Sentence Types

Sentence Types
ByDouglasJones
LanguageandCultureCenter
UniversityofHouston

Simple
Compound
Complex

SUBJECT

PREDICATE

SUBJECT

PREDICATE

Mary

playstennis.

SUBJECT

PREDICATE

Mary

playstennis.

one subject

one predicate

TomandMary

Compound Subject
&

playtennis.

TomandMary

playtennisandswim.

Compound Subject

Compound Predicate

&

&

Tom and Mary play tennis.

Tom and Mary play tennis and swim.

Hi,
ImPunctuationPete!

Tom and Mary play tennis and swim.

Nocommabeforeand
incompound
subjectsandpredicates!

SUBJECT

PREDICATE
and

SUBJECT

PREDICATE

Tom

swims,

and

Mary

playstennis.

FOR
AND
NOR
BUT
OR
YET
SO

Tom swims, and Mary plays tennis.

Clause 1
Independent

Clause 2
Independent

Tom swims, and Mary plays tennis.

Commabeforeand
incompound
sentences!

MOREOVER
HOWEVER
OTHERWISE
THEREFORE

Bob is handsome; moreover, he is rich.

Clause 1
Independent

Clause 2
Independent

Bob is handsome; moreover, he is rich.

Note:Semicolonbeforeconjunctive
adverbandcommaafterconjunctiveadverb!

Bob is handsome; he is, moreover, rich.

Note:Placecommasbeforeand
afteraconjunctiveadverb
inthemiddle!

Bob is handsome; he is rich, moreover.

Bob is handsome; he is rich, moreover.

Note:Placeacommabefore
aconjunctiveadverb
attheend!

If the relation between the ideas

expressed in the main clauses is very
close and obvious without a
conjunction, you can separate the
clauses with a semicolon (Little,
Brown Handbook, 9th Edition, p. 361).

Matt has benefited from his exercise

program; he is slim and energetic.

SUBJECT

PREDICATE
eventhough

SUBJECT

PREDICATE

Bob

ispopular
eventhough

he

isugly.

EVEN THOUGH
WHEN
ADVERB CLAUSES

BECAUSE
UNLESS
WHEREAS

Bob is popular even though he is ugly.

Clause 1
Independent

Clause 2
Dependent

Even though Bob is ugly, he is popular.

Clause 1
Dependent

Clause 2
Independent

Bob is popular even though he is ugly.

WhentheMAINclauseisfirst,
itisusuallyNOT
followedbyacomma!

Even though Bob is ugly, he is popular.

WhentheADVERBclauseisfirst,
itisfollowedbyacomma!

Mike

ispopular
because

he

isgoodlooking,
but

he

isnotveryhappy.

Mike is popular because he is good

looking, but he is not very happy.
Punctuateeachclause
accordingtoitsrules!

Punctuation
Review!

SIMPLE SENTENCE

My friends and I play tennis and go bowling

every weekend.

Nocommasbeforeandin
compoundsubjectsandpredicates!

COMPOUND SENTENCE:
Coordinating Conjunction

Men may exercise harder, but they may not

exercise as regularly as women do.

Commabeforecoordinating
conjunction!

COMPOUND SENTENCE:
Conjunctive Adverb
Native and nonnative English speakers have
different needs; however, some schools fail to
distinguish between these groups.

Semicolonbeforeconjunctive
adverb
Commaafterconjunctive
adverb!

COMPOUND SENTENCE:
Conjunctive Adverb--in the middle
Native and nonnative English speakers have
different needs; some schools, however, fail to
distinguish between these groups.

Semicolonafterfirst
independentclause
Commasbeforeandafterconjunctive
adverb!

COMPOUND SENTENCE:
Conjunctive Adverb at the end
Native and nonnative English speakers have
different needs; some schools fail to distinguish
between these groups, however.

Semicolonafterfirst
independentclause
Commabeforeconjunctive
adverb!

COMPLEX SENTENCE:
Adverb Clauses--Subordinating
Conjunction

People had continuous moderate

exercise when they had to hunt for food.

Whenmainclauseisfirst,
itisnotusuallyfollowedbyacomma!

COMPLEX SENTENCE:
Adverb Clauses--Subordinating
Conjunction

When people had to hunt for food, they had

continuous moderate exercise.

Whentheadverbclauseisfirst,
itisfollowedbyacomma!

WritingAcademicEnglish,SecondEdition,byAlice
OshimaandAnnHogue.WhitePlains:Addison,
Wesley,Longman,1999.
TheLittle,BrownHandbook,byH.RamseyFowlerand
JaneE.Aaron,Pearson,2004.