The 4 types of sentence structure in English

There are four types of English Sentences: Simple, Compound, Complex, and Compound Complex

Simple sentence

Simple sentence equals one independent clause. It consists of subject + verb + complement

Ex: He played football.

Ex. John washed his car.

Ex: she ate his lunch.

Ex: They went to the zoo.

We just add a full stop at the end of the sentence.

 

Compound sentence

The second type is the compound sentence. It equals two independent clauses. There are 3 types of compound sentence.

-      Using a comma and conjunction.

-      Using a semicolon, a transition, and a comma.

-      Using a semicolon only.

 

First, use a comma and conjunction.

Ex: The waiter brought us some water, and we looked at the menus.

We have two sentences here, and they are joined with the comma and the conjunction and.

Look at the next example.

Ex: The cyclist used all of his energy, but he rode up the steep hill very slowly.

Again, we have two sentences. And these two sentences are joined with a comma and the conjunction but.

There are 7 types of conjunctions used with this case. They are abbreviated to the phrase “FAN BOYS”.

(For, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so). You should memorize them.

 

Second, use a semicolon, a transition, and a comma.

There is another way to make a compound sentence and that's with transition words. These are just some of the transition words that you can use in your writing.

(Therefore, however, in addition, thus, furthermore, similarly, otherwise, then, nonetheless, and also)

You need to memorize these words because they are punctuated differently than the conjunctions. Here are some examples of this type of compound sentence.

Ex: I was late to work; therefore, my boss is not happy.

Again, I have two sentences. And I'm joining them with a transition word, therefore. When we use a transition word, we have to put a semicolon in front of the word and a comma after the word.

Look at the next example.

Ex: Saving money is not easy; however, it is a good habit to follow.

Again, I have two sentences and I'm joining them with a transition word, so I have to put the semicolon in front of the transition, and a comma after the transition.

 

Third, Use a semicolon only.

There is one other type of compound sentence that you might use occasionally. In this type of compound sentence we only use a semicolon to join two sentences. Look at the first example.

Ex: Susan is very healthy; she usually walks to work. Notice that these two sentences are very closely related. And we kind of have the meaning of and here.

When we have two sentences that are very closely related and have the idea of and, we can use a semicolon by itself to join the two sentences. Notice I don't have a conjunction or transition here. I'm just using a semicolon, and it has kind of the meaning of and.

 

Look at the next example.

Ex: The music was loud; everyone was dancing.

Again, notice that these two sentences are very closely related. And we could imagine saying and here. When your sentences are closely related, you can join them with a semicolon. However, be careful that you do not use this method or this type of sentence too much in your writing.

 

Complex sentence

The third type of sentences is the complex sentence. It equals independent clauses plus dependent clause. A complex sentence has one independent clause and at least one dependent clause.

 

Subject + verb + complement + connector + subject + verb + complement

Ex:  We listened to music while Sam washed his face.

When you start with the independent clause, you do not put a comma in the sentence. There's no comma before while.

 

We can reverse them. Both of them are correct as we can write the complex sentences two different ways.

Connector + subject + verb + complement, subject + verb + complement

Ex: While Sam washed his face, we listened to music.

When your dependent clause is first, when it starts the sentence, we have to put the comma after the dependent clause.

 

The dependent clause is this part, while Sam washed his face.

The reason this is dependent is because it cannot be a sentence. This is not a sentence by itself. And the reason for that is because of this word, while.  While is an adverb clause connector. When you start with an adverb clause connector, you need a subject and a verb. We do have that, but we don't have a complete thought.

 

Here is that group of words will make up your dependent clause. And dependent clauses are one part of complex sentences.

(After, before, while, if, although, when, since, and because)

 

Here are some other adverb clause connectors. These are not as common, but they work just the same.

(Even if, in case, so that, unless, even though, whether or not)

 

Compound-Complex sentence

The last and the fourth type of sentences is the Compound-Complex sentence. As the name suggests, it brings both of these sentence forms together. It contains at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause.

 

Ex. Kate doesn’t like cartoons because they are loud, so she doesn’t watch them.

Ex: Erin loves her brother, and he loves her too because she pays his bills.

Ex: The dog ran off when I chased him, but I didn't care.

 

The dependent clause can be at the beginning, middle, or end of a compound-complex sentence. No matter where it is placed, the punctuation follows the rules for both compound sentences and complex sentences.