Sentences: Simple, Compound, and Complex

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.

1. Some students like to study in the mornings.

2. Juan and Arturo play football every afternoon.
3. Alicia goes to the library and studies every day.
The three examples above are all simple sentences. Note that sentence 2 contains a compound
subject, and sentence 3 contains a compound verb. Simple sentences, therefore, contain a subject
and verb and express a complete thought, but they can also contain 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.

1. I tried to speak Spanish, and my friend tried to speak English.

2. Alejandro played football, so Maria went shopping.
3. 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 meaningof the sentences. Sentences 2 and 3, for example, are
identical except for the coordinators. In sentence 2, which action occurred first? Obviously, "Alejandro
played football" first, and as a consequence, "Maria went shopping." In sentence 3, "Maria went
shopping" first. In sentence 3, "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 (and many
others) 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.

1. When he handed in his homework, he forgot to give the teacher the last
page.
2. The teacher returned the homework after she noticed the error.
3. The students are studying because they have a test tomorrow.
4. After they finished studying, Juan and Maria went to the movies
5. Juan and Maria went to the movies after they finished studying.
When a complex sentence begins with a subordinator such as sentences 1 and 4, 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 2, 3, and 5, no comma is required. If a comma is placed
before the subordinators in sentences 2, 3, and 5, it is wrong.
Note that sentences 4 and 5 are the same except sentence 4 begins with the dependent clause which
is followed by a comma, and sentence 5 begins with the independent clause which contains no
comma. The comma after the dependent clause in sentence 4 is required, and experienced listeners
of English will often hear a slight pause there. In sentence 5, 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.
1. The woman who called my mom sells cosmetics.
2. The book that Jonathan read is on the shelf.
3. The house which Abraham Lincoln was born in is still standing.
4. The town where I grew up is in the United States.
Adjective Clauses are studied in this site separately, but for now it is important to know that sentences
containing adjective clauses are complex.

Question tags - English Grammar

Question tags - Complex Test
Exercises - Question tags

Use
frequently used in spoken English when you want s.o. to agree or disagree

Form
positive statement ->question tag negative - You are Tom, aren't you?
negative statement->question tag positive - He isn't Joe, is he?

Examples
with auxiliaries
You've got a car, haven't you?
without auxiliaries (use: don't, doesn't, didn't)
They play football on Sundays, don't they?
She plays football on Sundays, doesn't she?
They played football on Sundays, didn't they?
Questions tags are used to keep a conversation going. You can agree or refuse to a sentence with
a question tag.
You go to school, don't you?
You agree.

You refuse.

Yes, I do.

No, I don't.

You aren't from Germany, are you?

You agree.

You refuse.

No, I'm not.

Yes, I am.

Questions tags - Special

Although the negative word not is not in the sentence, the sentence can be negative. Then we use
the "positive" question tag.
He never goes out with his dog, does he?
have is a main verb in the sentence -> two possibilities (when referring to states)
We have a car, _____?

We have a car, haven't we?

We have a car, don't we?

mostly British English

mostly American English

We use will/would with the imperative (Simple Present).

Open the window, will you?
Open the window, would you?

Don't open your books, will you?

We use won't with a polite request.

Open the window, won't you?
We use shall after Let's.
Let's take the next bus, shall we?
Auxiliary must
We must be at home at 8 pm, mustn't we?
Yes, we must.

No, we needn't.

Procedure adding a question tag

Look at the sentence.
1

Is an auxiliary or a form of to be in the sentence?

yes

no

auxiliary or form of to be affirmative

-> negate auxiliary (add n't)

affirmative sentence
-> Negate sentence (e.g. don't; doesn't;
didn't)

auxiliary or form of to be negative

-> (delete n't)
2

Is a personal pronoun the subject of the sentence?

yes

no

Use the personal pronoun.

Form the personal pronoun.

Complete the sentence.

Example 1: He can play football, ________.

1

negative sentence
-> (delete n't)

Is an auxiliary or a form of to be in the sentence?

yes -> can
auxiliary or form of to be affirmative
-> negate auxiliary (add n't)

can't
2

Is a personal pronoun the subject of the sentence?

yes
Use the personal pronoun.

He can play football, can't he?

Example 2: Peter can play football, ________.

1

Is an auxiliary or a form of to be in the sentence?

yes -> can
auxiliary or form of to be affirmative
-> negate auxiliary (add n't)
can't

Is a personal pronoun the subject of the sentence?

no
Form the personal pronoun.
Peter -> he

Peter can play football, can't he?

Example 3: Peter plays football, ________.

1

Is an auxiliary or a form of to be in the sentence?

no
affirmative sentence
-> Negate the verb.
verb plays -> Negation: doesn't play
We only use the auxiliary doesn't.

Is a personal pronoun the subject of the sentence?

no
Form the personal pronoun.
Peter -> he

Peter plays football, doesn't he?

Types of questions
There are two types of questions:

Yes or no questions
Wh questions

Yes-no questions
Yes or no questions are questions whose expected answer is either "yes" or "no".

How to form yes-no questions

In English, a special word order (Verb Subject Object) is used to form yes-no questions.
Examples:

Affirmative

Yes or No Question

They are American Are they American?

She is nice

Is she nice?

The rules
1.If the main verb of the sentence is "to be", simply invert the subject and the verb to be:
Examples:

They are American. Are they American?

They are nice. Are they nice?

2.If the sentence includes a main verb and another or other helping (auxiliary) verb(s), invert
the subject and the (first) helping (auxiliary) verb.
Examples:

They are visiting Paris. Are they visiting Paris?

She has done the housework. Has she done the housework

Nancy has been working all night long. Has Nancy been working all night
long?

He will be reading the book. Will he be reading the book?

3.If the sentence includes a verb which is not the verb "to be" and doesn't include a helping
(auxiliary) verb, the transformation is more complex.

a.If the verb is in the present tense, add either do or does and put the main verb in its base
form:

do if the subject is the first person singular, second person singular, first
person plural, second person plural and third person plural (I, you, we,
they)
Examples:
I like apples. Do you like apples?
They go to a high school. Do the go to a high school?
does if the subject is the third person singular (he, she, it).
Examples:
Nancy reads a lot. Does Nancy read a lot?
He hates basketball. Does he hate basketball?

b.If the verb is in the past tense, add did and put the main verb in its base form:
Examples:

He discovered the truth. Did he discover the truth?

She write a nice essay. Did she write a nice essay?

WH Question Words
We use question words to ask certain types of
questions (question word questions). We often refer to
them as WH words because they include the letters
WH (for example WHy, HoW).

Question
Word
what

Function

Example

asking for information

about something

What is your
name?

asking for repetition or

confirmation

What? I can't
hear you.
You did what?

what...for

asking for a reason,

asking why

What did you do

that for?

when

asking about time

When did he
leave?

where

asking in or at what
place or position

Where do they
live?

which

asking about choice

Which colour do
you want?

who

asking what or which

person or people
(subject)

Who opened the

door?

whom

asking what or which

person or people
(object)

Whom did you

see?

whose

asking about ownership

Whose are these

keys?
Whose turn is it?

why

asking for reason,

asking what...for

Why do you say

that?

why don't

making a suggestion

Why don't I help

you?

how

asking about manner

How does this

work?

asking about condition

or quality

How was your

exam?

asking about extent or

degree

see examples
below

distance

How far is
Pattaya from
Bangkok?

length (time or space)

How long will it

take?

how many

quantity (countable)

How many cars

are there?

how much

quantity (uncountable)

How much
money do you
have?

age

How old are you?

asking for reason,

asking why

How come I can't

see her?

how +
adj/adv
how far

how long

how old
how come
(informal)