Sentence Structure Smackdown
What type of sentence is this?
“I studied all night, but I still forgot my notes.”
Compound Sentence — two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction (but).
Identify the part of speech of the underlined word:
“The blue backpack belongs to Sarah.”
Adjective – modifies the noun backpack.
Identify the underlined words and their parts of speech:
“The old dog slept on the couch.”
Old – Adjective (describes dog)
The – Article (modifies dog; definite article)
Fix the grammar error in this sentence.
“Running down the street, the backpack bounced behind her.”
Corrected: “Running down the street, she bounced the backpack behind her.”
Fix the slang into correct grammar.
“I ain’t never done nothing wrong.”
I’ve never done anything wrong.
Identify the dependent clause in the sentence below:
“When the bell rang, the students raced to the door.”
Dependent clause: “When the bell rang.”
(Starts with subordinating conjunction when; cannot stand alone.)
Identify the part of speech of the underlined word in each sentence:
She jumped over the puddle.
His favorite part of the show was the jump.
Verb – jumped is the action she performed.
Noun – jump is the thing/event being referred to.
Identify the part of speech of the underlined words:
“He worked quickly, but he still made mistakes.”
Quickly – Adverb (modifies worked)
But – Conjunction (joins two independent clauses)
Fix this sentence and explain the error:
“She almost drove her kids to school every day.”
She drove her kids to school almost every day.
Fix this meme-style sentence and explain all the grammar mistakes:
“We’re going to learn to cut and paste kids!”
We’re going to learn to cut and paste, kids!”
Explain why the following is a complex sentence, not compound:
“Because the sun set early, we built the fire quickly.”
It has one dependent clause (“Because the sun set early”) and one independent clause (“we built the fire quickly”).
A compound sentence would have two independent clauses.
Identify the part of speech for each word in italics:
“Wow! That was a surprisingly easy exam.”
Wow! – Interjection (expresses emotion)
Surprisingly – Adverb (modifies adjective easy)
Identify the part of speech of the underlined words:
“She hid the gift under the table because it was a surprise.”
Under – Preposition (shows relationship between hid and table)
It – Pronoun (replaces the gift)
Add commas where necessary:
“My brother who loves pizza ate an entire box by himself.”
“My brother, who loves pizza, ate an entire box by himself.”
Provide me with a sentence that has proper sensory details.
Use the following senses
1.Smell
2.Sight
3.Touch
Student answer varies
Combine the following sentences into a compound-complex sentence:
“I finished my homework. I watched TV. The rain started to fall.”
“After I finished my homework, I watched TV, and the rain started to fall.”
Determine the part of speech of “that” in each sentence:
That book is mine.
I know that she is correct.
Adjective (demonstrative) – modifies book.
Conjunction (subordinating) – introduces dependent clause that she is correct.
Identify the part of speech and function of the words in italics:
“Woah! The student solved the problem easily, and he didn’t even check his notes.”
Woah! – Interjection
Easily – Adverb
He – Pronoun
Fix the punctuation and explain the error:
“The students essays were good however the teachers expectations were higher.”
“The students’ essays were good however, the teachers’ expectations were higher.”
Provide me with a simple sentence then convert it into a compound sentence.
Students Answer Varies
Write your own compound-complex sentence about school that includes:
one dependent clause,
two independent clauses,
and a subordinating conjunction and a coordinating conjunction.
“Although the test was difficult, I finished early, and I helped my friend study afterward.”
Analyze the words in italics and identify their parts of speech:
“Quickly, the exhausted student completed her writing, and she breathed a sigh of relief.”
Quickly – Adverb
Writing – Noun
Relief – Noun
Identify the part of speech and function of each word in italics:
“Ah! She carefully placed the old book on the shelf, and it didn’t fall.”
Ah! → Interjection (expresses sudden emotion)
Carefully → Adverb (modifies placed, tells how)
Old → Adjective (modifies book)
The → Article (modifies shelf)
It → Pronoun (replaces book, subject of second clause)
Correct the punctuation in this sentence and explain all the changes:
“I packed my bag for school I grabbed my books pencils and lunch but I forgot my homework; which was very frustrating”
“I packed my bag for school: I grabbed my books, pencils, and lunch, but I forgot my homework, which was very frustrating.”
Provide me with a sentence example for all of the types of sentence structures listed.
1.Simple
2.Compound
3.Complex
4.Compound-Complex
Students Answer Varies