In order for a sentence to really be a sentence it must have a subject and a verb. They contain things called clauses and independent clauses.
Clause: a unit of grammatical organization next below the sentence in rank and in traditional grammar said to consist of a subject and predicate.
Independent Clause: An independent clause (or main clause) is a clause that can stand by itself, also known as a simple sentence. An independent clause contains a subject and a predicate; it makes sense by itself.
Independent Clause: An independent clause (or main clause) is a clause that can stand by itself, also known as a simple sentence. An independent clause contains a subject and a predicate; it makes sense by itself.
Types of Sentence Structure
Simple SentencesA simple sentence only contains one independent clause.
"I drink juice" is a simple sentence because "I" is the subject and "drink" is the verb. |
Compound SentencesCompound sentences contain at least two independent clauses. These clauses are connected by a coordinating conjunction or semi-colon.
"She cooked" is an independent clause and "he cleaned" is another independent clause. Glue them together with a coordinating conjunction and you have a compound sentence. "She cooked and he cleaned." is a full compound sentence. "She cooked; he cleaned." is another example. |
Complex Sentences |
Compound - Complex Sentences |
A complex sentence contains a subordinate clause and an independent clause.
A subordinate clause is a group of words that has a subject and a verb but does not express a complete thought. "I walked the dogs," is an independent clause. "After I got home from school," is a dependent adverb clause modifying the verb "walked". "I walked the dogs after I got home from school," is a proper complex sentence. |
This contains at least two independent clauses and at least one subordinate clause.
"I would have gone to work," and "the roads were really bad," are both independent clauses. Put them together with the coordinating conjunction "but" and you have a proper compound - complex sentence. "I would have gone to work but the roads were really bad." |