Sentence Structures

Your goals:

  • Understand different sentence structures.
  • Understand the uses of commas within different sentence structures..
  • Understanding dependent and independent clauses.

Independent Clauses

What is an Independent Clause?
An independent clause is a group of words that can stand alone as a complete sentence because it expresses a complete thought. It has a subject (who or what the sentence is about) and a predicate (what the subject is doing).

Example: “I love to read.”

This sentence has a subject “I” and a predicate “love to read,” and it can stand by itself as a complete sentence.

Dependent Clauses

What is a Dependent Clause?
A dependent clause, also called a subordinate clause, is a group of words that has a subject and a verb but doesn’t express a complete thought. It needs an independent clause to complete its meaning and make sense.

Example: “Because I finished my homework.”

This sentence has a subject “I” and a verb “finished,” but it doesn’t express a complete thought on its own. It needs more information to make sense.

Sentence Structures

Compound Sentences:

What is a Compound Sentence?
A compound sentence is a type of sentence that consists of two or more independent clauses (or complete sentences) that are joined together. These independent clauses are connected by coordinating conjunctions, such as “and,” “but,” “or,” “for,” “nor,” “so,” and “yet.”

The key characteristic of a compound sentence is that it contains multiple standalone thoughts or ideas that could exist as separate sentences but are combined to create a more complex structure. The independent clauses in a compound sentence are of equal importance and could function independently as separate sentences if needed.

Here are a few examples of compound sentences:

  1. “She likes to read books, but he prefers watching movies.”
    • This sentence consists of two independent clauses (“She likes to read books” and “he prefers watching movies”) joined by the coordinating conjunction “but.”
  2. “The sun was shining brightly, and the birds were chirping in the trees.”
    • This compound sentence combines two independent clauses (“The sun was shining brightly” and “the birds were chirping in the trees”) using the coordinating conjunction “and.”
  3. “You can go to the party, or you can stay home and relax.”
    • Here, two independent clauses (“You can go to the party” and “you can stay home and relax”) are connected by the coordinating conjunction “or.”

Compound sentences allow writers to create more varied and interesting structures by joining related ideas or thoughts. They add complexity to writing and contribute to a more cohesive flow of information within a sentence.

Complex Sentences:

A complex sentence is a type of sentence that contains one independent clause (a complete sentence that can stand alone) and at least one dependent clause (a clause that cannot stand alone as a complete sentence because it relies on the independent clause for its meaning).

The structure of a complex sentence involves the combination of an independent clause and a dependent clause, often joined by subordinating conjunctions or relative pronouns.

Here are examples illustrating complex sentences:

  1. “Although she studied hard, she didn’t pass the exam.”
    • This sentence consists of an independent clause (“she didn’t pass the exam”) and a dependent clause (“Although she studied hard”) introduced by the subordinating conjunction “Although.”
  2. “He felt tired because he had stayed up late to finish his project.”
    • This complex sentence contains an independent clause (“He felt tired”) and a dependent clause (“because he had stayed up late to finish his project”) connected by the subordinating conjunction “because.”
  3. “The book that she lent me is on the table.”
    • In this sentence, the independent clause is “The book is on the table,” and the dependent clause “that she lent me” is introduced by the relative pronoun “that.”

Complex sentences allow writers to express relationships between ideas by showing cause and effect, contrast, time relationships, or conditions. The presence of both independent and dependent clauses adds depth and complexity to the sentence structure, providing a more nuanced way to convey information and create more sophisticated writing.