Sentences and Paragraphs

    Sentence
    Clauses and Sentences
    Paragraphs

Sentence

A sentence is a complete thought, begins with a capital letter and ends with a period, and always has at least one main clause.

My computer crashed yesterday. (One Independent Clause -- a Simple Sentence)
When the computer service man arrived, he discovered I had accidently pulled the plug; it was very embarressing, and it cost me $80. (This is a compound-complex sentence; its clauses, in order, are a dependent adverb clause of time, an independent clause, a noun clause object of the verb "discovered", and, after the semi-colon, two more independent clauses joined by the co-ordinating conjunction "and".)

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Clauses and Sentences

A simple sentence has only one clause. This clause, by definition, must be an independent (or principle or main) clause.

The shipment arrived at 5 p.m.

A compound sentence has two independent (or more) clauses joined by one of the “fanboys” – the co-ordinating conjunctions "for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so". A semi-colon (;) can also join two main clauses to form a compound sentence; this sentence is an example.

The shipment arrived late, but this did not cause any problems.

A complex sentence has at least one independent clause and at least one dependent (or subordinate) clause.

After the shipment had arrived, the assembly line was restarted.

Sometimes when a complex sentence has two independent clauses as well as one or more independent clauses, it is called a compound-complex sentence.

When the serviceman arrived, he discovered I had accidently pulled the plug; it was very embarressing, and it cost me $80.

An independent clause stands by itself. By itself it is a simple sentence; in a compound sentence, there are two independent clauses joined by one of the "FANBOYS" -- "and", "or", "but" and so on.

Notes:
A dependent clause needs an independent clause in the same sentence for the sentence to express a complete thought. If the dependent clause modifies a noun, it is an adjective (or relative) clause; if the dependent clause modifies a verb, then it is an adverb clause; if it is used like a noun in a sentence, either as a subject, an object, or an object of a preposition, then the clause is a noun clause. Any sentence which has a dependent clause with a main or principal clause is a complex sentence. (If you analyze it, you will see that the previous sentence is a complex sentence.) If a sentence contains two or more independent clauses, it is a compound sentence. If a sentence has one independent clause, then it is a simple sentence.

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Paragraphs

A paragraph is a unified group of related sentences expressing aspects of one idea. The main idea is introduced in the topic sentence, and the other sentences give supporting details. (In technical writing, if all that needs to be expressed can be expressed in one sentence, this one sentence is considered a paragraph.)

The topic sentence contains the most important or the broadest idea, statement, concept, or question. All the other sentences in the paragraph explain or support this main idea. Most often in technical writing, the topic sentence is at the beginning of the paragraph.

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