Sentence Types, Clauses, and Phrases

There are four kinds of basic sentences in English: simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex. A clause is a group of words with a subject and a verb that functions as a part or all of a complete sentence. There are two kinds of clauses: independent (main) and dependent (subordinate). Both of these have a subject and a verb, but only the independent clause is a complete sentence.

Independent clause: I have the money. [a complete sentence]

Dependent clause: When I have the money. [a fragment or incomplete sentence]

A dependent clause is a group of words with a subject and verb that depends on the main clause to give it meaning. One type of dependent clause is called a relative clause. A relative clause begins with a relative pronoun, a pronoun such as that, which, or who. Relative pronouns relate the clause to a noun in the sentence.

ex: which was very dark. [a fragment]

She bought a suit, which was very dark. [independent + dependent/relative clause]

A phrase is a group of words that go together. It differs from a clause in that a phrase does not have a subject and a verb. There are different types of phrases: prepositional phrase (in the house), verbal phrase (to go home), participial phrase (disconnected from the printer), and gerund phrase (using the computer).

Sentence Types:

• Simple: One independent clause ex: She worked every day.
• Compound: Two or more independent clauses ex: She worked every day, and she sang at night.
• Complex: One independent clause and one or more dependent clauses ex: Because she worked very hard, she made a lot of money.
• Compound-Complex: Two or more independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses ex: Because she worked very hard, she made a lot of money, and she saved her money to buy a house.

A simple sentence may have a compound subject and/or compound verbs and many phrases. ex: She and my brother went to the store and drove to the mall to buy furniture for the house across the street.

A compound sentence includes a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS = for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) that joins the two independent clauses. There is a comma before the conjunction. ex: She bought some roses, and he bought some tires.  It is also possible to join the two independent clauses with a semicolon instead of a coordinating conjunction.

A complex sentence includes a comma if the dependent clause begins the sentence. ex: Because he was tired, he went to bed. However, if the dependent clause follows the independent clause, there is no comma. ex: He went to bed because he was tired.