There are 4 main types of sentences in English: simple sentences, compound sentences, complex sentences, and compound-complex sentences. Knowing the different sentence types allows writers to identify mistakes like fragments and run-ons that confuse readers. The goal is to learn about sentence types in order to properly edit one's own writing and eliminate errors in sentence structure.

1. Sentence Types What do you already know about the sentence types in English? a. How many sentence types are there? b. What are some types of mistakes that are made with the sentence types which are very confusing for readers?

2. Why is it important to know the sentence types? Being able to look at a sentence that you write to see what 'type' it is gives you the power to find and fix mistakes. It also gives you the confidence to know when something is right or wrong instead of trying to see if it 'sounds right'.

4. Compound Sentences

6. Adjective Clauses

9. Fragments don't have enough 'sentence parts' to make a correct sentence.

10. For example:

12. Run-ons have too many sentence parts, or parts that are joined incorrectly.

13. For example:

14. Susan ate, however, she was still hungry.

15. What is the goal? The learning goal in this unit is to learn enough about the sentence types so that you can edit your own writing to find and eliminate fragments and run-ons.