THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF SENTENCES IN ENGLISH

1. Kinds of Sentences
SIMPLE SENTENCES have only one independent clause.
We were sorry. We left. We did not meet all the guests.
We felt the disappointment of our friends at our early departure.
A simple sentence is not a plain or short sentence. It is a sentence that conveys only one main idea.
(To avoid choppiness combine simple sentences and show connections between ideas:
Feeling the disappointment of our friends at our early departure, we were sorry to leave before meeting all the guests.)
A simple sentence can have more that one subject (compound subject): Francis and Chris were sorry.
A simple sentence can have more than one verb (compound verb): Francis ate peanuts and drank coffee.
A simple sentence is the most effective way to deliver one main point.
COMPOUND SENTENCES contain two or more independent clauses.
Compound sentences use coordination to connect two ideas of equal importance.
Avoid comma splices and fused sentences by using the following punctuation in compound sentences:
1. Use a semicolon:
The bus was very crowded; I had to stand all the way.
2. Use a comma and a coordinating conjunction (and, but, so, for, or, nor, yet)
The bus was very crowded, so I had to stand all the way.
3. Use a semicolon in front of a conjunctive adverb (however, therefore, nevertheless, etc.) followed by a comma:
The bus was very crowded; therefore, I had to stand all the way.
Avoid long series of compound sentences, since they do not show the relative importance of ideas.

2. COMPLEX SENTENCES have one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses.
Because the bus was crowded, I had to stand all the way.
Complex sentences use subordination to show the relative importance of ideas in a sentence.
Two simple sentences, such as "We left" and "He arrived," can assume different meanings depending on the way they
are connected in a complex sentence:
We left before he arrived.
He arrived before we left.
COMPOUND-COMPLEX sentences have two independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses.
Because she did not hear the alarm, Mary was late, and the bus had already left.
Remember: You should achieve balance and variety in the kinds of sentences that you write in
your papers.