Explanations, Examples, Exercises
Sentence Structure and Punctuation
Basic English Sentence Structures
| S – V S – V – O S – V – IO – DO | Jack is sleeping. Jack ate an apple. Jack gave Jill a ring. | S – LV – Adj. S – LV – Adv S – LV – Noun | Jack is sick. Jack is here. Jack is a doctor. |
*LV = Linking Verb
Combinations: One verb or one subject (no comma)
| S V S and S V S V and V S V O and O S and S V O and O | Jack is drinking. Jack and Jill are drinking. Jack is eating and drinking. Jack drinks coffee and tea. Jack and Jill drink tea and coffee. |
Combinations: Two subjects, two verbs
Subordination (One idea is stronger.
Jack drinks coffee although Jill drinks tea. (without a comma)
Although Jack drinks coffee, Jill drinks tea. (with a comma)
Coordination (equal ideas, with coordinator: and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet)
Jack is drinking, and Jill is eating. (A comma [,] is needed here.)
Jack drinks coffee, but Jill drinks tea. (closest connection between ideas)
Closely related ideas (without coordinator)
Jack drinks coffee; Jill drinks tea. (A semi-colon [;] is used here.)
Jack drinks coffee; however, Jill drinks tea. (with a sentence connector)
Separate sentences (strongest break between ideas)
Jack drinks coffee. Jill drinks tea. (Use a period [.] to separate complete sentences.)
Jack drinks coffee. However, Jill drinks tea. (with a sentence connector)
Jack drinks coffee. Jill, however, drinks tea. (variation)
Note:
Do not use subordinators and coordinators to connect ideas in the same sentence:
| Although Jack drinks coffee, but Jill drinks tea. Jack drinks coffee, but Jill drinks tea. Although Jack drinks coffee, Jill drinks tea. | (INCORRECT) (Okay) (Okay) |
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