How can you tell if a sentence is, Simple, Compound, or Complex?

Answer 1

A compound sentence is composed of at least two independent clauses, but no dependent clauses. ..

A simple sentences contains only a single clause


A complex sentence consists of one independent clause, and one or more dependent clauses. The clauses are connected through either a subordinate conjunction or a relative pronoun. The dependent clause may be the first or second clause in the sentence. If the first clause in the sentence is dependent, a comma usually separates the two clauses.

Answer 2

A simple sentence has one clause. A clause is a group of words that can form a sentence, and always contains a subject and verb. It could be a compound subject and/or compound verb, but has only one subject-verb pairing.

Examples:
Mary loves Ben.
I am a tall woman.
Mary and Joy both love Ben.
Mary loves Ben and John.
Mary and Joy love Ben and John.

Compound and complex sentences have two or more clauses.

Compound sentences have two (or more) independent clauses, joined by a co-ordinating conjunction. The co-ordinating conjunctions are for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so--the anagram FANBOYS.

Examples:
Mary loves Ben, and Joy loves John.
Mary loves Ben, but Ben hates Mary.
Joy and John love each other, so they plan to get married in the fall.

Complex sentences usually have one independent clause and one (or more) dependent clauses. The dependent clause carries the subordinating conjunction. Some subordinating conjunctions are because, if, when, while, after, before, since, unless.

Examples:
Joy intends to marry John unless she cheats on him.
Because Ben insulted Mary, she ran off crying.
If Ben doesn't apologize, John will beat him up.

Other types of complex sentences include relative clauses.

Examples:
Mary, who used to love Ben, has sworn off men for the time being.
Joy chose the bridal gown that sparkled the least.

A compound-complex sentence contains both co-ordinating and subordinating conjunctions that join clauses.

Examples:
If Ben apologizes and if Mary accepts his apology, John will ask Ben to be his best man.
Mary wanted to forget about men, but when she met Frank, she changed her mind.

I hope this helps!

Answer 3

A simple sentence is just what the name suggest. It's simple. For example. Today was the best day of my life.
That's a simple sentence. It states one fact.

A complex sentence is what the name suggest. (more complex than a simple sentence). For example.
Today was the best day of my life because I celebrated my sixteenth birthday.
A complex sentence has two parts but only one part makes sense when used alone. "Today was the best day of my life" makes sense when used alone. "because I celebrated my sixteenth birthday'. doesn't make sense when used alone. However, it adds to the simple sentence.

A compound sentence is two sentences joined together by a "joining word". For example: Today was the best day of my life and I hope there will be many similar days in my future. "and is a "joining word" or conjunction.

There is much more to the grammatical structure of sentences. However, I hope this will help you identify the three different sentence structures. Good luck.

Answer 4

Compound sentences usually have a conjunction on the other side of the comma. Example:
I need to talk to you, and I prefer to do so in a private manner.


A simple sentence would just be:
I need to talk to you.


A complex sentence gives more detail.

I need to talk to you, about some important designs for the new building we are constructing, in which the contractor has requested to see the designs, as soon as possible.

Answer 5

hope this helps:
*a simple sentence contains 1independent clause and 0 dependent clauses.
*a compound sentence contains 2 independent clauses and 0 dependent clauses.
*complex sentence contains 1 independent clause and 1 dependent clause.

clause - a group of words that contains a subject and its predicate.

independent - makes sense independently

dependent - these do not make sense unless they hang onto an independent clause.

EX of a complex sentence: Super heroes advocate traditional national values because they support truth, justice, and the American way.

Answer 6

A writers reference will answer not only this question but thousands of your questions a great tool for both writing and grammar. I use the fourth edition by Diana Hacker also check out Bedfordstmartins. http://com/hacker/writersref . Take a look at effective sentences. when a rough draft is filled with too many same-sounding sentences, try to inject some variety,,, as long as you can do so without sacraficing clarity or ease of reading.

Answer 7

a simple sentence is a sentence consisting of 1 verb, with few nouns. example: The dog jumps the fence. A compound sentence is 1 with 2 sentences in 1, with usually AND OR, or BUT connecting them. A compound sentence would b He went to the ice cream store and i went to my house. i forget wat complex sentences r, good luck.

Answer 8

omgosh we are doing that in my english class tooo!!!
well if it is simple it would be nice and short.. with 1 subject and verb.EX: the dog walked.

a compound is 2 sentences, but it usually has a comma.
EX: i luv my sis to death, but she gets on my nerves

i dont kno what complex is...well i do...i just cant explain it that good... but yea..hope it helps!!

Answer 9

ask a english teacher.