Transcript Sentence Structure

SENTENCE
STRUCTURE
Becoming Better Writers
Phrases and Clauses
•What is a phrase?
A group of words
•At once
•Drenching the plants that look healthiest.
•His dream of the future
•Lying in Bush Hill
•A small set of rooms
•Against the world
What is missing from a phrase?
A
verb
OR
A
subject
Clauses
• What is a clause?
• It must have a subject AND verb.
• ANY subject-verb combination is a clause.
Some examples of clauses:
(Where are the subject and verb)
•Since I could not swim.
•Michael is a brave man.
•With the dark and devils that haunt the night
•Grandfather sat in the shade.
Practice!
Complete the top
half of your handout.
Identify phrases
versus clauses by
writing “P” or “C”
Independent and Dependent Clauses
•Independent Clause
• Definition: An independent clause has a subject and a verb. It
can stand alone, meaning it is not a fragment. It is a complete
sentence.
• Example: It was daylight.
Independent and Dependent Clauses
•Dependent Clause
• Definition: A dependent clause has a subject and a verb. It can
NOT stand alone. It is a fragment, meaning the sentence is not
finished. It MUST be attached to an independent clause.
• Example: When I woke up next, it was daylight.
How can we spot a dependent clause?
• Dependent Clause Indicators!
• These are words that come before the clause that
make the clause dependent.
• Who, Whose, Which, That, After
• Although, As, As if, Because, Before, If
• Since, So that, Than, Though, Unless, Until
• When, While, How
• A SUBJECT AND VERB MUST FOLLOW FOR IT TO BE A
DEPENDENT CLAUSE!
Analogy
A dependent clause is like a child because a child needs to
depend on the parent for food, safety, and shelter.
An independent clause is like an adult because they can
support themselves.
Practice!
Complete the bottom
half of your handout.
Identify Independent or
Dependent Clauses by
writing “IC” or “DC.”
Sentence Structure
• Classified according to structure, there are
four kinds of sentences:
• Simple
• Compound
• Complex
• Compound/Complex
• We are going to become better writers by using a
variety of these throughout our writing! It helps
create variation, and it sounds great!
Simple Sentence
• Has one independent clause
• Has no dependent clauses
• Has only one subject and one verb, although
they may be compound
• Ex. Doylestown is a lovely town.
• Ex. Doylestown is a small but lovely town.
• Ex. Buckingham and Jamison are part of Bucks
County.
Practice!
Complete the front of
your handout.
Identify your
(compound) subjects,
verbs, or both.
Compound Sentence
• Has two or more independent clauses
• Has no dependent clauses
• Can be divided into two sentences
• Ex. The teachers began to leave, but the students were not
moving.
• Ex. We walked along the shore, and then we went surfing.
Compound Sentence Punctuation Notes
• IC;IC. I went to the store; I didn’t buy any milk.
• IC, FB IC. I went to the store, but I didn’t buy any milk.
• IC= Independent Clause
• FB= FANBOYS
• For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So (conjunctions)
Practice!
Complete the back of
your handout.
Underline your subject
once, verb twice, and
circle your conjunction.
Complex Sentences
• Has one independent clause
• Has at least one dependent clause
• Ex. Although time was running out, the team played
courageously.
• Ex. The man believed that he was the best person for the job.
• Ex. Nathanael Greene, who fought in the American Revolution,
was a great leader.
Complex Sentence Punctuation Notes
• DC, IC. When I went to the store, I didn’t buy milk.
• IC DC. I didn’t buy any milk when I went to the store.
• DC = Dependent Clause
Compound-Complex Sentence
• Contains two or more independent clauses (Compound)
• Has at least one dependent clause (Complex)
• Ex. Since it was raining, Josh planned to read inside, and Joe
canceled his tennis match.
• Ex. The room that Carrie painted had been white, but she
changed the color.
Practice!
Complete page 40-41 in
your grammar packet.
Underline the independent
clause once and your
dependent clause twice.