Sentence Structure:
Sentence Types
Sentence Types
• Simple
• Compound
• Complex
• Compound-Complex
Basic Elements of Every Sentence
SUBJECT PREDICATE
Basic Elements
SUBJECT PREDICATE
Mary plays tennis.
Simple Sentence
Simple Sentence
• A simple sentence has one subject and one
predicate.
Simple Sentence
Observe how a simple sentence is constructed:
We went to Amman yesterday.
Simple Sentence
Pronoun Verb Prepositional phrase
We went to Amman.
Simple subject Complete predicate
SIMPLE SENTENCE
SUBJECT PREDICATE
Mary plays tennis.
one subject one predicate
Simple Sentence
Tom and Mary play tennis.
Compound Subject
&
Simple Sentence
play tennis and
Tom and Mary
exercise.
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
exercise.
Compound Sentence
Compound Sentence
• A compound sentence has more than one
part that can stand alone (independent
clauses).
• Independent clauses are connected by
coordinating conjunctions, conjunctive
adverbs or a semi-colon.
Compound Sentence
We went to San Juan, and
most of us danced all night.
Compound Sentence
Subject Verb Prepositional phrase
We went to Amman,
Coordinating Predicate
Conjunction
and most of us watched movies all night .
Subject Verb Modifying phrase
Compound Sentence
Use of Coordinating Conjunctions
SUBJECT PREDICATE
SUBJECT PREDICATE
Compound Sentence
Tom swims,
and
Mary plays tennis.
COMPOUND SENTENCE:
COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
FOR
AND
NOR
BUT
OR
YET
SO
COMPOUND SENTENCE:
COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
Tom swims, and Mary plays tennis.
Clause 1 Clause 2
Independent Independent
COMPOUND SENTENCE:
COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
Tom swims, and Mary plays tennis.
Comma before “and”
in compound
sentences!
COMPOUND SENTENCE:
CONJUNCTIVE ADVERBS
MOREOVER
HOWEVER
OTHERWISE
THEREFORE
COMPOUND SENTENCE:
CONJUNCTIVE ADVERBS
Bob is handsome; moreover, he is rich.
Clause 1 Clause 2
Independent Independent
COMPOUND SENTENCE:
CONJUNCTIVE ADVERBS
Bob is handsome; moreover, he is rich.
Note: Semicolon
before conjunctive
adverb and comma
after conjunctive adverb!
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, IN THE MIDDLE,AT THE END
Bob is handsome; moreover, he is rich.
Bob is handsome; he is, moreover, rich.
Bob is handsome; he is rich, moreover.
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
Tom has benefited from his exercise
program; he is slim and energetic.
Complex Sentence
Complex Sentence
• A complex sentence has at least two
parts: one that can stand alone and
another one that cannot
• The part that cannot stand alone is linked
to the rest of the sentence by a
subordinating conjunction
Complex Sentence
Since my friend and I wanted to have fun,
we went to Jerash yesterday.
Complex Sentence
Since we wanted to have fun,
Subordinating Part that cannot stand alone
Conjunction
Subject Predicate
we went to Jerash yesterday.
Complex Sentence
SUBJECT PREDICATE
even though
SUBJECT PREDICATE
Complex Sentence
Bob is popular
even though
he is ugly.
COMPLEX SENTENCE:
SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
The most common subordinating
conjunctions are "after," "although,"
"as," "because," "before," "how,"
"if," "once," "since," "than,"
"that," though," "till," "until,"
"when," "where," "whether,” and
while."
COMPLEX SENTENCE:
SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
Bob is popular even though he is ugly.
Clause 1 Clause 2
Independent
Dependent
COMPLEX SENTENCE:
SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
Even though Bob is ugly, he is popular.
Clause 1 Clause 2
Dependent Independent
Compound-Complex Sentence
Compound-Complex Sentence
• This type of sentence has more than one
part that can stand alone, and at least one
that cannot.
• Conjunctions link the different parts of this
sentence.
Compound-Complex Sentence
Since we wanted to have fun,
my friend and I went to Jerash yesterday,
and we visited different sites all
morning.
Compound-Complex Sentence
Subordinating
Conjunction
Since we wanted to have fun,
Part that cannot stand alone
my friend and I went Jerash,
Coordinating Subject Predicate
Conjunction
and we visited different sites all day.
Compound-Complex Sentence
Mike is popular
because
he is good looking,
but
he is not very happy.
Exercises
Say if the following sentences are:
Simple, compound, complex or
compound-complex.
1. The bell rang.
2. Bridget ran the first part of the race, and Tara
biked the second part.
3. He stands at the bottom of the cliff while the
climber moves up the rock.
4. The skier turned and jumped.
5. Nader passed the test because he studied
hard and understood the material.
Answers
1. Simple
2. Compound
3. Complex
4. Simple
5. Compound-complex
1. Because Kayla has so much climbing
experience , we asked her to lead our group.
2. You and I need piano lessons.
3. I planned to go to the hockey game, but I
couldn’t get tickets.
4. Dorothy likes white water rafting, but she
also enjoys kayaking.
5. There are many problems to solve before this
program can be used, but engineers believe
that they will be able to solve them soon.
Answers
1. Complex
2. Simple
3. Compound
4. Compound
5. Compound-complex
References
Writing Academic English, Second Edition, by Alice
Oshima and Ann Hogue. White Plains: Addison, Wesley,
Longman, 1999.
The Little, Brown Handbook, by H. Ramsey Fowler and
Jane E. Aaron, Pearson, 2004.
