writing for dummies

sentence structure [9]

geez, with the way things are going, i might as well become an ela teacher. i thought structuring sentences was common knowledge, but i guess not. so i'll tell you about all the basic sentence structures you'll need to know.

let's start off with the most basic of them all, a simple sentence. that's when you have a subject, predicate (or verb in simpler terms), and a complete thought. example:

She ran.

"She" is the subject, and "ran" is the verb. it's a complete thought because it contains those two things and isn't a sentence fragment. is it starting to make sense?

let's move on to a compound sentence. that's when you join together two simple sentences. there's two ways to do this. one is with a semicolon (;) or a FANBOY (technical term is AWUBIS) word and a comma.

let's started with the simpler of the two, a semicolon. it's pretty much just a replacement for a period. here's an example:

I don't like carrots; they taste awful.

those are technically two simple sentences, but they're joined together using a semicolon. starting to get it?

then there's the FANBOYS word. those are conjunctions. for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. the actual term is an AWUBIS word, but FANBOYS is easier to remember. you place a comma(along with a space) right before you use one of these to make a compound sentence. example:

I don't like carrots, but I do like potatoes.

take not of where the comma is placed. if you say "I don't like carrots ,but I do like potatoes." than your sentence will be incorrect. but we'll get more in depth about that later.

anyways, that is the other way to form a compound sentence. understand?

semicolon:
simple sentence + semicolon + other simple sentence

comma FANBOYS word:
simple sentence + comma + conjunction + other simple sentence

NEXT

let's move on to a complex sentence. it's really not as complicated as it sounds. it's when you use a sentence fragment in the beginning and then add a complete sentence to that or the other way around. but the connecting would can't be a preposition or it'll just be counted as a simple sentence.

before you ask, a preposition is a directional word. (about, above, across, after, along, around, at, before, behind, below, beside, by, down during, except, for, from, in, inside, into, near, of, off, on, out, outside, over, pass, through, to, under, until, up, with, without). yes, those were in alphabetical. don't judge me, i had to learn a song in fifth grade about them for a grade.

example:

If they lied, the punishment would be severe.

and if you don't know what a sentence fragment is... wtf are you doing with your life?🤠

from: your favorite author ;)