Classify Sentence Types

Classify each sentence as simple, compound, complex, or compound-complex. (1) 'Maya astronomers tracked Venus.' (2) 'Because Venus appeared as both morning and evening star, the Maya tracked it carefully.' (3) 'Maya astronomers tracked Venus, and they recorded its 584-day cycle.' (4) 'Because Venus appeared as both morning and evening star, the Maya tracked it carefully, and their records spanned centuries.' (5) 'Maya astronomers, who lived in Mesoamerica, tracked Venus carefully.' (6) 'The records survive, but their meaning is debated.'

1. Subordinating conjunctions (because, although, when) = DC = part of complex or compound-complex.
2. FANBOYS (and/but/or/yet) joining 2 ICs = compound.

• Treats sentence with relative clause ('who lived in') as compound.
• Treats compound (2 ICs joined) as complex.

• Lesson 13 · The four sentence types — simple, compound,...