Sentence Structure Lectures 1 & 2

Sentence Structure Lectures 1 – 2 By: Dr. Asmaa Ghareeb  A sentence is a group of words which has at least : 1- one subject and one verb. What is A sentence? 2- It starts with a capital letter and finishes with an ending punctuation....

Sentence Structure Lectures 1 – 2 By: Dr. Asmaa Ghareeb  A sentence is a group of words which has at least : 1- one subject and one verb. What is A sentence? 2- It starts with a capital letter and finishes with an ending punctuation. 3- It expresses a complete thought.  A Sentence Each sentence is formed by subject+ verb + punctuation mark. SUBJECT Verb Sara plays tennis.  The Four Sentence Structures ◦ There are mainly four sentence structures: 1 2 Simple Compound 4 3 Compound Complex - complex  1. Simple Sentence I drink tea. I drink tea is a simple sentence. It contains: 1- a subject (I) 2- a verb (drink) 3- and it expresses a complete thought.  Simple Sentence Simple Sentences: These are sentences that express a complete idea: e.g. She was in the class The exam is tomorrow A simple sentence needs a subject (the thing ‘doing’ the action) and a main verb (the action) Simple sentences are also called “independent clauses” (because they are complete and don’t need any support)  Simple Sentence Tom and Mary play tennis. Compound Subject &  Simple Sentence play tennis and swim. Tom and Mary Compound Subject Compound verb & &  2. Compound Sentence Compound sentences are formed by connecting two (or more) simple sentences with the words and/but/so/nor/or/for/yet (also called conjunctions) or : e.g. She was in class, but she arrived late. - She was in class; she arrived late. e.g. The exam is tomorrow, so you need to revise tonight. - The exam is tomorrow; you need to revise tonight. ◦ Note: there should be a comma before each conjunction.  Compound Sentence ◦ A compound sentence contains at least two independent clauses. These clauses are joined together by coordinating conjunctions or a semi colon (;). She cooked, and He cleaned ◦ She cooked and he cleaned are two independent clauses that are joined together by the conjunction “and”. So it is a compound sentence. Compound Sentence Tom swims, and Mary plays tennis.  Compound Sentence COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS (FANBOYS) FOR AND NOR BUT OR YET SO  3. Complex Sentence I washed the dishes after I ate breakfast I washed the dishes after I ate breakfast. ◦ I washed the dishes is an independent clause. After I ate break fast is a dependent clause. So this is a complex sentence because it has both type of clauses.  Complex Sentence Complex sentence is formed by using an independent clause (simple sentence) with a dependent clause (or switch them round). The independent clause expresses a complete idea, but the dependent clause (also called a subordinate clause) does not. There are many words you can use to form complex sentences, and they can refer to concession (e.g. although, despite), time (e.g. since, while), reason (e.g. because, as), subjects (e.g. which, who) e.g. - Although she completed her literature review, she still needed to improve it. - Because it was exam day tomorrow, it was important to revise.  Complex Sentence SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS The most common subordinating conjunctions are "after," "although," "as," "because," "before," "how," "if," "once," "since," "than," "that," though," "till," "until," "when," "where," "whether,” while."  4- Compound-Complex Sentence Compound-complex sentences are formed with by combining a range of independent and dependent clauses together. This type of sentence has more than one part that can stand alone (independent clause), and at least one that cannot (dependent clause). Conjunctions link the different parts of this sentence. Often, this sentence type will have three parts: e.g. The assignment was completed, but he felt the reference list was not complete, even though he had spent two hours compiling it.  Sentence Problems The next section looks at common problems when forming sentences: Sentence fragments Run-on sentences Comma splices  Sentence Fragments Look at the following sentences: Although the course was well organised The new book very simple to understand Organised the students into different classes What are they problems? They are all incomplete because they are all missing something. Therefore, these sentences are sentence fragments.  Sentence Fragments Possible ways to correct the sentence fragments: “Although the course was well organised” is a dependent clause, so needs an independent clause added to it to make sense “Although the course was well organised, it was boring”. “The new book very simple to understand” is missing a verb e.g. The new book was/is very….. “Organised the students into different classes” is missing a subject e.g. The teacher organised the students…..  Run-on Sentences / Comma Splices These two types are very similar and are often found together For example: 1. Over indulgence in fast food can lead to weight gain it can also cause health problems in later life 2. Over indulgence in fast food can lead to weight gain, it can also cause health problems in later life Can you see the problems?  Run-on Sentences / Comma Splices If you think both sentences are correct, then maybe you have problems with run-on sentences and comma splices: 1. “Over indulgence in fast food can lead to weight gain it can also cause health problems in later life” is a run-on sentence because it has no punctuation to separate the sentence parts (i.e. 2 independent clauses). 2. “Over indulgence in fast food can lead to weight gain, it can also cause health problems in later life” is a comma splice, because it is using a comma to separate the sentences parts.  Run-on Sentences / Comma Splices Run-on sentences and comma splices can both be corrected the same way: Using a semi colon : “…..can lead to weight gain; it can also……” Using a full stop: “…..can lead to weight gain. It can also……” Using a conjunction: ““…..can lead to weight gain and it can also……” Note: these mistakes are very common, but can be corrected very easily ☺ If you make these mistakes, try and recognise them so you can improve your sentences. Thank You