Sentences Simple, Compound and Complex Experienced writers use a variety of sentences to make their writing interesting and lively. Too many simple sentences, for example, will sound choppy and immature while too many long sentences will be difficult to read and hard to understand. 

Clauses - review Independent clause – stands alone; a complete thought Jip ran through the yard. Dependent clause – cannot stand alone; needs more explanation; needs the other part of the sentence to make sense; sometimes shows a cause and effect situation. because he was chasing the cat.

Dependent or Independent? Underline dependent clauses in red, independent clauses in blue. Ralph made new friends when he started fifth grade. After the game, I went to the Pizza Palace. He didn’t get to play in the game, because he was too late. She didn’t finish her homework, but still passed the test.

Simple Sentence A simple sentence, also called an independent clause, contains a subject and a verb, and it expresses a complete thought. The boy threw the ball. Mary ate lunch. I woke up.

Compound Sentences A compound sentence contains two independent clauses joined by a coordinator. Some of these coordinators are: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. Alice finished her homework, so she went out to play. Jerry ate his dinner, and he went to bed. Jip was hungry, yet he left food in his bowl.

Complex Sentence A complex sentence has an independent clause joined by one or more dependent clauses. A complex sentence always has a subordinator such as because, since, after, although, or when. A rainbow appeared after the storm passed. OR After the storm passed, a rainbow appeared. He ripped his jeans when he fell. OR When he fell, he ripped his jeans.

Confused? – Let’s review Coordinator or Conjunction - A word that is used to join two independent clauses – for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. (FANBOYS) Subordinators – a conjunction used when one ideas is less needed than the other – a dependent clause - although, since, when, while, because Look for these words. Then decide if it is connecting two completely independent thoughts, or if one of them is a dependent clause (it needs the other part to make sense.) Once you decide, you can choose the correct sentence type.

While standing in line, Mary talked on her phone. What Type of Sentence? – Underline the independent clause with red. Underline dependent clauses in blue. Look for coordinator (joiners) or subordinators (means one depends on the other.) While standing in line, Mary talked on her phone. Alice and Tom went swimming, and they went to the movies. Jerry finished his homework, yet left it at home. After they swam, they went to the movies. The cat sat on the window ledge because of the view. The class was very quiet. The class was very quiet, so they went out to recess. Because they were quiet, the class earned a reward. Mario passed his test, because he studied very hard.