Information for Teachers A grammar task Identify the sentence types that are highlighted in the extract from Skellig by David Almond and explain your decisions Choices are simplecompoundcomplexminor ID: 603552
Download Presentation The PPT/PDF document "Understanding Sentence Types" is the property of its rightful owner. Permission is granted to download and print the materials on this web site for personal, non-commercial use only, and to display it on your personal computer provided you do not modify the materials and that you retain all copyright notices contained in the materials. By downloading content from our website, you accept the terms of this agreement.
Slide1
Understanding Sentence Types
Information for TeachersSlide2
A grammar task: Identify the sentence types that are highlighted in the extract from ‘
Skellig
’ by David Almond, and explain your decisions. Choices are: simple/compound/complex/minor
I
found him in the garage on a Sunday afternoon.
It was the day after we moved into Falconer Road. The winter was ending. Mum had said we’d be moving just in time for the spring. Nobody else was there.
Just me
.
The others were inside the house with Doctor Death, worrying about the baby
.
He was lying
there
in the darkness behind the tea chests, in the dust and dirt.
It was as if he’d been there forever.
He
was filthy and pale and dried out and I thought he was dead.
I couldn’t have been more wrong. I’d soon begin to see the truth about him, that there’d never been another creature like him in the world.
We
called it the garage because that’s what the estate agent, Mr Stone, called it.
It was more like a demolition site or a rubbish dump or one of those ancient warehouses they keep pulling down at the quay.
Stone led us down the garden, tugged the door open and shone his little torch into the gloom.
We shoved our heads in at the doorway with him.Slide3
I
found him in the garage on a Sunday afternoon.
A simple sentence which has one finite verb
(found).
Just
me
.
A minor sentence which does not have a verb.
The others were inside the house with Doctor Death, worrying about the baby.
A complex sentence which
has
one
main clause with a finite verb
(were)
and one
subordinate
clause, formed with
a non-finite verb ending in –
ing
(worrying).
He
was lying
there
in the darkness behind the tea chests, in the dust and dirt.
A simple sentence with one verb (
a verb phrase – was lying
)Slide4
He
was
filthy and pale and dried out and I
thought
he
was
dead.
A complex sentence with three clauses (verbs underlined). The third clause is a subordinate clause with an elided relative
pronoun, a ‘zero that’ clause
–
I thought/
(that
) he was dead
We
called
it the garage because that
’s
what the estate agent, Mr Stone,
called
it.
A complex sentence with three clauses (verbs underlined) and the subordinate
clauses
beginning with a subordinating conjunction ‘because
’ and relative pronoun ‘what’
Stone
led us down the garden, tugged the door open and shone his little torch into the gloom.
A compound
sentence with three co-ordinated clauses, with ‘and’ and a comma acting as co-
ordinating
conjunctionsSlide5
Extract from From
Arthur, High King of Britain
by Michael
Morpurgo
When Arthur first sees Excalibur…
Where
is this Excalibur?’ I asked yet again. ‘And what is it anyway? Can’t you tell me?’
‘Oh, be still with your questions, Arthur,’ said Merlin. Suddenly he leaned forward and pointed. ‘Look.’
I looked, but I could see nothing at first
. But then as I looked I saw the surface of the lake shiver and break.
And, to my amazement, up out of the lake came a shining sword, a hand holding it, and an arm in a white silk sleeve.
‘There,’ Merlin whispered. ‘
You have your answer
. That is Excalibur. It comes from the half-world of Avalon, the blade forged by elf-kind, the scabbard woven by the Lady
Nemue
herself, the Lady of the Lake, and my lady too.’ And as he spoke her name, his voice faltered. ‘See, here she comes.’
And out of the mists came a figure in flowing green, walking across the water
. Yet the water seemed undisturbed beneath her feet as if she was walking on air. She came towards us, holding a scabbard in both her hands, and a
swordbelt
hanging from it.
Slide6
Definitions of sentence types
It’s all about clauses and conjunctions!
A simple sentence has one clause.
A compound sentence has more than one clause, linked by co-ordinating conjunctions.
A complex sentence has more than one clause, linked by subordinating conjunctions, relative pronouns; or containing a non-finite clause.Slide7
Examples
A simple sentence has one clause.
You
have
your answer
.
We
found
him in the garage on a Sunday afternoon
.
A compound sentence has more than one clause, linked by co-ordinating conjunctions
.
Suddenly
he
leaned
forward
and
pointed.
I
looked
,
but
I
could see
nothing at first.
Stone
led
us down the garden,
tugged
the door open and
shone
his little torch into the gloom
.Slide8
Examples
A
complex sentence has more than one clause, linked by subordinating conjunctions, relative pronouns; or containing a non-finite clause.
Yet
the water
seemed
undisturbed beneath her feet
as if
she
was walking
on air.
[as if = subordinating conjunction]
The
man
swept
the hall with terrible eyes, wolfish eyes
that
froze
the courage in a man’s
veins
.[that = relative pronoun
]
He
was
filthy and pale and dried out and I
thought
[that]
he
was
dead
.
[
that = relative pronoun
]
A tricky example (although a common construction) because ‘that’ is omitted.
And out of the mists
came
a figure in flowing green
,
walking
across the
water
[walking
= non-finite verb]Slide9
Practice!
Check your understanding of this by looking
back to the texts from ‘
Skellig
’ and ‘Arthur, High King of Britain’. See if you can find more examples of each sentence type that match those on the slides.Slide10
Clauses
One of the most reliable ways to identify sentence types is first to identify all the clauses in a sentence.
The most reliable way to identify clauses is to identify all the verbs and verb phrases in a sentence: each one will be in a clause.
Easy: when the verb is a single word
Suddenly
he
leaned
forward and
pointed.
Two verbs,
leaned
and
pointed
, so two clauses.
Quite
easy
: when there is a verb phrase (a sequence of verbs together)
I
looked
, but I
could see
nothing at first.
One single word verb,
looked
and one verb phrase,
could see
,
so two
clauses.Slide11
Clauses
More complicated: where is a non-finite verb.
A non-finite verb is an infinitive (to dance); bare infinitive (dance); present participle (dancing) and past participle (danced)
She
stood
over the burial casket of a knight and
began
to speak
in a
strange
language, the words
flowin
g
from her lips like a dark song.
Two single word finite verbs,
stood
and
began
: two
clauses
One non-finite (infinitive),
to speak
: one clause
One non-finite verb (present participle),
flowing:
one clause
So this sentence has
four
clauses in total.
T
he
lady’s voice
grew
stronger and more insistent, until almost
shrieking
, she
spoke
the name, ‘
Uther
Pendragon
!’
Two single word finite verbs,
grew
and
spoke
: two clauses
One non-finite verb (present participle),
shrieking
: one clause
So this sentence
has
three clauses in total.Slide12
Clauses: Non-finite Complications
A present participle
(ending –
ing
) could
also be a noun or an adjective
But so intent
was
she on
her playing
that she
…
NOUN
And out of the mists
came
a figure in
flowing
green, walking across the
water… ADJECTIVE
And
, to my amazement, up out of the lake
came
a shining sword, a hand
holding
it, and an arm in a white silk sleeve
.
VERB
If it is a non-finite verb, you can always expand the verb into a full clause with the main verb,
very
often the verb
to be:
…up
out of the lake
came
a shining sword,
and a
hand
that
was holding
it…
This does not work if the present participle is a noun or adjectiveSlide13
Clauses: Non-finite Complications
Past participles and past tenses can look exactly the same:
I
danced
:
past tense (you can change it back to present -
I
dance
)
I
have
danced:
past participle (changing the tense of the phrase
makes
no difference to the participle –
I had
danced
)
Many past participles end in –
ed
, but several don’t: I spoke/I have spoken; I sang/ I have sung; I drew/I have drawn
Adjectives can end in –
ed
and may look like a past participle:
Yet the water seemed
undisturbed
beneath her
feet…
(You can check word class through substitution
eg
The water seemed cold/bottomless/calm beneath her feet)
For these reasons, it is wise not to rely solely on definitions of non-finite verbs as ‘ending in –
ing
’ or ‘ending in –
ed
’.Slide14
Practice!
Check that you agree with th
e number of clauses in the following sentences by highlighting the verbs and naming their type or function:
It
comes from the half-world of Avalon, the blade forged by elf-kind, the scabbard woven by the Lady
Nemue
herself, the Lady of the Lake, and my lady
too. (3 clauses)
She
came towards us, holding a scabbard in both her hands, and a
swordbelt
hanging from it
. (3 clauses)
But then as I looked I saw the surface of the lake shiver and break. (4 clauses
)Slide15
Connectives: why not?!
The term ‘connective’ is used widely in our schools but it is really too broad a term to be useful, and thus unwittingly it causes confusion because children learn that connectives are all the same grammatical structure, whereas there is a major syntactical difference between
conjunctions
and
relative pronouns
which
link two clauses together
, and the
connecting adverbs
like ‘however’ which
connect ideas across a sentence or across two sentences.Slide16
Connectives: why not?!
Conjunctions and relative pronouns:
I went into town
and
bought my wedding dress.
and
:
co-ordinating conjunction
I went into town
because
I wanted to buy my wedding dress.
because
:
subordinatin
g
conjunction
I went into town,
which
was horribly busy,
because
I wanted to buy my wedding dress
.
which:
relative pronoun
because:
subordinating conjunction
Conjunctions and relative pronouns join clauses in a sentence.Slide17
Connectives: why not?!
Connecting
adverbs
(
eg
meanwhile
; however, nevertheless; therefore
) do not join clauses in a sentence: they link ideas across
sentences.
I went into town
because
I wanted to buy my wedding dress. However, it was impossible.
CORRECT
I went into town
because
I wanted to buy my wedding
dress, however
, it was
impossible.
INCORRECT: FULL STOP NEEDED (OR AT LEAST A SEMI-COLON)
Connecting
adverbs are very mobile: they can be moved around the sentence and retain their meaning and grammatical correctness.
I went into town
because
I wanted to buy my wedding dress. I
t
was
impossible, however.
I went into town
because
I wanted to buy my wedding dress. I
t was, however,
impossible.
Note that
connecting
adverbs need commas to mark them.Slide18
Co-o
rdinating conjunctions
T
he most frequent co-ordinating conjunctions are
and, but
and
or.
So
is a co-ordinating conjunction if it is about sequence, rather than about purpose. If you can substitute
so
with
so that
, then it is about purpose and so is a subordinator.
I was late
so
I ran.
(co-ordinator)
I went to town
so
[that] I could buy some shoes
. (subordinator)
Formal, sophisticated writing will also make use of more complex co-ordinators: neither…nor; not only…but also
He could
neither
walk,
nor
stand.
Not only
is fox-hunting cruel,
but also
it is ineffective as a control
.
Don’t forget that in many sentences where there is a sequence of clauses, a comma is used to substitute for
and
:
I went into town, bought some shoes, had a quick lunch and met Mum
.
I went into
town
and
bought some
shoes
and
had a quick lunch
and
met Mum
. (Four clauses)Slide19
Practice!
In ‘Arthur, High King of Britain’ there are several examples of sentences that begin with a co-ordinating conjunction, e.g
.
I looked, but I could see nothing at first.
But
then as I looked I saw the surface of the lake shiver and break.
And
, to my amazement, up out of the lake came a shining sword, a hand holding it, and an arm in a white silk sleeve.
A student might say ‘You shouldn’t start a sentence with ‘and’ or ‘but’.’ Using the examples above, what would you say?
A student might say ‘and
an arm in a white silk
sleeve’ is a clause because it starts with ‘and’. What would you say?Slide20
Subordinating Conjunctions
This is a much bigger group
Some examples are –
when; because; if; since; that; unless; where; although; why; how; …
But there are no major complications with these! The only catch is that in many sentences, the ‘that’ subordinator is left out.
I
believe
that you
are
wrong.
I
believe
[that] you
are
wrong.
By identifying first your verbs, this alerts you to the fact that there are two clauses in this sentence, and it is often a missing
that
which makes it look like one clause.Slide21
Subordinating Conjunctions
The only other possible confusion is between words that can function as either a preposition or a subordinating conjunction, according to context e.g.
after, before, until, as, since
:
He watched television
until
his bedtime. (preposition)
He watched television
until
it was time for bed. (conjunction)
He’s been watching television
since
he came home from school. (conjunction)
He’s been watching television
since
four o’clock. (preposition)
After
this programme, you need to go to bed. (preposition)
He went to bed
after
the programme had finished. (conjunction)
Look for the verb! A subordinating conjunction introduces a subordinate clause, which will have a verb.
A preposition introduces a phrase, which does not have a verb.Slide22
Practice!
Check your understanding of this by looking
back to the texts from ‘
Skellig
’ and ‘Arthur, High King of Britain’. See if you can find more examples of
subordinating conjunctions that introduce subordinate clauses. What variety is there in the choice of conjunctions?Slide23
Relative Pronouns
A small group of words:
who, whose, whom, which, that
Relative pronouns are linked to nouns, and relative clauses give more detail and information about a noun.
It was her
fingers
, long, white and dancing,
that
I loved first.
… a
giant of a man rode in on a towering
warhorse
that
pawed the
ground…
I swear that his
hai
r,
which
was as long as mine is now, was green too.
The
Green Knight
who
lives there fights anyone who goes near.Slide24
Practice!
We called it the garage because that’s what the estate agent,
Mr
Stone, called it.
Many of the students we interviewed identified ‘
Mr
Stone’ as ‘an embedded clause’ and a few said it was
‘
a relative clause’. They said that the pair of commas made it a clause.
How would you explain that ‘
Mr
Stone’ is not a clause?
Clarify your own understanding of the term ‘relative clause’
eg
by providing examples that could be added to the sentence above. Slide25
Sentence types
Now you are an expert on sentence types!
Remember, first identify your clauses by finding the verbs/verb phrases so you know how many clauses there are in the sentence.
Next, look at how the clauses are being connected: by co-ordinating conjunctions (compound sentence); by subordinating conjunctions, relative pronouns or non-finite verbs (complex sentences).
And remember the little catches: a comma can be substituting for and in a compound sentence, a
that
may be missing in a complex sentence
.Slide26
Misleading Explanations
A simple sentence is a short sentence.
It can be short, but it can be
long. Length has nothing to do with whether it is simple or not.
That is Excalibur.
At
that moment, from outside in the courtyard, came the clatter of horses’
hooves
on the cobbles.
A compound sentence is two simple sentences joined by a connective.
It can be, but very often it is not (as there may be more than two clauses).
Then
he turned away from me, mounted
Gringolet
, his black warhorse, and
rode
off.
The term ‘connective’ is a problem too as it can lead to students joining sentences with an adverb, and thus punctuating two sentences as though they are one.
I went as fast as I could however I still came last
. x
I went as fast as I
could. However
I still came last
.
Slide27
Misleading Explanations
A compound sentence is two clauses which make sense on their own.
This notion of making sense should be avoided as it doesn’t make sense to children!
Cake
makes sense on its own;
very angry
makes sense on its own.
More importantly, the idea that compound sentences are two separate sentences joined by ‘and’ really misleads.
I went into town
and
I bought some shoes.
[co-ordinated]
I went into town. I bought some shoes.
I went into town
because
I wanted to buy some shoes.
[
subordinated]
I went into town. I wanted to buy some shoes.Slide28
Teaching Implications
Keep it simple at first and build understanding over time.
Start by noticing the co-ordinating and subordinating conjunctions.
Give basic examples which are easy to identify: the KS2
SPaG
test uses basic examples.
Build more complex understanding gradually.
But don’t teach definitions or explanations which
m
islead!
Your knowledge needs to be much stronger than theirs
!
The National Curriculum suggests that the
terms ‘single clause sentence’ and ‘multi-clause sentence’ might be more helpful than ‘simple sentence’
, ‘compound sentence’ and
‘complex sentence
’.
T
hese ‘new’ terms emphasise the importance of the clause, and hence of the verb at its heart
.