We explain what simple sentences are, the characteristics of each type and various examples. Also, compound sentences.
What are simple sentences?
In linguistics, the prayers simple are those that have a single verb conjugated, and therefore have a generally flat and direct structure: a subject, endowed or not with complements, and a predicate, whose verb may or may not have complements. They are distinguished from compound sentences, endowed with more than one conjugated verb and possessing more complicated structures.
Simple sentences are the easiest and the first that we learn to formulate in our language (or in a foreign one). However, on a daily basis we tend to speak in more complex and convoluted ways, favoring hidden senses, and using compound sentences, which combine simple sentences within themselves.
Simple sentence types
Traditionally, simple sentences are classified according to numerous criteria. One of the main ones is the existence or not of a sentence subject, so that we can distinguish between:
Personal prayers. Those in which a logical subject is recognizable, whether it is explicit or not. These sentences, in turn, are classified according to the type of subject they possess, in:
- Explicit subject sentences. Those in which the subject is clearly identified and is recognizable to the naked eye. For example: "My mother knits booties with Chinese wool" (subject: "My mother").
- Elliptical subject sentences. Those in which the subject is elided, that is, it is not explicit or has not been pronounced, but it can be inferred from its context. For example: "I have a medical book at home" (subject: "I").
- Sentences of indeterminate subject. Those in which there is a sentence subject, but his identity cannot be revealed or it is not desired to do so, and instead an imprecise formula is used. It is not equivalent to impersonal sentences, since the verb is properly conjugated. For example: "My notebook was stolen at school" (subject: an indeterminate "they").
Impersonal sentences. Those in which there is no possibility of identifying a logical subject, since the sentence does not require it. They are usually classified into:
- Natural prayers. Those that refer to phenomena of nature that are not executed by any subject, nor attributable to anyone, but that occur spontaneously. For example: "Last night it rained torrentially."
- Grammaticalized sentences. It is thus known to the sentences whose verbs –to do, to have or to be- operate in an impersonal way. For example: "There is plenty of food in the pantry" or "It has been a long time since no one has come here."
- Reflex impersonal sentences. Those in which a pronoun is used to prevent the appearance of the subject, generally using the third person singular to conjugate the verb. For example: "Here you live quietly" or "You can no longer leave the house."
On the other hand, it is also possible to classify simple sentences according to their modality, that is, to the manifest attitude of the speaker marked by the mode of the verb. Thus, we have:
Declarative sentences or Realis. Those in which an event is objectively addressed, that is, something of the reality concrete or imaginary. For example: "The car has a damaged radiator."
Non-enunciative sentences. Those that express subjective content, according to the following possibilities:
- Imperatives. They come to the recipient with the intention of modifying or influencing their behavior. For example: "Get up off the ground!"
- Wishful thinking. They express a desire of the issuer, so they are usually accompanied by terms that express hope or desire. For example: "I hope my dad brings me a chocolate."
- Doubtful. They express a doubt or possibility in the issuer's considerations, so they are usually accompanied by adverbs or phrases that express doubt. For example: "Maybe tomorrow will encourage me to quit smoking."
- Exclamatory. They convey the feelings or the state of mind of the issuer. For example: "Good luck to you!" or "Why did this have to happen to me?"
- Interrogatives Those that consist of questions, that is, that expect an answer from the other. For example: "What is your name?"
- Performative. Those that serve not to describe a state of affairs of reality, but to create a new one through the language, as in promises, oaths, etc. For example: "And now I declare you husband and wife."
Examples of simple sentences
Some examples of simple sentences are:
- Pedro will come tomorrow morning.
- Kangaroos predominate in Australia.
- No one can fight depression.
- We are a united family.
- The dog does not get tired of playing.
- We are going to buy everything necessary for the quarantine.
- In Zimbabwe they overthrew the dictatorship.
- I'm already very hungry.
- They painted the wall orange.
- Miguel's cousin went out to dance.
- We will finance your business immediately.
Compound sentences
Unlike simple sentences, compound sentences are formed using more than one conjugated verb, that is, combining simple sentences to build a larger structure.
Within this structure hierarchical and combinatorial relationships are established between sentences, as they have been given by coordination, juxtaposition or subordination. Thanks to these types of sentences, we can express more complex content and more intricate meanings, in the same sentence.