Sentence Structure

As is the case with many aspects of writing, sentence structure is conventional: the rules that govern the
structure of English sentences are neither absolute nor arbitrary. Understanding the conventions for
structuring sentences allows writers to communicate information clearly and effectively. We all implicitly rely
on these conventions when reading, so we should be aware of how the structure of our own sentences will
affect the clarity of what we write. Put simply, sentence structure is a tool for making effective use of our
audience's expectations, and our primary goal in approaching sentence structure should always be improving
the clarity of our ideas.

Clauses and Sentence Structure

English sentences can be grouped into four basic types of sentence structure: simple, compound, complex
and compound-complex. These classifications indicate the number of clauses in the sentence and the
relationships between those clauses. Most effective writing styles make use of all four types of sentence
structure.
A clause consists of a subject (the noun, person or object that performs the action), a predicate (the verb
or action performed) and any objects or modifiers (direct objects, predicate nominatives, adverbs,
adjectives, prepositional phrases, etc.) that attach to the subject and predicate. For instance, Sam grunted is
a two-word clause containing a subject (Sam) and a verb (grunted). Sam reluctantly grunted his acceptance
of the new dinner plans is a ten-word clause with the same subject and verb along with a direct object
(acceptance), an adverb (reluctantly) and a prepositional phrase acting as an adjective (of the new dinner
plans). Each one is a clause because it has a subject and a verb.

Simple Sentences
A simple sentence is a single clause that expresses a complete thought; it is also known as an independent
clause because it can stand on its own. Every English sentence includes at least one independent
clause. A simple sentence can have compound subjects ("Bill and Frank play baseball"), compound verbs
("Frank plays baseball and watches Major League games") or even compound subjects and verbs ("Bill and
Frank play baseball and watch Major League games") as long as every subject performs every verb in the
sentence. "Bill plays baseball, and Frank watches Major League games" is not a simple sentence because the
two subjects perform different actions and form separate clauses. In the context of a paper or longer work,
simple sentences are often used to emphasize a point because they push the reader to focus on a single
fact or action. The main weakness of simple sentences is they don't tell your readers how individual points are
related to one another. When we need to show relationships between thoughts, we use the conventions of
compound and complex sentences.

Compound Sentences
A compound sentence consists of two independent clauses joined by a comma and conjunction, a
semicolon, or a colon. The relationship between the two thoughts is most often communicated by the
conjunction that joins the clauses together. For instance, "Bill plays baseball, and Frank watches Major
League games" presents a different meaning than "Bill plays baseball, but Frank watches Major League
games." The first sentence emphasizes the two mens common interest in baseball while the second sentence
emphasizes the difference in their level of participation. Either compound sentence provides the reader with
more information than two simple sentences made from the same clauses ("Bill plays baseball. Frank watches
Major League games"). A compound sentence displays the relationship between two facts, actions or ideas,
and it presents the information communicated by each clause as having equal importance. (For more
information on joining independent clauses, see our handout on Semicolons and Colons.)

Complex Sentences
A complex sentence consists of one independent clause with one or more dependent clauses. A dependent
clause is a subject/verb cluster that does not express a complete thought and cannot stand alone as a simple
sentence. Dependent clauses are also known as subordinate clauses because the information they express is
subordinated to (presented as less important than) the information in the sentence's independent clause.
Dependent clauses often contain background information or information that presents the independent
clause in a particular light. For instance, "Although Bill plays baseball, Frank watches Major League games"
puts the emphasis on Frank's knowledge of MLB and might give us reason to believe Frank over Bill when
they disagree about who Roger Clemens played for in 1998. On the other hand, "While Frank watches Major
League games, Bill plays baseball" would give us reason to pick Bill over Frank in the company softball game.
In each case, the subject and verb of the independent clause is the main focus of the complex
sentence.
Dependent clauses always serve as nouns, adjectives or adverbs. In a noun clause, the entire clause acts
like a single noun and can be a subject, a direct object, an appositive, an object of a preposition, etc. For
example, the last clause in the sentence A clause serves as a noun if it is the object of a preposition is a
noun clause used as the object of a preposition. In an adjective or adverb clause, the entire clause serves as
a single modifier. If an adjective or adverb clause comes at the beginning of a sentence, it always modifies the
subject of the sentence. If the clause comes anywhere else in the sentence, it modifies the verb or noun that
comes immediately before the clause.

Compound-Complex Sentences
Writers can combine three or more clauses into a compound-complex sentence, which is a compound
sentence that also includes at least one dependent clause. Every compound-complex sentence will have at
least three clauses. For instance, "While Frank watches Major League games, Bill plays baseball, so we should
pick Bill for our team" consists of three clauses that are dependent, independent and independent
respectively. Because they place several clauses in explicit relationship to one another, compound-complex
sentences can express more nuance than any other sentence structure, but their complexity can
strain the reader's attention and risk possible misreading. While they are tremendously useful and
sometimes necessary, they require careful planning.

Sentence Fragments and Run-ons

A sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence used as a sentence. While sentences are independent clauses
that express complete thoughts, fragments are either 1) partial clauses that lack either a subject or a verb
or 2) dependent clauses that do not express a complete thought. Left all the lights on in the house is a
fragment lacking a subject. To complete the sentence, ask yourself who or what performs the action of the
sentence and rewrite the sentence to include that actor (your subject). Jamie left all the lights on in the
house. Frank and a bunch of guys he knew in high school is a fragment that lacks a verb. To complete the
sentence, ask yourself what action, event or way of being your subject performs or displays and add in the
appropriate verb. Frank and a bunch of guys he knew in high school went fishing is a complete sentence.
Dependent clauses also constitute sentence fragments when they are not attached to an independent clause.
For example, When they are not attached to an independent clause would be a sentence fragment if left on
its own. While fragments can be used for stylistic effect, you should avoid fragments in most academic prose.
Run-on sentences have two or more independent clauses that are not joined together by a commaconjunction pair, a semicolon, or a colon. To correct a run-on sentence, you should either add the
appropriate connection (comma+conjunction, semicolon, etc.) or split the independent clauses into two or
more sentences. A comma-splice is a specific type of run-on sentence that joins two independent clauses
with a comma alone. To fix a comma-splice, add the appropriate coordinating conjunction (and, or, but, etc.).

Undergraduate Writing Center | The University of Texas at Austin | uwc.utexas.edu | FAC 211 | 512.471.6222
Created by Frederick Coye Heard, November 2011 | Last revised by Frederick Coye Heard, November 2011