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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