Name: SIMPLE, COMPOUND, COMPLEX SENTENCES - with Examples, Exercises - Sentence Clause Structure - Grammar
Uploaded: 2022-02-18T01:11:15.000Z
Duration: 14 min 14 s
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In this lesson, we're going to learn all about simple, compound and complex sentences.

Many of you have asked me to do a lesson on this topic, so here we are.

Now, in this video, I'll show you the differences between these three types of sentences, and

there are exercises within the lesson for you to practice what you learn.

A simple sentence is just a sentence that contains a subject and a verb.

Here, the subject is “I” and the verb is “am.”

Here's another one: She took a cab to the airport.

Can you identify the subject and the verb here?

The subject is “she” and the verb is “took.”

One more example: We're having pizza for dinner tonight.

In this sentence, the subject is “we,” and the verb is actually the phrase “are

It has two words: first, the auxiliary or the helping verb “are” and then the main

verb “having,” but still, “are having” is a phrase that acts as a single verb.

So, in all of these sentences you see that they have a subject and a verb, so these are

Now, there's another name for a simple sentence, and that is an independent clause.

This means more or less the same thing as a simple sentence, but just remember that

Well, a compound sentence is just a sentence that has two independent clauses.

We saw that a simple sentence has just one clause, but a compound sentence has two (or

Take a look at this example: I am a teacher.

What we have here is two separate independent clauses or simple sentences, and the problem

with this is that it sounds choppy and disconnected when we say it like that: I am a teacher.

Instead, we can combine them like this: I am a teacher, and my wife is a lawyer.

This sounds much better, and now we have one compound sentence with the two independent

clauses connected by the conjunction “and.”

Here's another example: She tried to lift the suitcase.

We can combine these clauses using “but”: She tried to lift the suitcase, but it was

Notice that we have the word “it” in the second part.

Now, “it” is a pronoun that just refers to the suitcase.

It makes the sentence sound better by avoiding repetition.

Next example: He didn't have enough cash.

We can connect these clauses using “so”: He didn't have enough cash, so he paid by

One last example: We can take a bus to the museum.

What we see here is two options; two different ways to get to the museum.

We can connect these using “or”: We can take a bus to the museum, or we can just walk

Now, the connecting words that you see in these examples, “and,” “but,” “so,”

These words are called coordinating conjunctions.

That's a fancy word, but it just means that these are connecting words that connect two

And there's another important point here: you see that in all of the examples, when

we connect the two independent clauses, we put a comma after the first clause.

Now, this is the proper form: you write the first independent clause, then you put a comma

after it, and then a conjunction, and then you write the second clause.

In each one, I want you to combine the simple sentences into one compound sentence.

Use a coordinating conjunction like “and,” “but,” “or,” or “so” to make the

Stop the video now, try the exercise, and then play the video again and check.

Number one: She dropped her phone on the floor, and it broke.

Number two: I'm not very hungry, so I'll just have an orange juice.

Three: You should study harder, or you'll fail the exam.

Four: We'd like to buy a car, but we can't afford one right now.

And number five is a little tricky because there are three simple sentences or three

But we can connect them using coordinating conjunctions.

I told my roommate to turn down the TV, but he didn't, so I got up and left.

Alright, let's now move on and talk about complex sentences.

Here's a clause first: When I got home from work yesterday.

Well, it has a subject “I” and a verb “got,” but this clause is just not a complete

And that's because if I say to you, “When I got home from work,” yesterday you will

So, you see this thought is not complete, so this is not an independent clause.

This type of clause is called a dependent clause.

To make it a complete sentence, you have to add an independent clause.

For example, When I got home from work yesterday, I watched TV for an hour.

So, you see that there is a dependent clause and an independent clause, and now it's a

And this type of sentence is called a complex sentence.

Here are some more examples, but before I talk about them, in each one, I want you to

identify the dependent clause and the independent clause.

Stop the video and try the exercise, then play the video again and continue.

Alright, in number two, “I love to travel” is the independent clause and “because I

get to meet a lot of interesting people” is the dependent clause.

Now, in sentence number one, we saw that the dependent clause came first, and here in number

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SIMPLE, COMPOUND, COMPLEX SENTENCES - with Examples, Exercises - Sentence Clause Structure - Grammar

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