Sentence types: One way to categorize sentences is by the clauses they contain. (A clause is a part of a sentence containing a subject and a predicate.) Here are the 4 sentence types:
Simple: Contains a single, independent clause.
I don't like dogs.
Our school basketball team lost their last game of the season 75-68.
The old hotel opposite the bus station in the center of the town is probably going to be knocked down at the end of next year.
Compound: Contains two independent clauses that are joined by a coordinating conjunction. (The most common coordinating conjunctions are: but, or, and, so. Remember: boas.)
I don't like dogs, and my sister doesn't like cats.
You can write on paper, or you can use a computer.
A tree fell onto the school roof in a storm, but none of the students was injured.
Complex: Contains an independent clause plus one or more dependent clauses. (A dependent clause starts with a subordinating conjunction. Examples: that, because, while, although, where, if.)
I don't like dogs that bark at me when I go past.
She did my homework, while her father cooked dinner.
You can write on paper, although a computer is better if you want to correct mistakes easily.
Note: A dependent clause standing alone without an independent clause is called a fragment sentence - see below.
Compound-complex: Contains 3 or more clauses (of which at least two are independent and one is dependent).
I don't like dogs, and my sister doesn't like cats because they make her sneeze.
You can write on paper, but using a computer is better as you can easily correct your mistakes.
A tree fell onto the school roof in a storm, but none of the students was injured, although many of them were in classrooms at the top of the building.
Advice: Writing that contains mostly short, simple sentences can be uninteresting or even irritating to read. Writing that consists of mostly long, complex sentences is usually difficult to read. Good writers, therefore, use a variety of sentence types. They also occasionally start complex (or compound-complex) sentences with the dependent clause and not the independent clause. In the following examples the dependent clause is shown in red:
Although it was raining, we decided to go fishing.
If it doesn't rain soon, the river will dry out.
Because the road was icy and the driver was going too fast, he was unable to brake in time when a fox ran into the road in front of him.
Note: Sentences can also be categorized according to their function. [More]
Note: Independent clauses are also called main clauses. Dependent clauses are also called subordinate clauses.
Do a quiz to identify clause types. Do a quiz to identify sentence types.