Download Study Guide – Simple, Compound, and Complex

Study Guide – Simple, Compound, and Complex Sentences
Before we can talk about different types of sentences, we need to review
independent and subordinate / dependent clauses.
Remember, an independent clause has a subject and a verb. It expresses a
complete thought, so it can stand alone as a sentence.
Examples:
Miles has a cute dog.
He walks it every day.
The dog barks a lot.
A subordinate clause , also known as a dependent clause, also has a subject and a
verb, but it does not express a complete thought. It needs help in order to be a
part of a sentence. If it does not have a subject and a verb, then it is not a
subordinate clause. A subordinate clause will begin with one of the following
subordinating conjunctions:
after
how
unless
which
although
if
until
while
as
since
when
who
as if
so that
whenever
whom
as though than
where
whose
because
that
wherever
before
though
whether
Examples:
that he walks every day
who barks a lot
after they go for a walk
whenever he walks his dog
These are all examples of subordinate clauses because:
1. They all have subjects and verbs.
2. They begin with one of the subordinating conjunctions from the chart above.
3. They do not express complete thoughts, so they are not sentences.
simple sentence = 1 independent clause
compound sentence = independent clause + independent clause (joined with a
comma and one of the following conjunctions (FANBOYS) OR with a semicolon):
Coordinating conjunctions or FANBOYS:
and
or
but
for
nor
yet
so
complex sentence = 1 independent clause + at least one subordinate clause
We need to be careful! Many times people think that any group of words that
does not express a complete thought is a subordinate clause, but this is not
true. You need to make sure that the group of words has a subject and verb and
that it begins with a subordinating conjunction.
For example, look at the following sentences:
1. After a delicious dinner we played a family game of Go Fish.
Some people might think that this would be a complex sentence. We
know that "we played a family game of Go Fish" is an independent clause because it
would be a sentence by itself. Look at the rest of the sentence. People might
think that "after a delicious dinner" is a subordinate clause because it does not
express a complete thought. It begins with the word "after" which is in our list of
subordinating conjunctions above. Notice that it does not have a verb. Therefore,
it can't be a subordinate clause BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT A SUBORDINATE
CLAUSE HAS TO HAVE A SUBJECT AND A VERB. It would be a subordinate
clause if it said, "after we finished our delicious dinner." As it is written, the
sentence above is a simple sentence.
2. Ms. Nalley really likes the color pink and also loves cats.
Again, some people might think that this would be a complex
sentence. They think that "also loves cats" is a subordinate clause because it does
not express a complete thought. It does have the verb "loves", but it is missing a
subject and also a subordinating conjunction. Therefore, we know that it can't be
a subordinate clause. This sentence is just a simple sentence.
Look at this chart:
SIMPLE SENTENCE
Miles has a dog.
He walks it every
afternoon.
Miles has a dog and walks
COMPOUND SENTENCE
Miles has a dog, and he
walks it every afternoon.
COMPLEX SENTENCE
Miles has a dog that he
walks every afternoon.
“Miles has a dog” is a
it every afternoon.
These are all examples of
simple sentences. The
last sentence has a
compound verb. “Walks it
every afternoon” is not a
subordinate clause
because it does not have a
subject.
This sentence is compound
because it is two
sentences (or two
independent clauses)
joined with a comma and
the conjunction “and”.
sentence by itself, so
it’s an independent
clause. “That he walks
every afternoon” has a
subject and a verb, but
it doesn’t express a
complete
thought. That makes it
a subordinate clause.
Notice that these sentences all say the same thing. They are worded just a little
bit differently. Try to do a similar chart. Write two simple sentences that are
related.
Example: I went skiing in West Virginia.
I had a great time.
Think about how you can join them to make one big sentence. Since both sentences
have the subject "I," I could do something like this:
I went skiing in West Virginia and had a great time.
Since I kept the first sentence the way that it was and got rid of the subject "I"
in the second sentence, the sentence above is still a simple sentence. ("Had a
great time" is not a subordinate clause because it is missing a subject.)
Or if I wanted to make a compound sentence, I would just keep the two sentences
the same and join them with a comma and a conjunction:
I went skiing in West Virginia, and I had a great time.
Or to make a complex sentence, I just need to choose a subordinating conjunction
from the chart above. I think that I'll use the conjunction "when."
When I went skiing in West Virginia, I had a great time.
I had a great time when I went skiing in West Virginia.
Now it's your turn. Fill in the chart below using the same steps that I used in the
example about skiing in West Virginia.
SIMPLE SENTENCE
Miles has a dog.
He walks it every afternoon.
I went skiing in West Virginia.
I had a great time.
COMPOUND SENTENCE
Miles has a dog, and he walks it
every afternoon.
I went skiing in West Virginia, and
I had a great time.
COMPLEX SENTENCE
Miles has a dog that he w
afternoon.
When I went skiing in We
had a great time.
OR
The weatherman predicted
snow last week.
All of the kids got excited.
The weatherman predicted snow
last week, so all of the kids got
excited.
I had a great time when I
West Virginia.
Because the weatherman
last week, all of the kids g
OR
All of the kids got excited
weatherman predicted sno