Sentence Patterns and Punctuation
In Module 5, you were introduced to simple, compound, and complex sentence patterns. Your focus then was on using connecting words and phrases to bring out the logical relationships of ideas within your sentences and paragraphs. Such ideas are expressed grammatically as clauses, which form the main parts of a sentence. A clause is a group of words containing a subject and a verb.
Apart from using words to guide your readers, you can also make your meaning clear by using correct punctuation. Generally, you can think of punctuation as a set of markers to direct your readers through a text. To help your readers, try to use standard patterns for punctuating correctly and precisely. Let’s take a look at some of those patterns.
Below are the basic patterns for punctuating three main types of sentences: simple, compound, and complex.
Simple sentences
A simple sentence is an independent clause—it contains a subject, a verb, and sometimes an object. It can also contain additional information, which follows a standard pattern: namely, Subject, Verb, Object (direct and indirect), Place, Manner, Time, and Purpose (SVOPMTP). These are expressed in single words or as groups of words called phrases.
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Compound sentences
A compound sentence joins independent clauses (each containing a subject, a verb, and possibly other elements listed above). There are three ways to join two independent clauses.
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Complex sentences
A complex sentence joins a dependent clause with an independent clause. The dependent clause is introduced by a subordinating conjunction (e.g., since, although, if, because). The dependent clause can introduce the sentence, end the sentence, or interrupt the sentence. Your punctuation for a complex sentence depends upon where you place your dependent clause.
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