Before you can write a book, a blog post, a research paper, or even just a paragraph, you have to write a sentence. But what kind of a sentence? Contrary to what some people might think, the length and complexity do matter. While I don’t want to argue that every sentence should be completely contrived, you do want to pay attention to the mechanics of your writing as you pour your heart and soul out.

There are four basic sentence structures; to avoid repetitive, choppy writing, you want to vary your sentence structures throughout your work:

Simple: contains one independent clause (a subject and a verb). Example: The cat slept.

Compound: contains two independent clauses joined by a conjunction (connecting words, such as and and but). Example: The cat slept and the bird sang.

Complex: contains one independent clause plus one or more dependent clauses (a group of words that contain a subject and a verb, but cannot stand along as a complete sentence). Example: Although the bird sang, the cat kept sleeping.

Compound-complex: contains at least two independent clauses and one dependent clause. Example: Although the bird sang, the cat kept sleeping, and the owner sighed.

Notice how different each structure is; which structure you choose will depend on what you are trying to communicate. A simple sentence structure is best for clear directions and strong statements. A compound sentence should be used to balance two closely related ideas or show that things happened one after the other. For building layers, showing cause-and-effect, or providing specific context/details, write a complex sentence. And when presenting nuanced information or complex arguments, choose a compound-complex sentence.

What length your sentence is can create a different feeling for the reader. Shorter sentences can create urgency or tension; longer sentences allow for description and nuance. However, to avoid a feeling of repetitiveness, the rule is to never use the same sentence length five times in a row. Just like you don’t want to use the same word too often, you don’t want to use the same sentence structure or length too much, either.

Additional Resources

Grammarly Blog: https://www.grammarly.com/blog/sentences/sentence-structure/

San Jose State University Writing Center Guide: https://www.sjsu.edu/writingcenter/docs/handouts/Sentence%20Types%20and%20Functions.pdf