Types of Sentences
There are four types of sentences: simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex. A sentence contains one or more clauses, and you can classify a sentence as one of the four types by assessing the number and types of clauses it contains.
Simple Sentences
A simple sentence contains a single independent clause—that is, a subject and a predicate that form a complete thought:
It is an ice cream cone.
The girl bought an ice cream cone.
A simple sentence can contain more than one verb:
The girl bought an ice cream cone and took it to the park.
A simple sentence is not necessarily simple. Take the following example:
The girl—a freckle-faced brunette, about ten years old, in a striped dress and sandals—bought an ice cream cone and took it to the park.
The subject of the sentence is still the girl. The predicate is bought an ice cream cone and took it to the park. The part of the sentence between the dashes modifies the girl.
Compound Sentences
A compound sentence contains two or more independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction (and, but, yet, for, or, nor, or so), a conjunctive adverb (e.g., however, furthermore, likewise, rather, therefore), or a semicolon:
The girl bought an ice cream cone, but she dropped it in the park.
The girl bought an ice cream cone; however, she dropped it in the park.
The girl bought an ice cream cone; she dropped it in the park.
Complex Sentences
A complex sentence contains one or more dependent clauses attached to an independent clause. The dependent clauses are connected to the independent clause through subordinating conjunctions (e.g., because, after, when) or relative pronouns (who, which, that).
After she bought an ice cream cone, the girl went to the park.
The girl dropped her ice cream cone because a large dog knocked her over.
The girl, who had a freckled face and wore a striped shirt, was knocked over by a large dog, which ate her ice cream cone.
Note that in the last example, the dependent clause who had a freckled face and wore a striped shirt, interrupts the independent clause The girl was knocked over by a large dog.
Compound-Complex Sentences
A compound-complex sentence contains one or more dependent clauses attached to one or more independent clauses.
After she bought an ice cream cone, the girl, who had a freckled face and wore a striped shirt, went to the park, but she was knocked over by a large dog, which ate her treat, so she ran home to her mother, who made her an ice cream sundae.