Simple Sentence

Simple sentence meaning

A simple sentence is the simplest type of sentence. It has a straightforward structure and consists of only one independent clause. You use simple sentences when you want to give direct and clear information. Simple sentences communicate things clearly because they make sense independently and don't have any additional information.

Simple sentence structure

Simple sentences only contain one independent clause, and this independent clause must have a subject and a verb. Simple sentences can also include an object and/or a modifier, but these aren't necessary.

A simple sentence can contain multiple subjects or multiple verbs and still be a simple sentence as long as another clause is not added. If a new clause is added, the sentence is no longer considered a simple sentence.

Simple sentence examples

Some examples of the simple sentence include:

• John waited for the taxi.

• Ice melts at zero degrees celsius.

• I drink tea every morning.

• The children are walking to school.

• The dog stretched.

The subject and verb have been highlighted

Did you notice how each example sentence only gives us one piece of information? No extra information has been added to the sentences using extra clauses.

Now that we've seen some examples of simple sentences, let's look at a piece of text where simple sentences are used frequently. Remember, in imperative sentences, the subject is implied. So, the sentence 'Heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius' actually reads as '(You) heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius'.

Take a look; can you spot all the simple sentences?

Below, we can see how many simple sentences there are in this text:

You can see that the majority of sentences in this text are simple. Instructions are a great example of when simple sentences can be helpful, as shown in the example above. Simple sentences are direct and clear - perfect for giving informative instructions that are easy to understand.

Fig 1. Simple sentences are great for giving instructions

Let's think a bit more about why we use simple sentences, both in writing and in spoken language.

Types of simple sentences

There are three different types of simple sentences; single subject and verb, compound verb, and compound subject. The type of sentence it is depends on the number of verbs and subjects the sentence contains.

Single subject and verb simple sentences

As the name suggests, single subject and verb simple sentences contain only one subject and one verb. They are the most basic form of a sentence.

Compound verb simple sentences

Compound verb simple sentences contain more than one verb within a single clause.

Compound subject simple sentences

Compound subject simple sentences contain more than one subject within a single clause.

When to use simple sentences

We use simple sentences all the time in both spoken and written language. Simple sentences are used when we want to give a piece of information, give instructions or demands, talk about a single event, make an impact in our writing, or when speaking to someone whose first language is not the same as our own.

In a more complex text, simple sentences should be balanced out with other sentence types, as a text would be considered boring if it only contained simple sentences. This is the same with every sentence type - no one would want to read something where all the sentences are of a similar structure and length!

How to identify simple sentences

We use clauses to identify a type of sentence. In this case, simple sentences contain only one independent clause. These sentences are usually quite short and do not contain additional information.

Other types of sentences contain a different amount of independent and dependent clauses:

• A compound sentence contains two or more independent clauses.

• A complex sentence contains at least one dependent clause alongside an independent one.

• A compound-complex sentence has at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause.

We can therefore identify each sentence type by deciding whether a dependent clause is used and by looking at the number of independent clauses that the sentence contains. But remember, when it comes to simple sentences, we are only looking for a single independent clause!

This is a simple sentence. We know this as we can see there is one independent clause that contains a subject and a verb. The short length of the sentence further indicates that it is a simple sentence.

This is also a simple sentence, even though the clause is longer. Because the length of sentences varies, we rely on the type of clause to identify different types of sentences.

Fig 2. Jennifer wanted to scuba dive