Sentence Structures

Sam An Teng

You may have been familiar with the six sentence patterns in previous lesson. Those patterns form a sentence structure called simple sentence. In English, there are four sentence structures: simple sentence, compound sentence, complex sentence, and compound-complex sentence.

[1] SIMPLE SENTENCE

A simple sentence contains one independent clause. This clause can stand alone and expresses a complete thought.


For examples,

  •  She is singing.
  •  The boy and his mother are jogging.
  •  Bora studies very hard.
  •  Two boys are playing in the field.
  •  He is a good student.
  •  His performance is always good.
  •  Many people are writing novels these days.
  •  The man tells his son the business tips.
  •  We name our puppy Doly.
  •  A man made his wife upset.

[2] COMPOUND SENTENCE

A compound sentence contains two or more independent clauses. These clauses are joined a semi colon, a coordinating conjunction, or a conjunctive adverb. Look at the examples,

Joined by semi-colon:

  •   He didn't come to class; he was sick.
  •  They didn't study hard; they failed their final exams.

Joined by coordinating conjunctions: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so

  •  He didn't come to class, for he was sick.
  •  They didn't study hard, so they failed their final exams.

Joined by subordinating conjunctions: however, therefore, moreover, consequently ...

  •  He was sick; therefore, he didn't come to class.
  •  They didn't study hard; consequently, they failed their final exams.

[3] COMPLEX SENTENCE

A complex sentence contains one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses. These clauses are joined by subordinating conjunction like if, who, that, when, after, before, during...

For examples,

  •  I will change my laptop when I have enough money.
  •   If you are drunk, don't drive.
  •   I will call you after I get home.
  •   We have to get thing ready before our boss arrives.
  •  If you fail your exam which is arranged only twice a year, you have to wait another six months.

[4] COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCE

A compound-complex sentence contains two or more independent clauses and one more dependent clauses.

For examples,

  •   I don't know the solution that best solve the situation, and nobody else can give advice.
  •   We have got many problems which is related to our supply chain, and our customers have made a lot of complaints.
  •   If the company ignores the problem with working conditions, the turnover rate will rise, and the productivity will definitely go down.
  •  Some students do not study hard, but when they fail, they always make complaints about the school.