What is a Simple Sentence?
A simple sentence contains a single independent clause. An independent clause is a group of words with a single complete subject and a single complete predicate.
- Example: Jason swims.
In the above example, Jason is the subject and swims is the predicate.
A simple sentence can contain a compound subject or compound predicate. A compound subject contains more than one noun as its subject. A compound predicate contains more than one verb as its predicate. These are still considered a single complete subject and a single complete predicate.
- Example: Jason and Miranda swim. (Compound subject)
- Example: Jason swims and laughs. (Compound predicate)
A simple sentence can also contain any of the parts of speech, such as adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, or interjections.
- Example: The young boy can swim. (Adjective)
- Example: The young boy can swim quickly. (Adverb)
- Example: The young boy can swim quickly across the stream. (Prepositional phrase)
- Example: Wow, the young boy can swim quickly across the stream. (Interjection)
- Example: Wow, she and the young boy can swim quickly across the stream. (Compound subject)
- Example: Wow, she and the young boy can swim quickly across the stream and come back in under three minutes. (Compound predicate)
Even though the above examples seem to grow increasingly complicated, they are all still considered simple sentences. This is because these sentences consist solely of a single independent clause.
