7 patterns of sentence structure

8/22/2019 7 Patterns of Sentence Structure

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Sentences

If someone asked you to define a sentence, do you think you could?

Pick out the sentence from these four groups of words:

Throughout people's ears grow entire their lives.

Grow throughout people's entire ears lives their.

Entire throughout lives ears grow people's their.

People's ears grow throughout their entire lives.

Each of the four groups contains exactly the same words, but only one is a sentence: the

last one.

You were able to pick out the sentence so easily because you have an innate knowledge of

how English worksknowledge you have absorbed from reading, speaking, listening, and

watching.

But perhaps you need a little more work on sentences. Maybe you're not sure about the

different kinds of sentences and how they're used.

First, you learn about the two main parts of the sentence: the subject and the predicate.

Then the four different types of sentences: simple, compound, complex, and compound-

complex.

Sentences- the subject and the predicate

Sentence: Stop!

Sentence: You stop!

Sentence: You better stop right now.

Each of these three word groups is a sentence. That's because they each meet the

three requirements for a sentence. To be a sentence, a group of words must

Have a subject(noun or pronoun).

Have apredicate (verb or verb phrase).

Express a complete thought.


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Strictly Speaking

How can Stop! be a sentence, when it's clearly lacking a subject? It is a sentencebecause the subject,you, is understood rather than stated outright. A one-word

command is the shortest possible English sentence

A sentence has two parts: a subjectand apredicate. The subject includes the noun or

pronoun that tells what the subject is about. The predicate includes the verb that describes

what the subject is doing.

Here are some examples of complete sentences

Subject Predicate

You stop!

Kuala Lumpur City is called the Klang Valley.

The driver with the helmet made 10 fuel stops

CLAUSES

A clause is a group of words with its own subject and verb.

There are two types of clauses: independent clauses (main clauses) and dependent

clauses (subordinate clauses and relative clauses).

An independent clause is a complete sentence; it can stand alone.

independent clauses are complete sentences because they have a subject

and verb and express a complete thought.

A dependent (subordinate) clause is part of a sentence; it cannot stand alone


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Dependent clauses, in contrast, cannot stand alone because they do not

express a complete thoughteven though they have a subject and a verb.

some examples of each type of clause

Dependent Clause Independent Clause

Until his father returned from his trip to

Indonesia,

Sepak Takraw was not known in the

Western World.

Although they played their worst game

in football,

The Technic Trio won the World Series in

1999.

Because his salary in 1930 and 1931

was RM8,000,

Chong Wei was the best-paid player in the

world at the time.

REVIEW

There are two types of clauses: independent and dependent.

Independent clauses are complete sentences because they have a subject and verb and

express a complete thought.

Dependent clauses cannot stand alone because they do not express a complete thought

even though they have a subject and a verb.

Independent and dependent clauses can be used in a number of ways to form the

four basic types of sentences:

simple,

compound,

complex, and

compound-complex.


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Simple Sentences:

A simple sentence has one independent clause.

That means it has one subject and one verbalthough either or both can be

compound.

In addition, a simple sentence can have adjectives and adverbs.

What a simple sentence can't have is another independent clause or anysubordinate clauses.

For example:

A simple sentence has one independent clause.

Penangites eat more bananas than they eat any other fruit.

one subject, one verb

David Aaron and Jay Lo host talk shows.

compound subject, one verb

My friend toasts and butters his bun.

one subject, compound verb

Compound Sentences

A compound sentence consists of two or more independent clauses.

A compound sentence consists of two or more independent clauses.

The independent clauses can be joined in one of two ways:

With a coordinating conjunction: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so(fanboys)

With a semicolon (;)

As with a simple sentence, a compound sentence can't have any subordinate

clauses.


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Here are some compound sentences for your reading pleasure.

Independent Clause Conjunction or

Semicolon

Independent Clause

Men are mammals and women are femammals.

Mushrooms grow in damp

places

so they look like umbrellas.

The largest mammals are found

in the sea

; there's nowhere else to

put them.

You might also add a conjunctive adverb to this construction, as in this example: The

largest mammals are found in the sea; after all, there's nowhere else to put them.

Complex Sentences

A complex sentence contains one independent clause and at least one dependent

clause.

The independent clause is called the main clause.

These sentences use subordinating conjunctions to link ideas.

examples

Parallel lines never meet (independent clause) until (subordinating conjunction)

you bend one of them (dependent clause).

Many dead animals of the past changed to oil (independent clause) while

(subordinating conjunction) others preferred to be gas (dependent clause).


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Even though (subordinating conjunction) the sun is a star (dependent clause), it

knows how to change back to the sun in the daytime (independent clause).

The subordinating conjunctions are until, while, and even though.

Compound-Complex Sentences

A compound-complex sentence has at least two independent clauses and at least

one dependent clause.

The dependent clause can be part of the independent clause. For instance:

When the heat comes, the lakes dry up,

dependent clause independent clause

and farmers know the crops will fail.

independent clause

I planned to drive to work, but I couldn't

independent clause independent clause

until the mechanic repaired my car.

dependent clause


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Kinds of Sentences and Their Punctuation

A sentence may be one of four kinds, depending upon the number and type(s) ofclauses it contains.

An independent clause contains a subject, a verb, and a complete thought.

A dependent clause contains a subject and a verb, but no complete thought.

1. A SIMPLE SENTENCE has one independent clause.


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Punctuation note: NO commas separate compound elements (subject, verb, directobject, indirect object, subjective complement, etc.) in a simple sentence.

2. A COMPOUND SENTENCE has two independent clauses joined by

A. acoordinating conjunction(for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so),

B. aconjunctive adverb(e.g. however, therefore), or

C. asemicolonalone.

Punctuation patterns (to match A, B, and C above):

A. Independent clause, coordinating conjunction independent clause.

B. Independent clause; conjunctive adverb,independent clause.

C. Independent clause; independent clause.

3. A COMPLEX SENTENCE has onedependent clause(headed by a subordinatingconjunction or a relative pronoun ) joined to anindependent clause.

Punctuation patterns (to match A, B, C and D above):

A. Dependent clause, independent clause
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B. Independent clause dependent clause

C. Independent, nonessential dependent clause, clause.

D. Independent essential dependent clause clause.

4. A COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCE has two independent clauses joined toone or more dependent clauses.

Punctuation patterns:

Follow the rules given above for compound and complex sentences.

A compound-complex sentence is merely a combination of the two.


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Sentences: Simple, Compound, and Complex

Experienced writers use a variety of sentences to make their writing interestingand lively. Too many simple sentences, for example, will sound choppy andimmature while too many long sentences will be difficult to read and hard tounderstand.

This page contains definitions of simple, compound, and complex sentences withmany simple examples. The purpose of these examples is to help the ESL/EFLlearner to identify sentence basics including identification of sentences in theshort quizzes that follow. After that, it will be possible to analyze more complexsentences varieties.

SIMPLE SENTENCE

A simple sentence, also called an independent clause, contains a subject and averb, and it expresses a complete thought. In the following simple sentences,subjects are in yellow, and verbs are in green.

A. Some students like to study in the mornings.B. Juan and Arturo play football every afternoon.C. Alicia goes to the library and studies every day.

The three examples above are all simple sentences. Note that sentence Bcontains a compound subject, and sentence C contains a compound verb. Simplesentences, therefore, contain a subject and verb and express a completethought, but they can also contain a compound subjects or verbs.

COMPOUND SENTENCE

A compound sentence contains two independent clauses joined by a coordinator.The coordinators are as follows:for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. (Helpful hint: Thefirst letter of each of the coordinators spells FANBOYS.) Except for very short

sentences, coordinators are always preceded by a comma. In the followingcompound sentences, subjects are in yellow, verbs are in green, and the


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coordinators and the commas that precede them are in red.

A. I tried to speak Spanish, and my friend tried to speak English.

B. Alejandro played football, so Maria went shopping.C. Alejandro played football, for Maria went shopping.

The above three sentences are compound sentences. Each sentence contains twoindependent clauses, and they are joined by a coordinator with a commapreceding it. Note how the conscious use of coordinators can change therelationship between the clauses. Sentences B and C, for example, are identicalexcept for the coordinators. In sentence B, which action occurred first?Obviously, "Alejandro played football" first, and as a consequence, "Maria wentshopping. In sentence C, "Maria went shopping" first. In sentence C, "Alejandroplayed football" because, possibly, he didn't have anything else to do,foror

because "Maria went shopping." How can the use of other coordinators change therelationship between the two clauses? What implications would the use of "yet" or"but" have on the meaning of the sentence?

COMPLEX SENTENCE A complex sentence has an independent clause joinedby one or more dependent clauses. A complex sentence always has a subordinatorsuch as because, since, after, although, or when or a relative pronoun such asthat, who, or which. In the following complex sentences, subjects are in yellow,verbs are in green, and the subordinators and their commas (when required) arein red.

A. When he handed in his homework, he forgot to give the teacher thelast page.B. The teacher returned the homework after she noticed the error.C. The students are studying because they have a test tomorrow.D. After they finished studying, Juan and Maria went to the movies.E. Juan and Maria went to the movies after they finished studying.

When a complex sentence begins with a subordinator such as sentences A and D,a comma is required at the end of the dependent clause. When the independent

clause begins the sentence with subordinators in the middle as in sentences B, C,and E, no comma is required. If a comma is placed before the subordinators insentences B, C, and E, it is wrong.

Note that sentences D and E are the same except sentence D begins with thedependent clause which is followed by a comma, and sentence E begins with theindependent clause which contains no comma. The comma after the dependentclause in sentence D is required, and experienced listeners of English will oftenheara slight pause there. In sentence E, however, there will be no pause whenthe independent clause begins the sentence.

COMPLEX SENTENCES / ADJECTIVE CLAUSES Finally, sentences containing


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adjective clauses (or dependent clauses) are also complex because they contain an

independent clause and a dependent clause. The subjects, verbs, and subordinators are

marked the same as in the previous sentences, and in these sentences, the independent

clauses are also underlined.

A. The woman who(m) my mom talked to sells cosmetics.B. The book that Jonathan read is on the shelf.C. The house which AbrahAM Lincoln was born in is still standing.D. The town where I grew up is in the United States

The Structure of a Sentence

Remember that everyclauseis, in a sense, a miniaturesentence. Asimple sentences contains only a single clause, while a compoundsentence, a complex sentence, or a compound-complex sentence containsat least two clauses.

The Simple Sentence

The most basic type of sentence is the simple sentence, which contains

only one clause. A simple sentence can be as short as one word:

Run!

Usually, however, the sentence has asubjectas well as apredicateandboth the subject and the predicate may havemodifiers. All of thefollowing are simple sentences, because each contains only one clause:

Melt!

Ice melts.

The ice melts quickly.

The ice on the river melts quickly under the warm March sun.

Lying exposed without its blanket of snow, the ice on the river

melts quickly under the warm March sun.

As you can see, a simple sentence can be quite long -- it is a mistake tothink that you can tell a simple sentence from a compound sentence or a

complex sentence simply by its length.
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The most natural sentence structure is the simple sentence: it is the firstkind which children learn to speak, and it remains by far the mostcommon sentence in the spoken language of people of all ages. In writtenwork, simple sentences can be very effective for grabbing a reader'sattention or for summing up an argument, but you have to use them with

care: too many simple sentences can make your writing seem childish.

When you do use simple sentences, you should add transitional phrasesto connect them to the surrounding sentences.

The Compound Sentence

A compound sentence consists of two or moreindependent clauses(orsimple sentences) joined byco-ordinating conjunctionslike "and," "but,"and "or":

Simple

Canada is a rich country.

Simple

Still, it has many poor people.

Compound

Canada is a rich country, but still it has many poor people.

Compound sentences are very natural for English speakers -- smallchildren learn to use them early on to connect their ideas and to avoidpausing (and allowing an adult to interrupt):

Today at school Mr. Moore brought in his pet rabbit, and he showed

it to the class, and I got to pet it, and Kate held it, and we coloured

pictures of it, and it ate part of my carrot at lunch, and ...

Of course, this is an extreme example, but if you over-use compoundsentences in written work, your writing might seem immature.

A compound sentence is most effective when you use it to create a senseof balance or contrast between two (or more) equally-important pieces ofinformation:

Montal has better clubs, but Toronto has better cinemas.
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Special Cases of Compound Sentences

There are two special types of compound sentences which you might wantto note. First, rather than joining two simple sentences together, a co-ordinating conjunction sometimes joins two complex sentences, or onesimple sentence and one complex sentence. In this case, the sentence iscalled a compound-complex sentence:

compound-complex

The package arrived in the morning, but the courier left

before I could check the contents.

The second special case involvespunctuation. It is possible to join twooriginally separate sentences into a compound sentence using a

semicoloninstead of a co-ordinating conjunction:

Sir John A. Macdonald had a serious drinking problem; when

sober, however, he could be a formidable foe in the House of

Commons.

Usually, aconjunctive adverblike "however" or "consequently" will appearnear the beginning of the second part, but it is not required:

The sun rises in the east; it sets in the west.

The Complex Sentence

A complex sentence contains one independent clause and at least onedependent clause. Unlike a compound sentence, however, a complexsentence contains clauses which are notequal. Consider the followingexamples:

Simple

My friend invited me to a party. I do not want to go.

Compound

My friend invited me to a party, but I do not want to go.

Complex

Although my friend invited me to a party, I do not want to go.

In the first example, there are two separate simple sentences: "My friend

invited me to a party" and "I do not want to go." The second examplejoins them together into a single sentence with the co-ordinating
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conjunction "but," but both parts could still stand as independentsentences -- they are entirely equal, and the reader cannot tell which ismost important. In the third example, however, the sentence haschanged quite a bit: the first clause, "Although my friend invited me to aparty," has become incomplete, or a dependent clause.

A complex sentence is very different from a simple sentence or acompound sentence because it makes clear which ideas are mostimportant. When you write

My friend invited me to a party. I do not want to go.

or even

My friend invited me to a party, but I do not want to go.

The reader will have trouble knowing which piece of information is mostimportant to you. When you write thesubordinating conjunction"although" at the beginning of the first clause, however, you make it clearthat the fact that your friend invited you is less important than, orsubordinate, to the fact that you do not want to go.

Written by David Megginson
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Sentences: Simple, Compound, and Complex

A common weakness in writing is the lack of varied sentences. Becoming aware of threegeneral types of sentences--simple, compound, and complex--can help you vary the sentences

in your writing.

The most effective writing uses a variety of the sentence types explained below.

1. Simple Sentences

A simple sentence has the most basic elements that make it a sentence: a subject, a verb, and

a completed thought.

Examples ofsimple sentences include the following:

1. Joe waited for the train."Joe" = subject, "waited" = verb

2. The train was late.

"The train" = subject, "was" = verb

3. Mary and Samantha took the bus.

"Mary and Samantha" = compound subject, "took" = verb

4. I looked for Mary and Samantha at the bus station.

"I" = subject, "looked" = verb

5. Mary and Samantha arrived at the bus station before noon and left on the bus

before I arrived.

"Mary and Samantha" = compound subject, "arrived" and "left" = compound verb

Tip: If you use many simple sentences in an essay, you should consider revising some of the

sentences into compound or complex sentences (explained below).

The use of compound subjects, compound verbs, prepositional phrases (such as "at the bus

station"), and other elements help lengthen simple sentences, but simple sentences often are

short. The use of too many simple sentences can make writing "choppy" and can prevent thewriting from flowing smoothly.

A simple sentence can also be referred to as an independent clause. It is referred to as

"independent" because, while it might be part of a compound or complex sentence, it can also

stand by itself as a complete sentence.

2. Compound Sentences

A compound sentence refers to a sentence made up of two independent clauses (or complete

sentences) connected to one another with a coordinating conjunction. Coordinating

conjunctions are easy to remember if you think of the words "FAN BOYS":


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For

And

Nor

But

Or

Yet

So

Examples ofcompound sentences include the following:

1. Joe waited for the train, but the train was late.

2. I looked for Mary and Samantha at the bus station, but they arrived at the station

before noon and left on the bus before I arrived.

3. Mary and Samantha arrived at the bus station before noon, and they left on the busbefore I arrived.

4. Mary and Samantha left on the bus before I arrived, so I did not see them at the bus

station.

Tip: If you rely heavily on compound sentences in an essay, you should consider revising

some of them into complex sentences (explained below).

Coordinating conjunctions are useful for connecting sentences, but compound sentences often

are overused. While coordinating conjunctions can indicate some type of relationship

between the two independent clauses in the sentence, they sometimes do not indicate much ofa relationship. The word "and," for example, only adds one independent clause to another,

without indicating how the two parts of a sentence are logically related. Too many compound

sentences that use "and" can weaken writing.

Clearer and more specific relationships can be established through the use of complex

sentences.

3. Complex Sentences

A complex sentence is made up of an independent clause and one or more dependentclauses connected to it. A dependent clause is similar to an independent clause, or complete

sentence, but it lacks one of the elements that would make it a complete sentence.

Examples ofdependent clauses include the following:

because Mary and Samantha arrived at the bus station before noon

while he waited at the train station

after they left on the bus

Dependent clauses such as those above cannot stand alone as a sentence, but they can be

added to an independent clause to form a complex sentence.


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Dependent clauses begin with subordinating conjunctions. Below are some of the most

common subordinating conjunctions:

after

although

as because

before

even though

if

since

though

unless

until

when

whenever whereas

wherever

while

A complex sentence joins an independent clause with one or more dependent clauses.

The dependent clauses can go first in the sentence, followed by the independent clause, as in

the following:

Tip: When the dependent clause comes first, a comma should be used to separate the two

clauses.

1. Because Mary and Samantha arrived at the bus station before noon, I did not see

them at the station.

2. While he waited at the train station, Joe realized that the train was late.

3. After they left on the bus, Mary and Samantha realized that Joe was waiting at the

train station.

Conversely, the independent clauses can go first in the sentence, followed by the dependent

clause, as in the following:

Tip: When the independent clause comes first, a comma should not be used to separate the

two clauses.

1. I did not see them at the station because Mary and Samantha arrived at the bus

station before noon.

2. Joe realized that the train was late while he waited at the train station.

3. Mary and Samantha realized that Joe was waiting at the train station after they left

on the bus.


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Complex sentences are often more effective than compound sentences because a complex

sentence indicates clearer and more specific relationships between the main parts of the

sentence. The word "before," for instance, tells readers that one thing occurs before another.

A word such as "although" conveys a more complex relationship than a word such as "and"

conveys.

The term periodic sentence is used to refer to a complex sentence beginning with a

dependent clause and ending with an independent clause, as in "While he waited at the

train station, Joe realized that the train was late."

Periodic sentences can be especially effective because the completed thought occurs at the

end of it, so the first part of the sentence can build up to the meaning that comes at the end.

7 patterns of sentence structure

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