sentence types

sentences

made up of clauses, and these clauses take many different forms. the best way to look at clauses is different types of sentences

minor sentence/fragment

not an independent full sentence. e.g. that it great.

has a subject (that) and a verb (is), but no object. without an SVO (subject, verb, object) order, it is not a grammatically standard sentence

simple sentences

a sentence with a single subject and the SVO order. e.g. the cat sat on the mat.

compound sentence

a single sentence with two simple sentences joined by a conjunction. e.g. the cat sat on the mat and licked his paws.

complex sentences

a single sentence which contains a main clause and a subordinate clause. the subordinate clause can be isolated from the sentence, but won’t make sense. the main clause can be isolated from the sentence and still make sense. e.g. licking his paws, the cat sat on the mat.

subordinate clauses

indicated by commas and can appear at any point in the sentence. e.g. *although he is shy*, josh has lots of friends.

parenthetical clauses

a subordinate clause when it occurs in brackets or dashes. e.g. cameron answered the phone *(even though he didn’t want to)*

relative clauses

use a relative pronoun e.g. the cat, *who* was sitting on the man, licked his paws