Sentence Structure

Sentence Types

Sentence Structure
Sentence Types

Sentence Types
Simple
Compound
Complex

Basic Elements
of
Every Sentence

SUBJECT

PREDICATE

Basic Elements
SUBJECT

PREDICATE

Mary

playstennis.

SIMPLE SENTENCE
SUBJECT

PREDICATE

Mary

playstennis.

one subject

one predicate

Simple Sentence

TomandMary

Compound Subject
&

playtennis.

Simple Sentence
TomandMary

playtennisandswim.

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,
ImPunctuationPete!

SIMPLE SENTENCE
with compound subject
and
compound predicate

Tom and Mary play tennis and swim.

Nocommabeforeand
incompound
subjectsandpredicates!

Compound Sentence with

Coordinating Conjunctions
SUBJECT

PREDICATE
and

SUBJECT

PREDICATE

Compound Sentence
Tom

swims,

and

Mary

playstennis.

COMPOUND SENTENCE:
COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
FOR
AND
NOR
BUT
OR
YET
SO

COMPOUND SENTENCE:
COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

Tom swims, and Mary plays tennis.

Clause 1
Independent

Clause 2
Independent

COMPOUND SENTENCE:
COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

Tom swims, and Mary plays tennis.

Commabeforeand
incompound
sentences!

COMPOUND SENTENCE:
CONJUNCTIVE ADVERBS
MOREOVER
HOWEVER
OTHERWISE
THEREFORE

COMPOUND SENTENCE:
CONJUNCTIVE ADVERBS

Bob is handsome; moreover, he is rich.

Clause 1
Independent

Clause 2
Independent

COMPOUND SENTENCE:
CONJUNCTIVE ADVERBS

Bob is handsome; moreover, he is rich.

Note:Semicolonbeforeconjunctive
adverbandcommaafterconjunctiveadverb!

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

Bob is handsome; he is, moreover, rich.

Note:Placecommasbeforeand
afteraconjunctiveadverb
inthemiddle!

CONJUNCTIVE ADVERB:
AT THE END

Bob is handsome; he is rich, moreover.

CONJUNCTIVE ADVERB:
AT THE END

Bob is handsome; he is rich, moreover.

Note:Placeacommabefore
aconjunctiveadverb
attheend!

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.

Complex Sentence
SUBJECT

PREDICATE
eventhough

SUBJECT

PREDICATE

Complex Sentence
Bob

ispopular
eventhough

he

isugly.

COMPLEX SENTENCE:
SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
EVEN THOUGH
WHEN
ADVERB CLAUSES

BECAUSE
UNLESS
WHEREAS

COMPLEX SENTENCE:
SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

Bob is popular even though he is ugly.

Clause 1
Independent

Clause 2
Dependent

COMPLEX SENTENCE:
SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

Even though Bob is ugly, he is popular.

Clause 1
Dependent

Clause 2
Independent

COMPLEX SENTENCE:
SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

Bob is popular even though he is ugly.

WhentheMAINclauseisfirst,
itisusuallyNOT
followedbyacomma!

COMPLEX SENTENCE:
SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

Even though Bob is ugly, he is popular.

WhentheADVERBclauseisfirst,
itisfollowedbyacomma!

Compound-Complex Sentence
Mike

ispopular
because

he

isgoodlooking,
but

he

isnotveryhappy.

COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCE:
COMBINES BOTH TYPES

Mike is popular because he is good

looking, but he is not very happy.
Punctuateeachclause
accordingtoitsrules!

Punctuation
Review!

SIMPLE SENTENCE

My friends and I play tennis and go bowling

every weekend.

Nocommasbeforeandin
compoundsubjectsandpredicates!

COMPOUND SENTENCE:
Coordinating Conjunction

Men may exercise harder, but they may not

exercise as regularly as women do.

Commabeforecoordinating
conjunction!

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

Semicolonbeforeconjunctive
adverb
Commaafterconjunctive
adverb!

COMPOUND SENTENCE:
Conjunctive Adverb--in the middle
Native and nonnative English speakers have
different needs; some schools, however, fail to
distinguish between these groups.

Semicolonafterfirst
independentclause
Commasbeforeandafterconjunctive
adverb!

COMPOUND SENTENCE:
Conjunctive Adverb at the end
Native and nonnative English speakers have
different needs; some schools fail to distinguish
between these groups, however.

Semicolonafterfirst
independentclause
Commabeforeconjunctive
adverb!

COMPLEX SENTENCE:
Adverb Clauses--Subordinating
Conjunction

People had continuous moderate

exercise when they had to hunt for food.

Whenmainclauseisfirst,
itisnotusuallyfollowedbyacomma!

COMPLEX SENTENCE:
Adverb Clauses--Subordinating
Conjunction

When people had to hunt for food, they had

continuous moderate exercise.

Whentheadverbclauseisfirst,
itisfollowedbyacomma!

References
WritingAcademicEnglish,SecondEdition,byAlice
OshimaandAnnHogue.WhitePlains:Addison,
Wesley,Longman,1999.
TheLittle,BrownHandbook,byH.RamseyFowlerand
JaneE.Aaron,Pearson,2004.