Definition of a Sentence a Sentence Is a Group of Words Containing A
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Definition of a Sentence A sentence is a group of words containing a subject and predicate. Sometimes, the subject is "understood," as in a command: "[You] go next door and get a cup of sugar." That probably means that the shortest possible complete sentence is something like "Go!" Experienced writers use a variety of sentences to make their writing interesting and lively. Too many simple sentences, for example, will sound choppy and immature while too many long sentences will be difficult to read and hard to understand. This page contains definitions of simple, compound, and complex sentences with many simple examples. The purpose of these examples is to help the ESL/EFL learner to identify sentence basics including identification of sentences in the short quizzes that follow. After that, it will be possible to analyze more complex sentences varieties. SIMPLE SENTENCE A simple sentence, also called an independent clause, contains a subject and a verb, and it expresses a complete thought. In the following simple sentences, subjects are in yellow, and verbs are in green. A. Some students like to study in the mornings. B. Juan and Arturo play football every afternoon. C. Alicia goes to the library and studies every day. The three examples above are all simple sentences. Note that sentence B contains a compound subject, and sentence C contains a compound verb. Simple sentences, therefore, contain a subject and verb and express a complete thought, but they can also contain a compound subjects or verbs. COMPOUND SENTENCE A compound sentence contains two independent clauses joined by a coordinator. The coordinators are as follows:for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. (Helpful hint: The first letter of each of the coordinators spells FANBOYS.) Except for very short sentences, coordinators are always preceded by a comma. In the following compound sentences, subjects are in yellow, verbs are in green, and the coordinators and the commas that precede them are in red. A. I tried to speak Spanish, and my friend tried to speak English. B. Alejandro played football, so Maria went shopping. C. Alejandro played football, for Maria went shopping. The above three sentences are compound sentences. Each sentence contains two independent clauses, and they are joined by a coordinator with a comma preceding it. Note how the conscious use of coordinators can change the relationship between the clauses. Sentences B and C, for example, are identical except for the coordinators. In sentence B, which action occurred first? Obviously, "Alejandro played football" first, and as a consequence, "Maria went shopping. In sentence C, "Maria went shopping" first. In sentence C, "Alejandro played football" because, possibly, he didn't have anything else to do, for or because "Maria went shopping." How can the use of other coordinators change the relationship between the two clauses? What implications would the use of "yet" or "but" have on the meaning of the sentence? COMPLEX SENTENCE A complex sentence has an independent clause joined by one or more dependent clauses. A complex sentence always has a subordinator such as because, since, after, although, or when or a relative pronoun such as that, who,or which. In the following complex sentences, subjects are in yellow, verbs are in green, and the subordinators and their commas (when required) are in red. A. When he handed in his homework, he forgot to give the teacher the last page. B. The teacher returned the homework after she noticed the error. C. The students are studying because they have a test tomorrow. D. After they finished studying, Juan and Maria went to the movies. E. Juan and Maria went to the movies after they finished studying. When a complex sentence begins with a subordinator such as sentences A and D, a comma is required at the end of the dependent clause. When the independent clause begins the sentence with subordinators in the middle as in sentences B, C, and E, no comma is required. If a comma is placed before the subordinators in sentences B, C, and E, it is wrong. Note that sentences D and E are the same except sentence D begins with the dependent clause which is followed by a comma, and sentence E begins with the independent clause which contains no comma. The comma after the dependent clause in sentence D is required, and experienced listeners of English will often hear a slight pause there. In sentence E, however, there will be no pause when the independent clause begins the sentence. COMPLEX SENTENCES / ADJECTIVE CLAUSES Finally, sentences containing adjective clauses (or dependent clauses) are also complex because they contain an independent clause and a dependent clause. The subjects, verbs, and subordinators are marked the same as in the previous sentences, and in these sentences, the independent clauses are also underlined. Phrases A. The woman who(m) my mom talked to sells cosmetics. B. The book that Jonathan read is on the shelf. C. The house which AbrahAM Lincoln was born in is still standing. D. The town where I grew up is in the United States. A phrase is a group of related words that lacks both a subject and a verb. Because it lacks a subject and a predicate it cannot act as a sentence. A phrase typically functions as a single part of speech in a sentence (e.g., noun, adjective, adverb). There are four types of phrases: 1. Prepositional phrases, which begin with a preposition and include the object of the preposition. 2. Participial phrases, which begin with the participle and include the object of the participle or other words that are connected to the noun by the participle. 3. Gerund phrases, which begin with the gerund and include the object of the gerund or other words that are acting as the complete subject or complete object. 4. Infinitive phrases, which begin with an infinitive and include the object of the infinitive or other words that are acting as part of the phrase. Adjectives are one of the eight parts of speech. Just as a reminder, the others are the verb, the noun, the pronoun, the adverb, the preposition, the conjunction, and the interjection. The primary purpose of an adjective is to modify a noun. They typically answer one of these three questions about the noun: What kind? How many? Which one? For example: the 44th president a green product a responsible investment an economist‟s analysis the dumbest, worst leader Now that you have a general sense of an adjective, let‘s pause for a moment to consider the adjective in writing. For the purposes of this discussion, let‘s say that writing is the literary equivalent of cooking, and adjectives are one of the spices you bring to the kitchen. Like spices added to a soup, a few adjectives go a long way. Don‘t overdo it. Let the more substantial ingredients (strong verbs!) be the stars. Pay particular attention to adjectives that have lost their pizzazz, words that no longer register in the reader‘s palate: interesting, beautiful, fun, exciting, cool. The key to excellence in writing is showing, not telling. In other words, don‘t simply tell your readers the snow on the field is beautiful, show them. Okay, back to examples. While it may be easier to identify the parts of speech when we are faced with only a few words (as in the examples above), most reading and writing involves full sentences. Consider the following sentences containing particular types of nouns and their accompanying adjectives: A subject: The volatile Bobby Knight has been accused of choking a player. A direct object: Tom threw the slimy ball for his dog, Rover. An indirect object: After the last out, David Justice tossed the excited child the game ball. A gerund Cecilia enjoys distance running. A predicate nominative: They didn‘t know that Caroline was a decorated officer. DEGREES OF ADJECTIVES Adjectives are used to indicate levels, degrees of intensity or comparison 1. high ____ base 2. higher ____ comparative 3. highest ____ superlative When comparing two things always use the comparative. For example in a comparison between two people the correct usage would be: Bill is taller. Bill is the tallest would require that there be more than two people. Adjectives are divided into categories as a way of understanding their purpose. Read more about the types of adjectives: 1) Limiting 2) Descriptive 3)Predicate Adjective 4) A list of Adjectives A phrase is a group of related words (within a sentence) without both subject and verb. For example, He is laughing at the joker. A phrase functions as a noun, verb, adverb, adjective or preposition in a sentence. The function of a phrase depends on its construction (words it contains). On the basis of their functions and constructions, phrases are divided into various types i.e. noun phrase, verb phrase, adverb phrase, adjective phrase, appositive phrase, infinite phrase, participle phrase and gerund phrase. Noun Phrase A noun phrase consists of a noun and other related words (usually modifiers and determiners) which modify the noun. It functions like a noun in a sentence. A noun phrase consists of a noun as the head word and other words (usually modifiers and determiners) which come after or before the noun. The whole phrase works as a noun in a sentence. Noun Phrase = noun + modifiers (the modifiers can be after or before noun) Examples. He is wearing a nice red shirt. (as noun/object) She brought a glass full of water. (as noun/object) The boy with brown hair is laughing. (as noun/subject) A man on the roof was shouting.