Sentences Study Guide

What is a Sentence?

A sentence is a group of words that expresses a complete thought. It contains a subject (who or what the sentence is about) and a predicate (what the subject is doing or the state of being).

Types of Sentences

Declarative: Makes a statement or expresses an opinion. Ends with a period.
Interrogative: Asks a question. Ends with a question mark.
Imperative: Gives a command or makes a request. Ends with a period or exclamation mark.
Exclamatory: Expresses strong emotion. Ends with an exclamation mark.

Sentence Structure

Sentences can be simple, compound, complex, or compound-complex based on the number of independent and dependent clauses they contain.

Simple Sentence

A simple sentence contains one independent clause.

Compound Sentence

A compound sentence contains two or more independent clauses joined by a conjunction (and, but, or, yet, so, for, nor) and a comma.

Complex Sentence

A complex sentence contains one independent clause and at least one dependent clause.

Compound-Complex Sentence

A compound-complex sentence contains at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause.

Common Sentence Errors

Fragments: Incomplete sentences that are missing a subject, predicate, or both.
Run-ons: Two or more independent clauses that are incorrectly joined together without proper punctuation or conjunctions.
Subject-Verb Agreement Errors: Mistakes in matching the subject with the correct verb form.