VARYING YOUR
SENTENCES
Copyright © 2014 by Write Score LLC
Simple Sentence
EXAMPLE: Grace loves to ride her bike.
DEFINITION: A simple sentence is also called an
independent clause, contains a subject and a verb,
and it expresses a complete thought.
Compound Sentence
EXAMPLE: Mike played football, so Sara
went shopping.
DEFINITION: A compound sentence contains two
independent clauses joined by a coordinator. The
coordinators are as follows: for, and, nor, but, or, yet,
so.
Complex Sentence
EXAMPLE: The students are studying
because they have a test tomorrow.
DEFINITION: A complex sentence has an independent
clause joined by one or more dependent clauses. A
complex sentence always has a subordinator such as
because, since, after, although, or when or a relative
pronoun such as that, who, or which.
Compound-Complex Sentence
EXAMPLE: We wanted to go to the
country concert, Heather’s favorite type
of music, but there were no tickets left.
DEFINITION: Compound-Complex: A sentence made
up of two or more independent clauses and
at least one dependent clause.
Sample Paragraph
Grace sang karaoke for hours. She continued to
sing, but her mother couldn’t take all the noise
anymore. Although Grace understood her mother’s
frustration, she didn’t care because singing was
her passion. When her mother, who often had little
patience, had enough, she ripped the microphone
cord out of the machine.
Breaking It Down
Grace sang karaoke for hours. She continued
to sing, but her mother couldn’t take all the
noise anymore. Although Grace understood
her mother’s frustration, she didn’t care
because singing was her passion. When her
mother, who often had little patience, had
enough, she ripped the microphone cord out
of the machine.