Complec setences
Sentences: Simple, Compound, and Complex
Experienced writers use a variety of
sentences to make their writing interesting and lively. Too many simple
sentences, for example, will sound choppy and immature while too many long
sentences will be difficult to read and hard to understand.
This page contains definitions of
simple, compound, and complex sentences with many simple examples. The purpose
of these examples is to help the ESL/EFL learner to identify sentence basics
including identification of sentences in the short quizzes that follow. After
that, it will be possible to analyze more complex sentence varieties.
Simple Sentence
A simple sentence, also called an
independent clause, contains a subject and a verb, and it expresses a complete
thought. In the following simple sentences, subjects are in yellow, and verbs
are in green.
- Some studentslike to
study in the mornings.
- Juan and Arturoplay football
every afternoon.
- Aliciagoes to the library and studies every day.
|
The three examples above are all
simple sentences. Note that sentence 2 contains a compound subject, and
sentence 3 contains a compound verb. Simple sentences, therefore, contain a
subject and verb and express a complete thought, but they can also contain
compound subjects or verbs.
Compound Sentence
A compound sentence contains two
independent clauses joined by a coordinator. The coordinators are as follows:
for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. (Helpful hint: The first letter of each of the
coordinators spells FANBOYS.) Except for very short sentences, coordinators are
always preceded by a comma. In the following compound sentences, subjects are
in yellow, verbs are in green, and the coordinators and the commas that precede
them are in red.
- Itried to speak Spanish, and my friendtried to speak English.
- Alejandroplayed football, soMariawent shopping.
- Alejandroplayed football, forMariawent shopping.
|
The above three sentences are
compound sentences. Each sentence contains two independent clauses, and they
are joined by a coordinator with a comma preceding it. Note how the conscious
use of coordinators can change the meaningof the sentences. Sentences 2 and 3,
for example, are identical except for the coordinators. In sentence 2, which
action occurred first? Obviously, "Alejandro played football" first,
and as a consequence, "Maria went shopping." In sentence 3,
"Maria went shopping" first. In sentence 3, "Alejandro played
football" because, possibly, he didn't have anything else to do, for
or because "Maria went shopping." How can the use of other
coordinators change the relationship between the two clauses? What implications
would the use of "yet" or "but" have on the meaning of the
sentence?
Complex Sentence
A True Story
Some students believe it is possible
to identify simple, compound, and complex sentences by looking at the complexity
of the ideas in a sentence. Is the idea in the sentence simple, or is it
complex? Does one idea in a sentence make it simple? Do two ideas
make it compound? However, sentence identification does not work that way.
Please take the time to identify the
subjects and verbs in a sentence. Then identify coordinators and subordinators
when they exist. With these two steps, sentence identification not only becomes
easy, but it also provides the foundation for understanding and writing all
other kinds of more complicated sentences.
A complex sentence has an
independent clause joined by one or more dependent clauses. A complex sentence
always has a subordinator such as because, since, after, although,
or when (and many others) or a relative pronoun such as that, who,
or which. In the following complex sentences, subjects are in yellow,
verbs are in green, and the subordinators and their commas (when required) are
in red.
- Whenhehanded in his homework,heforgot to give the teacher the last page.
- The teacherreturned the
homework aftershenoticed
the error.
- The studentsare studyingbecausetheyhave a test tomorrow.
- Aftertheyfinished
studying,Juan and Mariawent to the
movies
- Juan and Mariawent to the
movies aftertheyfinished
studying.
|
When a complex sentence begins with
a subordinator such as sentences 1 and 4, a comma is required at the end of the
dependent clause. When the independent clause begins the sentence with
subordinators in the middle as in sentences 2, 3, and 5, no comma is required.
If a comma is placed before the subordinators in sentences 2, 3, and 5, it is
wrong.
Note that sentences 4 and 5 are the
same except sentence 4 begins with the dependent clause which is followed by a
comma, and sentence 5 begins with the independent clause which contains no
comma. The comma after the dependent clause in sentence 4 is required, and
experienced listeners of English will often hear a slight pause there.
In sentence 5, however, there will be no pause when the independent clause
begins the sentence.
Complex Sentences / Adjective Clauses
Finally, sentences containing
adjective clauses (or dependent clauses) are also complex because they contain
an independent clause and a dependent clause. The subjects, verbs, and
subordinators are marked the same as in the previous sentences, and in these
sentences, the independent clauses are also underlined.
- The womanwho
called my mom sells cosmetics.
- The bookthat
Jonathan read is on the shelf.
- The housewhich
Abraham Lincoln was born in is
still standing.
- The townwhere I
grew up is in the United States.
|
Adjective
Clauses are studied in this site separately, but for now it is important to
know that sentences containing adjective clauses are complex.
