Sentence Types - Chandler Unified School District



Sentence Types

A Simple Sentence may have single or compound subject. It may have a single or compound predicate. But, a simple sentence has only one independent clause and no dependent clauses. It may contain one or more phrases.

➢ My back aches.

➢ My teeth and my eyes hurt

➢ My throat and nose feel sore and look red

➢ I must have caught the flu from the sick kid in class after drinking from his water bottle.

A Compound Sentence consists of two independent clauses. The clauses must be joined by a semicolon or by a comma and a coordinating conjunction.

➢ I usually don’t mind missing school, but this is not fun.

➢ I feel too sick to watch TV or read a book; I fee too sick to eat.

A Complex Sentence contains one independent clause (underlined) and one or more dependent clauses (in bold).

➢ When I get back to school, I’m actually going to appreciate it.

➢ I won’t even complain about math class, although I might be talking out of my head because I’m feverish.

A Compound-Complex Sentence contains two or more independent clauses (underline) and one ore more dependent clauses (in bold).

➢ Yes, I have a bad flue, and because I need to get well soon, I won’t think about school just yet.

Sentence Functions

Declarative Sentence: Makes a statement. They tell us something about a person, a place, a thing or an idea. EX. The Statue of Liberty stands in New York Harbor.

Interrogative Sentence: Asks a question. EX. Did you know that the Statue of liberty is made of copper and stands over 150 feet tall?

Imperative Sentence: Makes a command. They often contain an understood subject (you). EX. Go see the Statue of Liberty.

Exclamatory Sentence: Communicates a strong emotion or surprise. EX. Climbing 168 stairs is not a dumb idea?

Conditional Sentence: Expresses wishes (“If . . . then” statements) or conditions contrary to fact. EX. If you were to climb to the top of the statue, then you could share in the breathtaking feeling experienced by many hopeful immigrants.

Sentence Arrangements

Loose Sentence: Expresses the main thought near the beginning and adds explanatory material as needed. EX. We hauled out the boxes of food and set up the camp stove, all the time battling the hot wind that would not stop, even when we screamed into the sky.

Balanced Sentence: Emphasizes a similarity or a contrast between two or more of its parts (words, phrases, or clauses). EX. The wind in our ears drove us crazy and pushed us on.

Periodic Sentence: Postpones the crucial or most surprising idea until the end. EX. Following my mother’s repeated threats to ground me for life, I decided it was time to propose a compromise.

Cumulative Sentence: Places the general idea in the middle of the sentence with modifying clauses and phrases coming before and after. EX. With careful thought, and extra attention to detail, I wrote out my plan for being a model teenager, a teen who cared about neatness and reliability.

Clauses and Phrases

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To understand punctuation, it is helpful to understand the difference between a phrase and a clause.

I. A phrase is a collection of words that may have nouns or verbals, but it does not have a subject doing a verb. The following are examples of phrases:

• leaving behind the dog

• smashing into a fence

• before the first test

• after the devastation

• between ignorance and intelligence

• broken into thousands of pieces

• because of her glittering smile

In these examples above, you will find nouns (dog, fence, test, devastation, ignorance, intelligence, thousands, pieces). You also have some verbals (leaving, smashing), but in no case is the noun functioning as a subject doing a predicate verb. They are all phrases.

II. A clause is a collection of words that has a subject that is actively doing a verb. The following are examples of clauses:

• since she laughs at diffident men

• I despise individuals of low character

• when the saints go marching in

o Obediah Simpson is more creative than Picasso

• because she smiled at him

In the examples above, we find either a noun or a pronoun that is a subject (bold-print) attached to a predicate verb (underlined) in each case:

• since she laughs at diffident men

• I despise individuals of low character

• when the saints go marching in

• Obediah Simpson is more creative than Picasso

• because she smiled at him

III. If the clause could stand by itself, and form a complete sentence with punctuation, we call the clause an independent clause. The following are independent clauses:

• I despise individuals of low character

• Obediah Simpson is more creative than Picasso

We call them independent because these types of clauses can stand independently by themselves, without any extra words attached, and be complete sentences.

IV. Dependent clauses have a subject doing a verb, but they have a subordinate conjunction placed in front of the clause. That subordinate conjunction means that the clause can't stand independently by itself and become a complete sentence. Instead, the dependent clause is dependent upon another clause--it can't make a complete sentence by itself, even though it has a subject doing a verb. Here are some examples of dependent clauses:

• since she laughs at diffident men

• when the saints go marching in

• because she smiled at him

These clauses simply do not form complete thoughts or sentences by themselves. Those subordinate conjunctions--since, when, and because--cause the listener to expect some extra material. The thoughtis incomplete. If you walked up to a friend in the dorms and said, "since she laughs at diffident men," and then walked away without adding an independent clause, the friend would be completely baffled.

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