THE CLASSIFICATION OF SENTENCES ACCORDING TO
STRUCTURE
We have seen that a sentence may consist of one proposition or of several, and that all its propositions may be independent or one or more of them may be dependent. This freedom of combination gives rise to three distinct types of sentences, classified according to the number and the kind of propositions they contain. These are simple, complex, and compound.
1. A simple sentence is one that consists of one independent proposition.—“Lightness of touch is the crowning test of power.”—Higginson.
2. A complex sentence is one that contains at least one dependent proposition. It usually contains a complete independent proposition also, and it may contain any number of dependent propositions.
(a) With the independent proposition complete,—“What inspiration gilds his features as he descends the mount with the Tables in his hand.”—Lord.
(b) With the independent proposition incomplete because the dependent proposition is its subject.—“That Chaucer, being at Milan, should not have found occasion to ride across so far as Padua for the sake of seeing the most famous literary man of the day, is incredible.”—Lowell.
3. A compound sentence is one that contains at least two independent propositions. It may also contain one or more dependent propositions. In that case it is often called complex-compound.
(a) Compound sentence,—“It is a strange tale, but it hath the recommendation of brevity.”—Jerrold.
(b) Complex-compound.—“Times of heroism are generally times of terror, but the day never shines in which this element may not work.”—Emerson.
Difficulty in Classifying Sentences.—It is sometimes difficult for a beginner to determine whether a sentence is complex or compound, that is, whether a certain one of its propositions is independent or dependent. Take, for instance, two such sentences as the following: “The ground is wet this morning because it rained last night”; and, “The ground is wet this morning, hence it rained last night.” Out of each of these expressions we get a statement of cause and effect, but the two sentences are not therefore alike, for a sentence is to be considered not only logically but grammatically, before we can decide what kind it is. It is clear that in each sentence the first proposition is independent, so we shall examine only the second.