Types of Sentences: Compound

Success Center Directed Learning Activity (DLA) Types of Sentences: Compound G003.1

Directed Learning Activity Types of Sentences: Compound Description: In this Directed Learning Activity (DLA), you will learn what compound sentences are and how to use them in your own writing. Prior Knowledge: To get the most out of this DLA, it will be helpful (but not absolutely necessary) to be able to identify subjects and verbs. If you feel like you need to review these concepts, the Success Center recommends completing the DLA Basic Sentence Structure before attempting this activity. Materials: An envelope of sentence strips. Step One: Introduction to Compound Sentences What is a compound sentence? It is a sentence with at least two parts. These parts are equally important and express independent, yet closely related ideas. We often use them in our writing to explain the relationship between these ideas and to add variety to our sentences. Learning how to write compound sentences will help make your compositions much more interesting! Compound sentences are one of several types of sentences you can use in your writing. These types of sentences are made from different combinations of independent clauses and dependent clauses. Simple sentences are a single independent clause. Brent brought some sausages. Complex sentences are a dependent clause and an independent clause. Dependent Clause Because she loves to exercise, she spends a lot of time at the gym. Compound-complex sentences are a dependent clause and two independent clauses. Dependent Clause Since he is sick, we took him to the hospital, and we met with his doctor. Compound sentences are made up of at least two independent clauses. Here are some examples: George went fishing, and Mary went swimming.

Ted came to the party, but he forgot to bring a gift. Alice enjoys learning new things; however, she doesn t like her history class. So, what is an independent clause? An independent clause is a group of words that forms a complete sentence by itself. If we were to break a compound sentence into pieces, each piece should be able to stand on its own as a sentence: Complete Sentence Complete Sentence George went fishing. Mary went swimming. How do you know if a group of words is an independent clause? An independent clause must do three things: 1. An independent clause must have a subject. 2. An independent clause must have a verb. 3. An independent clause must express a complete thought. Let s look more closely at these requirements. Step Two: Identifying Subjects and Verbs Together, subjects and verbs form the heart of an independent clause. A group of words must have both to be independent. But how can you tell what a subject and verb are? Here is a basic textbook explanation: Verb: the action Subject: the person or thing that is doing the action For example, in the sentence... The woman sang all afternoon.... what is the action? Singing is an action, so the verb is sang. Who or what is doing the action? In other words, who or what is singing? The woman is singing. Thus, the subject is woman and the verb is sang.

The woman sang all afternoon. As shown above, it is often easier to identify the verb first. Once you identify the verb, ask yourself who or what is doing the verb. Whoever or whatever is doing the verb is the subject. Still, it might be difficult to figure out what the action in a sentence is. Here is a strategy that might help if you re having trouble. When you find a word that might be the action, ask yourself, Is it something someone can do? If you can say yes, it is probably a verb. For example, let s look at the following sentence: Marie often rides her bike in the afternoon. Which word is the verb? Well, which ones are things that you can do? Can you Marie? Can you often? Can you ride? Can you bike? Can you afternoon? NO NO YES YES NO The only possible choices are rides and bike. However in this sentence, bike is a thing, not an action. Therefore, rides is the verb of this sentence. If rides is the verb, what is the subject? Who or what is doing the riding? It s Marie. Marie often rides her bike in the afternoon. Let s try it with some more sentences. This time, you give it a shot. Yesterday, Mark ate too much at Grandmother s house. What is the verb? What is something that you can do? To help you figure it out, circle YES or NO after each question. The first one has been done. Can you yesterday? YES NO Can you Mark? YES NO Can you eat? YES NO Can you too much? YES NO Can you Grandmother s? YES NO Can you house? YES NO Which word is the verb? Write it here: Which word is the subject? Who or what is doing the action? Write it here:

Charlie never sees himself as the bad guy. Can you Charlie? YES NO Can you never? YES NO Can you see? YES NO Can you himself? YES NO Can you bad guy? YES NO Which word is the verb? Write it here: Which word is the subject? Who or what is doing the action? Write it here: Another strategy you can use is to picture the sentence in your head. This might make it easier to see the action. For example, for the sentence, Marie often rides her bike in the afternoon, picture Marie riding her bike: Marie riding What is going on in this picture? What is she doing? She is riding. Who is riding? Marie is riding. Let s try it ourselves. Each sentence is illustrated by a picture. Decide what the action is and write it in the verb blank. Then, decide what is performing the action and write the word in the subject blank. Every weekend, Julie bakes cookies with her grandmother. Verb: Subject: The police officer wrote my brother a ticket yesterday. Verb: Subject:

Tim often thinks about his problems. Verb: Subject: Actions make up the vast majority of verbs, but there is another important kind of verb: to be. This verb appears in several different forms, such as: is, are, am, was, were, be, being, been. The verb to be can appear by itself... Peter is pretty happy today....or as a helping verb that appears before the main verb... Peter is going to the beach after work. In either case, to be counts as a verb and helps to make a clause independent. To get more practice with identifying subjects and verbs, read each of the following sentences. Decide what the action is, underline the word, and write a V (for Verb) above it. Then, ask yourself what is doing the action. Underline this word and write S (for Subject) above it. You may use either strategy you ve learned in this assignment (asking or picturing).the first one has been done for you. 1. Kelly really hates his car. 2. George flew to New York with his class last month. 3. Last night, I saw the cutest dress at the mall. 4. Brian will attend college at UCLA this fall. 5. The hole in my bedroom wall is becoming bigger and bigger. 6. My sister is a very hard worker. Step Three: Identifying Complete Thoughts As stated above, an independent clause must contain a subject and a verb. It must also express a complete thought. But which thoughts are complete and which aren t?

Very often, incomplete thoughts leave questions in your head. The incomplete thought ends too early, and you are left waiting for more information. For example, let s look at the following statements. Are they complete or incomplete? Even though he loves her. Because she ate too much. After I graduate from college. These statements all have subjects and verbs, but each statement leaves the reader with questions: Even though he loves her. (He loves her, so what s the problem?) Because she ate too much. (What happens because she ate too much?) After I graduate from college. (What will happen after you graduate?) Because of these questions, these clauses cannot stand on their own; they do not express complete thoughts and are, therefore, not independent clauses. We call incomplete thoughts like these, dependent clauses. These are dependent clauses because they have subordinating conjunctions. Even though he loves her. Subordinating Conjunctions Because she ate too much. After I graduate from college. Adding subordinating conjunctions to a clause makes it no longer independent because it is no longer a complete thought. Complete Thought Not Complete He is tall. Even though he is tall.

Here is a list of subordinating conjunctions. There are actually many more, but these are some of the most common. Because While Whenever Whether Even though Although If Even if Before Unless After Since As Until When For a little practice identifying incomplete thoughts, read each of the statements below. If there is a subordinating conjunction, underline it and circle INCOMPLETE. If there is no conjunction, circle COMPLETE. The first two have been done for you. 1. Whenever my brother drinks too much. INCOMPLETE COMPLETE 2. I try to ignore him. INCOMPLETE COMPLETE 3. Before you go on a diet. INCOMPLETE COMPLETE 4. Whenever I see my wife. INCOMPLETE COMPLETE 5. I really enjoy eating pound cake. INCOMPLETE COMPLETE 6. If I win the lottery. INCOMPLETE COMPLETE 7. He s going to get sick. INCOMPLETE COMPLETE 8. Since you re not going to eat those fries. INCOMPLETE COMPLETE Remember, clauses that begin with a subordinating conjunction are not complete and, therefore, do not belong in compound sentences. (They belong in a different kind of sentence called a complex sentence.) Step Four: Writing s Now that you ve had practice identifying subjects, verbs and complete thoughts, you are ready to write some independent clauses. As you ve learned, an independent clause must have a subject, a verb, and must express a complete thought. You aren t limited to just one subject and one verb, however. You can have a clause with a compound (more than one) subject: S Bill and Ted met many people that night. You can have a compound verb: V Jimmy walked his dog and bought some ice cream.

You can have even have a compound subject and compound verb: S V John and Mary went to New York and saw a show. Notice that compound subjects and verbs are joined together using words like and, but, or, nor, and yet. Independent clauses with compound subjects and compound verbs might seem like compound sentences; however, they are not. Remember that a compound sentence is made up of more than one independent clause. This means that you can divide a compound sentence into pieces, and each piece would be an independent clause: George went fishing, and Mary went swimming. Compound Sentence However, you can t divide an independent clause with a compound subject and compound verb. At least one of the pieces would be incomplete: S V John and Mary went to New York and saw a show. Independent Clause Not Complete The fact that one of the pieces is incomplete means the sentence is not compound. Don t forget that there is more to sentences than just subjects and verbs. There are many words and groups of words that describe the subject and verb that can appear in an independent clause: What? When? Where? Jack played baseball last weekend at Mile Square Park. What? When? Ted was a great tennis player many years ago. These words all describe either the subject (What was Ted? A great tennis player.) or the verb (When did Jack play? Last weekend.). Keep in mind that you can have as many describing words as you want in an independent clause, but it is the subjects and verbs that determine what kind of sentence you have whether it s an independent clause or a compound sentence. Let s practice writing some independent clauses. Describe what s happening in the pictures with an independent clause. You may use a single subject, a single verb, a compound subject, a compound verb, or a compound subject and compound verb. You many add as many other descriptive words as you would like. The first one has been done.

Annabel made dinner last night and burned the house down.

Step Five: Building Compound Sentences As you know, a compound sentence is made up of at least two independent clauses joined together. There are two ways to join them. Option #1: A comma and a coordinating conjunction The more common way to join two independent clauses is with a comma followed by a coordinating conjunction: Neda read a book, and George watched television. A comma must come before the conjunction in this kind of sentence. There are seven coordinating conjunctions. These conjunctions are For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So. You can remember them all by memorizing the word FANBOYS. Each letter in FANBOYS is the first letter in a coordinating conjunction. Using these conjunctions shows the relationship between your independent clauses. Here are the different ways they can be used: For is used to show that one event causes another. It is very similar to because. It is quite formal and not used very often. For And Nor But Or Yet So She is upset, for she failed her test. Terry left early, for he didn t feel very well. And is used to join two similar ideas, to show that one event happens after another, or to show that one event happens because of another. Nancy swam in the ocean, and I made sandcastles. Mary finished making sandwiches, and she poured us some iced tea. I waved at her, and she waved back at me.

Nor is similar to or, except that it is always used in a negative way. It is often used with neither. Notice that the order of the subject and verb is often reversed in the second clause when using nor. It is also formal and not used very often. He is neither nice, nor is he talkative. I will not be at the party, nor will I see you in class next week. But is used to show contrast between ideas. I love to eat pizza, but I hate eating at Pizza Hut. Georgia has dated a lot of guys, but she still hasn t found the right one. Or states that, of at least two alternatives, only one choice is possible. Larry will bring chicken fingers, or he will bring soda. By this time next year, I will be attending college, or I will be working. Yet is very similar to but in that it shows contrast between ideas. It is a little more formal than but. She studied really hard, yet she wasn t able to pass the test. Pete is a nice guy, yet he can t get Darlene to marry him. So is similar to for and because in that it shows that one thing causes another. However, the order of cause and effect is the opposite of for. Here is a comparison: Effect Cause He is tired, for he has been working all day. Cause Effect He has been working all day, so he is tired. You ve just learned that you need to use a comma before a coordinating conjunction when joining two independent clauses. However, you do not use a comma before a conjunction when joining compound subjects or compound verbs.

No comma S James and Mary are flying to New York. V James is flying to New York and seeing the Statue of Liberty. Comma No comma James is flying to New York, and Mary is flying to Boston. Independent Clauses Compound Sentence Both clauses must be independent for you to use a comma. Let s practice writing some compound sentences. For this first section, read each independent clause and the coordinating conjunction that follows it. Then, look at the picture and describe what s happening in it with an independent clause. Finally, write an S above the subject and a V above the verb in the clause you write. Remember that your clause must have both a subject and a verb. The first one has been done. Fred tried to get here on time, but traffic on the 405 Freeway. he got stuck in After my long day, I just want to go home, and This weekend, we can either see a movie, or

My friend Brent isn t very tall, but Let s get some practice with writing complete compound sentences. First, think of an independent clause for each picture or group of pictures. Then, join them with the comma and coordinating conjunction that is shown and write your compound sentence in the blank. Finally, write an S above the subject and a V above the verb in each clause. The first one has been done for you., and S Last night, Bella and Todd had dinner at the Olive Garden, and then they saw a movie at the theatre., but

, or, and, so

Option #2: A semicolon The second way to join two independent clauses to form a compound sentence is to use a semicolon: My best friend met a great guy last year; they re getting married tomorrow. Maria loves to swim; Janice loves to hike. We often use a semicolon to connect clauses that are closely related. Often, the relationship between the clauses is so clear that we don t have to use a coordinating conjunction. It is typically used instead of and or but: My brother is coming to visit this weekend, and we re going to Disneyland. My brother is coming to visit this weekend; we re going to Disneyland. Aaron loves to read books, but he hasn t read one in a while. Aaron loves to read books; he hasn t read one in a while. A semicolon introduces a pause between clauses. It is important that you use a semicolon and not just a comma between independent clauses. If you only use a comma, you end up with an error called a comma splice: My brother is coming to visit this weekend, we re going to Disneyland. AVOID comma splices! When using a semicolon, it is common to begin the second clause with a conjunctive adverb. These adverbs are words like however, therefore, and for example: He enjoys living in Los Angeles; however, he hates the traffic. I plan to move to Alaska soon; therefore, I need to buy warmer clothes. She does a lot for charity; for example, she volunteers at the food bank. Be sure to place a comma after the conjunctive adverb. The semicolon goes before the conjunctive adverb.

Here is a list of some of the more common conjunctive adverbs: Also Besides Consequently Finally For example Furthermore However In addition In contrast In fact Indeed Instead Likewise Meanwhile Moreover Nevertheless Next Nonetheless Otherwise Similarly Still Then Therefore Thus Let s practice working with semicolons. Read the following sentences. Each is composed of two independent clauses. Decide where one independent clause ends and the other begins. Insert a semicolon between the two clauses. The first one has been done. 1. My brother just got a new job in San Diego; he s moving there this weekend. 2. Edwina is having trouble with her homework therefore, she s going to see a tutor. 3. Donna s favorite activity is dancing she s going clubbing this weekend. 4. I worked all day however, I don t feel tired at all. 5. My best friend enjoys watching movies she goes every weekend. For some further practice, take out the sentence strips that came with this assignment. You should see a number of independent clauses. Put them together so that they become compound sentences. Join them with either a semicolon or a comma and a coordinating conjunction. Lay the pairs next to each other like this: I call her often, but she rarely picks up the phone. When you re finished, write the complete sentences in the blanks below. You can then put away the strips. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

G003.1 Types of Sentences: Compound PRINT STUDENT NAME STUDENT # Tutor Feedback: In Step Two, the student identified subjects and verbs. In Step Three, the student identified complete and incomplete thoughts. In Step Four, the student wrote independent clauses. In Step Five, the student completed the exercises on writing compound sentences, including the sentence strip activity. Additional Comments: PRINT INSTRUCTOR/TUTOR NAME DATE INSTRUCTOR/TUTOR SIGNATURE STUDENT DO NOT FORGET TO TURN THIS SHEET IN AT THE FRONT DESK! to leave this sheet with the front desk receptionist. You may not get credit for completing this DLA if you fail