Simple sentence

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A simple sentence is a sentence structure that contains one independent clause and no dependent
clauses.
Examples
The runner jumped.
This simple sentence has one independent clause which contains one subject, runner, and one
predicate, jumped.
The singer bowed.
This simple sentence has one independent clause which contains one subject, singer, and one
predicate, bowed.
The baby 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.
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 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.
Simple Sentences: Subject and Predicate
Think of baby sentences:
Johnny hungry. Cat run.
English sentences are composed of a topic and something said about that topic, commonly referred to as
the subject and predicate.
SENTENCE = SUBJECT + PREDICATE
The subject and predicate are often described as a topic and a comment, what is being talked about (the
subject) and what is being said about it (the predicate). Each of these elements is characterized by a
combination of three elements or perspectives:
a position or slot within a sentence
a certain form or type of grammatical construction
a certain meaning
Thus the subject of a sentence typically
occurs at the beginning of the sentence (position),
consists of a noun phrase (form), and
indicates the topic of the discussion (meaning).
The predicate
follows the subject,
starts with a verb indicating an action or state of being, and
conveys a thought about the subject.
The surest test of the complete subject in a sentence is to turn a statement into a yes/no question.
All men are created equal.
Make a yes/no question
Are all men created equal.
The subject ( all men ) is the part around which the initial question word ( are ) moves.
Are All men are created equal.
________
With some sentences you have to make the verb emphatic to form a questionfor example, change ran
into did run to pick up the part of the verb that moves forward to make the question.
He ran to the store.
He did run to the store.
Did he run to the store?.
Here the verb did moves around the subject He.
A subject and predicate, together, form a simple sentence. As used here, the term "simple" refers to
the basic structure of a sentence. Simple sentences can be short or long, and can express simple or
complex thoughts and may contain complex constructions, but the basic structure of the sentence is
simple. Here are two simple sentences:
John ate spaghetti.
The boy from Conosha with the funny earring in his left ear devoured a dish of delicious Italian pasta a la
Milanese.
These two sentences have the same structure:
John
ate
spaghetti.
The boy from Conosha with the funny earring in his left ear
devoured
a dish of delicious Italian pasta a la Milanese.
Both are simple sentences from a structural point of view. They both consist of a subject and a
predicate indicating what the subject did. They are both composed of two noun phrases and a verb.
They both can be reduced with pronouns to
He ate it.
Note that length alone does not determine structure, although it is often a factor. We are concerned with
the complexity of structure, not length.
Finally, besides the pronoun test, another test of a simple sentence is that we generally cannot leave any
portion of the original sentence out without significantly changing the meaning.
Any discussion composed only of simple sentences would seem childish in expression. While simple
sentences are useful for emphasis or clarity, as when summing up an argument, simple sentences alone
do not allow for expressing complex thoughts. They are not conducive to asserting relationships or
qualifying thoughts. To develop a sentence further we have to add stuff. This can be done in one of two
ways:
we can simply multiply the elements that are there, or
we can add additional elements.
The first instance produces what is known as compound sentences, the second complexsentences.
Complex is the more general term. It suggests a degree of additional structure beyond a simple
sentence. Compound refers to a specific and limited type of complexity.