Sentence types. What the frick are they?
Please note: I am not saying that you need to be some sort of grammatical genius to be a writer. If you want to write, just go for it and don’t let anyone well you that you can’t be the writer you want to be. After all, writing is 10% grammar and sentence structure, 80% letting your soul bleed out on the page, and 10% salty, salty tears. So it’s easy-peasy, really; you can practically do it as you’re having tea and a plate-load of tasty buttery toast. If you’re curious though, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of sentence types: what they are, why we care, and the joy of letting them mingle.
What is sentence structure?
To put it simply, sentence structure refers to how as sentence is constructed, made, or put together. Words are arranged in a certain order to produce a complete, finished thought. It’s like baking cupcakes, only in word form: you combine ingredients for the end result. See random illustration below.
An image of whatever the hell this is.
What are the sentence types?
Now that we know what sentence structure means (word order to create coherent thoughts), it’s also worthwhile to know the four different types that exist in the English language. They include:
Simple
Compound
Complex
Compound-complex.
Simple
As its name suggests, Simple sentences are uncomplicated: they like an easy-going, stress free life. They also help to keep your sentences precise and direct, which is very useful if someone runs up to you on the street, desperately asking you for directions to the nearest department store that is selling discounted air-fryers. There’s no messing around when it comes to a cheap air-fryer, so if someone asks you that question, you use a simple sentence to send them in the wrong direction so you can nab that bad-boy for yourself.
Simple sentences contain a subject and a predicate (what is said about the subject that also contains the verb) and is a complete thought.
For example: Stephanie [subject] loves air-fryers [predicate, or what is said about the subject].
Compound
A compound contains two simple sentences joined by a conjunction (and, or, but, so, because). Imagine two sentences are just two roads meeting at a junction; they find a way to work nicely together. See the next weird illustration below:
So for the example above, the sentence would be:
Joe likes books and often visits the library.
Complex
Complex sentences are the ones that will never delete their Tinder profiles. They are deep, meaningful, and are at times hard to grasp. At their core though, they are really just a simple sentence with some additional words thrown in for the drama. They essentially are in an unhealthy relationship with these words: they’re dependant on the simple sentence to make sense.
Mathematically they’d be this formula: Simple sentence + a few additional words that absolutely need the simple sentence in their lives = complex sentence and a really bad headache.
You can usually identify a complex sentence with its fondness for commas.
For example: The man, standing in the moonlight, was thinking only of her.
Think about it. The simple sentence is “The man was thinking only of her”, but it sounds way cooler to think he’s standing in the moonlight with only his feelings to keep him company. I have circled the dependent words below; if you were to just write them down on the page they would not make sense.
The man, standing in the moonlight, was thinking only of her.
These sentences are so cool that, despite their complexities, you’d still swipe right. Damnit.
Compound-complex
If you’re still reading this ramble well done. A compound-complex sentence combines the two sentences above, for one really fun rollercoaster of a sentence. It would be something like this:
The cow, laughing at the thought of compound-complex sentences, took part in a yoga class and jumped over the moon.
Why should we care?
I have deliberately avoided using too many grammatical terms in this explanation because I do not want you all to get bogged down by the rules. However, I do think it’s worth writing this post because the more we have an awareness of sentence structure, the more we can experiment with our writing and make it more interesting for our readers. What I would recommend is letting your different sentence types mingle. Have fun with them! I’ll finish with one of my all time favourite quotes from Gary Provost, who illustrates this point perfectly. Like I said, if you want to write just write. Write, let the words bleed out, and make your music.
This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals–sounds that say listen to this, it is important.