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Guidelines for Combining Sentences

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Simple/Compound/Complex

What they are:

• Simple Sentence -- One person or thing acts (does something) in some way, or is (has a "state of being") a certain way. One Subject means one thing exists or is done in the sentence.
  • Person or thing = noun = subject of sentence
  • Doing or being = verb = predicate of sentence

• Compound Sentence -- Two-part sentence. Both parts could be sentences on their own.
  • Each part of the sentence has a subject.
  • Each part of the sentence has a predicate.
  • Each part is called an independent clause.

• Complex Sentence -- Two-part sentence, but only one part can stand alone. The other part modifies the stand-alone part.
  • "Modify" means to change something. Here, it means to give something a different meaning.
  • The part that modifies is called a dependent clause.
  • The part that is modified is the independent clause.

How to use them:

A variety of sentence types makes writing more interesting. Mix up simple, compound, and complex sentences, but not just randomly.

• Use simple sentences when the idea is direct and... simple.
• Use compound sentences when two ideas or statements should be brought together.
• Use complex sentences when one idea or statement is a helper for another idea or statement.

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"Writers' Workshop: Guidelines for Combining Sentences" created by Stevan Kalmon,
<kalmon@bvsd.k12.co.us>
New Vista High School,
Last modified: May 5, 1998