Basic English Sentence Structure Logic

Harry Brown
3 min readMar 29, 2017

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Introduction

Clause structure in grammar is simply the classification of sentences according to both the kind and number of clauses present in the syntactic structure. Luckily, you can get help for your sentence structure by taking advantage of innovative sentence structure checker.

Simple Sentence Structure

There’s only one clause in a simple sentence. The structure of a simple sentence features no dependent clauses, and just one independent clause.

Example #1: I eat.

The example above typifies a simple sentence. It contains one independent clause and a predicate. The clause has one subject (I), as well as a predicate (run).

Example #2: The woman shopped with a credit card.

The second example above is also a simple sentence that contains one independent clause. And, the clause has one subject (woman), as well as a predicate (shopped with a credit card). The verb-phrase predicate in the sentence above contains multiple words.

Example #3: At the car park, the man shouted and blamed the taxi driver.

The third example is another simple sentence featuring one independent clause. And, the clause has single subject (man), as well as one predicate (shouted and blamed the taxi driver).

There are two verbs in the predicate, referred to as a compound or complex predicate (shouted and blamed). Well, you should not mistake such compound verb for a compound/complex sentence. “At the car park” and “at the taxi driver” are examples of prepositional phrases.

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Compound Sentence Structure

In a compound sentence, there are not less than two clauses, and these clauses are independent. There is no need for a dependent clause when compound sentences are involved. A coordinating conjunction is used in joining the clauses. And, there may be a comma or none when using the coordinating conjunctions.

A semicolon can also be used to serve as a conjunction in joining the independent clauses in a compound or complex sentence. And, if the second part of the sentence illustrates or explains the first, a colon is used instead and placed between two sentences. And, coordinating conjunction is not used in connecting or linking the sentences.

Examples

Some examples of a compound sentence will include the following;

  • I woke up early, but couldn’t get to work on time.
  • There are two things involved; my skills and enthusiasm
  • The mandate has been given: every marketer will meet the assigned target starting from June
  • The car ran into a ditch; as a result, the occupants sustained injury.

It is important to note that comma splice is an error in English language and should be avoided. Comma splice is simply when you separate two independent clauses with a comma and do not include appropriate conjunction.

Example of a comma splice:

The sky turned cloudy, everyone frowned at the possibility of heavy downpour.

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Declarative Sentence

This type of sentence states an idea or a fact, and will usually end with a period.

Typical examples of declarative sentence include;

  • This book belongs to me
  • My hobby is playing football
  • I will attend a meeting tomorrow

Interrogative Sentence

As the name suggests, this type of sentence interrogates or asks questions. And, it will usually end with a question mark.

Typical examples include:

  • How are you?
  • What are you doing there?
  • Did you get the job done on time?
  • How long will it take to get to the grocery store?

Conclusion

Learning about basic sentence structures and basic grammar rules generally is the starting point to writing great academic essays and contents. Even if you choose to use professional help for your essays, it would be an added benefit to grasp basic grammar rules.

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