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The University of Southampton
English for Engineers

Sentence structures

Sentence structures are the foundation of clear communication.

Main Sentence Structures

 Simple 1 independent clause, started with a capital letter and finished with a full stop.
 Compound 2 independent clauses (IC) .  These are joined by:

1)      IC, fanboys (for, and , nor, but, or, yet, so) IC.

2)      IC ; conjunctive adverb, IC.

3)      IC ; IC.

 

Complex

 

 1 dependent clause and 1 independent clause

They include:

- adverbial clauses, which give information about time, place, or manner;

- adjectival clauses, which give more information about a noun.

For more information about sentence structures, see : Oshima, A and Hogue, A, 2005, Writing Academic English. New York: Pearson Longman

 

Sentence Structures

This video gives an overview of sentence structures and explains common mistakes. See our 'English for Engineers' You Tube channel for other videos.

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