Sentence Structure

1. Sentence Structure The term STRUCTURE refers to the number and types of clauses in a sentence.

2. The Simple Sentence: A simple sentence has one independent clause and no subordinate clauses. It may have a compound subject, a compound verb, and any number of phrases.

3. Examples of Simple Sentences: My dog ate the food. The dog and cat ate together. The dog growled and howled for more food. The dog in the corner ate my hat for lunch.

4. The Compound Sentence: A compound sentence has two or more independent clauses but no subordinate clauses. Basically, a compound sentence consists of two or more simple sentences joined by a comma and a coordinating conjunction, by a semi-colon, or by a semi-colon and a conjunctive adverb.

5. Examples of Compound Sentences: Rita wanted to see an adventure film, but Carlos preferred a comedy. On the way to the theatre, they agreed to toss a coin; Rita won the toss. Carlos tried to persuade Rita to see the comedy; however, he was unsuccessful.

6. The Complex Sentence: A complex sentence has one independent clause and at least one subordinate clause.

7. Examples of Complex Sentences: Carlos argued that the coin toss was unfair. When they got to the theater where the movie was playing, Carlos apologized to Rita.

8. The Compound-Complex Sentence: A compound-complex sentence contains two or more independent clauses and at least one subordinate clause.

9. Examples of Compound-Complex Sentences: Rita knew that being stubborn wouldn’t solve anything, and she accepted Carlos’s apology. Before the feature started, Carlos offered to buy popcorn; Rita said that she would save his seat.

10. Identify the Sentence Structure for each Sentence: In all the world, there is only one art museum for children’s art, and it is located in Norway. This museum is the International Museum of Children’s Art, which occupies a big, old house in Oslo. The walls are covered from top to bottom with brilliantly colored creations by young artists up to age seventeen.

11. Identify Sentence Structure (cont.) 4. Many of the 100,000 works, which come from 150 countries, deal with objects from nature, but a few, like the bicycle, focus on manufactured objects. 5. Of course, a few of the paintings depict troubles or problems, but most of the works express happiness, energy, and the beauty of nature.

12. Identify Sentence Structure (cont.) 6. Rafael Goldin, the museum’s director, says a child’s first meeting with exhibited art is very important. 7. Children visit the museum, and they “see that a museum can mean joy and color.” 8. If their first visit is to a boring, dusty museum, children will always associate museums with “dusty and boring.”

13. Identify Sentence Structure (cont.) 9. Rafael Goldin has even hung some of the paintings at toddlers’ eye level to encourage the youngest visitors to begin their own personal relationship with art. 10. Young visitors are very excited when they learn that all the artwork was created by children, and they are often inspired to start painting.

14. Identify Sentence Structure (cont.) 11. Wouldn’t it be great if there were a museum like this one in the United States?