Types of Sentences in English
Primarily, there are 03 types of sentences in English.
- SIMPLE SENTENCE
- COMPOUND SENTENCE, AND
- COMPLEX SENTENCE.
Lets learn one by one to each of the above sentences
Simple Sentence
A sentence which consists of only one clause that can stand by itself is called a Simple Sentence. In short, a simple sentence is one that consists of only one clause, with a single subject and predicate.
Examples of Simple Sentence
(i) Birds fly.
(ii) He is working in the field.
(iii) I have completed my work.
(iv) They have been playing in the playground.
(v) Who came here?
(vi) Father gave me a book.
Each of the above sentences has a subject and a fine verb in its predicate phrase. A finite verb is a verb that shows ‘tense’, present or past. A sentence which consists of only one clause that can stand by itself is called a Simple Sentence.
Types of Simple Sentences
There are 06 types of simple sentences
- Affirmative or Declarative Sentence
- Interrogative Sentence
- Negative Sentence
- Interrogative and Negative Sentences
- Exclamatory Sentence, and
- Imperative Sentence
Compound Sentences
The sentence in which two or more independent clauses are joined by coordinate conjunctions is called a ‘compound sentence’.
Examples of Compound Sentences
Look at the following sentences:
(i) I can speak English but I cannot speak Hindi.
(ii) Sidharth worked hard and got a first division.
Explanation of Compound Sentence
In (i), we have two independent clauses.
(a) I can speak English, (b) I cannot speak Hindi.
Similarly, In (ii), we have also two independent clauses.
(a) Sidharth worked hard, (b) (he) got a first division. These independent clauses have been joined by ‘but’ in (i) and by ‘and’ in (ii). Independent clauses joined by the conjunctions such as and, but, etc. are called coordinate clauses and the conjunctions which join them are called coordinators or coordinate conjunctions.
Sentences in which two or more independent clauses are joined by coordinate conjunctions are called ‘compound sentences’.
Complex Sentence
A sentence which consists of a main clause and one or more subordinate clauses is called a “complex sentence”. Each of the three sentences given below is a complex sentence having one main clause and one sub-ordinate clause.
Examples of Complex Sentences
Look at the following sentences:
(a) I know that he is a good boy.
(b) I have a box which contains old clothes.
(c.) My father arrived when I was just going out.
Explanation of complex Sentence
Each of the above sentences has two clauses. In (a) there are two clauses (i) I know (ii) that he is a good boy. In (b) (i) I have a box, (ii) which contains old clothes and in (c). (i) My father arrived (ii) when I was just going out. In each of the sentences clause (i) is independent but clause (ii) of each sentence is dependent. “That he is a good boy”. “Which contains old clothes”, and “When just going out” cannot stand independently as they depend on clause-(i) to give e a clear meaning. Therefore they are known as “Subordinate clause”
Thus sentences which consist of a main clause and one or more subordinate clauses are called “complex sentences”. Each of the three sentences given above is a complex sentence having one main clause and one sub-ordinate clause.
Now, look at the following complex sentences which consist of one main clause and more than one subordinate clause. The subordinate clauses are italicized and s underlined.
(i) I believe that he is clever and that he can do any hard work.
(ii) The boy whom I met at the station said that he was going to his village for a week.
(iii) When the sunset the boys returned to the camp where they would spend the night.
