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BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURE What is a clause? Remember that every clause is, in a sense, a miniature sentence. A simple sentence contains only a single clause, while a compound sentence, a complex sentence, or a compound-complex sentence contains at least two clauses. A clause is a group of words that contain a subject and a verb. S She V left S V because she was tired.

EXCEPTION: In commands, the subject is not expressed. We understand that the subject is you. S V (You) Be careful. There are two kinds of clauses:

INDEPENDENT (IC) DEPENDENT (DC)

A COMPLETE sentence must have at least one independent clause.

Independent clauses (IC)

An independent clause contains a subject and a verb and can be a sentence by itself. Independent clause is sometimes called main clause and it is also a SIMPLE SENTENCE on its own. S She V left. S It V was late.

Dependent clauses (DC)

A dependent clause contains a subject and a verb, but it cannot be a sentence by itself because the meaning is not complete. A dependent clause must be connected to an independent clause to make a complete sentence. (Jane went home early) Independent clause because she was tired. (adverb clause) Dependent Clause

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1. DEPENDENT ADVERB CLAUSE

Adverb clauses always begin with a subordinating conjunction such as after, although, as, because, everywhere, if, so that, or when. They answer the questions When? Where? Why? How?. They also express a condition, contrast, purpose, or result. When Where Why Condition Contrast You can read a magazine My cats follows me [while you are waiting] Dependent adverb clause

[wherever I go] Dependent adverb clause

[Because it rained], we didnt go to the beach. Dependent adverb clause Study hard [if you want to get an A]. Dependent adverb clause

[Although Anna studied hard], she didnt get an A. Dependent adverb clause
2. RELATIVE CLAUSE

A relative clause will begin with a relative pronoun [such as who, whom, whose, which, or that] or a relative adverb [when, where, or why]. For example: Who was fined by the city council Which is our favourite team Where the rare stamp is kept They should look like this: The politician, who was fined by the city council, was a regular traffic offender. Germany, which is our favourite team, shockingly lost to Sweden in the World Cup semi-final. The National Museum, where the rare stamp is kept, is heavily guarded by armed policemen.
These clauses are incomplete. They must be connected to an independent clause to be a complete thought.

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Please remember, a dependent clause all by itself is not a complete sentence. Therefore, if a dependent clause appears in a composition, it is a sentence fragmenta serious error in writing. Practice 1 Underline the dependent clauses in the following sentences. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
7.

Although I was scared, I crossed the bridge. If we play our best, we will win the Innovation Competition. I intend to work with Petronas when I finish my Bachelor Degree. Suria bought a new dress although she didnt have much money. We can catch the train if we hurry. While you are drinking your coffee, Ill tell you a joke. I enjoy playing tennis with Mr. Muzafar even though hes much better

than me. 8.
9.

As you have explained your case well, Ill accept your offer. Azri went to South Africa because he wanted to watch his favorite

team, Germany. 10. If the manager is unable to help, try the assistant manager.

11. Since you are paying for the football ticket, I will go. 12. The engineer had to leave the meeting urgently when his senior started to explain about the project.

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Practice 2 Underline the dependent clauses and circle the

independent clauses

Example: When the weather is hot, we go to the beach.

1. 2. 3. 4.

When the rain stops, students begin to walk to their classes. Johan can lend money to his friends because he has a good job. Although the heat was on, the room felt cold. When the school bus lights were flashing, all traffic came to a stop.

5. Whenever there is thunder, my cats hide. 6. Although Aminah comes from a poor family, she is a successful
businesswoman.

7. If you climb up here, you can see for miles. 8. Dont get angry with people even if they shout at you. 9. Rafidah helps poor people because she is a kind woman. 10. 11.
The city council objected when the mayor changed his mind. While governments may be opened to licensing new nuclear plants, it is not certain they will be built.

12.

Datuk Riduan stayed home from work because he was sick.

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She is in terrific condition because she exercises regularly. What is a sentence?

A sentence is a group of words that has a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought. These are sentences: They arrived. Its easy. Stop! These are NOT sentences: Is easy to meet people. There is no subject I nervous when talking in front of people. There is no verb When they arrived after a long flight from Hong Kong. What happened when they arrived? This is not a complete thought.

K SE IND NT S O EN F CE S

SIMPLE, COMPOUND, COMPLEX and COMPLEX-COMPOUND

There are four kinds of sentences in English. We form the different kinds by combining dependent and independent clauses in different patterns like: IC+IC, IC+DC, IC+IC+DC, IC only. SIMPLE SENTENCE The most basic type of a sentence is the simple sentence, which contains only one clause. A simple sentence can be as short as one word: Run! Usually, however, the sentence has a subject (The subject is what (or whom) the sentence is about), as well as a predicate (the predicate tells something about the subject). All of the following are simple sentences, because each contains only one clause: Melt! All these are modifiers! The main clause is Ice Melts. Ice melts. The ice melts quickly. The ice on the river melts quickly under the warm March sun. Lying exposed without its blanket of snow, the ice on the river melts quickly 5 under the warm March sun.

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As you can see, a simple sentence can be quite long -- it is a mistake to think that you can tell a simple sentence from a compound sentence or a complex sentence simply by its length. It is long because of the modifiers. When you do use simple sentences, you should add conjunctions to connect them to the surrounding sentences. A simple sentence is one independent clause. It contains no conjunctions such as and, but, or, so, as and others independent clause I hate curry. independent clause I like Thai food. Practice 3 Construct 5 simple sentences and identify the subject, verb and object. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. COMPOUND SENTENCE A compound sentence consists of two or more independent clauses (or simple sentences) joined by coordinating conjunctions like "for," and, "nor," but, or, yet and "so". To remember the coordinating conjunctions, just remember FANBOYS. The function of a coordinating conjunction is to connect words or phrases that have the same grammatical function in a sentence. A compound sentence is most effective when you use it to create a sense of balance or contrast between two (or more) equally-important pieces of information: Example: Montral has better clubs, but Toronto has better cinemas. Simple Sentence Canada is a rich country Simple Sentence It has many poor people. Compound Sentence Canada is a rich country, but it has many poor people.

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The teacher lectured. It began to rain. I did not like the leading actor. We had to go to the supermarket. Do we a class on Monday? He doesnt want to see her.

The students took notes. I opened my umbrella. The movie was quite good on the whole. There was nothing left for us to fix dinner. Is Monday a holiday? He doesnt want to talk to her.

The teacher lectured, and the students took notes It began to rain, so I opened my umbrella. I did not like the leading actor, yet the movie was quite good on the whole. We had to go to the supermarket, for there was nothing left for us to fix dinner. Do we a class on Monday, or is Monday a holiday? He doesnt want to see her, nor talk to her.

*the basic formula for a compound sentence is: Simple Sentence + Coordinating Conjunction + Simple Sentence Practice 4 Add FANBOYS in the appropriate blanks. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
6.

I washed my shirt __________ it didnt get cleaned. I invited Lydia and her family to dinner _________ they couldnt come. The flight attendants served dinner _________ I didnt eat. Who called whom? Did Siti call you ________ did you call Siti? I went to bed ________ I couldnt sleep. I did not want to wake you up ______ this is really important. The computer crashed _______I stayed to get my work done. Abu waited for the bus ______ it arrived on time. She is on a diet, ____ she really wants that nasi lemak. Karim was working, _____ we left him alone. He did not complain to his superior, _____ it was not the right thing to do.

7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

Practice 5
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Work with your partner. Construct a pair of simple sentences and combine them using the coordinating conjunctions (FANBOYS). Simple Sentence 1 The police arrested the thief FANBOYS but Simple Sentence 2 The thief got away with a big bail.

COMPLEX SENTENCE A complex sentence contains one independent clause and at least one dependent clause. Unlike a compound sentence, however, a complex sentence contains clauses which are not equal. Consider the following examples: Simple My friend invited me to a party. I do not want to go. Compound My friend invited me to a party, but I do not want to go. Complex Although my friend invited me to a party, I do not want to go. A complex sentence is one independent clause and at least one dependent clause. The information in the dependent phrases cannot stand alone. Certain words which start off the dependent parts of the complex sentences are called subordinating conjunction. For example: Because Ali is so smart, he was offered a place at Oxford University. *subordinating conjunction

Other examples of Subordinating Conjunctions:

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Time After Before When While Adverb clause explains about time, cause and effect, opposition and condition. As e.g. As I was walking home, it began to rain By the time Since Until As soon as Once As/So long as e.g. I will never speak to him again as/so long as I live. Whenever Every time (that) The first time (that) The last time (that) The next time (that)

Cause and Effect Because Since Now that

Opposition Even though Although Though

Condition If Unless Only if Whether or not Even if

As e.g. As she has nothing to do, she called me up.

Whereas

while Inasmuch as So (that) In order that

Providing (that) Provided (that) In case (that) In the event (that)

As/So long that e.g. As/So long as youre not busy, could you help me prepare dinner?

Examples of Complex Sentences

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independent clause The dinner was burned

dependent clause because she had forgotten it. Subc. Conj. independent clause

Dependent clause When we were in Kuala Lumpur Subc. Conj.

,
,

we saw several plays

independent clause
I told him that his new print on the wall looked like an interesting prehistoric drawing of a fish,

dependent clause
although I really just wanted to laugh.

Subc. Conj. The sentences in Practice 1 and 2 from pages 3 and 4 are all complex sentences!

Please remember, a dependent clause all by itself is not a complete sentence. Therefore, if a dependent clause appears in a composition, it is a sentence fragmenta serious error in writing. *the basic formulas for a compound sentence are: Independent clause + Dependent Clause or Dependent Clause , Independent Clause Practice 6 Complete these sentences using dependent clauses. 1. She is sick ______________________________________________ Ahmad repairs the

2. ______________________________________, motorbike. 3.

Proton Edar accepted the car ________________________________ MISC is sending

4. ___________________________________________, more engineers to further their studies.

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5. The engineers are called to ______________________________________________. 6.

the

meeting

A report was made about the machine _________________________ government

7. The lab is sponsored by the ______________________________________________________. COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCE

A compound-complex sentence has at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause. These clauses are connected by both conjunctions (and, but, so, or) and dependent words (before, while, if, where, after, because, whether, etc). For example: John went to school, [Independent Clause 1] but James remained at home [Independent Clause 2] because he had a sore throat. [Dependent Clause] Complex-compound sentence: John went to school, but James remained at home because he had a sore throat. Practice 7 1. Since we had gone only a mile from camp, we could return before dark, and we would not become lost. Independent Clause 1: _________________________________________________ Independent Clause 2: _________________________________________________ Dependent Clause: _________________________________________________ 2. After the tornado had hit, my house was gone, but my neighbor's house was not touched. Independent Clause 1: _________________________________________________ Independent Clause 2: _________________________________________________ Dependent Clause: _________________________________________________
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3. Dad went fishing, but Mom stayed home because she wanted to be there when Terri arrived. Independent Clause 1: _________________________________________________ Independent Clause 2: _________________________________________________ Dependent Clause: _________________________________________________ 4. Although the children were running everywhere, closer observation indicated they were playing a game, and they had created it themselves. Independent Clause 1: _________________________________________________ Independent Clause 2: _________________________________________________ Dependent Clause: _________________________________________________ 5. Although I like to go camping, I haven't had the time to go lately, and I haven't found anyone to go with. Independent Clause 1: _________________________________________________ Independent Clause 2: _________________________________________________ Dependent Clause: _________________________________________________ Special Tips Avoid beginning sentences with FANBOYS. Experienced writers sometimes begin sentences with and, but, or so for special emphasis. In formal academic and business writing, however, it is not a good idea to begin sentences using these conjunctions. Connect the sentences instead. For example: Every summer, we went to the beach. And sometimes we camped there all night.
Every summer, we went to the beach, and sometimes we

camped there all night. When I was a child, I wanted to be a movie star. But when I grew up, my ideas changed. I became a mechanic instead.

When I was a child, I wanted to be a movie star, but when I grew up, my ideas changed. I became a mechanic instead.
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I am the youngest daughter in my family. So, I didnt have many responsibilities as a child.

I am the youngest daughter in my family, so I didnt have many responsibilities as a child.

Practice 8 Study the following sentences and identify whether these sentences are simple, compound, complex or compound-complex sentences. Provide reasons for your answers.

1. 2. 3.

Although we searched everywhere, Kamal could find no trace of his shoes. Answer: Alina wrote an original poem, and her mother corrected her spelling. Answer:

Since he was entrusted with the secret, Farid became very serious, and he was no longer a practical joker. Answer:

4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
life.

Jamalis planning to return to Trengganu and this is good news for his fianc. Answer: None of the other salesgirls asked me to change my mind. Answer: The boy who is speaking is my brother, and he will be staying with us. Answer: I know you don't like him, but that doesn't matter. Answer: Dr. Mat Nor did what could be done, but it simply was not enough to save his Answer:

9. 10.

Ana played badminton and soccer for her school. Answer: Our staff ate at McDonat and Kesang Fried Fish (KFF) yesterday. Answer:

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