Phrases, Clauses, and Sentences
Writing Skills Lesson – Complex sentences
1. Phrases
A phrase is a group of words that acts as a single unit but lacks a subject performing an action (a subject-verb relationship).
- Verb Phrase: a main verb plus its helping verbs.
- Prepositional: starts with a preposition; shows direction, location, or time.
- Appositive: renames or redefines a noun right next to it.
- Verb Phrase: She has been running.
- Prepositional: The cat is under the table.
- Appositive: Mr. Smith, my teacher, is nice.
2. Clauses
A clause is a group of related words that does contain both a subject and a verb.
- Independent Clause: a complete thought that can stand alone as a sentence.
- Dependent (Subordinate) Clause: contains a subject and a verb but starts with a word (like because, although, if) that makes it feel unfinished.
- Independent Clause: The sun rose.
- Dependent Clause: Because the sun rose... (what happened next?)
3: Anatomy of a Sentence
- Subject: – a complete thought that can stand alone as a sentence.
- Dependent (Subordinate) Clause – contains a subject and a verb but starts with a word (like because, although, if) that makes it feel unfinished.
- The fluffy white cat (Subject) / will run away (Predicate).
4. Sentence Structures
By mixing phrases and clauses, we create four main sentence types:
Simple Sentence
A simple sentence contains one Independent clause.
- I walk.
- I walked into the house.
- I saw a large, black dog.
- We went hiking in the forest.
- We should go to a restaurant for dinner.
Compound Sentence
A compound sentence contains two independent clauses joined by a comma and a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) or a semicolon.
- The sun was shining, so everyone was happy.
- I walked into the house; it was a mess.
- I opened the door; however, it was the wrong house.
Complex Sentence
A complex sentence contains one independent clause and at least one dependent clause. In the following examples, the independent clauses are in bold and the dependent clause is underlined.
- I left when the guests arrived.
- Because the roads were icy, we decided to stay home.
- She finished her homework before the movie started.
- Although he was nervous, he delivered an excellent presentation.
Compound-Complex Sentence
A compound-complex sentence contains at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause. In the following examples, the independent clauses are in bold and the dependent clause is underlined.
- I went to school, but Ashley stayed home because she was sick.
- Although the rain was heavy, the game continued, and the fans stayed in their seats.
- She cooked dinner while he set the table, but their guests arrived early.
- Because I had studied all week, I felt confident, and I aced the exam.
Never join two independent clauses with only a comma! Make sure to either use a coordinating conjunction or use a semicolon.
- Wrong: I went to the store, I bought milk.
- Right: I went to the store, and I bought milk.
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