Simple sentences in English
In this lesson, we are finally digging into English and will be learning sentence structures.
When we talk about ‘sentence structure’, we are discussing the various elements of a sentence and how these elements are organized on the page to convey the desired effect.
Writing well in terms of sentence structure requires to become familiar with various elements of grammar, as well as the various types of sentences that exist in English.
In this video, we will explore these areas and discuss various ideas and activities you can use on the road to mastering these different sentence structures.
In English, there are 4 types of sentences that we need to get our heads around. They are:
Simple sentences
Compound sentences
Complex sentences
Compound-complex sentences
Mastering these four types of sentences will enable us to articulate ourselves effectively and with personality and style.
Achieving this necessarily takes plenty of practice, but the process begins with ensuring that each of you has a firm grasp on how each type of sentence structure works.
But, before we begin to examine these different types of structure, we need to ensure that we understand the difference between independent and dependent clauses. Understanding clauses and how they work will make it much easier for us to grasp the different types of sentences that follow.
SENTENCE CLAUSES
Independent Clauses
Put simply, clauses are parts of a sentence containing a verb. An independent clause can stand by itself as a complete sentence. It expresses a complete thought or idea and contains a subject and a verb – more on this shortly!
Dependent Clauses / Subordinate Clauses
Dependent clauses, on the other hand, are not complete sentences and cannot stand by themselves. They do not express a complete idea. To become complete, they must be attached to an independent clause. Dependent clauses are also known as subordinate clauses.
A good way to illustrate the difference between the two is by providing an example that contains both.
For example:
Even though I am tired, I am going to work tonight.
As the non-underlined portion of the sentence doesn’t work as a sentence on its own, it is a dependent clause. The underlined portion of the sentence could operate as a sentence in its own right and it is, therefore, an independent clause.
Now we’ve got clauses out of the way, we’re ready to take a look at each type of sentence in turn.
SIMPLE SENTENCES
Simple sentences are, unsurprisingly, the easiest type of sentence for us to grasp and construct. Often these types of sentences will be the first sentences that learners write by themselves and they follow the well-known Subject – Verb – Object or SVO pattern.
The subject of the sentence will be the noun that begins the sentence. This may be a person, place, or thing, but, most importantly, it is the doer of the action in the sentence.
The action itself will be encapsulated by the verb, which is the action word that describes what the doer does.
The object of the sentence follows the verb and describes that which receives the action.
This is again best illustrated by an example. Take a look at the simple sentence below:
Tom ate many cookies.
In this easy example, the doer of the action is Tom, the action is ate, and the receiver of the action is the many cookies.
Therefore,
Subject = Tom
Verb = ate
Object = many cookies
After a little practice, you will become adept at recognizing SVO sentences and forming your own. It’s important to point out too that simple sentences don’t have to necessarily be short.
For example:
This research reveals that an active lifestyle can have a great impact for the good on the life expectancy of the average person.
Despite this sentence looking more sophisticated (and longer!), this is still a simple sentence as it follows the SVO structure:
Subject = research
Verb = reveals
Object = that an active lifestyle can have a great impact for the good on the life expectancy of the average person.
Though basic in construction, it is important to point out that the simple sentence is often the perfect structure to deal with complex ideas. Simple sentences can be an effective way to provide clarity and efficiency of expression breaking down complex ideas into manageable chunks.
Simple Sentence Reinforcement Activity
To ensure you have a strong grasp of the simple sentence structure, go through a photocopied text pitched at a language level suited to their age and ability.
On the first run-through, we recommend you to identify and highlight simple sentences in the text. Then, you should use various colors of pens to pick out and underline the subject, the verb, and the object in each sentence.
This activity helps ensure a clear understanding of how this structure works, as well as helping to internalize it. This will reap rich rewards for all of you when you come to the next stage and it’s time for you to write your own sentences using this basic pattern.
After you have mastered combining subjects, verbs, and objects into both long and short sentences, you will be ready to move onto the other 3 types of sentence, the next of which is the compound sentence.
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