What’s in a name?SIMPLE, COMPOUND, COMPLEX, & COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCES

Simple SentencesONE SUBJECT + ONE PREDICATE N + V

Simple Sentences

Romeo complains.

Benvolio listens.

They go to a party.

Since “they” is a

pronoun, not a

noun. Some

grammarians use

the terms subject

and predicate to

identify the parts of

a sentence instead

of noun and verb.

Simple Sentences

Romeo sees Juliet.

Juliet sees Romeo.

Romeo and Juliet hand-kiss.

In a sentence the

subject can be

compound—

meaning there are

two or more nouns.

But the sentence is

still a simple

sentence if both

nouns are doing the

same action.

Simple Sentences

Romeo and Juliet flirt and hand-kiss.

They sigh and lip-kiss.The predicate can

also be compound—

meaning there are

more than two verbs.

But the sentence is still

simple if there is only

one subject.

Compound SentencesTWO SUBJECTS + TWO PREDICATES

N + V

, + cc

N + V

Compound Sentences

Two Subjects + Two Predicates

Romeo loves Juliet, but Juliet is a

Capulet.When a sentence

has two nouns and

two actions—with

each noun doing a

different action—

the sentence is

called a compound

sentence.

Compound Sentences

Two Subjects + Two Predicates

Romeo loves Juliet, but Juliet is a

Capulet.When a sentence

has two nouns and

two actions—with

each noun doing a

different action—

the sentence is

called a compound

sentence.

Compound Sentences

Coordinating Conjunctions

For

And

Nor

But

Or

Yet

So

To connect the two

simple sentences

into a compound

sentence, we need

to use a comma

and a coordinating

conjunction.

Compound SentencesSubject + Verb + , + cc + Subject + Verb

Romeo loves Juliet, but Juliet is a

Capulet.

Benvolio and Mercutio are looking for

Romeo, so he is hiding.

cc = Coordinating Conjunction

= F.A.N.B.O.Y.S.

Compound Sentence StorySubject + Verb + , + cc + Subject + Verb

Write your name, period, and Compound Sentences on a piece of paper.

Write a compound sentence about characters from Rome and Juliet.

Pass your paper back, one student at a time

Review | Simple Sentences

Simple Sentences have one subject doing

an action:

Juliet sighs.

Romeo whines.

Friar Lawrence was gathering herbs.

Benvolio stopped people from fighting.

Review | Simple Sentences

The subjects in simple sentences may include

more than one noun:

The Capulets and the Montagues are feuding.

Lady Capulet, Juliet, and the nurse talk

about marriage.

Mercutio, Tybalt, Romeo, Juliet, and Lady

Montague are dead at the end of the play.

Review | Simple Sentences

The actions (predicate) in simple sentences may include more than one verb:

Mercutio fought and mocked Tybalt.

Romeo and Benvolio intercepted an invitation and went to the party.

As long as the sentence only has one subject doing the actions, it is still a simple sentence.

Review | Compound Sentences

Simple Sentences are also called Independent

Clauses.

This is because a simple sentence is able to

be by itself, without needing another

sentence to communicate the message.

Review | Compound Sentences

A Compound Sentence has two

independent clauses connected by a

comma and a coordinating conjunction.

The coordinating conjunctions are:

For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So

Complex SentencesONE INDEPENDENT CLAUSE +

ONE OR MORE DEPENDENT CLAUSES

IC

+

DC

Complex Sentences

A Complex Sentence has one independent

clause and at least one dependent clause.

A Dependent Clause “depends on” another

sentence to communicate the message.

Complex Sentences

Dependent clauses begin with words called

subordinating conjunctions. Here’s a list of

some common conjunctions:

after, although, as, because, before, even

though, if, rather than, since, so that, that,

though, unless, until, when, where, whether,

while, why

Complex Sentences

IC + sc + DC

Benvolio and Mercutio looked for Romeo

after they left the dinner party.

Paris is convinced that Juliet loves him even

though she barely pays attention to him.

sc = Subordinating Conjunction

Complex Sentences

sc + DC + , + IC

After they left the dinner party, Benvolio and

Mercutio looked for Romeo.

Even though she barely pays attention to him, Paris is convinced that Juliet loves him.

sc = Subordinating Conjunction

Compound-Complex SentencesTWO INDEPENDENT CLAUSES +

ONE OR MORE DEPENDENT CLAUSES

IC

IC

DC

Compound-Complex Sentences

A Compound-Complex Sentence has two

independent clauses and at least one

dependent clause.

Compound-Complex Sentences

Romeo loves Juliet, even though she is a

Capulet, and he tries to win her love.

While the feud escalates, more characters

die, and Romeo and Juliet’s chances for a

happy ending diminish.

Compound-Complex Sentences

Romeo loves Juliet, even though she is a

Capulet, and he tries to win her love.

While the feud escalates, more characters

die, and Romeo and Juliet’s happy ending

vanishes.

Compound-Complex Sentences

Romeo loves Juliet, even though she is a

Capulet, and he tries to win her love.

While the feud escalates, more characters

die, and Romeo and Juliet’s happy ending

vanishes.

Compound-Complex Sentences

Romeo loves Juliet, even though she is a

Capulet, and he tries to win her love.

While the feud escalates, more characters

die, and Romeo and Juliet’s happy ending

vanishes.

So What?

Can Help You Use Correct

Punctuations

Compound sentences need a

coordinating conjunction to connect

them, but they also need a comma.

When dependent clauses begin a

sentence, commas must follow.

Can Help Me Break Up Lengthy

Sentences

Even though I have a really long sentence,

and I make sure to follow all of the correct

punctuation rules; sometimes (which

means more often than not) I really need

to break up my sentences, unless I don’t

want my readers to understand what I am

saying.

Can Help Me Break Up Lengthy

Sentences

Even though I have a really long sentence,

sometimes I really need to break up my

sentences.

I may follow all of the correct punctuation

rules, but my readers may still have a hard

time understanding what I am saying.

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