SENTENCE VARIATION
How to construct different types of sentence
The first thing to understand about sentences is that they are made up of one or more clauses. Understanding the different types of clauses will help you to not only construct varied and interesting sentences, but it will help you to punctuate those sentences too, since a great deal of punctuation is determined by clauses. It will also help you to understand the different types of sentence: simple, compound, complex and compound-complex.
Clauses and phrases
Main clauses
A main clause is a clause that can stand by itself. You need at least one of these in every full sentence. Main clauses can be joined together by using a semicolon or by using a comma followed by a coordinating conjunction, such as ‘and’. There are 7 co-ordinating conjunctions in all and you can remember them with the handy mnemonic FANBOYS: ‘for’, ‘and’, ‘nor’, ‘but’, ‘or’, ‘yet’, ‘so’. Two more more main clauses joined with co-ordinating conjunctions will make a compound sentence. A sentence which just contains a single main clause, without any subordinate clauses, is called a simple sentence.
I drive a bus. [Simple sentence]
I am a bus driver, and my wife is an astronaut. [Compound sentence]
I love buses; my wife loves space. [Compound sentence]
Adverbial subordinate clauses
Am adverbial subordinate clause is a clause which adds additional information to a main clause, answering the questions: where, when or why. These clauses start with a subordinating conjunction, such as ‘after’, ‘although’, ‘as’, ‘because’, ‘before’, ‘once’, ‘until’, ‘since’, ‘though’, or ‘when’. A subordinate clause must be connected to a main clause, and when it is, this is called a complex sentence.
Wherever I go in my big, pink bus, people stop and stare. [where]
After my wife extravagantly sneezed in the tiny space capsule, she felt very embarrassed. [when]
Hans is very cross because his space helmet is covered in my wife’s snot. [why]
Relative subordinate clauses
A relative subordinate clause is used when we want to say a little more about a person or a thing without having to start a new sentence. Relative subordinate clauses start with a relative pronoun, such as ‘that’, ‘who’, ‘which’, or ‘whose’. A relative clause must be connected to a main clause or a subordinate clause, and when it is connected, this creates another form of complex sentence.
I bought a new bus that goes much faster than my old bus.
The astronaut who eventually cleaned Hans’ visor is refusing to rehydrate my wife’s dinner until she apologises for what she did.
My wife lives in a space station, which makes it particularly difficult when she argues with her colleagues.
Conditional subordinate clauses
The final type of subordinate clause is the conditional subordinate clause. These clauses provide a condition which must be fulfilled in order for the main clause to be true. They usually begin with ‘if’ or ‘unless’. A conditional subordinate clause must be joined to a main clause and this creates yet another form of complex sentence.
If my wife apologises, she will get her dinner.
I will crash my bus into that lamp post unless I slam on the breaks.
Adverbial phrases
Adverbial phrases add extra information to sentences, answering the questions: how, where, when or why. They can go either before the main clause, in which case they are followed by a comma, or at the end of a main clause, in which case they are not.
I parked my bus on the very top of the hill. [where]
My wife apologised five minutes later. [when]
Five minutes later, my wife’s rehydrated dinner was ready to eat. [when]
Leaving a trail of destruction, my bus clattered back down the hill. [how]
Sentence types, including the compound-complex sentence
So far, we’ve encountered three sentences types:
Simple sentences (one main clause)
Compound sentences (two or more main clauses, joined by co-ordinating conjunctions)
Complex sentences (a main clause plus one or more subordinate clauses).
There is a fourth type of sentence too: the compound-complex sentence. This is a combination of a compound sentence and a complex sentence. In other words, it’s a sentence with two or more main clauses and at least one subordinate clause. Here are some examples:
My big, pink bus is currently being repaired because I crashed it into a lamppost, so I am driving a green one instead. [main clause + adverbial subordinate clause + main clause]
While things on the space station are better now, my wife still feels awkward around Hans, and Hilda thinks he’s not really forgiven her. [adverbial subordinate clause + main clause + main clause]
My wife, who is both smart and kind, thinks Hans is a big, stubborn man-child, and I don’t like to argue with her because she’s usually right, so I am just going to nod and smile during our video call tonight. [main clause + relative subordinate clause + main clause + adverbial subordinate clause + main clause]