Simple, Compound, Complex in

Written Skills
 What is a sentence?
● A sentence is a group of words with a subject and a verb
that expresses a complete thought.
● Ex. The big, black dog barked at the cat.

● There are specific elements make up complete sentences.

 Once a writer knows the
difference between the three
sentence types (simple,
compound, and complex), it is
possible to write with sentence
variety. Sentence variety helps
make your writing more
interesting.
 Simple Sentence

• A simple sentence contains a subject and verb.

• It expresses a single complete thought.
• A simple sentence is a single independent
clause.
What is an independent clause?

A group of words that:

(1) Makes a complete statement

(2) Has a subject and a verb

 Sample Simple Sentences
• The cat ran through the dark house.
• The wary mouse watched from underneath an
upturned cereal box.
• The predatory cat watched its surroundings.
• The mouse darted for the safety of the nearly
invisible hole under the cabinet.
 Examples
• John went for a walk. (Person)
• Towns are quiet after a snow fall. (Place)
• Eggs roll on a counter. (Thing)
• Silence is golden. (Quality)
• Peace is at hand. (Idea)
 Compound Sentences
• A compound sentence contains two
independent clauses.
• Conjunctions (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)
join these independent clauses. (Hint: The
conjunctions spell FANBOYS.)
• The conjunction used can impact the meaning
of the sentence.
 Sample Compound Sentences
• My father loves kitchen gadgets, and he buys a
Addition new one almost every week.
• A few of gadgets are useful, but most of them
Contrast just take up space.
• We run out of space for them in the kitchen, so
Result he started to store them in the living room.
• My mother asked my father to please stop
Choice buying gadgets, or she would throw them out.
• Of course, Dad came home the next week with
Suprise three new ones, yet Mom wasn’t upset.
• Maybe she relized that buying little gadget is
Reason harmless, for none of them cost a lot of money.
 Complex Sentences
• A complex sentence is an independent
clause joined by one or more dependent
clauses.
• A subordinating conjunction begins the
dependent clauses.
• A dependent clause that begins a sentence
must be followed by comma.
• A dependent clause has a subject and a
verb, but it does not make sense on its own.
 Subordinating Conjunctions
After how Until
Although if Unless
As in as much   as if
in order that When as long as
At least Whenever as much as
now that whereas soon
wherever as though Since
While because so that
Before even if That
even though   though
 Sample Complex Sentence
• After driving over one hundred miles without
finding a gas station, were almost home when
we ran out gas.
• My girlfriend and I went to cafetaria because
she wanted to eat some food.
• Although it was noisy and crowded, we had a
good time.
• If it rains, we won’t go to the beach
tomorrow.
• The music was so loud that we couldn’t talk.
 Sample Complex Sentences
• After he gave it some thought, the mouse
decided to wait until later for his trek.
• The cat fell asleep on the warm kitchen
because he was deprived of sleep the night
before.
• When the mouse heard the soft snoring of
his sleeping, he ran to the pantry and
grabbed enough food for a week.
• The dedicated, Feline keeps his nightly vigil
even though the foresighted mouse will not
be venturing out this week.