How understanding sentence structure can improve your writing
1. EQ: How does understanding of sentence
structure affect my writing success?
2. There are two types of
clauses:
1) Independent clause
2)Dependent (subordinate)
clause
3. An independent clause has a subject and a
verb. It can stand by itself as a complete
sentence.
- We wanted to get home before the rainstorm.
- I earned an A on my research paper.
4. A dependent clause has a subject and a verb, but it
cannot stand by itself as a complete sentence.
Dependent clauses often have transitional adverbs
which clue the reader into it being a dependent
clause:
◦ Which
◦ Because
◦ Even though
◦ When
Which is why we left early.
Because I worked on my citations every night.
5. There are four different sentence
types:
◦Simple
◦Compound
◦Complex
◦Compound-complex
6. Contain one independent clause (one subject
and verb combination)
They stand by themselves as complete
sentences.
EX: My dog ate the pizza.
EX: Aren’t you excited to give your speech?
EX: Dogs, rabbits and kitty cats have toenails,
incisor teeth, feet and ears.
7. Contain 2 independent clauses.
The clauses are joined in one of two ways:
1) A comma and a conjunction
2) A semicolon
EX: My dog ate the pizza, and my cat drank all the
Gatorade.
EX: Speeches are fun, but completing worksheets is
not fun.
EX: We have conferences Thursday; I’ll be here until
8:30.
EX: She had coffee this morning; it was French roast.
8. Contain 1 independent clause and 1
dependent clause
They are typically joined with a comma or
without punctuation:
EX: I ate breakfast because I was hungry.
EX: Even though the bad guys have Superman
surrounded, he always fights his way out and
wins.
9. Contain 2 or more independent clauses and 1
dependent clause.
EX: Students always turn their work in on
time, and their parents are happy because
they work so hard.
I earned an A on my research paper, so I
passed the course, which was my goal all
along.
10. Write this on the back of your
Cornell notes. You are to write
two independent clauses and one
dependent clause using the
following images; exchange with a
partner and create two different
types of sentences (not simple)
from the clauses they’ve written.
11.
12.
13. With the person next
to you, identify the
independent and
dependent clauses in
the sentences, add
any necessary
punctuation, then
state whether the
sentence is simple,
compound, complex,
or compound-
complex.
14. I love frozen custard so I go to my local
Culver’s because they have vanilla
Research papers are tough but they’re great
experience
Even though I recorded my sources I have
problems with the Works Cited page
Mr C will collect our outlines in class so I
did mine last night
Her outline is late she forgot about it
The final draft should be easy because I just
have to change a couple things
It is Thursday and I am ready for break
because this has been a long week
15. Today is a reading day I remembered my
novel
Yesterday I forgot my pencil my notebook
my textbook my binder and my coffee
If you study you’ll do better and you’ll
impress your parents
Colleges will always evaluate your high
school grade point average
Punctuation is sometimes boring but it will
appear on the English section of the ACT
My writing has been strong so I will take the
writing portion of the ACT
16. In partners, create a fictional story using
characters and plot events.
◦ Use all 10 vocab words correctly
◦ Underline vocab words
Change the forms of the words where possible.
◦ Use exactly 2 of each sentence type (completed
assignment will be exactly 8 sentences in length)
Simple
Compound
Complex
Compound-complex
