Sentence Structure

What is meant by Sentence Structure?

Sentence structure defines how a sentence is to be arranged grammatically. The sentence structure is dependent on the language in which an individual speaks or writes. Different parts of speech are utilized to form a sentence in English. Two main parts used in sentence structure are- subject and verb. When arranging the sentence, it includes grammatically correct inclusion of nouns and verbs in the individual sentence. If the subject and verb are missing from a sentence, it implies that it is not a complete sentence. 

Main Building Blocks of Sentences

Before you explore different types of English sentence structure and rules to form them, it is imperative to understand the essential parts of English sentences.

Subjects and Predicates

Subject and Predicate are the two essential parts of English sentences. The subject refers to the noun who or what is acting in a particular sentence when it comes to the subject. In comparison, the predicate provides information connected to or about the subject mentioned in the same sentence.

Independent and Dependent Clauses

A group of words consisting of both subject, verb and predicate is a clause. There are two types of clauses- independent and dependent clauses. Independent clauses are capable of standing alone as a complete sentence. But dependent clauses must be connected to an independent clause to form a complete sentence.

Direct and Indirect Objects

Both direct and indirect objects are found in some sentences in English. The direct object refers to something with which the subject is directly involved in an action. The indirect object refers to who or what receives the particular action. 

What are the Different Types of Sentence Structures?

In English, you can come across short or long and complicated sentences. There are four different types of sentence structures in English which are mentioned as follows:

Simple Sentences

These sentences are the simplest form of English sentence structure. The simple sentence structure can be defined as sentences containing a subject and a finite verb. They might also have an object. But when it comes to independent clauses, there is one single independent clause in the simple sentences.

Following mentioned are some examples of simple sentence structure:

She is writing.

Here, she is a subject, and is writing is a verb.

They studied economics for a few hours. 

Here, they are a subject, studied is a verb, economics is an object, and for few hours is a prepositional phrase.

Compound Sentences

If a sentence contains two independent clauses, then the same can be referred to as a compound sentence. A comma and a coordinating conjunction or a semicolon can be used to connect these two independent clauses. 

Following mentioned are compound sentence structure examples:

He completed his mathematical review, and he created his reference list. 

Both He completed his mathematic review and he created his reference list are two independent clauses, and these two are joined with a comma and coordinating conjunction (and). 

She organized her sources according to the theme; then, she updated her reference list. 

She organized her sources according to the theme and then updated her reference list with two independent clauses, and these two are joined with a semicolon.

Complex Sentences

A complex sentence uses one main independent clause with one dependent clause. When it comes to the dependent clauses, it can refer to the subject (who or which), the casual elements (if, because, etc.), or the time or sequence (while, since, etc.). 

If the sentence structure contains a dependent clause at the starting of the sentence, there will be a comma after this clause. But if the sentence starts with an independent clause, then there is no requirement to add a comma to separate two clauses. 

Following mentioned is complex sentence structure examples:

Although he completed his mathematics review, he still needed to work on his methodology.

Here in this sentence, Although he completed his mathematics review, it is a dependent clause, and he still needed to work on his methodology as an independent clause. Both these clauses are connected with the help of a comma. 

Compound-Complex Sentences

Two different types of sentences can also be combined when it comes to sentence structure. One such type is compound-complex sentences. In this particular type of sentence, there are at least two main independent clauses and at least one dependent clause. 

The following mentioned are an example of compound-complex sentences:

He completed his mathematics review, but he still needed to work on his methodology even though he had completed the methodology course last year.

Here in this sentence, he completed his mathematics review and he still needed to work on his methodology are an independent clause. Even though he had completed the methodology course last year, here is a dependent clause. And ‘but’ is used as a coordinating conjunction.

Conclusion

Sentence structure can be a complicated concept, especially if you are not aware of the building blocks of sentences. It is essential to know the rules to frame grammatically correct English sentences. There are four main types of sentence structures in English. The best way to construct strong English sentences is to practice them as much as possible. Therefore, look for the opportunity to speak and write different sentence structures.