English Grammar Rules & Mistakes: Learn All of the Essentials: Writing, Speaking, Literature and Punctuation Rules Complete with 10 Key Skills and Over 200 Common Error Examples

Sentences
Now we get to the good stuff, sentences. We are going to go through the four
main types of sentence structure which are simple sentences, compound
sentences, complex sentences, and compound-complex sentences.

---

Simple Sentences
A simple sentence has one independent clause with one subject and one verb.
As well as the subject and verb, a simple sentence can also have adjectives
and adverbs. What a simple sentence can't have is another independent clause
or dependent clause within it.
Jessica returned from work at six each day.
In this example, you can see that there is one subject, Jessica, and one verb,
returned. Nothing has been added to the sentence other than nouns and
adverbs. This is the trick to check whether it is a simple sentence or not.
Juan married within a year.
One subject and one verb can be seen again in this example. It is a powerful
example as it demonstrates how to deliver a sentence concisely and with
oomph! Simple sentences are a great tool to have in your bag. They can be
used to deliver poignant messages. You often see them used in literature and
other creative writing. That is because a good author knows that you don’t
need to fluff out your sentences to deliver the message effectively.
Compound sentences
As much as I am a fan of short, concise sentences, I’ll admit that there is a
need to say a little bit more sometimes. Enter center stage the compound
sentence. A compound sentence combines two or more independent clauses
to make a complete sentence. The independent clauses are connected with a
conjunction such as for, and, but, or, etc. If you are really brave, you could
also use a semicolon to connect them together.
We traveled all day to get here and now you want me to leave?
Remember that a compound sentence contains two or more independent
clauses. In this example it is clear that there are two separate parts. First we

---

talk about travelling all day. This clause is independent as it has a subject and
a verb. Second we talk about being told to leave. This clause is also
independent because it too has a subject and a verb. You could, in theory,
place a period after the first clause and not use a conjunction. However, the
reason a conjunction is used and a compound sentence is necessary is that
these two bits of information directly relate to each other. The use of a
compound sentence emphasizes that despite traveling all day they are being
told to leave. How rude!
Complex sentences
Don’t worry, these aren’t actually complicated. A complex sentence joins one
independent clause with at least one dependent clause. The independent
clause is called the main clause and is linked to the dependent clause with a
subordinating conjunction. This type of conjunction includes the adverbs
until, while, and even though.
Jessica’s dog would not rest until she returned.
This example shows you that complex sentences don’t have to be long. The
first part of the sentence about Jessica’s dog represents the main clause as it
is an independent clause. We can tell this because it has a subject, Jessica’s