Page 20 - TOEFL PREPARATION FOR ENGLISH LITERATURE DEPARTMENT

[DOCUMENT TITLE] TOEFL PREPARATION

Sentence or not?
The examples in the section above all show well - formed sentences. None of the
following examples are proper sentences :
' Ham and eggs . And onions .
" Too much information!
' Not at all , Joe . ' which Rob shook
if it ever became public

The first three are not sentences because they do not contain a verb: they would
be acceptable in informal speaking and writing, because they are easy to
understand, but it's not a good idea to use such constructions in formal situations.

The last two are not proper sentences because they do not contain a main verb or
make sense on their own ( they are in fact subordinate clauses ) . They need an
additional clause so as to form a complete sentence and be understood . Simple
sentence A simple sentence normally contains one statement ( known as a main
clause ) . For example : The train should be here soon . His father worked as a
journalist .

Simple sentence
A simple sentence normally contains one statement (known as a main clause). For
example The train should be here soon .
His father worked as a journalist.

Compound sentence
A compound sentence contains two or more clauses of equal status (or main
clauses), which are normally joined by a conjunction such as and or but. For
example:

Alesha became bored with teaching and he looked for a new career
[ main clause ] [ conjunction ] [ main clause]

Boxers can be very friendly dogs but they need to be trained .
[ main clause ] [conjunction ] [main clause ]

Complex sentence
A complex sentence is also made up of clauses, but in this case the clauses are not
equally balanced. They contain a main clause and one or more subordinate clauses
. For example

The story would make headlines if it ever became public.
[ main clause ] [ subordinate clause]

He took up project again as soon as he felt well enough.
[ main clause ] [ subordinate clause]

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