Experienced writers use a variety of sentences to make their writing interesting and lively.

Too many
simple sentences, for example, will sound choppy and immature while too many long sentences will be
difficult to read and hard to understand.

This page contains definitions of simple, compound, and complex sentences with many simple
examples. The purpose of these examples is to help the ESL/EFL learner to identify sentence basics
including identification of sentences in the short quizzes that follow. After that, it will be possible to
analyze more complex sentences varieties.

SIMPLE SENTENCE

A simple sentence, also called an independent clause, contains a subject and a verb, and it expresses
a complete thought. In the following simple sentences, subjects are in yellow, and verbs are in green.

A. Some students like to study in the mornings.

B. Juan and Arturo play football every afternoon.
C. Alicia goes to the library and studies every day.

The three examples above are all simple sentences. Note that sentence B contains a compound
subject, and sentence C contains a compound verb. Simple sentences, therefore, contain a subject
and verb and express a complete thought, but they can also contain a compound subjects or verbs.

COMPOUND SENTENCE

A compound sentence contains two independent clauses joined by a coordinator. The coordinators are
as follows: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. (Helpful hint: The first letter of each of the coordinators spells
FANBOYS.) Except for very short sentences, coordinators are always preceded by a comma. In the
following compound sentences, subjects are in yellow, verbs are in green, and the coordinators and
the commas that precede them are in red.

A. I tried to speak Spanish, and my friend tried to speak English.

B. Alejandro played football, so Maria went shopping.
C. Alejandro played football, for Maria went shopping.

The above three sentences are compound sentences. Each sentence contains two independent
clauses, and they are joined by a coordinator with a comma preceding it. Note how the conscious use
of coordinators can change the relationship between the clauses. Sentences B and C, for example, are
identical except for the coordinators. In sentence B, which action occurred first? Obviously, "Alejandro
played football" first, and as a consequence, "Maria went shopping. In sentence C, "Maria went
shopping" first. In sentence C, "Alejandro played football" because, possibly, he didn't have anything
else to do, for or because "Maria went shopping." How can the use of other coordinators change the
relationship between the two clauses? What implications would the use of "yet" or "but" have on the
meaning of the sentence?

COMPLEX SENTENCE

A complex sentence has an independent clause joined by one or more dependent clauses. A complex
sentence always has a subordinator such as because, since, after, although, or when or a relative
pronoun such as that, who, or which. In the following complex sentences, subjects are in yellow, verbs
are in green, and the subordinators and their commas (when required) are in red.

A. When he handed in his homework, he forgot to give the teacher the last page.
B. The teacher returned the homework after she noticed the error.
 C. The students are studying because they have a test tomorrow.
D. After they finished studying, Juan and Maria went to the movies.
E. Juan and Maria went to the movies after they finished studying.

When a complex sentence begins with a subordinator such as sentences A and D, a comma is required
at the end of the dependent clause. When the independent clause begins the sentence with
subordinators in the middle as in sentences B, C, and E, no comma is required. If a comma is placed
before the subordinators in sentences B, C, and E, it is wrong.

Note that sentences D and E are the same except sentence D begins with the dependent clause which
is followed by a comma, and sentence E begins with the independent clause which contains no
comma. The comma after the dependent clause in sentence D is required, and experienced listeners
of English will often hear a slight pause there. In sentence E, however, there will be no pause when
the independent clause begins the sentence.

COMPLEX SENTENCES / ADJECTIVE CLAUSES

Finally, sentences containing adjective clauses (or dependent clauses) are also complex because they
contain an independent clause and a dependent clause. The subjects, verbs, and subordinators are
marked the same as in the previous sentences, and in these sentences, the independent clauses are
also underlined.

A. The woman who(m) my mom talked to sells cosmetics.

B. The book that Jonathan read is on the shelf.
C. The house which AbrahAM Lincoln was born in is still standing.
D. The town where I grew up is in the United States.

Adjective Clauses are studied in this site separately, but for now it is important to know that sentences
containing adjective clauses are complex.

Countable and Uncountable Nouns

Countable nouns adalah kata benda yang dapat dihitung, yang dapat menunjukkan kuantitas atau
jumlah, contohnya kata benda pen dapat dihitung one, two, atau three pens.

Contoh kata benda yang dapat dihitung: cat, dog, man, baby, person, animal, bottle, box, coin, cup,
plate, table, chair, bag, glass, book, house, etc. Benda-benda yang ada di sekitar kita umumnya adalah
benda yang dapat dihitung.

Contoh countable nouns dalam kalimat:

- We could see a ship in the distance.
- I have to brothers, John and Mark.
- I've got a problem with the car.
- Do you like these photos?
- I'm going out for five minutes.

Uncountable nouns (disebut juga mass nouns) adalah kebalikan dari countable nouns, yaitu kata
benda yang tidak dapat dihitung, contohnya kata benda water. Kata benda tersebut tidak bisa
dikatakan a water atau two water, tetapi lebih tepat digunakan bersama dengan kata benda lainnya
yang dapat dihitung, misalnya a glass of water atau two glass of water.

Contoh kata benda yang tidak dapat dihitung: sand, air, rice, sugar, cheese, tea, coffee, advice,
assistance, fun, money, music, art, love, etc.
Contoh uncountable nouns dalam kalimat:
- Can I have some water?
- Shall we sit on the grass?
- The money is much better in my new job.
- I love music.
- Would you like some coffee?

Perhatikan beberapa catatan mengenai countable dan uncountable nouns di bawah ini.

Much dan many yang sama-sama berarti banyak, biasa digunakan untuk menyatakan jumlah pada
countable dan uncountable nouns. Many digunakan untuk countable nouns dan terletak
mendahuluinya, sedangkan much digunakan untuk uncountable nouns.

Contoh:
- How many years have you lived in Surabaya?
- She didn’t have much fun at the Tunjungan Plaza.
- I haven't got many pens.
- I haven't got much rice.

Number dan amount mempunyai arti yang sama yaitu jumlah atau sejumlah. Number digunakan
untuk countable nouns, sedangkan amount untuk uncountable nouns.

Contoh:
- My teacher gives me a large number of assignments.
- My teacher gives me a large amount of homework.
- We have been friends for a number of years.
-They give us an amount of money.

Few dan little mempunyai arti yang sama yaitu sedikit. Few digunakan untuk countable nouns,
sedangkan little digunakan untuk uncountable nouns.

Contoh:
- The party has attended by a few men.
- There is only a little milk on the table.
- I've got a few dollars.
- I've got a little money.
- Few people understand the difference.

Fewer dan less mempunyai arti yang sama yaitu sedikit. Fewer digunakan untuk countable nouns,
sedangkan less digunakan untuk uncountable nouns.

Contoh:
- This kind of job will give you fewer dollars.
- He pays me less money than I thought.
- Fewer birds came this year.
- Doctors recommend eating less salt.

Some dan any mempunyai arti yang sama yaitu beberapa, biasa digunakan untuk menyatakan
jumlah tak tentu pada countable nouns (plural) atau uncountable nouns.

Contoh:
- I've got some money.
- Have you got any rice?
- I've got some dollars.
- Have you got any pens?

Countable nouns dapat berbentuk singular maupun plural.

- My cat is playing.
- My cats are hungry.
Countable nouns yang singular dapat didahului dengan kata this, that, every, each, either, dan neither,
sedangkan yang plural biasanya didahului kata these, those, some, any, enough, dan zero article.
Lihat juga catatan dan contoh di atas.

Umumnya, uncountable nouns tidak dapat dibuat menjadi plural, kecuali jika disertai oleh jenis kata
lainnya.
- There are new wines being introduced every day.
- The waters of the Atlantic are much warmer this time of year.
- The Dutch are famous for their cheeses.

Countable nouns dapat diawali oleh a, an (indefinite article) untuk singular dan the (definite article)
untuk singular maupun plural.

Jika countable nouns berbentuk singular, maka penggunaan kata seperti a, an, the, my, this, dsb.
harus digunakan.
- I want an orange. (tidak bisa dikatakan I want orange.)
- Where is my bottle? (tidak bisa dikatakan Where is bottle?)

Tetapi, jika countable nouns berbentuk plural, maka kata benda itu dapat berdiri sendiri:
- I like oranges.
- Bottles can break.

Terkadang uncountable nouns diperlakukan singular yang akhirnya juga menggunakan verba singular.
- This news is very important.
- Your luggage looks heavy.

Indefinite article a, an tidak umum dipakai pada uncountable nouns.

- a piece of news (bukan a news)
- a bottle of water (bukan a water)
- a grain of rice (bukan a rice)

Jadi, harus diberi kata keterangan di depannya. Perhatikan contoh lainnya berikut ini.
- There has been a lot of research into the causes of this disease.
- He gave me a great deal of advice before my interview.
- They've got a lot of furniture.
- Can you give me some information about uncountable nouns?

Uncountable nouns juga sering digunakan tanpa article (zero article)

- Poetry is beautiful.
- Sugar is sweet.
- Experience is the best teacher.

Uncountable nouns dapat didahului dengan kata some, any, enough, this, that, dan much. Dan karena
bukan countable nouns maka tidak dapat didahului dengan kata these, those, every, each, either, and
neither. Lihat lagi catatan dan contoh di atas.

Merupakan hal yang penting untuk mengetahui apakah suatu kata benda itu termasuk dalam
countable nouns atau uncountable nouns. Hal ini akan memudahkan kita untuk mengenali jenis kata
apa saja yang dapat diletakkan di sekitarnya.

Countable Nouns

Countable nouns are easy to recognize. They are things that we can count. For example: "pen". We
can count pens. We can have one, two, three or more pens. Here are some more countable nouns:

• dog, cat, animal, man, person

• bottle, box, litre
• coin, note, dollar
 • cup, plate, fork
• table, chair, suitcase, bag

Countable nouns can be singular or plural:

• My dog is playing.
• My dogs are hungry.

We can use the indefinite article a/an with countable nouns:

• A dog is an animal.

When a countable noun is singular, we must use a word like a/the/my/this with it:

• I want an orange. (not I want orange.)

• Where is my bottle? (not Where is bottle?)

When a countable noun is plural, we can use it alone:

• I like oranges.
• Bottles can break.

We can use some and any with countable nouns:

• I've got some dollars.

• Have you got any pens?

We can use a few and many with countable nouns:

• I've got a few dollars.

• I haven't got many pens.

"People" is countable. "People" is the plural of

"person". We can count people:

• There is one person here.

• There are three people here.

Uncountable Nouns

Uncountable nouns are substances, concepts etc that we cannot divide into separate elements. We
cannot "count" them. For example, we cannot count "milk". We can count "bottles of milk" or "litres of
milk", but we cannot count "milk" itself. Here are some more uncountable nouns:

• music, art, love, happiness

• advice, information, news
• furniture, luggage
• rice, sugar, butter, water
• electricity, gas, power
• money, currency

We usually treat uncountable nouns as singular. We use a singular verb. For example:

• This news is very important.

• Your luggage looks heavy.

We do not usually use the indefinite article a/an with uncountable nouns. We cannot say "an
information" or "a music". But we can say a something of:

• a piece of news
• a bottle of water
• a grain of rice

We can use some and any with uncountable nouns:

• I've got some money.

• Have you got any rice?

We can use a little and much with uncountable nouns:

• I've got a little money.

• I haven't got much rice.

Uncountable nouns are also called

"mass nouns".

Here are some more examples of countable and uncountable nouns. When you learn a new word, it's a
good idea to learn whether it's countable or uncountable.
Nouns that can be Countable and Uncountable

Sometimes, the same noun can be countable and uncountable, often with a change of meaning.

Countable Uncountable

There are two hairs in my coffee! hair I don't have much hair.

There are two lights in our bedroom. light Close the curtain. There's too much light!

It's difficult to work when there is too much

Shhhhh! I thought I heard a noise. noise
noise.

Have you got a paper to read? (= pape I want to draw a picture. Have you got some
newspaper) r paper?

Our house has seven rooms. room Is there room for me to sit here?

We had a great time at the party. time Have you got time for a coffee?

Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's greatest

work I have no money. I need work!
works.

Drinks (coffee, water, orange juice) are usually

uncountable. But if we are thinking of a cup or a
glass, we can say (in a restaurant, for example):

• Two teas and one coffee please.