Experienced writers use a variety of sentences to make their writing interesting and lively. Too many simple sentences, for example, will sound choppy and immature while too many long sentences will be difficult to read and hard to understand.
This page contains definitions of simple, compound, and complex sentences with many simple examples. The purpose of these examples is to help the ESL/EFL learner to identify sentence basics including identification of sentences in the short quizzes that follow. After that, it will be possible to analyze more complex sentences varieties.
SIMPLE SENTENCE
A simple sentence, also called an independent clause, contains a subject and a verb, 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 B contains a compound subject, and sentence C contains a compound verb. Simple sentences, therefore, contain a subject and verb and express a complete thought, 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: The first letter of each of the coordinators spells FANBOYS.) Except for very short sentences, coordinators are always preceded by a comma. In the following compound sentences, subjects are in yellow, verbs are in green, and the 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 two independent clauses, and they are joined by a coordinator with a comma preceding it. Note how the conscious use of coordinators can change the relationship between the clauses. Sentences B and C, for example, are identical except for the coordinators. In sentence B, which action occurred first? Obviously, "Alejandro played football" first, and as a consequence, "Maria went shopping. In sentence C, "Maria went shopping" first. In sentence C, "Alejandro played football" because, possibly, he didn't have anything else to do, for or because "Maria went shopping." How can the use of other coordinators change the relationship 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 joined by one or more dependent clauses. A complex sentence always has a subordinator such as because, since, after, although, or when or a relative pronoun such as that, who, or which. In the following complex sentences, subjects are in yellow, verbs are in green, and the subordinators and their commas (when required) are in red.
A. When he handed in his homework, he forgot to give the teacher the last 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 in sentences B, C, and E, it is wrong.
Note that sentences D and E are the same except sentence D begins with the dependent clause which is followed by a comma, and sentence E begins with the independent clause which contains no comma. The comma after the dependent clause in sentence D is required, and experienced listeners of English will often hear a slight pause there. In sentence E, however, there will be no pause when the independent clause begins the sentence.
COMPLEX SENTENCES / ADJECTIVE CLAUSES
Finally, sentences containing 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.
Adjective Clauses are studied in this site separately, but for now it is important to know that sentences containing adjective clauses are complex.
# Sentence
# Verb Cluster
Verb Clusters
Verb clusters are made by crossing over the -ing form of the verb in a main clause of BSP-1 or BSP-2.
The man escaped from jail.
The man was escaping from jail.
Escaping from jail, the man chuckled.
The man bribed the jailer.
The man was bribing the jailer.
Bribing the jailer, the man committed a felony.
How to identify verb clusters. To identify verb clusters, look for -ing words. When you find one, figure out if it is part of the kernel BSP. If it is, then it is NOT a verb cluster. See the following examples:
Running is good exercise. (Here "running" is a noun, the subject of the sentence.)
They were spending money like there was no tomorrow. (Here "spending" is part of the verb of the kernel sentence.)
If the -ing verb is not part of the main clause, it is probably a verb cluster. Verb clusters usually have some words attached to the -ing word, but sometimes the -ing word stands alone as a one-word cluster. All of the following are verb clusters:
Spending money like there was no tomorrow, the shoppers snapped up all the bargains by noon.
Flashing a smile, Kara walked away.
Redialing, we finally got through.
Finally, verb clusters can dangle. When they do, they are usually called "dangling participles." To recognize a dangling participle, first find a verb cluster and then uncross it to see if the original sentence makes sense, like this:
Driving through the park, three bears were seen. (A sentence with a verb cluster)
Bring the subject of the main clause forward:
Three bears
Put the verb cluster after the subject and add a helping verb:
Three bears (were) driving through the park.
Does this sentence make sense in the context of the rest of the text? Unless you are reading a fairy tale or watching a cartoon, this sentence probably contains a dangling participle. Fix it by changing the verb cluster to a subordinate clause or by changing the noun of the main clause:
Fix one: When the tour bus went through the park, three bears were seen. (awkward but correct)
Fix two: Driving through the park, we saw three bears. (much better)
#Determiners
Determiners are used in front of nouns to indicate whether you are referring to something specific or something of a particular type.
Determiners are different to pronouns in that a determiner is always followed by a noun. Therefore personal pronouns ( I , you , he , etc.) and possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, etc.) cannot be determiners.
The definite and indefinite articles a/an/the are all determiners.
You use a specific determiner when people know exactly which thing(s) or person/people you are talking about.
The specific determiners are:
the definite article : the
demonstratives : this, that, these, those
possessives : my, your, his, her, its, our, their
For example:-
"The dog barked at the boy."
"These apples are rotten."
"Their bus was late."
You use general determiners to talk about people or things without saying exactly who or what they are.
The general determiners are:
the indefinite articles : a, an
a few
a little
all
another
any
both
each
either
enough
every few
fewer
less
little
many
more
most
much
neither
no
other
several
some
For example:-
"A man sat under an umbrella."
"Have you got any English books that I could have?"
"There is enough food to feed everyone."
Either and Neither
Either and neither are used in sentences concerning a possible choice between two items.
Either can mean one or the other (of two) or each of two.
For example:-
I've got tea and coffee, so you can have either. (One or the other)
The room has a door at either end. (Both)
Neither means not the first one and not the second one.
For example:-
Neither of the students were listening.
#Prepositions
Definition: Prepositions are a class of words that indicate relationships between nouns, pronouns and other words in a sentence. Most often they come before a noun. They never change their form, regardless of the case, gender etc. of the word they are referring to.
Some common prepositions are:
about
above
across
after
against
along
among
around
at
before
behind
below
beneath
beside
between
beyond
but
by
despite
down
during
except
for
from
in
inside
into
like
near
of
off
on
onto
out
outside
over
past
since
through
throughout
till
to
toward
under
underneath
until
up
upon
with
within
without.
Prepositions typically come before a noun:
For example:
after class
at home
before Tuesday
in London
on fire
with pleasure
A preposition usually indicates the temporal, spatial or logical relationship of its object to the rest of the sentence.
For example:
The book is on the table.
The book is beside the table.
She read the book during class.
In each of the preceding sentences, a preposition locates the noun "book" in space or in time.
Prepositions are classified as simple or compound.
Simple prepositions
Simple prepositions are single word prepositions. These are all showed above.
For example:
The book is on the table.
Compound prepositions
Compound prepositions are more than one word. in between and because of are prepositions made up of two words - in front of, on behalf of are prepositions made up of three words.
For example:
The book is in between War and Peace and The Lord of the Rings.
The book is in front of the clock.
Examples:
The children climbed the mountain without fear.
There was rejoicing throughout the land when the government was defeated.
The spider crawled slowly along the banister.
The following table contains rules for some of the most frequently used prepositions in English:
Prepositions of Time:
English Usage Example
on
days of the week
on Monday
in
months / seasons
time of day
year
after a certain period of time (when?)
in August / in winter
in the morning
in 2006
in an hour
at
for night
for weekend
a certain point of time (when?)
at night
at the weekend
at half past nine
since
from a certain point of time (past till now)
since 1980
for
over a certain period of time (past till now)
for 2 years
ago
a certain time in the past
2 years ago
before
earlier than a certain point of time
before 2004
to
telling the time
ten to six (5:50)
past
telling the time
ten past six (6:10)
to / till / until
marking the beginning and end of a period of time
from Monday to/till Friday
till / until
in the sense of how long something is going to last
He is on holiday until Friday.
by
in the sense of at the latest
up to a certain time
I will be back by 6 o’clock.
By 11 o'clock, I had read five pages.
Prepositions of Place:
English Usage Example
in
room, building, street, town, country
book, paper etc.
car, taxi
picture, world
in the kitchen, in London
in the book
in the car, in a taxi
in the picture, in the world
at
meaning next to, by an object
for table
for events
place where you are to do something typical (watch a film, study, work)
at the door, at the station
at the table
at a concert, at the party
at the cinema, at school, at work
on
attached
for a place with a river
being on a surface
for a certain side (left, right)
for a floor in a house
for public transport
for television, radio
the picture on the wall
London lies on the Thames.
on the table
on the left
on the first floor
on the bus, on a plane
on TV, on the radio
by, next to, beside
left or right of somebody or something
Jane is standing by / next to / beside the car.
under
on the ground, lower than (or covered by) something else
the bag is under the table
below
lower than something else but above ground
the fish are below the surface
over
covered by something else
meaning more than
getting to the other side (also across)
overcoming an obstacle
put a jacket over your shirt
over 16 years of age
walk over the bridge
climb over the wall
above
higher than something else, but not directly over it
a path above the lake
across
getting to the other side (also over)
getting to the other side
walk across the bridge
swim across the lake
through
something with limits on top, bottom and the sides
drive through the tunnel
to
movement to person or building
movement to a place or country
for bed
go to the cinema
go to London / Ireland
go to bed
into
enter a room / a building
go into the kitchen / the house
towards
movement in the direction of something (but not directly to it)
go 5 steps towards the house
onto
movement to the top of something
jump onto the table
from
in the sense of where from
a flower from the garden
# Noun and Verb Phrase
Noun Phrases
Noun Phrases are groups of words that can function as subjects or objects in sentences. They may take on various forms:
Water is important for survival.
(Single words)
Mr. Jones spoke to Dr. James.
(Proper names)
The boy ate an apple.
(Nouns and articles)
My friend works with her father.
(Nouns and possessives)
The young girl wore a long, white dress.
(Nouns and adjectives)
Some of the kids ate all of the cake.
(Nouns and quantifiers)
The man with the gun frightened the people in the bank.
(Nouns and prep. phrases)
The woman who lives there is my aunt.
(Nouns and relative clauses)
The dogs sleeping on the deck should be left alone.
(Nouns and phrases)
Whoever wrote this is in trouble.
(Noun clauses)
Pronouns and similar words can also function as subjects and objects:
He gave the money to us.
Someone left this.
Give me one of each.
Verb Phrases
Verb phrases are groups of words that express action or state of being. They take on
various forms.
The men live in the dormitory.
(Single verbs)
He stayed at the Hi Hat Hotel.
(Past tense verbs)
I am learning many new things.
(Progressive verbs)
She has been there before.
(Perfect verbs)
They have been working here five years.
(Perfect progressive verbs)
I could use some assistance.
(Verbs and modals)
The trip was approved by the professor.
(Passive verbs)
Do you want some more pie?
(Verbs in questions)
Other words can be added to enhance verb phrases:
The mayor works here.
(adverbs)
Neil is not a candidate.
(negatives)
They live in the suburbs.
(prepositional phrases)
She'll leave whenever she wants.
(adverbial clauses)
Don't talk while eating.
(phrases)
Dear Diary*
May i removing my steam?
it is too much something that should be discarded...
my heart has been injured for the umpteenth time, i never thinking if i have a liar friend.
i have five years making friends with her, but suddenly she lie to me.
it's so hurt, i do know what to say, i can believe it!
tell me, is this true?
a friend who i give a trust has been lie to me!
oh God, i think it's not fair...
why this is happen to me?
i hate this!
where is her heart?
damn!
i know,, karma certainly true..
just wait!
Am I weird? If i did not like CHOCOLATE?
I always asked my self, am i weird? it does not mean i'm weird but, it is related to my dislike with eating chocolate. i do not know why i can not like eating chocolate. the first impression when i tried to eat chocolate when i the first grade in elementary school. i try to eat the chocolate a little bit. but when the chocolate was on my tongue the chocolate so bitter.
the bitter make me want to throw up. i feel it is so disgust and i do not want eating the chocolate anymore.Imagine nearly 20 years I never eat chocolate again as was the coffee, milk chocolate and so on, that I do not want to try to eat it. maybe you would not believe. but that's reality. I really do not like food that smells of chocolate.
so, i wonder why i like that?
Am I weird??
(@_@)
" A dream"
I do not know why every night I always dream and the dream was always to have a real sense, actually I was very nervous, I do not know how can I not had another dream every night.
i have prayer before i sleep, but i still dream again and again..
i have told to my parent and my friends. They say this is the common something. but, according to me that is not common.
no day without dreaming..
i think that is so annoying.. i do not want dream again....
please tell me how the way to not dream again!!!!
T_T
I can't open my heart
Why i can't open my heart for people who want to represent to my life?
i can't answer the question! until now i was wondering why i like it,, many the man who wish to present to fill my heart but I'm not interested in any at all, I have not found someone who really accord with me,,
i can't believe with another anymore,, i just waiting for someone who's can open up my heart!!!
"It's Me"
Friday, March 2,2012
Today i have entered my the age in 20 years old,this is the beautiful day in my life. i think there is something special in my old.
i don't know why, maybe i'm so happy .. i wish i can get something special in march and i want became mature than before....
at the age of 20 years I have changed, because I was not a child anymore. I have to think up about the future,,
there is no time for messing around again..
that is a beautiful day ever.. (>_<)
Dear Diary,,
Today i'm so nerveous because there is Morsyn percentages in the class,, i have not done any preparation. i don't understand with this subject. that's so difficult!!
ouchhh!!!
i hate this subject.. the lecturer is very killer,,
we must be on time, do many exercise and do all of percentage every week...
it's makes me dizzy and lazy to come her class.. but i should not like it,, actually she is a good lecturer but i can not with her rules in class...
maybe i must realize, if the rule give the useful for me in the future.. :)