structure: sentence n clause

D. SENTENCES AND CLAUSES
Compiled by dwi haryanti
Definition of sentence
By Richard Nordquist, (grammar.about.com)
A sentence is the largest independent unit of grammar: it begins with a capital letter and ends with a period, question mark, or exclamation point. (Adjective: sentential).
Grammar can be defined as:
1. The systematic study and description of a language.
2. A set of rules and examples dealing with the syntax and word structures (morphology) of a language. Adjective: grammatical.
The sentence is traditionally (and inadequately) defined as a word or group of words that expresses a complete idea and that includes a subject and a verb.
The four basic sentence structures are the simple sentence, the compound sentence, the complex sentence, and the compound-complex sentence.
Traditional grammarian defines a sentence in two ways, by meaning and by function.
1. By Meaning.
According to this definition, a sentence is a “complete thought.” Such a definition is inadequate, however, because of the vagueness of the term “complete thought.” Such a definition is inadequate, however, because of the vagueness of term “complete thought”. By seeing or hearing a statement, how do we know it is a ‘thought’ and what make is ‘complete’
2. By Function.
According to this definition , a sentence consists of a subject and predicate. This definition is more satisfactory because it is actual possible to identify the structural functions of subject and predicate in a sentence.
The definition we should like to offer here includes both functional and formal characteristics of a sentence: A sentence is a full predication containing a subject plus a predicate with a finite verb. Its arrangement may be symbolized by such formulas as S V O (subject + verb + object), N1 V N2 (noun + verb + noun), or NP + VP (noun phrase + verb phrase).
Classification of Sentence
Sentence are generally classified in two ways, one by types and one by the number of formal predications.

A. Classification of Sentence by Types
1. Declarative Sentence (Statement)
In declarative sentence the subject and the predicate have normal word order. The sentence ends with a period in writing and a drop in pitch in speech.
Subject + Verb + Complement
The child ate his dinner.
S P C
2. Interrogative Sentence (Question)
In an interrogative sentence the subject and auxiliary are often reversed.The sentence ends with a question mark (or, interrogation point) in writing. In spoken language, most yes-no questions end with a rise in pitch; most introgative-word questions end with a fall in pitch.
Question Word + Verb + Subject + Complement
Did the child eat his dinner?
QW S P C
3. Imperative Sentence (Commands, Requests)
Polite Form +Verb + Compliment
Would you Eat your dinner.
PF P C
In an imperative sentence, only predicate is expressed. The simple form of the verb is used, regardless of person or tense. The imperative sentence ends with a period in writing and a drop in pitch in speech.
4. Exclamatory Sentence (Exclamations)
What a good dinner that was!
Such sentences begin with an exclamatory phrase consisting of what or how plus a part of the predicate. The exclamatory phrase is followed by the subject and the balance of the predicate. In writing the exclamatory sentence ends with an exclamation mark. Sometimes a period is used to lessen the force of the exclamation. In speech, the most important word in the exclamatory phrase may receive a stronger degree of stress and be accompanied by a rise in pitch. Because exclamatory sentences are not taken up elsewhere, they will be described in some detail here.
What (a) is used when a noun terminates the exclamatory phrase.
What beautiful hair she has!
What beautiful eyes she has!
What a beautiful figure she has! (What a with a singular countable noun only)
How is used when an adjective or an adverb terminates the exclamatory phrase.
How beautiful she is
How beautifully she behaves!
The exclamatory phrase may stand alone when it ends with a noun or an adjective
Source : (Modern English;Marcela Frank; Page: 220 and 222)

B. Classification of Sentences by Number of Full Predication
Simple, compound, complex, compound-complex sentences
http://eslbee.com
Experienced writers use a variety of sentences to make their writing interesting and lively. Too many simple sentences, for example, will sound choppy and immature while too many long sentences will be difficult to read and hard to understand.
This page contains definitions of simple, compound, and complex sentences with many simple examples. The purpose of these examples is to help the ESL/EFL learner to identify sentence basics including identification of sentences in the short quizzes that follow. After that, it will be possible to analyze more complex sentences varieties.
This classification is based on the number and kind of clauses within a sentence. A clause may be defined in the same way as sentence: it a full predication that contains a subject and a predicate with a finite verb. There are tow kind of clauses, independent and dependent. The independent clauses a full predication that my stand alone as a sentence; the dependent clause has a special introductory word that makes the predication “depend” on an independent clause.

1. Simple Sentence (clausal sentence)
Definition:
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.
A simple sentence is a sentence with only one independent clause (also known as a main clause).The simple sentence is one of the four basic sentence structures. The other structures are the compound sentence, the complex sentence, and the compound-complex sentence.
Examples and Observations:
• "Children are all foreigners."
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)
• "Of course, no man is entirely in his right mind at any time."
(Mark Twain, The Mysterious Stranger)
• "Early to rise and early to bed makes a male healthy and wealthy and dead."
(James Thurber)
• "I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismograph."
(Ken Kesey)
• "Expect nothing. Live frugally on surprise."
(Alice Walker)
"With regard to simple sentences, it ought to be observed first, that there are degrees in simplicity. 'God made man,' is a very simple sentence. 'On the sixth day God made man of the dust of the earth after his own image,' is still a simple sentence in the sense of rhetoricians and critics, as it hath but one verb, but less simple than the former, on account of the circumstances specified."
(George Campbell, The Philosophy of Rhetoric, 1776)
"A sentence is classified simple even when it has a compound subject or predicate (or both) and includes modifying words and phrases:
o You and your friends can see the mountain on your next trip.
o You can see the mountain and climb to the top.
(R. DiYanni and P. C. Hoy II, Scribner Handbook for Writers. Allyn and Bacon, 2001)
"The syntactically most straightforward sentences have the form of a single clause . . .

CLAUSAL SENTENCES (having the form of a clause)
a. Kim is an actor.
b. Pat is a teacher.
c. Sam is an architect.

In traditional grammar [these] examples are called 'simple sentences,' but we don't use this term; it covers only a subset of what we call clausal sentences."
(R. Huddleston and G. K. Pullum, A Student's Introduction to English Grammar. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2006)
• "Atheism is a non-prophet organization."
(George Carlin)
• Some students like to study in the mornings.
• Juan and Arturo play football every afternoon.
• Alicia goes to the library and studies every day.
• The man stole the jewejry

The four last examples above are all simple sentences. Note that sentence B contains a compound subject, and sentence C contains a compound verb. Simple sentences, therefore, contain a subject and verb and express a complete thought, but they can also contain a compound subjects (B) or verbs (C). Such sentenses have only one full predication in the form of an independent clause.except sentence C.
2. Compound Sentence
Definition:
A compound sentence is a sentence that contains at least two independent clauses.
Compound sentences can be formed in three ways:
(1) using coordinating conjunctions;
(2) using the semicolon, either with or without conjunctive adverbs;
(3) on occasion, using the colon.
The compound sentence is one of the four basic sentence structures. The other structures are the simple sentence, the complex sentence, and the compound-complex 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.
Examples
• "A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on."
(John F. Kennedy)
• "Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a good carpenter to build one."
(attributed to both Lyndon B. Johnson and Sam Rayburn)
• "Tell the truth, work hard, and come to dinner on time."
(Gerald R. Ford)
• "I have often wanted to drown my troubles, but I can't get my wife to go swimming."
(attributed to Jimmy Carter, among others)
• "Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them."
(Ronald Reagan)
• "I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."
(George H. W. Bush)
• "You can put wings on a pig, but you don't make it an eagle."
(Bill Clinton)
• "The tyrant has fallen, and Iraq is free."
(George W. Bush)
• "Money is not the only answer, but it makes a difference."
(Barack Obama)
• "Always go to other people's funerals; otherwise, they won't go to yours."
(Yogi Berra)
• "Feasts must be solemn and rare, or else they cease to be feasts."
(Aldous Huxley)
• "Arguments are to be avoided: they are always vulgar and often convincing."
(Oscar Wilde)
• "The glacier knocks in the cupboard,
The desert sighs in the bed,
And the crack in the teacup opens
A lane to the land of the dead."
(W. H. Auden, "As I Walked Out One Evening")
• "I used to be snow white, but I drifted."
(Mae West)
• "It was dawn outside, a glowing gray, and birds had plenty to say out in the bare trees; and at the big window was a face and a windmill of arms."
(David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest, 1996)
• I tried to speak Spanish, and my friend tried to speak English.
• Alejandro played football, so Maria went shopping.
• Alejandro played football, for Maria went shopping.
• The man stole the jewelry and he hid it in his home.
The above last four 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 relationship between the clauses. Sentences B and C, for example, are identical except for the coordinators. In sentence B, which action occurred first? Obviously, "Alejandro played football" first, and as a consequence, "Maria went shopping. In sentence C, "Maria went shopping" first. In sentence C, "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? Such sentences have two or more full predication in the form of independent clause.
3. Complex Sentence
Definition
A complex sentence is a sentence that contains an independent clause and at least one dependent clause.
The complex sentence is one of the four basic sentence structures. The other structures are the simple sentence, the compound sentence, and the compound-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 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.
Examples and Observations:
• "He was like a cock who thought the sun had risen to hear him crow."
(George Eliot, Adam Bede)
• "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured, or far away."
(Henry David Thoreau)
• "Dependent clauses cannot be sentences on their own. They depend on an independent clause to support them. The independent clause in a complex sentence carries the main meaning, but either clause may come first. When the dependent clause comes first, it is always followed by a comma."
(A. Robert Young and Ann O. Strauch, Nitty Gritty Grammar: Sentence Essentials for Writers. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2006)
• "Most of the sentences we use in writing or in continuous speech are complex. Earlier in this chapter we tried to compose a piece of narrative in simple sentences. It would be difficult to do this at any great length, and in some types of discourse, e.g. the conduct of argument, it would be virtually impossible. There is a recurrent need to expound facts or concepts in greater elaboration than the structure of the simple sentence permits."
(Walter Nash, English Usage: A Guide to First Principles. Routledge, 1986)
• "Although volume upon volume is written to prove slavery a very good thing, we never hear of the man who wishes to take the good of it by being a slave himself."
(Abraham Lincoln)
• "When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained."
(Mark Twain)
• "I think we ought to have as great a regard for religion as we can, so as to keep it out of as many things as possible."
(Sean O'Casey, The Plough and the Stars)
• "Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all others."
(Winston Churchill)
• "Maturity is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter can be said to remedy anything."
(Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.)
• When he handed in his homework, he forgot to give the teacher the last page.
• The teacher returned the homework after she noticed the error.
• The students are studying because they have a test tomorrow.
• After they finished studying, Juan and Maria went to the movies.
• Juan and Maria went to the movies after they finished studying.
• The man who stole the jewelry hid it in his home.
When a complex sentence begins with a subordinator such as sentences A and D, 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 B, C, and E, no comma is required. If a comma is placed before the subordinators in sentences B, C, and E, it is wrong.
Note that sentences D and E are the same except sentence D begins with the dependent clause which is followed by a comma, and sentence E begins with the independent clause which contains no comma. The comma after the dependent clause in sentence D is required, and experienced listeners of English will often hear a slight pause there. In sentence E, however, there will be no pause when the independent clause begins the sentence.
Such sentences also have two or more full predication. One of these is an independent clause (or, main clause) that is similar to the form of the simple sentence, and more of these are dependent clause (or, subordinate clauses).
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.

A. The woman who(m) my mom talked to sells cosmetics.
B. The book that Jonathan read is on the shelf.
C. The house which Abraham Lincoln was born in is still standing.
Adjective Clauses are studied in this site separately, but for now it is important to know that sentences containing adjective clauses are complex.

4. Compound-complex sentence

The compound-complex sentence is one of the four basic sentence structures. The other structures are the simple sentence, the compound sentence, and the complex sentence (http://grammar.about.com/od//c/g/compoundsent.htm). Compound complex sentences contain two or more independent clauses and or more dependent clauses. The independent clauses in all four classes of sentences may take the form of a statement, question, request, exclamation.

Definition:
Based on the above statement, it can be concluded that compound – complex sentence is a sentence with two or more independent clauses and at least one dependent clause. The compound-complex sentence is one of the four basic sentence structures. The other structures are the simple sentence, the compound sentence, and the complex sentence.
Examples:
• "Those are my principles, and if you don't like them . . . well, I have others."
(Groucho Marx)
• "In America everybody is of the opinion that he has no social superiors, since all men are equal, but he does not admit that he has no social inferiors, for, from the time of Jefferson onward, the doctrine that all men are equal applies only upwards, not downwards."
(Bertrand Russell)
• "Hatred, which could destroy so much, never failed to destroy the man who hated, and this was an immutable law."
(James Baldwin)
• "The Druids used mistletoe in ceremonies of human sacrifice, but most of all the evergreen became a symbol of fertility because it flourished in winter when other plants withered."
(Sian Ellis, "England's Ancient 'Special Twig,'" British Heritage, January 2001)
• "For in the end, freedom is a personal and lonely battle; and one faces down fears of today so that those of tomorrow might be engaged."
(Alice Walker)
• "We operate under a jury system in this country, and as much as we complain about it, we have to admit that we know of no better system, except possibly flipping a coin."
(Dave Barry)
• "I believe entertainment can aspire to be art, and can become art, but if you set out to make art you're an idiot."
(Steve Martin)
• "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
• The man stole the jewelry and he hid it in his home until he could sefely get out of town.
Clause
Definition (http://grammar.about.com/od/il/g/independterm.htm)
A clause is a group of words that [contains] a subject and a verb. There are two major types: independent clauses and dependent clauses. An independent clause can stand alone as a sentence, beginning with a capital letter and ending with terminal punctuation such as a period. A dependent clause cannot stand alone as a sentence; instead it must be attached to an independent clause."
(G. Lutz and D. Stevenson, The Writer's Digest Grammar Desk Reference, 2005)
• "When liberty is taken away by force, it can be restored by force. When it is relinquished voluntarily by default, it can never be recovered."
(Dorothy Thompson)
• "The average man does not want to be free. He simply wants to be safe.
(H.L. Mencken)
• "When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.
(Ernest Hemingway)
• "I was born when you kissed me. I died when you left me. I lived a few weeks while you loved me."
(Humphrey Bogart in the movie In a Lonely Place)
• "Advertising is the rattling of a stick inside a swill bucket."
(George Orwell)
• "Age is strictly a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.
(Jack Benny)
• "Her hat is a creation that will never go out of style; it will just look ridiculous year after year."
(Fred Allen)
• "Comedy has to be based on truth. You take the truth and you put a little curlicue at the end. (Sid Caesar)
• "If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door."
(Milton Berle)
• "What's another word for 'thesaurus'?"
(Steven Wright)
• "You have a responsibility to the public discourse, and you fail miserably."
(Jon Stewart to Tucker Carlson on CNN's Crossfire, Oct. 2004)
• "A schedule defends from chaos and whim."
(Annie Dillard)
The Writer is Going to Discuss two Types of Clauses, Independent and Dipendant Clauses
1. Independent Clause/main clause (in compound sentence)
Independent clause is a group of words made up of a subject and a predicate. An independent clause (unlike a dependent clause) can stand alone as a sentence. By itself, an independent clause (also known as a main clause) is a simple sentence. (Nordquist)
Nordquist (grammar.about.com) says that independent clause is a group of words made up of a subject and a predicate. An independent clause (unlike a dependent clause) can stand alone as a sentence.
By itself, an independent clause (also known as a main clause) is a simple sentence.
Examples and Observations:
A clause is a group of words that [contains] a subject and a verb. There are two major types: independent clauses and dependent clauses. An independent clause can stand alone as a sentence, beginning with a capital letter and ending with terminal punctuation such as a period. A dependent clause cannot stand alone as a sentence; instead it must be attached to an independent clause."
(G. Lutz and D. Stevenson, The Writer's Digest Grammar Desk Reference, 2005)
• "When liberty is taken away by force, it can be restored by force. When it is relinquished voluntarily by default, it can never be recovered."
(Dorothy Thompson)
• "The average man does not want to be free. He simply wants to be safe.
(H.L. Mencken)
• "When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.
(Ernest Hemingway)
• "I was born when you kissed me. I died when you left me. I lived a few weeks while you loved me."
(Humphrey Bogart in the movie In a Lonely Place)
• "Advertising is the rattling of a stick inside a swill bucket."
(George Orwell)
• "Age is strictly a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.
(Jack Benny)
• "Her hat is a creation that will never go out of style; it will just look ridiculous year after year."
(Fred Allen)
• "Comedy has to be based on truth. You take the truth and you put a little curlicue at the end. (Sid Caesar)
• "If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door."
(Milton Berle)
• "What's another word for 'thesaurus'?"
(Steven Wright)
• "You have a responsibility to the public discourse, and you fail miserably."
(Jon Stewart to Tucker Carlson on CNN's Crossfire, Oct. 2004)
• "A schedule defends from chaos and whim."
(Annie Dillard)
Full predications may be joined coordinately by punctuation alone, by coordinate conjunctions, or by conjunctive adverb.
• John was sick; he didn’t come to school (independent clauses joined merely by punctuation)
• John was sick so he didn’t come to school (independent clauses joined merely by a coordinate conjunction)
• John was sick; therefore, he didn’t come to school (independent clauses joined merely by a conjunctive adverb)

a. Independent Clauses Joined by Punctuation Alone
A semicolon replaces the period that separated the independent clauses. The first word in the clause after the semicolon begins with a small letter. Usually no more than two independent clauses are joined with a semicolon useless the clauses the are parallel.
In most cases the use of a comma between such clauses (or no punctuation at all) would be a serious sentence fault. Sometimes, however, short, parallel clauses may be joined by a comma, especially when the second clause is abridged
Two clauses joined Part of the search party when to the right, the rest (went) to the left.
Three clauses joined I came, I saw, I conquired.
In formal English, a colon sometimes replaces a semicolon when the second clause explains or illustrates the first.
Because we are so greatly outnumbered, there is only one way we can avoid total destruction by the enemy: we must make a surprise attack at once.
In such a sentences the colon serves an anticipatory function. Sometimes the first word after the colon in capitalized, especially if it begins a question.
The questions being raised are these; How should the balance of appropriations be spent, and to whom should they be given?

b. Independent Clauses Joined by Coordinate Conjunction
(and, or, not, but, yet, so, for)
Coordinate conjunctions are less formal than the equivalent conjunctive adverbs, but all such conjunctions are acceptable in formal in formal discourse except so. Informal conversation is full of the loose coordination expressed by and, be careful writing requires more exact connectives or a reduction in the form of some of the predications.
A comma usually appears before the coordinates conjunction, especially if the clauses are long. However, it is not obligatory. The writer is often guided by whether he would pause in speech. For example, the contrast set up by but or yet is usually reflected by a pause in speech and a comma in writing.
Generally, it is advisable to use a comma before the coordinate conjunction for, in order to prevent misreading it as a preposition.
The girl did all the shopping and cooking, for her mother was in hospital.
A semicolon may appear before a coordinate conjunction joining clauses if there is already internal punctuation within one or more of the clauses.
The French Revolution was fought for the abstract ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity; but the Russion Revolution was fought for the more concrete goals of peace, bread, and land.
c. Conjunction Independent Clauses Joined by Conjunctive Adverbs
The conjunctive adverbs which join independently clauses behave both as conjunction and as adverbs. As conjunctions, conjunctive adverbs function as connecting grammatical structures. They are more likely be found in formal writing than in informal conversation.
Conjunctive Adverbs Corresponding coordinate conjunction
Addition besides, likewise, moreover and
Condition otherwise or
Result accordingly, consequently, hence, then, therefore so
Time then
Concession however, nevertheless, still but, yet
(contrast)
A conjunctive adverb has a more specific meaning than the corresponding coordinate conjunction. Some grammarians also classify indeed, also, anyhow, henceforth, meanwhile, too, among the conjunctive adverbs. In fact, the list of conjunctive adverb is often extended to include certain adverbial word groups, especially those showing the same relationship as the ones given above: in addition, as a result, for this reason, inspite of this fact.
Conjunctive adverbs may be used correlatively with subordinate conjunctions: if we miss the bus, then we’ll have to take a taxi. Other adverbs and adverbial word groups may function as conjunctive coordinates.
Addition for one thing-for another (thing); partly…..partly
Time at one moment….at the next; sometimes….sometimes; now….then
Contrast on the one hand….on the other (hand)

Conjunctive adverbs occupy the three possible position of adverbs
Initial position : The boy is sick; he therefore didn’t come to school.
Mid- position : The boy is sick; therefore, he didn’t come to school.
Final position : The boy is sick; he didn’t come to school, therefore. (final position only in a short clause)
A cocrdinate conjunction may be followed by another coordinate conjunction or by a conjunctive adverb, In such a use, the principal meaning is in the second word.
but still
and yet
and so
and therefore
and thus
or otherwise
or else

The doctor has warned him many times about the dangers of heavy smoking, and so he has decided to give up this habit (or and he has therefore decided to give up this habit)

2. Dependent Clauses /subordinate clause (in Complex Sentences)
By Richard Nordquist, (grammar.about.com)
Definition:
A group of words that has both a subject and a verb but (unlike an independent clause) cannot stand alone as a sentence. Also known as a subordinate clause.
Dependent clauses include adverb clauses, adjective clauses, and noun clauses.
Examples and Observations:
"A dependent clause (also called a subordinate clause) is a clause that cannot stand alone, because something about it implies that there is more to come. On its own, a dependent clause is left hanging, its meaning incomplete. It must be combined with an independent clause in order to form a complete sentence.
"One type of dependent clause is essentially an independent clause with a subordinating word tacked on. Specifically, it opens with a conjunction that indicates a dependent relationship with information elsewhere in the sentence."
(Anne Stilman, Grammatically Correct. Writer's Digest Books, 1997)
• "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."
(Philo)
• "Never forget me, because if I thought you would, I'd never leave." (A. A. Milne)
• "It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all." (Laura Ingalls Wilder)
• "If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?"
(Albert Einstein)
"There can be levels of complexity within complex sentences. Within a dependent clause, for instance, there can be another dependent clause. For example, in the following sentence there is a main clause . . ., a dependent clause in an adverbial relationship with the main clause (in italics), and a dependent clause [bold italics] in an adverbial relationship with the first dependent clause:
If you want to survive the elements when you go hiking, you should remember to bring along a drink, pocket knife, whistle, map, torch, compass, blanket and food.
(Peter Knapp and Megan Watkins, Genre, Text, Grammar: Technologies for Teaching and Assessing Writing. University of New South Wales Press, 2005)
• "Never play cards with a man called Doc. Never eat at a place called Mom's. Never sleep with a woman whose troubles are worse than your own."
(Nelson Algren)
• "We learn what we have said from those who listen to our speaking."
(Kenneth Patchen)
• "I still need the camera because it is the only reason anyone is talking to me."
(Annie Leibovitz)
• "It doesn't matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was."
(Anne Sexton)
• "When I was young, I used to admire intelligent people; as I grow older, I admire kind people."
(Abraham Joshua Heschel)

Subordinate clause is a group of words that has both a subject and a verb but (unlike an independent clause) cannot stand alone as a sentence. Also known as a dependent clause.
Examples
• "Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect."
(Mark Twain)
• "When I'm good, I'm very, very good, but when I'm bad, I'm better."
(Mae West, I'm No Angel)
• "Memory is deceptive because it is colored by today's events."
(Albert Einstein)
• "If you can't leave in a taxi you can leave in a huff. If that's too soon, you can leave in a minute and a huff.
(Groucho Marx, Duck Soup)
• "If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich."
(John F. Kennedy)
• "Man, when you lose your laugh, you lose your footing."
(Ken Kesey)
• "Every book is a children's book if the kid can read."
(Mitch Hedberg)
Finite clauses are introduced by a subordinator, which serves to indicate the dependent status of the clause together with its circumstantial meaning. Formally, subordinating conjunctions can be grouped as follows:
o simple conjunctions: when, whenever, where, wherever, because, if, unless, until, while, as, although
o conjunctive groups: as if, as though, even if, even though, even when, soon after, no sooner
o complex conjunctions:: there are three subclasses:
(i) derived from verbs . . .: provided (that), granted (that), considering (that), seeing (that), suppose (that), supposing (that), so (that)
(ii) containing a noun: in case, in the event that, to the extent that, in spite of the fact that, the day, the way
(iii) adverbial: so/as long as, as soon as, so/as far as, much as, now (that)
• (Angela Downing, English Grammar: A University Course. Routledge, 2006)
(http://grammar.about.com/sitesearch.htm?q=compound-complex+sentence+of+english&SUName=grammar )

Dependent clauses include adverb clauses, adjective clauses, and noun clauses
(By Richard Nordquist)
1. Adverb clause
Definition:
A dependent clause used as an adverb within a sentence to indicate time, place, condition, contrast, concession, reason, purpose, or result.
An adverb clause (also known as an adverbial clause) begins with a subordinating conjunction (such as if, when, because, although) and includes a subject and a predicate.
Examples:
• "This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."
(newspaper editor to Senator Ransom Stoddart in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, 1962)
• "All human beings should try to learn before they die what they are running from, and to, and why."
(James Thurber)
• Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it."
(Helen Keller)
• "The swift December dusk had come tumbling clownishly after its dull day, and, as he stared through the dull square of the window of the schoolroom, he felt his belly crave for its food."
(James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, 1916)
• "I drank some boiling water because I wanted to whistle."
(Mitch Hedberg)
• "I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist it."
(Mae West)
• "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross."
(Sinclair Lewis, 1935)
• "When I was coming up, I practiced all the time because I thought if I didn't I couldn't do my best."
(Herbie Hancock)
• "And when the broken hearted people
Living in the world agree,
There will be an answer, let it be.
For though they may be parted there is
Still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be."
(John Lennon and Paul McCartney, "Let It Be")
• "If I ever opened a trampoline store, I don't think I'd call it Trampo-Land, because you might think it was a store for tramps, which is not the impression we are trying to convey with our store."
(Jack Handey, Deep Thoughts, 1992)
• "According to legend, when Lady Godiva pleaded with her husband, the Earl of Mercia, to cancel a burdensome tax he had levied against his subjects, he agreed to do so only if she rode naked through the city."
(Jim Hargan, "The City of Lady Godiva," British Heritage, January 2001)
• "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted."
(Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture, 2008)
2. Adjective clause
Definition:
A dependent clause used as an adjective within a sentence.
An adjective (or adjectival) clause usually begins with a relative pronoun (which, that, who, whom, whose), a relative adverb (where, when, why), or a zero relative. Also known as a relative clause.
Examples:
• "He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe is as good as dead."
(Albert Einstein)
• "Creatures whose mainspring is curiosity enjoy the accumulating of facts far more than the pausing at times to reflect on those facts."
(Clarence Day)
• "Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can: all of them make me laugh."
(W. H. Auden)
• "Love, which was once believed to contain the Answer, we now know to be nothing more than an inherited behavior pattern."
(James Thurber)
• "The means by which we live have outdistanced the ends for which we live. Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men."
(Martin Luther King, Jr.)
• "The IRS spends God knows how much of your tax money on these toll-free information hot lines staffed by IRS employees, whose idea of a dynamite tax tip is that you should print neatly."
(Dave Barry)
• "On I trudged, past the carefully roped-off breeding grounds of terns, which chirruped a warning overhead."
(Will Self, "A Real Cliff Hanger," 2008)
• The man that hit my motorcycle gave me false insurance information.
• "The man who first abused his fellows with swear words, instead of bashing their brains out with a club, should be counted among those who laid the foundations of civilization."
(John Cohen, 1965)
3. Noun clause (nominal Clause)
Definition:
A dependent clause that functions as a noun (that is, as a subject, object, or complement) within a sentence. Also known as a nominal clause.
Examples:
• "I know that there are things that never have been funny, and never will be. And I know that ridicule may be a shield, but it is not a weapon."
(Dorothy Parker)
• "I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright."
(Henry David Thoreau)
• "How we remember, what we remember, and why we remember form the most personal map of our individuality."
(Christina Baldwin)
• "That dogs, low-comedy confederates of small children and ragged bachelors, should have turned into an emblem of having made it to the middle class--like the hibachi, like golf clubs and a second car--seems at the very least incongruous."
(Edward Hoagland, "Dogs, and the Tug of Life")
• "All sentences, then, are clauses, but not all clauses are sentences. In the following sentences, for example, the direct object slot contains a clause rather than a noun phrase. These are examples of nominal clauses (sometimes called 'noun clauses'):
o I know that the students studied their assignment.
o I wonder what is making Tracy so unhappy.
These nominal clauses are examples of dependent clauses--in contrast to independent clauses, those clauses that function as complete sentences."
(Martha Kolln and Robert Funk, Understanding English Grammar, 5th ed., Allyn and Bacon, 1998)
• "I have run,
I have crawled,
I have scaled these city walls,
These city walls
Only to be with you,
Only to be with you.
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for."
(written and performed by U2, "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," The Joshua Tree, 1987)
• "Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it."
(Mahatma Gandhi)
Conclusion
Remember that with the skill to write good simple, compound, complex, and Compound-Complex sentences, you will have the flexibility to (1) convey your ideas precisely and (2) entertain with sentence variety at the same time! Good luck with these exercises!
Please indicate whether the sentences are simple, compound, or complex; then identify their characteristics.
1: The teacher walked into the classroom, greeted the students, and took attendance.
Simple
Compound
Complex
2: Juan played football while Juanita went shopping.
Simple
Compound
Complex
3: Juan played football, yet Juanita went shopping.
Simple
Compound
Complex
4: Although Mexico has the better football team, it lost.
Simple
Compound
Complex
5: The island was filled with many winding trails, a small lake, and dangerous wild pigs.
Simple
Compound
Complex
6: Naoki passed the test because he studied hard and understood the material.
Simple
Compound
Complex

This is a sentence identification quiz. Please indicate whether each of the following sentences is simple, compound, or complex
Helen Keller was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama, in 1880 and died in 1968.
Simple
Compound
Complex
2: Until she was 19 months of age, her sight and hearing were normal.
Simple
Compound
Complex
3: At the age of 19 months, a severe illness left her deaf and blind.
Simple
Compound
Complex
4: When she was seven, she began her education in reading and writing with Anne Sullivan of the Perkins Institute for the Blind.
Simple
Compound
Complex
5: Through persistence and stubbornness, Anne breaks through Helen's walls of silence and darkness and teaches her to communicate.
Simple
Compound
Complex
6: Helen Keller learned to read by the Braille system, and she learned to write by using a specially constructed typewriter.
Simple
Compound
Complex
7: Later, she entered Radcliffe College and graduated with honors in 1904.
Simple
Compound
Complex
8: Helen Keller's story needed to be told, so in 1962, a beautiful movie was made about her life.
Simple
Compound
Complex
9: "If there were only joy in the world, we could never learn to be brave and patient." -- Helen Keller
Simple
Compound
Complex
10: "Life is either a daring adventure, or it is nothing." -- Helen Keller
Simple
Compound
Complex

These quiz sentences based on the short story, The Americanization of Shadrach Cohen, by Bruno Lessing.
Quick Quiz: Shadrach

1: The Americanization of Shadrach Cohen is a short story about values by Bruno Lessing.
Simple
Compound
Complex
2: Shadrach Cohen had two sons, Abel and Gottlieb.
Simple
Compound
Complex
3: When Abel and Gottlieb moved to New York, they opened their own business in their father's name.
Simple
Compound
Complex
4: The business was successful, so Abel and Gottlieb told their father to join them in New York City.
Simple
Compound
Complex
5: When Shadrach came, he brought Marta, the family maidservant.
Simple
Compound
Complex
6: When the ship landed, Shadrach was met by two dapper-looking young men.
Simple
Compound
Complex
7: Each son wore a flashy tie with a diamond pin.
Simple
Compound
Complex
8: Shadrach's sons welcomed him to the new land, but they were amazed by his old fashioned appearance.
Simple
Compound
Complex
9: Shadrach looked like so many new immigrants that Gottlieb and Abel had ridiculed in the past.
Simple
Compound
Complex
10: Gottlieb and Abel first wanted to take their father to a barbershop to trim his beard to make him look more like an American.
Simple
Compound
Complex
11: Although Gottlieb and Abel already had a servant, Marta stayed with the family.
Simple
Compound
Complex
12: At their first meal together, Shadrach saw a wall between him and his sons.
Simple
Compound
Complex
13: Shadrach was puzzled because he realized that some change had occurred.
Simple
Compound
Complex
14: When the meal was over, Shadrach donned his praying cap and began to recite grace.
Simple
Compound
Complex
15: While Abel and Gottlieb thought their father would change after a few months, he didn't.
Simple
Compound
Complex
16: When Gottlieb told his father about the wedding, Shadrach wanted to meet the bride right away.
Simple
Compound
Complex
17: Because Gottlieb was ashamed of his father, he did not want to indroduce him to his future bride.
Simple
Compound
Complex
18: Shadrach was upset and told Gottlieb to go straight to bed.
Simple
Compound
Complex
19: Shadrach then began running both the house and the business.
Simple
Compound
Complex
20: Shadrach dismissed two employees and told Abel and Gottlieb to take their places.
Simple
Compound
Complex
21: After Shadrach imposed new rules on the business, it began to improve.
Simple
Compound
Complex
22: Other businessmen in the community saw the business grow, and they began to respect and revere Shadrach.
Simple
Compound
Complex
23: While the sons were working for Shadrach, they were earning bread by the sweat of their brow.
Simple
Compound
Complex
24: After Shadrach earned their respect, Gottlieb wanted to bring Miriam, his bride to be, to meet his father.
Simple
Compound
Complex
25: Joy beamed in Shadrach's eyes when Gottlieb invited Miriam to meet his father.
Simple
Compound
Complex
26: When Miriam saw Shadrach, he looked like a patriarch from the Pentateuch.
Simple
Compound
Complex
27: Miriam seized Shadrach's hands and asked him to bless her.
Simple
Compound
Complex
28: Shadrach, along with Abel, Gottlieb, and Miriam prayed to give thanks after the meal.
Simple
Compound
Complex