Transcript complex sentence

Varying Sentence Structure
The Simple Sentence
A simple sentence has one independent
clause (one subject and a verb):
I live in Gaza.
Subject
Verb
Compound Sentence
A compound sentence contains two
independent clauses that are joined together.
She works in the city, but she lives in the suburbs.
Independent
Clause
Independent
Clause
Coordinating Conjunctions FANBOYS
Logical Relationship
Addition
Contrast
Choice
Cause
Result
Coordinating
Conjunction
and
but, yet
or, nor
For
so
Complex Sentences
A complex sentence contains at least one
independent clause and one (or more)
dependent clause.
John cannot focus on his study
Independent Clause
because there is so much noise outside.
Subordinating
Conjunction
Dependent Clause
Subordinators
after
before
until
as soon as because
since
when
as
since
although
whenever
while
even though
until
unless
where
wherever
Activity 1: Identify the different types of sentences:
1. Some people like to relax and do nothing
when they take a vacation.
2. Other people like to travel, and still others
like to have an adventure.
3. Unusual vacations are becoming popular.
4. For example, people go hiking in Nepal or
river rafting in Ecuador.
5. Some people spend their vacations learning,
and some spend their vacations helping others.
Activity 1: Identify the different types of sentences:
6. A friend of mine likes to help people, so
he spent his summer helping to build a
school in Bangladesh.
7. After he returned home, he wanted to
go back to help build a medical clinic.
8. People may find the local scenery a
little boring after they have climbed
volcanoes in Guatemala or ridden camels
in Egypt.
Activity 2: Find five compound sentences and three complex sentences
1Succeeding in a U.S. college may require new strategies for
students from other cultures. 2Here are a few tips from a U.S. college
professor. 3First, attend every class. 3Professors talk about the most
important material in class. 5When you aren't there, you miss
important information. 6Second, take good notes. 7Then review or
recopy your notes as soon as you can. 8Third, don't be afraid to ask
questions whenever you don't understand something. 9Professors want
their students to succeed, so they want them to ask questions.
10Fourth, get to know your professors personally. 11Go to their office
during office hours, and introduce yourself. 12Don't waste professors’
time, but make sure they know your name and face. 13Finally, get
involved in a campus activity, or get a job in the bookstore. 14Go to
football and basketball games. 15Join a club. 16Be friendly, and talk to
everyone – other students, professors, secretaries, cafeteria workers,
and janitors. 17Active, involved students are successful students.
Activity 3: Combine the following sentences using compound and complex sentences:
1. The weather is beautiful. It is supposed to rain
today.
2. You can hike the trail. You can hire a guide to
take you on horseback.
3. You start college. You sometimes have to take
a placement test.
4. They want to compete in a marathon. They
run every day.
5. The teacher collected the tests. She dismissed
the class.
6. Huda studies hard. She does not get good
grades.
Adding Variety to Sentence Structure
To make your writing more interesting,
you should try to vary your sentences in
terms of length and structure. You
can make some of your sentences long
and others short.
- Simple Sentence
- Compound Sentence
- Complex Sentence
I live in San Francisco. I love San
Francisco. I have a lovely apartment. It has a
wonderful view of the entire city. I can see
the Golden Gate Bridge. I can see many cargo
ships pass under the bridge each day. I like
the restaurants in San Francisco. I can find
wonderful food from just about every country.
I don’t like the traffic in the city.

This paragraph does not read as smoothly
because it contains no sentence variety.
Simple Sentences
I love living in the city of San Francisco. I
have a lovely apartment which has a
wonderful view of the entire city. In
addition, I can see the Golden Gate Bridge
under which many ships pass each day. I
also like San Francisco because I can find
wonderful restaurants with food from just
about every country, but I don’t like the
traffic in the city.
Excellent! This paragraph reads more smoothly because it
has more sentence structure variety.
Simple Sentence
Complex
Sentences
Compound/Complex
Sentence
Rewrite the following paragraph by joining simple sentences into
complex and compound ones:
The music star was young. He was
dressed in a red shirt and blue jeans.
Everyone looked at him. He knew
they were looking at him. He smiled
shyly. He grasped the microphone. He
sang two songs. He wrote these songs
himself. His fans were delighted. They
greeted him with cheers and screams.
Complex Sentence
Everyone looked at the young music
star who was dressed in a red shirt and
blue jeans. He knew they were looking
at him, so he smiled shyly. When he
grasped the microphone, he sang two
songs. He wrote these songs himself.
His fans were delighted, and they
greeted him with cheers and screams.
Simple Sentence
Compound
sentence
Try it! Revise the following paragraph using compound and complex sentences
It was a dark and stormy night. The
wind was high. The trees waved and
crashed against the caravan. I looked
around me. I saw that I wasn’t alone. A
man stood behind me. He was tall. He
was mean. He had a knife. It was
shining in the moonlight. He reached
back. He stabbed with it. I jumped out
of the way. I ran away.
It was a dark and stormy night, and
the wind was high. The trees waved
and
crashed
against
the
caravan. When I looked around me, I
saw that I wasn’t alone. A man, who
was tall and mean, stood behind
me. He had a knife which was shining
in the moonlight. He reached back and
stabbed with it, but I jumped out of the
way and ran away.