Sentences

Sentence Structure

Sentence Types

Sentence Structure

Sentence Types

Sentence Types

•Simple
•Compound
•Complex

Basic Elements

of

Every Sentence

SUBJECT

PREDICATE

Basic Elements

Mary

playstennis.

SUBJECT

PREDICATE

SIMPLE SENTENCE

Mary

plays tennis.

SUBJECT

PREDICATE

one subject

one predicate

Simple Sentence

play tennis.

Tom and Mary

Compound Subject

&

Simple Sentence

play tennis and swim.
Tom and Mary

Compound Subject Compound Predicate

&
&

SIMPLE SENTENCE
with compound subject

Tom and Mary play tennis.

SIMPLE SENTENCE
with compound subject

and

compound predicate

Tom and Mary play tennis and swim.

Hi,

I’m Punctuation

Pete!

SIMPLE SENTENCE
with compound subject

and

compound predicate

No comma before “and”

in compound

subjects and predicates!

Tom and Mary play tennis and swim.

Multiple Select

Click on all the simple sentences.

• Eleanor is my favorite grandchild.

• Griffin and Gaines love playing video games and arguing.

• When I have all 4 grandkids, I am very tired.

• Reid plays basketball, football, baseball, and soccer.

Open Ended

Write 1 simple sentences, 1 simple sentences with a compound subject, 1 simple sentence with a compound verb, and 1 simple sentence with a compound subject and compound verb. You should have a total of 4 simple sentences.

Compound Sentence with
Coordinating Conjunctions

SUBJECT

PREDICATE

SUBJECT

PREDICATE

and

Compound Sentence

Tom

swims,

Mary

plays tennis.

and

COMPOUND SENTENCE:
COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

FOR

AND

NOR

BUT

OR

YET

SO

Tom swims, and Mary plays tennis.

COMPOUND SENTENCE:
COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

Clause 1 Clause 2

Independent Independent

COMPOUND SENTENCE:
COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

Tom swims, and Mary plays tennis.

Comma before “and”

in compound

sentences!

COMPOUND SENTENCE:

CONJUNCTIVE ADVERBS

MOREOVER

HOWEVER

OTHERWISE

THEREFORE

COMPOUND SENTENCE:

CONJUNCTIVE ADVERBS

Bob is handsome; moreover, he is rich.

Clause 1 Clause 2

Independent Independent

COMPOUND SENTENCE:

CONJUNCTIVE ADVERBS

Note: Semicolon before

conjunctive

adverb and comma after

conjunctive adverb!

Bob is handsome; moreover, he is rich.

Conjunctive Adverbs “float”

• Conjunctive adverbs are sometimes

called “floating” adverbs because they
can be positioned at the beginning, in
the middle, or at the end of a clause.

CONJUNCTIVE ADVERB:

AT THE BEGINNING

Bob is handsome; moreover, he is rich.

CONJUNCTIVE ADVERB:

IN THE MIDDLE

Bob is handsome; he is, moreover, rich.

CONJUNCTIVE ADVERB:

IN THE MIDDLE

Note: Place commas

before and

after a conjunctive adverb

in the middle!

Bob is handsome; he is, moreover, rich.

CONJUNCTIVE ADVERB:

AT THE END

Bob is handsome; he is rich, moreover.

CONJUNCTIVE ADVERB:

AT THE END

Note: Place a comma

before

a conjunctive adverb

at the end!

Bob is handsome; he is rich, moreover.

Semicolons

• “If the relation between the ideas

expressed in the main clauses is very
close and obvious without a
conjunction, you can separate the
clauses with a semicolon” (Little, Brown
Handbook, 9th Edition, p. 361).

COMPOUND SENTENCE:

SEMICOLON

Matt has benefited from his exercise

program; he is slim and energetic.

Multiple Select

Click on all the compound sentences.

• Kami is married to Jake, and Tara is married to David.

• Cate is not married yet; she is hoping to become engaged soon.

• Ernie watches football every weekend.

• We all are waiting on Pedro to ask Cate to marry him.

Open Ended

Write a compound sentence using a semi colon, and write a compound sentence using a coordinating conjunction. You should have a total of 2 sentences.

Complex Sentence

SUBJECT

PREDICATE

SUBJECT

PREDICATE

even though

Complex Sentence

Bob

is popular

he

is ugly.

even though

COMPLEX SENTENCE:

SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

EVEN THOUGH

WHEN

BECAUSE

UNLESS

WHEREAS

ADVERB CLAUSES

COMPLEX SENTENCE:

SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

Bob is popular even though he is ugly.

Clause 1 Clause 2

Independent Dependent

COMPLEX SENTENCE:

SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

Even though Bob is ugly, he is popular.

Clause 1 Clause 2

Dependent Independent

COMPLEX SENTENCE:

SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

When the MAIN clause is

first,

it is usually NOT

followed by a comma!

Bob is popular even though he is ugly.

COMPLEX SENTENCE:

SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

When the ADVERB clause

is first,

it is followed by a comma!

Even though Bob is ugly, he is popular.

Multiple Select

Click on all the complex sentences.

• I hope you all appreciate these sentences!

• Last night, I created all these sentences.

• I never can fall asleep when I go to bed.

• When Ernie's head hits the pillow, he instantly falls asleep snoring loudly.

Open Ended

Write a complex sentence with the dependent clause at the beginning, and write another complex sentence with the dependent clause at the end of the sentence.

Compound-Complex Sentence

Mike

is popular

he

is good looking,

because

he

is not very happy.

but

COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCE:

COMBINES BOTH TYPES

Punctuate each clause

according to its rules!

Mike is popular because he is good
looking, but he is not very happy.

Punctuation

Review!

No commas before “and”

in

compound subjects and

predicates!

My friends and I play tennis and go bowling
every weekend.

SIMPLE SENTENCE

Comma before

coordinating
conjunction!

Men may exercise harder, but they may not
exercise as regularly as women do.

COMPOUND SENTENCE:

Coordinating Conjunction

Semicolon before

conjunctive

adverb

Comma after conjunctive

adverb!

Native and nonnative English speakers have
different needs; however, some schools fail to
distinguish between these groups.

COMPOUND SENTENCE:

Conjunctive Adverb

Semicolon after first
independent clause--

Commas before and after

conjunctive

adverb!

Native and nonnative English speakers have
different needs; some schools, however, fail to
distinguish between these groups.

COMPOUND SENTENCE:

Conjunctive Adverb--in the middle

Semicolon after first

independent clause--

Comma before conjunctive

adverb!

Native and nonnative English speakers have
different needs; some schools fail to distinguish
between these groups, however.

COMPOUND SENTENCE:

Conjunctive Adverb at the end

When main clause is first,
it is not usually followed by a

comma!

People had continuous moderate
exercise when they had to hunt for food.

COMPLEX SENTENCE:

Adverb Clauses--Subordinating

Conjunction

When the adverb clause is

first,

it is followed by a comma!

When people had to hunt for food, they had
continuous moderate exercise.

COMPLEX SENTENCE:

Adverb Clauses--Subordinating

Conjunction

Multiple Choice

Click on all the compound complex sentences.

• Kami is the most organized in the family, and she tries to organize everyone else.

• When we all get together, we have a lot of fun playing games and visiting.

• The long ride home is the worst for me, but Ernie does all the driving.

• As soon as we get in the car, my shoes are removed, and I prepare to take a little nap.

Open Ended

Write 1 compound complex sentence.

References

Writing Academic English, Second Edition, by Alice
Oshima and Ann Hogue. White Plains: Addison, Wesley,
Longman, 1999.

The Little, Brown Handbook, by H. Ramsey Fowler and
Jane E. Aaron, Pearson, 2004.