Sentence Patterns

Sentence writing is built on a foundation of understanding what independent clauses and a dependent clauses are. Most people, even if they can't give a grammatical definition, have a sense of what these two types of clauses are.

Simply put, an independent clause can stand alone. It conveys a complete thought and has both a subject and a verb. A dependent clause, on the other hand, cannot stand alone. It does have a subject and a verb, but it leaves you thinking, "huh?"

Example

Batik is a popular handicraft purchased by tourists.
Although I washed my new batik in cold water.

You intuitively know that the first is an independent clause and can stand alone whereas the second one is not complete; the second clause is a dependent one.

So this is step one in teaching sentence writing. Make sure your child can identify independent clauses and dependent clauses. You don't necessarily have to use those exact terms. You can call them complete sentences and fragments. But the instruction on this page will use the terms independent and dependent clauses.

Here is a 7th grade set of worksheets on the topic of clauses.

Once you understand independent and dependent clauses, you can learn the rules to putting them together to make sentences. There are five main sentence patterns.



Click on the image to download your own PDF mini poster. Print it out to use as reference. Or better yet, use mine as a model and have your child create his own reference poster of the sentence patterns.

Don't overload your child with all five patterns. Take them one a time!

Each sentence pattern will likely take several lessons to master. Be sure that one pattern is firmly understood before introducing another one. As you're studying a particular sentence pattern, use every opportunity to reinforce it. When you see that sentence pattern used in your reading, point it out and analyze it. When your child has writing to do for other academic areas, require him to use the new sentence pattern a set number of times in the assignment.

So you know that if you have an independent clause, it can be a sentence. You capitalize the first word and use punctuation at the end. A simple sentence like that is called, amazingly, a simple sentence. Brilliant name, isn't it?

Simple sentences are important in writing because they are the building blocks. But you don't want each and every sentence in your paragraph or essay to be a simple one. Simple also means foolish, and a paragraph full of simple sentences sounds childish.

Exercise idea -- Write ten simple sentences. Make sure each one is a single independent clause (sentence pattern #1), punctuated and capitalized correctly. And make them interesting because you'll be using these again later.

EXAMPLES --
I am learning Chinese painting.
Last Friday I learned to paint a sparrow.
The supplies are inexpensive.

Hint for mom -- Give your child some spelling or vocabulary words to make sentences with. Or give a theme to write about.

What if you want to join two independent clauses together? Can that be done? Yes! It can. And there are two main ways.

1. Use a semicolon between the two independent clauses.
To use a semicolon, the sentences should be very closely related in meaning. But I hope that you wouldn't try to connect two sentences that weren't related anyway!

2. Use a comma and a coordinating conjunction between the two independent clauses.
This rule is so simple, yet people will ruin it by forgetting the comma or by forgetting the coordinating conjunction. You have to have both!

I call this rule "comma but." You can think of it as "comma butt" -- a terrible disease that infects the bottom. Actually you can use FOR, AND, NOR, OR, YET, or SO as well as BUT.

An easy way to remember these coordinating conjunctions is FANBOYS. Click on the image for a PDF mini poster. (But better yet, have your child create his own FANBOYS poster!)

A sentence that has two independent clauses joined together correctly is called a compound sentence. Try to use some of these in your writing. But don't overdo it! You don't want to have too much of a good thing.

Exercise idea -- Look at the ten simple sentences you wrote earlier. Rewrite them, but this time add a semicolon and another closely related independent clause at the end to form a compound sentence (sentence pattern #2).

EXAMPLES--
I am learning Chinese painting; last Friday I learned to paint a sparrow.
The supplies are inexpensive; I paid less than ten dollars for paint, paper, and brushes.

Now take your newly written compound sentences and rewrite them using sentence pattern #3. That means you'll take out the semicolon and add in a comma and one of the FANBOYS. Make sure to use both the comma and the conjunction. And of course, choose a logical conjunction.

EXAMPLES--
I am learning Chinese painting, and last Friday I learned to paint a sparrow.
The supplies are inexpensive, so I think this is a good hobby for me.

Hint for mom: Carefully check for semicolons and a lowercase letter after the semicolon. Carefully check for both a comma and a conjunction. If one is missing, it's wrong!

Want some worksheet practice? Here are some PDF exercises:
Simple Sentences & Compound Sentences
Compound Sentences from ABC Teach
Glencoe Practice with Simple and Compound Sentences
Commas in Compound Sentences

Not even brick walls stop Mr. Runon.
He keeps running on and on.
Drawing by Sprite, my daughter.

What happens when you put two independent clauses together and do not use a semicolon or the "comma but" rule?

You've created a run-on sentence.

And that's a huge writing no-no.

Avoid run-on sentences! Learn how to join independent clauses.

Ms. Fragment loves destroying perfectly good sentences.
Drawing by Sprite, my daughter.

If you've got a dependent clause standing alone, it's got a fancy name -- a fragment. And that's a pretty major writing error.

What's the best way to find fragments? Read your draft backwards sentence by sentence. Not word by word, but read the last sentence. Then the next to the last sentence and so on. Usually you will find the fragments this way.

Now we can start using dependent clauses in our sentences. We know that a dependent clause needs to be attached to something -- specifically to an independent clause. And there are two ways to do that. You can put it before an independent clause or behind one. And the punctuation is different in either case.

The rule is

Independent clause dependent clause.
Dependent clause COMMA independent clause.

Yes, that's right. When the dependent clause is at the end of the sentence you don't need a comma.

The words that introduce dependent clauses are called subordinating conjunctions. Print a PDF list here.

after
although
as
as if
as long as
as much as
as soon as
as though
because
before
even if
even though
if
if only
inasmuch
in order that
lest
now that
once
provided (that)
rather than
since
so that
than
that
though
till
unless
until
when
whenever
where
whereas
wherever
while

Here is a Handout about Conjunctions, featuring both the coordinating conjunction and the subordinating conjunction.

This kind of sentence with a dependent clause and an independent clause is called a complex sentence. Now that name doesn't really matter a whole lot except that complex sentences imply a good understanding of both your topic and of writing. So you need to use these types of sentences when you write.

Need some practice?
Here is the same information recapped plus some sentences to combine using this sentence pattern -- Combining with Subordinating Conjunctions.
And here is a middle school level set of four pages about independent and dependent clauses.
A set of simple activities for Clauses and Complex Sentences.

Exercise idea -- Convert your original ten simple sentences into complex sentences by adding a dependent clause. (Having a list of the subordinating conjunctions handy is most helpful.)

First add the dependent clause to the beginning of the sentence (sentence pattern #4). Start with one of the subordinating conjunctions in the list above, create the rest of the dependent clause, don't forget your comma, and then finish it with your independent clause (one of the original simple sentences).

EXAMPLES --
Because I want a creative hobby, I am learning Chinese painting.
Even though I'm just starting, last Friday I learned to paint a sparrow.
If you shop in a local store, the supplies are inexpensive.

Then using the complex sentences you just made, rewrite them by rearranging them. Now put the dependent clause at the end. Don't forget to leave off the comma this time. These are sentence pattern #5

EXAMPLES --
I am learning Chinese painting because I want a creative hobby.
Last Friday I learned to paint a sparrow even though I'm just starting.
The supplies are inexpensive if you shop in a local store.

Hint for mom -- Be ruthless about checking for commas when the sentence begins with a dependent clause. If there's no comma, it's wrong!

There is actually another sentence pattern and that's a combination of at least two independent clauses with at least one dependent clause. Once you've mastered the first five sentence patterns, this one is fun to get creative with. You follow the same rules and join the clauses together.

Try these worksheets on compound-complex sentences if you really love analyzing sentence parts!

If you'd like to save the information on this lens in a printed format,
download the free Sentence Patterns eBook.

And don't forget these three resources:

1. Sentence Patterns Poster

2. FANBOYS Poster

3. Subordinating Conjunctions List

If you like my approach to teaching language arts here, you may also be interested in my very modestly priced eBooks shown below.

Click on the image to learn more. Both of these books are for the teacher; they are methodology books that teach you how to teach.