Sentence+Structures+and+Types

Unit # 5--Sentence Structures and Types

All sentences can be classified into 4 Types:

1. Declarative --states an idea and ends with a period. Ex. A great network of railways crisscrosses the vast Indian subcontinent. Ex. The trains are fast and efficient.

2. Interrogative --asks a question and ends with a question mark. Ex. Whose ticket is this? Ex. Which countries in Europe and Asia have high-speed trains?

3. Exclamatory --conveys strong emotion and ends with an exclamation mark. Ex. She's not telling the truth! Ex. What an outrage that is!

4. Imperative --gives an order or a direction and ends with a period or an exclamation mark. Ex. Follow the directions carefully to get to the correct platform. Ex. Wait for me!

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Sentence Structures:

There are 4 basic sentence structures.

1. Simple: consists of 1 independent clause. Ex. The siren sounded. Ex. Cats and dogs ran down the street. Ex. My sister acts and sings in the talent show. Ex. Art and archaeology reflect and explain Jerusalem's history. Ex. A written history dating back to 600 B.C. was found in a cave near Jerusalem.

 __Punctuation note __: NO commas separate compound elements (subject, verb, direct object, indirect object, subjective complement, etc.) in a simple sentence.

2. Compound: consists of 2 or more independent clauses. Ex. The prime minister is the head of the government, but the people also elect a president. Ex. The president is elected to a five-year term, yet most of his or her duties are ceremonial. Ex. Israeli men and women serve in the armed forces; men serve for three years, and women serve for two years. //Note: a compound sentence must be joined with 1. comma and coordinating conjunction or 2. a semicolon//

A **** has two independent clauses joined by  A. a [CONJUNCTIONS|coordinating conjunction] (//for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so//),  B. a [ADVERBS|conjunctive adverb] (e.g. //however, therefore//), or  C. a [|semicolon] alone.

3. Complex: consists of 1 independent clause and 1 or more subordinate clauses. Ex. My brother told me to clean his room because he cleaned up the garage for me last week. Ex. Stuart, who looks out the window all day, wants summer vacation to come quickly.



4. Compound-Complex: consists of 2 or more independent clauses and 1 or more subordinate clauses. Ex. When I was a child, my mother baked cookies every holiday, and my grandma would come over to help decorate. Ex. I studied hard for my science test because the teacher told us how difficult it was ; I passed with flying colors!


 * __Punctuation patterns: __ ||
 * Follow the rules given above for compound and complex sentences. ||
 * A compound-complex sentence is merely a combination of the two. ||
 * A compound-complex sentence is merely a combination of the two. ||