TYPES OF SENTENCES: CHEAT SHEET!
1. Simple sentence: A sentence with one independent clause and no dependent clauses.
· My aunt enjoyed taking the hayride with you.
· China's Han Dynasty marked an official recognition of Confucianism.
2. Compound Sentence: A sentence with multiple independent clauses but no dependent clauses. You can connect two complete sentences with either a semi-colon or with a comma and the FANBOYS. You can connect as many independent clauses as you like. (see visuals)
· The clown frightened the little girl, and she ran off screaming.
· The Freedom Riders departed on May 4, 1961, and they were determined to travel through many southern states.
· The days of stealing cars were over for Tom; he had moved on to the big time: bank robbery.
3. Complex Sentence: A sentence with one independent clause and at least one dependent clause. (highlighted areas are dependent clauses)
· After Mary added up all the sales, she discovered that the lemonade stand was 32 cents short
· While all of his paintings are fascinating, Hieronymus Bosch's triptychs, full of mayhem and madness, are the real highlight of his art.
Types of Complex Sentences:
A. PERIODIC SENTENCE
A periodic sentence is used to refer to a complex sentence beginning with a dependent clause and ending with an independent clause, as in "While he waited at the train station, Joe realized that the train was late." Periodic sentences can be especially effective because the completed thought occurs at the end of it, so the first part of the sentence can build up to the meaning that comes at the end. Periodic sentences can have a series of dependent clauses connected together before you get to the independent clause:
“Because we were young, because we were restless, because we loved life, we fled to the big city.”
B. CUMULATIVE SENTENCE
A cumulative sentence is when an independent clause is followed by a series of subordinate constructions (phrases or clauses) that gather details about a person, place, event, or idea.
C. COMPLEX SENTENCES / ADJECTIVE CLAUSES
Finally, sentences containing adjective clauses (or dependent clauses) are also complex because they contain an independent clause and a dependent clause. The subjects, verbs, and subordinators are marked the same as in the previous sentences, and in these sentences, the independent clauses are also underlined.
The woman to whom my mom my talked sells cosmetics.
The book that Jonathan read is on the shelf.
The house in which Abraham Lincoln was born is still standing.
The town where I grew up is in the U.S.
D. COMPLEX SENTENCE WHERE Dependent Clause that interrupts your subject and verb (official title unknown!)
In some complex sentences, there are dependent clauses which interrupt your subject and your verb. This can add to the suspense or tension in a sentence because the reader is waiting to see what will happen to the subject. Here is an example from Dickens:
“France, less favoured on the whole as to matters spiritual than her sister of the shield and trident, rolled with exceeding smoothness down hill, making paper money.
4. Complex-Compound Sentence: A sentence with multiple independent clauses and at least one dependent clause.
Catch-22 is widely regarded as Joseph Heller's best novel, and because Heller served in World
(sentence #1)
War II, which the novel satirizes, the zany but savage wit of the novel packs an extra punch.
(sentence #2)
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