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.

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)

Grammatical Range and Accuracy accounts for 25% of your total writing and
speaking scores, and because of this, IELTS candidates need to be familiar
with the types of sentences assessors are looking for when marking exam
scripts or interviewing test takers.

Basically, there are 4 types of English sentences:

1) Simple
A simple sentence contains only one independent clause. An independent
clause usually expresses ONE single idea and is formed with:
one subject + 1 verb/verb phrase
For example:

1. She‘s tall.
2. My mother doesn’t like shopping.
3. My husband and I go dancing every weekend.
4. That ugly pink jumper has been donated to charity.
2) Compound
A compound sentence has TWO independent clauses and they are usually
joined with a co-ordinating conjunction. An independent clause could also be
one simple sentence.
1. She‘s tall but her brother is short.
2. My mother doesn’t like shopping so my father does all the weekly shopping.
 3. My husband and I go dancing every weekend and we feel very tired
afterwards.
4. The thunderous heavy rain has stopped us from going out, yet my sister had
no qualms about going shopping.
There are only 7 co-ordinating conjunctions – just remember FANBOYS:

1. For
2. And
3. Nor
4. But
5. Or
6. Yet
7. So
3) Complex
A complex sentence contains ONE independent clause + ONE or
MORE dependent or subordinate clauses. A dependent/subordinate
clause cannot be a complete sentence.
1. She‘s tall which puts her at an advantage when playing basketball.
2. My mother doesn’t like shopping when it’s raining.
3. My husband and I go dancing every weekend if we are not busy with the
children.
4. The thunderous heavy rain has stopped us from going out because we’re
afraid of getting wet.
The dependent/subordinate clause relies on the independent clause to form a
complete relationship.

For example,

 which puts her at an advantage when playing basketball.

 when it’s raining.
 if we are not busy with the children.
 because we’re afraid of getting wet.
cannot stand alone as complete sentences. Each is a part of a sentence and
depends on the other clause to make sense. They are joined by subordinating
conjunctions (eg. which, when, if, because, after, since, etc) but there are too many
of these conjunction types to list here.
4) Compound-Complex
A Compound-Complex sentence has 3 or more clauses, usually 2 independent
clauses and 1 subordinate/dependent clause. This is quite commonly used in
speaking.
 1. She’s tall, which puts her at an advantage when playing basketball, but her
brother is short and that’s why they don’t like playing together.
2. My mother doesn’t like shopping when it’s raining so my father does all the
weekly shopping.
3. My husband and I go dancing every weekend if we are not busy with the
children and we feel very tired afterwards.
4. The thunderous heavy rain has stopped us from going out because we’re afraid
of getting wet, yet my sister had no qualms about going shopping.

As an IELTS candidate, you don’t really need to understand all these technical
terms when you speak or write but it helps to know what the different types of
sentences are and therefore understand what your examiner wants from you.
You will need to show a range of structures to be able to do well in the Grammar
criterion and when you practise doing your IELTS essay or interview, pay
attention to the kinds of sentences you are producing. Make sure that you
display a wide range for you to achieve at least a Band 6 where you use “a mix
of simple and complex sentence forms” in IELTS Writing Task 2 and IELTS
Speaking.