Identifying types of sentences

[ReganM]

You know, like compound, complex, compound-complex?

I swear I saw a question about it in a previous exam. o_O I don't get the whole.. main clause, subordinate clause thing..

[Plan-B]

My note from last year (from the heinemann EL book).

Subject: the person or thing the sentence is about. Example: ‘The budgie’ in ‘the budgie fell of its perch’.
Predicate: what is written or said about the subject. Example: ‘Fell of its perch’ in ‘the budgie fell of its perch’.
Phrase: A group of related words.
Clause: A group of related words containing a subject (noun) and a predicate (verb).

Main clause: A clause that can stand on its own. Example: ‘He ran a fast race’.
Subordinate clause: A clause that cannot stand on its own. Example: ‘The girl screamed because she saw a ghost’ has a main clause and a subordinate clause. Main clause: ‘The girl screamed’. Subordinate clause: ‘because she saw a ghost’.

Relative clause: A subordinate clause that describes a noun it relates to and is always introduced by a relative pronoun such as who, which, that and relates the clause to the noun in the main clause. Example: ‘The man who did the painting is over there’, relative clause: ‘who did the painting’.

Adverbial clause: A clause that answers the questions how, when, where, and why about the verb. Example: ‘As she entered the room the girl screamed because she saw the ghost’, ‘as she entered the room’ and ‘because she saw the ghost’ is both subordinate and adverbial clause, as it tells us when and why the girl screamed.


Simple sentence: A sentence formed by a single main clause.
Compound sentences: Sentences which are made up of two or more simple sentences joined by a conjunction, or separated by a comma, semi-colon or colon. Example: “He went by himself because he didn’t want company”, with “because” being the conjunction.
Complex sentences: Sentences that are made up of a main clause with one or more subordinate clauses. Example: “As she entered the room the girl screamed because she saw the ghost”.  Sentence has two subordinate clauses (adverbial).

Hope that helps

[Keine]

Do not get confused; A sentence type refers to 'interrogative, declarative, exclamative and imperative' sentences, while a 'Sentence Structure' refers to the syntax of sentences (eg, Simple Sentences, Complex, Compound, Compound-Complex) Apparently, this is one of the most common mistakes made in the English Language 3/4 exams :\

A simple sentence is a sentence that consists of one independent clause and can stand on its own
Eg- "He went to Church". An independent clause consists of a subject, a verb and an object, where the subject 'does' the verb, to (or in relation) to the object

A compound sentence is a sentence that consists of two independent clauses, linked by a co-ordinating conjunction
Co-ordinating conjunctions can be remembered  by the acronym: F.A.N.B.O.Y.S (For, And, Nor/Neither, But, Or, Yet, So) All these conjunctions are used to link independent clauses together, and if you spot one in a sentence, chances are that sentence is a compound sentence (or compound-complex)
Eg- "I went to church and attended the seminar". (This sentence still consists of two independent clauses, since the second clause: "Attended the Seminar" can be re-written as "I attended the seminar" but the 'I' is ellipted as it can be inferred from the context of going to church in the first place).

Complex sentences are sentences containing an independent clause linked by a sub-ordinating conjunction to a dependent clause. A dependent clause (as the name suggests), cannot stand on its own, and needs to be introduced by an Independent clause, so inference from context can be drawn
Sentences such as "playing with it" is incomplete and cannot stand on its own, and hence is a dependent clause. When you link one of these with an independent clause, you have a complex sentence
A sub-ordinating conjunction is a conjunction other than the co-ordinating conjunctions (so, "Other than", "while", "after" could all be sub-ordinating conjunctions)
Eg- "I went to church while singing the hymn".

Compound Complex sentences are sentences that consist of two or more independent clauses (linked by a co-ordinating conjunction) and a dependent clause (linked by a subordinating conjunction)
Eg- "I was going to church and was driving at 85KM/PH while flooring the accelerator".
Independent clauses are: "I was going to church" and "I was driving at 85KM/PH" (yet again, the 'I' of the second independent clause is ellipted) and the dependent clause is "flooring the accelerator").

[ReganM]

Thanks guys! It really helps.

@Keine: Does this mean that the ONLY coordinating conjunctions are FANBOYS?

[Keine]

I have heard that they are o__o
But I am not too sure myself and as I do not have another lead,
I'll best go with that idea