UNIT 3

TYPE OF SENTENCE STRUCTURE

A sentence’s “structure” is the way its words are arranged. In English, we have four
main sentence structures: the simple sentence, the compound sentence, the complex sentence,
and the compound-complex sentence. Each uses a specific combination of independent and
dependent clauses to help make sure that our sentences are strong, informational, and most
importantly, that they make sense!

1. Simple Sentence is a simple sentence contains one subject and one verb (the sentence has
only one verb)
Example:

· Mr. Filbert lost his wallet on the train.

· The explosion destroyed every house on the block

· I like coffee.

· Mary likes tea.

· The earth goes round the sun.

· Mary did not go to the party.

2. Compound Sentence is a sentence containing more than one clause/more than one simple
sentence. Each of clauses could potentially stand alone as an independent sentence. The main
clauses may be linked by:
1. Semi-colon
e.g. Our car broke down; we came last.
2. By coordinating conjucntion (and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so)
e.g. Maria has a new doll, but she still prefers the old one.
3. By a conjunctive adverb (accordingly, therefore, then, however)
e.g. Frantic is my favourite film; however, I've only seen it once.
4. By correlative conjunction (either.... or..., neither... nor..., both.... and..., not only... but
also...)
e.g. Either he took his eye off the ball or the pitch fooled him, for sure he missed the ball.
3. Complex Sentence is a sentence that contains an independent clause and one or more
dependent clause. As we know that an independent clause can stand alone as a sentence, but
a dependent clause even though it has a subject and a verb, it can’t stand alone.
Here are some common subordinating conjunctions:
after, although, as, because, before, how, if, once, since, than, that, though, till, until, when,
where, whether, while, that, which, who, whom, whose.
Examples;

· She returned the computer after she noticed it was damaged

· Although he was wealthy, he was still unhappy

· We missed our plane because we were late.

· Our dog barks when she hears a noise.

· He left in a hurry after he got a phone call.

· Do you know the man who is talking to Mary?

4. Compound-Complex sentence: it has at least two independent clauses and at least one
dependent clause. It contains two or more main clauses and at least one subordinate clause.
Example:

· Mr.Hankin is retired now, and the business that he founded is managed by his son in-
law.

· Kate doesn’t like cartoons because they are loud, so she doesn’t watch them.

· He left in a hurry after he got a phone call but he came back five minutes later.