Chapter 7 Verbal and Written Communications 161
Check Your Understanding
Consider the examples below. Are these sentences? Or are they
sentence fragments that do not constitute a complete sentence?
1. Below the knee.
2. The calf is located below the knee.
3. The fact that Janice did not pass the anatomy test when she
studied.
4. Janice studied a long time for the anatomy test and failed.
5. Because Larry is not comfortable with children, and he is
assigned to work on the pediatric fl oor.
6. Larry worries that he will not be able to work on the
pediatric fl oor because of his dislike for children.
Simple Sentences
A simple sentence, also called an independent clause, contains a subject
and a verb and expresses a complete thought. A noun or pronoun is always
used as the subject of the sentence. In the following simple sentences, sub-
jects are in green, and verbs are in blue.
Examples: The nurse worked all weekend.
The patient began to cough loudly.
The phone rang at the nurse’s desk.
Compound Sentences
A compound sentence contains two independent clauses joined by a
conjunction. Except for very short sentences, conjunctions are always preceded
by a comma. In the following compound sentences, subjects are in green,
verbs are in blue, and the conjunctions and preceding commas are in red.
Examples: I tried to speak French, and my friend tried to speak
English.
Darryl played basketball, so Maria went shopping.
James wants to be a physical therapist, but his mother wants him
to be a doctor.
Complex Sentences
A complex sentence has an independent clause (a group of words that
can stand alone) joined by one or more dependent clauses. The dependent
clause is in blue.
Examples: When he handed in his homework, the instructor
smiled.
The instructor handed back the homework after she noticed an
error.
The students are nervous because they have a test tomorrow.
simple sentence
sentence that contains a
subject and a verb, and
which expresses a com-
plete thought; independent
clause
compound sentence
sentence containing two
independent clauses joined
by a conjunction
complex sentence
sentence with an indepen-
dent clause joined by one or
more dependent clauses