Kinds of Sentences and Their Punctuation

      

A sentence may be one of four kinds, depending upon the number and type(s) of clauses it contains.

        Review:

        An independent clause  contains a subject, a verb, and a complete thought.

                

        A dependent clause contains a subject and a verb, but no complete thought.

                

           

1. A SIMPLE SENTENCE has one independent clause.

                

Punctuation note:  NO commas separate two compound elements (subject, verb, direct object, indirect object, subjective complement, etc.) in a simple sentence.

                      

           

2. A COMPOUND SENTENCE has two independent clauses joined by

        A.  a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so),

        B.  a conjunctive adverb (e.g. however, therefore), or

        C.  a semicolon alone.

                 
A. COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS (FANBOYS)

for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so

Coordinating conjunctions join equals to one another:
            words to words,          phrases to phrases,          clauses to clauses.

        
Coordinating conjunctions usually form looser connections than other conjunctions do.


Coordinating conjunctions go in between items joined, not at the beginning or end.

      
Punctuation with coordinating conjunctions:
When a coordinating conjunction joins two words, phrases, or subordinate clauses, no comma should be placed before the conjunction.
            
A coordinating conjunction joining three or more words, phrases, or subordinate clauses creates a series and requires commas between the elements.
            
A coordinating conjunction joining two independent clauses creates a compound sentence and requires a comma before the coordinating conjunction
           
  
       
B. CORRELATIVE CONJUNCTIONS

either. . .or	both. . . and
neither. . . nor	not only. . .  but also

            
These pairs of conjunctions require equal (parallel) structures after each one.

C. CONJUNCTIVE ADVERBS
These conjunctions join independent clauses together.
The following are frequently used conjunctive adverbs:

after all

in addition

next

also	incidentally	nonetheless
as a result	indeed	on the contrary
besides	in fact	on the other hand
consequently	in other words	otherwise
finally	instead	still
for example	likewise	then
furthermore	meanwhile	therefore
hence	moreover	thus
however	nevertheless

Punctuation:

Place a semicolon before the conjunctive adverb and a comma after theconjunctive adverb.

    
D. SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
These words are commonly used as subordinating conjunctions

after	in order (that)	unless
although	insofar as	until
as	in that	when
as far as	lest	whenever
as soon as	no matter how	where
as if	now that	wherever
as though	once	whether
because	provided (that)	while
before	since	why
even if	so that
even though	supposing (that)
how	than
if	that
inasmuch as	though
in case (that)	till

Subordinating conjunctions also join two clauses together, but in doing so, they make one clause dependent (or "subordinate") upon the other.

A subordinating conjunction may appear at a sentence beginning or between two clauses in a sentence.
   
A subordinate conjunction usually provides a tighter connection between clauses than a coordinating conjunctions does.

Loose:	It is raining, so we have an umbrella.
Tight:	Because it is raining, we have an umbrella.

Punctuation Note:

When the dependent clause is placed first in a sentence, use a comma between the two clauses. When the independent clause is placed first and the dependent clause second, do not separate the two clauses with a comma.

    Punctuation patterns (to match A, B, and C above):

        A. Independent clause, coordinating conjunction  independent clause.

        B. Independent clause; conjunctive adverb, independent clause.

        C. Independent clause; independent clause.

            

            

3. A COMPLEX SENTENCE has one dependent clause (headed by a subordinating conjunction or a relative pronoun ) joined to an independent clause.

            

    Punctuation patterns (to match A, B, C and D above):

        A.  Dependent clause,  independent clause

        B.  Independent clause  dependent clause

        C.  Independent,    nonessential dependent clause,     clause.

        D.  Independent    essential dependent clause     clause.

              

                            

4. A COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCE has two independent clauses joined to one or more dependent clauses.

        

Punctuation patterns:

Follow the rules given above for compound and complex sentences.

A compound-complex sentence is merely a combination of the two.

  

      

CONNECTORS--COMPOUND AND COMPLEX SENTENCES

Two independent clauses may be joined by

    1.  Coordinating conjunctions  (FANBOYS)         Ic,  and    ic

    2.  Conjunctive adverbs       Ic;    therefore,     ic.

      

A dependent (subordinate) clause may be introduced by

    1. Subordinating conjunctions (ADVERB CLAUSE)     Dc, ic.   or    Ic dc.

    2. Relative pronouns (ADJECTIVE CLAUSE)  I, dc,  c.    or      I  dc  c.

   3.  Relative pronoun, subordinating conjunctions, or adverbs (NOUN CLAUSE)