IELTS Preparation Series 3, Episode 4: Sentence Types

(Bấm vào đây để chọn bài học kế tiếp)

Xem lời thoại bên dưới:

0:12

Hello, and welcome to Study English, IELTS Preparation. I'm Margot Politis.

0:17

One of the criteria used to assess your writing in the IELTS test is called grammatical range

0:24

and accuracy. The examiners will look at the number of mistakes you make, and also at the

0:30

range of sentence types you use.

0:36

What is the range of sentence types? There is a simple sentence, like this:

0:44

Pollution is a problem.

0:45

This example shows you the basic structure. A subject - pollution, a verb - is, and the

0:56

object - a problem. A simple sentence can have more words than this. You can add adjectives:

1:06

Pollution is a serious problem.

1:09

Air pollution is a serious problem.

1:13

And you can add information with a preposition like 'in'

1:18

Air pollution is a serious problem in the city.

1:22

Or 'from'

1:24

Air pollution from cars is a serious problem in the city.

1:30

So a simple sentence doesn't have to be short or simple.

1:34

Most of the time the thing that's simple about simple sentences is the idea they express.

1:40

Listen to some typical simple sentences in this piece about an old theatre:

1:47

It is a lovely theatre. It has excellent acoustics. It's a classic 3 tiered, horse-shoe shaped

1:54

auditorium.

1:57

You tend to use simple sentences for straightforward information.

2:01

It is a lovely theatre to work in.

2:05

It has excellent acoustics.

2:08

You can add detail, but the idea is not complicated. Listen again:

2:14

It's a classic 3 tiered, horse-shoe shaped auditorium.

2:19

But it's best to use a variety of sentence types and not just a list of simple sentences.

2:26

Listen to this:

2:28

The foundation stone was laid in 1834 and the theatre opened in 1837.

2:34

You can join two simple sentences together with 'and'.

2:39

The two sentences are: The foundation stone was laid in 1834.

2:45

The theatre opened in 1837.

2:50

Joining them with 'and' gives you a compound sentence.

2:55

Listen again:

2:56

The foundation stone was laid in 1834 and the theatre opened in 1837.

3:03

But what type of sentence do you use if you want to say something a little more complicated?

3:08

Listen:

3:09

Although the Theatre Royal has some of the disadvantages of this sort of theatre, such

3:13

as the columns which people don't like sitting behind, it still has atmosphere.

3:17

This sort of sentence is called a complex sentence. A complex sentence isn't just 2

3:25

sentences joined together. Some parts of a complex sentence might not be a complete idea.

3:31

For instance, the first part of this sentence is quite long with a subject, verb and object,

3:40

but it isn't complete:

3:42

Although the Theatre Royal has some of the disadvantages such as the columns which people

3:46

don't like sitting behind …

3:48

That doesn't express a complete thought. It needs a simple sentence to finish it:

3:54

it still has atmosphere.

3:57

If you take the detail out, you have a structure like this:

4:02

Although the theatre has disadvantages, it has atmosphere.

4:05

'Although the theatre has disadvantages' is what is called a dependent clause.

4:13

It depends on a simple sentence - it has atmosphere - to become complete and form a complex sentence.

4:22

Here is another complex sentence.

4:25

When you stand in the middle of the stage, you can talk to everybody.

4:30

When you stand in the middle of the stage - that's a dependent clause. It needs another

4:36

simple sentence or independent clause to make sense:

4:42

When you stand in the middle of the stage, you can talk to everybody.

4:47

You can even change the order of the clauses and say:

4:52

You can talk to everybody when you stand in the middle of the stage.

4:55

Apart from although and when, some of the words used to create dependent clauses like

5:03

this are: which, that, because, after, and where.

5:11

Knowing how to use them is important. It's something you should practise.

5:18

There is one other type of sentence, which is a combination of compound and complex sentences

5:24

like this:

5:26

When the theatre was first built, it was said to look like a 2 storey house and on the outside

5:31

of the building you can see the stone window sills.

5:38

Normally people use a range of sentence types as we've seen with the man talking about the

5:43

theatre. It's your ability to use these various sentence types that the examiners notice.

5:49

Listen as he finishes with a complex sentence, a simple sentence and a complex/ compound

5:58

sentence:

6:00

If I could sum up this theatre in a few words, I suppose I could call it an international

6:04

theatre star! This is the oldest theatre in Australia. It's been operating for a hundred

6:10

and 59 years and, who knows, it might still be here in another one hundred and fifty nine

6:15

years.

6:17

His first sentence was complex. Sentences with 'if' are mostly complex because an 'if'

6:25

clause depends on another sentence to make sense. Listen:

6:31

If I could sum up this theatre in a few words, I suppose I could call it an international

6:35

theatre star!

6:38

Remember that a simple sentence can consist of a subject - this, a verb - is, and an object

6:48

- the oldest theatre in Australia. Listen:

6:53

This is the oldest theatre in Australia.

6:56

A compound sentence is two sentences joined by 'but' or, as here 'and':

7:05

It's been operating for one hundred and fifty nine years and who knows, it might still be

7:10

here in another one hundred and fifty nine years.

7:14

There are 2 sentences here joined by 'and'. The second part is complex with the dependent

7:21

clause 'who knows'.

7:23

who knows, it might still be here in another hundred and fifty nine years.

7:29

So we've seen what can go right. What can go wrong?

7:37

A simple sentence must have a verb. Is this a sentence?

7:43

The house in the country.

7:44

No. It looks like a sentence but there is no verb. Let's add a verb.

7:52

The house is in the country.

7:55

That's a simple sentence.

8:00

The main problem people have with compound sentences is a mistake called a run-on sentence.

8:07

It's when 2 simple sentences are run together without using a conjunction such as 'and'

8:13

or 'but':

8:17

Look at this:

8:17

The theatre is small it is beautiful.

8:21

That's a run-on sentence. It's either 2 simple sentences:

8:26

The theatre is small. It is beautiful.

8:30

Or it's a compound sentence:

8:33

The theatre is small, but it is beautiful.

8:37

So let's recap. A simple sentence is basically a subject - Pollution - a verb - is - and

8:51

an object - a problem. It's also called an independent clause.

8:57

A compound sentence is two independent clauses joined by a conjunction such as and, but or

9:07

so.

9:09

A complex sentence is a combination of a dependent clause or clauses with an independent clause.

9:17

It's a good way to express some of your ideas in an essay.

9:22

Be careful. Using too many simple sentences can make your writing choppy and dull and

9:28

too many long sentences can make it difficult to follow your ideas. So use both.

9:38

That's all for now. To find more information about sentence types visit our Study English

9:43

website at: australianetwork.com/studyenglish.

9:45

Good luck with your studies.

#II23Ieltsprepseries3