The Structure of a Sentence

<br /> <div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 24.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">The Structure of a Sentence<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal">Remember that every <a href="http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/bldcls.html#clause"><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">clause</span></a> is, in a sense, a miniature <a href="http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/subjpred.html#sentence"><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">sentence</span></a>. A simple sentences contains only a single clause, while a compound sentence, a complex sentence, or a compound-complex sentence contains at least two clauses.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="" name="sntsmp"><b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Simple Sentence</span></b></a><b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal">The most basic type of sentence is the <a href="" name="simple_sentence"><b>simple sentence</b></a>, which contains only one clause. A simple sentence can be as short as one word:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">Run!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Usually, however, the sentence has a <a href="http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/subjpred.html#subject"><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">subject</span></a> as well as a <a href="http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/subjpred.html#predicate"><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">predicate</span></a> and both the subject and the predicate may have <a href="http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/modifier.html#modifier"><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">modifiers</span></a>. All of the following are simple sentences, because each contains only one clause:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b>Melt</b>!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">Ice <b>melts</b>.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">The ice <b>melts</b> quickly.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">The ice on the river <b>melts</b> quickly under the warm March sun.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">Lying exposed without its blanket of snow, the ice on the river <b>melts</b> quickly under the warm March sun.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">As you can see, a simple sentence can be quite long -- it is a mistake to think that you can tell a simple sentence from a compound sentence or a complex sentence simply by its length.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">The most natural sentence structure is the simple sentence: it is the first kind which children learn to speak, and it remains by far the most common sentence in the spoken language of people of all ages. In written work, simple sentences can be very effective for grabbing a reader's attention or for summing up an argument, but you have to use them with care: too many simple sentences can make your writing seem childish.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">When you do use simple sentences, you should add transitional phrases to connect them to the surrounding sentences.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="" name="sntcmp"><b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Compound Sentence</span></b></a><b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal">A <a href="" name="compound_sentence"><b>compound sentence</b></a> consists of two or more <a href="http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/claustyp.html#independent%20clause"><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">independent clauses</span></a> (or simple sentences) joined by <a href="http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/conjunct.html#co-ordinating%20conjunction"><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">co-ordinating conjunctions</span></a> like "and," "but," and "or":<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Simple</b><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">Canada is a rich country.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Simple</b><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">Still, it has many poor people.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Compound</b><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">Canada is a rich country, <b>but</b> still it has many poor people.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Compound sentences are very natural for English speakers -- small children learn to use them early on to connect their ideas and to avoid pausing (and allowing an adult to interrupt):<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">Today at school Mr. Moore brought in his pet rabbit, and he showed it to the class, and I got to pet it, and Kate held it, and we coloured pictures of it, and it ate part of my carrot at lunch, and ...<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Of course, this is an extreme example, but if you over-use compound sentences in written work, your writing might seem immature.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">A compound sentence is most effective when you use it to create a sense of balance or contrast between two (or more) equally-important pieces of information:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b>Montéal has better clubs</b>, but <b>Toronto has better cinemas</b>.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="" name="sntcmpsp"><b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Special Cases of Compound Sentences</span></b></a><b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal">There are two special types of compound sentences which you might want to note. First, rather than joining two simple sentences together, a co-ordinating conjunction sometimes joins two complex sentences, or one simple sentence and one complex sentence. In this case, the sentence is called a <a href="" name="compound-complex_sentence"><b>compound-complex sentence</b></a>:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>compound-complex</b><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b>The package arrived in the morning</b>, but <b>the courier left before I could check the contents.</b><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">The second special case involves <a href="http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/punct.html#punctuation"><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">punctuation</span></a>. It is possible to join two originally separate sentences into a compound sentence using a <a href="http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/semicoln.html#semicolon"><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">semicolon</span></a> instead of a co-ordinating conjunction:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b>Sir John A. Macdonald had a serious drinking problem</b>; <b>when sober, however, he could be a formidable foe in the House of Commons</b>.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Usually, a <a href="http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/adverbs.html#conjunctive%20adverb"><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">conjunctive adverb</span></a> like "however" or "consequently" will appear near the beginning of the second part, but it is not required:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">The sun rises in the east; it sets in the west.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="" name="sntcpl"><b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Complex Sentence</span></b></a><b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal">A <a href="" name="complex_sentence"><b>complex sentence</b></a> contains one independent clause and at least one <a href="http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/claustyp.html#dependent%20clauses"><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">dependent clause</span></a>. Unlike a compound sentence, however, a complex sentence contains clauses which are <i>not</i> equal. Consider the following examples:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Simple</b><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">My friend invited me to a party. I do not want to go.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Compound</b><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">My friend invited me to a party, but I do not want to go.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Complex</b><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">Although my friend invited me to a party, I do not want to go.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">In the first example, there are two separate simple sentences: "My friend invited me to a party" and "I do not want to go." The second example joins them together into a single sentence with the co-ordinating conjunction "but," but both parts could still stand as independent sentences -- they are entirely equal, and the reader cannot tell which is most important. In the third example, however, the sentence has changed quite a bit: the first clause, "Although my friend invited me to a party," has become incomplete, or a dependent clause.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">A complex sentence is very different from a simple sentence or a compound sentence because it makes clear which ideas are most important. When you write<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">My friend invited me to a party. I do not want to go.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">or even<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">My friend invited me to a party, but I do not want to go.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">The reader will have trouble knowing which piece of information is most important to you. When you write the <a href="http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/conjunct.html#subordinating%20conjunction"><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">subordinating conjunction</span></a> "although" at the beginning of the first clause, however, you make it clear that the fact that your friend invited you is less important than, or <a href="" name="subordinate"><b>subordinate</b></a>, to the fact that you do not want to go.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Written by David Megginson</i><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /> </div>

The Structure of a Sentence

The Structure of a Sentence Remember that every clause is, in a sense, a miniature sentence . A simple sentences contains only a single cl...

Read more »