What is Sentence Structure?
It is a way of categorizing sentences by identifying the absence or presence of
- clauses (independent and dependent)
- conjunctions
- subordinators (see Coordination and Subordination).
From this perspective, the English sentence has four major building blocks:
| 1. Simple Sentence Structure | one independent clause (IC). | |
| 2. Compound Sentence Structure | two independent clauses (IC IC) connected by a coordinating conjunction. | |
| 3. Complex Sentence Structure | one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses (IC DC) or (IC DC DC). | |
| 4. Compound-Complex Sentence Structure | two independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses (IC IC DC) or (IC DC IC) or (DC IC IC) etc. |
Related Concepts: Sentence Type; Sentence Patterns
How Do I Know When or How to Vary Sentence Structure in my Writing?
Writers, speakers, and knowledge workers . . . probably don’t need to think about it when they are first drafting a project. Eventually though, after revising has given way to editing, it’s time to analyze your work at the sentence level.
| > 8 words | very easy (primer or grade school style) |
| > 11 words | easy |
| > 14 words | fairly easy |
| > 17 words | standard, high school educated |
| > 21 words | fairly difficult |
| > 25 | difficult |
| > 29 | very difficult |
- First, you want to affirm the Given/New Principle. IOWs, check that the flow of new information is trending from what is known, what is commonplace between the author and audience, to what is new.
- Consider the average word length of your sentences in relation to educational level of the audience. You might try an online readability checker as well.
- Consider subordinating one idea to another while keeping the Given/New Principle.
- Consider the average word length of your sentences in relation to educational level of the audience. You might try an online readability checker as well.
- Consider subordinating one idea to another while keeping the Given/New Principle in mind.
Examples of the 4 Sentence Structures in English
1. Simple Sentence Structure
This pattern contains one independent clause (IC).
2. Compound Sentence Structure
A compound sentence contains two independent clauses (IC IC) connected by a coordinating conjunction.
3. Complex Sentence Structure
A complex sentence contains one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses (IC DC) or (IC DC DC).
4. Compound-Complex Sentence Structure
A compound-complex sentence contains two independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses (IC IC DC) or (IC DC IC) or (DC IC IC) etc.
Recommended Resources
Conference on College Composition and Communication. (2021, June 30). CCCC statement on Ebonics. CCCC. https://ncte.org/statement/ebonics/
Conference on College Composition and Communication. (2014, November). Students’ right to their own language. CCCC. https://cccc.ncte.org/cccc/resources/positions/srtolsummary
National Council of Teachers of English. (2022, July 1). Why is grammar important? NCTE. https://ncte.org/statement/qandaaboutgrammar/
