An explanation of simple, compound and complex sentences.

1. Understanding the rubric – simple, compound
and complex sentences
Understanding the rubric – simple, compound
and complex sentences
Simple sentences
Simple sentences
The dog barked.
The baby woke up.
The dog whined.
A simple sentence has a subject (what the sentence is
about) and a verb (what that person or thing is doing).

2. Understanding the rubric – simple, compound
and complex sentences
Understanding the rubric – simple, compound
and complex sentences
There may be other words in the sentence but as long as
there is only one verb it is a simple sentence.
Simple sentences
In the middle of the night, the dog barked loudly for its
master.
After dinner, the baby woke up his mother with a loud yell.
The dog whined miserably in the coal shed.

3. Understanding the rubric – simple, compound
and complex sentences
Understanding the rubric – simple, compound
and complex sentences
Compound sentences
Compound sentences are simple sentences linked
together using a conjunction like and, but, or and so
The dog barked and the baby woke up and the dog whined.
The shops were closed so I went home.
You could take the ‘and’ away and put a full stop and it
would still make sense as simple sentences.

4. Understanding the rubric – simple, compound
and complex sentences
Understanding the rubric – simple, compound
and complex sentences
Complex sentences
In complex sentences, there is more than one verb. One part of the
sentence helps to give extra information about the main part of the
sentence.
The dog barked because it was lonely.
The extra part tells you why the dog barked.
Mother sang a lullaby when the baby woke up.
The extra part tells you when the mother sang the lullaby.
The class waited until the teacher arrived.
The extra part tells you when the class stopped waiting.

5. Understanding the rubric – simple, compound
and complex sentences
Understanding the rubric – simple, compound
and complex sentences
Complex sentences – more examples
Cats clean themselves by licking their fur.
The extra part tells you how cats clean themselves.
She will get fit if she runs every day.
The extra part tells you what she needs to do to get fit.
When the bell rang, the children went to class.
The extra part tells you when the children went to class.
He found the letter where his sister left it.
The extra part tells you where he found the letter.

6. Understanding the rubric – simple, compound
and complex sentences
Understanding the rubric – simple, compound
and complex sentences
Complex sentences
You can use these conjunctions when writing complex sentences
Time words
after
before
when
while
until
since
Cause and effect
because
since
now that
as
Other words
that
which
who
when
unless
although
if
unless

7. Understanding the rubric – simple, compound
and complex sentences
Understanding the rubric – simple, compound
and complex sentences
Complex sentences
You can use these conjunctions when writing complex sentences
Time words
after
before
when
while
until
since
Cause and effect
because
since
now that
as
Other words
that
which
who
when
unless
although
if
unless