Basics of A Sentence
Basics of A Sentence
Basics of A Sentence
Phrase
A group of closely related words that may have nouns or verbals, but it does not
have a subject doing an action.
DONOT have subject and verbs
DONOT form complete thought
CANNOT stand alone
She is hungry
I am feeling well today
Although she is hungry
Types of clauses
Dependent Clause Independent Clause
Although she is hungry She is hungry
Do not express a complete Expresses a complete thought
thought It can stand on its own
Can not stand on its own
Needs independent clause to
complete sentence. E.g.
Although she is hungry, she is
still not eating food
They have a subordinate
conjunction placed in front of
the clause
I despise individuals of low character
Because she smiled at him
Since she laughs at her sister
I want to go shopping
Because I am feeling well today
How to tell the difference…
Independent Subordinate
(main) (dependent) Phrase
Clause Clause
Has a
subject YES YES NO
and verb
Forms a
complete YES NO NO
thought
Can stand
alone
YES NO NO
Identify phrase, dependent and independent
clause
Before the storm
Ali who is a sailor
He gave a dazzling performance
At the party in the old house
While she was playing golf
When she took her seat
Nearly every American drives a car
Beyond the blue horizon
After the clock struck 12
If he goes
Since she is rich
In the spring
On the beach
Sentence Types as per Structure
Simple sentence
Compound sentence
Complex sentence
Compound-complex sentence
Simple sentence
Only one independent clause
One subject-verb relationship
We (S) talked (V) to our teacher this morning
Can have more than one subject as long as they share same verb
My sister (S) and your brother (S) are fighting (V) in the backyard
Can have more than one verb as long as verbs share same subject
He (S) listened (V) to the radio all morning and forgot (V) to study for his
test
Compound Sentence
Punctuation rules:
Two independent clauses are joined by:
Coordinating conjunction (IC, CC IC)
Transitional expressions (IC; TE, IC)
Semicolon alone (IC; IC)
Complex sentence
Punctuation rules:
DC, IC
IC DC
IC, non-essential DC, IC
IC essential DC IC
Compound-Complex sentence
Ali was already in class, and Hassan was in the lab while Umer was sleeping off
his headache
While Umer was sleeping off his headache, Ali was already in class, and Hassan
was in the lab
Ali was already in class while Umer slept off his headache; Hassan was in the
lab
Identify phrases, clauses and sentence
types
The summer has been extremely hot, but I think its getting cooler now
Because my car has no air conditioning, I have been taking the bus
When winter comes, we will all be complaining about the cold, but with my
luck, my heater will work
I would really love to buy a new car, may be a Suzuki
In the next five years, I will have enough money to pay off my debt
Ali was concerned about his daughter’s cough; however, it turned out to be
nothing serious
Her alarm didn’t go off this morning because she set it for pm instead of am
She ate her lunch, took a walk, and went back to work
The summer has been extremely hot, but I think its getting cooler now
(Compound sentence)
Because my car has no air conditioning, I have been taking the bus
(Complex sentence)
When winter comes, we will all be complaining about the cold, but with
my luck (Phrase), my heater will work (Compound-complex sentence)
I would really love to buy a new car, may be a Suzuki (Simple sentence)
In the next five years (Phrase), I will have enough money to pay off my
debt (Simple sentence)
Ali was concerned about his daughter’s cough; however, it turned out to
be nothing serious (Compound sentence)
Her alarm didn’t go off this morning because she set it for pm instead of
am (Complex sentence)
She ate her lunch, took a walk, and went back to work (Simple
sentence)
Sentence Types as per Function
Declarative sentence
Interrogative sentence
Imperative sentence
Exclamatory sentence
Declarative sentence
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