“Simple, Compound and Complex Sentences” Printable Worksheets

These Grade 4 English resources and worksheets have answers also given in the downloadable links below.

Simple Sentences

A simple sentence has the most basic parts of a sentence. It is made of a subject, verb, and a completed thought. Simple sentences are usually short but can be made longer with compound subjects. Some examples of simple sentences are:

Peter waited for the cab.

Meghan ran away from the barking dog.

The kitten fell asleep in the basket.

Sarah and Susie left for school early on Tuesday.

Compound Sentences

A compound sentence is a sentence made of two independent clauses, complete sentences, connected with a coordinating conjunction. There are seven coordinating conjunctions that can be remembered with the phrase FAN BOYS. For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So. If you write a compound sentence and remove the coordinating conjunction then both parts of the sentence should still be able to stand alone. Some examples of compound sentences are:

Amanda started to get on the airplane, but the plane door was shut.

Samuel shut the door, yet he forgot to lock it.

The little boy lied to his mother so he was in trouble for what he chose to do.

Would you like to go to the mall or would you rather go to the movies?

Complex Sentences

A complex sentence is made up of an independent clause and one or more dependent clauses. A dependent clause cannot stand alone as a complete sentence, but can be joined with an independent clause to make a complex sentence that is usually descriptive and longer. Dependent clauses begin with subordinating conjunctions. Look for the subordinating clause as a clue. Common conjunctions include: while, wherever, after, although, as, because, before, if, since, unless, until, whenever, and through. These are not all the dependent clauses but are the most common. Some examples of complex sentences include:

The museum was interesting before the light show.

I was angry at the dog for barking because of silliness.

I put the food in the microwave after checking it.