sentence structure

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SENTENCE STRUCTURE

A. Simple sentence

EXAMPLE

1.Some students like to study in the mornings. (SVC)
2. Jagurah and Arturo play football every afternoon. (SSVC)
3. Alicia goes to the library and studies every day. (SVVC)/ (SVC + conjunctions
(FANNBOYS) VC)

FORMULA
-SVC
-SSVC/SVVC
-SVC (FANBOYS) VC

B. Compound sentence
i. use conjunctions : SVC, FANBOYS SVC
1. I tried to speak Arabic, and my friend tried to speak English.
2. Aleja played football, so his wife went shopping.
3. Aleja played football, for his wife went shopping.

CONJUNCTION LOGICAL RELATIONSHIP

For Cause (because)

And Addition ( same idea)

Nor CHOICE ( NOT THIS, NOT THAT )- join 2 negative sentences.

The sentence after nor is like a question: She did not talk, nor

did she smile.

But Opposite ideas/contrast

Or Choice (either this or that)

Yet OPPOSITE IDEA-same as but- the second part of sentence

says something unexpected or surprising

So RESULT-the second sentence describe the result of the first
sentence

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ii. Use a Semicolon ( ; ) - SVC ; SVC
1. The teacher lectured for over an hour ; his students slept soundly.
2. The old man spent all his money ; he wanted his children had comfortable
life.
3. The student had a test the next day ; she did not study all night long.
iii.Use a semicolon and a transition signal - SVC ; Transition signal , SVC

1. The students worked very hard in the science project; however, they failed to
convince their teacher.

2. Larry studied for the test all weekend; therefore, he expected a good grade on the
test.
Transition signals

FUNCTION He is TRANSITION SIGNAL he is
To join similar intelligent ; in addition , hardworking
ideas/ ; moreover,
introduce He is a ; furthermore,
additianal good man ; besides,
ideas
/information ; however , his words
To join ; nevertheless, are harsh
contradict ; on the other hand/on the
ideas/contrast contrary, they had to
; meanwhile/ whereas, postpone the
To indicate a It rained ;therefore, football
result/ effect ceaselessly ;thus/thereby/hence/henceforth, match
;consequently/as a result, he did not
To give He failed study
reason/cause the test ;because there are an
To introduce The school ;since /as
;for example

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an example has many ;for instance air-
facilities for conditioned
to add similar students ;similarly/likewise library, a
idea/repeat mosque, big
information Narita in brief/all in all /in conclusion/in hall,a
To seldom talks a nut shell/ to conclude/ in gymnasium
summarise or with her other words, and a
conclude sibling student
centre.
she locks
herself in her
room when
she is at
home.
I hope you
have gained
some insight
into the
problem of
obesity
among
youngsters
and learnt
way to
control your
weight.

FORMULA
SVC, FANBOYS SVC
SVC;SVC
SVC; TRANSITION SIGNASL, SVC

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C. Complex sentence

Example: Dependent Clause
Independent Clause that I wrote in the examination
My teacher admired the essay when I looked into the mirror
I saw an old man although you may not believe it
It is true until he attended Medical College.
Jusoh had no focus in life

Example:

Dependent Clause Independent Clause
Because the teacher gave such hard many students failed.
examination,
When I looked into the mirror , I saw an old man.
Although you may not believe it, it is true
Until Jusoh attended Medical College he had no focus in life.
,
The company uses robot, which can work twenty four hours

Subordinating conjuctions

Time/where After/ before/while/until/when/whenever/since/as soon as/
Cause & effect wherever/where
Because / since/ as/ in order that / in case (that)

Opposite Though/ even though / Although/ whereas /while/Despite/
Condition Inspite of
even if/ if / unless/ only if/ whether or not

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Relative pronouns

Person Who/whom

Thing/Animal Which

Person/thing/animal That (is used only in restrictive clause* - in place of who
and which)

FORMULA

I. IDC (subordinating/ relative pronouns) DC
II. (subordinating/ relative pronouns) DC , IDC

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EXERCISE 1
Write compound sentences using FANBOYS
An elderly man is eating a lunch, that his wife has prepared for him, at the top of a hill. In the
lunch are some rice balls. The man accidentally drops one of these rice balls and it rolls down
the hill and falls into a hole. The man goes to see where his rice ball has gone. When he
arrives at the hole he hears happy singing from inside. The man tries to get closer to the hole
in order to better hear the singing. He ends up falling in. Once in the hole the man sees many
mice all around him that begin to thank him for the food that he has just provided. The mice
are in such gratitude. They prepare the man a feast. Then, as the man is about to leave, the
mice offer him a souvenir. They say “you can either choose the small box or the large box”
The man chooses the small box. The man then goes back to his house. He opens the box.
He discovers that there are many treasures inside (money, gold, jewelry). Being a very
benevolent man, he spreads the wealth around the whole town.

EXERCISE 2
Write compound sentences using Transition signals , Semi Colon ( ; )
Now the man next door hears this story. He becomes jealous. He decides to imitate the actions
of the old man. He brings rice balls to the same hill, shoves the rice balls down the same hole.
He crawls into this hole. The mice are again thankful for the rice. They make the man a feast.
At the end of the feast the man asks for his souvenirs. He imitates a cat in order to scare the
mice. The mice become furious. They start to attack the man relentlessly. The man becomes
overtaken by the mice. He never makes it out of the hole.

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EXERCISE 3
Combine the following pairs of simple sentences into complex sentences.

1. John went to the movies. He had a lot of work to do.
2. Vishnu is a brilliant boy. He has won several honours.
3. Mark didn’t get the job. He lacked the necessary qualifications.
4. Harry is a baseball player. He is known all over the world.
5. Henry needs to learn English. I will teach him.
6. It was raining outside. We went for a walk.
7. Yvonne played golf extremely well. She was very young.
8. Franklin wants to get a new job. He is preparing for job interviews.
9. I'm writing a letter, and I'm leaving. You will find it tomorrow
10. Cindy and David had breakfast. They left for work.
11. I really enjoyed the concert. The music was too loud.
12. Alexander has been working sixty hours a week. There is an important presentation

next week.
13. I usually work out at the gym early in the morning. I leave for work at eight a.m.
14. The car was extremely expensive. Bob didn't have much money. He bought the car.
15. I prefer to watch TV by streaming over the internet. It allows me to watch what I want

and when I want

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EXERCISE 4
Identify whether the sentences are simple, complex, compound or compound-
complex. Please underline dependent clauses where it applies.
1. Vampires Dairies is my favorite television show, but I also love True Blood.
2. The student wiped the white board that was filthy with last week’s notes.
3. The trendy fashion designer released her new line on Wednesday.
4. Trina and Hareem went to a luxurious restaurant in Kuala Lumpur to celebrate their

anniversary.
5. Wicked Regina cast a spell on the entire city, so the citizens decided to rebel.
6. While waiting for the paint to dry, Angela went to Home Depot, and Martin organised the

kitchen appliances.
7. After listening to the Kanye West CD, I have new respect for his music.
8. After the teacher chose groups, John and Sara were selected as partners for a project,

yet Sarah did most of the work.

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EXERCISE 5
Change the simple sentences to complex sentences using suitable coordinating
conjunctions.

The Hare and the Tortoise.
There once was a speedy hare. He bragged about how fast he could run. The tortoise was
tired of hearing him boast. The tortoise was slow and steady. He challenged him to a race. All
the animals in the forest gathered to watch.
Hare ran down the road for a while. He then paused to rest. He looked back at slow and steady
tortoise. He cried out, "How do you expect to win this race. You are walking along at your slow,
slow pace?"
Hare stretched himself out alongside the road. He fell asleep, thinking, "There is plenty of time
to relax." Slow and Steady walked and walked. He never, ever stopped. He came to the finish
line.
The animals who were watching cheered so loudly for Tortoise They woke up Hare. Hare
stretched and yawned and began to run again. It was too late. Tortoise was over the line.
After that, Hare always reminded himself, "Don't brag about your lightning pace, for Slow and
Steady won the race!"

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EXERCISE 6
Choose whether or not each of the following sentences is a run on sentence, a
fragment, or a complete sentence. Fill in the blanks with either FRAGMENT, RUN ON,
or COMPLETE. EX: Bill is a good man we all know this. RUN ON

1. Her eyes, the most beautiful eyes in the world. __________________
2. I’m sorry about last night I was upset. __________________
3. James opened the door for her. __________________
4. He grew up in Leeds, an industrial town. __________________
5. A good answer, but still not acceptable. __________________
6. After I finished speaking to her. __________________
7. Having read the book before, I didn’t want to read it again. __________________
8. He is a good man, but even good men sometimes do bad things this is normal.

__________________
9. Come over I have a lot of food at home. __________________
10. She promised her roommate that she would clean the kitchen.
11. Tim is broke; He only has two dollars to his name. __________________
12. Cathy forgot to call, but she later apologized. __________________
13. At night, when the moon is full. __________________
14. He has two houses one in Florida and another in California. __________________
15. Which wasn’t really understood by all the students. __________________
16. I can get more food if you’re still hungry. __________________
17. I tried it was harder than I thought it would be. __________________
18. No, he doesn’t live here anymore. __________________
19. When you see him. __________________
20.Try to do your best that way you might succeed.________________________

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EXERCISE 7

Choose whether or not each of the following sentences is a run on sentence. Fill in
the blanks with either YES or NO:

1. The girl wanted to go and she told her brother but he didn’t want to go. RUN ON?
__________

2. Everything he told you was from a movie he had seen. RUN ON? __________
3. I don’t want to talk about it this is the third time I’ve told you. RUN ON? __________
4. I’m tired and I’d like to rest for a while. RUN ON? __________
5. He never really admitted to anything; I had to find out from his brother.

RUN ON? __________
6. He is about to start singing and if you don’t stop talking on your mobile you’ll miss it.

RUN ON? __________
7. He loved to fly, so he hardly ever took the train. RUN ON? __________
8. His mother tried to get him to quit smoking, but he didn’t listen. RUN ON? __________
9. He’s a good student he always gets good grades. RUN ON? __________
10. He is going to the mall to buy some socks. RUN ON? __________
11. I can’t believe that it took you so long to finish the test. RUN ON? __________
12. I tried on the shirt it was too small. RUN ON? __________
13. Peter called his mother to ask about borrowing some money. RUN ON? __________
14. Those girls are very pretty, but they’re also quite conceited. RUN ON? __________
15. You didn’t ask me for help I would have helped you. RUN ON? __________
16. I have four cats, but only one sleeps all day. RUN ON? __________
17. He works out daily, so he’s in pretty good shape. RUN ON? __________
18. We have to go out for groceries the store should still be open. RUN ON? __________
19. Call your aunt she will tell you when to pick up the key. RUN ON? __________
20. He seems like a nice guy he’s actually not nice at all. RUN ON? __________

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