CHAPTER 11

Sentence Types
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A sentence is a grammatical construction that can stand by itself and

make sense (Crystal, 1996). By definition, every sentence contains
a subject and a main verb (finite verb) and expresses a complete
thought. There are four basic types of sentences: simple, complex, com-
pound, and compound–complex.
A simple sentence consists of one main clause (e.g., a duckbill platy-
pus lays eggs; it is a mammal; there was a tornado watch). A complex
sentence, however, contains one or more subordinate clauses in addition
to the main clause (e.g., because the duckbill platypus produces milk for
its young, scientists call it a mammal). A sentence that contains an infini-
tive verb in addition to a main clause is also complex:

Because of the tornado watch, the teachers required all students

to stay inside.
The students and their teachers wanted to go home.
To prepare for the tornado, families stored dry foods.

Sentences that contain participles (that act like truncated relative clauses)
and gerunds (that act like truncated nominal clauses), in addition to a main
clause, also are complex:

Complaining [PRT] about the service, Mary wrote [MC] a letter to

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the manager.
Building [GER] strong customer relationships was [MC] the
manager’s primary goal.

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A compound sentence contains at least two main clauses that are

joined by coordinate conjunctions that include but, and, so, and or:

Ice cream contains lots of sugar but it sure tastes good!

Cherries are fruit and artichokes are flowers.
We enjoy cakes so we bake them every week.
Fluffy will stay home or he will go to the park.

Compound sentences with ellipsis:  Sometimes a compound sentence

will delete one of the subjects, usually the second one, because it is redun-
dant. This is called ellipsis. In the following sentence, the subject of the
second main clause, they, is deleted:

The family packed [MC] up their car and drove [MC] to the mountains.

A compound–complex sentence contains at least two main clauses and

one or more subordinate clauses:

Today, the major environmental concern is [MC] global warming,

and many scientists believe [MC] that excess carbon dioxide is
raising [NOM] the temperature of the atmosphere.

ACTIVE VERSUS PASSIVE SENTENCES

It is important to distinguish between sentences in the active versus the

passive voice. Sentences in the active voice express ideas in a direct and
straightforward manner, with the subject clearly stating who performed the
main action of the sentence. The following sentences are in the active voice:

John kicked the football.

Mary wrote a letter.
Herman cut the birthday cake.
I expected that Jim would be late.

In contrast, sentences in the passive voice express ideas in an indirect,

wordy, and sometimes confusing manner, as in the following examples:

The football was kicked by John.

The letter was written by Mary.

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 11.  SENTENCE TYPES   205

The birthday cake was cut by Herman.

It was expected (by me) that Jim would be late.

Most of the time, the active voice is preferred because it expresses ideas
more efficiently. However, sometimes the passive voice is desired when the
speaker or writer is attempting to avoid blaming someone for an undesir-
able act or even to avoid taking responsibility for such an act, for example:

Mistakes were made (by the president of the company who

actually knew better).
A motorcycle was parked illegally (by its owner who was late
for work).
The house was left unlocked (by its occupant who was tired
and distracted).

When coding clauses in sentences that are in the passive voice, it is

important to remember that the main verb is still the same verb as in the
active voice, and that the code would be placed immediately after that
verb, as in these examples:

Mistakes were made [MC] (by the president of the company).

The president of the company made [MC] mistakes.
The motorcycle was parked [MC] illegally (by the owner).
The owner parked [MC] the motorcycle illegally.
The house was left [MC] unlocked (by its occupant).
The occupant left [MC] the house unlocked.
It was expected [MC] that Jim would be [NOM] late.
I expected [MC] that Jim would be [NOM] late.

SUBJECTLESS SENTENCES:  COMMAND AND ELLIPSIS

Although every sentence has a subject, command sentences (or imper-

atives) do not explicitly state the subject, which is understood by the
listener. Command sentences commonly occur when someone is giving
directions (e.g., eat your soup; be patient; try your best). In the following
paragraph, all sentences except one (“Sauce should be fairly thick”) are
commands, and the subject is “you.” The finite verbs have been italicized:

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 206   LANGUAGE SAMPLING WITH CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

Soak mushrooms in warm water for 30 minutes. Squeeze dry and

cut into thin strips. In a large nonstick frying pan, heat oil and
gently sauté the chicken. Add garlic and onion. Discard garlic
as it begins to brown. Continue cooking until onion is limp. Add
remaining ingredients. Season with salt and pepper if desired.
Simmer 30 minutes, or until chicken is tender. Sauce should be
fairly thick. Add water to thin if necessary (Oliva-Rasbach &
Schmidt, 1994, p. 364).

Sentences with ellipsis also omit the subject, as in the following examples:

Wish you were here.

Had a great time yesterday.
Told you so.
Looks like rain today.
Want a sandwich?
Hafta go now.

For the preceding sentences, respectively, the subjects are I, I, I, it, you,
and I. Ellipsis also can occur when answering a question:

Q:  Do you like baseball?

A:  Depends on who’s playing.
Q:  What else happened at the party?
A:  Can’t remember.
Q:  Where’d you go?
A:  To the track meet.
Q:  Who shall help bake this bread?
A:  Don’t look at me!

SENTENCE FRAGMENTS

Sentence fragments do not meet the definition of a sentence because they

lack a subject and/or a main verb. However, they are acceptable in spoken
and written contexts when they make a statement, express meaning, func-
tion as if they were complete, and are free of grammatical errors, as with
the following examples:

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 11.  SENTENCE TYPES   207

And now for the star of our show . . . Bob Hope!

One for all and all for one. (English proverb)
Far from the eye, far from the heart. (Maltese proverb)
To sleep . . . perchance to dream. (Shakespeare)

Sentence fragments also occur in the context of notes such as those

presented in field guides. In the following examples of sentence fragments,
note the many adjectives in italics used to describe the native birds of
Oregon (Tekiela, 2001):

Brewer’s blackbird:  An overall grayish brown bird (female)

Great horned owl:  A robust brown “horned” owl with bright
yellow eyes and V-shaped white bib (male)
Northern pintail:  A slender, elegant duck with a brown head,
white neck, gray body, and extremely long, narrow, black tail
(male); mottled brown body with a paler head and neck, long
tail, gray bill (female)
Red-winged blackbird:  Jet black bird with red and yellow patches
on upper wings (male); heavily streaked brown bird with white
eyebrows (female)

Another type of sentence fragment is one in which a subordinate clause

occurs in isolation:

When I am fit
However hard we tried
So that I arrived with no fuss, never a minute too soon or
too late

Sometimes this type of fragment occurs in natural communication to

answer a question or to make a comment. However, to turn them into
complete sentences, they must be attached to a main clause as in the fol-
lowing examples (Bannister, 2004):

When I am fit, my running feels effortless.

However hard we tried, it did not seem possible to meet our
target of 60 seconds.
They often drove me to athletics meetings so that I arrived with
no fuss, never a minute too soon or too late.

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 208   LANGUAGE SAMPLING WITH CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

HIERARCHICAL COMPLEXITY

Complex sentences often contain more than one subordinate clause. When
one subordinate clause is embedded into another subordinate clause,
which is embedded into the main clause, a complex hierarchy of clauses
occurs (Quirk & Greenbaum, 1973; Scott, 2009). This can be seen in the
following sentence:

I think [MC] you will succeed [NOM] if you try [ADV].

With this sentence, the ADV is embedded into the NOM, which is embed-
ded into the MC. With these types of sentences, it is possible to count the
levels of embedding that occur. The following sentence contains only one
subordinate clause:

Earthworms are [MC] shredders that can break [REL] large pieces
of dead material into smaller pieces.

Because it has only one subordinate clause, the sentence has only one
level of embedding (or complexity); the relative clause modifies the noun,
shredders. In contrast, the following sentence has two levels of embed-
ding, in which the second relative clause modifies the second instance of
the noun pieces.

Earthworms are [MC] shredders

that can break [REL] large pieces of dead material into
smaller pieces,
which are [REL] processed by fungi and bacteria

In determining levels of embedding, all verbs in a sentence represent

a clause, at least in the deep structure of the sentence. Now consider a
quote from Oprah Winfrey:

Books were [MC] my pass to personal freedom. I learned [MC]

to read [INF] at age three, and I soon discovered [MC] there was
[NOM] a whole world to conquer [INF] that went [REL] beyond
our farm in Mississippi.

The first sentence does not contain any embedding; it is a simple sentence.
However, the second sentence, which is compound–complex, contains two
levels of embedding:

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 11.  SENTENCE TYPES   209

I learned
to read at age three, (level one)
and I soon discovered
there was a whole world (level one)
to conquer (level two)
that went beyond our farm in Mississippi (level two)

For another interesting example, consider the following complex sentence:

If you are complaining [ADV] about a service you received [REL],

describe [MC] the service and who performed [NOM] it.

How many levels of embedding do you think it has? To determine this,

answer the following questions:

1. What is the main clause? (describe the service)*

2. What nominal clause completes it? (and who performed it)**
3. What adverbial clause introduces the main clause? (if you are
complaining about a service)
4. What relative clause modifies the adverbial clause? (you received)

In this sentence, the main clause has two subordinate clauses, the adverbial
and the nominal, which are on equal footing. Together, they create one
level of complexity. However, the adverbial clause is modified by a rela-
tive clause. This adds another level of complexity, so the entire sentence
has two levels of embedding. This can be visualized when, as shown here,
each level of embedding is indented:

If you are complaining [ADV] about a service

you received [REL],
describe [MC] the service and
who performed [NOM] it.

For an even more interesting example, consider the following complex

sentence of 44 words, written by Henry David Thoreau (2004, p. 88), which
contains five levels of embedding:

** Note that the subject of this imperative main clause is the unstated you.
** Note that the metalinguistic verb describe calls for a nominal clause.

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 210   LANGUAGE SAMPLING WITH CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

I went [MC] to the woods because I wished [ADV] to live [INF]

deliberately, to front [INF] only the essential facts of life, and see
[INF] if I could not learn [NOM] what it had [NOM] to teach [INF],
and not, when I came [ADV] to die [INF], discover [INF] that
I had not lived [NOM].

I went to the woods

because I wished (level one)
to live deliberately (level two)
to front only the essential facts of life (level two)
and see (level two)
if I could not learn (level three)
what it had (level four)
to teach (level five)
and not, when I came (level three)
to die (level four)
discover (level two)
that I had not lived (level three)

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