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EnglishComposition1
Sentences:Simple,Compound,andComplex
Acommonweaknessinwritingisthelackofvariedsentences.Becomingawareofthreegeneraltypes
ofsentencessimple,compound,andcomplexcanhelpyouvarythesentencesinyourwriting.
Themosteffectivewritingusesavarietyofthesentencetypesexplainedbelow.

1.SimpleSentences
Asimplesentencehasthemostbasicelementsthatmakeitasentence:asubject,averb,anda
completedthought.
Examplesofsimplesentencesincludethefollowing:
1. Joewaitedforthetrain.
"Joe"=subject,"waited"=verb

2. Thetrainwaslate.
"Thetrain"=subject,"was"=verb

3. MaryandSamanthatookthebus.
"MaryandSamantha"=compoundsubject,"took"=verb

4. IlookedforMaryandSamanthaatthebusstation.
"I"=subject,"looked"=verb

5. MaryandSamanthaarrivedatthebusstationearlybutwaiteduntilnoonforthebus.
"MaryandSamantha"=compoundsubject,"arrived"and"waited"=compoundverb

Theuseofcompoundsubjects,compoundverbs,prepositional
phrases(suchas"atthebusstation"),andotherelementshelp
lengthensimplesentences,butsimplesentencesoftenareshort.
Theuseoftoomanysimplesentencescanmakewriting"choppy"
andcanpreventthewritingfromflowingsmoothly.

Tip:Ifyouusemanysimple
sentencesinanessay,youshould
considerrevisingsomeofthe
sentencesintocompoundor
complexsentences(explained
below).

Asimplesentencecanalsobereferredtoasanindependent
clause.Itisreferredtoas"independent"because,whileitmightbepartofacompoundorcomplex
sentence,itcanalsostandbyitselfasacompletesentence.

2.CompoundSentences
Acompoundsentencereferstoasentencemadeupoftwoindependentclauses(orcompletesentences)
connectedtooneanotherwithacoordinatingconjunction.Coordinatingconjunctionsareeasyto
rememberifyouthinkofthewords"FANBOYS":
For
And
Nor
But
Or
Yet

So
Examplesofcompoundsentencesincludethefollowing:
1. Joewaitedforthetrain,butthetrainwaslate.

2. IlookedforMaryandSamanthaatthebusstation,buttheyarrivedatthestationbeforenoonand
leftonthebusbeforeIarrived.

3. MaryandSamanthaarrivedatthebusstationbeforenoon,andtheyleftonthebusbeforeI
arrived.

4. MaryandSamanthaleftonthebusbeforeIarrived,soIdidnotseethematthebusstation.

Coordinatingconjunctionsareusefulforconnectingsentences,
Tip:Ifyourelyheavilyon
butcompoundsentencesoftenareoverused.Whilecoordinating compoundsentencesinanessay,
conjunctionscanindicatesometypeofrelationshipbetweenthe youshouldconsiderrevisingsome
twoindependentclausesinthesentence,theysometimesdonot
ofthemintocomplexsentences
indicatemuchofarelationship.Theword"and,"forexample,
(explainedbelow).
onlyaddsoneindependentclausetoanother,withoutindicating
howthetwopartsofasentencearelogicallyrelated.Toomanycompoundsentencesthatuse"and"can
weakenwriting.
Clearerandmorespecificrelationshipscanbeestablishedthroughtheuseofcomplexsentences.

3.ComplexSentences
Acomplexsentenceismadeupofanindependentclauseandoneormoredependentclauses
connectedtoit.Adependentclauseissimilartoanindependentclause,orcompletesentence,butit
lacksoneoftheelementsthatwouldmakeitacompletesentence.
Examplesofdependentclausesincludethefollowing:
becauseMaryandSamanthaarrivedatthebusstationbeforenoon
whilehewaitedatthetrainstation
aftertheyleftonthebus
Dependentclausessuchasthoseabovecannotstandaloneasasentence,buttheycanbeaddedtoan
independentclausetoformacomplexsentence.
Dependentclausesbeginwithsubordinatingconjunctions.Belowaresomeofthemostcommon
subordinatingconjunctions:
after
although
as
because
before
eventhough
if
since
though
unless
until
when
whenever

whereas
wherever
while
Acomplexsentencejoinsanindependentclausewithoneormoredependentclauses.
Thedependentclausescangofirstinthesentence,followedbytheindependentclause,asinthe
following:
1. BecauseMaryandSamanthaarrivedatthebusstation
Tip:Whenthedependentclause
beforenoon,Ididnotseethematthestation.
comesfirst,acommashouldbe
2. Whilehewaitedatthetrainstation,Joerealizedthatthe
usedtoseparatethetwoclauses.
trainwaslate.
3. Aftertheyleftonthebus,MaryandSamantharealizedthatJoewaswaitingatthetrainstation.
Conversely,theindependentclausescangofirstinthesentence,followedbythedependentclause,asin
thefollowing:
1. IdidnotseethematthestationbecauseMaryand
Tip:Whentheindependentclause
Samanthaarrivedatthebusstationbeforenoon.
comesfirst,acommashouldnotbe
2. Joerealizedthatthetrainwaslatewhilehewaitedatthe
usedtoseparatethetwoclauses.
trainstation.
3. MaryandSamantharealizedthatJoewaswaitingatthetrainstationaftertheyleftonthebus.
Complexsentencesareoftenmoreeffectivethancompoundsentencesbecauseacomplexsentence
indicatesclearerandmorespecificrelationshipsbetweenthemainpartsofthesentence.Theword
"before,"forinstance,tellsreadersthatonethingoccursbeforeanother.Awordsuchas"although"
conveysamorecomplexrelationshipthanawordsuchas"and"conveys.
Thetermperiodicsentenceisusedtorefertoacomplexsentencebeginningwithadependentclause
andendingwithanindependentclause,asin"Whilehewaitedatthetrainstation,Joerealizedthatthe
trainwaslate."
Periodicsentencescanbeespeciallyeffectivebecausethecompletedthoughtoccursattheendofit,
sothefirstpartofthesentencecanbuilduptothemeaningthatcomesattheend.

BeginningSentenceswith"And"or"Because"
Shouldyoubeginasentencewith"and"or"but"(oroneoftheothercoordinatingconjunctions)?
Theshortansweris"no."Youshouldavoidbeginningasentencewith"and,""or,""but,"ortheother
coordinatingconjunctions.Thesewordsgenerallyareusedtojointogetherpartsofasentence,notto
beginanewsentence.
However,suchsentencescanbeusedeffectively.Becausesentencesbeginningwiththesewordsstand
out,theyaresometimesusedforemphasis.Ifyouusesentencesbeginningwithoneofthecoordinating
conjunctions,youshouldusethesesentencessparinglyandcarefully.
Shouldyoubeginasentencewith"because"?
Thereisnothingwrongwithbeginningasentencewith"because."
Perhapssomestudentsaretoldnottobeginasentencewith"because"toavoidsentencefragments
(somethinglike"BecauseMaryandSamanthaarrivedatthebusstationbeforenoon"isasentence
fragment),butitisperfectlyacceptabletobeginasentencewith"because"aslongasthesentenceis
complete(asin"BecauseMaryandSamanthaarrivedatthebusstationbeforenoon,Ididnotseethem
atthestation.")

ThispagewaslastupdatedonJanuary26,2015.CopyrightRandyRambo,2012.