Sentence Structure HELP SHEET
Simple
Sentence
one subject and one verb; also The dog looked out the window.
called an independent clause
Independent
Clause
one subject and one verb; can The dog looked out the window.
stand alone
subject
verb
can stand alone
Compound
Sentence
two independent clauses that The dog looked out the window,
are joined together
can stand alone
but John’s car was nowhere in sight.
can stand alone
coordinating
conjunction
Coordinating
Conjunctions
Complex
Sentence
used in compound sentences to For
join two independent clauses
And
Nor
But
Or
Yet
So
one
independent
and The dog looked out the window
dependent
clauses
joined
can stand alone
together
as if he was waiting for John’s car to
pull up the driveway.
cannot stand alone
subordinating
conjunction
Dependent
Clause
Subordinating
Conjunction
begins with a subordinating as if he was waiting for John’s car to
conjunction;
cannot
stand pull up the driveway.
alone
are used to introduce a
Common Subordinating Conjunctions
dependent clause
after
if
though
although
if only
till
in
order
that
as
unless
now that
as if
until
once
as long as
when
rather than whenever
as though
since
because
where
so that
before
whereas
than
even if
wherever
even though that
while