
I love dogs, but I hate cats.
I love dogs, I hate cats.
We eat lots of food. We eat healthy food.
We eat lots of food, we eat healthy food.

37. IC, IC Run-ONS A RUN-ON is when you connect two IC with a comma only.
This is very easy to do, but it is also very incorrect!

38. R-O Run-ONS EXAMPLES: People come here, they have fun.
We’re walking, I don’t know what to do.
When I find one, I’ll mark it like this:

39. Look at the sentences. what is a FRAGMENT?
GOOD
BAD – FRAGMENT
If you’re healthy, you’ll do well.
If you’re healthy. You’ll do well.
I have many friends, especially in China.
I have many friends. Especially in China.
He’s sick, because he eats poorly.
He’s sick. Because he eats poorly.
There are many types of fruit, such as apples and bananas.
There are many types of fruit. Such as apples and bananas.

40. Sentence fragments
DC.
A SENTENCE FRAGMENT is when you leave a poor DC with no friends. 
It’s also when you leave a PP (prepositional phrase) or any type of noun phrase with no friends.

41. Frag Sentence fragments EXAMPLES: I know. People in China.
Which is bad.
For example, dogs.
When I find one, I’ll mark it like this:
Frag

42. Questions answered in this presentation
Review: What is a clause? What is a compound sentence? What are FANBOYS?
What shouldn’t we do with FANBOYS?
What are the 3 sentence types?
What type of conjunction do we use with complex sentences?
What is the difference between a dependent and independent clause?
What tenses do we use with complex sentences?
What’s a sentence fragment? What’s a run-on?