Sentence Structure Types Worksheets

Sentence structure refers to the way a sentence is organised, including the arrangement of words and phrases to convey a complete thought. In primary education we teach about the following three types of sentence structure:

1. Simple Sentences: A simple sentence consists of an independent clause, which means it has a subject and a verb, and it expresses a complete thought. For example, “The cat sits.”
2. Compound Sentences: A compound sentence consists of two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction (such as “and,” “but,” “or,” etc.) or a semicolon. For example, “The dog barks, and the cat meows.”
3. Complex Sentences: A complex sentence contains one independent clause and at least one dependent clause. A dependent clause cannot stand alone as a sentence. It relies on the independent clause to form a complete thought. For instance, “Because it was raining, she took an umbrella.”

This set of five worksheets introduces students to each type of sentence structure and provides interesting and varied activities to reinforce their understanding of the features of (and differences between) each.

What’s Included in These Sentence Structure Worksheets?

This grammar teaching resource download includes the following worksheets:

• What is a Sentence? worksheet – students create meaningful sentences by matching the sentence beginnings with a sentence ending.
• Simple Sentences worksheet – students underline the subject and verb in simple sentences and complete a cloze activity.
• Compound Sentences worksheet – students choose which conjunction works best to join simple sentences.
• Complex Sentences worksheet – students choose which conjunction works best to join clauses together to make a complex sentence. Students also highlight the independent clause in complex sentences.
• Sorting Sentences – Students sort simple, compound and complex sentences into their correct categories.

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