Kinds of Sentences According to Structure with Examples: English Grammer

In this lesson, I will discuss Kinds of Sentences According to Structure in English Grammer with Examples, especially Simple, Complex, and Compound. This lesson is for class 9 10, SSC, 11,12 HSC., and other students. For better understanding this lesson, first you have to learn Phrases and Clauses.

Simple, Complex and Compound sentences

In English grammar, there are three kinds of sentences according to their structure. These are

Simple Sentence
Complex Sentence
Compound Sentence

Recommended article? Transformation of Sentences: Simple to Complex to Compound

Simple Sentence

A simple sentence is a sentence having a subject and a finite verb.

Example:

John is an astronaut. Here 'John' is the subject and 'is' is the finite verb.
Despite his illness, he went to college. Here 'He' is the subject and 'went' is the finite verb.

Complex Sentence

A complex sentence is a sentence having a principal clause and one or many subordinate clauses.

Some linking words connect the subordinate clause with the principal clause. The connectors usually sit at the beginning of the subordinate clause. Some of the linking words/ connectors are given below:

if	though	although
as	because	since
till	that	so that
until	unless	when
while	which	why
how	where	who
before	after	whether

Example:

Although he was ill, he went to college. Here 'He went to college' is the principal clause. And 'Although he was ill' is the subordinate clause.
I know that he would help me. Here 'I know' is the principal clause. And 'that he would help me' is the subordinate clause.

Compound sentence

A compound sentence is a sentence having multiple principal clauses connected by 'and, but, or, yet, and so, therefore, otherwise', etc.

Example:

Read attentively or you will fail. Here 'Read attentively' and 'you will fail' are two principal clauses connected by the coordinating conjunction 'or'.
He was ill but went to school. Here 'He was ill' and 'went to school' are two principal clauses connected by the coordinating conjunction 'but'.

N.B: In compound sentences, the second subject is usually not written.

I hope this article helps you to learn structural sentences in English.