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17 Sentence Structure

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36 views2 pages

17 Sentence Structure

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nazianasrin6290871484
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Sentence Structure

Basic Elements of an English Sentence

In its simplest form, an English sentence has two parts: a subject and a verb that express a complete
thought when they are together.

 The subject shows who or what is doing the action. It is always some form of noun or pronoun.
 The verb shows the action or the state of being. It can be an action verb, like “run,” or a state verb,
like “seem.”

Marvin slept. Verb


Subject
Dogs bark.
Isotopes react.

Real sentences are rarely so short. We usually want to convey much more information, so we modify the
main subject and verb with other words and phrases, as in the sentences below:

Unfortunately, Marvin slept fitfully.


Dogs bark louder after midnight.
Heavy isotopes react more slowly than light isotopes of the same element.

Even with the extra information, you can see that the basic structure is still there: each of these
sentences has one subject and one verb. This basic subject-verb structure is known as a clause.

The English language uses two kinds of clauses — independent and dependent.

Independent clause: a subject and verb that make a complete thought. This type of clause is called
independent because it makes sense on its own.

The U.S. entered World War I in 1917.

Dependent clause: a subject and verb that don’t make a complete thought.

When the war was nearing its end.

Dependent clauses always need to be attached to an independent clause with a connector word.

The U.S. entered World War I in 1917, when the war was nearing its end.

University of Wyoming Writing Center


Coe Library, Level 1
[email protected]
Four Basic Sentence Patterns

A good way to strengthen your writing is to use a variety of sentence patterns. Every sentence pattern
shown below combines clauses in a different way to combine clauses. You can see how the subject and
verb remain the same, while connectors and punctuation are used to join clauses in a variety of ways.

Pattern 1. Simple Sentence: One independent clause.

Mr. Potato Head eats monkeys.


I refuse.

Pattern 2. Compound Sentence: Two or more independent clauses.

Mr. Potato Head eats them for breakfast every day, but I don’t see the attraction.
Eating them makes him happy; however, he can’t persuade me.

Pattern 3. Complex Sentence: One independent clause PLUS one or more dependent clauses.

He recommends them highly because they taste like chicken when they are hot.
Although chicken always appeals to me, I still feel skeptical about monkey.
Mrs. Potato Head, because she loves us so much, has offered to make her special monkey soufflé.
Although I am curious, I am still skeptical.

Pattern 4. Compound-Complex Sentence: Two or more independent clauses PLUS one or more
dependent clauses.

Mr. Potato Head said that he would share the secret recipe; however, if he does, Mrs. Potato Head
will feed him to the piranhas, so we are both safer and happier if I don’t eat monkeys or steal
recipes.

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NOTE: Connectors (also called conjunctions) are always at the beginning of the dependent clause. They
show how the dependent clause is related to the independent clause.

 Cause/Effect: because, since, so that


 Comparison/Contrast: although, even though, though, whereas, while
 Place/Manner: where, wherever, how, however
 Possibility/Conditions: I f, whether, unless
 Relation: that, which, who, whom
 Time: after, as, before, since, when, whenever, while, until

Connectors with a comma (the FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)

Connectors with a semicolon and comma: however, moreover, nevertheless, nonetheless, therefore

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