Ministry of Education

Secondary Engagement Programme

September 2020

WEEK SIX: Lesson Three

Subject: English A

Topic: Types of Sentences – Simple/Compound/Complex

Grade: Eleven

Objectives:

1. After discussion of concepts and analysis of examples, students will differentiate between the types of
sentences correctly.
2. After discussion and analysis, students will create the different types of sentences correctly.
Content:

Simple Sentence

A simple sentence contains one independent clause.

What’s an “independent clause”? It’s one subject followed by one verb or verb phrase. It expresses a single
idea.

Examples of simple sentences:

 I am happy.

 Robert doesn’t eat meat.

 My brother and I went to the mall last night.

 This new laptop computer has already crashed twice.

Notice that a “simple sentence” isn’t necessarily short. The subject can be a single word like “I” or “Robert,” or
it can be a double subject like “my brother and I,” or it can be multiple words describing a single person/object,
like “This new laptop computer.”

Compound Sentence

A compound sentence has two independent clauses joined by a linking word (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so,
however).

Each independent clause could be a sentence by itself, but we connect them with a linking word:

 Iam happy, but my kids are always complaining.

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  Robert doesn’t eat meat, so Barbara made a special vegetarian dish for him.

 My brother and I went to the mall last night, but we didn’t buy anything.

 This new laptop computer has already crashed twice, and I have no idea why.

Note that each sentence has TWO subjects and TWO verb phrases.

Complex Sentence

A complex sentence has one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses.

A dependent clause cannot be a complete sentence by itself.

 I am happy, even though I don’t make much money.

 Robert, a friend I’ve known since high school, doesn’t eat meat.

 After getting home from work, my brother and I went to the mall last night.

 This new laptop computer, which I bought yesterday, has already crashed twice.

Exercise:

Classify the following under one of these headings – Simple/Compound/Complex

1. The baby cried for food.

2. After eating lunch at The Cheesecake Factory, Tim went to the gym to exercise.

3. The woman who taught Art History 210 was fired for stealing school supplies.

4. Professor Maple’s intelligent students completed and turned in their homework.

5. Megan and Ron ate too much and felt sick.

6. The shoplifter had stolen clothes, so he ran once he saw the police.

7. They spoke to him in Spanish, but he responded in English.

8. Vampires Dairies is my favourite television show, but I also love True Blood.

9. The student wiped the white board that was filthy with last week’s notes.

10. The trendy fashion designer released her new line on Wednesday.

11. Trina and Hareem went to a bar in Hollywood to celebrate their anniversary.

12. Wicked Regina cast a spell on the entire city, so the citizens decided to rebel.

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 Answer Sheet

1. Simple
2. Complex
3. Complex
4. Simple
5. Compound
6. Compound
7. Compound
8. Compound
9. Complex
10. Simple
11. Simple
12. complex

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