Directions: Write when I tell you to.

Types of sentences There are three main types of sentence. A simple sentence. A compound sentence. A complex sentence.

The cat pounced. The mouse ran away. Types of sentences Simple sentence – one action. It contains a subject (the person or thing doing the action) and a verb (a doing word). The cat pounced. The mouse ran away.

The cat pounced, but the mouse ran away. Types of sentences Compound sentence – usually more than one action going on. Two simple sentences, joined by FANBOYS—for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so (conjunctions). The cat pounced, but the mouse ran away.

Compound The cat pounced. The mouse ran away. Joined by a comma and a conjunction (but). The cat pounced, but the mouse ran away.

Although the cat pounced, the mouse ran away. Types of sentences Complex sentence – a simple sentence plus a clause which adds information to the sentence. The clause cannot stand on its own as a sentence. Although the cat pounced, the mouse ran away.

Complex sentence The mouse ran away (Complete sentence--The mouse is doing the action, and “ran” is the verb). Although the cat pounced…(What? The thought isn’t complete, so it can’t stand alone—it needs to be tied to a complete sentence) Although the cat pounced, the mouse ran away (joined with a comma).

Sentence Combining Sentence combining is taking simple sentences and combining them into compound and complex sentences. Sentence combining makes for better sentence FLUENCY, or flow.

Start with simple sentences. Combine these into one. There is a barn. The barn is old. The barn is brown. The barn is in a green field. There are mountains. The mountains are in the distance.

Combine all of the sentences into one fluid sentence, using compound and complex sentences. The old, brown barn sits on a green field, and mountains sit in the distance.

Things to remember. Get rid of uninteresting words. Add new, descriptive words which describe the sensory details in the scene. Don’t go overboard with descriptors (adjectives). Use correct punctuation—commas in a series and with conjunctions in compound sentences. Use enough to make it interesting and SHOW what you are writing about.

One more. There is a lighthouse. It is on the beach. The beach is next to the ocean. The beach has white sand. The water is blue.

What are some of yours? On an ocean beach with white sands and blue water, a lighthouse stands tall. The lighthouse sits on a beach next to an ocean with white sands and blue water.