1. Sentence Structure

2. Clause A clause is a group of related words with a subject and a verb.
Ex: John walked home. (This collection of words has a subject- John- and a verb- walked.)
Ex: After they played the game. (Again, this collection of words is a clause because it has a subject- they- and a verb- played.)
The following is NOT a clause: Walking home after the game. (while this collection of words has a verb- walking- it does not have a subject and is therefore NOT a clause.)

3. Types of Clauses
For the purposes of this section, there are TWO types of clauses you need to know:
1. Independent Clause: A collection of words with a subject and a verb, that can stand on its own as a sentence.
Ex: The student writes her essay. (This clause has a subject- student- and a verb- writes, and expresses a complete thought.)
2. Dependent Clause (or subordinate clause) A collection of words with a subject and a verb that does NOT express a complete thought.
Ex: When the student writes her essay. (this clause has a subject- student- and a verb- writes, but DOES NOT express a complete thought.

4. 4 Types of Sentences
Simple
Compound
Complex
Compound-Complex

5. Simple Sentence
A Simple sentence is a sentence with ONE independent clause. An independent clause and a simple sentence, are the same thing.
Ex: John cooked hamburgers for the cookout. (John is the subject, cooked is the verb, and the sentence is a complete thought, which makes it an independent clause, and thus a simple sentence.)
-Ex: Maria prepared potato salad for the cookout. (Maria is the subject, prepared is the verb, and the sentence is a complete thought, which makes it an independent clause, and thus a simple sentence.)

6. Compound Sentence
A compound sentence is a sentence that contains TWO independent clauses joined by either a conjunction or a semicolon.
Ex: John grilled hamburgers for the cookout and Mary prepared potato salad. (The first independent clause is “John grilled hamburgers for the cookout” because it contains a subject, John, contains a verb, grilled, and expresses a complete thought. Likewise, “Mary prepared potato salad.” is an independent clause because it contains a subject, Mary, a verb, prepared, and makes a complete thought. Because these two independent clauses are joined by the conjunction “and” together they make a compound sentence.

7. Compound Sentence (cont.)
Ex: The students wanted to leave; the teachers started grading papers. (The first independent clause is “The students wanted to leave.” Students is the subject, wanted is the verb and the clause expresses a complete thought. The second independent clause is “the teachers started grading papers.” Teachers is the subject, started is the verb and it expresses a complete thought. Because these two independent clauses are joined by a semicolon, they form a compound sentence.)

8. Important Note
It is important to note that a sentence can have more than one subject, or more than one predicate, and still be a simple sentence.
EX: John grilled hotdogs and prepared potato salad for the cookout.
This is called a compound predicate. There is one subject, “John”, performing two actions, “grilling” and “preparing.” because there is still only one subject, there is not two independent clauses, and thus it is just a simple sentence because it contains only one independent clause.
Ex: John and Mary prepared food for the cookout.
This is called a compound subject. There are two subjects, “John” and Mary,” performing one verb, “preparing.” Thus there is not two independent clauses and the sentence is just a simple sentence because it contains only one independent clause.

9. Complex Sentence
A complex sentence is a sentence that contains one independent clause and one dependent clause.
Ex: When the bell rings, the students leave the classroom. (“When the bell rings is a dependent clause. It has a subject, “bell,” and a verb, “rings,” but it does not express a complete thought. “The students leave the classroom is an independent clause. It has a subject, “students,” a verb, “leave,” and expresses a complete thought. Because these two clauses, a dependent clause and an independent clause are joined together, they make a complex sentence.

10. Compound-Complex Sentence
A compound-complex sentence is a sentence that contains two independent clauses and one dependent clause.
Ex: Before they left for the cookout, John grilled hotdogs and Mary prepared potato salad. (“Before they left for the cookout” is a dependent clause because it contains a subject, “they,” contains a verb, “left,” but does not express a complete thought. “John grilled hot dogs” is an independent clause because it contains a subject, “John,” contains a verb, “grilled,” and expresses a complete thought. Likewise, “Mary prepared potato salad” is also and independent clause because it contains a subject, “Mary,” contains a verb, “prepared,” and expresses a complete thought. Because the sentence contains two independent clauses and one dependent clause, it is a compound-complex sentence.)

11. Important Note Can you guess what kind of sentences the following are?
On the right side of the winding dirt road near the intersection of two very old and seldom used roads, Johnson’s lane and Miller’s loop, in the middle of a large and hilly pasture, on four large and imposing concrete blocks, there sat a rusted, broken down old tractor.
Getting up to go and take his turn at bat, John took a couple of practice swings.
Bill walked; Mary followed.
When John left, the phone rang.
After Johnny arrived, Brenda called and Phil answered.

12. Answers
This is a simple sentence. While it may seem very long and complex, it is mostly filled with prepositional phrases and adjectives. The only clause in it is “there sat a rusted, broken down old tractor.” The rest are prepositional phrases, and contain no verbs. Length has nothing to do with what kind of sentence it is.
This sentence is also a simple sentence. While it appears to contain more than one clause, we must remember that “getting up to go and take his turn at bat” is not a clause because, while it does contain a verb, contains no subject. The only clause is “John took a couple of practice swings,” making this a simple sentence.
Despite its brevity, number three is a compound sentence because both clauses, “Bill walked” and “married followed” are independent clauses because they have a subject, a verb and express a complete thought. Remember, sentence length DOES NOT determine what kind of sentence it is.
Number 4 is a complex sentence. “When John left” is a dependent clause and “the phone rang” is an independent clause.
Number 5 is a compound-complex sentence. “After Johnny arrived” is a dependent clause and “Brenda called” and “Phil answered” are independent clauses.