Four Types, and Why You Would Choose Each

Grade 7 · Grammar · Page 1 of 2

Name Date
DIRECTIONS: Write simple, compound, complex or compound-complex beside each sentence.
Count the clauses. Simple: one that stands alone. Compound: two that stand. Complex: one stands, one leans. Compound-complex: two stand, one or more lean.
SentenceType
1. The tide turned at four.
2. We packed the tent, and my brother carried the poles.
3. Because the ferry was canceled, we stayed another night.
4. When the lights went out, my sister screamed, and the dog hid under the table.
5. The path was closed, so we took the road along the cliff.
6. Ben plays the trumpet and sings in the choir.
7. I finished my homework before dinner, and then I read until the light went.
8. Although she had read the book twice, she could not remember the ending.
9. Write one compound-complex sentence of your own. Underline the part that could not stand alone.

What the Variety Actually Buys

Grade 7 · Grammar · Page 2 of 2

Every sentence here is simple, and every one is correct

(1) The tide went out. (2) We walked to the sandbar. (3) It is only there for two hours a day. (4) Dad carried the bucket. (5) I found a razor clam. (6) The clam was still alive. (7) We put it back. (8) The water came in fast. (9) We ran for the beach.

  1. Read it aloud. Nothing in it is wrong. What does it do to you as a reader?
  2. Two of these sentences are really one idea and one fact about that idea. Which two, and which of them should wait behind the other?
  3. Rewrite the whole paragraph. Keep every fact. Use at least one simple, one compound and one complex sentence.
  4. Which sentence did you leave short — and what did that one do that it could not have done if everything around it were short too?
Join everything with and and every idea is equally important. Complex chooses which fact waits.