Types of Sentences

REVIEWING THE PARTS OF SPEECH  NOUN: a person, place, thing, idea, concept. Examples: dog, house, intelligence, ignominy  VERB: an action word. Examples: run, walk, act, be.  ADJECTIVE: describes a noun. Examples: green, angry, emaciated.  ADVERB: describes a verb. Examples: loudly, angrily, well.

WHAT’S A CLAUSE? (it has nothing to do with Santa!)  A clause contains a SUBJECT (the part of the sentence with a noun) and a PREDICATE (the part of the sentence with a verb.  INDEPENDENT CLAUSES can stand alone as sentences.  DEPENDENT CLAUSES cannot stand alone.

TYPES OF SENTENCES  SIMPLE SENTENCE: has a SUBJECT and a PREDICATE.  Copy and label the two examples below:

Some examples of simple sentences… The subject(s) are BOLDED, and the verb(s) are in italics.  Students at AHS study hard and always make good grades.  Ms. Jackson grades every day but never finishes in a timely manner.  The large brown dog and the young boy ran and played in the new park across the street from the old church.

Something you cannot do:  You may NOT join two simple sentences by using a comma.  This is called a COMMA SPLICE and it is a common grammar mistake. Ex: Mike enjoys football, Jeff likes track. THIS LOOKS RIGHT. IT IS NOT. I PROMISE.

INSTEAD…  We connect the two sentences using a COMMA and a COORDINATING CONJUNCTION.  This is called a COMPOUND SENTENCE. Ex: Mike enjoys football, but Jeff likes track.

Coordinating Conjunctions FANBOYS (copy these!) F – for A – and N – nor B – but O – or Y – yet S – so

One More Thing…  A compound sentence can also be connected by a semicolon—ditch the FANBOYS, though.  Ex: Mike enjoys football; Jeff likes track.

Examples Which method does each compound sentence use?  The girls ran down the hall, but Mr. Perkins caught them.  Evan didn’t study, yet he still passed.  The dog slept on the rug; the cat slept on the table.

Complex Sentence A complex sentence contains an independent clause and one or more dependent clauses. Ex: Dan set the table while his mom cooked dinner.  Do you see the two clauses?  What connects them?  “While” is a subordinating conjunction.

Subordinating Conjunctions ABBI SAW A WUWU A lthough B ecause B efore I f S ince A fter W hen A s W hile U ntil W here U nless

When to use a comma in complex sentences…  Only use a comma when the DEPENDENT CLAUSE (the one with the subordinating conjunction) comes first. EX: The dog ran across the yard because it saw a cat.  What’s the subordinating conjunction?  Is it at the beginning?  Do we need a comma?

Comma or no comma? When Brenda screamed Anthony jumped.  What’s the subordinating conjunction?  Is it at the beginning?  Do we need a comma? Although David went to Disneyland he never saw Mickey Mouse.  What’s the subordinating conjunction?  Is it at the beginning?  Do we need a comma? Before you can pass the vocabulary quiz you need to study.  What’s the subordinating conjunction?  Is it at the beginning?  Do we need a comma?

What kind of sentence is it?  Label the following sentences simple (S), compound (CD), or complex (CX). USE YOUR NOTES TO FIGURE IT OUT!  The boys and girls in Ms. Jackson’s class are the best students at AHS.  If Wendy is correct, a hurricane will hit Houston.  The door opened, but no one was there.  I forgot to study; I hope I pass.  I usually need some coffee when I first wake up.  Travis likes to sleep all day but usually doesn’t get the chance.

Practice Makes Perfect  Take out your latest vocabulary list.  On an index card, write your name at the top.  Write 1 SIMPLE sentence using a vocabulary word.  Write 1 COMPOUND sentence using a comma and a FANBOYS and use a vocabulary word.  Write 1 COMPOUND sentence using a semicolon and use a vocabulary word.  Write 1 COMPLEX sentence using 2 vocabulary words.