Basics of a Sentence

Phrase

 A group of closely related words that may have nouns or verbals, but it does not
have a subject doing an action.
 DONOT have subject and verbs
 DONOT form complete thought
 CANNOT stand alone

For twenty days

Leaving behind the dog
Smashing into a fence
Before the first test
After the devastation
Clause

 Has a subject that is actively doing an action

 Contains subject and a verb

She is hungry
I am feeling well today
Although she is hungry
Types of clauses
Dependent Clause Independent Clause
 Although she is hungry  She is hungry
 Do not express a complete  Expresses a complete thought
thought  It can stand on its own
 Can not stand on its own
 Needs independent clause to
complete sentence. E.g.
Although she is hungry, she is
still not eating food
 They have a subordinate
conjunction placed in front of
the clause
I despise individuals of low character
Because she smiled at him
Since she laughs at her sister
I want to go shopping
Because I am feeling well today
 How to tell the difference…

Independent Subordinate
(main) (dependent) Phrase
Clause Clause

Has a
subject YES YES NO
and verb
Forms a
complete YES NO NO
thought

Can stand
alone
YES NO NO
Identify phrase, dependent and independent
clause
Before the storm
Ali who is a sailor
He gave a dazzling performance
At the party in the old house
While she was playing golf
When she took her seat
Nearly every American drives a car
Beyond the blue horizon
After the clock struck 12
If he goes
Since she is rich
In the spring
On the beach
Sentence Types as per Structure

 Simple sentence
 Compound sentence
 Complex sentence
 Compound-complex sentence
Simple sentence
 Only one independent clause
 One subject-verb relationship
We (S) talked (V) to our teacher this morning

 Can have more than one subject as long as they share same verb
My sister (S) and your brother (S) are fighting (V) in the backyard

 Can have more than one verb as long as verbs share same subject
He (S) listened (V) to the radio all morning and forgot (V) to study for his
test
Compound Sentence

 At least two independent clauses connected

We went to the movie last night, and we stopped for coffee afterward
Ali wrote his essay last night; however, he forgot to print it out
I was tired from working all day; I decided to go to bed early

 Punctuation rules:
Two independent clauses are joined by:
 Coordinating conjunction (IC, CC IC)
 Transitional expressions (IC; TE, IC)
 Semicolon alone (IC; IC)
Complex sentence

 One independent clause connected to at least one dependent clause

Although I was invited to the party, I didn’t want to go
We invited the neighbor to the party even though we don’t like him
Hassan, who likes to read newspapers, rarely read novels
People who read newspaper rarely read novels

 Punctuation rules:
 DC, IC
 IC DC
 IC, non-essential DC, IC
 IC essential DC IC
Compound-Complex sentence

 Two or more independent clauses and at least one dependent clause

Ali was already in class, and Hassan was in the lab while Umer was sleeping off
his headache

While Umer was sleeping off his headache, Ali was already in class, and Hassan
was in the lab

Ali was already in class while Umer slept off his headache; Hassan was in the
lab
Identify phrases, clauses and sentence
types
 The summer has been extremely hot, but I think its getting cooler now
 Because my car has no air conditioning, I have been taking the bus
 When winter comes, we will all be complaining about the cold, but with my
luck, my heater will work
 I would really love to buy a new car, may be a Suzuki
 In the next five years, I will have enough money to pay off my debt
 Ali was concerned about his daughter’s cough; however, it turned out to be
nothing serious
 Her alarm didn’t go off this morning because she set it for pm instead of am
 She ate her lunch, took a walk, and went back to work
 The summer has been extremely hot, but I think its getting cooler now
(Compound sentence)
 Because my car has no air conditioning, I have been taking the bus
(Complex sentence)
 When winter comes, we will all be complaining about the cold, but with
my luck (Phrase), my heater will work (Compound-complex sentence)
 I would really love to buy a new car, may be a Suzuki (Simple sentence)
 In the next five years (Phrase), I will have enough money to pay off my
debt (Simple sentence)
 Ali was concerned about his daughter’s cough; however, it turned out to
be nothing serious (Compound sentence)
 Her alarm didn’t go off this morning because she set it for pm instead of
am (Complex sentence)
 She ate her lunch, took a walk, and went back to work (Simple
sentence)
Sentence Types as per Function

 Declarative sentence
 Interrogative sentence
 Imperative sentence
 Exclamatory sentence
Declarative sentence

 Make statements or express opinions

I want to be a good writer

My friend is a really good writer
Interrogative sentence

 Ask questions

Do you know what the weather will be tomorrow?

Where are you going?
Imperative Sentence

 Give commands or make demands or requests

Hand in your homework, please

Stop!
Please sit down
Exclamatory sentence

 Convey strong emotion such as excitement, surprise, anger

Watch out for the snake!

What a mess this room is!
 The cake is ruined!
Sit down and listen.
She is studying English
Do you like my house?
Do your homework
You look so beautiful!
He writes a letter
Go away
 The cake is ruined! (Exclamatory)
Sit down and listen! (Imperative)
She is studying English (Declarative)
Do you like my house? (Interrogative)
Do your homework (Imperative)
You look so beautiful! (Exclamatory)
He writes a letter (Declarative)
Go away (Imperative)