1. Sara began planning her summer vacation in December. 2.

Because I left the play early, I missed the surprise ending. 3. Tanya was invited to a party, so she wants to buy a new outfit. 4. After Alison finished playing the video game, she shut down the computer. 5. Because of rain, the baseball game was postponed. 6. For Halloween, each of the children had dressed up as a different Disney character; however, not one of them had dressed up as Mickey Mouse. 7. Some of the books in the library will be given to charity. 8. After the hurricane, many of the offices needed new carpeting. 9. The meaning of this poem is difficult to understand. 10. Tat Wei and his brother went fishing last weekend and caught lots of fish. 11. Sam doesn't think he passed the test, although he studied several hours last night. 12. The team had won the championship last year and was determined to win it again. 13. Since we bought our new wide-screen television, the prices have dropped dramatically. 14. My father and mother ate too much at our family reunion. 15. Fiona became interested in long-distance running several years ago; in fact, she ran in the Penang Bridge Marathon last year. Mark (S) for SIMPLE sentences, (C) for COMPOUND sentences and (CX) for COMPLEX sentences.

Question: Ottawa is the capital of Canada, but Toronto is the capital of Ontario. Answer: Compound Sentence Explanation: This is a compound sentence, because it contains two independent clauses joined by the co-ordinating conjunction "and." Question:Democracy is a noble goal; it is important, however, to protect the minority from the tyranny of the majority. Answer: Compound Sentence Explanation: This is a special type of compound sentence, where the two independent clauses -"democracy is a noble goal" and "it is important, however, to protect the minority ..." are joined by a semicolon instead of a co-ordinating conjunction. Question: I do not own a Porsche. Answer: Simple Sentence Explanation: This is a simple sentence, containing only one independent clause. Question: Call your father as soon as you arrive in Kuala Lumpur. Answer: Complex Sentence Explanation: This is a complex sentence because it contains the dependent clause "as soon as you arrive in Antigonish." If that information were in a phrase instead of a clause, however, the sentence would be a simple sentence: Call you father upon your arrival in Kuala Lumpur. Question: I ate the sushi and left the restaurant. Answer: Simple Sentence Explanation: This is a simple sentence. It is easy to see, however, why someone might think that this is a compound sentence, since it contains the co-ordinating conjunction "and"; however, the conjunction actually joins two predicates -- "ate the sushi" and "left the restaurant" -- within a single clause. The clue that you are dealing with a compound predicate rather than a compound subject is the fact that there is only one subject, "I." Question: Unless my girlfriend postpones her visit from Singapore, I will not have time to study for my exam. Answer: Complex Sentence Explanation: This is a complex sentence, containing the independent clause "I will not have time to study for my exam" and the dependent clause "unless my girlfriend postpones her visit from Calgary." Note the subordinating conjunction "unless" at the beginning of the dependent clause.

Question: Susanne wanted to be here, but she cannot come because her car is in the shop. Answer: Compound-Complex Sentence Explanation: This is a compound-complex sentence. First, it contains two independent clauses - "Suzanne wanted to be here" and "she cannot come because her car is in the shop" -- joined by the co-ordinating conjunction "but"; the second independent clause, however, contains the dependent clause "because her car is in the shop," making the sentence complex as well as compound. Question: The football game was cancelled because it was raining. Answer: Complex Sentence Explanation: This is a complex sentence since it contains the dependent clause "because it was raining." Question: The football game was cancelled because of the rain. Answer: Simple Sentence Explanation: This is a simple sentence: since it does not have a predicate, "because of the rain" is a phrase rather than a clause. Question: When the train arrives and if Ms. Langlois is on it, she will be served with a subpoena. Answer: Complex Sentence Explanation: This is a complex sentence. At first glance, it might look like a compound-complex sentence because of the conjunction "and" joining the two dependent clauses "when the train arrives" and "if Ms. Langlois is on it"; however, there is only one independent clause in the sentence, so it cannot be compound.

The Structure of a Sentence

Remember that every clause is, in a sense, a miniature sentence. A simple sentences contains only a single clause, while a compound sentence, a complex sentence, or a compound-complex sentence contains at least two clauses.

The Simple Sentence

The most basic type of 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 as well as a predicate and both the subject and the predicate may have modifiers. All of the following are simple sentences, because each contains only one clause: a) b) c) d) e) Melt! 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 under the warm March sun.

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. The most natural sentence structure is the simple sentence: it is the first kind which children learn to speak, and it remains by far the most common sentence in the spoken language of people of all ages. In written work, simple sentences can be very effective for grabbing a reader's attention or for summing up an argument, but you have to use them with care: too many simple sentences can make your writing seem childish. When you do use simple sentences, you should add transitional phrases to connect them to the surrounding sentences.

The Compound Sentence

A compound sentence consists of two or more independent clauses (or simple sentences) joined by co-ordinating conjunctions like "and," "but," and "or": Simple Canada is a rich country. Simple Still, it has many poor people. Compound Canada is a rich country, but still it has many poor people. Compound sentences are very natural for English speakers -- small children learn to use them early on to connect their ideas and to avoid pausing (and allowing an adult to interrupt):

Today at school Mr. Eng brought in his pet rabbit, and he showed it to the class, and I got to pet it, and Shan Shan held it, and we coloured pictures of it, and it ate part of my carrot at lunch, and ... Of course, this is an extreme example, but if you over-use compound sentences in written work, your writing might seem immature. 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: Kuala Lumpur has better clubs, but Penang has better cinemas.

Special Cases of Compound Sentences

There are two special types of compound sentences which you might want to note. First, rather than joining two simple sentences together, a co-ordinating conjunction sometimes joins two complex sentences, or one simple sentence and one complex sentence. In this case, the sentence is called a compound-complex sentence: compound-complex The package arrived in the morning, but the courier left before I could check the contents. The second special case involves punctuation. It is possible to join two originally separate sentences into a compound sentence using a semicolon instead of a co-ordinating conjunction: Sir John A. Macdonald had a serious drinking problem; when sober, however, he could be a formidable foe in the House of Commons. Usually, a conjunctive adverb like "however" or "consequently" will appear near the beginning of the second part, but it is not required: The sun rises in the east; it sets in the west.

The 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. In the first example, there are two separate simple sentences: "My friend invited me to a party" and "I do not want to go." The second example joins them together into a single sentence with the co-ordinating conjunction "but," but both parts could still stand as independent sentences -they are entirely equal, and the reader cannot tell which is most important. In the third

example, however, the sentence has changed quite a bit: the first clause, "Although my friend invited me to a party," has become incomplete, or a dependent clause. A complex sentence is very different from a simple sentence or a compound sentence because it makes clear which ideas are most important. When you write My friend invited me to a party. I do not want to go. or even My friend invited me to a party, but I do not want to go. The reader will have trouble knowing which piece of information is most important to you. When you write the subordinating conjunction"although" at the beginning of the first clause, however, you make it clear that the fact that your friend invited you is less important than, or subordinate, to the fact that you do not want to go. Written by David Megginson

SIMPLE SENTENCES:

A. Some students like to study in the mornings. B. Juan and Arturo play football every afternoon. C. Alicia goes to the library and studies every day.
COMPOUND SENTENCES: A. I tried to speak Spanish, and my friend tried to speak English. B. Alejandro played football, so Maria went shopping. C. Alejandro played football, for Maria went shopping.

COMPLEX SENTENCES: A. When he handed in his homework, he forgot to give the teacher the last page. B. The teacher returned the homework after she noticed the error. C. The students are studying because they have a test tomorrow. D. After they finished studying, Juan and Maria went to the movies. E. Juan and Maria went to the movies after they finishedstudying.