Do you know your sentence types? I get asked a lot about sentence types and they are so so important!
It is vital to understand sentence types so you can use them effectively in your writing. However, top band responses require you to show that you have consciously chosen certain sentence types on purpose to achieve particular effects in your writing!
Additionally, it is vital to understand sentences for writing your essays! If you can pick out individual sentence types and explain the effect of them…you will get a lot of marks! Check out my post on how to structure your English essays here! Also…make sure you check out my free eBook: Essay Templates!
So…what are the three main ones you should know about?
Clauses
In order to understand sentences, you need to understand clauses!
A clause is a group of words combined together, a bit like a phrase. Every sentence is made up of a combination of clauses so these are like the building blocks!
In English we have two main types of clauses: main and subordinate.
Main Clause
A main clause is like a car…bear with me here! It’s like a car because it can move and make sense by itself (as long as it has a driver and some petrol). This clause doesn’t need anything added to it and can make a sentence instantly (it doesn’t need to be towed away, it can move along the road!). If we want, we can combine it with other clauses but we don’t have to!
Example
“It was a cold miserable day”
Subordinate Clause
A subordinate clause is the opposite, it doesn’t make sense on its own. This one is like an old-fashioned caravan because the only way for it to make a sentence is to be combined with a main clause (to be towed along by the car). These clauses usually start with prepositions (time or place words) which makes them sound unfinished.
Example
“Before we went walking”
Sentences
Okay…so now onto the exciting part: sentences!
Sentences consist of clauses, put together in different combinations. Let’s find out what they are!
1. Simple Sentences
A simple sentence…as you guessed it…is pretty simple!
This sentence type consists of one main clause on its own. Easy right?
Example
“The snow fell quietly across the land.”
2. Compound Sentences
Compound sentences consist of two main clauses attached together…think, two cars!
However, we need some glue to attach these two clauses together and to do this we use a conjunction such as and, but, so, for, yet, or, nor.
To work out if you have a compound sentence, check that both halves make sense on their own and meet the criteria for main clauses.
Example
“The rain pounded down violently and all the windows shook in fear.”
3. Complex Sentences
And…finally, we have complex sentences and you guessed it, these are the most complex ones!
A complex sentence consists of one of each – one car and one caravan! Imagine the car is pulling the caravan along!
It is up to you which way round they go!
Finally, we join them together with a comma.
Example
“Far below the dark grey skies, the people were getting ready for their peaceful sleep.”
And…that’s a wrap! I hope all that makes sense! Feel free to drop any questions in the comments section below! Keep working hard and keep smashing it! Make sure to use language devices in your writing too! Check out my free eBook here all about them!