1. Basic Sentence Punctuation
                                           
Basic Sentence Punctuation

2. Types of Sentences Simple: one independent clause
Compound: two or more independent clauses
Complex: one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses
Compound-complex: two or more independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses

3. Types of Clauses
A clause contains a subject and a predicate (verb+other elements)
Independent clause: a complete thought
Jack and Jill went up the hill.
Jack fell down and broke his crown.
Dependent clause: an unfinished thought
Subordinate conjunction: When Jack fell down
Relative pronoun: that Jack went up

4. Simple Sentence: one independent clause
                                           
Declarative sentence:
Jack and Jill went up the hill.
Jack fell down and broke his crown.
Interrogative sentence:
Who went up the hill?
Exclamatory sentence:
Jill came tumbling after!

5. Compound sentences – two or more independent clauses
                                           
Connected with a co-ordinate conjunction – and, or, nor, but, yet, so, for:
Jack fell down and Jill came tumbling after.
No co-ordinate conjunction:
Jack fell down Jill came tumbling after. , ;

6. Compound Sentence Punctuation Errors
Run-on (ro) sentence: independent clauses connected with a coordinate conjunction but no comma:
Jack fell down and Jill came tumbling after.
Fused (fused) sentence: independent clauses bumping into each other:
Jack fell down Jill came tumbling after.
Comma splice (cs): use of a comma where a semi-colon is needed
Jack fell down, Jill came tumbling after.

7. Complex sentence – one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses
Independent followed by dependent:
Jack broke his crown when he fell down.
Dependent followed by independent:
When Jack fell down he broke his crown.
Dependent inserted into independent:
Jack who fell down the hill broke his crown. , , ,

8. Compound-complex sentence – two or more independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses
                                            ,
When Jack fell down he broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after. ,

9. Simple Rules Independent, and independent. Independent; independent.
                                           
Independent, and independent.
Independent; independent.
Dependent, independent.
Independent dependent.
Cartoon by Bob Staake