2. What do you already know about
sentences?
• Write down five things that you know about
sentences in the task activity below.
3. The Sentence
• A sentence expresses a complete thought.
• A sentence includes a subject.
• A sentence includes at least one verb.
• A sentence begins with a capital letter.
• A sentence ends with a full stop, exclamation
mark or question mark.
4. The Simple Sentence
• A simple sentence is made up of a subject and
a predicate.
• The subject does or is something.
• The predicate expresses action (eg hit, run,
swim) or a state of being (eg am, is, was, will
be).
5. The Simple Sentence
• Spring (subject) is approaching (predicate).
• The children (subject) are playing (predicate).
6. The Compound Sentence
• A compound sentence is made up of two
independent clauses joined together.
• Mary was sad, but her husband was happy.
• John worked hard; he was always in the
library.
• Notice the independent clauses are joined by
a comma and a conjunction, or a semicolon.
7. More about conjunctions
• Independent clauses can be linked to
dependent clauses by using a comma and one
of the following conjunctions: and, but, for,
nor, since, so, yet.
• She won her race. She trained regularly.
• She won her race, for she trained regularly.
8. The Complex Sentence
• A complex sentence is one in which the
independent clause has a dependent clause
added to it.
• The siren was delayed, giving children extra
playtime.
• Although she was tired, Janelle swam a
personal best.
9. The Complex Sentence
• The dependent clause adds meaning or
information. Without the independent clause,
the dependent clause does not make
complete sense.
10. Punctuation for complex sentences
• As a general rule, separate the independent
clause from the dependent clause by using a
comma or pair of commas.
• Even though it was raining, the sports day
went ahead.
• The school, which recently won an award, had
record enrolments.
11. Keen to find out more about
sentences?
• Go to the ‘grammar’ stack on the AESC
Delicious page.
• The ‘Writing Sentences: Introduction’ is
particularly good
https://www.delicious.com/stacks/view/K5Xf
Ql
12. Your Turn
• In the task box below, write a simple sentence
answering this question.
• What are the attributes of a successful
student?
• Include only three attributes in your sentence.
13. Did your sentence look something like
this?
• A successful student is organised, intelligent
and motivated.
14. End of Part 2
Please ensure you have completed
each of the tasks in section 2
online.
