GRAMÁTICA INGLESA

PARA CURSO DE ACCESO

Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia
 Sentences
• Julie Ciancio, PhD
• Westcliff University, Irvine, California, USA
• https://www.facebook.com/julie.ciancio.1
Sentences have a complete idea.

Stop! He gets up early.

Sentences can be affirmative or negative
She likes He does not like
reading. spiders.
Questions are sentences too.
How old are you? What is your favorite
food?
 In English, sentences usually follow this
order: Subject + Verb + Object

She plays tennis. He watches the baby.

S V O S V O
Interrogative sentences have an auxiliary
verb first.

Does she play tennis?

Aux. V S V O

Does he watch the baby?

Aux. V S V O
 Simple sentences, or clauses, have a
subject, a verb, and a complete thought.
Joe waited for the train.
S V

The train was late.

S V

Mary and Samantha took the bus.

S V

I looked for Mary and Samantha at the bus station.

S V
Coordinating Conjunctions
Coordinating conjunctions are easy to remember if
you think of the words "FAN BOYS":
Compound sentences have two independent
clauses connected by a coordinating conjunction
Joe waited for the train, but the train was late.

I looked for Mary and Samantha at the bus station, but they
arrived at the station before noon and left on the bus before I
arrived.

Mary and Samantha arrived at the bus station before

noon, and they left on the bus before I arrived.

Mary and Samantha left on the bus before I arrived, so I did

not see them at the bus station.
Complex sentences have an independent
clause with one or more dependent
clauses.
Dependent clauses begin with subordinating
conjunctions.
Dependent, or subordinate, clauses cannot
stand alone. They are not complete ideas, so
they are not sentences.

• because Mary and Samantha arrived

at the bus station before noon
• while he waited at the train station
• after they left on the bus
The independent clause can go first
I did not see them at the station because Mary and
Samantha arrived at the bus station before noon.

Joe realized that the train was late while he waited at the
train station.

Mary and Samantha realized that Joe was waiting at the

train station after they left on the bus.

Tip: When the independent clause

comes first, a comma should not be
used to separate the two clauses.
Or the dependent clauses can go first
Because Mary and Samantha arrived at the bus
station before noon, I did not see them at the station.

While he waited at the train station, Joe realized that

the train was late.

After they left on the bus, Mary and Samantha realized

that Joe was waiting at the train station.

Tip: When the dependent clause

comes first, a comma should be used
to separate the two clauses.
Compound-complex sentences: a compound
sentence and a dependent clause
When I grow up, I want to be a ballerina, and my mom is
proud of me.

I will get to watch television, but first, I have to clean up the

dishes after we finish eating.

We won the game, but my uniform was muddy because it

rained the entire time.

After our trip to the beach, school started back, and I was
excited to see my friends.
 Thank you!
• Julie Ciancio, PhD
• Westcliff University, Irvine, California-
USA
• julieciancio@Westcliff.edu