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Sentences: Simple, Compound, and Complex

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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 sentences 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. A. Some students like to study in the mornings. B. Juan and Arturo play football every afternoon. C. Alicia goes to the library and studies every day. The three examples above are all simple sentences. Note that sentence B contains a compound subject, and sentence C contains a compound verb. Simple sentences, therefore, contain a subject and verb and express a complete thought, but they can also contain a compound subjects or verbs. COMPOUND SENTENCE A compound sentence contains two independent clauses joined by a coordinator.

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Why is it important to know whether a sentence is simple, compound, or complex?


I believe a writer must know how to define simple, compound, and complex sentences before using them consciously. To me, that's so obvious it hardly needs stating. Once a writer knows how to write a simple sentence, it is possible to apply strict mechanical "rules" for writing both compound and complex sentences. And with just these three sentence types, it is possible to write good essays, with good sentence variety, perfectly acceptable for academic work. The explanations to the left are followed by "sentence identification" quizzes. Review the results between quizzes so you completely understand the use of coordinators and subordinators and punctuation in compound and complex sentences.

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. A. I tried to speak Spanish, and my friend tried to speak English. B. Alejandro played football, so Maria went shopping. C. Alejandro played football, for Maria went 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 relationship between the clauses. Sentences B and C, for example, are identical except for the coordinators. In sentence B, which action occurred first? Obviously, "Alejandro played football" first, and as a consequence, "Maria went shopping. In sentence C, "Maria went shopping" first. In sentence C, "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 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 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. A. When he handed in his homework, he forgot to give the teacher the last page. B. The teacher returned the homework after she noticed the error. C. The students are studying because they have a test tomorrow. D. After they finished studying, Juan and Maria went to the movies. E. Juan and Maria went to the movies after they finished studying. When a complex sentence begins with a subordinator such as sentences A and D, 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 B, C, and E, no comma is required. If a comma is placed before the subordinators in sentences B, C, and E, it is wrong. Note that sentences D and E are the same except sentence D begins with the dependent clause which is followed by a comma, and sentence E begins with the independent clause which contains no comma. The comma after the dependent clause in sentence D is required, and experienced listeners of English will often hear a slight pause there. In sentence E, 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.

A. The woman who called my mom sells cosmetics. B. The book that Jonathan read is on the shelf. C. The house which Abraham Lincoln was born in is still standing. D. The town where 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. CONCLUSION Are sure you now know the differences between simple, compound, and complex sentences? Click QUICK QUIZ to find out. This quiz is just six sentences. The key is to look for the subjects and verbs first. Another quiz, this one about Helen Keller contains ten sentences. These quiz sentences based on the short story, The Americanization of Shadrach Cohen, by Bruno Lessing. Quick Quiz: Shadrach After each quiz, click GRADE QUIZ to see your score immediately. Remember that with the skill to write good simple, compound, and complex sentences, you will have the flexibility to (1) convey your ideas precisely and (2) entertain with sentence variety at the same time! Good luck with these exercises!

Download FREE worksheet to help identify simple, compound, and complex sentences: Transitions and Connectors HOME

Simple sentence
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A simple sentence is a sentence structure that contains one independent clause and no dependent clauses.
Contents
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1 Examples 2 See also 3 References 4 External links

Examples[edit]
I am running. This simple sentence has one independent clause which contains one subject, I, and one predicate, running. The singer bowed. This simple sentence has one independent clause which contains one subject, singer, and one predicate, bowed. The babies cried. This simple sentence has one independent clause which contains one subject, baby, and one predicate, cried. The girl ran into her bedroom. This simple sentence has one independent clause which contains one subject, girl, and one predicate, ran into her bedroom. This example is distinct from the previous three in that its verb phrase consists of more than one word. In the backyard, the dog barked and howled at the cat. This simple sentence has one independent clause which contains one subject, dog, and one predicate, barked and howled at the cat. This predicate has two verbs, known as a compound predicate: barked and howled. This compound verb should not be confused with a compound sentence. In the backyard and at the cat are prepositional phrases.

Simple sentences
There are three main types of sentences. The first of these is called a simple sentence.

A simple sentence has one independent clause and expresses one idea.

Example

A simple sentence must have one subject - verb combination but the subject may be compound, ie have more than one element.

Example

A simple sentence can also have a compound verb construction.

Example

Simple sentences can only have only one subject-verb combination and commas are not used. Below are some examples of the different combinations that you might find in simple sentences. Examples

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Definition: A sentence with only one independent clause (also known as amain clause). The simple sentence is one of the four basic sentence structures. The other structures are the compound sentence, the complex sentence, and the compound-complex sentence.

See also:

Exercise in Identifying Sentences by Structure Kernel Sentence Segregating Style Simple and Compound Sentences in Gilbert Highet's "Diogenes"

Examples:

"Children are all foreigners." (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

"Mother died today." (Albert Camus, The Stranger, 1942)

"Of course, no man is entirely in his right mind at any time." (Mark Twain, The Mysterious Stranger)

"Early to rise and early to bed makes a male healthy and wealthy and dead." (James Thurber)

"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismograph." (Ken Kesey)

"Expect nothing. Live frugally on surprise." (Alice Walker)

"I was wearing my powder-blue suit, with dark blue shirt, tie and display handkerchief, black brogues, black wool socks with dark blue clocks on them." (Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, 1939)

"They shot the six cabinet ministers at half-past six in the morning against the wall of a hospital. There were pools of water in the courtyard. There were wet dead leaves on the paving of the courtyard. It rained hard. All the shutters of the hospital were nailed shut. One of the ministers was sick with typhoid. Two soldiers carried him downstairs and out into the rain." (Ernest Hemingway, Chapter Five of In Our Time. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925)

"Lord Emsworth adjusted his pince-nez and sought inspiration from the wall-paper." (P.G. Wodehouse, Something Fresh, 1915)

"Atheism is a non-prophet organization." (George Carlin)

Observations:

"With regard to simple sentences, it ought to be observed first, that there are degrees in simplicity. 'God made man,' is a very simple sentence. 'On the sixth day God made man of the dust of the earth after his own image,' is still a simple sentence in the sense of rhetoricians and critics, as it hath but one verb, but less simple than the former, on account of the circumstances specified." (George Campbell, The Philosophy of Rhetoric, 1776)

"A sentence is classified simple even when it has a compound subject or predicate (or both) and includes modifying words and phrases: You and your friends can see the mountain on your next trip. You can see the mountain and climb to the top. (R. DiYanni and P. C. Hoy II, Scribner Handbook for Writers. Allyn and Bacon, 2001)

"The syntactically most straightforward sentences have the form of a single clause . . . CLAUSAL SENTENCES (having the form of a clause) a. Kim is an actor. b. Pat is a teacher. c. Sam is an architect.

In traditional grammar [these] examples are called 'simple sentences,' but we don't use this term; it covers only a subset of what we call clausal sentences." (R. Huddleston and G. K. Pullum, A Student's Introduction to English Grammar. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2006) Also Known As: clausal sentence Related Terms . Simple Sentences A simple sentence has the most basic elements that make it a sentence: a subject, a verb, and a completed thought. Examples of simple sentences include the following: 1. Joe waited for the train. "Joe" = subject, "waited" = verb 2. The train was late. "The train" = subject, "was" = verb 3. Mary and Samantha took the bus. "Mary and Samantha" = compound subject, "took" = verb 4. I looked for Mary and Samantha at the bus station. "I" = subject, "looked" = verb 5. Mary and Samantha arrived at the bus station before noon and left on the bus before I arrived. "Mary and Samantha" = compound subject, "arrived" and "left" = compound verb

Tip: If you use many simple sentences in an essay, you should consider revising some of the sentences into compound or complex sentences (explained below).

The use of compound subjects, compound verbs, prepositional phrases (such as "at the bus station"), and other elements help lengthen simple sentences, but simple sentences often are short. The use of too many simple sentences can make writing "choppy" and can prevent the writing from flowing smoothly. A simple sentence can also be referred to as an independent clause. It is referred to as "independent" because, while it might be part of a compound or complex sentence, it can also stand by itself as a complete sentence.

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