What Are Sentences?

Have you ever thought about what it takes to make a sentence? We use sentences all of time, but you might be surprised at how difficult it is to define what a sentence actually is. There are a few ingredients that always need to be present in order to have a sentence.

Sentences are groups of words that have a subject and a verb and express a complete thought. That's it! Subject + Verb + Complete Thought = Sentence

Independent Clauses & Dependent Clauses

Before we talk about sentence types, there is one more thing that you need to know. Clauses are groups of words that have a subject and a verb.

There are two main types of clauses: independent clauses and dependent clauses. (Dependent clauses are also called "subordinate clauses.")

Independent clauses express a complete thought. In fact, these little guys can stand alone as complete sentences! After all, they contain a subject and a verb, and they express a complete thought. (Example: I love cookies.)

Dependent clauses don't express a complete thought. They need to be connected to an independent clause in order to make sense. They depend on independent clauses. You know what that means, right? Dependent clauses cannot stand alone as a complete sentence. (Example: Because I love cookies)

The Four Sentence Structures

We can categorize sentences based on their structure. When we do that, we have four different types of sentences. Check them out!

1. Simple sentences contain just one independent clause. These guys have just one subject and verb. (Example: I kicked the ball.)

2. Compound sentences contain two or more independent clauses joined with a coordinating conjunction. (Coordinating conjunctions: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so). These guys have more than one subject and verb. (Example: I kicked the ball, and it hit Tom.)

3. Complex sentences have a subordinate clause (Remember those from above?) and an independent clause. (Example: Tom stopped playing because I kicked him.)

4. Compound-complex sentences have two or more dependent clauses and one or more subordinate clause. Wow! That's a lot of clauses. (Example: Because Tom was hurt, he went to the doctor, and I went to the office.)

If you really want to understand sentence structure (and have some fun), I highly recommend learning how to diagram sentences. When you diagram sentences, you make the relationship between words visual. This makes it easy to see the difference between the four types of sentences.

You can learn about sentence diagramming at http://www.english-grammar-revolution.com/sentence-structure.html. You'll also find more information on sentence structure and making grammar fun and easy.

Elizabeth O'Brien invites you to learn more about teaching and learning English grammar at her website http://www.english-grammar-revolution.com

Check it out and join the grammar revolution!