Writing Tips
http://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca
Common menu bar links
Institutional Links
-
Translation Bureau
Language Portal of Canada
-
TERMIUM Plus®
-
Index S
- Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day
- Saint John
- Saint Johner
- Saint John River
- Salish
- Salishan
- Salish Sea
- same
- Sami
- sanction
- Sask.
- Saskatchewan
- Saskatchewaner
- Saskatchewanian
- satisfaction in
- satisfaction of
- satisfied with
- Saultite
- Sault Ste. Marie
- Scando-
- sceptic
- Scoto-
- scrutiny
- seasonable
- seasonably
- seasonal
- seasonally
- secure against
- secure from
- secure in
- seem
- segue
- Segway
- seismo-
- seldom
- seldomly
- semi-
- semi-annual
- semicolon
- sensual
- sensuous
- sentence fragment
- septic
- Serb
- Serbian
- Serbo-
- Serbo-Croatian
- serial commas
- serif fonts
- serve
- serve to illustrate
- service
- serviceable
- sesqui-
- set
- several different
- sex
- sharp
- sharply
- signed at
- signed in
- simile
- simple sentence
- sink
- sink down
- Sino-
- sit
- SK
- skijoring
- slippery slope
- so as an adverb
- socio-
- solstice
- somber
- sombre
- some
- somni-
- son-
- soni-
- sono-
- Sons of the Clergy Islands
- Soo
- sort of
- sorts of
- spacing
- spacing with periods
- spans of time
- speak
- specific example
- specter
- spectre
- speculate about
- speculate in
- speculate on
- speculate upon
- spelling: able/ible and ative/itive endings
- spelling: combinations with all
- spelling: final consonants doubled before a suffix
- spelling: frequently misspelled words
- spelling: international variations
- spelling: plurals of foreign nouns
- spelling: SI/metric units
- spelling: spell-checking
- spelling: verbs ending in ie
- spelling: verbs ending in sede
- spelling: words ending in a silent e
- spelling: words ending in c
- spelling: words ending in -ise and -ize
- spelling: words ending in n
- spelling: words ending in y
- spelling: words with ei and ie
- spring
- square brackets
- Stampede City
- standard time
- stanza
- start
- stationary
- stationery
- stay-at-home
- steal
- St. John’s
- St. John’san
- St. John’ser
- strata
- stratum
- streets and buildings: abbreviations and numbers
- sub-
- subject (1)
- subject (2)
- subject area
- subject complement
- subjected to
- subject predicate order
- subject to
- subordinating conjunctions
- subsequent
- subsequent to
- substitute for
- successful achievement
- successfully achieve
- sucr-
- sucro-
- sudden impulse
- suggest that
- suited for
- suited to
- summer
- summer time
- sum total
- super-
- supposably
- supposedly
- surprise
- surrounded
- surrounded on all sides
- Swedo-
- sym-
- sympathetic to
- sympathetic toward(s)
- sympathize with
- sympathy between
- sympathy for
- sympathy with
- syn-
Proactive Disclosure
Important notice
Writing Tips has been archived and won’t be updated before it is permanently deleted.
For the most up-to-date content, please consult Writing Tips Plus, which combines content from Writing Tips and The Canadian Style. And don’t forget to update your bookmarks!
Search and Functionalities Area
simple sentence
A simple sentence (or independent clause) is a word group that contains a subject and a verb and forms a complete thought:
- The girls rowed past the dock.
In this example, girls is the subject, rowed is the verb, and the entire word group forms a complete thought—that is, it makes sense by itself.
Simple sentence structures
The examples below show the many different structures that can appear in a simple sentence:
- 1 subject, 1 verb: The girls rowed past the dock.
- 2 subjects, 1 verb: Sarah and Tiffany raised the sail.
- 1 subject, 2 verbs: The wind had fallen but was rising quickly by late afternoon.
- 2 subjects, 2 verbs: Gulls and terns circled overhead or floated on the water.
- Verb before subject for effect: Across the waves to the island sped the boat.
- Verb before subject in a question: Was the island inhabited?
- Verb before and after subject in a question: Had anyone gone there before?
- There + verb before subject: There are no people on the island.
- Here + verb before subject: Here is a small harbour.
- Command verb with subject you omitted: Lower the sail. Row to shore.
Use
Simple sentences are grammatically correct, but too many can make your writing less interesting. Use them sparingly, therefore.
A few well-placed simple sentences can create a stylistic effect when combined with longer compound and complex sentences. In the following passage, the two simple sentences at the end emphasize the speed of events and the sudden danger:
- The storm broke with a fury before they could reach shelter. Slipping and stumbling on the muddy ground, they dragged the canoe farther up the shore; then, wet and exhausted, they battled their way to the cabin. Suddenly, lightning struck. The roof was on fire!
© Public Services and Procurement Canada, 2024
TERMIUM Plus®, the Government of Canada's terminology and linguistic data bank
Writing tools – Writing Tips
A product of the Translation Bureau
