What are the
different
styles of sentences?
| In order for your writing to be
interesting, you will need to vary the styles of sentences that you use.
If your writing only contains simple sentences, your writing will be very
choppy:
I like Mrs. Bergey. She is my
teacher. She teaches writing.
POSITIVELY BORING!!!
I know you can do better than that! |
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Simple sentences . . .
contain only one independent clause.
Example:
Mrs. Bergey enjoys teaching
writing.
What are Compound
Sentences?
They join two or more independent clauses
(simple sentences). Compound sentences join ideas of equal importance.
Mrs. Bergey enjoys teaching
writing.
Mrs. Bergey wants her students
to succeed.
becomes:
Mrs. Bergey enjoys teaching writing,
and she wants her students to succeed.
| A compound sentence contains
two sentences joined by and, or, or but.
These words are called conjunctions.
Compound sentences express more than one complete thought. |
What are Complex
Sentences?
Complex sentences join one or more dependent
clauses to the independent clause. Complex sentences are useful when your
writing includes some ideas that are more important than others.Remember, just because a sentence has a phrase in it - like an apposite phrase, or a prepositional phrase- doesn't make it a complex sentence.
Mrs. Bergey, a
teacher at Twentynine Palms Elementary School,
enjoys teaching writing.
CHALLENGE QUESTION: The above sentence is still just a simple sentence! Do you know why?
A complex sentence contains at least one
clause (a statement) that is not a complete sentence. This is
in
addition to at least one other independent clause that could be a complete sentence on its own. |
CHALLENGE ANSWER: While "a teacher at Twentynine Palms Elementary
School" is not a complete sentence and would not stand on its own, it is just a phrase. A clause has a subject and a predicate.
Let's look at a different example:
While Mrs. Bergey was editing her website.
That is an example of a dependent clause. Even though it seems like it has a subject (Mrs. Bergey) and a predicate (was editing her website), it can't stand on it's own! It needs something else to be a complete thought! (That is why it is sometimes called a "dependent" clause. It depends
on the rest of the sentence.)
So let's make the thought complete:
While Mrs. Bergey was editing her website, she found lots of mistakes to correct!
Now that's a complex sentence. It joins a dependent clause with an independent clause to make a complex sentence. Isn't building sentences fun?
HINT for succesful
writers:
Use a variety
of sentences styles in your writing!
Assignment:
Go to The
Desert Trail or The Hi-Desert
Star. Select an article, and copy down the first ten sentences in the
chart below. You can also do this assignment with any other grade level
reading selection. Decide whether or not the sentences are simple, compound,
or complex.Be prepared to justify your answers when you share with the
class.
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Write one sentence from the
article on each line
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Is it simple,
compound,
or complex?
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