Sentence structure

Question 1

Independent clause

Answer 1

An independent clause can stand alone as a sentence. It contains a subject and a verb and is a complete idea.

Question 2

A dependent clause

Answer 2

A dependent clause is not a complete sentence. It must be attached to an independent clause to become complete. This is also known as a subordinate clause.

Question 3

A subject

Answer 3

A person, animal, place, thing, or concept that does an action. Determine the subject in a sentence by asking the question “Who or what?”

Question 4

Verb

Answer 4

Expresses what the person, animal, place, thing, or concept does. Determine the verb in a sentence by asking the question “What was the action or what happened?”

Question 5

Object

Answer 5

A person, animal, place, thing, or concept that receives the action. Determine the object in a sentence by asking the question “The subject did what?” or “To whom?/For whom?”

Question 6

Prepositional phrase

Answer 6

A phrase that begins with a preposition (i.e., in, at for, behind, until, after, of, during) and modifies a word in the sentence. A prepositional phrase answers one of many questions. Here are a few examples: “Where? When? In what way?

Question 7

Characteristics of sentences

Answer 7

• Begins with a capital letter.
• Ends with punctuation (a period, a question mark, or an exclamation point)..
• Contains a subject that is only given once
• Contains a verb or a verb phrase
• Follows Subject + Verb + Object word order
• Must have a complete idea that stands alone

Question 8

Simple sentence

Answer 8

contains a subject and a verb, and it may also have an object and modifiers. However, it contains only one independent clause.

Question 9

Compound sentence

Answer 9

contains at least two independent clauses. These two independent clauses can be combined with a comma and a coordinating conjunction or with a semicolon.

Question 10

Complex sentence

Answer 10

contains at least one independent clause and at least one dependent clause. Dependent clauses can refer to the subject (who, which) the sequence/time (since, while), or the causal elements (because, if) of the independent clause.

If a sentence begins with a dependent clause, note the comma after this clause. If, on the other hand, the sentence begins with an independent clause, there is not a comma separating the two clauses.

Question 11

Compound-complex sentence

Answer 11

contains at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause.