All information and examples in this section come from Walden University. Please click on the sentence titles to be taken to their website for a color coded explaination of each type of senetence.
A simple sentence contains a subject and a verb, and it may also have an object and modifiers. However, it contains only one independent clause.
Here are a few examples:
A compound sentence contains at least two independent clauses. These two independent clauses can be combined with a comma and a coordinating conjunction or with a semicolon.
Here are a few examples:
A complex sentence contains at least one independent clause and at least one dependent clause. Dependent clauses can refer to the subject (who, which) the sequence/time (since, while), or the causal elements (because, if) of the independent clause.
If a sentence begins with a dependent clause, note the comma after this clause. If, on the other hand, the sentence begins with an independent clause, there is not a comma separating the two clauses.
Here are a few examples:
Sentence types can also be combined. A compound-complex sentence contains at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause.
Here are a few examples: